A/N: ffnets upload and formatting is really driving me crazy o.O

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Okay, sweet cheeks…" Garcia said. "I have to say, whoever's looking for you, they are like…. Super saiyajin top secret or something." She admitted and leaned back.

"So, you can´t find out?" Spencer asked worried, kneading a stuffed pink rhino in his hands. Garcia didn´t think he noticed even that he was doing that, which in her opinion, made it even more adorable.

"I´m not saying I can't. It might just take a bit of time." She said and reached for her phone. If she could just take one tiny little picture without Spencer noticing…

The ringing of Spencer's phone interrupted her plan and the young man looked confused at the animal in his hands, before placing it down on the couch and reaching for his phone. He glanced at the display and frowned, before pressing the call button.

"Reid." His voice sounded cool and professional and Garcia frowned as well, not bothering to hide her listening in.

"Yes, ma'am. May I enquire about Agent Hotchner's whereabouts? It´s usually him-"

The voice on the other side, a female voice, interrupted him. Even though Garcia did not understand what was said, she did notice the voice sounding sharp and loud and familiar.

After a moment, Spencer nodded, even though the other person wouldn´t be able to see it.

"Of course, ma'am. I´ll be there as fast as possible." He promised, before hanging up. Starring at the phone, he frowned again before looking to Garcia.

"Section Chief Strauss. She's calling me in. Immediately." He explained and if all of this didn´t leave a bad feeling in Garcia's guts already, now would have been the perfect moment to cross that line.

"She´s not calling for a mission." The hacker said, already sure of it and Spencer shook his head.

"I don´t think so. According to her, it doesn´t concern Hotch and she didn´t call you either."

"You are not going!" The currently redheaded technical analyst decided and Spencer quickly lifted his hands in defense.

"I can´t just not go. Strauss is Section Chief!" He almost squealed. However, Spencer himself didn´t look quite convinced of his own words either.

"Maybe you can call Hotch first. And Morgan. Oh, and Rossi. And-" A beeping sound from her laptop interrupted her. It took both of them two seconds to look to the laptop.

"Did you find something?" Spencer asked hopefully. Maybe the beeping was just announcing some program or another to be finished. Garcia's expression however turned dark and she shifted the office chair she had sat down when she started working back towards the desk.

"Someone-" She said and her tone turned offended. "Is accessing my working station. With admin rights."

Spencer blinked and shrugged. "So…."

"Soo…. They are trying to read my files and my programs." She snorted. "You´ll have to get up earlier for that, honey." Her fingers went to the keyboard and she started typing. "Not gonna happen, bitch." She grinned in sadistic glee and leaned back.

"Uhm… Garcia." Spencer interrupted and she shifted her chair back to him, looking like a cat that got the cream and the canary.

"I just trapped them in a honey pot black box. They won´t even notice they´re not really in the system for quite a bit. If at all. Amateurs." She huffed. Spencer doubted that whoever was sitting in front of her work station really was an amateur. But he or she was probably not prepared for an overprotective and paranoid hacker with way more skill than average.

"I´m pretty sure you´re not supposed to have a connection to the bureau workspace from here." He pointed out and she blinked.

"Oh. Yeah, well… I do." Grinning sheepishly, she turned back. "And I´ll do you one better." Typing rapidly, she pointed her sparkling and feathered pen at another monitor which just sprang to live. "I´ll get them right back." She said.

Spencer's jaw went slack as he saw the monitors display. Judging by the angle, it was the camera in her office and he could see two people in there. A man, typing rapidly on her keyboard while frowning and another man on the phone.

"What do you mean, you lost him?" the one on the phone hissed, before listening. Spencer flinched. He had been followed?

"Well, then you better hope he shows up. Stryker wants him secured asap." Looking at the man in front of the monitor, he frowned as well when he noticed the expression on the typing man's face.

"What´s wrong?"

"I- I´m not sure, Sir. I think this might not be the real workstation. I think it might be a virtual one, built to resist unauthorized access and lure attacker into thinking they might be in when they are not." He said and Garcia raised one eyebrow.

"Well… maybe not complete idiots." She said and returned to the keyboard. Spencer heard her chuckle the same moment, the man´s face lit up.

"What did you do?" He was almost afraid to ask. Garcia leaned back, smiling smugly.

"He found his way out. At least he thinks he did. You really thought I´d just put one layer in, didn't you?" The last words were directed to the man on the screen rather than Spencer and she shook her head in an almost pitying way. Spencer shifted his attention back to the screen.

"-stay there. He might return home before coming in. I want updates on the retraction teams we sent to the coworkers, the library and the park." He paused for moment and nodded. "Tell them to look out for him when they arrive. If he turns up at one of the places, capture immediate. If not, make sure to bring his team in. I want to question them." He ordered and Garcia and Reid listened horrified.

"Oh shoot." Garcia said impulsively.

Ethel Manser nee Reid was on her way to her therapist. Again.

She was tired of fighting with her husband. But two failed pregnancies had built a riff between them and it seemed that Keith was not as understanding as he had claimed to be.

