(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)

Sorry for the delay. I don't have an excuse, I've just been really slow with my updates alongside my revision.

Thank you guys for the reviews.

Please review on this chapter, some big things are about to happen.

Enjoy!


Spencer jolted awake to the sound Garcia and Emily's voices drifting under the door and he lept out of his blankets. He scratched the door and whined for their attention.

He also suddenly realised how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten for well over 32 hours.

The door opened sending him scrabbling under the bed.

"Hey, Hey, puppy. I didn't mean to frighten you," the dulcet tone of Garcia's voice wafted to his alert ears and he poked his nose out and glanced up.

Her eyes were still red and puffy, but she had a small smile gracing her lips.

"You must be hungry," she mumbled, rubbing a soft hand through his silky fur. He nodded in agreement and Garcia laughed. "You're pretty clever." Her smile fell as she was reminded of Spencer's intelligence. She stopped stroking him and wiped her face.

"It's not fair." She stood up and shuffled out, leaving the door open. Spencer cautiously padded out and saw a bowl of cat food on the floor. He hurried over and took a sniff, hopping back at the foul meaty smell wafting from it. Emily was watching him curiously.

"It's okay, Arthur, help yourself." Spencer looked back at the food and turned his nose up to it, pressing his backside into the floor and making sure his tail stopped wagging.

"I don't think he likes it."

Spencer peeked up at the voice when something dark caught his eye. A big black shadow loomed behind him and before he could jump out of the way a tallon jabbed into his unprotected puppy skin. He yelped helplessly and skittered back from the shadow.

"Sergio!" Emily cried, patting the cat on the back and causing him to glare up at her, before hissing at the puppy and digging into his food. Spencer watched with bated breath as the large cat tucked in, its narrowed eyes flicking back at the puppy every second or so.

"Don't mind him," Garcia cooed, picking the puppy up and setting him on the counter.

"Oh, come on, Pen. That's so unhygienic," Emily groaned.

"You sound just like Sp-" Garcia cut herself short her smile disappearing.

"Do you have any ham or meat or something?" Emily asked, changing the subject quickly before tears filled her own eyes.

Soon enough Spencer had his own makeshift meal on one of Garcia's purple plates, which he shamelessly licked clean. He was so absorbed in his meal that he didn't notice the girls pulling on their coats. He cocked his head as Emily laid out a piece of newspaper for him.

"What about Serg?" She asked and Garcia shrugged.

"He usually goes out through the window and lies in the sun all day." She looked down at the puppy and gave him her best attempt at a smile. "Be good, Arthur."

He watched them shut the door quietly and suddenly realised his mistake. He scampered to the door and began scratching on it wildly.

I have to be with my team, he thought, barking at the closed door. Sergio sized him up and seeing that he was of little threat he hopped out of the window.

Spencer looked from the door to the window and made a split second decision.


"I don't understand!" Hotch growled, slamming his fist into the table. Garcia didn't look up from the small pool of tears she was making on the roundtable.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Rossi mumbled simply. He looked away from the file Aaron had opened. Hotch delved into the file and yanked out the image of Spencer's dead body. He held it up in front of the Italian who looked away and swallowed thickly.

"Look at this, Dave! Look!" Rossi tore his eyes back to the image and his breath caught in his throat. The photo was a wide shot of the victim...Spencer. His shirt was torn and bloody revealing gaping wounds where a knife had bit into him. There was blood all around him, bathing him in its stickiness. His facial expression was unclear in the image, but his skin was an unearthly pale. "This has to be more than that!" Aaron snapped, ripping out another image and displaying it before the team, then another and another.

Morgan glanced down at the one that fell in front of him and his fists clenched unintentionally as tears threatened his well-preserved dignity. This photo was a close up of Spencer's face. Despite the trauma of the previous image, Reid appeared calm. His face had a serene look to it as if he was merely sleeping, however, the deathly whiteness of his skin disproved this theory. His eyes were closed, his long lashes glued shut forever. His mouth was slightly open, but not in fear. Morgan imagined Spencer closing his eyes and parting his lips to release one last breath into the world, before retreating into whatever came next. Morgan pushed the image away.

"Aaron, you have to accept that sometimes people don't have real reason. This guy just needed money an-" a knock on the conference room door cut Rossi short. Hotch gathered up the images before standing and unlocking it.

"What do you-" Aaron was lost for words when he saw the small puppy sat in Anderson's arms.

"Agent Hotchner. I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but a security guard gave me this little guy and said you were training him?" Anderson looked up at Hotch a little skeptically. "He said he found him wandering around the entrance." Hotch took the dog and received a grateful lick for his troubles. Spencer felt heat rush to his cheeks, stupid puppy instincts, he thought.

