Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to Chermayne, Hippichic81, and OhSnapItsMadison for reviewing chapter 9.
I had enough packing done (I only have to finish emptying my bedroom closet since I started it earlier this month)causing me to award myself by working on this chapter since I'm not moving until this Friday, so here's the first part that deals with Entropy.
This chapter starts on January 10th an hour after the entire Reid family, Gordon, and Ethel arrive in DC, and I decided to name Diana's new doctor after the veterinarian who has been taking care of my late charcoal lab Cleatus and my two other dogs who are still alive Rootbeer (She's a nine year old female chocolate lab) and two year old Zoey (The puppy in the avatar photo for this story).
Spencer looked at his mom as she looked around her new room that was decorated just like her old room at Bennington.
"What do you think of your new room?" asked Spencer as he helped his mom unpack the last of her belongings.
"It's OK, but I know that I will need to get used to having a new room since I'm doing this for you, Olivia, and the kids." said Diana as a nurse entered the room.
"My name is Cassie Campbell and I will be one of the nurses who will be in charge of your care during the daytime." said Cassie as she looked at Diana.
Spencer looked at Cassie.
"I'm Diana's son, Dr. Spencer Reid, and after my mom gets into a routine here you will be meeting my 30 week pregnant wife Olivia and our three kids, Piper who's three and a half years old and Albert and Ava who are two and a half year old fraternal twins." said Spencer as he pointed at a picture on his nightstand that was taken during Christmas.
Cassie looked at the picture and noticed a pregnant young woman who looked around 31 or 32, a little girl who looked like she was three years old, and a boy and a girl who were the same age.
"They're beautiful and Albert looks just like you while Piper is a perfect mixture of you and your wife, and what's the gender of your fourth child?" asked Cassie.
"We're having a boy who's going to be named Daniel." said Spencer as he yawned causing Diana to look at her son.
"You should head home, Spencer, because I recall you mentioning that you have to go back to work tomorrow." said Diana.
"What do you do?" asked Cassie.
"I work for the FBI's Behavioral Analyst Unit down in Quantico, Virginia." said Spencer as he started giving Cassie a brief explanation about what he does and when he was finished he looked at Cassie, "If I can't be reached you and Dr. Hauser can contact my dad or Olivia since they're on the approved list of people who can make decisions when I'm unreachable."
"Good to know, and I agree with your mom that you should head home." said Cassie.
"We were on the road for the past three days since we drove from Las Vegas." said Spencer before he hugged his mom goodbye.
An hour later Spencer was getting ready for bed when he looked at his now 30 week pregnant wife.
"With me heading back to work tomorrow, I'm going to head over to Morgan's and Savannah's since Savannah has information that I requested." said Spencer.
"William will take me to my doctor appointment tomorrow before we go grocery shopping, and please thank JJ for cleaning and stocking up our kitchen a bit." said Olivia.
"I will." said Spencer.
A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were fast asleep in their bed.
The next morning at breakfast Piper looked at her daddy.
"When can I see grandma?" asked Piper.
"Soon, Goober, since she needs a couple of days to settle in, and maybe if she's having a good day next Monday we will see if she can come to gymnastics." said Spencer.
"OK." beamed Piper.
Spencer looked at his aunt and uncle.
"How long are you two staying in town for?" asked Spencer.
"Just until Sunday, since I want to stock up your fridge and freezer with home cooked meals to pop into the oven." said Ethel.
"You don't have to, Ethel." said Olivia.
"You're 30 weeks pregnant, Olivia, and you're going to be seeing your doctor biweekly now so pretty soon you're going to be ordered to stay off your feet more often." said Ethel.
Spencer smiled at his aunt.
"Thanks, aunt Ethel." said Spencer.
Olivia glared at her husband.
"It's a good thing you're going back to work today and going to continue working until Daniel is born." said Olivia as she groaned when she felt Daniel kick.
William looked at his son.
