Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

A/N: Shout out to tannerose5, OhSnapItsMadison, Mrs. JaganshiReidofHufflepuff, southernbeauty13 for reviewing chapter 50.

Sorry about this chapter being a bit delayed since I was dealing with some writers block for this story while working on my new story called Friends, Lovers, Husband and Wife, to Parents that's a prequel to Spencer's Secret Wife so please go check out those two stories if you haven't yet.

If any of you readers have read the one shot A New Neighbor that I had posted, I'm sorry to say that I deleted that one shot because of getting a review that was very hurtful. I don't tolerate negative reviews about my story being not great story, stating that I haven't watched past Empty Planet, and "Do I not even watch Criminal Minds" especially since I've seen every episode since I have seasons 1 through 11 on DVD and watched every episode of season 12. So if any of you readers are going to be writing reviews that are negative and hurtful like the one that I just mentioned, please don't review at all and just don't read the story that you don't like.

It's still February in this story due to the timeline I'm planning for the upcoming sequel to this story.


Spencer was working on his consults when he heard Hotch step onto the catwalk with Rossi.

"My team, wheels up in 30 minutes." said Hotch.

Spencer quickly finished the consult he was working on before calling Olivia.

"Have a case?" asked Olivia.

"Yes, and I don't know where I'm going yet since I was told that I need to be on the jet in 25 minutes." said Spencer as he started to make sure he had everything he needed.

"Well the kids are by me right now, so if you have a few minutes you should talk to them." said Olivia.

"Please put them on." said Spencer.

Spencer smiled when he heard Piper's voice.

"Hi daddy." said Piper.

"Hi daddy." said Albert.

"Hi daddy." said Ava.

"Daddy has to go away for a few days, so I want you three monkeys to behave for mommy and grandpa." said Spencer.

"OK." choruses Piper, Albert, and Ava all at once.

"Daddy has to go now, and I will try to call later to say goodnight." said Spencer before he told Olivia and the kids that he loves them before hanging up.


An hour later Spencer was in the air with his teammates heading to Texas.

"Officers Keith Rivers and Rudy Hightower, both career prison guards, both married, kids, nothing out of the ordinary." said Kate.

"The uniform itself could be the target. Kill a guard, any guard, it doesn't matter which one." said Morgan.

"And what about the sock in the mouth?" asked Kate.

"It might be some kind of warning to keep quiet, you know, like, put a sock in it." said Rossi.

"It could have also just been a gag to literally keep the victims quiet." said JJ.

"Well, either way, we're probably looking at multiple unsubs. This would be very difficult to pull off alone." said Hotch as he thought about one of the last times his team had to deal with multiple unsubs it almost cost Spencer's life.

"Multiple unsubs in a prison, sounds like a gang." said Kate.

"And gangs have gang leaders and the murders could lead back to one of them, and by them, I mean him." said JJ as she showed a picture.

"Julio Watson, founder of the Southside Crip Nation." said Morgan.

"He transferred in a month before the murders started. Wonder if it's a coincidence." said JJ as Garcia's face popped up on the monitors.

"Excuse me, sir. Even I am befuddled. I found almost nothing on this prison, but this is what I do know. The Reagan Federal Penitentiary was opened in 1969 just outside of Liberty, Texas. Oh, the irony, I know. And then it was scheduled to be shut down, but Citadel Corrections Company bought it a year ago from Uncle Sam." said Garcia.

Spencer spoke up for the first time.

"The business of incarceration is extremely lucrative and virtually recession-proof. The Citadel Corrections Company has more than quadrupled their holdings since they were founded 20 years ago. They now have 19 facilities all across the country. 59,603 prisoners in their charge." said Spencer.

"Guess I had it wrong all this time. Crime does pay." said Rossi.


Spencer got out of the SUV that he was in with Morgan and JJ when the Warden and head of security approached them.

"Agent Hotchner, it's good to see you, sir. Thank you again for coming all this way." said Warden Tate.

"Hopefully we can help, Warden." said Hotch as he shook hands with Warden Tate.

Warden Tate looked at Rossi.

"Oh, Agent Rossi, hey, it's great to meet you." said Warden Tate as he shook hands with Rossi.

"Likewise, Warden." said Rossi.

