A/N I'd like to warn (hopefully without giving too much away) that this is an emotional chapter.
Spencer had been preparing himself for this day starting a week ago. Rationally he was ready, but emotionally he was a wreck. His two weeks of time off was up and the next morning he would be back to work.
He rolled over and looked at the clock. His alarm would be going off in three hours and he knew he needed to get some rest, but instead he got out of bed for the tenth time that night and checked on Mutt.
The four-year-old was cocooned in his quilt, nothing but a bit of blond hair and one ear of a teddy bear visible. Spencer sighed, knowing that each time he went to check on the boy was only going to make leaving that morning harder.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
Mutt was just as nervous about spending the day with the nanny lady, but he didn't say anything. He was trying to hide how scared he was, knowing that Spencer needed him to be strong. Spencer had to go fight the bad guys and Mutt had to be good while he was gone.
Mutt ate his oatmeal slowly while Spencer got ready. The child was watching his guardian carefully and as soon as the adult left the room he slid out of his chair and grabbed the picture he had colored from where it was hidden among the art supplies. Mutt had been extra careful while coloring this particular picture. It was a yellow dog, like the ones on TV. Mutt had recently decided he wanted a yellow dog and his plan was to hide the picture in Spencer's bag. That way, when Spencer saw how nice the picture was, he might want a dog too.
Mutt quickly tucked the picture in with other papers and climbed back to his spot in front of his oatmeal and did his best to hide his smile. He just knew his plan was going to work.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
Reid was fumbling to get a proper knot in his tie while refilling Mutt's cup of apple juice when the nanny arrived. Even though getting himself ready to go and taking care of Mutt was proving to be a bit more challenging than he'd anticipated, he was still a bit disappointed. With the nanny there, he no longer had a reason to linger. Ms. Constance was an older African American woman with a spotless record and rave reviews from every family that had employed her.
He let her in and gave her the quick tour. As the tour drew to a close, he found himself rambling a bit. "He does well going to the bathroom on his own and he doesn't need much help getting dress. Except with buttons, he still has trouble with buttons. Please make sure he eats, sometimes he decides he doesn't want to. He gets very bad nightmares so please make sure his night light is on when he goes to bed and if he wakes up scared it helps to rub his back. If he's still having trouble sleeping, my contact information is on the refrigerator door. Call me for any reason, it doesn't matter."
Ms. Constance gave Reid a knowing smile. "Your boy is in good hands, Dr. Reid. You go on and do your work, he'll be here safe when you get back."
Spencer nodded and thanked the woman. She went to set her bags Spencer's room, where she would be staying until Reid had time to make room in his home library for a staff bedroom.
Mutt slid out of his chair and ran to hug Reid as he was grabbing his messenger bag and coat. Spencer knelt down and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth that always seemed to be emanating from Mutt's little body.
"How long will you be gone?" Mutt asked, his voice wavering a bit.
"I don't know, Mutt. Sometimes I have to travel and I might be gone for a few days. I'll call you to say good night if that happens. I promise I'll always come back."
Mutt gave Spencer another tight squeeze and they reluctantly parted.
::::::::::::::::::::::
Prentiss broke into a wide smile when Reid walked into the office. "Look at you, Reid," she said, laughing a bit as she pointed out the oatmeal smudge on his shoulder. "You look like you haven't slept at all."
"I'm starting to believe I had more separation anxiety than he did," Reid joked as he set his bag on his desk and wiped at the stain with a Kleenex.
"It always seems to work out that way," Hotch said as he passed them by on his way up to his office. "Glad to have you back, Reid."
Spencer pulled the files from his bag and one piece of paper fluttered to the ground. He picked it up and beamed at the picture of a dog colored yellow with a blue collar. He could tell that Mutt had spent a lot of time trying to color in the lines. At the bottom of the paper was a scrawled message 'Pleez' with an arrow pointing up to the dog. Spencer laughed and stared at the picture for a while before placing it in a frame, covering up his diploma for his B.A. in Sociology. Reid smiled at the picture again and then sighed as he headed to the break room for a cup of coffee. The coffee in the pot was lukewarm at best so he put it in the microwave for a short amount of time.