"I will make sure that Olivia takes it easy, son." said William.
"Thanks, dad." said Spencer as he smirked at his wife who decided to throw a biscuit that Ethel baked at Spencer's head, causing everyone but Spencer to laugh before they decided to focus on eating breakfast so Spencer could catch the train that would take him to Morgan's.
30 minutes later Spencer was standing in a park, watching a mother push her son on the swing as he thought about how his mom used to push him on the swing while thinking about the times he pushed Piper, Albert, and Ava on the swing.
"Higher, mommy, higher!" shouted the young boy.
"Careful, sweetheart." said the mother.
"Higher, mommy, higher!" shouted the boy.
A few seconds later Spencer knew that he needed to head over to Morgan's, and a few minutes later he was ringing the doorbell and Savannah opened the door.
"Hey, you!" said Savannah.
Hi." said a smiling Spencer as he waved.
"Welcome back. Come in." said Savannah.
Spencer stepped into the house.
"Thank you." said Spencer as Savannah closed the door.
"I know you're not a huge fan of physical contact unless it's your team, Olivia, your parents, and the kids. I don't care." said Savannah as she pulled Spencer into a hug, causing him to laugh just as Morgan entered the room.
"Hey, get your greasy hands off my girl since you have your own wife to put your hands on. Nice to have you, Olivia, and the kids home, kid." said Morgan as he tried to give Spencer a fist bump that Spencer chose to fail on purpose.
"Good to be back, and the kids can't wait to see you." said Spencer.
Morgan and Savannah laughed.
"Let me get my stuff." said Morgan as he walked away, allowing Savannah to grab what he asked for.
Savannah looked at him as she thought about the conversations they had about his mom's treatment at Georgetown University Hospital's psychiatric clinic.
"That thing you called about, here's some updated stats." said Savannah as she thought about how Spencer and Olivia asked her not to tell anyone.
"Thanks." said Spencer as he slipped the manila envelope into his messenger bag just as Morgan came back.
"Stats? Stats from what?" asked Morgan as he noticed a little bit of sadness in Spencer's eyes, causing him to wonder what was going on.
"Medical research. Shop talk. Things you wouldn't be interested in." said Savannah.
"Well, I can tell you what I am interested in, and that is you." said Morgan as he pulled Savannah into a kiss making Spencer turn away as he thought about the kisses he has with Olivia.
"You gonna love me forever?" asked Savannah.
"Yes, I am." said Morgan as Spencer's cellphone beeped and he saw a text from Hotch.
GARCIA AND I NEED YOU TO COME TO THE OFFICE ASAP. ~ AH
"Forever ever?" asked Savannah as she kissed Morgan again.
"For ever, ever, ever." said Morgan before they kissed again.
Spencer looked at his older brother, knowing that he had to interrupt.
"Guys. Garcia and Hotch need us ASAP. for a briefing on the 4 hitmen." said Spencer.
Morgan looked at Spencer.
"Let me give you a ride to the BAU." said Morgan as he led Spencer to the front door.
Spencer shrugged, and after they got into Morgan's truck Morgan looked at Spencer.
"How can you get a fist bump right with Hotch and not me?" asked Morgan.
"I decided to get the fist bump wrong on purpose since you refused to give me a fist bump a year ago when I owned you and Kate when you guys decided to question about my intelligence." said a smirking Spencer.
"It's good to have you back kid." said Morgan.
"I know, but I'm only at work for about another 10 weeks until Daniel's due unless he decides to be born early, like his siblings." said Spencer.
"And after DJ's born, I hope that you and Olivia are done having kids." said Morgan.
"We agreed to stop after Daniel since we wanted to have two of each." said Spencer as he thought about the long discussion he and Olivia had before he decided to get himself fixed while in Las Vegas.
Morgan entered the conference room and looked at his teammates.
"Look who I found this morning hugging my girlfriend when he has his own wife to hug." said Morgan.
