The Black Widow
By Perfection, Inc

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, any of the characters, or responsibility to not disappoint any fans. This story takes place after JJ leaves, but before Prentiss is gone.

Chapter 1

The air outside the hotel was warm, but it was accompanied by a cool breeze. Spencer Reid was enjoying the short walk from the hotel to the diner down the street. Morgan had really pissed him off. He never should have said that to Reid, let alone in the middle of a crowded police station. He shook off his anger and focused on why they were there. This case was bugging him and he wanted some fresh coffee and pie to think things over.

The diner was fairly empty, which didn't surprise Reid, it was well after midnight. He placed himself in a booth.

"Agent Reid," The waitress greeted him. "What brings you out so late?"

"Coffee and pie," he smiled back. They chatted back and forth for a bit about how warm a night it was; an unusual occurrence for this time of year. She brought him a slice of chess pie and a coffee.

He ran through the case files again as she filled cup after cup of coffee. There had been 8 victims in the last 2 months. No one pegged it as a serial killer right away; each victim has died in different locations from an apparent black widow bite, not uncommon for the area. It wasn't until someone noticed the victims had been only white men in their 40's that had died from the same spider bite that shot up the red flags to the local PD. With a little digging by Garcia it also turns out most of them had a history or sexual assault, although most of them had gotten away with it. Reid jumped when the waitress sat down across from him.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Reid quickly began gathering up the files. "It's alright Olivia." He replied. "I guess that's what I get for drinking so much coffee." They sat in silence for a minute, making Reid realize they were now the only 2 left in the restaurant.

"Can I ask you something?" Her eyes studied him.

"Sure," he drained the last bit of coffee out of his cup.

It took her a moment, as if she were gathering her thought. "What do you think will happen when you catch the killer?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"I guess I mean to ask what will happen to the killer when they get caught."

"Well," Reid sighed. "That depends."

"On what?" She leaned forward.

"On a lot of things," Reid answered honestly. "Some of the unsubs we catch go to jail, some go to a hospital where they get the help they need and some …" He hesitated. "Some die in the end."

She seemed to consider this information before she asked another question.

"Do they all have a good reason for doing it?" She asked.

"For killing?" Reid watched her. She simply nodded.

"Most of them have reasons for what led them to kill, but I don't really know what to consider a 'good' reason to take someone's life."

She licked her lips. "This killer, here," She looked around. "I mean what if she had a really good reason for doing it?"

Reid took a deep breath, feeling the hairs on his neck stand on end. He asked his next question with caution. "What makes you think the killer is a 'she'?"

"What?" She looked startled.

"You said 'what if she had a really good reason'…" Reid's hand rested on his leg, niches from his gun.

"No I didn't." She protested.

"Yes you did, I have an eidetic memory remember?" Reid explained. She closed her eyes and sighed. She laid her hand on the table.

"I…"She faltered, tears began to appear in her eyes. Reid watched her as her eyes darted back and forth as she seems to be truly conflicted. "I can't fell this way anymore. I can't stop myself." Her eyes started right through him as she whispered, "It's me. I'm the killer."

Reid carefully planned what he was going to say next, not sure what she was about to do. "Listen, I am not going to judge you for what you did." She wiped away a tear as it streamed down her face. "If you really did kill those men, I need you to come with me to the police station." Reid wished he had brought his hand cuffs, but at least he had his gun. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it.

"I did it because…" Her voice caught in her throat. "I just… I feel…I don't know…" She couldn't finish a sentence. "Please help me."

Reid slowly rose to his feet; she wrapped her arms around herself. "Please, come with me," he extended his hand to her. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said when she seemed to shrink away from him, "but I need you to come with me."

"What is going to happen to me?" She whispered through her tears.

"I am going to get you some help." Reid inched closer to her. "Look, I understand that those men did some terrible things. I won't let anyone hurt you again. I promise."

She slowly took his hand and stood. He let her calm down for a minute, then he spoke softly. "Just walk slowly." She nodded as he led her out of the diner and into the warm night air.

They had only made it a short distance before Reid heard movement behind them and then everything went black.

Morgan knocked on the hotel room door, again but there was still no answer. "Come on Reid, open up!" He pounded on the door with a little more force.

"Morgan?" Hotch approached. "What's going on?"

"It's Reid, he won't open his door and I can't get him to answer his phone." Morgan replied.

Hotch studied him. "I know things got heated last night, but we can't deal with that right now. We have only a small window before this killer will strike again."

"I know Hotch," Morgan voice was sharp. "I know that. He knows that, but he won't answer me."

"You head to the police station, I am going to get the key from the front desk and I will deal with him." Hotch ordered.

"Look…" Morgan began.

"Morgan, go." Hotch replied sternly. "I will deal with him." Morgan huffed away as Hotch made his way to the front desk.

"Hello," the desk clerk greeted him. "What can I do for you this morning?"

"Yes," Hotch flashed his badge. "I'm SSA Hotchner and I need the key to room 7." The desk clerk studied him for a moment then produced the key. "Thank you."

"Reid?" Hotch entered the room. "Reid," he called again, but the room was empty. The first thing Hotch noticed was that the bed had not been slept in. The second thing he noticed was Reid had left his message bag on the bed. Hotch didn't even think before he dumped the contents of the bag on the bed. There was a book on managing migraines, a pair of sunglasses, his cell phone, other odd and ends, and then he found what he was looking for, a bottle of pills. Hotch studied the label and it surprised him. Hotch pocketed the prescription bottle and placed everything else back in the bag.

Hotch made his way back to the front desk and returned the key. "The man that is staying in room 7 is one of my agents. Did you see him?"

"Not today," the man answered. "He came and went last night."

"What time was that? Hotch asked.

Morgan found Prentiss and Seaver seated at a desk in the middle of the police station. Rossi stood studying the board that was covered with crime scene photos. "Good morning," Prentiss said, not even looking up from the file she was reading.

"Where's Reid?" Seaver asked.

"I don't know," Morgan replied seating himself at the table. "He wouldn't answer his door this morning."

Rossi turned away from the board, "He might just want some space. We did kind of accuse him last night."

"Wait," Emily chimed in. "What?"

Morgan sighed, "Look, I may have asked Reid if he was…on something." He rubbed his hand over his face roughly.

"You what?" Emily threw her file on the table. "How on earth did you think that was a good idea?"

"What are you talking about?" Seaver asked.

"Look," Morgan tried to defend himself, completely ignoring Seaver's confused looks, "We were talking last night and things just went down that road. Don't tell me you haven't noticed his moods lately, his disheveled appearance. I've been waiting to find a time to ask him since Miami. We all care about him too much for us to let him do that to himself, again."

Prentiss was about to speak when Hotch entered the room. "Reid's gone." Hotch announced. "The desk clerk said he left his room a bit before 1:00am. Morgan and Prentiss I want you to head west and Rossi and I will take east. He couldn't have gone far and someone must have seen him. Seaver, you stay here in case he comes here. Meet back here in 15 minutes and call me if you find anything."

"He could just be out for a walk," Seaver suggested.

"We've been in this situation before," Hotch looked at his team, "I'm not taking that chance."

With that the team was gone, leaving Seaver alone in the middle of the police station.