Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to tannerose5, Natasha, Charis, Guest, Guest, and Guest for reviewing chapter 11.
For the three guest reviewers who didn't give a first name, I really like to be given a first name so I don't have to refer every guest reviewer as Guest.
This chapter takes place a week after the last chapter, and there will be time jumps in this chapter since this chapter will deal with weeks 12 through 19 of Maeve's pregnancy while including the episode Damaged.
February
Spencer looked at Maeve as he rubbed cocoa butter on Maeve's 11 week pregnant belly.
"Even though Jocelyn is a unisex name, I think that if we have a boy we should give him a different name since there were times that I got bullied about having a unisex name." said Spencer.
Maeve smiled sadly at her husband as she thought about how much he has gone through in school.
"What names were you thinking about?" asked Maeve.
"Would you believe it that I would want to name our possible son Thomas?" asked Spencer.
"After Thomas Merton?" asked Maeve.
Spencer nodded.
"I guess we have a first name for our possible son." said Maeve before yawning, "We should definitely get some sleep since its a school night for both of us." said Maeve.
"I'm just not looking forward to tonight." said Spencer.
"Why?" asked Maeve.
"Tonight is the one year anniversary of the night I got abducted. So despite the nightmares I've been having since Chula Vista, I'm going to be dealing with nightmares that deals with Tobias Hankel since anniversaries of traumatic events can cause PTSD symptoms to reemerge." said Spencer.
Maeve took her husband's hand and squeezed it.
"I'll wake you up like I've always been the past two weeks." said Maeve.
A few minutes later Spencer went into the bathroom to wash his hands before he and Maeve did their nightly routines before crawling under the covers.
Five hours later Spencer woke up to a pillow hitting him, and as soon as he had his glasses on he looked at Maeve.
"A nightmare?" asked Spencer.
"Yes." said Maeve.
Spencer uncovered himself and grimaced as he realized that he broke into a cold sweat during his nightmare.
"Breaking out in cold sweats are disgusting." said Spencer.
Maeve looked at her husband.
"You should take a shower to feel better while I change the sheets, and after we're both done we can drink some tea and talk about your nightmare." said Maeve.
"OK." said Spencer as he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom while Maeve took care of their bed.
A half hour later Spencer and Maeve were in their small kitchen drinking tea while Spencer told Maeve about his nightmare.
The next day at 9:30 AM, Spencer yawned before taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee.
"You OK?" asked Emily.
Morgan looked up from his own desk.
"Did Maeve keep you up late last night?" teased Morgan.
Spencer blushed a bit while Emily threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Morgan's head.
"Not that kind of late night, but think about the case we worked on a year ago today." said Spencer.
Morgan and Emily sadly sighed as they thought back to witnessing Spencer's dead body in that shack before Hankel gave Spencer CPR.
"Nightmares?" asked Morgan.
Spencer nodded.
"Luckily Maeve was able to wake me up before I woke up my next door neighbor or the neighbors below me." said Spencer.
"Speaking of your apartment, are you excited about finally living in your dream home in three weeks?" asked Morgan.
"I am, and we've been working on packing everything up every day I'm home." said Spencer.
"How much more packing has to be done?" asked Morgan.
"We have 80% of our apartment packed up, and we started transporting everything that we don't need to the nearest thrift shop." said Spencer.
"Good." said Morgan.
"We also went shopping for some new appliances since I can't take the stove and refrigerator with me." said Spencer.
"So you two are going to use some of the furniture that Maeve put in storage?" asked Emily.
"We ended up getting new furniture, but we are waiting a bit before buying furniture for the nursery." said Spencer just as Hotch came out of his office and looked at Spencer.
"Reid may I please speak to you in my office." said Hotch.
A few minutes later Spencer was sitting on Hotch's couch.
"How are you doing today?" asked Hotch.
"Despite waking up from a nightmare that dealt with both Hankel and what I witnessed in Chula Vista, I'm doing OK since Maeve is not allowing me to bottle everything up while keep on telling myself that I have a few things to look forward to." said Spencer.
"Like your upcoming fatherhood and moving." said Hotch.
Spencer nodded before yawning a bit causing Hotch to give Spencer a concerned look.
"You could have stayed home today." said Hotch.
"I know, but I didn't want to stay in my apartment all day." said Spencer.
"How much sleep did you get?" asked Hotch.
Spencer sighed.
