Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
A/N: Shout out to Charis for being the 375th reviewer for this story and also a shout out to tannerose5, fishtrek, Natashia, Aleona, Cara, Kyla, Tegan, Daisyangel, and southernbeauty13 for reviewing chapter 50.
This chapter starts two days after the last chapter and I couldn't help myself with one of the non episode scenes for this chapter because of the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" that I occasionally watch with my stepfather when it comes to Spencer's first line in the episode "Cradle to Grave". And depending on the response I get for this scene, I might make a crossover one shot that involves Jocelyn meeting a bunch of characters from the TV show I'm referencing in this chapter. So please let me know in your reviews if you do want me to write this crossover one shot.
I'm sorry that there's no Jocelyn in this chapter, but I thought that Gabriella needed a moment to shine.
Spencer might be a bit OOC in this chapter, but he did use the word moron in the episode.
Maeve was walking past the library when she heard her husband cursing in a bunch of foreign languages before hearing the rubber tips of Spencer's crutches repeatably hitting the floor. A few seconds later Maeve entered the library where she found Spencer sitting behind the desk and glaring at the screen of the desktop computer while her husband continued lightly bang one of his crutches on the floor.
"What are you reading that is causing you to swear in foreign languages while abusing one of your crutches?" asked Maeve.
"You remember my friend Raj Koothrappali who's an astrophysicist at Cal-tech?" asked Spencer.
Maeve nodded as she thought about the weekend they spent in Pasadena before Henry was born causing her to meet Raj Koothrappali, Sheldon Cooper, Howard Walowitz, and Leonard Hofstadter when Spencer wanted to go to Cal-tech to show off Jocelyn to some of his former professors who were still working at Cal-tech.
"Yes," said Maeve.
"He just called me and told me to check out a blog that someone posted about Carl Sagan and told me that he wants my opinion on it, and I just checked out the blog and it pissed me off. Other than wanting to beat George Foyet with my crutches, I'm so wanting to beat up the moron who created this blog with my crutches," grumbled Spencer as he started to rant about the replies he had read while he continued to lightly pound one of his crutches against the floor.
Maeve shook her head as she thought about how rare it was to see her husband angry before she walked towards her husband and looked at the computer and saw the title "What Would Carl Sagan Do?.
"This is so wrong," said Maeve as she quickly grabbed her husband's crutches and leaned them against a bookshelf far away from Spencer.
"I need those to get around," said Spencer.
"I know, but because of you wanting to beat someone up with your crutches, I'm taking them away until tomorrow morning," said Maeve just as Stephanie passed the library, "Stephanie, can you please go put these crutches downstairs and find Spencer's wheelchair please?" asked Maeve.
Stephanie took one glance at her brother and noticed that Spencer was fuming as he glared at the computer screen.
"He wants to beat someone up with his crutches?" asked an amused Stephanie.
"Yes," said Maeve.
Stephanie laughed as she took her brother's crutches.
"He warned Jeremy that he'll beat him up with his crutches if he didn't get me home by a certain time last week," said Stephanie before she walked away to find her brother's wheelchair.
The next morning Spencer was reading something on his Bureau issued computer when he heard Morgan's voice.
"Reid, what did I miss?" asked Morgan.
Spencer turned his chair a bit with his good leg and looked at Morgan.
"Oh, man, you're not gonna believe this. Some moron just posted a blog called "What would Carl Sagan do?" yesterday. I told Maeve that I so want to track down whoever started this blog and beat him with my crutches causing her to take away my crutches for the rest of day and forced me to use my wheelchair," grumbled Spencer.
Morgan shook his head as he thought about how Spencer was about blogs being posted about deceased geniuses and scientists before looking at his phone.
"No, Reid, the case," said Morgan.
"What's the case?" asked Spencer.
"What are you talking about?" asked a confused Spencer.
"These emails from Hotch," said Morgan as he started to read the titles of his emails, ""take a look at this, " "new case to review."" read Morgan.
Spencer thought about the email account that he was forced to have when he joined the BAU.
"Emails from Hotch? I didn't get any emails from Hotch, did I?" asked Spencer as he quickly checked his email, "Nothing," said Spencer.
Morgan shook his head before walking away causing Spencer to quickly text Maeve.
