Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

A/N: Shout out to fishtrek, tannerose5, criminalmindsrocks, Angel Wings00, and EnthusiastReader for reviewing chapter 50.

Here's my AU version of The Instincts because Spencer knows the truth about Riley Jenkins's murder that that Gary Michaels died in prison when inmates found out that he was a child molester. So be prepared for a lot of changes for my version of The Instincts in this story.

Bridget is 15-months-old and Evan's still four-months-old in this chapter and I'm including one of Spencer's classmates from chapter 33 of Friends, Lovers, Husband and Wife, to Parents in this chapter to play the medical examiner.


Four-year-old Spencer Reid exited his bedroom as he rubbed his eyes before slipping his glasses on, and 10 seconds later he found aunt Ethel and uncle Gordon sitting in the living room hugging each other with tears falling down their faces while an unfamiliar woman sat on the couch nearby before noticing that his aunt Ethel didn't have her hearing aids in.

"Aunt Ethel. Uncle Gordon. Where are mommy and daddy? Why are you two crying? Why is there a stranger in the house?" said/signed Spencer.

Gordon choked up as he let go of his wife and pulled Spencer onto his lap.

"Your mommy, daddy, and uncle Daniel went to Heaven last night," said Gordon.

Spencer's eyes went wide.

"They promised me that I would see them after I wake up," said Spencer.

"They did, but they were in a car accident and the damage was too severe for them to survive," choked Gordon as he hugged his nephew.

A few seconds later Spencer started sobbing while Gordon rubbed his nephew's back.


Hotch heard a few whimpers causing him to glance towards Spencer and noticed tears leaking through his brother-in-law's eyes causing him to quickly make his way towards Spencer and knelt down as he worked on waking up his brother-in-law.

"Spencer. Spencer," said Hotch.

Spencer woke up to Hotch shaking him and a few seconds later he blearily looked at his brother-in-law.

"What happened?" asked Spencer.

"You were crying in your sleep," said Hotch.

Spencer sighed sadly.

"I ended up dreaming about the morning that I found out that my parents and uncle Daniel died," said Spencer.

"The same dream you have around the anniversary of your parents' death, but with the anniversary of your aunt and uncle's death coming up, your dreaming about your parents' deaths because we're heading to your hometown," said Hotch as he got up and headed back to his original spot.

"All of you guys know that the murder of my childhood friend Riley Jenkins led to the accidental deaths of my parents and uncle Daniel," said Spencer.

Hotch looked at his brother-in-law.

"The case we're working on deals with children, maybe your subconscious is telling you that you want to sit this one out," said Hotch.

"I don't," said Spencer.

"Well, maybe you're just stressed out about going home to Las Vegas. Did you tell your aunt you're coming?" asked Emily.

Spencer became guarded.

"Why aren't we reviewing the case file?" asked Spencer.

"I don't know. Maybe because someone fell asleep on the jet," said Emily.

"Evan started teething last night, so Clarissa and I were taking turns calming Evan down and sleeping," said Spencer.

"All right, let's start from the beginning one more time," said Hotch.

JJ held up a picture of a little boy.

"This is Ethan Hayes. He was five. Two weeks ago he was abducted out of his own front yard," said JJ.

Spencer sighed sadly as he thought about Diana turning five in over a month while thinking about how he, Clarissa, and Lucy never let Diana be outside on her own.

"Where were the parents?" asked Spencer.

"His mom just ran inside to grab her purse. When she came back, he was gone. She wasn't away for more than a minute or 2. Police found his body exactly one week later in the desert. He was in a new change of clothes. His nails clipped. His hair was combed," said JJ.

"That's a lot of remorse," said Rossi.

"No sign of sexual assault. The medical report suggests he was smothered. Unsub could see this death as merciful," said Hotch.

Emily looked at JJ.

"Who's the new boy?" asked Emily.

"Michael Bridges. Yesterday, he set out to walk by himself to a friend's house a block away. He never showed up," said JJ.

Spencer scratched his chin.

"Are we sure these cases are even connected?" asked Spencer.

"The unsub called each of the families," said JJ.

"But no ransom demand," said Rossi.

Spencer rested his hand on his chin again.

"It was more like taunts. He's telling them it's their fault that their child was taken," said JJ.

"OK. So, we have an unsub who shows remorse and then projects his guilt onto the victims' parents," said Morgan.

