A/N: Okay, from this point forward, anything referencing the pregnancy is from either educated guesswork or research as I have no children of my own to base their experiences off of. The kids' behaviors are loosely based off my niece and nephews so at least I know those are more grounded in truth. Hopefully, it all seems pretty realistic and true to the Reids. This episode had the be addressed since Reid wasn't in mourning for Maeve this time around...and someone needed to comment on that Blake/Rossi interview. :)
JJ smiled at Spence's nervousness. He was tapping his foot rapidly and looking at his watch repeatedly. She found it incredibly cute. They were at their first ultrasound appointment, getting in right after the New Year. "Spence, baby, calm down before you stroke out over there," she joked.
He opened his mouth to reply, "Actually strokes…" The sonographer entered the room at that time, along with her doctor, cutting him off.
Her doctor smiled. "Hi JJ, good to see you." She turned to Reid. "And Spencer, it's so great to finally meet you. I'm Dr. Ferguson." He nodded, still anxious. She sent JJ a quick look who just grinned and shook her head. "You ready for this?"
JJ nodded. "Oh we're ready." They had opted for the transvaginal ultrasound. Well, JJ had to calm him down after he spouted out all information about it being more accurate. She grabbed his hand. The sonographer started the ultrasound and turned on the screen for them. She knew she should be looking at the screen, but she actually found herself watching Spence's face first. She knew the moment he saw their baby, since he had researched what to look for on the ultrasound beforehand since it hadn't been a topic he had studied in detail before. It was the look he always got during intense thinking, and she could tell he was storing it his memory. She smiled, squeezing his hand and turning to the screen.
Dr. Ferguson smiled "Well, we are looking good here." She pointed out the head and the yolk sack. Then she pointed to another spot on the screen, where they could see flickering. "And that's-"
"The heartbeat," Reid whispered, in awe.
Dr. Ferguson smiled at the new dad in the room. "That's correct. Everything looks good, JJ, Spencer. Let's do some measurements to check our delivery date." She set about measuring with the sonographer, noting she was 8 weeks and 3 days.
Reid looked back at her, "That confirms our thinking." He smiled and JJ chuckled, knowing he was referring to the date of conception.
"You're a regular Babe Ruth, Spence." He blushed and turned back to the screen, fascinated.
Dr. Ferguson smiled to herself. She had delivered Henry and loved JJ. She found her work so admirable and she was so likable as well, still so compassionate and down to earth, that it wasn't hard for her to be a favorite patient of the doctor. She was so thrilled to see her this happy, particularly after JJ had told her about the miscarriage when she came to confirm this pregnancy. She had only seen Will at the last few appointments with Henry and the delivery. In just the few minutes with Spencer, she could see how much more relaxed and content JJ was. Something that was always good for a pregnancy and even more so with the high stress job her patient, and her patient's husband, had. She finished up what she needed to look at and turned to the couple. The sonographer printed some photos from them. "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"
Reid grinned and nodded emphatically. JJ smiled, "Yes, we would."
They switched to the Doppler equipment and a few moments later, they could hear it. Reid smiled and blinked back tears. He leaned down and kissed JJ softly. "I love you," he whispered.
JJ smiled back, wiping some of his tears away, not realizing some of her own were falling too. "I love you too."
JJ smiled as she listened to her mom talk about her niece. Her brother had reported things seemed a little better at home since Thanksgiving. Madison had joined an art club and had made a few new friends. She heard the front door open and could see her boys returning from their trip to library. Henry was already reading at almost a first grade level, something that JJ credited to the man he was entering the house with. She had noticed his vocabulary and grammar was growing the more he read. Now, the boy was getting hungry for more materials to read and Spence was all too eager to help him with that.
She tilted the phone. "Henry, you want to talk to grandma for a few minutes?"
"Yeah!" The boy ran over and took the phone, wandering off to the living room with it. "Grandma, Spence took me to get more books at the library!"
JJ looked back to see her man hanging up Henry's now forgotten coat and his. She smiled seeing him take off his scarf. That beloved piece of purple wool was getting worn; she might need to get him a new one. He turned and caught her eyes, smiling as he walked to her. "You guys have a good trip?"
He nodded, making his way into the kitchen to turn the teakettle from Emily. "Yeah, he picked out five books." She raised her eyebrow. "Hey, he wanted more, if you can believe it. I had to be the one with some control. He may be reading at a higher level, but he still doesn't read as fast as me so I had to remind him he needed to pace himself."
JJ chuckled. "Well first of all, no one reads as fast as you, Spence. But, I do appreciate your self control." She watched him finish preparing his mug for the tea before pulling out hers, not even asking because he knew. He went to the fridge to pull out a piece of ginger to soak in her green tea. She looked into the bag of books and raised her eyebrows at the book that was clearly not Henry's. "Spence?"
He looked over and saw her hands holding the childhood development book. He blushed a little, being caught. She already knew he had done a lot of research about pregnancy – he had read up on most of that when she was pregnant the first time. But this wasn't regarding the baby. "Well, I was thinking about how curious Henry is getting with his questions and how he might react to the baby news. I wanted to be prepared and tell him age appropriate answers."
