Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds
A/N: Shout out to Tegan, Kyla, Cara, Natasha, Aleona, Charis, tannerose5, and fishtrek for reviewing chapter 37.
I accidentally deleted this chapter so I had to repost it.
I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter, and to make up on the delay, I decided that I would include the episode Amplification in one chapter while the next chapter happens in the hospital and at home. The reason why I didn't update in over a week was because my laptop wouldn't charge so I had to take it to Get It Now for service before I decided to get a new laptop from Get It Now since a part has to get replaced. Luckily I had this chapter saved on document manager so I could work on the non-episode scenes on my phone and an old laptop of mine that I gave to my step-father while I worked on my other in progress story due to the writer's block I dealt with when it came to the beginning of this chapter and the messages that Spencer ended up recording for Maeve, his daughters, and Stephanie.
I finally finished and posted the one shot that takes place during chapter 31 of this story, and the one shot is called Spencer Faces His Tormentors so I hope that you faithful readers decide to check out that one shot.
This chapter starts on May 8th of 2009, and I decided that Stephanie and Tanya should come down to DC for Mother's Day weekend.
Spencer was hurrying up on packing up his desk when Morgan looked at him.
"Hurrying to get home to Maeve and Jocelyn?" asked Morgan.
"Stephanie and Tanya are currently on a plane to DC since they wanted to spend Mother's Day weekend with Maeve, Josie, and me. So I have to head to the airport to pick up Tanya and Stephanie," said Spencer.
Morgan and Emily exchanged sad smiles as they thought about Spencer's half-sister.
"Even though this is Stephanie's last Mother's Day with her mom they want to spend Mother's Day with you?" asked Emily.
Spencer smiled sadly at his teammates.
"Tanya was my step-mother, and the interactions I had with her the past few weeks, I realized that I wouldn't have minded having her as my step-mom if dad didn't leave me the way he did," said Spencer.
"Your dad should have committed your mother while gaining custody of you," said Morgan.
"I know, but I'm making sure to get to know the woman who was my step-mom while I get to know my sister," said Spencer as he slung his messenger bag around his shoulders, "Have a nice weekend, and I'll see you guys on Monday," said Spencer as he hurried towards the elevator.
Over an hour later Spencer smiled as Tanya and Stephanie approached him.
"Did you guys have a nice flight?" asked Spencer.
"I spent the flight working on my essay that's due next Friday," said Stephanie.
"Good," said Spencer before taking Tanya's and Stephanie's bags, "When do you guys have to catch your flight back to Portland?" asked Spencer.
"Our flight is at 9 AM on Sunday morning since Stephanie still has school on Monday," said Tanya.
"At least we'll be able to have breakfast on Sunday morning before I bring you guys here," said Spencer as his personal phone vibrated causing him to see a text from Maeve.
DINNER WILL BE DONE IN 30 MINUTES. ~ MR
"Dinner will be done in 30 minutes," said Spencer.
"Can I please play with my niece after dinner?" asked Stephanie.
"You can play with your niece all you want until Josie goes to bed," said Spencer.
"Good," said Stephanie.
An hour and a half later Spencer was doing dishes while Maeve and Tanya sat at the kitchen island drinking tea as they watched Stephanie push a giggling Jocelyn on her baby swing outside.
"How are you feeling, Tanya?" asked Maeve.
Tanya smiled sadly at Spencer and Maeve.
"I have good days and bad days when it comes to the headaches I'm experiencing, and Stephanie and I have been going to counseling together," said Tanya.
Spencer turned around from the sink.
"At least you two are making sure to spend as much time as possible with your daughter since I make sure to spend as much time as possible with my family before I get a phone call about my next case," said Spencer.
Tanya looked at Spencer.
"Do you know if you're going to be taking a few weeks off of work when its time for Stephanie to move in with you?" asked Tanya.
"I'll be taking two weeks off to help Stephanie settle in," said Spencer before Stephanie came into the house with a crying Jocelyn, "Jocelyn's crying and I checked her diaper and its clean," said Stephanie.
"That's her "I'm hungry" cry, so do you want to feed your niece some pureed peas?" asked Maeve.
"Sure," said Stephanie.
A minute later Stephanie was feeding her niece as she looked at her brother.
"So what plans do we have for tomorrow?" asked Stephanie.
"My parents will be coming over for dinner tomorrow, and they're excited to meet you, Stephanie," smiled Maeve.
Two days later Spencer looked at Jocelyn as he held her outside of his and Maeve's bedroom.
"As soon as we go in there, wake up Mama," said Spencer.
Jocelyn smiled at her daddy.
"Dada," said Jocelyn.
A minute later Spencer placed Jocelyn onto his and Maeve's bed and a few seconds later Jocelyn quickly crawled to her mommy.