Recognizing Morgan's cue, Spencer entered the conference room and JJ and Garcia got up and rushed over to Spencer and JJ hugged him.
"How's your mom?" asked JJ as she hugged Spencer before giving him a peck on the cheek.
"I will tell you guys after this case because right now I think focusing on getting Penelope out of witness protection is more important than my mom." said Spencer as he hugged Garcia a bit longer, knowing that the past eight weeks were hard on her according to Rossi, "Hopefully you will be free soon since I'm back because Piper, Albert, and Ava want to thank you for their Christmas gifts." said Spencer as he gave Garcia a light kiss on the cheek "That kiss is from Piper, Albert, and Ava since they asked me to give you one." said Spencer before he accepted greetings from Rossi and Tara.
After Hotch gave Spencer a brief hug, Hotch looked at everyone.
"Let's get to business." said Hotch as he sat down, causing everyone else to, "Brian Cochran from the NSA. I've placed him on 24/7 lock down at USP Terre Haute. The network has proven that they can kill anyone, anywhere, anytime, and now that they've targeted Garcia, we can't afford to lose another lead. Cochran used one of the hitmen to target DEA supervisor Graff."
"But we can press him on that to get him to cooperate." said Morgan.
"Well, fortunately that won't be necessary. He had a breakdown in solitary confinement and he was already willing to make a deal." said Hotch.
"We need to go talk to him." said Rossi.
"Garcia and I already did." said Hotch.
"This is, we video-conferenced with him. He was limited in what he could tell us about the hit people. He didn't know their names, but he did know all of their areas of expertise." said Garcia.
"How specific do they get? Most successful hitmen are basically just Swiss army knives of murder." said Spencer as he thought about how good it was to be back into the swing of work even though he will be on paternity leave in about 10 weeks.
"Well, take the O.G. hit guy who got us into this mess, Giuseppe Montolo. Remember him? He was a genius at making hits look like an accident. The others, depends what you're looking for. Take the guy that's still out there who's responsible for shooting poor Mr. Graff. He's known simply as the sniper. He can make a T-zone shot from over 2,000 meters." said Garcia.
"Which means he's ex-military. Not necessarily ours, but he's definitely trained." said Morgan.
"So who's number two?" asked Tara.
"That would be the chemist. He works with poison. He specializes in hits that don't leave a trace." said Garcia as she thought about how Spencer uses his chemistry skills for the good.
"He sounds delightful. What about number 3?" asked Rossi as he thought about how Spencer uses his PhD in chemistry in the field.
"Well, that would be the bomber. According to Cochran, he's responsible for this." said Garcia as she showed video footage, "It's a chemical fire in Tianjin, China. Apparently a bureaucrat didn't pay his bribe on time."
"You know that's conspiracy theory garbage." said JJ.
"But what is credible is Cochran's insistence that he was trained by Mossad. Jack Garrett's following up on leads." said Hotch.
"That leaves us with number 4, the one with the highest body count of them all." said Garcia.
"And who's that?" asked Spencer.
Hotch started explaining about the black widow before Garcia mentioned someone named Snowman, causing Rossi to look at Hotch and Garcia.
"Great. So who's this Snowman jagoff?" asked Rossi.
"Cochran says he's the I.T. expert. He's the key to the whole network." said Hotch.
"But if he set it up, he's not just gonna tear it down because we ask nicely." said Morgan.
"He will because he was kidnapped by one of the hitmen and held against his will in a safe house." said Hotch.
"I wonder how that feels." muttered Garcia as she received sympathetic looks from everyone.
"Even if they have him under duress, he's still gonna be impossible to find." said JJ.
"We will find him... With this." said Hotch as he held up the flash drive that he got off Cochran, and a short while later JJ and Rossi were going to rescue Barry Winslow, causing Spencer to take some time to check on Olivia.
"Hey Doc, I'm just leaving the hospital with your dad." said Olivia as she exited the hospital with William.