"Four hours since I couldn't go back to sleep." said Spencer.
Hotch looked at his clock before looking at Spencer.
"I'm leaving for a meeting in 10 minutes, so if you want you can take a nap on my couch in here." said Hotch.
"Really?" asked Spencer.
"I don't want you to collapse from exhaustion, and in about 29 weeks your going to be losing sleep due to your son or daughter." said Hotch.
"OK." said Spencer.
"You can lay down now." said Hotch.
Spencer removed his shows before laying down on Hotch's couch, and nine minutes later Hotch was leaving his office while Spencer slept on his couch.
A week later Maeve smiled at her husband as she exited the bathroom in her new dress that showed off her figure and 12 week baby bump.
"Can you please zip up the back of this dress for me?" asked Maeve.
Spencer zipped up his wife's dress, and after Maeve helped Spencer tie his tie, she looked at her husband.
"Just so you know, I have plans for you when we get back from our belated Valentines Day date night." said Maeve.
"Can't wait." said Spencer.
"We should get going so we can make our dinner reservations." said Maeve.
On the last day of February, Spencer looked at his teammates.
"I appreciate you guys willing to give up your free time tomorrow to help Maeve and me move." said Spencer as he thought about how Maeve's parents, his teammates, and Anderson were going to help him and Maeve move.
"Having us help you will save you two from spending money on professional movers." said Morgan.
Hotch looked at his teammates.
"Let's call it a day so we can be well rested for tomorrow." said Hotch.
A few minutes later Spencer was packing up for the weekend before Morgan offered to give him a ride home.
Later on that night Spencer and Maeve looked around their packed up apartment that was filled with packed boxes.
"Ready for our last night here?" asked Spencer.
Maeve nodded as she rubbed her 14 week pregnant belly.
"We should probably do one last cursory check before we get some sleep." said Spencer.
March
The next day Spencer looked at Maeve as they both put on old clothing for moving.
"You do know that there's no heavy lifting for you today and that you get to direct everyone on where to set everything." said Spencer.
"I know, and I can't wait for our own celebration after everyone leaves us for the night." said Maeve.
Later on that afternoon Spencer looked around his new living room that was pretty much unpacked before looking at Rossi who was in his new arm chair.
"Why are you still here while everyone else have went home?" asked Spencer.
"I'm waiting for a delivery." said Rossi.
"What delivery?" asked Maeve.
Rossi looked at Maeve.
"Since your out of the danger period to have a miscarriage, I took it upon myself to buy furniture for the nursery to save you two time and money." said Rossi.
"You didn't have to." said Spencer.
Rossi looked at Spencer.
"Even though I've been working with you for four months, you've been becoming a son to me. So I wanted to take care of paying for the furniture for your son or daughter's nursery since I wanted to spend my money on just more than scotch, cigars, and old artwork." said Rossi just as the doorbell rang.
"They're here." said Rossi.
A few minutes later Maeve was directing the Babies R Us employees to the room that was being designated as the nursery, and after the employees left Maeve looked at her husband who was about to walk Rossi out.
"I'm craving spaghetti." said Maeve.
Rossi looked at Maeve.
"When stocking up your kitchen earlier, I noticed that you have the ingredients for spaghetti carbonara. So if you two don't mind me staying longer, I'll be glad to show you two how to make my recipe while breaking in your new kitchen." said Rossi.
"That would be wonderful." said Maeve.
A few minutes later Spencer, Maeve, and Rossi were in the Reid family's bigger kitchen making spaghetti carbonara.
Two hours later Spencer exited the master bathroom to find Maeve sitting on their brand new king sized canopy bed only wearing a closed robe.
"Did you remove my pajamas from our bathroom?" asked Spencer.
Maeve licked her lips at the sight of her husband only wearing a towel around his waist.
"I did because I wanted us to celebrate our first night in our new home." said Maeve as she got up and removed her robe causing Spencer to groan at the sight of Maeve's lingerie.
A week and a half later Dr. Marks looked at Spencer and Maeve as she did Maeve's 16 week ultrasound.
"Your baby decided to show me the gender, so do you two want to know now?" asked Dr. Marks.
Spencer and Maeve looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"You two are having a beautiful baby girl." smiled Dr. Marks.
Spencer and Maeve smiled at each other as happy tears streamed down their faces.
"Jocelyn Elizabeth Reid." said Maeve.
"Beautiful name." smiled Dr. Marks.