SEEMS LIKE I HAVE A CASE AND I'LL BE TRAVELING WITH THE TEAM THIS TIME BECAUSE OF BEING CLEARED TO TRAVEL. I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHERE I'M GOING SO I CAN CANCEL THIS AFTERNOON'S PHYSICAL THERAPY APPOINTMENT. ~ SR
A few seconds later Spencer was propping his crutches underneath his arms and quickly swung himself towards the stairs and slowly made his way just as JJ came into view.
"I was just about to come tell you that we have a case and see if you needed help getting up the stairs," said JJ.
"Morgan told me because of the emails he got from Hotch, so I quickly sent Maeve a text before starting my way up here," said Spencer as he swung himself towards the conference room.
10 minutes later JJ was showing a picture of a young woman.
"Kristie Taylor, runaway, drug addict, Reported missing from Farmington, New Mexico three years ago. Yesterday, she turned up off a freeway outside of Rio Rancho," said JJ.
Spencer looked at the file that he was given.
"Sexual assault combined with ligature marks on her wrists and ankles. She was asphyxiated," said Spencer.
"Three victims in five years. All the women are connected by marks. He likes chains," said JJ.
"Definite sexual sadist. He sticks to his type. 16- to 19-year-old girls, all blonde," said Emily.
"Hangs on to them for a while, too. Look at this. Average of two years between abducting them and killing them," said Spencer.
"Low body count, long time frame. This guy's in control of his urges," said Morgan.
"Too controlled. Sadists need new victims, new ways to torture. There are a lot of guys out there who like chains. Are we sure this is the same unsub?" asked Rossi.
"Kristie Taylor's autopsy report also indicates a second connection between these victims," said JJ.
Spencer's eyes went wide as he thought about the times that Maeve was pregnant with Jocelyn and Gabriella.
"She was pregnant," said Spencer.
"She'd given birth. Very soon after, the unsub killed her," said JJ.
"How soon after?" asked Morgan.
"Minutes," said JJ quietly.
"This unsub isn't your typical sexual sadist. Captivity and assault we've seen before. What we haven't seen is this signature- the role he forces these women to fulfill before he kills them. Motherhood," said Hotch before looking at Spencer, "Even though you've been cleared to travel from your doctor, are you wanting to stay behind and attend today's physical therapy appointment?" asked Hotch.
"I want to come with you guys and I have exercises that I need to do daily for my knee, but if we're still in New Mexico on Friday, I will need to be back by 4 PM our time so I don't miss my appointment with Dr. Trader," said Spencer.
A few minutes later Spencer was at his desk sending Maeve a text message.
I'M HEADING TO NEW MEXICO. ~ SR
Spencer was sitting on the ledge massaging his healing knee while Emily looked at her teammates.
"So why would a sexual sadist make women carry his children?" asked Emily.
"Gary Heidnik kept a harem in a dungeon. His goal was to create a large family as a replacement for his own broken home," said Spencer.
"Josef Fritzl kept his daughter in a cell in his own house, and they had several kids together," said Morgan.
Rossi came out of the small kitchenette with a bottle of water in his hands.
"Squalid conditions are part Of a control fantasy these men had," said Rossi.
Spencer stopped massaging his knee as he looked at his teammates.
"If he's keeping these women in a similar location, he'd need a lot of privacy," said Spencer as Hotch who was getting off the phone joined them.
"He probably built it himself. Makes him good with his hands," said Morgan.
"Why blondes, and what significance do they have to him?" asked Hotch.
"Maybe, uh, the woman who rejected him or the woman who wouldn't bear his children?" asked Emily.
"If that were true, he'd be the same age as these girls- Late teens. This unsub is too skilled for that," said Rossi.
"His own mother, then? She could be a runaway, just like these victims," said JJ.
"Which makes his compulsion psych 101- Killing his mother over and over again for giving birth to him," said Morgan.
"Yeah, but then why wait until after she gives birth? Now he has a body and a baby to get rid of," said Rossi.
Spencer instantly thought about Jocelyn and Gabriella who were currently safe at home with their grandpa Joe.
"That troubles me, too. We found the mothers but not the infants," said Hotch.
"Uh, I hate to say this, but what if the women are just a means to an end? What if the babies are really the ones he's exploiting?" asked Emily grimly.
"If Kristie Taylor just surfaced, it means he has her baby right now," said JJ.
Hotch looked at JJ.
