Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
A/N: I'm back to write about Spencer, Olivia, Piper, Albert, Ava, and Daniel!
If you guys never read my Spencer/Olivia series, please go back and read Love Takes Away the Pain: Book One before even think about reading this story.
I deleted this story because of reviews I received, but a few readers encouraged me to repost this story.
When it came to watching 300 I decided to come back to my Spencer/Olivia universe and add a new story when it comes to now former profiler Dr. Spencer Reid who is Hotch's co-unit chief of the Quantico's White Collar Crimes task-force because of Spencer being The Believers target 10 years after he went undercover to bring down Benjamin Cyrus. This takes place in August of 2018, so Spencer is 36, Olivia is 34, Piper is six, Albert and Ava are five, and Daniel Jason Reid (DJ) is now two-years-old.
Remember that Mr. Scratch died during the episode Mr. Scratch and I did change some lines for Believer because Spencer never went to prison because of Cat Adams being executed when Daniel was six-weeks-old. And Stephan Walker is on vacation, so that's why he isn't in the first couple of chapters.
I'm warning that this story won't be for JJ fans because there's JJ bashing in this story. So before you even think about reading this story, don't read this story at all or review about my portrayal of JJ's behavior if you readers aren't happy about me bashing her. I won't tolerate any reviews about JJ bashing because I'm dealing with mental health issues right now while dealing other medical problems that's requiring me to have a major surgery on February 4th. I'm writing JJ the way I am because of not liking her behavior towards Spencer during the first few minutes of the episode Ashley. I'm autistic and if you readers write any negative reviews about JJ's behavior that cause me to get upset, I will block you.
Spencer was sitting on the edge of six-year-old Piper's bed with five-year-old Ava on his lap when Piper looked at him.
"Daddy?" asked Piper.
"Yes, Goober?" asked Spencer.
"Do you like being uncle Aaron's co-unit chief while you get to teach profiling classes at Marbury University?" asked Piper.
Spencer nodded as he thought about the Director asking him if he was willing to teach profiling classes at Marbury University as a way to encourage academics like him to join the BAU and Olivia and Hotch giving him their blessing.
"I do because I'm able to figure out who would make good FBI agents or not someday and my students love it when I show new pictures of you girls and your brothers," said Spencer.
Piper grinned.
"Even though a lot of female students audit your class because of your looks?" asked Piper innocently.
Spencer's eyes went wide as he looked at his oldest daughter.
"How did you know that a lot of students audited my classes because of my looks?" asked Spencer.
"I heard mommy teasing you about looking like a hot professor causing a bunch of girls to audit your class like college aged boys did when mommy taught at Georgetown," said Piper before giggling, "Some of my friends from gymnastics told me that their mommies at gymnastics have a crush on you even though your married to mommy," said Piper while Ava giggled.
"There are a bunch of mommies at ballet who have crushes on you too, daddy," said Ava.
"Albert talked about mommies having crushes on you too," said Piper.
Spencer shook his head as he thought about how he, Olivia, and his former teammate and DJ's nanny Alex Blake decided to take turns on taking Piper to gymnastics, Ava to ballet, or Albert to soccer practice after he left the BAU over a year ago become Hotch's co-unit chief at White Collar Crimes.
"I thought that we wouldn't tell daddy about all the crushes your friends' single mommies have on daddy," said Olivia.
Spencer turned his head and looked at Olivia.
"Even though we've been together for over seven years, I'm never going to leave you until either of us join our parents in Heaven," said Spencer.
"Darn straight," said Olivia before looking at Piper and Ava, "Its time for you two young ladies to go to bed," said Olivia.
"Yes mommy," said Piper and Ava in unison.
Spencer stood up with Ava and carried her to her bed where the sheet and comforter were already pulled back and helped his daughter lay down before tucking her tightly into bed.
"Good night. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite," said Spencer as he and Olivia each gave Ava a kiss.
"Good night mommy and daddy," said Ava as she gave her mommy and daddy kisses.
"Good night, Ava," said Spencer and Olivia in unison.
As soon as Ava closed her eyes, Spencer and Olivia made their way to Piper who was already taking off her glasses and setting them onto the nightstand.
"Good night mommy. Good night daddy," said Piper as she gave her parents a kiss.
"Good night, Piper," said Spencer and Olivia in unison as they kissed their oldest daughter.
As soon as Piper was asleep and the girls' nightlight was turned on, Spencer and Olivia were leaving their daughters' room when Olivia looked at her husband.
"So we are we going to do before we get some sleep ourselves?" asked Olivia.
"I have some papers to grade and see if I have any e-mails from my students at Marbury," said Spencer.
"I should probably get started on my lesson plans because of school starting in two weeks," said Olivia.
"Even though my mother's been dead for over a year, are still going to have a swear word jar and the money that's put into the jar goes to the Alzheimer's Association?" asked Spencer.
Olivia nodded.
"Its one of my ways to honor the mother who helped bring you into my life," said Olivia as she kissed her husband.
Two hours later Spencer was still sitting in front of his laptop working on his next lesson plans for his next teaching stint when Olivia knocked on the open door of their home library.