"How was your doctor appointment?" asked Spencer.
"It went very well, and Dr. Carter was a bit disappointed that you weren't there but I told her that you're working a case." said Olivia.
"I'm glad that Daniel's OK." said Spencer.
"Have you told your team about your mom yet?" asked Olivia.
Spencer looked around.
"Not yet because we're working on bringing down the hitmen, and as soon as the case is over I will tell everyone." said Spencer.
"Well I will let you get back to work since dad and I are heading to the grocery store right now." said Olivia.
"Please make sure to pick up a lot of jello." said Spencer.
Olivia laughed.
"I'm already planning on it since the kids already inherited your love for jello." said Olivia.
"I love you, Olivia." said Spencer.
"I love you too, Spencer." said Olivia before hanging up.
The next morning Spencer was eating breakfast with his dad, uncle Gordon, aunt Ethel, Olivia, and the kids and Olivia looked at her husband.
"Even though my birthday is tomorrow, I want to wait until after your current case to celebrate." said Olivia.
"Are you sure?" asked Spencer.
"You guys are working on closing the case that you've been working on since October, and with you being back at work you guys are going to finish faster." said Olivia.
"I will let my teammates know, but I'm still planning on making you breakfast in bed tomorrow." said Spencer.
"I will allow you to continue our tradition of making breakfast in bed, but no party until after your current case." said Olivia.
"Yes, ma'am." teased Spencer.
Two hours later Spencer was sitting at the conference room table with his teammates and Barry.
"I can't tell you that much about them. It's not like we had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations while they handcuffed me to a computer." said Barry.
"Do you know any of their names?" asked Tara.
"No. But I know their bank accounts." said Barry.
"How long do you think we have before the other two realize the network's been compromised?" asked Spencer as he thought about Olivia's 32nd birthday happening the next day.
"Two days, maybe. They like being independent contractors, so they always work jobs separately. And, uh, they rely on me to coordinate all their online traffic." said Barry.
"Which I can help fake." said Garcia.
"Yeah. We have the facade covered on our end, but they also have back channel communications that I can't account for. Especially the bomber." said Barry.
"Why him?" asked Rossi.
"I don't know. All I know is when they would rotate watching over me, he never showed." said Barry.
"I know why. He's paranoid. Most explosive experts are. Blow everything up, you live in fear that you're next." said JJ.
"We need to lure out the hitwoman. If we can take her alive, she'll lead us to the bomber." said Hotch.
"We have to give her a target worth coming out of hiding for." said Morgan.
"That means me, doesn't it?" asked Garcia.
"No." said Hotch.
"Sir-." said Garcia.
"Garcia, that's not gonna happen. It's too dangerous to leave you out there, exposed like that." said Morgan.
Hotch looked at Barry.
"You have a record of all the kills she was paid for?" asked Hotch.
"I have records of everything." said Barry.
"All right. Even a contract killer can have a victimology, a pattern of which she's not aware. We need to find that." said Hotch.
After going through files, Spencer headed up to Hotch's office with JJ and placed the files on Hotch's desk.
"These 3 hits-they were all men who wanted to kill their wives." said Spencer.
"That's the oldest motivation in the book. Why are they special?" asked JJ.
"She took their money, then killed the men who hired her." said Spencer.
"All 3 of them had children." said Hotch as he looked at his two youngest agent who both have kids to go home to.
"Maybe children are the line hitmen won't cross?" asked JJ.
"The chemist and the sniper both performed jobs that involved families. Theoretically, if the price is high enough, a hitman shouldn't have morals. I think these kills are personal to her. Personal enough to risk double-crossing her contract." said Spencer.
"Because something similar happened to her." said Hotch as he noticed the wheels in Spencer's brain turning.
"And that's how we get her to come to the table. I pretend to be that kind of client." said Spencer as he thought about how he fits the profile.