"I didn't know we had a dog training program here," Anderson added, rubbing his head.

"Uh...thanks," Hotch deadpanned and he went to shut the door when Anderson cleared his throat.

"Also, Sir, I just wanted to say...well, I'm sorry for your loss," he gulped and blinked rapidly. "Dr. Reid was a good agent. A good friend. We will all miss him," Anderson gave a curt nod and hurried off before Aaron could stutter out a reply. Hotch stood there for a moment, suddenly realising what an impact Reid had had on the whole department.

He turned back into the conference room and locked the door.

"Garcia."

Penelope's hands flew to her mouth and she rushed up to grab the dog.

"I don't know how he got here! I locked him in the apartment," she gasped, shaking her head at the puppy in bewilderment.

"He must have walked all the way here!" Emily's eyes widened.

"Yea right, I bet you snuck him in," Morgan snickered.

"No we didn't," Garcia snapped back harshly.

"Alright, easy, Mama."

"You're a persistent little mutt, aren't you," Rossi chuckled as he tickled the dog's ears. Mutt? Spencer thought. He drew back his head, proclaiming himself to be more than a mere mutt.

"He must have walked at least 10 miles," Aaron put in. Spencer closed his eyes tiredly. He had walked/run a fair distance, but he'd managed to sneak on a bus unseen for part of the trip. Even so, he felt fatigue weigh down on his small body and he nuzzled his face into Garcia's warm arms.

"I think he likes us," JJ said, Spencer noticed how little emotion there was in her voice, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he allowed Garcia's voice vibrations to lull him to sleep.


Spencer woke up to the sound of someone shouting. He found himself lay in Garcia's lap and so he poked his head over the table to see Morgan and Hotch having a standoff. His eyes widened and he glanced at the rest of the team who's faces had fresh tears running down them.

"-let him walk home!"

"I always do! When have you ever offered him a ride?!" Hotch snapped back, dodging Morgan's hands trying to push him back.

"Don't bring me into this! He always worked late; you were last to see him!" Spencer cowered into Garcia. They're arguing about me.

"Hotch couldn't have known..." Emily added shyly, gaining herself a glare from Morgan.

"Oh, well that's okay, then!" Morgan threw his hands up sarcastically before gritting his teeth again. "Spencer is dead because of this!"

"Calm down, Morgan," JJ yelled, putting her hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off angrily.

"I won't! Don't you understand tha-"

Spencer covered his ears with his paws and whimpered quietly. Garcia felt him tremble and ran her own quivering fingers through his golden brown fur.

This is a nightmare, she thought shaking her head and blocking out the angry shouts filling the room. Just a nightma-

They were all knocked from their thoughts and heated arguments when there was a loud and urgent bang on the door.

Hotch glanced at his team who looked back with equal confusion.

He marched up to the door and unlocked it. Anderson was stood on the other side, wringing his hands nervously. 3 officers stood behind him.

"What now, Anderson?" Hotch huffed in a defeated tone.

"They found the Unsub, Sir," Anderson motioned to the officers stood behind him, their faces serious but filled with pride.

"DNA matches this guy to the fingerprints left on the victim-"

"Dr. Reid," Anderson quickly corrected and Hotch felt his chest tighten.

"Sorry. We tracked him down to a block of apartments less than a mile from the scene. We're currently working on a confession down at the station, but he's our guy." Morgan was beside Hotch now, their argument forgotten.

"I want to speak to him."

"Agent you-" Hotch shook his head at the officer cutting him short.

"We will come to the station. I'd like to hear what he has to say." The officer looked from Morgan to Hotch and nodded slowly.

"I'm coming too!" Emily called.


They stood on the other side of the window looking in at a rough man who was muttering to himself as he scratched his unkempt hair.

An officer stepped in and sat opposite the man. He paused to look at the officer before scratching at his scalp again.

"Do you know why you're here, Mr. Rouch."

"S'pose its 'cus I mugged that guy," the man mumbled with a sigh.

"You killed SSA Dr. Spencer Reid," the officer replied in a rough voice.

"I was defending myself." The officer laid out several pictures of Spencer showing the wounds he'd suffered.

"This is not self defence. This is murder." The man turned his face away from the pictures and started chewing his grubby fingernails.

"S'pose."

Hotch was about ready to smash the window and strangle him.

"I need a detailed account of Thursday night."

"Did you say, Doctor? He looked too young to be a doctor."

"He was also too young to die, you motherfucker," Emily hissed staring at the man with nothing but contempt.

The officer started asking questions about what Mr. Rouch had been doing prior to the attack. Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss leaned in when they started talking about what happened.

"Why did you target agent Reid?" The man shrugged and continued to glance around absentmindedly.

"Dunno, he dressed smart and I thought he'd have a decent amount on him."