"Shouldn't you get to bed because of having work tomorrow, Spencer?" asked Olivia.
Spencer looked up from his laptop.
"I'm almost done, Livy," said Spencer just as an alert for an email just went off causing Spencer to check his e-mail causing him to raise his eyebrows as he looked at the photo of a retired FBI agent with the message YOU'LL FIND THIS AT CONGRESS HEIGHTS, STOR-ALL, UNIT 299, "What the heck?" asked Spencer.
"Spencer?" asked Olivia.
"I just got a really strange e-mail," said Spencer as he whipped out his phone and called Hotch who answered on the second ring.
"Is everything OK?" asked Hotch.
"I just got a really strange email," said Spencer as he relayed the message he got to Hotch about a picture of Owen Quinn's badge.
"That's definitely strange," said Hotch.
"Would you mind me taking a few days away from White Collar Crimes to investigate?" asked Spencer.
"As long as you ask Prentiss for help because what you were just sent will need to be taken to the BAU," said Hotch.
"I promise," said Spencer before hanging up.
Over two hours later, Spencer was going through a storage unit with a bunch of SWAT agents before he approached a storage locker with the number 299 on it before a SWAT agent pushed a thin camera underneath the door before Spencer looked at a small screen that showed everything that was in the storage unit before seeing a wrapped up body causing him to look at the SWAT agent.
"Hold it," instructed Spencer.
The SWAT agent followed Spencer's instructions before Spencer spoke again.
"All right, hold it. Back up," instructed Spencer.
The SWAT agent followed Spencer's instructions before seeing what Spencer saw.
"We got a body," said the SWAT agent.
Spencer looked at the SWAT agents around him.
"Open it," ordered Spencer.
Another SWAT agent came forward with bolt cutters and cut the lock.
"It's cut," said the SWAT agent as he removed the lock before opening up the door.
Spencer followed the SWAT agent into the room with his flashlight shining on the body before he and the SWAT agent knelt down before the SWAT agent unwrapped the man's face before feeling for a pulse.
"Still warm. This kill is fresh," said the SWAT agent.
Spencer instantly recognized the man's face.
"Owen," said Spencer.
The SWAT agent looked at Spencer.
"You know this guy?" asked the SWAT agent.
Spencer quickly got up and stormed out of the storage unit.
Spencer was standing outside watching Owen's body be wheeled away when Emily joined him.
"Hey," said Emily.
Spencer turned around and looked at his former boss.
"We were too late," said Spencer grimly.
Emily decided to console Spencer.
"We tried. Now we need to tell your former team who will all be glad to see you again," said Emily just as they heard shouting.
"Get off me!" shouted Owen.
Spencer and Emily quickly ran towards where the commotion was and faced Owen who was holding a paramedic at knifepoint.
"Owen!" exclaimed Spencer.
Emily looked at Owen.
"Hold it. Hold it," soothed Emily.
Spencer looked at Owen.
"Owen, wait," said Spencer.
The SWAT captain looked at Owen.
"Drop your weapon!" ordered the SWAT captain as he started to point his gun at Owen.
Emily held up a hand and looked at the SWAT captain.
"No, no, no, no, no. This man is on the job," said Emily.
Spencer looked at Owen.
"FBI Special Agent Owen Quinn, badge number 2310-niner-5. Owen, look at me," ordered Spencer calmly.
Owen studied Spencer for a moment before recognizing Spencer.
"Reid?" asked Owen.
Spencer nodded before Owen instantly recognized the BAU's current unit chief.
"Prentiss?" asked Owen.
"Yes. You're safe now, Owen. You're home," said Emily.
Owen instantly let the paramedic go and looked at Spencer.
"How long?" asked Owen.
Spencer started to slowly make his way towards Owen.
"Don't worry about that right now. We need to make sure that you're OK," said Spencer.
"What year is it?" asked Owen.
"It's 2018," said Spencer.
Owen quickly tried to slash his own throat only for Spencer and Emily to quickly stop Owen from killing himself.
"No!" exclaimed Emily.
A few seconds later the knife dropped to the ground as Spencer and Emily both had their arms wrapped around Owen.
"You're safe now. You're safe," soothed Spencer.
"NO, I'M NOT! I'M NOT!" shouted Owen.
Spencer smiled at his former teammates as they entered the room.
"Hi guys," said Spencer.
"Spence," said JJ as she made her way over to Spencer and hugged him.
JJ released Spencer so Rossi could hug him.
"Have you decided to work for us full time again?" asked Rossi.
Spencer shook his head.
"I enjoy being Hotch's co-unit chief while I get teach profiling classes at Marbury University, but I don't think that Olivia and the kids would be pleased with me if I returned to you guys full-time because Piper was the one to request me to leave the BAU and you guys know that I'll do anything for my children," said Spencer as he accepted greetings from Luke.
"Hopefully Lisa and I will be able to have another double date with you and Olivia soon because Lisa adores Piper, Albert, Ava, and Daniel," said Luke.
Spencer softly chuckled.
"Lisa has already babysat the kids a few times so Livy and I can have a couple of date nights," said Spencer.
