"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." -Victor Hugo

Diana continually cared for her ailing child, often sacrificing her own health for his. She had to be constantly reminded to eat and take her medication. She refused to leave her son's side. Spencer was still as ever. His mother read to him constantly, trying to relieve the silence that often blanketed the room.

The team came to visit every day. They told him stories of the cases they solved. At work, his seat at the table remained empty and untouched. His desk collected a thin layer of dust. There was a sense of emptiness around the bullpen.

The days tumbled into one another and they slowly began to take shape. Although Spencer was not there physically, he was always there in spirit. He was mentioned often, and never forgotten.

Spencer never moved a muscle. He heard every word his Mommy and friends said, and was grateful. He was a man blessed with wonderful friends and family. He felt loved. Without that, he would not be able to recover.

How much time had passed, he didn't know, but one day he moved.

Diana held his hand constantly. One sunny day, her son squeezed her hand. Her hope soared.

"Baby? Can you hear me?"

Slowly, he blinked. "Can you squeeze my hand?"

His fingers twitched and clasped her hand. She thought he might cry in happiness.

"There's my baby." She said, kissing his hand. "Can you get up by yourself?"

His mouth opened up a little, and he tried to speak.

"Do you need a drink first?"

He blinked twice. She assumed that was a yes. Slowly, he drank water through a straw. He opened his mouth.

"Momma?"

"Yes, baby?"

"How long was I gone?"

"For about a month."

"Oh..." He frowned. Diana sensed his hesitation.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"I..."

"What is it?"

"I just feel bad..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, honey. It's not your fault. It just happens." He still looked doubtful. "Sweetie, you can't blame yourself for this. You have to let it go, or you'll never move on. Okay?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"Good." She kissed his forehead, and then looked at her watch. It was three o'clock. "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head no, and frowned. She knew that look by heart, and went to change him.

He was slightly surprised when she picked him up without warning. He then recognized that this happened every day, but he hadn't realized this until now. He slipped his thumb into his mouth and began to suck nonchalantly as his head found purchase on her shoulder.

When the team came over that afternoon, they were happily surprised to see Spencer listening intently to his Mother's reading. All of them gave him a big hug and shared their thoughts with one another. Spencer was just happy to be back, and spent one last night in his mother's room before going back to work. She coddled and cosseted her baby as much as possible before going to sleep.

When the next morning came, Diana felt depressed. After a month of caring for her baby non stop, it was going to be hard to adjust to days without him. She kept tears out of her eyes as he left her room and went back to the BAU.

Spencer drove the two hour route from the Piedmont Sanitarium to work. To his surprise and delight, his coworkers had all gathered around the table to hold a welcome back party for him in the early hours of the morning. They smiled and laughed together, and suddenly it was if the month long gap between them did not exist at all. It was like folding a piece of paper in half, closing all the distance between the two points.

The morning was interrupted by a case. They all gathered onto the jet and were handed profiles of their latest victims.

"This is Elaine McCormick and Yvette Caulfield. They were found in Prince William Forest Park laying in top of each other under a tree in the shape of a cross."

"That screams religious nut job to me." Said Prentiss, matter-of-factly.

"Do they have anything in common?" Asked JJ.

"They're both prostitutes under the table." Said Garcia through Morgan's iPad. "They hold day jobs as a seamstress and a teacher, respectively. Not very high paying. They both lived in seperate apartments, both in very crappy neighborhoods. From the looks of it, both of them were about to be evicted."

"Sounds like a last ditch attempt for some extra cash." Morgan commented.

"Whoever killed them clearly has some sort of religious motivation toward them. I mean, just look at the way they were killed..." Spencer said, gesturing to the photos. "They were killed like lambs to a slaughter."

"All we're missing is a couple of two by fours for them to be nailed to." Said Prentiss, sarcastically. Hotch shot her a dirty look, but said nothing.

They went to the site and found cautionary tape wrapped near the tree. JJ and Hotch stayed to talk with the Local PD while Morgan and Reid went to examine the bodies. When they got there, Reid noticed something unusual about the tree they were looking at. It would have almost been undetectable on camera.

Carved into the tree were the words "washed in the blood of the lamb".