He could see her from where he was standing. Spencer bit down on his bottom lip. His mother was only a few feet from him, and she didn't even realize that he was so close. He watched her where she was sitting, bending over a notebook in her lap.

"I heard a rumor you were here…"

Spencer jumped at the voice and turned to face Dr. Jesson, his mother's physician. He gave her a small smile.

"How is she doing?" He spoke lowly, not wanting his mother to hear.

"Schizophrenia's a lifetime illness. The meds stabilize the worst of her symptoms, but she still has bad days. What makes her most happy are her journals and your daily letters."

Spencer swallowed at her words. He loved his mother, but he wasn't ready to face her. Not yet.

"She is exceptionally proud of you." The doctor spoke up again.

"She is?" He turned to look at Dr. Jesson's face, and she nodded.

"She talks about you all the time. To anyone who will listen. Staff, other patients… her journals are filled with the cases you write her about. She calls them your adventures." There was a small smile on the doctors face as she spoke, but Spencer felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

"Mom is of the belief that you can find adventure all around you if you just look. That's what happens when you're a professor of 15th century literature." He felt a smile working on his mouth now as he spoke fondly of the woman across the room.

"Well, she's gonna be so excited that you were finally able to get down here in person."

Spencer paused at her words.

"Maybe it's better if I just let her rest today." He took a step backward.

"Rest?"

"Yeah, I'll… I'll come back tomorrow." He spoke the words hurriedly. He needed to get out of this place. Away from his mother, and away from Jesson's judgmental glare.

"But, doctor… She's-"

"Could you just give this to her?" Spencer cut her off, holding out a book, which Dr. Jesson aptly took. "It's Marjorie Kemp. Her favorite." He shoved his hands into his pockets and avoided the woman's gaze.

"It could be really good for her if you could just…"

"Please." Spencer held up a hand, moving toward the door. "Thank you so much. Thanks." He hurried out the door and down the hallway.

What had he been thinking? There was no way he was going to be able to see her. No way whatsoever. So, instead of doing what he had originally intended on doing, he went to his hotel to try and get some sleep. Of course, his hopes of sleep were foiled. He sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed, knowing that tonight, just like every other night, would be unbearably long.

Intermission. Go have some popcorn. Or a soda. OR. PISTACHIOS.

He awoke early the next morning, having only gotten a few hours sleep. He made his way directly to the coffeepot on the other side of the room, got dressed, and hurried out the door. His hotel was only a few blocks from his mother's hospital, so it took him only a few minutes to walk in the front door of Bennington. He knew exactly where he was going, so he easily slipped past the reception desk and down a hallway.

"Dr. Reid?" A woman's voice caused him to turn, facing the receptionist. "Someone delivered this to the desk last night for you."

"What?" Spencer was confused as he made his way back toward her, taking the package from her hands. He checked the name and address twice before carefully opening the parcel. Inside, he found a small manila envelope. He opened it with a quizzical expression on his face and watched as a skeleton key fell into his hand. He twirled it between his fingers for a moment before noticing that there was a note inside the envelope. He pulled it out, opening it cautiously.

"She'll die unless you save her, Dr. Reid. Call Gideon, he knows." He read aloud, taking in the woman's clearly terrified expression. He turned from the desk, immediately heading toward the exit of the building. Kya. Liam. What the hell was going on? He dialed Garcia's number.

"What do you want, Reid?" Her furious tone caught him off guard, but he ignored it.

"I need you to track a post mark for me..?" He spoke the words quickly.

"Can't. My system was hacked. It's done… D-O-N-E. And I'm afraid my technological genius is of no help without my network." Penelope seethed, then paused. "Wait… Did you get a package, too?"

"A skeleton key. And a note." He nodded at his words. "Too? Is everyone getting messages?"

"Elle got a dead body outside her hotel room." Garcia explained. "And Gideon got the head that was formerly attached to that body and a baseball card."

"JJ? Morgan or Hotch?" Spencer felt a stab of coldness sweep through him.

"Hotch got a phone call, JJ got a butterfly, and Morgan got to share Elle's present." Garcia spoke automatically, wanting to hang up so she could get back to her business. "And I got a lovely virus that eats software."

"Garcia…" Something in his voice made her fingers stop moving rapidly over the keyboard in front of her. "Do you think…?" He took a breath. "Adams?"

Penelope gasped. The thought that Liam Adams could be behind all of this hadn't even crossed her mind. "I don't know, Reid. What did your note say?"

"That she would die unless I saved her." He spoke the words lowly, something churning inside of him that resembled hate and anger and pain.

"You're on your way home?" Penelope started typing again.

"Walking into the hotel now. Let Gideon know that I got a package, too. Don't bring up Kya… I mean, Emmalee, to the others until we are absolutely sure that we have no choice." Spencer opened his suitcase and began piling his clothes into it.

"Ok." She moved to hang up the phone, but his voice called her attention once more.

"Garcia?" There was something along the lines of desperation audible in the way the word left his mouth.