"Spence," J.J. said, her voice serious.
No further words were needed. Reid followed J.J. to the bullpen and tried to change his mindset from that of new father to profiler.
"For the past week, there have been a series of unusual murders in the area," J.J. began. "While there is no tangible link between the victims, local authorities are alarmed that the gruesome nature of the crimes and the very public dump sites." She turned and the image of a man in his early thirties in a business suit appeared on the monitor behind her. "This is Steven O'Connor. He's thirty-four and was last seen alive by his coworkers two weeks ago."
Prentiss dropped the papers in her hand and interrupted J.J.'s pitch. "I know him. I went on a few dates with him six months ago," she said.
The team exchanged looks and J.J. continued her presentation with a worried look on her face. "He was found last Monday with two bullet wounds and fourteen stab wounds, all to the abdominal area."
Prentiss squinted at the scene. "Is that Antonio's?"
J.J. nodded. "His body was located in the shrubbery outside of the restaurant."
"That's the place he took me on our first date," Prentiss said.
The apprehensive feeling in the room increased as J.J. moved on to the next victim. "Our second victim is a woman, Louisa Montoya, forty-nine. She was a food vendor-"
"Montoya's Tacos," Derek said in a low voice. "I go there every Tuesday for breakfast tacos before work."
No one voiced what they were all thinking and there was a blanket of silence before J.J. went on.
"She was found inside her food stand Wednesday, stabbed and raped. Cause of death was asphyxiation by the strings of her own apron.." J.J. pressed the button on the remote in her hand and before she could speak, Hotch revealed the identity of the third victim.
"That's Russell Smith, Jack's Little League baseball coach from last year," Hotch said, his expression stony and serious.
J.J. closed her eyes tightly and then continued. "He was found Thursday on the baseball diamond at Penncro Recreational Complex. Cause of death was blunt force trauma, though postmortem stab wounds are present. The weapon is believed to be a baseball bat." She changed the picture quickly. "Also found on Thursday was Richard Levy, fifty-three. He was shot twice in the head at close range, stabbed in the torso, and then hung from a street lamp outside of his law office."
Rossi squinted at the picture and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was my second wife's attorney."
They all looked around as J.J. prepared to reveal the next victim.
"The most recent victim was found on Saturday. Marci Holmes, twenty-one. She was a barista at Sweet Nectar coffee shop. She was stabbed to death and raped. Her body was dumped on the street in front of the shop she worked at."
Morgan sighed. "I think Sweet Nectar is Garcia's favorite spot."
There was a pause before Reid spoke up only to vocalize what they were all thinking. "I think its safe to say that each murder was committed to get our attention. The UnSub chose victims we all knew and dumped the bodies in places that had some sort of significance to us."
"That means he must have extensive knowledge of us. He targeted people we may not have seen in years, but would remember," Prentiss added.
"He doesn't seem to have a particular pattern for his kill and is able to dump the bodies in very public places without being discovered. He must be somehow inconspicuous and have a vehicle large enough to transport the bodies," Morgan said.
"Also, notice how each kill has an element of stabbing. The women were raped and all the victims were stabbed," Reid said.
Rossi nodded. "That could tell us a bit about his motivation. He may, in a way, be trying to penetrate through the bonds we have as colleagues. He's trying to get to us."
::::::::::::::::::::
Esther Constance slowly rose from the couch when there was a knock on the door. The young boy was nearly asleep on the floor, though she could see how with that loud TV going.
She peered through the peep hole and opened the door for the UPS man. "Good morning," she said with a smile.
"I have a package for Dr. Spencer Reid," the delivery man said. "I must give it specifically to him."
"He isn't home right now," Ms. Constance said.
