Reid heard Blake's phone chime in the cup holder. He glanced at his friend. He had noticed she seemed off during this case, that something was on her mind. Her tell was also a give away. "You want me to…"

"No." Blake kept her eyes on the road, knowing it was James. She still couldn't believe his proposal about Harvard and being a couple again. It blindsided her. What was she to do? She had finally gotten back to the BAU after fighting her way back and he just wanted her to walk away? But, she also missed him dearly.

Reid eyed her, noticing she was still mouthing something and fought to shake his head. Yep, definitely had something wrong. "Want to talk about what's bothering you?"

Blake shook her head, "No, nothing's bothering me," she answered quickly. Damn, of all the profilers for her to get stuck in a car with today, it would be him. The one that knew her the best; the most observant. The one that reminded her of...

He wasn't buying it. "Something's bothering you. I can always tell when you're bothered because you whisper songs to yourself. Hip hop specifically." Blake sighed as he continued. "I thought it was odd at first, but then I remembered your dissertation was on the fluidity of metaphor. You seem to have a fondness for Nas."

Seriously? Was there anything Reid didn't have stored in his brain? Blake shook her head, smiling at her friend. "Wow. How did you know?"

Reid shrugged. "Morgan made me listen to some when we first started working together. He said anyone that can't quote Illmatic is ignorant. So…you want to talk about it?"

"The text is from my husband." She continued to stare down the road and sighed.

"Is that a bad thing?" Last Reid knew things were great between James and Blake.

"He wants to know if I thought about his offer."

Reid squinted as he studied Blake's body language with her responses. "What offer?"

"To teach with him at Harvard."

"How would you teach…" Reid caught her glance before she turned back to the road. "Oh." His eyes widened. His first thought was she couldn't leave. He had just gotten used to having her on the team, enjoying her company and conversation.

"Yeah." Blake sighed.

Reid eyed her, curious where her head was with this. "Tough call. What do you think you're going to do?"

Blake shook her head, "When we got married, part of the attraction was that we were both obsessed with our work and for awhile that was okay." Omitting the loss of a child in all of that.

Reid nodded. "Yeah, last time we talked about it, you seemed to prefer it." Has that all changed?

Blake frowned, "Yeah, well, not anymore. I don't like going home to an empty house." She forgot what doing this work could do one's mental well-being.

How had he not noticed this? Was he that distracted by the baby and the Replicator that he couldn't see Blake was lonely? He sighed to himself. That wouldn't do. "Can I offer you a piece of advice?"

Blake nodded, "Sure."

"Oh, we need to turn around, you just passed the house." Blake blinked but turned the car around and pulled in the driveway, parking the SUV. "That's not the advice though." He took a deep breath as she turned to face him. "For ten years, this job has been my life. Then, things changed with JJ. We're only just getting started, but if how you feel about James is what I feel for her, well… Work…there's always work. And there will always be work. What's rare is finding someone who makes us happy." He didn't want her to go, but he wanted her to have happiness. Only she would know what that looked like for her. Blake nodded and smiled, but didn't have time to think that over at the moment. They needed to conduct this interview.


A few days later Reid was staring at his phone, biting his lip. JJ put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, causing him to turn and look at her. He was sitting on their couch, thinking.

"Just be honest, Spence, and be open enough to hear him out."

Her husband nodded and stood up. He kissed her briefly before heading out the back door, taking a seat under the stars in their back yard. He didn't want Henry to possibly hear him if he got loud. He took a deep breath and dialed.

"Hi Spencer."

"Hi."

The pair were quiet for a minute before William spoke up. "So, how's work? JJ? Henry?"

Reid bit his lip to keep from snorting. Guess we need to start somewhere. "Work is fine given we chase serial killers for a living." And we have someone stalking the team. "JJ and the baby are healthy, Henry is the best four year old in the world." He paused, "How are you?"

William smiled. "I'm okay. Law practice is going well. River is finally starting to settle down from her kitten phase, which my furniture appreciates."

Reid blinked. He then recalled Emily's comment about his dad having a very sick cat, which meant he must having gotten a new one after that one passed away. But he wasn't technically supposed to know that since it was when the team was digging into his life. "Who's River?"

"Oh, right, sorry. She's my cat. I got her as a rescue two years ago when she was a kitten." He paused. "She's named after the Doctor Who character."