An hour later Spencer entered the bullpen and Emily and Morgan looked up from their desks.
"How did the doctor appointment go?" asked Emily.
Spencer smiled.
"We found out the gender." said Spencer.
"Tell us, kid." said Morgan.
"I rather tell everyone at once, so we should ask Garcia, Hotch, JJ, and Rossi to meet us in the conference room." said Spencer.
A few minutes later Hotch looked at Spencer who was still grinning.
"So you have some news?" asked Hotch.
"Maeve and I found out the gender." said Spencer.
"Please tell us so I can start baby shopping." said Garcia excitably.
"I'm going to be a proud father to Jocelyn Elizabeth Reid." said Spencer.
"A BABY GIRL!" squealed Garcia as she rushed over to Spencer and gave him a hug.
Emily smirked at a groaning Morgan.
"Pay up." said Emily.
Morgan reached into his pocket and pulled $20 and passed the money to Emily.
A week later Spencer and Maeve were standing outside the day room at Bennington Sanitarium with Maeve's parents when Dr. Norman approached them causing Maeve to introduce her parents to Dr. Norman.
"Before you four go see Diana, I want to congratulate you myself." said Dr. Norman as he gestured to Maeve's 17 week pregnant belly.
"Thank you." said Spencer and Maeve in unison.
"Have you two found out the gender yet?" asked Dr. Norman.
"We have, and its a girl." smiled Spencer.
"As a father to two daughters, your definitely going to be in trouble when your older." smiled Dr. Norman before walking away to check on a patient.
A minute later Spencer and Maeve were both hugging Diana before Maeve introduced her parents to Diana.
"Diana, I would like to introduce you to my parents Mary and Joseph." said Maeve.
"Nice to finally meet you in person." said Mary as she shook hands with Diana.
"You two raised a wonderful daughter." said Diana.
"Thank you, and you did a good job raising Spencer." said Joe.
Diana smiled sadly at her son before looking at Joe and Mary.
"There were times that Spencer ended up being the parent to me, but I'm grateful that my brother Gordon and my sister in law Ethel helped me with raising Spencer so he didn't have to give up going to Cal-tech." said Diana before looking at Spencer, "How long are you in town for?" asked Diana.
"For the next three days." said Spencer as he rested a hand on Maeve's belly before his eyes went wide, "Is that the first time the baby has kicked?" asked Spencer.
Maeve nodded.
"Its definitely Josie's first kick." said Maeve just as she put her hands onto her mouth while her parents and Spencer burst out laughing.
Diana looked between her son and her daughter in law.
"I'm getting a granddaughter?" asked Diana.
Spencer nodded.
"We found out the gender last week, and we wanted to tell you in person that your granddaughter's name is going to be Jocelyn Elizabeth Reid." said Spencer.
"Such a beautiful name that rings a good bell." said Diana before looking at Spencer, "I ended up going through my trunk, and you should see what I found that your daughter should deserve to have." said Diana as she got up and opened up the trunk.
"What is it?" asked Spencer.
Diana pulled out a stuffed elephant causing Spencer to grin.
"I've been wondering what happened to Babar." said Spencer.
"I decided to hang onto it for when I get my first grandchild." said Diana.
Maeve looked at her husband.
"We should do an elephant theme for Josie's nursery." said Maeve.
Spencer nodded in agreement before looking at the clock.
"We actually got permission to check you out for awhile, so what do you say about going out to eat at Binions with us so you can help Maeve and me introduce chicken fried lobster to Maeve's parents?" asked Spencer.
"I would love to join you guys so I can hear stories about Maeve as a little girl." said Diana before looking at Maeve and Mary, "Do you two want to help me pick out some nicer clothing?" asked Diana.
"Sure." said Mary.
30 minutes later Spencer, Maeve, Diana, Joe, and Mary were sharing a circular booth together at Binions waiting for their chicken fried lobster while Diana, Mary, and Joe exchanged stories about Spencer and Maeve as children causing the expecting parents to blush.
The following Saturday, Spencer entered Josie's nursery with Morgan, JJ, Emily, and Garcia who were wearing old clothing that could get covered in paint.
"What color are you painting Josie's nursery?" asked Garcia.
"Lavender, and we're doing an elephant theme." said Spencer as he explained the significance of the theme.
When he was finished, Garcia looked at him as she thought about Spencer telling her how his mom really got along great with Maeve's parents.