"And if we're lucky, six more days to find a boy before he's killed," said Hotch.


Spencer took a shaky breath as he entered the morgue with Morgan.

"You OK?" asked Morgan.

"It doesn't help that my oldest daughter is nearly five-years-old and we're about to look at a body of a five-year-old boy," said Spencer.

"If you need to leave the room at some point, I won't judge you," said Morgan just as the medical examiner approached them.

"I wish that I could have seen you under better circumstances, Spencer," said Lucas.

"You too, Lucas," said Spencer.

"You two know each other?" asked Morgan.

"I went to high school with Spencer and I never bullied him like the football team and the cheerleaders did," said Lucas before looking at Spencer, "Thank you for sending my wife and me a copy of the birth announcement for your son's birth," said Lucas.

"Your welcome and I'll show you some pictures of the kids when we're done here," said Spencer.

Lucas smiled sadly at Spencer.

"I know that this will be hard for you because of your oldest daughter being nearly five-years-old, so if you need to leave the room, its OK," said Lucas as he made his way towards the drawer that contained Ethan's body and opened it, "There was no bruising around his neck or face. I'm guessing he used a pillow," said Lucas while Morgan lifted up the sheet so Spencer wouldn't have to.

"Was there any sign of a struggle?" asked Spencer.

"No, but he would have been extremely weak," said the medical examiner.

"Why's that?" asked Morgan.

"This is where it gets weird. He was noticeably thin. And both his stomach and intestines were completely empty," said Lucas.

"He was being starved?" asked Spencer.

"It seems that way," said Lucas.

"OK. So, what's the weird part?" asked Morgan.

"I wanted to determine if malnutrition played a part in his death. So, I looked for evidence of starvation ketosis by analyzing some vitreous humor... The squishy part of the eyeball... and I couldn't find any ketone bodies there," said Lucas.

"Meaning?" asked Morgan.

"He was getting nutrients somehow," said Spencer.

"Through an IV?" asked Morgan.

Lucas shook his head.

"There were no marks to indicate that," said Lucas.

"Any idea what else could it be?" asked Spencer.

"Honestly, I have no idea," said Lucas.

Spencer and Morgan exchanged glances before Spencer looked at his former classmate.

"Want to see some pictures of Diana, Bridget, and Evan?" asked Spencer.

"Yes please," said Lucas.

A few seconds later Lucas was smiling at a picture of Diana, Bridget, and Evan together.

"I can't believe how big your children are getting and your son is looking more like you every day, Spencer," said Lucas.

"I know, and when I get home, I'm going to be keeping the kids close to me," said Spencer.

"I'm keeping my two sons close to me right now too, Spencer," said Lucas.


Spencer and Morgan quietly entered the Bridges' family home as they noticed that Amy was on the phone.

"May I speak with Michael?" asked Amy.

Hotch held up his hand to his brother-in-law and Morgan to tell them to be quiet.

"He doesn't want to talk to you. He knows what a bad mother you are. Your three minutes are up," said the unsub before hanging up.

"Garcia, anything?" asked Hotch.

"It looks to be a disposable cell phone. I couldn't triangulate the call. But it did bounce off not one but two towers," said Garcia.

"Meaning?" asked Hotch.

"I know he's mobile. And I know he's moving within the Las Vegas limits. He didn't travel outside the city," said Garcia.

Hotch looked at Amy and Craig.

"It's just a start. Like I said, the more he talks, the more we'll learn about him," said Hotch.

JJ gestured Amy and Craig to look at Spencer and Morgan.

"These are Agents Morgan and Reid. They'll be here all night just in case he calls back," said JJ.

"I need to lie down," said Amy.

"Of course," said Hotch.

After Amy walked past Spencer and Morgan, JJ looked at Craig.

"You should go with her," said JJ.

"Yeah," said Craig as he followed his wife.

As soon as Amy and Craig were out of earshot, Hotch looked at his brother-in-law and Morgan.

"What'd you find out from the medical examiner?" asked Hotch.

"We think that he's starving them," said Spencer softly.

"But that doesn't fit with the care he takes with the bodies. Starvation would be a form of torture," said Hotch.

"There's no sexual assault. The torture could be a substitute for the sex act," said Morgan.

"I'll coordinate with Rossi and Prentiss. We'll call you if there's anything new," said Hotch before he and JJ walked away.

"I'm going to call Clarissa and talk to Diana," said Spencer.