"This is our team. This is Agent Callahan, Agent Jareau, Dr. Reid, and Agent Morgan." said Hotch as he pointed out at each agent while Morgan shook hands with the Warden.

"This is Captain Shavers, head of security. He can help you with anything you need." said Warden Tate.

"Call me Dale, please. And welcome. It's good to have you all here. Right this way." said Dale.

A minute later Spencer was inside the area where he would have to surrender his revolver with his teammates.

"Gun lockers for your weapons and ammo are right here." said Dale as everyone removed their guns from their holsters and ammo and placed them in six lockers before signing a visitor log.

"Obviously we had to move officer Rivers' body, but per your request, we left everything else as is." said Warden Tate.

"Thank you." said Hotch as he shut the locker he was using.

"Thank you for coming." said Warden Tate.

"Polinsky, I want those sign-up forms logged in before the next shift. Make sure we get them visitor badges." said Dale as he and everyone walked through the gate.

"Close." said one of the security guards.

"If you don't mind, I got a few things I need to tend to, but I'll catch up with you ASAP." said Dale as the door closed to lock them in.

Spencer was walking in the back with Hotch as Warden Tate led everyone through the halls of the prison.

"I'm sorry there's no cell signal inside the walls. We had to jam it." said Warden Tate as he thought about noticing that the two female agents and the young doctor were all sporting wedding bands when Hotch introduced them.

"You got inmates smuggling phones in?" asked Morgan.

"Yeah, it's been a problem, one of many." said Warden Tate.

"What about Wi-Fi?" asked JJ.

"We got you set up as close to the router as possible, but it's still glitchy. It drives me nuts. Back when I worked on the Hill, I couldn't survive without my phone." said Warden Tate.

"I got a teenager at home who knows exactly how you feel." said Kate.

"Heh heh." laughed Warden Tate before becoming serious, "Well, we have got a good old-fashioned land line and a fax machine for you, though."

"I thought I was the only one that still used those." said Rossi as he thought about how Spencer used to be the same way until Olivia entered his life, causing him to use technology more.

"And there actually is a pretty decent signal outside, so you're not completely cut off. We'll provide all your meals. Food's not much to speak of, especially breakfast, so you may want to grab something over by your hotel and bring it in." said Warden Tate as everyone followed him.

After Spencer and his teammates arrived in the room that Warden Tate was lending to them, he connected his cellphone to Wi-Fi before typing a text message.

EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THAT I'M BASED AT A PRISON IN EAST TEXAS FOR THIS CASE, I FOUND OUT THAT THERE'S SPOTTY CELLPHONE RECEPTION SO I WON'T BE ABLE TO BE IN THAT MUCH CONTACT WITH YOU AND THE KIDS. BUT AS SOON AS I GET TO THE HOTEL I WILL CALL YOU ~ SR

"Letting Olivia know that you won't be in much contact with her?" asked Rossi.

"I just did." said Spencer.

Hotch started giving assignments, and Spencer inwardly thanked Hotch for deciding to keep him in the room they were working in.


Over an hour later Spencer was quickly going through files while he listened to Hotch, Kate, and Morgan talk.

"There's a couple more guys that we should talk to. So far no one knows anything, but if they do, they're just not talking." said Morgan.

"Maybe this has nothing to do with gang-related activity." said Hotch.

Kate, who was reading a file, spoke up.

"The one thing they all have in common is no love for Hightower or Rivers." said Kate.

"This could be personal. Maybe someone had a beef with those two." said Morgan.

Hotch looked at Spencer who was quietly going through files while sticking out his tongue a bit just like Piper does when she's reading picture books.

"We need to complete our profiles. The answer's in there." said Hotch before addressing Spencer, "How much time do you need?"

"Uh," said Spencer as he did a quick count on the files before looking at Hotch, "126 minutes, approximately."

"Well, hurry." said Hotch.

"We should go help finish those interviews." said Morgan as he knew that Spencer would need quiet to read through those files.

"I'll join you in a minute, but first I'm gonna go outside and check in with Garcia." said Hotch as Morgan and Kate left the room before Hotch left the room himself so Spencer could have some peace.

Spencer started going through the files, and 126 minutes later Hotch came back into the room reading a file himself just as Spencer was going through the last three files.

"The preliminary M.E. report on Rivers says his fingers were broken postmortem." said Hotch.