"This nursery is going to be so adorable when we're finished." said Garcia.
A few seconds later Spencer, Morgan, JJ, Garcia, and Emily were getting to work on painting the nursery before Spencer and Morgan worked together on putting together the furniture while JJ, Emily, and Garcia decided to take 18 week pregnant Maeve shopping.
April
Spencer was rubbing cocoa butter onto Maeve's 19 week pregnant belly.
"Just keep on getting big and strong and mommy and I will see you in 21 weeks Josie." said Spencer.
"I just can't believe that I'll be halfway through my pregnancy next week." said Maeve.
"Me either, but at least we already have the nursery finished." said Spencer.
"You, Penelope, JJ, Emily, and Derek did a great job on the nursery." said Maeve.
"I know, and I'm glad that you allowed me to put constellations on the ceiling with glow on the dark stars." said Spencer.
10 minutes later Spencer and Maeve were fast asleep in their bed.
Four hours later Spencer woke up to his work cellphone ringing causing the young man to fumble for his glasses and answer his phone.
"Dr. Reid." answered Spencer with a sleep filled voice.
"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I'm going to be at your house in 40 minutes." said Hotch.
"We have a case?" asked Spencer.
"No case, but Chester Hardwick wants us to interview tomorrow so we're driving to Connecticut tonight." said Hotch.
Spencer woke up instantly.
"I'll be outside by the time you get here." said Spencer as he hung up and got out of bed.
Maeve woke up to the sound of her husband pulling clothes on.
"Have a case?" asked Maeve tiredly.
"Hotch and I are driving to Connecticut since we've been preparing to interview Chester Hardwick." said Spencer before looking at his wife, "While I wait for Hotch I'll make some breakfast that you can heat up, and in the morning I'll call you before I have to put my phone away." said Spencer.
"OK." said Maeve before falling back asleep.
35 minutes later Spencer was buckling himself up in the bureau's SUV before looking at Hotch who was still wearing the same suit.
"I take it that you were still at the office when you got the phone call?" asked Spencer tiredly.
"Yes." said Hotch before looking at his youngest agent, "Since we'll be on the road for over five hours, how about you get some sleep and we'll get breakfast at daylight." said Hotch.
"OK." said Spencer as he started to make himself comfortable in the front passenger seat of the SUV before falling asleep.
Later on that afternoon Spencer was fiddling with a snow globe while Hotch talked on the phone.
"Yeah, JJ. Um, no, it's-it's- It's a personal matter. Yes, thank you. I will take care of it when I get back." said Hotch before hanging up.
Spencer looked at his unit chief.
"Is everything all right?" asked Spencer.
"Yeah, fine." said Hotch.
"We can do this interview another time." said Spencer.
"Well, he's scheduled to be executed next week." said Hotch.
"I can take the lead if you-." said Spencer.
"Reid." said Hotch as he held up a hand.
"Sorry." whispered Spencer just as the assistant warden came into the room.
"Agent Hotchner?" asked Abner.
"Yes." said Hotch as he shook hands with Abner.
Abner made his way over to Spencer.
"Ah. You must be Dr. Reid." said Abner as he shook hands with Spencer, "Abner Merriman, Assistant warden. You're here to see our infamous inmate Hardwick." said Abner as he looked at Spencer.
"Yeah. He agreed to meet with us as part of our criminal personality research project prior to his execution." said Spencer as he thought about how Strauss asked him to write an article to publish after doing a custodial interview.
Abner smiled at Spencer.
"I've read some of your studies in police journals. Serial killers are a kind of hobby of mine. Chester's the only one I've ever met in person, Though. I bet you've met quite a few." said Abner.
Spencer smiled, but before he could answer Hotch looked at Abner.
"Sir, we'd very much like to get started as soon as we can." said Hotch.
"Oh, of course, of course. Forgive me." said Abner as he headed to his desk to grab some keys, "Uh, we, uh we don't really have Interrogation facilities, but I do have a small room that you can use. You're not armed?" asked Abner.
"We secured our weapons before we arrived. It's not our first time in a prison." said Hotch.
Abner chuckled. "No, no, I suppose that's true." said Abner as he clapped Hotch on the shoulder, "I have to say, when I heard that he'd contacted you, I was surprised." said Abner.
"Why?" asked Spencer.
"Chester Hardwick? He doesn't really talk much. To anyone." said Abner.
"Well, that usually changes when someone's about to die." said Hotch.