"Mama. Mama. Mama. Mama," chanted Jocelyn.
A few seconds later Maeve woke up to see her soon to be oldest daughter face to face with her.
"Well this is a lovely wake up call, Josie," said Maeve.
"Check out her onesie," said Spencer.
A few seconds later Maeve started to tear up at her daughter's onesie that said HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY AND GRANDMA!
"Stupid hormones," muttered Maeve before she groaned when she felt Gabriella kick causing her to rub her 29-week pregnant belly, "I take it that you're wishing me a Happy Mother's Day, Gabby," said Maeve.
A few minutes later Spencer, Maeve, Stephanie, Tanya, Joe, Mary, and Jocelyn who was in her high chair all sat around the dining room table to eat the breakfast that Spencer, Joe, and Stephanie cooked together while Stephanie insisted on feeding her niece the scrambled eggs that were made for her.
A half-hour later Spencer's cell phone vibrated causing the young man to groan when he read a text from JJ.
WE HAVE A CASE SO PLEASE REPORT TO THE BAU ASAP, BUT DON'T BRING A GO BAG. ~ JJ
Maeve looked at her husband and saw the sadness in his eyes as she rested her hands on her 29-week pregnant belly.
"Everything OK, Spence?" asked Maeve.
"As much as I was hoping about getting to stay home on Mother's Day, but I just got a text from JJ stating that I have a case and I'm not supposed to take a go bag," said Spencer.
Maeve looked at her husband.
"Its OK since I know that you'll only be called in on weekends if there are no other teams available," said Maeve.
Spencer gave Maeve a quick kiss.
"I'll try to call you as soon as I can," said Spencer before smiling sadly at Tanya and Stephanie, "I'm sorry that I won't be seeing you two off to the airport in two hours," said Spencer.
"Its OK, Spencer," said Stephanie as she hugged her older brother.
"I'll call you as soon as this case is over," said Spencer.
"Pinky swear?" asked Stephanie as she held out her pinky.
"Pinky swear," said Spencer as he locked his pinky with Stephanie.
A few seconds later Spencer looked at his nine-month-old daughter.
"Daddy loves you, Josie," said Spencer as he gave his daughter a kiss.
"Dada," smiled Jocelyn.
A minute later Spencer was getting his revolver out of his gun safe before heading to his car.
Spencer exited the elevator with Morgan and Emily.
"Case must be local. JJ said not to bring a go bag," said Spencer just as he, Morgan, and Emily ended up seeing men and women wearing fatigues taking over their bullpen.
"What's the army doing here?" asked Morgan.
Emily stepped further into the bullpen with Spencer and Morgan.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Emily.
A minute later Spencer entered the conference room with Morgan and Emily to see an Asian woman at the table getting some pills ready.
"Guys, this is Dr. Linda Kimura, chief of special pathogens with the CDC," said JJ.
"Hello," said Emily.
"Hello. I'm sorry to meet under these circumstances," said Dr. Kimura.
A confused Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura.
"What circumstances?" asked Spencer.
Hotch looked at his team.
"We need to get started," said Hotch.
Spencer grabbed the file that was in front of him.
"Last night, 25 people checked into emergency rooms in and around Annapolis. They were all at the same park after 2 PM yesterday. Within 10 hours, the first victim died. It's now just past 7 AM. The next day, we have 12 dead," said JJ.
Morgan looked at the information that was in his file.
"Lung failure and black lesions. Anthrax?" asked Morgan.
Spencer looked at his file.
"Anthrax doesn't kill this fast," said Spencer.
"This strain does," said Dr. Kimura.
"What are we doing about potential mass targets- Airports, malls, trains?" asked Emily.
"There's a media blackout," answered Hotch.
"We're not telling the public?" asked a shocked Emily.
Morgan looked at Emily.
"We'd have a mass exodus," said Morgan.
"The psychology of group panic would cause more deaths than this last attack," said Rossi.
Spencer looked at Emily while thinking about wanting to get Maeve, Jocelyn, his in-laws, Stephanie, and Tanya far away from the DC area as possible while the scientist in him knew why they couldn't tell anyone.
"Yeah, and if it does get out, whoever did this might go underground or destroy their samples," said Spencer.
"Or if they wanted attention and didn't get it, they might attack again. Doesn't the public have the right to know that?" asked Emily.
"If there is another attack, there's no way we'll be able to keep it quiet. Our best chance of protecting the public is by building a profile as quickly as we can," said Hotch sternly.
Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura.
"What do we know about this strain?" asked Spencer.
"The spores are weaponized, reduced to a respiral ideal that attacks deep in the lungs. Odorless and invisible," said Dr. Kimura.
"A sophisticated strain. Only a scientist would know how to do that," said Rossi.
Morgan looked at a picture of the lesions.