"I have to give him this package," the man insisted.
Esther wondered if the boy was dim. "He isn't here," she repeated.
The man was now shoving past her. "Sir, there is a child in this home. Now, I told you he isn't here. Go on your way," she said.
The man threw down the package and drew out a knife.
::::::::::::::::::::
Penelope rushed into the room, breaking Reid's focus on the map. A geographical profile was useless, but they were finding themselves totally and completely stuck.
"J.J." Penelope said in a worried whisper. "Dr. Meadows was found dead this morning by her first appointment."
J.J. sunk down into the nearest chair. "Oh…she's Henry's pediatrician." The blond woman looked as if she might faint.
Reid shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was the last one remaining that hadn't been linked to a murder and therefore he knew he was next. He moved away from the map and sat at his desk, racking his brain for people in the area that needed to be warned.
He picked up the phone and called Rose Crispin, the caseworker that had helped him gain custody of Mutt. He was relieved to hear that she was fine. His relief was short lived as he saw two local policemen enter the BAU headquarters. He sprung to his feet and rushed over to them.
"Are you Dr. Spencer Reid?" the older and more dominant of the two asked.
Reid nodded. His throat was dry. "Yes," he managed to say.
"An elderly woman was found stabbed to death just now at your home."
Reid felt his legs go weak and he crashed back into Morgan. "The nanny…" Reid whispered. "My son, where is he?"
The officers exchanged looks. "No child was found at the scene."
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Garcia pulled Reid away from his map. He'd been staring at that thing for hours, as if hoping to find a solution there. "Reid, you need to rest," she said softly. "I have some broccoli cheddar soup I'd be willing to split with you."
Reid shook his head. His eyes were bloodshot and the dark circles were more vivid than usual. "I told him he was safe," Reid admitted.
Garcia felt the tears come on and did her best to hold them back. "We'll find your baby, don't worry."
::::::::::::::::::
Hotch sat across the table from the only one of Reid's neighbors that had been home during the attack. She was a middle aged woman, still in her exercise clothes from that morning.
"Ma'am, please, do your best to remember. Any mundane detail could make or break this case," he said professionally.
The woman leaned on the table. "Is it true? Is there a little boy missing?"
"Please, ma'am, focus on remembering."
The witness massaged her temples. "All I remember is a UPS truck sometime this morning. I might be mixed up though, I see those trucks all the time."
:::::::::::::::::
Mutt found that fear had left him speechless. The back of the truck was dark and loud. Tears were streaming down his face, but he remained unable to make a sound.
He wondered what would happen to him. He'd seen all the blood and was afraid. He remembered the deaths of all the children, just like him. Except not him. He was the one who didn't deserve to live, but he always saw the blood of the ones who did. He hoped that Spencer wouldn't be mad at him for the nanny lady dying. He really hadn't known. He'd just been watching his movie like he was supposed to. He hadn't done anything wrong.
The truck came to a stop and Mutt scrambled to try to hid in the furthest corner from the door as light slowly flooded the compartment. "No," he whispered.
The man grabbed him by the shoulder roughly and Mutt started whimper. A big hand covered his mouth so hard that it hurt. He felt his shorts go down and started screaming long before the man ever touched him. As he sobbed, he tried to ignore what was happening to him. He thought of Spencer coming to stop this bad guy. And Spencer would have a yellow dog. And the bad guy would go to jail. And Mutt would get to keep the yellow dog.
Inventing the story distracted Mutt enough that soon the worst of it was over and he'd hardly even felt how bad it hurt.
:::::::::::::::::::::
"Garcia," Hotch said as he purposefully walked into the room. "I know we're clutching at straws here, but my witness just talked about a UPS truck."
Prentiss perked up. "I think one of those trucks was mentioned by the woman that discovered the pediatrician."