"What did you do after you got him in the alley?"

"I was gonna just hit him a few times, real good ones, knock him out or somin' like that and then take his wallet. But I show him my knife and that I mean real business and he goes for this gun he has on his belt," the man explained. Morgan's knuckles turned white. "And so I goes at him with the knife and I keep going 'till he stops fighting." The officer didn't say anything, he too was trying to control his anger.

"Then a got what I came for; his wallet."

"How much did you take?" The officer asked and the man leaned back and laughed. Morgan bolted for the door, but Aaron grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"He only had $23!" The officer had to turn away quickly, a surge of anger pulsating through him. "If you asks me, it wasn't worth it; I only got a few bottles from it." The man looked at the pale officer and smiled wickedly taking a deep confident breath.

"Then found his other wallet and saw he was with the FBI, that's when I got outta there."

"You'll get life for this," the officer growled and the man chuckled again. Suddenly, the door sprung open. The man laughed as a woman ran in.

"Is this your backup? God, I thought that kid was easy, but this-"

Crack.

The man's head snapped back painfully as Emily's fist connected with his nose.

"You son of a bitch!" She screeched, going in for another successful hit and watching as blood flowed down the man's unwashed face.

"Prentiss!" Morgan dragged her away as she kicked and screamed.

"-de hell!" The man cried nasally as he tried to staunch the bleeding.

"Oh, this is Dr Reid's team," the officer smiled calmly.

"How could you-how! He is-...was 28!" Emily screamed.

The man just stared at the team in shock. Morgan and Hotch were practically snarling at him.

"Everyone dies, sweetheart," he said.

Hotch was on him in a second drawing his gun and pinning him against the wall by his neck. His finger hovered teasingly over the bullet.

"I could put a fucking bullet in you," Hotch hissed. "I know where to cause the most pain before you die," he traced the gun over the man's neck who was shivering in fear.

"D-don-don't."

"But that would be too good for you," Hotch whispered.

"P-please," he begged and Hotch straightened up, holstering his weapon.

"You're pathetic." He grabbed Emily's arm and guided her out before she started sobbing. The man who killed Spencer gaped at Morgan, his lips trembling.

"Burn in hell," Morgan spat before following his team.


"$23!" Hotch bellowed and the team jumped up from their seats in the bullpen.

"Huh?" JJ mumbled.

"23 fucking dollars! That's all Reid had! Th-that man killed him for $23!" Rossi covered his face and fell back into his chair.

"Oh, why did you fight him, Kid. You should've just given him the money," he groaned.

"He said he-"

"Please," pleaded Garcia. "I don't want to know what Spence went through before he..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, but Morgan nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, baby girl. All you need to know is that we didn't leave without giving him something to remember us by."

"Shit, Morgan, what did you do?" JJ asked, wincing slightly.

"Not me!" Garcia, Emily, and Rossi looked expectantly at Hotch who shook his head

"It was Emily who landed a nice fist in his face," Morgan announced.

"Two actually," Emily smirked.

"Good," Garcia said darkly. They were silent for a moment before a quiet growl caught their attention.

"Garcia! We said you could keep the dog, but you have to watch him!" Hotch yelled, looking on at the puppy who was tearing into Reid's books. Morgan looked up to see the animal ripping pages and setting them on the table.

"NO!" He shouted, making Spencer jump and drop the book he'd been dismantling. "Bad dog!" Morgan yelled, smacking a hard hand down onto Spencer's backside. Spencer cried out in pain and scrambled off the table. He fell clumsily into the floor, with a painful thud. "Get here! Stupid animal!" Morgan went in for another hit and Spencer skittered back.

He darted away from Morgan, whimpering as he went and saw a tiny gap between Emily's desk and the floor. He nose dived into the gap and shimmied beneath it. He got halfway and saw Emily's heels and pushed further, but suddenly, he found himself stuck.

"Derek, stop!" Garcia shouted as Morgan marched up to the puppy who was squirming beneath Emily's desk. Garcia grabbed Morgan's hand before he could hit the dog again. "STOP!"

Morgan looked around at Garcia, then back at his hand and then at the trembling puppy, whose backside was sticking out from under the desk. He lowered his hand and slumped back into his desk.

"You terrified him, Morgan," Emily chided, looking under her desk at the shivering puppy, who was desperately trying to work his way through. "It's okay, Arthur. Calm down, boy," she reassured, holding a hand out for him to lick. He didn't and continued to struggle, panting wildly.

"Wait there, Em. I-I'll lift it and you pull him out," Morgan offered, rubbing the back of his head guiltily.

"You're not going to hit him again, are you?" JJ asked snidely and Morgan shook his head with sincerity.