Emily looked at everyone.
"Let's work on this case before we have to return Spence to White Collar Crimes," said Emily as she pulled up a photo of Owen Quinn onto the monitor, "Who remembers this agent?" asked Emily.
Matt Simmons looked at the screen.
"I do not," said Matt.
Garcia looked at everyone.
"That's Agent Owen Quinn. He worked here until he quit a year ago," said Garcia.
Tara who remembered Owen looked at everyone.
"He worked in the Violent Crimes Apprehension Program on the 5th floor, but he aspired to be a profiler," said Tara.
"So, why'd he quit?" asked Matt.
"He was convinced there was an unsub we missed working up and down the northeast corridor. He named him The Strangler," said Luke.
"Naming the unsub. That's exactly what we don't do," said Matt.
"That wasn't his only mistake," said Rossi.
"Yeah, we reviewed his report. He started with a single victim a woman in Maryland who'd been strangled and had the hyoid bone at the front of her throat removed, but she was his only confirmed victim," said Tara.
Matt looked at everyone.
"Oh, one murder doesn't make you a serial killer," said Matt.
Tara nodded.
"Yeah, we told him that. So he started forcing missing persons into his victimology to fit his profile. In the end, five of his seven victims showed up alive and unharmed, two were inconclusive," said Tara.
"First sin of profiling. Trying to fit the evidence to match a theory," said Rossi.
Luke looked at Matt.
"Quinn took the criticism personally and quit, said he'd pursue the investigation on his own," said Luke.
"That's a little impulsive. So, how did we find him in the storage unit?" asked Matt.
Spencer looked at his former teammates as he knew that he needed to explain why he asked them for help.
"I got an e-mail," said Spencer.
JJ looked at Spencer.
"Got an e-mail? You hate e-mail," said JJ.
Spencer rolled his eyes.
"Even though I do hate e-mail, I'm still required to have an e-mail account because of working for the government and being a part-time college professor," said Spencer before becoming serious, "I was even more surprised when I saw that it was an anonymous sender. Garcia, can you put the message on the board?" asked Spencer.
Garcia followed Spencer's instructions causing Luke to look at the badge.
"That's Quinn's FBI ID badge. That's a big piece of bait. I mean, the unsub knows we have to take it," said Luke.
"Someone left us breadcrumbs to a former federal agent, who sure as hell looked dead. So did the unsub think he was dead when he left him there for us, or was he leaving us some kind of witness?" asked Matt.
"Or to put it another way, is this guy trying to help us or taunt us?" asked Rossi.
"Right now, Quinn has all the answers. Reid will interview him. Luke, Tara, go to the storage unit, see what you can uncover. Matt, JJ, I need you to reach out to his wife and son," said Emily.
Spencer looked at his former teammates.
"I really appreciate you guys agreeing to help me even though I'm now unit chief for another unit," said Spencer.
Rossi looked at Spencer.
"Even though we miss your insights, I'm glad you followed my suggestion about thinking about changing careers because my adopted grandchildren are getting older," said Rossi.
Spencer exited the bullpen and started to head to the interrogation room when JJ who was thinking about the secrets she kept about her forced transfer that took her to Afghanistan and Emily's situation with Ian Doyle decided to catch up with him.
"When it comes to this strange e-mail, do I need to worry?" asked JJ.
Spencer stopped walking and turned around to look at JJ.
"Whoever did this wanted me to find Quinn, and I needed to know why," said Spencer.
"Do you even know him that well?" asked JJ.
"No. I mean, I've seen him in the building occasionally, but that just made the whole thing weirder. So, I told Hotch that I needed an exigent circumstances exemption to the sabbatical. He made it happen so I could investigate as long as I asked Emily for help because this isn't a case that White Collar Crime agents would work on," said Spencer before walking away.
Spencer entered the interrogation room to find Owen sitting on the floor with his head in his hands as he mumbled to himself causing Spencer to walk over to Owen and crouch down the best he could despite his bad knee.
"Owen, you're in Quantico now. There are seven floors and 200 agents in this building alone. You are completely protected," said Spencer gently.
"Did you find The Strangler?" asked Owen.
"No, we didn't, but we found you," said Spencer gently.
"Then I'm not protected!" exclaimed Owen.
"Is that why you tried to kill yourself? It was that bad?" asked Spencer as Owen started to shake, "Tell me about your investigation. You found something. You found something that we missed. What was it?" asked Spencer gently.
"The news. He really liked the News," said Owen.
"Then, like newspapers?" asked Spencer.
Owen released his hands from his head.
"The News. New London. New Haven. Newark," said Owen as he made eye contact with Spencer, "That's where he hunted. I predicted he would hit New Rochelle next. He liked college bars. He liked hunting in them. So I hunted for him, and then and then she came up to me. She got my guard down, slipped something in my drink," snapped Owen.
"She? Then there's more than one of them?" asked Spencer.
Owen rested his head in his hands.
"Mm-hmm," said Owen.
"It was a team. It was a man and a woman?" asked Spencer.
"Mm-hmm," said Owen.
"Did you get their names?" asked Spencer.