Despite himself, Reid smiled at that. Apparently they did have at least one thing in common. "Ah." He hesitated. Should he just ask the big question? "So… Everything with Riley Jenkins caused you to lose your confidence to care for me as a child and the weight of knowing mom unintentionally assisted in Gary Michaels' murder put a strain on your relationship with her. Even if I fully accept all of that, why haven't you tried to reach out over these past four years until now?"

William sighed. "I don't know, Spencer. I guess I went so long living in the shadows of your life, just seeing how you were doing from afar, that I didn't know how to try for an active presence in it. Still don't really, but I do want to try, son. I know…" He took a deep breath. "I know that I hurt you when I left. I know that wasn't a wise decision. I left you with your mo"

"My mom is an amazing woman who loves me unconditionally and would do anything in her power to protect me. Something you clearly didn't feel," Reid defended.

"I'm not denying that, Spencer. But, I know it wasn't easy taking on her care. You were the child and I made you the parent by doing that. I'm sorry."

Reid felt some tears starting for fall. "I'm not sure 'sorry' can fix that. Do you have any idea what that was like? Were you in the shadows the whole time while I was paying our bills, buying our groceries? While I was tortured in school? Did you ever think about stepping back in to help at all?" Tears fell as the pair fell quiet; Reid didn't know his father was crying too.

"I... I don't have a good answer for you. I know there really are no words that can justify everything. But, I can't go back in time and fix things. I just hope that you'll give me the time now to show that I'm truly sorry and would like to get to know you as an adult."

Reid could hear the sincerity in his voice. Something struck him in that moment. This whole thing was a lot like when JJ worked to rebuild his trust after Emily. He smiled ever so slightly, reflecting on how that all turned out. But, his father's betrayal was on such a larger scale, a deeper wound, that it would take a lot more time. Did he want to invest that effort? Would it turn out the same way? Or would he just end up with a deeper cut in his heart? So many thoughts started to take over his mind that he jumped slightly when he felt a hand out his shoulder. Looking up at his wife, his mind calmed some. JJ handed him a cup of tea and kissed the top of his head. Sending him a soft smile of encouragement, she slipped back inside.

"Spencer?"

He cleared his throat, grateful that she seemed to sense his distress. "Sorry, just thinking that over. You're right, there is no good way to fix the past." His mom's words during the Riley Jenkins case echoed in his head. "But what's done is done." He took another breath. "So I guess we can try for something now. Where do you want to start?"

He could hear his father's sigh of relief through the phone. "Which one of your degrees did you enjoy earning the most?"


JJ groaned as she stood up from her desk. At least Spence had gotten her some great cushions to add to her chair, allowing her to be more comfortable and maintain good posture. It helped at times. At six and a half months pregnant, she was slowly becoming more uncomfortable as her body grew. Today, was one of those days where her legs were killing her. This hadn't been as much of an issue when she was pregnant with Henry. Guess that's why they say every pregnancy is a little different. Reid looked up from his paperwork and seemed to sense her discomfort.

"Let's get of here, JJ. I'll draw you a nice bath and massage your legs." He stood as well, tossing his pen down. He was the most doting husband ever and she cherished it…most of the time. Sometimes she needed space, but tonight was not one of those times. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and then met her by her desk, grabbing hers.

"Mmm, baby, that sounds amazing," she sighed happily. She tugged at his tie a bit so she could kiss him briefly, wearing more comfortable shoes now and was just that much shorter compared to him without her heels. They didn't see Blake and Rossi coming out of his office, smiling at the sight of them.

"Have a good weekend you three, I'll try my absolute best not to call you," Rossi stated, in charge of the team for now while Hotch was in New York visiting Beth with Jack. He really hoped he didn't have to call them either; he had plans with Erin tonight.

Reid waved at them on the second level, blushing a little having been caught kissing JJ in the bullpen. "Night Dave, Alex." Blake nodded and smiled at the couple as they headed home.


"Oh my god, I love you," JJ moaned. She was currently lying on her side on the couch after taking a long bath, Spence helping her out when she was ready. Her lower legs were in his lap as he worked out the tension in her calves and feet. For a man that wasn't sure about giving massages until she taught him a few months ago, he sure knew what to do now. God bless that brain of his. She moaned again as he found a particular knot and worked it out. Reid smiled at the pleasure he could cause her, but was slightly uncomfortable given the fact that Sandy was sitting in the chair nearby, reading a magazine. They had put Henry to bed about a half hour ago.

The elder Jareau chuckled. "Goodness Jennifer, control yourself."

Reid blushed and JJ smiled at him. "Can't help it that my man has magic hands."