JJ smirked. "So we can't just tell him there's a baby in my tummy?"
Reid shook his head. "No. He's old enough to know a little more than that, or at least, a little more precise. Saying its in your stomach is confusing and scientifically inaccurate."
She nodded. "Okay. Thank you for thinking of that." She pulled him in for a quick kiss. "So, what did he pick out?"
"Ladies and Gents, the Golden state awaits." Garcia greeted the team a week later, clicking her remote to prompt information on the screen. "Meet who was formally Gary Porter, he was found dead outside of a San Francisco night club last night and Pamela Heard, she was found near a cable car stop in the Mission District." She flashed a map up on the screen along with photos of the two victims.
JJ flipped though the photos. "They were both found wrapped in clear plastic." Reid, in the seat next to her, studied them as well.
"Says here they were dead only a few hours before they were found. That's not long enough for the elements to have made them that pale," Morgan commented, looking over the ME reports.
"Cause that's where we enter the town of Weirdville," Garcia replied. "On the corner from Ew and Icky-Icky. Both victims were almost completely drained of their blood, less than a pint left."
"He's exsanguinating them," Blake stated. Reid nodded in agreement before looking at the other photos in the report.
Hotch sighed, "While they were still alive."
"Might be utilitarian? He needs them alive so they can pump out the blood themselves," Morgan added.
"Draining a body like that is extremely hard to do," Rossi countered. "Once the heart stops pumping it's difficult to continue to extract the blood."
"So the question is how is he doing it?" Blake asked.
"Oh, I wish you wouldn't have asked that 'cause now I gotta show this picture," Garcia grumbled.
"There are large bore holes in the femoral artery of each victim," stated Hotch.
JJ looked over the photos, "Our unsub could have medical knowledge." She glanced at Reid for confirmation.
He shook his head. "I doubt it. There is visible bruising around those puncture marks. A trained professional shouldn't leave such obvious marks."
Hotch nodded. "We'll know more when we get there. Wheels up in 30."
Reid studied the file as Morgan drove to the ME while Blake and Rossi went to the crime scene of the latest victim. Morgan's phone rang. "Hey, Blake." Reid glanced at his friend. "Okay thanks." Morgan glanced back before focusing on the road. "Blake said the latest victim is missing her eyelids."
Reid pondered that. "Were the coronary pupils damaged in anyway?"
Morgan shook his head. "No she said it looked like a very sharp instrument was used." Morgan parked and the pair got out, heading into the building before Reid continued his thought.
"If he's taking care not to damage the eyes then line of sight is probably what's important to him."
Morgan sighed, "So this guy wants them to see what he's doing to them." They met up with the ME, who handed Morgan the file. Reid went about examining the body.
She started her report. "Cause of death was definitely exsanguination, but the tox screen came back for, say this five times fast, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid."
Morgan nodded. "EDTA; it's a anticoagulant, used mostly to treat heart conditions. So the unsub probably used it to thin the blood."
"The Ketamine we found might have helped as well," she nodded.
Reid agreed, "In humans it helps to elevate blood pressure. Which is how he's sedating them. If he was giving these drugs to his victims and he ingested the blood, he would be dosing himself as well."
"Well that rules out vampirism," Morgan stated.
"Definitely not in the medical field," added Reid. "In addition to the bruises I mentioned, there are hesitation marks on the wound."
Morgan shook his head. "Alright so we've got an unsub who's picking his victims at random, sedates them, and bleeds them dry. If he's not drinking the blood then what the hell is he doing with it?"
Rossi looked around as they walked down the hallway of a business where the owner had bought one of the unsub's paintings. They could hear soft moaning. "The unsub sold a piece to the owner of this place?"
Blake sighed and smiled softly. "Reminds me of the '80s."
Rossi raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?"
"Probably," she smirked as they approached the desk.
The man behind it looked up at them. "Welcome. My name is Andre. Before we start, I'll need you to fill out a small waver."
Blake noted this guys poor attempt to be goth with his clothes and eyeliner. "No, we're not a couple," she stated.
Andre smiled. "That's okay, we cater to all kinds of relationships."
Rossi shook his head. "Well our relationship is with the FBI." He pulled out his badge. Soon they were finally getting through to Andre to let them see the art piece. "Remembering now?"
Andre sighed. "Possibly. For that piece, you'll have to follow me to the Spanking Room."
Blake tried to contain her grin at the confused and disturbed look on Rossi's face as they followed him, finding the painting of Pamela Herd.
"Got the report back from the lab. They said they couldn't pull any DNA from the painting. Said something about how they could only get red blood cells." Blake took the report from the detective; Reid moved to read over her shoulder.
"Hmm, he removed the white blood cells. Plasma," Blake commented.
Rossi shot her a confused look. "Why would he take the plasma?"
Hotch shrugged. "It would make it thicker, easier to paint with."
Morgan shook his head, looking at the two doctors. "What type of equipment would you need to do that?"
"You would need a centrifuge," Reid started, but got distracted by a line of thought.