"I'm sorry... I... there's no excuse, I'm just so angry and those are...were Reid's books," Morgan hung his head.

JJ bit her lip and looked down at the floor. The puppy began to mew weakly and Morgan maneuvered around the desk, lifting the corner carefully. Spencer popped and and bounded over to Emily, hiding behind her foot.

"It's okay, Arthur," she soothed, gently running a finger up his snout. He flinched away at first, but seeing the guilt in Morgan's eyes he forced himself to calm down.

"Uh, guys," Garcia called. She was staring down at the tattered book.

"There's no point in trying to salvage it, Garcia. Just throw it away," Rossi replied, but Garcia didn't move.

"What is it, baby girl?" Morgan asked, looking down at the pages.

"Do you see what I see?" She queried.

"Uh? Puppy saliva and ripped pages?"

"No! The words! The words, Morgan," she insisted, pointing to the desk where the puppy had laid down some tearings. "You can read that right?"

Block letters from the title page and the introduction had been torn and placed together to form the words 'Spencer'.

"Spencer?" Morgan read allowed. Spencer let out a loud bark which turned out to be a high pitched squeak. The team looked back at him and he wagged his tail eagerly.

"It's a sign," Garcia whispered. She looked up at the ceiling as if Spencer was watching over them. "He's still with us."

"You don't believe that crap, do you?" Morgan grumbled. He swept the ripped pages and what was left of the book into a trash can and Spencer yelped out.

"What is it, boy?" Emily asked the puppy sitting under her chair. Spencer glanced up at her, his eyes big and hopeful.

I have to do something, he thought. I'm so close.

A thought suddenly came to him. He remembered when Rossi had gotten bored of chess and had brought out a scrabble set from his cupboard. Spencer could recall everything about the set, from the fact it has two 'A's and 1'X' missing, to the year it was made, but he only needed to know where the set was.

"I hope he isn't always that yappy," Rossi grunted, scowling at the dog. Spencer closed his mouth quickly, stemming the bark he had been working on. He peeked up at Rossi's office and saw the door was ajar. He knew this could be his only chance.

Spencer jumped out from behind Emily's legs and before the team could react he was sprinting towards the steps.

"What's gotten into him?" JJ questioned wearily. Aaron sighed and followed the puppy slowly, getting ready to grab him; we really need to get him a leash, he thought.

Spencer saw Hotch making his way towards him and he pushed his small legs faster. He bounced up the first step then struggled up the next, all the while glancing back at his boss who was gaining on him.

"Arthur, come here, boy," Garcia called, but Spencer ignored her. He stumbled over the last step and scampered to Rossi's office, squeezing through the gap in the door. Hotch looked back at his team, many of whom were smiling at the cat and mouse chase.

"What are you doing, Aaron?! Catch him before he breaks something," chided Rossi who was already clambering up the stairs. He was about to open his office door when a crash resonated from within. "Oh, for god sake!" Rossi growled, ripping the door open and turning on the light.

The rest of the team were climbing the stairs to see the mess that the puppy had created.

A set of scrabble lay scattered across the floor and Spencer was nudging pieces together, quickly trying to form a sentence. The team watched the frenzied puppy attack the square letters and couldn't help smirking at the Italian who was looking on in dismay.

Spencer laid down his last tile and went to start another sentence when rough, warm hands lifted him away. No, no, no, he thought desperately, kicking his legs out through the air. Spencer did the only thing he could think of; with a deep breath he lunged around and bit Rossi's hand. Not too hard, but enough to shock the Italian.

"Son of a bitch," Rossi yelled, dropping the puppy. Spencer tried to land on his feet but ended up hitting his head and landing on his front leg at an angle. He whimpered, but stumbled back to the scrabble tiles and attempted to finish his sentence.

"Did it break the skin?" Hotch asked, giving Rossi's hand a quick glance. There were teeth marks and a small puncture wound that was no more than a scratch.

"We need to get rid of that thing," Morgan growled. He marched towards the puppy who stood defensively in front of the scrabble tiles. Morgan lent down to grab him but Spencer snarled, showing his small puppy teeth. He barked and lifted his paw menacingly.

"-the hell," Morgan Hissed, carefully leaning over the puppy and looking at the mess. He couldn't help his eyes reading over the letters and his mouth dropped open.

"What's wrong?" Garcia looked down at the letters and yelped suddenly.

It's Spencer. I'm still here.

The puppy looked up at his team hopefully as they gazed down at what he'd written. Please. Please. Please, he chanted.

"Spence?"


Yay! Has he gotten through to them?

Sorry if it seemed rushed, I wanted to get this done so I could update 'Like a Family.' If you're reading that I will try and get a chapter out tomorrow.

I'm sorry it took so long to write!

Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts!

Thank you all for reading!