Infinite Possibilities

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf

***

X

Morgan apologized to Spencer, helped him up from the ground. The suspicion had not fully been erased from his eyes, though. He still stared at the young officer analytically, as if waiting for him to slip up. When there was no change of expression, no sudden confession, Morgan tore his gaze away.

He pulled out his phone. 'Hey Baby Girl.' His voice was subdued; his heart wasn't in it. He moved away, out of earshot. 'Can you run a check on the hotel's parking lot footage for me?'

'There is no footage,' Garcia announced. 'No cameras in the lot.'

Morgan swore. He had a thought. 'Officer Reid's car. Does it have GPS?' He would be more trusting of Spencer Reid if there was electronic evidence to back up his story. Alas, there was none.

'Okay. Two more things – I need you to email me his file. No, don't send it to them – just me. And cross-reference his name with all our other victims. If you find anything – anything at all – you call me. I don't care what time it is.' His voice was a little curt, but that was to be expected.

He and his fellow agents soon departed, leaving Spencer Reid to his own business.

***

He removed the gag, but left the blindfold and other bindings in place.

'Sign of remorse,' Emily spat at him.

'I'm sorry?'

'Leaving the blindfold on is a sign of remorse – it means there may be some human inside of you after all.' Spencer found himself amused. Here she was, lying bleeding in an unfamiliar place, blindfolded, and the first thing she did was profile him.

'You know,' he said. 'I'm not feeling all that remorseful.' She felt a sharp pain in her ribs as his foot slammed into her stomach. With the blindfold in place, she hadn't anticipated it.

'See,' he continued. 'If you don't know what's coming, then it's a lot more terrifying when it does come. It's the unexpected that everyone's scared of. It's why realizing that I'm your – what was the word – "unsub", is so much more menacing than a complete stranger, don't you think?'

She conceded that he had a point, but she wasn't ready to admit that to him. She needed him to reach inside himself, to draw out whatever vestiges of humanity might be lurking in there. It started with a question, of course. Always the same question.

'Why are you doing this?'

She grunted in pain as he kicked her again. The answer was not what she was looking for, but neither was it the full story.

'Because I can.'

***

When he returned to the police station, Morgan excused himself, citing his need to get coffee. He checked his email on his phone, grateful for the rapid progression of technology.

Spencer Reid was born to William and Diana Reid. With an IQ of 187, he was a certified genius; Definitely smart enough to pull this off, Morgan decided. He was offered the chance to fast-track his education, but William Reid had declined the proposal by proxy. William Reid then left Spencer and Diana when Spencer was ten years old.

Five years later, Diana Reid was admitted to Bennington Sanitarium. Spencer was taken in as a ward of the state.

'Hey Baby Girl.' When he called this time, his voice was softer. He felt guilty for having brushed her off previously. 'I need you to get me an address.'

***

It was not difficult for Morgan to get Hotch to send him back to the hotel. After a quick temper tantrum, the order was given without hesitation. So preoccupied by Emily's disappearance, the other members of the team had not even considered the possibility that Morgan had ulterior motives.

The drive was dark and silent, though Morgan's mind was busy with thought. Were his suspicions accurate? Was Spencer Reid really hiding something, or was he just being paranoid? These were the questions that he couldn't truthfully answer without conducting this – unauthorized – investigation.

He knocked on the door, the desert air freezing him to the bone. After several seconds, the door opened. The man before him was about fiftyish, with graying brown hair. He looked surprised to see someone at his door at this time of night. He looked surprised to see someone at his door at all.

'William Reid?' Morgan asked. The man nodded.

'My name is Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI. I need to ask you a few questions about your son.'

The man frowned, and if Morgan were not confident of his profiling abilities, he would have dismissed the fear that seemed to have entered William's eyes.

'Spencer?' he asked. 'You want to talk to me about Spencer?'

'If you don't mind.'

William Reid stepped back to let Morgan in. The words he spoke sent a chill down the agent's spine that could not be rivaled by the nighttime weather.

'I guess I've been waiting for this a long time.'