"JJ, check with the parents. See if there are any similarities In the runaways' patterns, where the unsub's finding them," said Hotch before looking at Spencer and Emily, "Reid and Prentiss, go to the latest dump site. We need to look at victimology. How he treats these women in the final moments of their lives might tell us what he's doing to the children," said Hotch just as Spencer's cell phone vibrated causing Spencer to see a picture message from his father-in-law.
A second later Spencer was smiling a bit as he saw a picture of Jocelyn trying to give her teddy bear to Gabriella.
"What is it?" asked Emily.
"Joe just sent me a picture of Jocelyn trying to give Gabriella her teddy bear," said Spencer.
"How is Joe enjoying early retirement?" asked Rossi.
"He loves spending his retirement taking care of his granddaughters while Mary and Maeve are at work, taking advantage of my physical therapy appointments to bond with me, while he spends a majority of his free time whittling a cane for me to use within the next couple of weeks," said Spencer.
"Do you know what the cane looks like yet?" asked Emily.
Spencer shook his head.
"I'm forbidden to see the cane until its finished, but he gave me a hint that the handle will involve some type of animal," said Spencer.
Emily laid down a map on the trunk of a police car while Spencer leaned one of his hips against the car as he balanced on his right leg while keeping his left leg off the ground. As soon as Emily had everything laid out for Spencer, Emily looked at Spencer.
"You good?" asked Emily.
"I should be," said Spencer.
A few seconds later an officer was lifting up the crime scene tape before Emily ducked under.
"Thank you," said Emily as she walked into the desert for a bit before looking at Spencer, "There are no tire tracks. The body wasn't dumped that far from the road. This guy doesn't care about them, not enough to even hide them very well," said Emily before she made her way back to Spencer.
"That's why this doesn't make any sense. Dump sites reveal something about the unsub, you know? At the very least, a geographic familiarity, a place he knows he won't get caught," said Spencer.
"OK, so he knows this road," said Emily.
Spencer placed a finger on a map.
"Yeah, except he abducted Kristie in Farmington and then dumps her here in Rio Rancho. It's a 175-mile drive," said Spencer.
"Why drive that far just to dump a body by the side of the road?" asked Emily.
"A forensic countermeasure? Covering his tracks by sheer distance?" asked Spencer.
"So the geographical profile won't do us much good," sighed Emily.
Spencer shook his head.
"No, it will, just not with the victims. We profiled that it's the babies that he's interested in. That's where he'll reveal himself," said Spencer.
"The adoption company he sells through and whatever network of resources he uses," said Emily.
"He makes shortcuts there for convenience. No one's gonna drive 100 miles for diapers or for a public notary for legal paperwork. If the babies are in the system, they'll lead us to him," said Spencer.
"Ready to head to the station?" asked Emily.
"Yes," said Spencer as he quickly grabbed his crutches and propped them underneath his arms.
A few minutes later Spencer and Emily were heading to the police department when Emily looked at Spencer.
"Are you and Maeve planning on trying for a third child as soon as your knee is healed?" asked Emily.
Spencer shook his head.
"We're going to wait until after Gabriella turns two to try for our third child because by the time the baby's born Maeve and I will only have to deal with one baby in diapers," said Spencer.
Later on that evening Spencer was sitting at a conference table with JJ and Rossi as he talked on the phone with Garcia.
"Ok, know this most adoption folk are like the nicest, most dedicated people in the world. There are, however, one or two skeezy ones," said Garcia.
"How skeezy?" asked Spencer.
"Super skeezy. I've got a spreadsheet from one of them Expecting compensation for the baby I'm having," said Garcia just as Morgan joined them.
"Something you want to tell me, Garcia?" asked Morgan.
"Oh, that's the sad part, my prince. The genetically perfect offspring of Penelope Garcia and Derek Morgan wouldn't fetch top dollar," said Garcia sadly.
"Who does?" asked JJ tiredly.
"White babies are in higher demand than minorities. Boys are more popular than girls, at least this year, anyway. And then there's the Swedish supermodel rule," said Garcia.
"The what?" asked Emily.
"If I were to deliver a blond-haired, blue-eyed bundle of joy, I'd be set for life. I would," said Garcia.
"Garcia, did the baby's DNA turn up in New Mexico's adoption records?" asked Hotch.
"No. There are no hits on her profile. And it is a her, by the way," said Garcia.
"This unsub could still be selling babies, just not through the system," said Rossi.
"That's gonna make him a lot harder to catch," said Spencer tiredly.
Hotch noticed the tired looks on everyone's faces while thinking about the current time in DC before he made his decision.