Owen shook his head.
"You don't know how bad it was. From the moment I w-woke up in their house how bad," stuttered Owen before he had a flashback as he told Spencer what happened before he showed his burned fingertips, "That was just the beginning. I learned to survive by playing dead. I slowed down my heartbeat, my breathing. That was the only way I could get them to stop," said Owen as he rested his head in his hands.
Spencer thought about Owen playing dead a couple of hours ago.
"You got so good at it, you fooled us last night," said Spencer.
"And the boy Theo. His name is Theo. He would feed me sometimes," said Owen.
Spencer thought about how he keeps the work he brings home away from the kids and how he only told the kids little about his job.
"Why would the parents risk exposing their son to a captive like you?" asked Spencer.
"I don't know, I don't know. He just he fed me sometimes. He talked to me like I was human. I begged him to let me go, but he couldn't defy them. Oh, God. Oh, God God," cried Owen.
Spencer looked back towards the camera that sent live feed of him questioning Owen to his former teammates before he made his decision to tell Owen that he knows what's its like to be held captive.
"Have you ever heard of the Tobias Hankel case from over 11 years ago?" asked Spencer.
Owen nodded.
"An agent was abducted and tortured for a few days before he tricked the killer and killed him," said Owen.
"I was the agent who was abducted and held captive for two days. So I know what its like to wake up in Hell and wonder if I'll see my team or my mom ever again and eventually get married and have four kids with my wife," said Spencer.
"Do you work for the BAU anymore?" asked Owen.
Spencer shook his head.
"If you remembered hearing about my mom's death over a year ago, I left the BAU less than two months after my mom's death because my oldest daughter asked me to leave the BAU," said Spencer.
"What unit are you working in now?" asked Owen.
"I'm Agent Hotchner's co-unit chief for a White Collar Crimes task force here in Quantico," said Spencer.
"How old are your kids now?" asked Owen.
Spencer smiled a bit as he pulled a picture of his kids out of his pocket and showed Owen a picture of the kids.
"Piper is six, Albert and Ava are five, and Daniel is two," said Spencer.
"I remember when Shane was Albert's and Daniel's ages, so please cherish the time you have with your kids before they're 18 like my son," said Owen.
"That's why I left the BAU," said Spencer.
Spencer was sitting across from Owen when he looked at Owen.
"All right, Owen. I want you to paint me a picture, and I want you to just focus on the details OK, the mundane, the day-in and the day-out," said Spencer while Owen nodded, "It's gonna keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Did they keep you in the living room for the entire year?" asked Spencer.
"No. They moved me to the basement," said Owen.
Spencer thought about the shed that Hankel kept him captive in.
"All right, describe the basement," said Spencer.
"Cold. No windows. Echo-y because I screamed, screamed so much," said Owen.
Spencer thought about the sheep that Hankel killed to feed him.
"How did they feed you?" asked Spencer.
"Theo did," said Owen.
"Was there a toilet?" asked Spencer.
"There was a bucket. I knew a new day had begun when they would come downstairs and ask me the same questions," said Owen as he repeated the questions he was asked.
After Owen was done talking, Spencer got out of the chair he was sitting in and pushed the chair in hard causing Owen's head to shoot up as Spencer made eye contact with Owen.
"They were already getting away with murder. You're not a profiler. You were in ViCAP," said Spencer sternly.
"Maybe I had value as a hostage. I don't know," said Owen as he remembered the smell of the female unsub's perfume, "God, her perfume it almost choked me, it was so strong," said Owen.
Spencer thought about how Olivia's perfume always smelled like jasmine.
"Whose perfume? The wife's? What did it smell like?" asked Spencer.
Owen looked up at Spencer.
"I can't I can't describe it," said Owen.
Spencer decided to raise his voice.
"Owen, you just said it choked you. Why can't you describe it?" asked Spencer.
Owen looked at Spencer in shock.
"What, do you think I'm lying? Do you think I did this?" asked Owen.
Spencer decided to continue using the voice he was speaking in 10 seconds ago.
"No. You know what I think, Owen? I think that you haven't given me a single piece of evidence that validates your story," said Spencer.
"Evidence?" asked Owen as he held up his burned fingers, "Here's my evidence," yelled Owen.
Spencer sighed as he sat back down.
"All right. Theo. Theo. Their son. You said that he treated you like a human," said Spencer.
"Yes. He talked to me," said Owen.
"What did he talk to you about?" asked Spencer.
"College," said Owen.
Spencer thought about the part-time teaching he does at local colleges.
"Which one?" asked Spencer.
"I don't know," said Owen.
Spencer slammed one of his hands on the table.
"Is there anything that you do know?" asked Spencer.
"I asked him. He wouldn't tell me. Instead, he'd ask me questions about his coursework. How do you find an anchor point in a geoprofile? What's the difference between fixated and regressive typology? He was taking classes in profiling," said Owen.
Spencer squinted as he thought about the classes he taught at Marbury University as his way to encourage college students to think about working for the FBI when they finished college.
"Did he ask you about re-offense statistics for female sexual offenders?" asked Spencer.