Garcia raced to her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard before she had even settled into her seat. "What I'm hoping to do here is hack their fancy new GPS system that lets you trace your package. Essentially, it also allows them and now me to track to movements of every truck." A map with a jumbled mess of lines appeared on the screen. She pounded out a few more key strokes. "I'm running this map against the locations that the bodies were found and…" The computer beeped as it highlighted one route. "There's our guy."
Hotch rushed from the room, matched stride for stride by Reid with Prentiss trailing behind. He called the team to prepare.
"Reid, no," Hotch said, stopping the young profiler from suiting up in his Kevlar vest. "You're too emotionally involved. Rossi will stay here with you. The two of you need to complete the profile."
Reid gave Hotch a look that clearly told him how he felt about being left behind. "Bring him back," Reid said as Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss led the team out the doors.
::::::::::::::::::
Rossi and Reid stood behind Garcia, careful not to leer too much over her shoulders. "The driver of this truck is Rick Sanders," she said.
"I recognize him," Rossi said. "He sometimes delivers things here."
"He spent a lot of time around us and we never even noticed him," Reid added, determined to do his best to contribute.
Garcia pulled up more files. "His wife of ten years filed for divorce last spring," she said.
"That makes sense. She was a young woman and probably expected a more glamorous lifestyle than a delivery man could provide. Our UnSub must have suffered a break from reality. He possibly fantasized that he was part of the team, that delivering packages to us was his contribution."
"But of course, that's not a remarkable contribution," Reid said. "He must have felt insulted that we didn't invite him into our inner circle."
"It says here that he was given a pink slip last week," Garcia added.
"That was the last straw," Reid said. "He was losing his menial job and still hadn't been accepted by us. He decided to force his way in."
The phone in Garcia's office chirped. She pressed the speaker button and said, "Speak."
"Tell Reid we got him," Morgan said.
:::::::::::::::::::::
Reid stood anxiously by his desk and watched the doors. Morgan had informed them that Mutt was being looked at by paramedics in the ambulance on the way to headquarters.
The confrontation had gone quickly, Sanders panicked as soon as he saw law enforcement. Somehow in the fray, the UnSub had received a gunshot wound to the ankle, but no one was very interested in finding the culprit.
Reid sat down in his chair only to bolt upright the moment he saw Morgan appear with Mutt in his arms. Mutt squirmed his way out of Morgan's grip and, despite a pronounced limp, rain into Spencer's arms.
Spencer lifted the boy and held him, scanning him for any obvious signs of injury. Physically, the boy was unharmed compared to what could have happened, but Spencer knew that there would be severe repercussions to the boy's emotional state. At the moment though, all that mattered was that Reid had his son back.
::::::::::::::::::
Mutt was crying softly into Spencer's shoulder and refused to let go for nearly an hour. His fingers gathered as much of Spencer's shirt as he could hold. He never wanted to be let go again, he thought. He was so relieved that Spencer's friends had come to save him. He knew that Spencer had sent them.
Spencer was rubbing Mutt's back and it felt nice, especially in contrast to what the bad man had done. Mutt hoped this would be the last time anyone hurt him, but he dreaded being wrong. He knew now, though, that whenever the bad men came, Spencer and his friends would come to the rescue.
"Mutt, you need to tell one of my friends what happened before you forget," Spencer said softly for the second time.
"Why can't I jus' tell you?" Mutt asked softly.
"Because the judges know that I don't like that man that took you and if I write down your story, they might think I made it up."
"You wouldn' do that," Mutt said, indignation clear though is voice was hoarse.
"I know, but we have to follow the rules so everything is fair," Spencer said. "After you tell your story, we can go to a nice hotel and have them bring us food right there in the room."
Mutt sniffled. "Daddy, can you be there with me?"
::::::::::::::::::
Spencer's heart nearly stopped when Mutt called him that. He held the boy tightly and struggled to mask his strong emotional reaction. "I can."
Spencer carried Mutt to J.J.'s office and somehow managed to hold his emotions in check as Mutt told a story that began with, "The bad man hurt me…"