Reid coughed nervously, "JJ!" The women laughed again at his embarrassment.

"Sorry Spence," JJ replied. She shot a glance at her mom. "You ready to help us go shopping tomorrow? We have next to nothing ready for this little one," she rubbed her belly. They really needed to start talking about names. They had been so distracted by work that they hadn't started to prepare a space for the nursery. JJ was just grateful they still had another spare room to use. It currently had some of her old office stuff in it and some of Spence's old stuff that they hadn't really dealt with since they moved in together. That was his project this weekend. She also knew it would give him some time alone so he could talk to his dad. They had made a fraction of progress since that call two weeks ago, but it was at least one step in the right direction.

Sandy nodded, "Of course, dear. I can't wait to look at some of the girl stuff out there now. So much has changed since Maddy was a baby." Reid smiled at the mention of the teenager. He had actually talked to her a few times since Thanksgiving; he was relieved that she had settled in well with a new group of friends in her art club and was doing much better.

JJ sighed. "Am I going to have to control you too? Pen has already given me two bags full of clothes and still insists on throwing me a baby shower. I told her I still have a lot of the essentials from Henry, but she won't—"

Reid's phone rang.

He shot JJ a look and sighed before answering. "Hey Rossi." She moaned again, but this time not out of happiness.


"Guys, I'll take the witness," Reid stated as he arrived at the club where six victims died last night with Morgan and JJ. Morgan nodded in agreement. JJ shot Reid a small smile, knowing why he chose that assignment. He nodded back before heading over to the stairs that the witness was sitting on, trying to come down from the ecstasy. She followed Morgan up the other set of stairs, albeit a little slower than him, looking down at the crime scene.

"Well, this guy is definitely making a statement," Morgan stated.

JJ sighed. "To us or to them?" She watched as they cleared away the last two bodies. They continued to survey the scene before making their way back down to Reid as he turned away from the witness.

"The delayed onset of the drug caused the victims to OD themselves," Reid informed them.

"Well that explains why they boiled. The higher to dose, the higher the heat," Morgan nodded.

"Maybe it was designed that way. According to the ME report, the ecstasy was cut with a high volume methamphetamine," JJ speculated. She still couldn't get over the visual of the victims bleeding out from their eyes. There were some things she saw in this job that were hard to shake, and for whatever reason, that was one of them.

Morgan pulled out his phone and called Garcia. "Go for greatness!"

"Hey baby girl, I need you to run a search for delayed onset MDMA. Methamphetamine mixtures. See if you can find anything about—"

"Whoa."

JJ glanced at Reid. "What?"

"Double oh to the whoa to the oh whoa power!" Garcia exclaimed. "There's a drug called paramethox-sh—"

"Paramethoxyamphetamine?" Reid supplied. JJ would have smiled at his knowledge if she wasn't to busy trying to listen to Garcia.

"Yes, what you just said. PMMA for short. It just hit the international market. Its street name, which I'm not making up, is Doctor Death. So coined because the drug keeps killing people. Apparently its produced with such a huge percentage of meth, it masks the effects of the ecstasy until the user has already taken too much."

Reid listened intently. "MDMA costs more to make then methamphetamine so its common practice to mix the two with ecstasy in order to maximize profit margins." But why cut in a drug that kills your users?

JJ nodded to his comment. "Like watering down liquor. Except in this case, the water kills you."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "So is this PMMA coming straight from the manufacturer or is our unsub altering the drug supply to make it more lethal?" The group shared a confused look. What exactly did Sean Hotchner get himself mixed into? And what was their unsub's message?


"I hope you saved me for dessert," Garcia greeted, biting her pen.

Blake shot JJ a look as the younger one shook her head. "Morgan isn't here, Baby Girl," she teased, taking a seat. Sometimes she seriously wondered about those two. Were they really all just talk?

"Oh." Garcia moved her pen and pretended to shrug that off. "I know that, that was for you," she smiled.

Blake and JJ shared another quick glance. Blake tried to hide her smile as she shook her head. "Tell us you found something." They listened to her information about the bottles of wine that killed three of their victims coming from Sean's place of employment. After tacking on the photos to their board, JJ sighed and went to tell Hotch. She felt for the unit chief, trying to stay objective and solve the case, while trying to protect but also not condone any of Sean's bad choices. It saddened her that the two had such a strained relationship. Resting a hand on her belly, she hoped that Henry and her 'Baby Girl' got along a lot better.