"Yes! Exactly," said Owen before squinting a bit, "How'd you know that?" asked Owen.
"Because I taught it," said Spencer.
"Why are you teaching too?" asked Owen.
"When it comes to having over 13 and a half years of profiling on my belt, the Director asked me if I was willing to teach classes at a local university to encourage young college students to think about joining the FBI after I impressed a now deceased Agent Gideon at Cal-tech," said Spencer.
Spencer quickly walked into the conference room with Emily as he looked at Garcia.
"Theo was in my class at Marbury University. That's how he got my e-mail. I included it in the syllabus," said Spencer.
Garcia started to type.
"OK there are nine Theo and Theodores enrolled at Marbury. None of them are enrolled in your class," said Garcia as she looked at her former co-worker.
"Too much of a paper trail," said Spencer as he thought about all the students who audited his class and how Olivia teased him about young female college students auditing into his classes because of him being one of the youngest professors at Marbury at 36-years-old, "He was most likely just auditing," said Spencer before he had a flashback to one of his classes before seeing a picture of Theo on the monitor causing him to point at Theo, "Him," said Spencer.
Garcia quickly pulled up the information on Theo.
"Theo Holston. On it," said Garcia as she continued to type.
Emily looked at Spencer and Garcia.
"OK, guys, let's talk this through. We need to make this make sense," said Emily.
Spencer looked at Emily.
"Well, one theory is that Quinn has been the killer all along. Theo somehow trapped him, left him in the storage unit for me to find, and Quinn's post-traumatic decompensation act is just that it's an act. His behavior doesn't match someone who's been traumatized for a year," said Spencer.
"Or Quinn's telling the truth. Theo put him in there to frame him, probably under his parents' orders," said Emily.
Garcia stopped typing and looked at Spencer and Emily.
"OK. Theo Holston's parents are Jerry and Donna Holston," said Garcia as she pulled up two IDs, "Jerry is an insurance salesman, just got employee of the month. Donna's a housewife, no criminal record," said Garcia.
Spencer looked at the pictures of Donna and Jerry.
"Not exactly the psychopathic team that Quinn painted," said Spencer.
Emily sighed.
"Alexandria's a short drive," said Emily before thinking about Spencer not being a field agent anymore despite knowing that Spencer has kept up with his qualifications for when he consulted for the BAU, "Reid, I want you to stand down. Alvez and Simmons will lead on this," said Emily.
"OK," said Spencer.
"You're not going to argue?" asked Emily
"My bad knee is bothering me a bit today because of wrestling with Albert yesterday evening and I rarely miss the adrenaline of taking part in raids," smiled Spencer.
After having to deal with Owen accidentally attacking his own son and calling him Theo, Spencer stood in the conference room with his former teammates when Emily looked at them.
"OK, we all want a profile that explains everything, wraps everything up neatly, but we don't have that here. So, instead, I'd like to hear everyone's best theories, and we're gonna rebuild this case from the ground up," said Emily.
Matt looked at everyone.
"Well, Quinn as The Strangler still gets my vote. I mean, start with how he treated his wife. It's textbook precursor behavior," said Matt.
"OK, then when he worked here, he did his best to throw us off. And when he felt confident he could get away with it, he quit to kill with impunity," said Tara.
Luke looked at everyone.
"Until Theo caught him for us," said Luke.
"That's where I tap out. A 19-year-old kid gets the drop on an experienced FBI agent? The agent's also a serial killer who just killed the kid's parents?" asked Rossi as he shook his head, "No," said Rossi.
Emily looked at Rossi.
"So what's your theory, Rossi?" asked Emily.
"I don't have one," said Rossi.
Spencer looked at his former teammates.
"Let's consider this. Quinn just called his own son Theo. A classic example of parapraxis," said Spencer.
Tara nodded in agreement.
"A Freudian slip," said Tara.
"Literally defined as an unconscious wish or subdued desire. So, why, in the middle of an emotional reconnection with his own flesh and blood would he call out someone else's name?" asked Spencer as he thought about Piper, Albert, Ava, and Daniel being his own flesh and blood.
JJ who was thinking about Henry and Michael spoke up.
"He built a bond with Theo. That may be born from Stockholm syndrome?" asked JJ.
A sighing Emily looked at everyone.
"Could you all follow me, please?" asked Emily.
A minute later Spencer was looking at the agents from ViCAP before Emily looked at everyone.
"You all know the ViCAP team from the 5th floor? Once they heard about our investigation, they asked us to consider some new information about Quinn," said Emily as she looked at Agent Meadows, "Go ahead, Mary," said Emily.
Agent Meadows looked at everyone.
"We just we wanted to say we worked with Owen, side-by-side," said Agent Meadows before another agent interrupted.
"And he wasn't a killer. Eccentric, maybe obsessed, but not a killer," said the African American ViCAP agent.
"I sat next to him for three years. He was a dedicated public servant. He believed in what we did here," said another ViCAP agent.
Matt looked at the ViCAP agents.
"Well, if he was so dedicated to the FBI, then why did he quit?" asked Matt.