"How do we know that's gonna work?" asked Hotch as he thought about how Spencer was the best agent to go undercover since he's married and a father.
"We don't. It's a calculated risk based on her M.O., which is categorically different than the men." said Spencer.
"They're cold, clinical, long-distance. She's up close and personal." said JJ since she didn't want Olivia to possibly become a widow before Spencer could meet Daniel.
"She knows that she has to be more careful because she actually wants to kill her targets. With how my personal life is right now with Olivia being 30 weeks pregnant, I'm going to pretend that I want my wife dead, even though I would never want to have her killed." said Spencer.
"Well, I'd want to kill you if you really meant to have Olivia and your unborn son killed." said JJ.
"Exactly, and sometimes people don't believe me if they find out that I've been married for over four years and have three kids and another one on the way unless I show them pictures or they see me with my wife and kids." said Spencer.
"You look much younger than 34 so it's sometimes hard for people to believe you." said Hotch.
"Then all we have to do is set the right meeting spot. A bar or a restaurant we control so the odds are better of us taking her alive." said Spencer.
"That's our best strategy since you fit the profile of men that the black widow would want to kill." said Hotch before looking at JJ, "Can you please leave the room?"
JJ left the room and Hotch looked at Spencer.
"Are you sure that you want to go undercover even though you just came back after being away for eight weeks while you're only here again until Daniel's born so you can adjust to four kids?" asked Hotch.
"I want to because the profile we made on the black widow tells me that I'm the closest to her age, and with Olivia's birthday being tomorrow I want this case to be closed so we can all celebrate Olivia's 32nd birthday before my aunt and uncle have to head back to Las Vegas." said Spencer.
"What are your aunt and uncle doing in town?" asked Hotch.
"They wanted to be here for Olivia's birthday because as soon as this case is closed they're going to help take care of the kids this weekend because I'm planning on taking Olivia to a nice bed and breakfast." said Spencer as he told Hotch the partial truth.
"I know that you're hiding something since Piper told me over the phone that you seemed sad a few times, and you know where I am so you can tell me when you're ready." said Hotch.
A few minutes later Spencer and Hotch were in the conference room with the others so they could brief them on their strategy despite the few initial protests from Morgan and Garcia about them just getting him back and that he has a pregnant wife who probably wouldn't handle the stress of him going undercover.
"Guys, I'm the closest age to the black widow meaning that she will open up to me, and with Olivia's birthday being tomorrow she requested that we hold off celebrating her birthday until this case is closed." said Spencer.
A few minutes later Barry was helping Spencer start to email the black widow about meeting before Witness Protection arrived to pick up Barry.
Later that night Spencer quietly entered the house, and after checking on the kids he headed into the master bedroom only to find Olivia in the claw foot bathtub taking a bubble bath.
"Room for one more?" asked Spencer.
"There's always room for you, Spencer." said Olivia.
A couple of minutes later Spencer was in the bathtub with Olivia, and as he massaged her lower back he decided that he needed to tell Olivia what was going on.
"Tomorrow evening I'm going undercover." said Spencer.
"Why?" asked Olivia.
Spencer explained what he could, and when he was finished Olivia looked at at him.
"Please stay safe because if you get hurt I will ban you from drinking coffee for a few months after Daniel's birth." said Olivia.
"Threat duly noted love, and I will have back up while I have my gun on me." said Spencer as he shivered in the cold water.
"Help me get out and we can take a warm shower together before we head to bed." said Olivia.
"Yes, ma'am." said Spencer as he got out of the tub and pulled the plug before helping his pregnant wife out of the tub and escorting her to the shower.
The next morning Spencer was making breakfast in bed for Olivia with Piper's, Albert's, and Ava's help and he looked at his three babies.
"I'm coming home late tonight." said Spencer.
"Why?" asked Piper.
"You know that auntie Penelope is staying somewhere safe because some bad people are going after her?" asked Spencer.
"Yes." said Piper.