"All right. it's late. Let's get some rest. We'll hit this fresh in the morning," said Hotch.
Spencer rubbed his eyes.
"Garcia out," said Garcia before she hung up.
At that moment Emily grabbed Spencer's crutches and got them placed for Spencer who used a chair to get himself up before he placed his crutches underneath his arms before he followed Emily, JJ, and Rossi on his crutches.
Over an hour later a freshly showered and pajama-clad Spencer was doing the exercises he was told to do daily when Morgan looked at Spencer.
"Need anything before I get in the shower?" asked Morgan.
Spencer stopped doing the current exercise he was doing and looked at Morgan.
"I should be fine because the home physical therapy exercises that I'm supposed to do should take me another 15 minutes, but if I need anything I can call Rossi and ask him to come in through the door that adjoins our hotel room to his," said Spencer as he looked at the door that adjoins his and Morgan's hotel room to Rossi's.
Morgan quickly went to the door that adjoined their hotel room Rossi's and unlocked it before knocking on the door that opened a few seconds later.
"Yes, Morgan?" asked Rossi.
"I'm about to take a shower and Reid already showered and changed into pajamas and is currently doing his exercises for his knee, so I just wanted to let you know just in case Reid needed anything while I'm in the shower," said Morgan.
"Good to know, and I think I'll keep Reid company until your out of the bathroom," said Rossi causing Morgan to step aside and let Rossi into the room before Morgan headed into the bathroom with pajama pants and a t-shirt.
A few seconds later Rossi was sitting at the foot end of Spencer's hotel bed as he looked at his youngest colleague who was currently flexing his bad knee.
"How are you doing, Reid?" asked Rossi.
"I'm doing fine because I'm not dealing with any pain right now, but there are two people that I want to track down and beat up with my crutches," said Spencer.
Rossi shook his head.
"Is Foyet one of the people you want to beat up with your crutches right now?" asked Rossi.
Spencer nodded as his growing curly brown hair bounced.
"Then who's the other person who you want to beat up with your crutches?" asked Rossi.
"A friend of mine contacted me about some moron posting a blog about Carl Sagan that I ended up disapproving causing Maeve to find me in the library swearing and abusing my crutches. After she checked out the blog herself, she took away my crutches and had me use my wheelchair for the rest of the night so I could stop abusing my crutches while I gave my arms a break from the crutches," said Spencer.
Rossi laughed.
"I really hope you watched your language around Jocelyn because I know that your language can get really colorful when you're pissed," said Rossi.
"Jocelyn and Gabriella were already asleep in their cribs when I got a phone call about the blog, and I was swearing in foreign languages instead of English because 15-months-old is a bit too young to teach Jocelyn how to speak in another language," said Spencer.
"How are you dealing with this case when it comes to babies being involved?" asked Rossi.
"I ended up asking Maeve, Mary, Joe, and Stephanie to send me a lot of pictures of Josie and Gabby," said Spencer.
"I don't blame you because I bet that everyone ended up looking at pictures of the second generation of our family," said Rossi as he looked at a picture of Maeve, Jocelyn, Gabriella, and Stephanie together that Spencer had placed on the nightstand between Spencer's and Morgan's bed.
The next day Spencer was sitting by his geographical profile as he looked at his teammates.
"So all the mothers were abducted and dumped in New Mexico, but he keeps the babies in Arizona," said Spencer.
"He knows the police will stop looking at the state line," said Rossi.
"The adoption agency's gonna be our best lead to the unsub," said Hotch before he looked at JJ, "Who handled the case?" asked Hotch.
"That's bombshell number two. She didn't go through an agency. She was dropped off anonymously at a church," said JJ.
Emily sighed.
"Hospitals and churches are safe havens. You can drop a baby off, no questions asked," said Emily.
"Child protection services would look for the closest relative," said Morgan.
"Another search that ends at the state line," said Spencer.
"And if CPS doesn't find one, the baby will go into foster care, which is what happened to Lisa. She was lucky. The adoption process happened within a month," said JJ.
Rossi looked at a picture of Lisa.
"So, this unsub had the opportunity to make money off this infant. He doesn't, drops it off at a church because he knows the state will take good care of it," said Rossi.
"That's awfully considerate," said Emily.
Morgan thought about the profile that Hotch had him write.
"Outside the murders, nothing about this unsub's behavior profiles like a sexual sadist... As I wrote," said Morgan.