"Thank you." Strauss walked into the conference room, hanging up her phone. "That was the Canadian Drug Agency. They closed down operations at their airport."

JJ let out a sigh. "That's a relief. Sean can come out of hiding." She sent a smile to Hotch. Rossi also tried to encourage him, but he simply nodded and left. Then she had to watch Strauss and Rossi try to be subtle in their flirting. Trying, but failing. She smirked at him, not that he noticed, too busy watching Strauss walk away with Blake. "Could you be any more obvious?"

Rossi shot her an annoyed look as he cleaned up more files. "I think I preferred you before you were a profiler."

JJ snorted. "Oh really?" Rossi smiled as they continued to clean up. She sighed as she shifted on her feet.

"Sit, my dear, rest your feet," Rossi gestured to a chair. "I think I can handle sorting papers. You relax until the hubby gets back from Franklin and can whisk you off to the hotel."

JJ chuckled as she sat down. "Thanks Dave."


Garcia worked on organizing her files from the case, cleaning up before heading out for the night. Suddenly her system started to beep and the screen got pixelated. "That's not right, why is that happening?" Her screen went black as a photo of Hotch appeared. Not photo, photos. Then of Morgan, Reid, Rossi. "What?" Garcia started to back away from her system as the photos started to flip by more rapidly.

Then a word started to repeatedly scroll across the screen. Zugzwang.

"That's what the…"

"That's what the Replicator…that's what the Replicator said…"

"How…how…did he get in my…no! How did he get in?"

Zugzwang.


JJ smiled at the sight of Reid and Morgan entering the conference room. "Hey, I heard you took out the unsub with a piece of luggage?" she teased. Morgan chuckled as Reid just shrugged.

"It worked, didn't it?" he joked back. He noticed the boxes were packed. "You ready to get out of here?"

She nodded as he offered her a hand to get up. Morgan smiled as his phone rang and he saw Garcia on the caller ID. "Hey Baby Girl."

"He – he – I…"

Morgan's eyes widened as he put her on speaker, getting the other three's attention. "Garcia, calm down. What happened?"

"The Replicator." They all straightened. "He hacked my system. But, he sent photos of you guys in New York first."

"He's here?" Reid asked.

The group exchanged a look before springing into action. Morgan told Garcia to get Kevin to help with the hack. "I'll call Hotch," Rossi stated, the group heading to the SUV. "Reid, get a hold of Blake."

Reid nodded but stopped JJ first. "I think you should go be with Beth and Jack."

She shook her head. "No, we're the targets. They're safer without me there."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Morgan cut him off. "I think she may be right, Kid." Reid glared at him. Morgan turned to face JJ. "But once we get to the hotel and get you to Strauss, you're staying there, you got it? You two can protect each other."

She sighed, agreeing with that plan. "Fine."

Morgan escorted her to one SUV, while Reid and Rossi headed to another to get Hotch. Reid paused at the passenger door and ran back to her. He kissed her quickly. "Love you both. Stay safe."

"Back at you Spence." After she climbed into the SUV and Morgan headed to the hotel, she pulled out her phone. "Hey Garcia." She put her friend on speaker.

"Are you guys still okay?"

JJ and Morgan exchanged a look, hearing the panic rising in her voice from just a few minutes ago. It hadn't gotten any better since Morgan had hung up so she could get Kevin; in fact, it was worse. JJ tried to reassure her even though she could feel her own anxiety rising as she rubbed her bump. Morgan was right; she needed to be with Strauss and not running around. "Yeah, we're fine. Derek is with me and we're meeting up with the rest at the hotel. Rossi and Spence went to get Hotch."

"I don't know how he got in," she muttered.

They could hear Kevin the background. "I'm going to shut down the server before the Replicator can."

"I am so sorry. I check everything, I upgrade constantly." The profilers couldn't see the tears streaming down her face, but they could hear them.

JJ sighed. "It's not your fault, Penelope. He's just that good."

"And he wanted us to know he's here hunting us," Morgan added.

Kevin had a thought. "Hold on, you have an external override. And if the only way to get in is with a preauthorized hard line and he didn't get in via Quantico…"

"Oh my god."

That tone put Morgan on even higher alert, which he didn't know was possible. "What?"

"He was in my house."

Morgan gripped the steering wheel a little harder, accelerating as much as he could and still safely drive with JJ in the car. JJ called her mother to tell her the security detail was coming again. Please keep them safe. She didn't think that it was another team member they should have been worried about.