He made it. Barely. The team was climbing the stairs to their jet when he arrived, running with his bag to join his partners.

Derrick Morgan smiled when he saw his friend. "Hey! You made it! Man, you look like hell."

Reid scowled at him as he made his way to the back of the plane to stow his gear. "I spent half the night in an airport and got home in barely enough time to pack."

Morgan shrugged. "You could have met us there"

At that Reid flashed him a tired smile. "What, and miss all this?"

"Reid, Morgan," called their boss Aaron Hotchner. "Let's get started."

Reid sat next to David Rossi and Hotch and Prentiss sat in facing chairs while Morgan made himself comfortable across the aisle. "Where's JJ?" Reid asked about their missing agent.

"She's too far along in her pregnancy to fly," Hotch answered. "You'll just have to deal with me." He handed Reid his copy of the case file while the others took theirs out. He went over it for his youngest agent's benefit. "We have three women ranging from 25 to 40 who appeared to have been stabbed to death."

Reid frowned at the pictures as he took a closer look, ignoring the gory mess to study the other details in the frame. "What are they wearing?"

Prentiss responded. "They were wrapped in those when they were found. It's a torn sheet."

His eyes connected with hers. "Torn or cut?"

"Torn."

Rossi shifted in his seat. "Those are some thick sheets. Look," he pointed, "you can't see any part of the body through it no matter where the lighting is. Takes a lot of force to rip something like that."

"Or rage," Morgan added.

Rossi nodded in agreement. "I'd like to see this material."

Reid furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Have they determined if these sheets belonged to these victims?"

Hotch shook his head. "White sheets are often common, Reid."

Reid skimmed the reports with his usual speed. After he was done he leaned his head back and rubbed his tired eyes while he thought. "All I can see these women have in common were that they were all married and their husbands were supposedly absent the night of the murders. That certainly narrows down the list of next possible victims."

Hotch grimaced. "That's exactly why we've been called in. Thoughts of women being killed inside their homes isn't exactly inspiring confidence in the keepers of the law."

Prentiss smirked. "Let me guess, election year."

Hotch gave her a small smile. "You got it."

The team hypothesized for the next twenty minutes or so before Hotch ended the powwow for his agents to take the last moments of the flight to relax- the last they would have until the UNSUB or UNSUBs were apprehended.

They each spread out in their normal fashion, Reid heading to the back to get some much needed restoring of calm after dealing with his mother and much of the general public.

After trying for several minutes to succumb to slumber he decided to give up the pretense and stare at the passing clouds from the window. There was something in those photos. Something he felt he was missing....

A soft sound alerted him someone had joined him. A faint scent of perfume told him who it was.

Emily sat across from him, smiling as she gently punched him knee. "You helped me win a bet against Morgan by making it here on time, Reid. He had already started to gloat when you arrived."

Reid's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You guys bet on me?"

"Absolutely."

He rubbed his knee, more out of thought than actual pain. "What would you've done if you lost?"

"I would have hit you harder." She leaned in and patted his hand." Cheer up, Spencer. Now, Morgan has to take us to dinner of our choosing. Know any place expensive?" she asked with an evil grin.

He chuckled. "Actually there's a place I've been wanting to go. Gideon took me there when I was first accepted into the BAU. I've just never had an opportunity to go back."

"Perfect," she said as she rubbed her hands together deviously. "I can't wait until we get home and tell Agent Morgan." She paused, unsure how to continue. Her eyes connected with his warm ones and she blurted out the question on her mind. "How's your mom?" She held a bated breath as she waited for his answer. Previously that subject had been taboo, Reid even keeping Diana a secret from the team for some time. Lately, however, he had been opening up more and she was happy to listen. She just didn't want to push him too far.

Reid looked out of the window again. Just when Emily thought he wasn't going to answer he turned back to her. "Like any other person she has her good days and her bad days. Hers are just exaggerated." He sighed. "Yesterday was a bad day."

Emily impulsively put his nearest hand in hers. "Spence, I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I've dealt with this before. Her doctor is confident new treatment may be beneficial."

She nodded. "What do you think?"

Reid looked at their joined hands, squeezing hers slightly to thank her for the support. "I think it's a horrible disease that turned a woman who happily used her brilliant mind and enjoyed learning new things to someone not comfortable outside of her own skin." He leaned forward and dropped his voice. "Emily, she was around my age when her symptoms started."

A look of concern flashed on her face. "You think you'll end up like your mother," she stated.

Reid flushed slightly. "Wouldn't you?"

"What are the odds?"

"One in ten children of a parent who is diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibits signs of the disease."

Prentiss smiled at him to try to remove the gloomy look on his face. "How about the statistics that a schizophrenic parent will produce an exceptionally intelligent offspring?"

His childlike confusion was adorable. "What do you mean?"

Her smile widened. "I have a friend who is a detective in New York. Her partner's mother was schizophrenic and he is brilliant. Not a genius like you but smarter than most. And he's in his forties with no symptoms."

He quirked an eyebrow up. "Are you trying to appeal to my egotistical side to cheer me up, Agent Prentiss?"

She laughed. "That depends on if it's working, Dr. Reid."

Morgan plunked down beside Prentiss with a smirk. "What kind of Kumbaya junk are you guys getting into back here?"

She patted Reid's hand before releasing it. "We were discussing the Super Bowl. I was consoling Spencer on his team of choice.

Morgan made a face. "Reid, what do you know about football?"

"Oh, boy," Emily said under her breath.

Reid didn't seem to hear. "American football? You've got two sides- offense and defense, four chances to get the ball ten yards. The goal is to score points with touchdowns and field goals."

Morgan raised his eyebrows. "Thank you, John Madden," he said.

"Did you know," Reid continued, "they attribute the beginning of the way American football is played to a rugby match in 1823 in which a player by the name of William Web Ellis broke the rules by picking up the ball and running it in to score. They started playing a form of the game in colleges and once they tweaked the rules some it became the sport it is today."

Morgan glanced at Prentiss. "What just happened?"

"You just asked Dr. Spencer Reid, a man with the ability to remember and comprehend everything, what he knew about something."

"Remind me to never do that again."

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have to."