"He thought he could save lives. He couldn't just let The Strangler keep killing," said a female ViCAP agent.
"And the victims he thought he found, they were college-age kids, a little older than his own son. He couldn't stand the idea of those parents not knowing what happened to their child," said the African American ViCAP agent.
"You have to admit, the unsub's hunting ground New Haven, New Rochelle, New Brunswick He was right on," said the female ViCAP agent.
Agent Meadows looked at everyone
"And we get it. We're not the profilers. You are. But if he was a psychopath, we would have noticed," said Agent Meadows.
Emily looked at the group of ViCAP agents.
"Thank you," said Emily.
All four ViCAP agents nodded at Spencer, Emily, JJ, Tara, Luke, Matt, Rossi, and Garcia before walking away before Rossi looked at everyone.
"All right. Well, let's just say for the sake of argument we take Quinn's story at face value. What does that leave us with?" asked Rossi.
"Theo. Maybe he's not a killer, but he's involved and he's gone out of his way to stay off our radar," said Luke.
Spencer looked at Garcia.
"Garcia, look at Theo's classmates and focus on the name April," instructed Spencer as he watched his former technical analyst type on her tablet, "According to Quinn, that was his girlfriend's name. They may have met on campus," said Spencer.
Garcia looked at a picture of April.
"Hello, gorgeous. April Pearson took a linguistics class with Theo. She lives in an apartment just off-campus which she just moved out of," said Garcia.
Tara thought about the belongings she saw in the storage unit.
"Well, that would explain the additional belongings we found at the storage unit with Quinn," said Tara.
"OK, we need to find her," said Emily as she noticed her former subordinate and current equal in ranking walking away,
"Where are you going?" asked Emily.
"I need to talk to him," said Spencer angrily as he walked briskly towards the exit.
Spencer entered the interrogation room and looked at Owen.
"Where is April?" asked Spencer.
Owen looked up at Spencer.
"Who?" asked Owen.
Spencer slammed his hands on the interrogation table and looked down at Owen.
"Theo didn't just hide you. He hid her, too. Where is she?" demanded Spencer.
Owen looked up and noticed the anger blazing in Spencer's eyes.
"I had to," said Owen.
Spencer stood up to his full height.
"What you said about the perfume how it was so strong, it choked you-you weren't talking about the wife. You were talking about April," said Spencer.
Owen started explaining about his encounter with April and when he was finished talking about what happened he looked at Spencer who was now sitting down.
"The next thing I know, I woke up in the storage unit," said Owen.
"We found your captors dead in the basement. I think I know what happened," said Spencer as he explained what Theo might have done, "That's why Theo's in hiding from us. He killed his own parents," said Spencer just as there was a knock on the door as JJ entered causing him to look at his former team's youngest agent.
JJ looked at Spencer.
"Garcia just matched Jerry Holston's travel for work with abductions in New London, New Haven, and New Rochelle. The dates on the bones were a perfect match," said JJ.
Spencer turned back to Owen.
"You were telling us the truth the whole time, and Theo was giving us the evidence to prove it," said Spencer.
"Except Theo was raised by two psychopaths. And now that he's killed them," said JJ.
"Who knows what he's gonna do next," finished Spencer.
Spencer looked at Owen.
"Help me profile this. Let's start with April. Tell me everything you can about her," said Spencer.
"I can only tell you what Theo felt safe telling me. That was that young love, you know, the kind you only feel when you're 19 or 20. Made me wonder if I'd survive to see my son that happy," said Owen.
Spencer thought about how Olivia made him happy while showing him that there was a world outside of work while Piper, Albert, Ava, and Daniel helped him make up for the childhood he lost.
"That's why she was a threat to Theo's parents. She showed him that there was a world outside of their insanity. To do that, she," said Spencer before pausing.
Owen realized that Spencer was showing the face that meant that the wheels in his brain were turning.
"What?" asked Owen.
"When we found you in the storage unit, you were surrounded by her things. That tells me that Theo didn't just do this for you," said Spencer.
Owen nodded a bit.
"I suppose. I don't really know," said Owen.
"I mean, think about his state of mind right now. He has no resources, he has no place to go, except someplace where he knows he'll never be found," said Spencer.
Owen nodded at Spencer's reasoning.
"A place she showed him," said Owen.
"He saved her life. Now she's gonna save him," said Spencer as he quickly got out of his chair and left the interrogation room.
A few minutes later Spencer was looking at his former teammates.
"If they're on the run from some group that's hunting them, they wouldn't go to a place tied to his history," said Spencer.
Emily nodded in agreement.
"No. They'd go to a place tied to hers," said Emily before looking at Garcia, "Garcia, what direction was that train going?" asked Emily.
Garcia did some typing.
"Uh, the Blue Line south," said Garcia as she pulled up a map.
Spencer looked at Garcia.
"It terminates in Springfield. Look for any connection to her in that area. A second apartment, a family home. If you can't find anything, keep going south," said Spencer.
Garcia quickly found something.
"Booyah. April's grandfather owns a cabin on Lake Accotink," said Garcia as she pulled up an address.
Rossi looked at the map and looked at everyone.