"7 broken fingers could mean anything. The number 7 is widely regarded as being lucky, and it plays a ubiquitous role in most of the world's major religions, not to mention astrology, astronomy, literature, music. The interesting thing about the number 7 is that it's not only a factorial prime-" rambled Spencer.

"Reid, did you get through the files?" asked Hotch.

"I did, and I found a discrepancy. There seems to be a prisoner unaccounted for." said Spencer as Hotch gave him a look to continue, "Devon White. At first I almost missed it because there's not even a file for him, but I triple-checked the inmate manifest, cross-checked that with the attendance logs, and it turns out that one day 3 months ago he just vanished."

"3 months ago was right before Hightower was killed. We need to find him." said Hotch before looking at Spencer, "Piper does the same thing, sticking out her tongue out when she's reading."

"I know." said Spencer.


Spencer stood next to Dale who was reading Devon's file as Warden Tate poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Devon White. I... Yeah, I-I didn't know him personally." said Warden Tate as he joined Spencer and Dale.

"I remember him. D-block. He was transferred to Nixon. That's one of their facilities just outside Pensacola." said Dale.

Spencer gestured to the file since he wanted to get through it faster.

"May I?" asked Spencer.

Spencer took the file, and Dale and Warden Tate watched Spencer read quickly as Hotch spoke up.

"Any idea why this wasn't with the other records?" asked Hotch.

"Who knows? I can't get them to do it right over at corporate." said Dale.

"We'd like to arrange to speak to him. He was here before the first murder, and that's always the most significant." said Hotch as he watched Spencer go through the file.

"I'll make some calls." said Dale.

"Thank you." said Hotch.

At that moment the radio on Dale's belt came to life.

"Wilson on C for Shavers. Captain, do you copy?" asked Wilson.

"Go for Shavers." said Dale.

Spencer stopped reading so he could listen.

"Uh, sir, we've got a situation down here." said Wilson.

"What happened?" asked Dale.

"There's, uh, there's been another murder." said Wilson.

Spencer and Hotch exchanged glances, and a few minutes later Spencer, Hotch, Warden Tate and Dale were at the latest crime scene and Spencer leaned forward to look at the victim and did a quick analysis before telling Hotch, Warden Tate, and Dale his findings.

"7 broken fingers and a sock in the mouth. This time there's evidence of sexual assault. We didn't see that with the other victims." said Spencer as he stood back up to his full height and put his hands in his pocket.

"Who was he?" asked Hotch.

Spencer recalled the face of the inmate to a file he read.

"Randall Jefferson Jones, inmate number 91751. He was a serial rapist in the 10th year of a 20 year sentence." said Spencer as he crossed his arms.

At that moment the Warden looked at Dale.

"How did this happen again? These men are supposed to be locked down?" asked Warden Tate.

"He was privileged status, sir." said Dale.

"How did a serial rapist end up privileged?" asked Hotch.

"Jones gave us information from time to time." said Dale as he tried to defend himself.

"That explains the shift in victimology and the high level of violence." said Spencer.

"Well, at least we know the killers must be someone with privileged status on this cell block, right?" asked Warden Tate.

"Yeah, that's over 100 guys, and this shot could have been called from anywhere." said Dale.

"Is there surveillance in this area?" asked Hotch.

"Not inside the bathroom itself, but the hallway outside." said Dale.

Spencer uncrossed his arms.

"All right, we'll need to review the footage immediately." said Hotch.

"You got it." said Dale before leaving the showers.

"Doing this over here is incredibly bold. It's practically a taunt." said Spencer.

"Or a message." said Hotch.

"To who?" asked Warden Tate.

"Us." said Hotch.


Spencer was reading a file when Hotch entered the room.

"Can't see anything on the surveillance footage. They cut the lights in the hallway and the cameras don't have I.R." said Hotch.

"How'd they get access to the power?" asked JJ.

"Same way they got into that closet. One of the guards is definitely in on this." said Kate.

"Maybe not willingly. There have been cases where inmates have manipulated prison staff with threats." said Hotch.

"Guys, I've been looking for connections between our victims, and I think I may have found something. Before our dead convict, Randall Jefferson Jones, achieved privileged status, he just happened to be cellmates with Devon White." said Spencer.

"Ok, so why does Devon's name keep popping up?" asked JJ.