"Yeah, Morgan's right. It's the actions of a caretaker, a mother," said Spencer.
"Could our unsub be a woman?" asked JJ.
"Uh, only a man would torture his victims this much. Men get off on this kind of violence. women don't," said Emily.
"He could be married, though, his wife being a passive participant, taking care of the moms," said Morgan.
Spencer instantly thought about Jocelyn and Gabriella.
"And the babies," said Spencer.
"All right. We need to split up. We'll give the profile to the Arizona and the New Mexico state police. Rossi, Reid, and Prentiss, I want you to head to Phoenix. Morgan, you're here with me. We'll finalize the profile," said Hotch.
Over an hour after giving the profile to the police in Arizona, Spencer was leaning on his crutches as he finished his geographical profile when Rossi approached him.
"What's this?" asked Rossi.
"It's the pattern I've been looking for," said Spencer as he pivoted himself on his crutches and made eye contact with Rossi, "The unsubs hid their tracks with the mothers, but they weren't so careful with the abandoned babies," said Spencer.
"Did you find more children?" asked Rossi.
"DNA-wise, no, but deductively, yes. I gathered all the records for all infants who entered into foster care in a two-week window following each mother's death," said Spencer while Rossi sat down at the table to look at the files that Spencer looked at, "Then I narrowed it down to babies that were abandoned at churches. This is where the guesswork begins. Monica's Winmar's daughter was abandoned at a Presbyterian church. Let's assume the unsub, or the wife at least is Presbyterian. That means all other unwanted children are gonna be left at the same denomination, right?" asked Spencer as he started to draw a triangle on his geographical profile, "That narrows it down to three babies left at three different Presbyterian churches all within this 20-mile radius. This is where they live," said Spencer.
Rossi looked through the files.
"These kids you deduced to- Have you looked at their files?" asked Rossi.
"No. Right now I've only been tracking churches. Why?" asked Spencer.
"Because you just uncovered another pattern," said Rossi.
Spencer realized what Rossi was telling him.
"The unsub is keeping the boys," said Spencer as he rolled his shoulders a bit as he kept his crutches underneath his arms.
"Your arms and good leg must be getting tired from spending all of this time standing, so why don't you sit down and rest your good leg for awhile while I fix you a fresh cup of coffee while I call Hotch," said Rossi as he pulled out a chair for Spencer.
"OK," said Spencer as he swung himself towards the nearest table and carefully sat down.
A few minutes later Rossi brought Spencer some coffee and a couple packets of sugar and looked at Spencer.
"The others will be here in about two hours, so why don't you use this time to do your home physical therapy exercises," said Rossi.
"I was already planning on doing those exercises," said Spencer.
Later on that night Spencer swung himself towards Gabriella's crib where he found the baby girl who will be turning four-months-old in about one and a half weeks laying awake in her crib while she sucked on her pacifier.
"What are you doing up, Gabriella?" asked Spencer.
Gabriella's eyes went wide at the sound of her daddy's voice as she grinned while spitting out her pacifier.
"Ah," said Gabriella as she tried to reach for her daddy.
"I wish that I could lift you out of your crib and carry you to the rocking chair in here and hold you for a bit, but I can't do it because I'll only hurt you and myself if I lose my balance," said Spencer as he made funny faces causing the nearly four-month-old baby girl to laugh just until Stephanie appeared in the doorway.
"When did you get home?" asked Stephanie.
Spencer looked at his little sister who was in her pajamas while her armpit length hair was messed up.
"Emily dropped me off five minutes ago and I came in here right away because I wanted to watch Gabby sleep for a bit only to find her awake, but what are you doing up?" asked Spencer.
"I was in the bathroom when I heard the sound of your crutches while hearing you talk softly to Gabriella," said Stephanie.
Spencer shook his head as he thought about the sound of his crutches being the reason why everyone can tell where he is or knows that he's approaching them.
"I can't wait to get off these crutches so I can be completely quiet again when I come home late at night from cases or heading to another room," said Spencer before looking at Gabriella who was still trying to reach for Spencer, "I'm wanting to hold Gabby for a bit, so can you get her out of her crib so I can hold her for a bit," said Spencer.
"Sure," said Stephanie.
10 seconds later Spencer was sitting in a rocking chair as he stared at his youngest daughter while Stephanie decided to give her half-brother a moment with his youngest daughter.