Spencer was removing files from the box that he and Hotch brought into the interview room while Abner showed them the locking system they had.
"The, uh, door will of course be locked from the outside, and this button here, it sounds audibly as well as triggers a flashing light to signal the guards when your finished." said Abner.
"Thank you." said Spencer.
Abner looked at the file that Spencer had open.
"Are these the crime scene photos?" asked Abner.
"Oh. Uh, some of them, yes." answered Spencer.
Abner picked up the file while Spencer continued to unload the box.
"God I knew what he did, of course, but i you know, never saw 23 victims like this." said Abner.
"Sometimes in these interviews they talk about crimes they were never charged with, so it might even be more." said Spencer.
"Is it ever less?" asked Abner.
"No." said Spencer.
"Uh, please." said Hotch as he took the file from Abner, "Paying attention to these items projects a kind of Importance on them. When he comes in, I'd like to give him the opportunity to show us which parts of the crimes he thinks are important." said Hotch.
"Sorry. Of course. Sorry." said Abner.
"It's all right." said Hotch just as a few guards brought Chester into the room.
"Chains left on, right?" asked the guard.
Spencer looked at Chester as he thought about how he wanted to get home to his wife and unborn daughter safely.
"That's probably a good idea." said Spencer.
"No. It won't be necessary." said Hotch.
Spencer looked at his boss in shock.
"It won't?" asked Spencer.
"Your sure?" asked the guard.
"Mm-hmm." said Hotch before looking at Chester, "We're just gonna talk, right, Chester?" asked Hotch.
The guard undid Chester's chains before locking Spencer, Hotch, and Chester in the room.
"Sit down." said Hotch.
Chester looked out he window.
"I'd like this window opened. I'll answer Any question you have, but only if this window is open." said Chester.
Hotch looked over where Spencer was sitting.
"Go ahead. Reid." said Hotch.
Chester opened the window.
"You were born April 4, 1950?" asked Spencer.
"Does my birth date really matter?" asked Chester.
"It's customary for us to start at the beginning. We want to try to know as much as we can about your childhood." said Spencer.
"There's nothing to know. It was average. I lived in a nice house on a quiet street. I ate cereal. I went to school. I watched cartoons." said Chester.
Hotch looked at Chester as he raised his voice.
"I don't have time for this. You didn't live in a nice house on a quiet street. You grew up in a series of projects in East Bridgeport, each one worse than the last. You spent your teenage years peeping into your female neighbors' windows and burglarizing their underwear drawers when you got the chance. And you set 100 small fires for which you spent two years in juvenile detention." said Hotch.
"We've done extensive research, Mr. Hardwick, and we've talked to almost everyone you've ever known including your mother." said Spencer.
Chester turned around and looked at Spencer and Hotch.
"Good old Jean? I'll bet she was a real treat." said Chester.
"Good old Jean's down the street in the state hospital." said Hotch.
"At this point, lying to us isn't really possible or helpful." said Spencer.
"Well, then, you're wrong." said Chester.
"About what?" asked Hotch.
"I started a lot more than 100 fires." said Chester.
Spencer quickly wrote what Chester said down.
Chester was sitting across from Spencer.
"What do you want to hear? How Papa kicked me and Jean's ass every single day? That the kind of thing you want to hear?" asked Chester.
"If it's true." said Spencer.
"Nobody gives a damn about the truth." said Chester.
Chester stood by the open window.
"Temperature's dropping. It's that time of year. Warm days, cold nights." said Chester.
"It'll be summer soon." said Spencer as he thought about his unborn daughter's due date being late August.
"But not for you." said Hotch.
"No not for me." said Chester.
"Let's, um, let's talk about the specifics of the case. Why did you choose Sheila O 'Neal?" asked Spencer.
"You gotta show me a picture. I don't know their names." said Chester.
"Is that what this is all about, some chance to relive all of this?" asked Hotch.
"I have an excellent memory. I thought you wanted to hear the truth. Truth is, they meant nothing to me. They were toys, a diversion, and from the moment I decided to kill them, they were dead. They begged, they cried, they bargained, and it didn't matter, because they didn't matter. Sometimes I wish I was normal, that I'd had a regular life. But I didn't." said Chester.
"Why did you ask us here?" asked Hotch.
"I wanted to smell the air." said Chester.
"What?" asked Hotch.
"They've got me on death watch. And I will be until they take me to the death chamber. So I wanted to smell the air one last time before I die. Thank you for giving me that." said Chester.