"These lesions are doubling in size in a matter of hours," said Morgan.
"It's not the lesions I'm worried about. It's the lungs. We don't know how to combat the toxins once they're inside. And the reality is, we may lose them all," said Dr. Kimura.
"The remaining survivors have been moved to a special wing at Walter Reed hospital. Our offices will become a small command center," said JJ.
"We'll be working with military scientists from Fort Detrick," said Hotch.
Rossi looked at Hotch.
"General Whitworth is coming here?" asked Rossi.
"He's in charge of site containment and spore analysis. Determining what strain this is will help inform who's responsible," said Hotch.
"My team is in charge of treating all victims," said Dr. Kimura.
Hotch looked at Spencer.
"Reid, go with Dr. Kimura to the hospital. Interview the victims. Morgan and Prentiss, there's a hazmat team that will accompany you to the crime scene. There's Cipro. everybody needs to take it before we go," said Hotch.
Dr. Kimura picked up the tray that she prepared, and a few seconds later Spencer was grabbing a small cup that contained Cipro.
"We don't know if it's effective against this strain, but it's something," said Dr. Kimura.
"This is really happening?" asked Emily.
Hotch looked at his teammates and thought about how they ended up having to sign up for the possible sacrifices they would have to make when they chose the FBI.
"We knew this could happen. We've done our homework. We've prepared for this. This is it," said Hotch as he put Cipro into his mouth.
Rossi held up his small cup as a toast.
"Jin dan. May you live 100 years," toasted Rossi.
A few seconds later everyone was swallowing their Cipro with the help of water before Spencer looked at Hotch.
"Even though I hate lying to my wife, I promised Maeve that I would let her know why I was called in. Since I can't tell her the truth, should I tell Maeve that I'm going undercover and that I can't answer any phone calls or text messages to prevent my cover from being blown?" asked Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer.
"That reason will work, and with the urgency, you should text Maeve instead of calling her," said Hotch.
A few seconds later Spencer was sending Maeve a text message.
MY TEAMMATES AND I ARE ALL GOING UNDERCOVER SO I WILL BE UNREACHABLE UNTIL THE CASE IS OVER. I LOVE YOU, JOCELYN, AND GABRIELLA. ~ SR
A minute later Maeve replied.
THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW. PLEASE STAY SAFE AND JOCELYN, GABRIELLA, AND I ALL LOVE YOU. ~ MR
10 minutes later Spencer quickly headed to JJ's office.
"Do you have those files I've been looking for?" asked Spencer.
JJ ignored Spencer's question as she pointed at her computer.
"Did you see this memo from the director? Office phones and emails are being monitored," said JJ.
Spencer took a quick glance at JJ's computer and read the message.
"Yeah, they're trying to protect the media blackout," said Spencer before becoming serious, "Files?" asked Spencer.
"Uh, yeah, right here," said JJ as she pointed at the stack of files on her desk.
"Thanks. I want to see what kind of medical treatment the victims received before I head to the hospital," said Spencer as he paged through the files.
"Why do you think the suspect in 2001 stopped sending the letters?" asked JJ.
"I have no idea, but if he hadn't, it would have been much worse," said Spencer.
"The worst part was not knowing when it was gonna be over. Feeling safe opening mail again," said JJ as she rubbed her forehead.
"Five people died. Many more exposed and sickened, including a baby who was admitted to the hospital after lesions appeared on his skin," said Spencer as he ended up thinking about Jocelyn and his unborn daughter.
JJ instantly became alert about the baby as she thought about Henry and Jocelyn.
"How did he contract it?" asked JJ.
"I have no idea. must have come into close contact with a tainted letter or crossed paths with the unsub himself," said Spencer.
JJ looked at Spencer and realized how good he was at not thinking about his family.
"How old was the baby?" asked JJ.
"7-months," answered Spencer.
"Did he survive?" asked JJ.
Spencer looked at JJ.
"I gotta run. Kimura's waiting. I'll call you from the hospital," said Spencer as he hurried to the door.
"Spence," called JJ.
Spencer quickly stopped and looked at JJ.
"Did the baby survive?" asked JJ.
Spencer inwardly beat himself up as he realized that JJ was thinking about Henry.
"Yeah, but, I mean, that was a curable strain. This thing's entirely different," said Spencer before looking at JJ, "I know that your thinking about Henry. I'm also thinking about Jocelyn and my unborn daughter," said Spencer before hurrying away.
10 minutes later Dr. Kimura was driving to Walter Reed Hospital when she looked at Spencer who was reading the files he collected.
"Do you have any children with your wife?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer stopped reading a file and looked at Dr. Kimura.
"I have a nine-month-old baby girl named Jocelyn Elizabeth Reid, and my wife's 29-weeks pregnant with my second child," said Spencer.