"Good place to hide out from whoever's still after them. We can get to them first," said Rossi.
Spencer thought about how he uses logic to lead his team of White Collar Crime agent.
"We can, but we have to keep SWAT outside the door. Theo and April are paranoid, believing correctly that they're being hunted. We have to defuse them," said Spencer.
"What do you have in mind?" asked Emily.
Spencer started to explain what he wanted to do and Rossi smiled at him.
"Being unit chief suits you," said Rossi.
"Aaron said the same thing because there have been times that he'll take a few days off to spend time with Jack and come back to find out that I did a great job leading Agents Carter, Wilson, Clemmons, and Kaufman on my own," said Spencer.
"Are you sure that you don't want to lead this team?" asked Emily.
Spencer shook his head.
"Even though you guys were hoping that I would have agreed to lead this team, I prefer leading the team I'm currently leading," said Spencer before he left the room so he could get his Kevlar vest.
After breaking the lock, Spencer entered the cabin to find Theo pointing a gun at him while April stood by her boyfriend.
"Theo, it's me," said Spencer.
A relieved Theo looked at one of his professors.
"You got my message?" asked Theo as he lowered his gun.
Spencer slowly made his way towards Theo and April.
"I did, yes," said Spencer before motioning Owen to come in.
Owen slowly came into the cabin causing Theo to drop his gun and make his way to Owen.
"You made it!" exclaimed Theo as he hugged Agent Quinn.
After Theo broke out of his hug with Owen, April looked at her boyfriend's professor.
"Did you get them, all of them? That's the only way we're safe is if they're all gone," said April while Theo nodded.
A confused Spencer looked at Theo and April.
"All of whom?" asked Spencer.
April looked at Spencer with disbelief showing on her face.
"Oh, my God! You don't know," said April as she looked at her boyfriend, "Theo, they don't know!" exclaimed April.
Theo looked at Spencer.
"How could you not know? I left you all the clues in the storage unit," said Theo.
"We know your father was The Strangler and that he killed seven victims, and we know that your mother helped," said Spencer.
Theodore shook his head.
"No, no," said Theodore.
April looked at Spencer.
"How can you not see this? How could you miss this?" asked April.
Owen looked between Theo and April.
"What did we miss?" asked Owen.
"My father didn't kill them. He abducted them, and then he handed them over to The Messiah," exclaimed Theo.
A confused Spencer looked at Theo.
"The Messiah?" asked Spencer.
"And then The Messiah would kill them in front of us, his followers, to inspire us. Don't you see? This isn't one serial killer or a couple," cried Theo.
Spencer realized what The Messiah is.
"It's a cult," said Spencer.
April hugged her boyfriend.
"It's OK. Its OK," soothed April.
Spencer looked at Theo as he rode in the back of a SWAT truck with Owen, Theo, and April.
"Give me a sense of how big this cult is. How many people are in it?" asked Spencer.
Theo shook his head as he looked at his professor.
"I never saw more than a handful of 'em at a time. The faces always changed. That's how The Messiah liked it," said Theo.
"And this Messiah who is he?" asked Spencer.
"His name is Benjamin Merva," said Theo.
"And what about this group? What do they call themselves?" asked Spencer.
Theo stayed silent causing April to look at her boyfriend's professor.
"The Believers, because they believe they could inherit the Earth," said April.
Spencer looked at Owen.
"You know about any of this?" asked Spencer quietly.
"No. Nothing," said Owen before looking at Spencer, "Could you do something for me, when this is all over?" asked Owen.
Spencer nodded as Owen explained what he needed him to do.
As he finished working on his report in the conference room, Spencer dialed Olivia's cell phone number and a few seconds later Olivia answered the phone.
"Did you get everything resolved from that e-mail?" asked Olivia.
"Yes and after I talk to Agent Quinn's family I'll be coming home, Livy," said Spencer.
"I'll wait up for you," said Olivia.
Spencer looked at his watch and noticed that it was nearly 10 PM.
"Its most likely going to be midnight when I get home, Livy. So please go to bed," said Spencer.
"I know, but I really need to tell you something really important before we go to sleep," said Olivia.
"I'll be home as soon as possible," said Spencer.
"Drive safely and I love you," said Olivia.
"I promise and I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up.
A short while later Spencer was standing by JJ's desk when Emily who was leaning against the railing on the catwalk spoke up.
"May I have everyone's attention? Metro PD and the Bureau have been made aware of The Believers and possible activity following their leader's arrest, but taking Theo at his word," said Emily.
Matt looked at everyone.
"Well, we arrested three. There's probably more out there. But if they follow cult dynamics, they'll break down without The Messiah," said Matt.
Tara nodded.
"Typical cult. You think it's a cast of thousands when really it's just 4 wackos sitting around in the dark," said Tara.
Emily looked at her teammates and Spencer.
"I think we deserve some decompression time, and Rossi is kind enough to host," said Emily.
"And I have some top-shelf wine picked just for the occasion," said Rossi.
Garcia threw her hands in the arm.
"Yes!" cheered Garcia before becoming serious, "OK, I have to do a systems check. Please do not have too much fun without me. I will meet you all there," said Garcia.