Hotch looked at Spencer.
"Let's pack it up." said Hotch.
"Shouldn't we at least-." said Spencer as he started to pack up.
"No, no." said Hotch as Spencer got up and swung his messenger bag over his shoulder, "Have a nice trip, Chester. You're going where you belong." said Hotch as he pressed the button a second and third time to summon the guards.
Chester looked at Hotch.
"It's 5:17. Evening yard started at 5:00. Guard staff's outside with the population. There won't be anyone To open that door for at least 13 minutes." said Chester as he picked up a crime scene photo, "And it took me less than five to do this." said Chester before giving Spencer and Hotch an evil smile.
Chester tossed the photo back onto the table.
"While you were doing your research, maybe a question or two about security tones would have been a good idea." said Chester.
Spencer looked at Hotch.
"I heard the tones." said Hotch.
"So you planned to be locked inside with me, with no guns or weapons." said Chester as he paced around the room.
"I won't need a gun." said Hotch calmly.
Spencer slowly made his way behind a pillar as he tried to get as far away from Chester as possible.
"There's no way they're gonna execute me next week, not after I kill you saved my life by coming here." said Chester.
"But unfortunately for you, I'm not a 5-foot-tall, 100 pound girl." deadpanned Hotch as he removed his suit jacket before removing his tie, "All your life you've gone after victims who couldn't fight back. And the rest of the time you spent looking over your shoulder, worried about the knock on the door, scared that somebody like me would be on the other side waiting to put you away. At your core, you're a coward." said Hotch as he pointed at Chester.
As Chester charged towards Hotch, Spencer instantly knew that he had to intervene before wanting to think about the possibility that he would be dead before meeting his daughter in 21 weeks.
"Chester, do you want to know why you killed those women?" asked Spencer quickly.
Chester glanced at Hotch before looking at Spencer.
"What?" asked Chester.
"Earlier you said you wish that you were different. I can tell you why you killed them, why you are what you are." said Spencer.
Chester looked at Spencer.
"You can tell me why I did the things I did?" asked Chester.
"I think so. I do." said Spencer as he took a deep breath before looking at Chester, "Your mother's bipolar and almost certainly an undifferentiated Schizophrenic. Your father suffered severe shell shock in the war, what we now refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder. As far as I can tell, he remained clinically depressed the rest of his life. form of mental illness in their family. In your case, both your parents suffered from psychological disorders, which they largely took out on they beat each other as much as they beat you, so violence became a natural expression of love there's something called the hypothalamic region of the limbic system. It's the most primitive part of the brain. It wants what it wants without conscience and without judgment. It's what makes babies cry when they're hungry, uh, scream when they want affection, become enraged when a toy is taken away. In most children, a healthy relationship with their mother counters the hypothalamus and maps the child's brain into healthy emotional response pour hypothalamus never learned control. It still operates on that primitive level your records indicate that you display the symptoms of satyriasis. You're obsessed with sex. Sex and love are cross-wired with pain in your additionally, your hypothalamus won't allow you to stop seeking the- the desires that it wants. So you became a sexual sadist. No functioning sexual partner will ever willingly submit to the painful desires that you have. The only way you can serve them is by making a partner compliant making sure that they do exactly what you want them to do. And you ensure that by killing them." rambled Spencer before slowing down, "Earlier, you said your victims never had a chance. I think you know deep down it was you who really never had a chance." finished Spencer just as the door unlocked so three guards can enter the room.
"Everything all right in here?" asked the guard.
"Fine. We're done." said Hotch as he grabbed his tie and suit jacket.
Chester looked at Spencer who was trying to leave the room.
"Is that true, I never had a chance?" asked Chester.
"I don't know. Maybe." said Spencer before hurrying out of the room so he could head to a nearby water fountain and drink some water.
A half hour later Hotch was driving back to DC, and he looked at Spencer who was smiling at a text message from Maeve.
"That was smart to get Hardwick to focus on himself long enough for the guards to come back." said Hotch.
"I find that I do some of my best work under intense terror." said Spencer as he thought about Dowd, Hankel, and now Hardwick.
Hotch looked at Spencer and thought about how much Spencer has gone through in his short life while remembering that his actions almost made Maeve a widow and almost didn't give Jocelyn the chance to meet her father within the next 21 weeks.
"I'm sorry." said Hotch.