"Which you could easily buy online these days for a couple hundred bucks," Blake finished.
Hotch saw the look on Reid's face. "What other reasons would he have for separating the blood?"
It clicked for the genius. "It's a habit. He's a hemophiliac."
Rossi nodded. "That would explain his obsession with blood. You can't bleed without a fear of dying."
"Its also why he would separate the plasma from the blood before painting with it," Blake added.
Reid nodded, "It's an antiquated treatment, but some hemophiliacs can inject plasma into their wounds, kick starting the clotting process that's ineffective in their own systems."
Morgan pulled out his phone, putting it on speaker. "Hey girlie, I need a list of all the hemophiliacs in the area."
"Vague, so vague," Garcia stated, typing away.
"Garcia for his obsession to be this strong, he likely has the more severe version of the disease, its type B, Christmas disease," Reid supplied.
"Okay, Christmas disease, that does not sound very jolly," she replied, narrowing her search.
"It was named after the first known case, Stephen Christmas." JJ smiled at her husband's knowledge.
"Okay, I've got 15 people who have trouble clotting."
"He wouldn't stray too far from the art world," JJ added.
Reid nodded in agreement. "Most likely works in or around the art community but not as an artist."
"And he's a loner so look for jobs where they don't interact with the public," stated Hotch.
"Yeah, yeah…I've got three. Stock boy at a local supermarket, an art blogger and a custodian," Garcia replied.
Blake squinted, thinking out loud. "These victims have different blood types. If he's taking the plasma out of the blood…" she looked over her shoulder at Reid, who nodded, following her train of thought. "He must be a universal recipient. Any of them with AB positive blood?"
"Specificity, I dig it." Garcia continued to type away. "Okay if I factor in those B names I was working on…and Bingo was his namo. Actually, his name is Bryan Hughes. He's an AB-positive hemophiliac who works as a janitor at the Bay Area Museum of Modern Art. And before you ask, yes, his address has been sent to your phones."
Morgan smiled, "Thanks Baby Girl."
Hotch nodded, "Dave, you and Blake take the museum. Rest of us will take the residence."
The group settled onto the plane, a somber mood on the plane given that Bryan Hughes committed suicide by cop. At least they had saved the gallery owner. JJ was stretched out on the couch, sleeping; the fatigue from the pregnancy kicking in on her tonight. Reid glanced up from his book, noticing the blanket fall off of her. He was quick to his feet, fanning it out and draping it over her sleeping form again. He reached across, tucking it underneath her in spots to help it stay in place. As he did so, his fingers gently hovered over her abdomen for a few seconds.
It was a gesture not lost on Hotch or Blake, both facing that direction of the plane. Hotch schooled his facial expressions and took a sip of the drink Rossi had handed him earlier, the other agent with his back to the scene on the couch. Blake smirked, filing that observation away. She had had a feeling, but didn't think it was her place to ask. They would say something when they were ready. Reid smiled softly to himself, bending down to kiss the top of JJ's head before he made his way to the bar area, making a cup of tea. He walked past a sleeping Morgan with headphones on.
Rossi noticed the smirk, but misjudged the reason why. He decided to ask about their conversation earlier. "So, Alex, you want to tell Aaron and I about the '80s?"
Hotch shot Rossi a confused look. Blake smiled and shook her head. She knew that comment was going to come back to get her. "Should I even ask?" Hotch asked, a barely there smirk crossing his face.
Blake shook her head and waited for Rossi to go for a sip of his drink. "I'll tell you about that, Dave, if you care to explain why you were so uncomfortable with going into the Spanking Room with me." Rossi coughed on his scotch, causing Blake to laugh. Hotch even snorted as he took another drink.
Blake had been a little slow to fully warm up to the team. Hotch knew part of that was her trying to prove herself because of her history with Strauss, but he thought it was unnecessary. She was doing better since spending time with the team at Christmas, seeing how relaxed they can be. Hearing her tease Rossi, easily one of the hardest to rattle, other than himself, was a good sign. He wondered how long Blake would stay with the team, but he had a feeling he was going to enjoy having her here while she was. Particularly if she could get under Dave's skin from time to time.
Hotch closed the file in front of him. There were no new leads on the Replicator case anyway. "I used to worry about sending Reid and Morgan out together to do interviews." That got the agents' attention. It got Reid's too, but he just stilled his movements some, taking a slow sip of his tea, curious as to what the unit chief was going to say. "Both like to attract trouble. Reid is unintentional for the most part. Morgan, sometimes, not so unintentional." Reid chuckled softly, flashes of Morgan's flirting on cases sometimes being helpful and other times not coming to mind. He started back down the aisle, stopping by the three at the table.
Rossi chuckled as well. "You going somewhere with this Aaron?" he asked.
Hotch took another sip of his drink. "Looks like they aren't the ones I should be worried about; its you two."
Blake laughed, despite it being a comment directed towards her and Rossi. Rossi pretended to be stabbed in the heart. "You wound me, Aaron."
Reid smiled and looked at Blake. "Just don't let him leave you in a ditch."
Rossi's jaw dropped.