"Beautiful name, and do you know what your wife's having?" asked Dr. Kimura.
"Another little girl who will be named Gabriella Kaitlyn Reid," smiled Spencer.
Dr. Kimura thought about the current date.
"I'm sorry that I had to call you and your teammates in on today of all days," said Dr. Kimura.
"Its OK since my wife, in-laws, and my sister understood that I would only get called in if there were no other teams available," said Spencer before smiling a little bit, "If Maeve knew what was going on right now, she would be asking questions about this strain of anthrax while wanting to study this strain of anthrax with her microscope," said Spencer.
"Is your wife a doctor?" asked Dr. Kimura.
"Maeve's a geneticist at Mendel University, and my mother-in-law Dr. Mary Donovan is also a geneticist," said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura smiled a bit.
"I met them before, and I have to say that they're brilliant women," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer walked into a hospital room with Dr. Kimura.
"Hi, Abby. You feeling any better?" asked Dr. Kimura gently.
Abby nodded a little bit.
"OK. This is Agent Reid from the FBI. If you can, will you talk with him?" asked Dr. Kimura gently.
Abby nodded.
"Abby, I'd like to try to do a memory recall exercise with you to take you back to the park, if that's OK," said Spencer as he used the voice he uses for Jocelyn, Jack, and Henry before Abby nodded at him, "I need you to close your eyes," said Spencer.
Abby closed her eyes while Spencer recalled what Abby was doing at the park.
"Yesterday afternoon, you rode your bicycle to the park. How did the sun feel on your skin, the breeze through your hair? Can you describe for me what you heard and the people that you saw?" asked Spencer gently.
"It was warm, windy. There were guys...football. Kids... I see free... Me seen fee me. Free knee. S...sin knee," said Abby as she looked at Spencer and Dr. Kimura with scared eyes.
Dr. Kimura decided to stop the interview.
"All right, Abby. That's OK. You just rest now, OK?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Abby started to freak out a bit.
"Me mock fee key me free," said Abby.
"Shh, shh, shh. You just rest. OK? Thank you," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer looked at Abby with sad eyes before he left Abby's hospital room with Dr. Kimura.
"What's causing her aphasia?" asked Spencer.
"The poison is infecting the parietal lobe, Impairing her speech. Some of the other patients displayed the same symptoms shortly before they died," said Dr. Kimura.
"None of the drug combinations are working?" asked Spencer.
"The only thing that's helping them right now is the morphine," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer inwardly shuddered at the mention of a narcotic before he followed Dr. Kimura.
Spencer stood outside of a hospital room with a sad look on his face as he watched an upset Dr. Kimura dead with a patient that flat-lined before nurses covered up the patient before Dr. Kimura watched him.
"38-year-old high school history teacher. Leaves two kids behind," said Dr. Kimura sadly.
Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura.
"17 out of 25 dead," said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura walked to a desk and grabbed a pen.
"This strain is duplicating every 30 to 45 minutes. It's poisoning the lungs, causing massive hemorrhaging and organ failure," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer squinted a bit as the wheels in his brain started to turn as he started thinking as a scientist instead of a federal agent.
"Extreme bacterial amplification. Whoever created this had to at some point go to the trouble of testing it," said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura looked at Spencer.
"What do you mean?" asked Dr. Kimura.
"Think about the way scientists work their way up to human testing. They start with rodents, then advance to larger mammals, and then at some point, they do a very small trial run with people. There's no way this was his first human test run,' said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura looked at Spencer.
"We would have heard about a previous anthrax attack," said Dr. Kimura.
"Not if it presented itself as something else," said Spencer.
"I'll make some calls," said Dr. Kimura.
A few hours later Spencer's cell phone rang causing Spencer to see that it was the conference room's landline.
"Hello?" asked Spencer.
"Uh, Reid, you have me, Rossi, and Hotch," said JJ.
"Kimura made some calls. It turns out that two days ago, two people in two separate Baltimore ERs and one person in a Philadelphia ER. Slipped into comas and died suddenly. Now, the COD on all of them was meningitis. Doctors didn't test for anthrax because the illnesses presented themselves as meningitis, but I think it can be caused by anthrax," said Spencer.
"Did they show symptoms that we're seeing now- the lesions?" asked Rossi.
"They wouldn't have if the bodily functions expired as quickly as they did," answered Spencer.
"How quickly?" asked Hotch.
"All dead within three hours of being admitted," said Spencer.
Spencer heard JJ sigh.
"But the first patient died yesterday at 10 hours," said Hotch.
Spencer switched into his scientist mode.
"Here's the thing- if they inhaled a higher concentration of the strain, it would cause a quicker death. Organ failure without exterior physical symptoms," said Spencer.
"What are their names?" asked Hotch.
Spencer gave the names that Dr. Kimura gave him before he hung up.
