A/N: This doesn't deal with the whole Elle situation at all; that's seeming to already be somewhat overdone. Instead, this is all about the book. If you're looking for Elle, look elsewhere. Otherwise, read and review! (Also, I didn't tape the ep, so I only watched it once. Did I get the quotes right? Thanks.)

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing but the words here. Criminal Minds is not mine, of course. I also do not lay claim to the ideas presented here; they originated at TV-dot-com and were the product of Forsakenyes and, to a lesser extent, SpencerREid. I thank them for letting me flesh out their brilliant explanations into fanfiction. (Permission is pending, but I don't foresee having problems obtaining it.)

Level 1

Spencer Reid stared at the little piece of paper bearing the encoded message. The possibilities overwhelmed him, and he tore his eyes from the numbers and looked up at the board listing out all their clues so far. A butterfly, a baseball card…. He shook his head, sighing in frustration for the thousandth time.

She will die if you don't save her, Dr. Reid.

The responsibility was weighing on him. A girl's life lay in their hands, in his hands, and he was at a loss. None of it seemed to connect.

Finally, Reid lay down the paper and stood, heading to the door. As he walked down the hallway, he turned it all over in his mind. There was something here he was missing. Something important. It eluded him, but he knew the others could help. There had to be a reason they had been given these specific items. The unsub had said they had all they needed to complete their quest. He didn't, but maybe the team did.

Hoping the links he needed lay beyond, he knocked on Jason Gideon's door.

---

Call Gideon. He knows.

"What do you know about Nellie Fox?"

Gideon looked at Reid, clearly somewhat thrown by the unexpectedness of the inquiry. "Just about everything," he answered. "He was born in Pennsylvania, played for the Athletics and was traded to the White Sox in '49. He was most well-known for being named MVP in 1959…." He trailed off. "What do you want to know?"

"I'm not sure yet," Reid replied. A long silence ensued. "Do you know where I could find J.J.?"

---

You have to help him save her.

"What can I tell you about the butterfly?" J.J. repeated. "Let's see. Well, like I said before, it's native to Europe – Britain mostly. And, um, it's one of the white butterflies. That's what people call them, because – "

"Wait." Reid had frozen, the pieces of the puzzle beginning to connect in his mind. "White?"

"White, yeah. They're nicknamed that for – "

He cut her off without even noticing he had done so. "That's it! Thanks, J.J."

"You're…welcome…?" she offered as the door closed behind him.

---

The youngest holds the key.

Back in Vegas once more, Reid was searching frantically through the shelves holding his mother's books. It was here. He knew it was. It had to be.

At long last, he found it nestled between The Mists of Avalon and The Quest for Camelot.

It had been required reading in many of his mother's classes, he knew, and in many of those that she had taught.

He remembered the story well. King Arthur, and Excalibur in the stone…. He saw in his mind's eye the sword piercing Frank Giles' body; the allusion was not lost on him.

He turned over the cover of the novel he now held in his hands, opening the book to the first page. The words printed there informed him that it had first been published in Britain in 1958. A year later, it came to the United States. "MVP in 1959," he said quietly to himself, recalling the baseball card and Nellie Fox's claim to fame. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

He closed the book and fixed his gaze on the cover, reading it again and knowing he'd found the key to breaking the code. The Once and Future King, by T. H. White.

With baseball cards and King Arthur and white butterflies filling his thoughts, Reid pulled from his pocket a copy he'd made of the note from the music box. Opening the novel to the first page number they'd been given, he began to count lines, and the riddle slowly unraveled.

---

Here thy quest doth truly begin.