"I thought the same thing, so I kept searching, which oddly enough led me back to Hightower and Rivers. They filed more disciplinary write-ups than any other guards in the entire prison, and guess who got a lot of them." said Spencer.

"Devon White." answered Kate.

"Yeah, but for relatively minor infractions- improperly made bed, non-regulation clothing. They once put him in solitary confinement for hiding candy bars under his bed." said Spencer.

"I wonder why they rode him so hard." said JJ.

"Here's the strange thing, though. He has no history of physical violence in his past, yet he made frequent visits to the infirmary for injuries related to fighting." said Spencer.

"Do we have medical files here?" asked Hotch.

"No, we need to check the infirmary." said Spencer.


Spencer was looking at a file as he talked.

"Before the CCC took over, Devon White was a model inmate. He never got written up. Not one infirmary visit. None of that started until officers Hightower and Rivers were hired." said Spencer.

"That's right around the same time they started exchanging all that money. That bank activity has to have something to do with this." said Morgan.

"If they were paying off bets, what could they be betting on?" asked Kate.

"Some kind of regular poker game, maybe." said JJ.

"Sports, maybe a fight." said Morgan.

At that moment Spencer realized what could be happening.

"What if it's some sort of sanctioned violence right here at the prison?" asked Spencer.

"You mean like a fight club? I've heard of that happening in prisons." said Kate.

"Maybe it was their own sadistic version of that using inmates." said Spencer.

"That could explain why Devon was fighting." said Hotch.

"So the sock in the mouth and the 7 broken fingers must be related to a specific event. And if I'm guessing, an event involving Devon White." said Morgan as Hotch watched a few guards walk past the room.

"Our presence here is forcing the issue." said Hotch.


Two hours later Spencer, Rossi, Hotch, and Detective Tate entered the solitary confinement area and saw a dead body.

"Oh, my-what happened?" asked Tate.

"Son of a bitch went berserk. Damn near bit my nose off. I bopped him pretty good, but I guess he must have caught his head on the door or something when he went down." said Dale as Spencer crouched down so he could identify the inmate as Dale showed a knife, "Oh... We, uh, found all that hidden in his cell. Oh, damn it." said Dale as he wiped his head.

"Go get that cut taken care of." ordered Warden Tate.

"No, I'm good, sir. I'd like to stay and help." said Dale.

"Shavers, you've done enough. Go." ordered Tate.

"Captain, I'll meet you in the infirmary. I have a few questions." said Hotch.

"All right. This won't take long. I'll come find you." said Dale before walking away.

"His name is Patrick Butler, inmate number 312773." said Spencer.

Tate who was looking in the box spoke up.

"Found the same socks, same shanks. This must be our guy." said Warden Tate.

"Well, warden, we profiled this was the work of a group. If Butler was involved, we've only found one of the killers." said Hotch.

"Well, I'm gonna go share the news with corporate. They'll be happy we're making progress." said Warden Tate before leaving the room.

At that moment Hotch looked at Spencer.

"Was Butler a violent criminal?" asked Hotch.

"Not until he came here. He was doing 5 years for using a toy gun to rob 5 banks in 3 different states, but his sentence got bumped up to 20 after he killed another inmate." said Spencer.

"Just like Devon White. Comes in nonviolent and then something goes wrong." said Rossi.

Spencer looked at the walls and something caught his eye.

"Hey, wait, guys, look at the cell number. Maybe it's not 7 fingers, maybe it's 3 on one hand, 4 on the other. 34." said Spencer.

"Well, I wonder what else must have happened down here." said Rossi.


A short while later JJ was looking at Butler's file.

"You really think this Butler guy did it?" asked JJ.

"It's possible. And our profile may have led Shavers right to him." said Hotch.

"But if this is about foul play, why would Shavers want him dead?" asked Morgan.

"He may have known too much about something the captain's trying to hide." said Spencer.

"You think the warden knows about all this?" asked Kate.

"I don't think so. I think he's just trying to save his job." said Hotch as Spencer, Morgan, and JJ all nodded in agreement.

A few seconds later Kate spoke up.

"So what's our next move?" asked Kate.

"We proceed as planned. We keep conducting interviews until we find out what happened to Devon White, and then we figure out if Butler or Shavers had anything to do with it." said Hotch.


Spencer was quickly walking with Warden Tate, Hotch, Rossi, and JJ as they headed towards the security room.