Spencer walked with Dr. Kimura as nurses pushed a gurney that contained another victim that died.
"It feels like the plagues of Egypt," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer thought back to the times that his parents taught him about the Bible.
"10 scourges created by God. Plague six was unhealable boils believed by biblical scholars to be caused by anthrax," said Spencer as they stopped outside of Abby's hospital room.
"Never missed Sunday school, did you?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura.
"Actually, never been before," said Spencer before he looked at Abby who was sleeping.
"How is she doing?" asked Spencer.
"She's a fighter. She's held on this long because she's young and strong. But she's started to bleed into her lungs," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer sighed sadly as he thought about the remaining victims.
"One of four left," said Spencer.
"We're running into another problem. When the next of kin have questions, what do we tell them about the cause of death?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer opened his mouth a bit as he looked at Dr. Kimura.
"There's no way we can tell their family members without creating a wide panic," said Spencer.
Spencer stood outside of Dr. Nichol's house with Morgan just as Morgan spoke to the technician.
"All right, keep me posted," said Morgan before looking at Spencer, "This guy just had people over for a charity event last month," said Morgan.
"We should probably take a look around anyway," said Spencer.
Both men started walking just as Spencer had a clumsy moment causing his hand to brush against a thorn on one of the rose bushes.
"Ow," said Spencer as he shook his hand.
A minute later Morgan's cell phone rang causing the older man to stop walking to answer a call from Emily while Spencer continued to walk into the lab. 30 seconds later Spencer ended up freezing at the sight of Dr. Nichol's dead body and a broken vial of anthrax powder on the floor while the air conditioner ran full blast causing him to freak out a bit at the thought of Maeve becoming a widow and never getting to see Jocelyn grow up or witness Gabriella's birth just as he heard Morgan's voice and Morgan running towards the lab.
"Reid!" shouted Morgan.
Spencer quickly ran to the door and started to close it.
"Morgan, get-get back! Get back! Get out of here!" shouted Spencer as he locked the door.
"What are you doing? What's wrong?" asked Morgan.
Spencer continued to lock the door.
"No, don't! What's wrong?" asked Morgan.
"Believe me, get back," said Spencer as he moved his hair away from his eyes.
"Reid, open the door!" shouted Morgan.
"I'm sorry," said Spencer.
Morgan stopped looking at Spencer only to see a broken vial of anthrax, the air conditioner running full blast, and Dr. Nichol's dead body.
A short while later Spencer was looking around the lab as he told Morgan about his suspicions about Dr. Nichol's cause of death and how long he could be dead for before he noticed that Hotch arrived with General Withworth causing him to call Hotch as he stood by the door.
"Reid," said Hotch as he looked at Spencer who was putting on a brave face.
Spencer thought about one of the last times he messed up on the job.
"Hotch, I really messed up this time," said Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer.
"Reid, we need to get you out and to the hospital," said Hotch.
Spencer thought about everything he had seen in the lab as he thought about needing to save the last for remaining victims and himself.
"No. I'm staying right here," said Spencer firmly.
"No, you're not, Reid," said Morgan.
"I'm already exposed. it's not gonna do me any good to stop working the case," said Spencer firmly as he started to look around the lab more.
General Withworth looked at Hotch as he thought about Hotch telling him about Spencer on the way to the lab.
"He's already infected. Now, if Nichols created the strain, he may have also created the cure," said General Withworth.
Spencer inwardly sighed in relief as he realized that General Withworth was siding with him as he continued to look around the lab as he knew that he needed to find a cure so he could get treated and go home to his girls and have his sister move in with him within in the next few months.
"My best chance is to stay here, see if there's a cure, try to figure out who killed Dr. Nichols," said Spencer firmly.
"Come on, Hotch, say something to him," pleaded Morgan.
Spencer waited to hear what Hotch was going to say.
"He's right. His best chance is inside. We're gonna get a suit and mask into you right away," said Hotch.
"Don't bother. it's not gonna do me any good. I'm already infected," said Spencer as he grabbed a clipboard.
A few minutes later Spencer was looking around the lab when Hotch spoke up.
"Reid, what do you see in there?" asked Hotch.
"I see cages filled with dead animals. I see signs of a struggle, probably before Dr. Nichols was murdered. Equipment's missing. There's a large desk. Clutter all over the surface," said Spencer before running to a smaller desk, "But in the corner, there's a smaller desk. It's organized, functional," said Spencer.
"Two different work spaces?" asked Morgan.
Spencer looked at the handwriting.
"Two sets of handwriting. I'm looking at instructions on how to boil lab-grade broth, sterilize lab equipment, and transfer spores," said Spencer.
General Withworth who was listening in looked at Hotch and Morgan.
"Nichols would know all that," said General Withworth.