Before Garcia could run off, Spencer looked at his former teammates.
"Thank you guys again for helping me out," said Spencer.
"Your welcome and if you ever need help with a case just call us, but you belong in White Collar Crimes now," said Emily.
"I know," said Spencer as Emily, Rossi, and Garcia all walked away.
JJ looked at Spencer.
"You coming?" asked JJ.
"Unfortunately, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it tonight. There's another family that could use my help right now," said Spencer.
JJ chuckled.
"Tell me not to worry," said JJ.
Spencer shook his head.
"I'm good. I'm really good and Livy decided to wait up for me," said Spencer.
"OK and please give my goddaughter a kiss from me when you get home," said JJ.
"I will," said Spencer just as his phone chimed causing him to see a text message, "There's a family that can use my help right now," said Spencer as he pulled JJ into a hug.
JJ thought about how Spencer gave Olivia and his children more hugs than everyone else.
"What's this for?" asked JJ.
"It's for all the times you worried about me. I never said thank you when I left the BAU a year ago. Thank you," nodded Spencer.
"You're welcome," said JJ.
Spencer walked away and headed towards the family room where Shane Quinn was waiting. When Spencer entered the family room, Shane looked at him.
"Is my dad coming?" asked Shane.
"He's finishing up his final debrief interview. I'll keep you company until he comes down," said Spencer.
"Can you tell me what happened to him now?" asked Shane.
Spencer sighed.
"First thing that you need to know is that your father is a hero," said Spencer.
Shane noticed Spencer's dinged up wedding band.
"Do you have kids?" asked Shane.
Spencer nodded.
"I have a six-year-old daughter, five-year-old fraternal twins, and a two-year-old son and I technically don't work for the BAU anymore because I'm a co-unit chief for a White Collar Crimes task force and a part-time college professor," said Spencer.
"And I assume the Theo my dad mentioned was the one to save my father?" asked Shane.
"Theo was one of the many students who audited my classes because he knew that I was a trusted adult that he could turn to for help," said Spencer.
As Spencer and Shane were waiting for Owen, Spencer's cell phone rang causing Spencer to see that it was JJ calling him as he answered his phone.
"Hey, JJ, what's up?" asked Spencer just a loud gunshot sounded through the building.
A shocked Shane looked at Spencer.
"What was that?" asked Shane.
Spencer quickly got up and looked at Shane.
"Stay here," ordered Spencer as he hung up and quickly ran out of the room and headed to the nearest staircase and ran down them the fast he could without re-injuring his bad knee.
A few minutes later Spencer had his revolver out as he entered the parking garage and a few seconds later Spencer found Owen standing up in an elevator clutching his abdomen.
"Put your hands up, Quinn!" ordered Spencer.
Owen let go of his gunshot wound and raised his hands into the air and walked towards him.
"What happened?" asked Spencer.
Owen thought about Agent Meadows.
"It's her," said Owen as Spencer helped him down to the ground.
"What?" asked Spencer as he crouched down.
"She's one of them," choked Owen just as they heard a female voice.
"Drop your gun, agent Reid," ordered Agent Meadows.
Spencer turned around and pointed his gun at Agent Meadows as he quickly realized that Agent Meadows was one of Benjamin Cyrus's followers along with Benjamin Merva.
"It's been you the whole time," said Spencer.
"Yes, it was. Quinn somehow figured it out first. Pity having to shoot him, but he can't give me what I want, and you can," sneered Agent Meadows.
Spencer instantly knew that he needed to play clueless.
"What's that?" asked Spencer.
"You and I are gonna go upstairs and free my messiah," said Agent Meadows.
"You're in the heart of the FBI. As soon as the rest of my former team figures out it's you, you'll be dead before you're out the door," said Spencer.
"Then we need to work quickly," said Agent Meadows.
"I'm not cooperating with you," said Spencer as he rose to his full height, "Might as well shoot me," said Spencer as he thought about how Olivia would castrate him for saying that.
"I have a better idea," said Agent Meadows as a car drove up causing Spencer's eyes to go wide as he saw Garcia sitting in the backseat of the car with her hands pressed against the window while a gun was held against her head, "Now, what's it gonna be? Because you can either join us, or she dies," sneered Agent Meadows.
Garcia looked at her former colleague.
"Spencer, just shoot her! Shoot her!" ordered Garcia.
Spencer lowered his gun.
"I'll follow your orders because I know that you're angry at me for going undercover at Benjamin Cyrus's ranch to bring down the Septarian Ranch," said Spencer.
"Good thinking because I was thinking about having some of my men go after your wife and four beautiful children," said Agent Meadows.
"Leave Olivia and my children alone," snapped Spencer as he started to formulate a plan to let his former teammates know why he's been targeted, "I'm so sorry, Olivia, Piper, Albert, Ava, and Daniel," thought Spencer.
A/N: I hate myself for ending this chapter here, but I didn't want this chapter to get too long. Thankfully I recorded the 300th episode to help me write in 300 in my Spencer/Olivia universe. Part two will be up as soon as possible!