"He's got the entire block locked down. There's no way to get in or out." said a guard.

"Can't we shut the system down?" asked Spencer.

"It's in override. The only way to do that is from inside the booth." said the guard as he tried to open the door.

"Open it." said Tate.

"It's bolted from inside." said the guard.

Rossi started tapping on the window.

"Just open the door. We can work this out. Come on, Dale, let's do this the easy way." said Rossi.

Dale got up and removed his glasses before pressing his gun against his head.

"Dale, no!" shouted Rossi as Dale shot himself.

A few minutes later Spencer, JJ, Rossi, and Hotch rushed into the room as soon as they were given the all clear, and Spencer and JJ rushed over to Kate while Hotch and Rossi went to Morgan.

"You all right?" asked Hotch as Rossi assisted him.

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah." said Morgan as he watched Spencer and JJ assist Kate.

"You all right?" asked Spencer as he unlocked Kate's handcuffs.

Kate looked at Tom.

"It's OK. You're gonna be OK." soothed Kate.


The CSI tech held up a skull he combed out of the furnace, and JJ looked at Spencer.

"I think we just found Devon White." said JJ.


As soon as Spencer got into the SUV, he decided to call Olivia despite being in an SUV with Hotch and Rossi.

"You coming home?" asked Olivia.

"I am, and I can't wait to see you and the kids." said Spencer.

"Let me know when you get back to Quantico." said Olivia.

"I promise." said Spencer before exchanging goodbyes with Olivia and hung up.

"Excited to get home to those youngsters of yours?" asked Rossi.

"Piper, Albert, and Ava will help me forget watching Dale commit suicide in front of us." said Spencer.


As everyone got comfortable for their flight home, Spencer looked at Morgan.

"Are you sure you're OK?" asked Spencer.

"I am." said Morgan.

Spencer looked at Kate.

"What about you?" asked Spencer

"I should be fine." said Kate as she thought about an additional doctor appointment she would need to go to.

Morgan looked at Spencer.

"I'm glad that you weren't in the room." said Morgan.

Spencer and Hotch exchanged glances, and Hotch noticed a slight smirk on Spencer's face.

"Thinking about the time we were held hostage by a prisoner together?" asked Hotch.

Kate looked at Spencer and Hotch.

"What happened?" asked Kate.

"Nearly seven years ago Chester Hardwick agreed to a custodial interview a week before he was executed, but he kept us waiting to interview him so the interview could happen at the time of the guards shift changes since he wanted to kill us to avoid the death penalty." said Spencer.

"And I thought that Reid and I would be safe since I decided not to have Hardwick chained up at all." said Hotch.

"Were you two injured at all?" asked Kate.

"We both got out unharmed, thanks to Reid." said Hotch.

Kate looked at Spencer.

"How did you get Hotch and yourself out without any guns?" asked Kate.

"Hotch was about to fight him himself, but at the spur of the moment I started reciting a profile from scratch, and luckily my 13 minute lecture kept Hardwick occupied until the guards were able to come and chain him up." said Spencer.

Hotch looked at Spencer.

"I'm still sorry about putting you in danger that day." said Hotch.

Spencer looked at Hotch.

"I forgave you since you were having an off day, and we didn't know that Hardwick wanted to kill us. But it's helpful that I do have the tendency to do some of my best work under intense terror." said Spencer as he thought about Dowd and Hankel.


Spencer entered the house and smiled when he saw Piper, Albert, and Ava sitting on the couch watching TV.

"DADDY!" screamed Piper, Albert, and Ava all at once as they got off the couch and ran to him.

"Daddy missed you three monkeys." said Spencer as he hugged and kissed all three kids at once.

"We sleep wit you and mommy?" asked Piper.

Olivia lightly shook her head at the pleading look that Spencer was giving her.

"You three can sleep with daddy and me." said Olivia.

"Yay!" chorused Piper, Albert, and Ava.

Spencer looked at the clock and saw that it was already 8 PM.

"I'm going to go take a shower and get into pajamas, and when I come back we can watch a movie so why don't you three help mommy pick out a movie." said Spencer as he scooped up his go bag and headed to the laundry room before heading to the first floor bathroom to take a shower.

15 minutes later Spencer and Olivia were cuddling with the kids on the couch while they watched "Mr. Peabody and Sherman".