"He has a partner, maybe even a protege. Go back to the BAU, try to figure out who this partner is," said Spencer.
"Hotch, why don't you go? I'll stay with Reid," said Morgan.
"Funnel all the information you get to me," said Hotch before hanging up.
A minute later Spencer ended up thinking about his mom, Maeve, Jocelyn, his unborn daughter, and Stephanie causing him to decide that he needed to make a message to them as he decided to call Garcia.
"Hey, Reid," said Garcia sadly.
"Gee, wow, no, uh... No witty Garcia greeting for me?" asked Spencer.
Garcia sighed as she realized how Spencer was trying to stay calm.
"I can't be my sparkly self when you are where you are," said Garcia.
Spencer's heart broke at the sound of Garcia's voice.
"Garcia, do you think you can do something for me?" asked Spencer.
"Anything," answered Garcia.
"I, uh... I know I can't call my mom or Maeve without, uh," said Spencer as he cleared his throat, "Without alerting everyone at her hospital or possibly cause something to happen to Maeve or the baby if Maeve learns that I could possibly die," said Spencer.
Garcia's heart broke.
"What do you need?" asked Garcia.
"I, uh... I need you to record a few messages in case anything happens to me," said Spencer
"Oh, nothing's going to happen to you. You're gonna...brilliantly find out who did this and we're gonna treat this strain," said Garcia.
"I hope you're right, but if you're not, I just- I really want to make sure that they hear my voice since Jocelyn is too young to remember my voice while I want Gabriella to know my voice as soon as she's old enough," said Spencer.
"Ok. just, uh, give me a second," said Garcia as she did some typing, "Are you ready?" asked Garcia.
"Ready. Hi, mom. this is Spencer. I just, um... I just...really want you to know that I love you and," choked Spencer as he cleared his throat, "I need you to know that I spend every day of my life proud to be your son," said Spencer.
A few seconds later Garcia realized that Spencer was finished with his message for his mom before thinking about Maeve.
"Do you want to do a message for Maeve right now?" asked Garcia.
"Yes," said Spencer.
A few seconds later Spencer took a deep breath.
"I'm so sorry that I didn't keep my promise to stay safe and come home to you, Maeve. When I first looked into your eyes at that coffee shop, I instantly knew that you were going to be my wife and the mother of our daughters," choked Spencer, "I know that you would have trouble moving on from my death, but you have my permission to find Josie and Gabriella a father who will be there for them. Hopefully, I'll see you someday when it's your time, and please remember that I will always love you," said Spencer as he wiped a tear.
After staying silent for a few seconds Garcia spoke up.
"Do you want to do a message for your daughters now?" asked Garcia.
"Yes," said Spencer.
A few seconds later Spencer took a deep breath as he allowed a tear to fall down his face.
"Josie and Gabby, this is your daddy. If you girls are playing this, I not here since your mommy told you girls that I died as a hero protecting our country," choked Spencer as he allowed a tear to fall from his face, "Josie, I enjoyed being your daddy since your birth nine months and seven days ago and I'm sorry that I didn't get to guide you into becoming a wonderful young woman like your mother. Gabriella, I'm sorry that I never got to meet you and watch you grow up with your big sister. Just remember that no matter where I am, I love you girls while I've been proud to be part of bringing you into this world with your mother," said Spencer.
Garcia realized that Spencer was finished.
"Now a message for Stephanie?" asked Garcia.
"Yes," said Spencer before he took a breath when Garcia gave him her cue, "Hi Stephanie. This is Spencer. I enjoyed getting to know you the past few weeks, and I'm sorry that we didn't get to live under the same roof together. Knowing Maeve and my team, they would make sure that you don't live with my father since Maeve and my team would want to take care of you and help you figure out what to do with your life. I love you," said Spencer before becoming silent.
"Reid?" asked Garcia.
Spencer instantly heard Dr. Kimura's voice as he realized that she was coming to help him.
"Prep the victim for transfer," said Dr. Kimura.
"I gotta go," said Spencer before hanging up.
A few seconds later Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura who was wearing a hazmat suit.
"Dr. Reid," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer looked at Dr. Kimura and decided that he needed to bring some humor in after the emotional messages that he just recorded.
"You look nice," said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura laughed.
I haven't been in this outfit for a while," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer thought about Abby and the other victims that were still alive as he realized that he was feeling sick.
"How are-how are the patients doing?" asked Spencer.
"Let's worry about you," said Dr. Kimura.
"I actually-I feel fine," lied Spencer.
"OK, if you feel any pain, I could give you something," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer thought about his sobriety.
"No, I-I'd rather not take any pain medication," said Spencer.
"We can at least make you feel more comfortable," said Dr. Kimura.
"I am comfortable and I don't want to take any narcotics," snapped Spencer.