Maybe she should have just not told him. It´s not as if she had a real gender change, her female parts had been there the whole time. And functional.

Still, she was unable to carry any child to term. Tears were starting to build in her eyes when she thought about her lost children. It was not fair. How had William been blessed enough to become a parent and she was denied a child? The idiot had thrown out that gift anyway!

She and Keith had looked into adoption but the social looked at Ethel's medical history quite closely and remained silent. Despite that, it had looked good. Until today, when the agency had called and some woman talked about personality crisis and how a child needed a steady mental environment. Keith didn´t even know yet and Ethel was afraid of telling him. Of the impact on her marriage.

Her phone was ringing and she picked it up.

"Hello Misses Manser, this is Linda." Her doctor´s assistant. "Doctor's Parker asked me to call you in order to inform you about new procedures regarding your treatment."

Her hormonal injections. Which she had cancelled. Too afraid of losing another child, she and her husband had decided to try fighting their way through the adoption process. Which, they were not going to win anytime soon. Sharp pain flared in her chest. Was it still not enough?

"What do you want?" She hissed.

"Ma'am, please calm down." Lisa said soothingly. "There is a new technology and only a few selected people can participate. We'd like to offer you-"

"Another failure? Doctor Parker said he would be able to help us and look what happened!" Ethel almost screamed.

"Ma'am, please." Now Linda sounded desperate. "It´s…. look. I´m not supposed to say, but…" She hesitated and Ethel reminded herself of the empathy and kindness Linda had shown towards them. It was not her fault.

"I´m sorry." She said and took a deep breath.

"It´s alright, Ma'am." Instantly, Lisa's voice turned soothing. "What I wanted to say, this new procedure…. Doctor Parker will tell you it´s due to his expertise, but to be honest, there´s a whole medical research center behind this. You´ve not only got Doctor Parker, but a team of highly specialized expert helping you."

That… hope flared in Lisa's chest. "And the price?" She asked, desperately thinking about her bank account which had suffered greatly from her medical bills.

"It´s covered by the center." Lisa said.

There had to be a catch. About to inquire further, Ethel opened her mouth, but Lisa already continued.

"I know, I know, it sounds too good to be true. But sometimes good things happen and I couldn´t think of anyone more deserving than you. And if you want to make sure, just let your brother look through the paperwork. He´s a lawyer, isn`t he?"

Again, tears were collecting in Ethel's eyes but this time not out of pain anymore. It was true. All of what Lisa said was true.

"Let me call you back, I need to talk with my husband first."

"We need to leave!" Spencer decided, ready to drag Garcia with him as he stood up quickly.

"Wha… wait!" Quickly, she unplugged her Laptop from the docking station und reached for a big messenger bag in which she stuffed it.

"Ok, ready." She sprinted through her living room past Spencer, who was picking up his own messenger bag from behind her couch and out of the door. Ready to follow her, Spencer barely managed to stop himself from slamming into the door she had hastily closed behind her.

At first, it threw him off, but in the moment he starred confused at the door, he could already hear voices through the thin wood.

"Penelope Garcia? I´m Agent Brooks with the FBI. We have a situation, you need to come with us."

Penelope blinked and adjusted her backs strap.

"Ah… I … yeah, sure. Just let me… I need to cancel my date and…"

"I´m afraid you have to call your date from within the bureau." The man said. "May I ask who you were meeting?"

"Ah, just… you know… a guy. I was hoping for a nice date and some ice cream… and…" Garcia stammered loudly. The male voice sighed.

"Ok, let's go. We can clear this up when we´re there."

Spencer listened carefully as their steps retreated. He did not believe for one second they would not search her flat and his mind quickly went through all the hiding places he knew within Garcia's flat and the possibilities of being found. Then he dashed into Garcia's bedroom throwing his messenger bag on a pile of Garcia's hand bags. Just as he was pulling himself up and crawled into the flat space between the ceiling Garcia's massive wardrobe, which took the whole wall in her bedroom, the door was already breaking.

"Living room – clear!" The first voice called out and Spencer held his breath as he scooted carefully closer to the wall. He couldn´t see the bedroom, but that also meant that the men wouldn't be able to see him.

Which didn't help him feeling anything less like a sitting duck, waiting to be found.

He may not be able to see them, but he heard them. Heard as someone burst through the door. The person paused at the entrance, probably for a first look around the room. From somewhere, somewhat was shouting "bathroom clear!"

Spencer gritted his teeth as he heard them rummage through Garcia's things without any consideration for her privacy. The legs of the bed were scratching along the floor and curtains were almost ripped from their hanger.

"Kitchen, clear!"

Spencer felt the wardrobe vibrate as someone threw the doors open and shifted through the space between the clothes. One section after another. It felt like forever until he heard the words.

"Bedroom, clear!"

"Study, clear!"

It took another few seconds until they were meeting in the living room again and the scratching sound of a radio unit.

"Subject's not here. Team 8 is heading to the next spot."

Tbc.

So, your thoughts? Should I continue or is this crap?

Yanwa