"Sometimes I'm required to do something like go undercover to help lure in a bad man or a bad woman who's hard to track down, and I have gone undercover a couple of times before during my 12 years in the BAU." said Spencer.
"You stay safe daddy." said Piper firmly.
"I promise goober." said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "So I need you guys to remember that I can't talk to you on the phone tonight at bedtime, but as soon as I get home I will come into your bedrooms and give you good night kisses."
"OK." said Piper as she watched her daddy put their breakfast onto a tray and a few minutes later Spencer, Piper, Albert, and Ava were creeping into the master bedroom where Olivia was waking up.
"Happy birthday mommy!" shouted Piper, Albert, and Ava as they climbed onto their mommy's and daddy's bed and started giving their mommy kisses.
"Thank you guys." said Olivia as she accepted a quick kiss on the lips from her husband.
"Albert, Ava, and I helped daddy make breakfast." said a proud Piper.
A few minutes later Spencer, Olivia, Piper, Albert, and Ava were eating breakfast together in bed before Spencer had to leave for work.
A couple of hours later Spencer was talking to Hotch while the others went to clear the place that he was going to meet the hitwoman.
"I want to swap my ring for a fake while wearing my real wedding band on a chain around my neck since Olivia suggested that I don't wear my real wedding band when she helped me pick out my outfit for tonight." said Spencer.
"I will get you one since the hit woman probably keeps them as trophies." said Hotch before looking at Spencer, "How did Olivia take the news about you going undercover?"
"She accepted my reasoning about why it has to be me to go undercover while telling me that I better stay safe or she will ban me from drinking coffee after Daniel is born, and this morning when the kids were helping me make breakfast in bed for Olivia I told them that I will be going undercover since I really can't lie to them since they're smarter than the average two and three year olds." said Spencer
"You got that right about your kids." said Hotch as he thought about the times that he watched Piper read before looking at Spencer, "And just to be safe, I'm planning that you wear your vest under your clothes."
"That was one of Olivia's requests after I explained to her what was going on because if I wasn't going to be wearing my vest she was going to kill you herself." said Spencer.
"Was that her pregnancy hormones talking?" asked Hotch.
"Yes, and I don't want to repeat a few of the threats that she gave me." said Spencer causing Hotch to chuckle.
Later that evening Spencer was tying his tie as he rushed down the stairs in the bullpen and fast walked to his desk where Garcia was working since her system was getting ready for the evening.
"Foster care records locked, loaded, and searchable." said Garcia as Spencer continued to work on tying his tie while wishing that Olivia was there to help him.
"According to the emails she sent me setting up tonight, her name is Cat. So let's assume her name is Catherine." said Spencer.
"Give me more." said Garcia.
"Suspicious death for mom, and her dad most likely went away for manslaughter." said Spencer.
"Keep it coming." said Garcia,
"Rampant abuse. She would have been in a world of pain." said Spencer as he slipped his tie underneath his buttoned up black vest and straightened his collar.
"Sadly that does not rule out any Catherines." said Garcia as she watched Spencer slip on his fake ring.
"Her first kills were most likely in the foster environment. Cross-reference all those families the Catherines went into with accidental deaths of foster dads, and focus on those that have multiple abuse complaints leveled against them." said Spencer as Garcia typed.
"Ding." said Garcia.
Spencer looked at the face that pulled up on the computer.
"Catherine Adams." said Spencer as he requested information on Cat's dad before asking for a last known picture of Daniel Adams and the locations he was frequently found at.
A half hour later Spencer was hanging up from talking to Olivia and the kids on the phone when Morgan approached him.
"Cat decided to change the address so we need to get going." said Morgan.
"OK." said Spencer as he checked the microphone that he placed under his tie.
"I will have your back and so will Tara, JJ, and Rossi." said Morgan.
A few minutes later Spencer was inside an elevator with JJ, Morgan, Tara, and Rossi as Hotch and Garcia watched the doors close on them.