Spencer looked at Hotch with a puzzled look on his face.
"For what?" asked Spencer.
Hotch thought about how Gideon antagonized Hankel which led to Spencer being dead for a few minutes before Hankel gave Spencer CPR.
"I antagonized the situation." said Hotch.
"No, you didn't." said Spencer quickly.
"Well, I certainly didn't help." said Hotch.
"Ah I guess you didn't really help." said Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer and decided that he needed to explain his actions.
"So Haley wants me to sign the divorce papers uncontested so nobody wastes money on lawyers." said Hotch.
Spencer looked at Hotch and thought about how Haley had been motherly to him until their marriage started to become strained.
"You don't want to?" asked Spencer.
"What I want I'm not gonna get." said Hotch before looking at Spencer, "If it ever comes to the time that you have choose between this job or your family, please make sure you pick your family. With all the job offers you get, you can do anything with that brilliant mind of yours and get to go home to your family every night." said Hotch.
"I know." said Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer and thought about how Spencer has been struggling since Chula Vista.
"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about before we get back to DC?" asked Hotch.
Spencer looked at his boss and realized that since Hotch confessed about his personal life, he should tell Hotch that he's been struggling.
"I've been struggling since Chula Vista, and I've been craving for Dilaudid." said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "I know that I shouldn't relapse since I don't want to lose my growing family or my job." said Spencer.
"Does Maeve know?" asked Hotch.
"She knows, and she's been researching for some meetings that I can attend since I know that I need to pick my family." said Spencer.
"There are meetings that specializes in law enforcement since there are agents and police officers who struggle with addictions." said Hotch.
"I'll look into that." said Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer.
"I'm proud of you for realizing that you need help from people who understand what your dealing with." said Hotch.
"Can you please not tell the rest of the team that I've been struggling?" asked Spencer.
"As long as you don't tell the team about me insisting that Chester doesn't get chained up and how I almost got us killed until you stepped in and distracted Chester." said Hotch before taking a deep breath, "Because if Strauss finds out about me refusing to have Chester chained and how I antagonized the situation, she can use my actions as another reason why I shouldn't be heading the BAU." said Hotch.
"Deal." said Spencer before he and Hotch decided to spend the rest of the ride back to DC talking about Maeve's pregnancy while Hotch gave Spencer advice about parenting while making sure they stopped for dinner.
The next morning Spencer was sitting at his desk doing paperwork when Morgan, JJ, Emily, and Rossi came into the bullpen.
"Pretty boy. How was Connecticut?" asked a smiling Morgan as he thought about how he got to have drinks on Rossi while Spencer had to spend quality time with their cranky unit chief.
Spencer thought about the promise he made to Hotch.
"Ultimately uneventful." said Spencer before looking at Rossi, "Sir, there's somebody waiting to speak to you in your office." said Spencer as he pointed at Kevin.
Kevin came out of Rossi's office and looked at Rossi.
"Agent Rossi. We need to talk about Penelope Man to man." said Kevin while JJ smiled while Emily looked confused.
"Man to man." said Rossi as he headed towards the stairs that led to his office.
"What about Penelope?" asked Morgan.
"I don't know." said Spencer.
"Garcia and Kevin sitting in a tree." sang a smiling JJ before walking away.
"Get outta here. are you serious?" asked Morgan as he watched Rossi and Kevin go into Rossi's office.
Emily laughed.
"Just when I thought nothing scandalous was ever gonna happen around here." said Emily while Morgan walked away.
"What? What does that mean?" asked Spencer.
Emily looked at Spencer.
"Didn't you hear JJ?" asked a shocked Emily.
"The song meant something? No, I missed it." said Spencer.
Emily looked at Spencer.
"It-it." said Emily while Spencer gave her a confused look, "You know what? Never mind." said Emily as she sat down.
"What?" asked Spencer.
After watching Spencer glance at Rossi's office and at her a couple of times, Emily started singing the song while saying Spencer's and Maeve's name, and when she was finished she looked at Spencer who still looked confused.
"Its a popular playground song for kids, and you and Maeve are living that life right now." said Emily.
"Oh." said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "I attended elementary school for a brief time since I graduated high school at 12, and outside of school I had to take care of my mom until my aunt and uncle stepped in so I could attend Cal-tech." said Spencer.
Emily gave Spencer a sad look.
"Well hopefully Jocelyn will help give you the childhood you deserved to have." said Emily before focusing on her consults.