"Yeah?" She stopped typing again.

"I need you to do me a favor." He sighed into the receiver.

"Name it." Penelope answered without thinking.

Guitar Solo

Kya was sitting at the kitchen table when the phone rang. She had a pile of clothes in front of her on the wooden surface, and she had just picked up her favorite T-Shirt. She folded it in half vertically and waited for the answering machine to pick up. She folded the sleeves in and the folded once more, horizontally.

"This is Kya. Sorry I missed you! Leave your name and number, and I'll get right back to you ASAP! Have a great day!" She rolled her eyes at her voice on the machine. She sounded happy. Her entire life was a lie.

"Ms. Valde?" The woman on the other end of the phone sounded nervous and angry. "My name is Penelope Garcia, and I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI…" Kya froze, jumping from her chair and knocking the pile of already folded laundry into the floor. "I am calling to um…" The woman paused, unsure of what to say. "Well, I need to know that you're ok. Dr. Spencer Reid asked me to call… There have been some… Well, I need you to come down to the FBI headquarters as soon as you can for… Protective custody…" She sighed, and Kya picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Her voice was shaken. Had something happened to Spencer?

"Oh, thank God." The voice on the other end sounded relieved. "You're ok. Wait… You are ok, right?"

"I'm fine…" Kya shook her head. "What's going on? Is Spencer hurt?"

"No, no, no…" Penelope shook her head. "It's nothing like that. The Boy Genius is fine. He's actually on his way home right now."

"On his way home?" Kya furrowed her brows. "What's going on? Why do I need to come…"

She stopped talking, pieces falling into place inside her head. What would make Spencer leave Nevada early because he was worried about her? What would make him concerned to the point that he would call and have her go into protective custody before he even made it home? Oh God, no… Liam.

"What happened?" Kya was surprised at how even her voice came out. She quickly tied her hair into a loose ponytail, hurrying into her bedroom to put on something other than the tank top she had slept in. Realizing that all of her clothes were in the dining room, she ran back into the room, listening intently as Penelope explained what was going on. Kya felt her eyes prick and she felt a stream of tears start to pour as she hung up the phone. No. This couldn't be happening. She had let Spencer go. She had pushed him away, and for what? For it to be too late? She tugged her T-Shirt on over her head and put her wig into place. On her way out, she whistled, and both dogs came bounding in from the bedroom. She quickly locked each deadbolt once she had closed the door, and she hurried into the elevator. Once inside, she started to panic. Why was this happening to her? Again.

It seemed like only seconds before she arrived at the headquarters. She approached the front desk after a long goodbye to both of her dogs.

"Can I help you, Miss?" A very pretty blonde woman was walking past her.

"I'm looking for Penelope Garcia?" Kya's voice shook, and the woman looked her over.

"Is she expecting you?" JJ narrowed her eyes in though when Kya nodded. She pulled her phone out and dialed the technical analyst's number.

"I wish you people would just let me work!" Garcia all but screamed into the phone.

"Sorry, Penelope, but there's a redhead down here looking for you. Says her name is…"

"Kya." Garcia nodded. "Send her up."

JJ hung up the phone and smiled. "Sorry. I should have taken your word for it, but there have been some strange goings on around here lately." She shrugged as she led Kya upstairs and twisting down hallways.

"Here you go." She opened the door to Garcia's office, and Penelope immediately leapt up.

"Kya!" She pulled her into a hug. "So good to see you again… It's been forever!"

JJ rose a brow at their exchange and the shocked expression on Kya's face.

"Ok, JJ. Garcia the Techie has to get to work. Leave us be." Penelope shot her a glare and JJ immediately closed the door behind her on her way out.

"If anyone asks," Penelope sat back down, turning in her seat to face her monitors again. "You're my sister. Adoptive. And we lived in the suburbs of Pleasantville." She smiled at her own words.

"No one else knows?" Kya was breathless. "Liam is coming here and he didn't have the decency to tell everyone else on his team?"

"We don't know if this is Mr. Adams or not." Penelope typed frivolously and watched as Kya slouched onto the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. She was pretty. And Reid said that she was perfect. "His number one priority was your discretion."

Kya opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Penelope's scream.

"I got you now, you dirty rat!" She pulled out a notepad and scribbled onto it.

"Excuse me?" Kya was confused.

"The person who hacked into my computer system's name is Frank Giles." She turned to look at Kya's relieved expression.

"So… this isn't Liam?" She sighed.

""It could be an alias. But I have an address…" Penelope leapt from her chair. "I'll be right back."

It seemed like hours that Kya was alone in Garcia's office. She rested her forehead on her knees and sighed, closing her eyes.

Thank you for reading. It is 2 am here, so I apologize for the brief note. Usually, I would fill you with randomocity. But alas. Not tonight. I wanted to get this chapter up before Thanksgiving. And Saturday is my birthday. EXCITEMENT. So, I hope you liked this. And I hope you ave a greath Thanksgiving! :D

Oh. And please leave a review? I love you guys.

Xx