Dr. Kimura looked at Spencer.
"OK. Tell me how I can help," said Dr. Kimura.
"I think the cure for this strain is in here somewhere," said Spencer.
Dr. Kimura pointed at one of the tables and shelves.
"Well, shall I start here?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer thought about Dr. Nichols as he decided to move around a bit.
"Dr. Nichols is a former military scientist, which means he's most likely secretive and most likely a little paranoid. He would have protected the cure and probably would have hidden it from his partners. So look for something innocuous, something you would not suspect," said Spencer.
"All right," said Dr. Kimura just as Spencer's cell phone rang.
Spencer started to cough before he answered his phone.
"Hello," choked Spencer.
"How's it going in there, kid?" asked Morgan.
"I've seen better days," said Spencer truthfully.
"Well, you got me and Garcia," said Morgan.
"Hey, Reid," said Garcia sadly.
Spencer started to cough as he felt pain in his lungs.
"Reid, stick with me. Listen, Prentiss and Rossi don't think the partner was a coworker. Can you tell us anything else about him?" asked Morgan.
"I...I've already been through everything," said Spencer.
"Come on, now, kid, I know you're not thinking straight, but the Reid I know wouldn't stop looking," said Morgan.
Spencer inwardly smiled at Morgan's pep talk to get him going.
"All right, all right," said Spencer as he hurried to a desk and saw a photo, "I see a, uh, a framed photograph of Dr. Nichols teaching," said Spencer before grabbing a binder and opened it, "I see a... I see a binder with syllabi. Course assignments going all the way back to the 1970s," said Spencer as he looked through the binder.
"All right. so he kept a scrapbook of himself as a professor. That tells us that he values himself as an educator," said Morgan.
The wheels in Spencer's brain started turning.
"A teacher," said Spencer as he started to run to the other desk, "I saw something earlier. I didn't- I didn't make a connection to it or to the partner, but he has a study on anthrax. He has an annotated bibliography, table of contents. It's formatted like a thesis and has writing in the margins in red ink, like the way a teacher grades a paper. Now, Nichols wouldn't have let just anyone in here, but he may have opened his lab for educational purposes, as a teacher," said Spencer as he continued to go through the information as he felt sweat trickle down his face.
"So the partner must have appealed to him as a student. Nichols is helping him with his thesis," said Morgan.
"I-I can look up local Ph.D. students," said Garcia.
"Yeah, check the sciences. Biochemistry, microbiology," said Morgan.
Garcia started typing.
"Uh... Cross-checking with names of former employees or customers with grievances at the bookstore," said Garcia as her computers beeped, "Nothing, my doves," said Garcia.
Spencer coughed a bit before focusing on the thesis in front of him.
"Listen to this. "this country is woefully unprepared. Every household should have a 2-month supply of Cipro. Hospitals are in need of bio-safety level four decon wings," read Spencer.
"That's verbatim to what we heard from Nichols. The partner's adopted Nichols' views as his own," said Morgan.
Spencer turned the page.
"The chapters are on setting up triage and mobile emergency rooms. I don't think this paper was written by a science student. It's about city preparedness and response," said Spencer.
"So, Garcia, check with students in the social studies- public policy, urban planning," said Morgan.
Spencer heard typing.
"Hot to trot. There's a Chad Brown, School of public policy at U of M. Matches a Chad Brown, a former employee at the Book Front," said Garcia.
"That's gotta be him," said Morgan.
"Totally. He's been in the doctoral program on and off for five years. Nix on a steady job. Was slapped with a restraining order from his former girlfriend and has been arrested and released twice at protest rallies in DC. I'll tell Hotch," said Garcia before hanging up.
"Kid, you did real good. Now get the hell out of there," said Morgan.
"Bye," said Spencer before hanging up as he coughed.
A few seconds later Dr. Kimura approached him as she held up an inhaler.
"Dr. Reid. You said the cure would be hidden somewhere we wouldn't suspect. What about Nichols's inhaler?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer smiled a bit.
"This could be it," said Spencer before coughing.
Dr. Kimura looked at Spencer.
"Let's get you out of here and cleaned up so we can get you to the hospital so you can receive the cure and go home to your family," said Dr. Kimura.
A few minutes later a coughing Spencer was standing in a tent getting hosed down in his street clothes as Morgan stood outside the glass as he spoke on the phone.
"OK," said Morgan as he listened to someone as he heard Spencer coughing, "Yeah, they're hosing him down now. All right," said Morgan before hanging up and looked at Spencer, "They're checking out Brown's house," said Morgan.
Spencer felt his clothing start to weigh him down more as a technician continued to hose him down.
"Go help Hotch," sniffed Spencer.
Morgan sighed.
"Hotch has plenty of people helping him," argued Morgan.
"He needs you more than I do," said Spencer.
"Reid, I'm gonna see you off to the hospital," said Morgan.
Spencer figured out a way to scare Morgan off.
"I'm about to get naked so they can scrub me down. Is that something you really want to see?" asked Spencer.
Morgan realized that he didn't want to see something that Maeve would want to see.
"I'll check on you later," said Morgan before looking at Dr. Kimura, "Take good care of him, please," said Morgan before walking away.
Dr. Kimura handed a bagged inhaler to one of her technicians.
"Get this to the lab," said Dr. Kimura before looking at Spencer, "I hope you're right about this," said Dr. Kimura.
As soon as the hose was taken off of him, Spencer reached for his tie so he could undress.
"So do I," said Spencer as he started to untie his tie.
Dr. Kimura instantly noticed a cut and a lesion on Spencer's hand.
"Dr. Reid, did you cut yourself?" asked Dr. Kimura.
Spencer looked at his hand while flashing back to when he cut himself when his hand brushed against a thorn on a rose bush before he became scared at the thought of never going home to Maeve and Jocelyn and witness Gabriella's birth.
A coughing Spencer was dressed in scrubs as he was being transported to the hospital, and as he tried to stay awake, he felt a stethoscope pressed against his chest.
"How are you feeling, Dr. Reid?" asked Dr. Kimura.
"My throat's a little dry. But other than that, I feel... Flee... Feel fin. I feel-I fleel fin. I," said Spencer as he started to freak out.
Dr. Kimura realized that Spencer developed aphasia much faster.
"Dr. Reid, OK," said Dr. Kimura before looking at the driver, "Driver, faster," ordered Dr. Kimura.
"Maeve," coughed Spencer as blood came out of his mouth before he blacked out.
Two days later Spencer woke up to find a blurry Morgan reading a magazine as he ate some Jell-O.
"Are you eating Jell-o?" croaked Spencer.
Morgan chuckled as he thought about one of Spencer's favorite foods.
"Hmm. Hey, kid," said Morgan before he looked at Dr. Kimura, "Hey, doc. Look who's back," said Morgan.
Dr. Kimura smiled when she saw Spencer awake.
"Is there any more Jell-O?" asked Spencer as he tried to sit up.
"Hey. Not so fast," scolded Dr. Kimura gently.
"What happened?" asked Spencer.
Morgan stood up.
"You're gonna be all right, kid. And we got Brown. It's over," said Morgan.
Spencer thought about the teenage girl that made him think constantly of his daughters and Stephanie.
"How's Abby?" asked Spencer.
"She's on the mend. So are the three others. You were right about where to look for his cure," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer sighed in relief about there being no other deaths.
"Why was Dr. Nichols making anthrax in the first place?" asked Spencer.
"He was a brain scientist downgraded to working on the flu. Brown comes along asking for help on his thesis...," said Morgan.
"Would have been more than happy to share his knowledge," finished Spencer.
"There was no indication that Nichols had any idea what Brown was planning," said Morgan.
"His strain and its cure are getting locked up in containment at Fort Detrick, with all the other bio-agents people don't know about," said Dr. Kimura.
"Hmm. really. What else do they have locked up in there?" asked Morgan.
"I don't really want to know," said Spencer before he felt a slight headache from his blurry vision, "Since I had to remove my contacts, do you have my glasses?" asked Spencer.
Morgan grabbed Spencer's glasses from the table.
"Right here, kid," said Morgan as he helped Spencer put his glasses on before he took a sip of water.
"How long was I asleep?" asked Spencer.
"Two days, Dr. Reid," said Dr. Kimura.
Spencer stayed calm so the heart monitor he was hooked up to doesn't go wild.
"Does Maeve know that I'm here?" asked Spencer.
"She doesn't since we decided to continue with the undercover excuse that you gave her, but Hotch is trying to get Maeve clearance to know about you getting infected with anthrax so she knows your post care instructions," said Morgan.
"Since the threat is over, I really need to hold Josie and feel Gabriella kick since they almost lost me." said Spencer before looking at his left hand and noticed that his wedding ring was gone, "Where's my wedding band?" asked Spencer.
Morgan reached into his pocket.
"I believe that this belongs to you," said Morgan as he passed Spencer his wedding band.
Spencer's eyes lit up as he took his wedding band and slipped his wedding band onto his fourth ring finger.
"I'm glad that I got my ring back," said Spencer.
"We had to burn your clothes, but I made sure to get your phone, watch, and wedding band cleaned," said Dr. Kimura before looking at Spencer, "I'm going to have a nurse to get you some food," said Dr. Kimura.
"Don't forget Jell-O," smiled Spencer.
Morgan laughed.
A/N: I'm ending this chapter here, and the next chapter will deal with Spencer's stay in the hospital and talking with his wife, Stephanie, and teammates and some family time.