"You should," said Morgan.

A minute later Spencer was standing in the backyard as he pulled out his phone and called Clarissa.

"How is it going in Las Vegas, Spence?" asked Clarissa.

"It's nice to be in my hometown again, but I ended up throwing up after leaving the medical examiner's office because Diana's almost the same age of Ethan Hayes," said Spencer.

"Diana's safe at home with Lucy, Bridget, Evan, and me, Spence," said Clarissa.

"I know, but after this case, I'm thinking about asking your brother for a few days off and maybe you can see if you can take a few days off and pull Diana out of school and come out here with the kids and Lucy," said Spencer.

"That's a good idea and I'll make the arrangements as soon as the case is over," said Clarissa.

"Can I talk to Diana?" asked Spencer.

"You sure can," said Clarissa.

A few seconds later Spencer smiled when he heard Diana's voice.

"Hi daddy," said Diana.

"How was school today, bumble bee?" asked Spencer.

"I had fun and I got a 100% on my math and spelling test, daddy," said Diana.

"I'm so proud of you, bumblebee," said Spencer.

"May I please ask you something?" asked Diana.

"Go ahead," said Spencer.

"Do you know anything about your biological father's family?" asked Diana.

Spencer sighed as he thought about how he only had his father's books, clothes, watch, and some pictures of his father from when his dad was a kid.

"I was told that my paternal grandparents and my paternal aunt died in a car accident before I was born, why?" asked Spencer.

"I need to make a family tree for school and Mrs. O' Connor said that we can't use the internet to look up family history because she wants me to ask you, mommy, aunts, uncles, and grandparents about my family history or visit a courthouse with you and mommy to go through records for Social Studies. You said that grandpa William was born and raised in Las Vegas and I don't know if there's anything here in Washington DC to learn about my grandpa William while you know everything about grandma Diana because of uncle Gordon raising you," rambled Diana.

Spencer smiled a bit.

"It's a good thing that mommy and I decided that you guys will be joining me out here after I'm finished with this case so we can spend time with aunt Elena," said Spencer.

"Bridget and Evan too?" asked Diana.

"They would come too because aunt Elena has yet to meet Evan," said Spencer.

"Lucy too?" asked Diana.

"She would be coming with to help out with Bridget and Evan on the plane and take care of Bridget and Evan while we help you with your project," said Spencer.

"As soon as your done with the case, let Aaron know that you need a few days off because the kids, Lucy, and I will join you in Vegas," said Clarissa.

"I will," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "As much as I want to talk to Bridget and Evan, I need to get back to work," said Spencer.

"I love you, daddy," said Diana.

"I love you too, Diana," said Spencer.

"I love you, Spence," said Clarissa.

"I love you too, Clarissa," said Spencer before hanging up.


Spencer woke up at 3 AM as he rubbed his eyes and made his way towards the kitchen where Amy Bridges told him that he could help himself to coffee and water. After he got himself a glass of water, someone entered the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Amy.

Spencer turned around and looked at Amy.

"Its 6 AM in DC right now, and my body is still on East Coast time right now," said Spencer before smiling a little bit, "At least I'll have a few minutes to call my family before my wife and oldest leaves for work and school," said Spencer.

"How many kids do you have?" asked Amy.

Spencer's lips curled up a bit.

"Three," said Spencer.

"How old are your kids?" asked Amy.

"My oldest daughter will be five next month. My youngest daughter is 15-months. My infant son will be five-months-old this Saturday," said Spencer.

"This case must be very hard for you," said Amy.

"I keep thinking of my oldest daughter Diana and my three-year-old nephew," said Spencer.

"There's something about your accent that's bugging me," said Amy.

"I was born and raised here in Las Vegas for the first 12 years of my life before I moved out East for college," said Spencer.


A few hours later Spencer looked at Morgan.

"I want to pull myself off the case for a bit because I want to go visit my parents' graves before the funeral," said Spencer.

"Go ahead and let Hotch know," said Morgan.

"I will," said Spencer.

Morgan reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the SUV.

"I'll ride with Hotch and the Bridges to the funeral, so why don't you take the SUV instead of spending money on a cab," said Morgan.

Spencer nodded and accept the keys and as soon as he got outside, he called his brother-in-law who answered on the second ring.

"Is everything OK, Reid?" asked Hotch.

"I'm going to go visit my parents' graves and I'll see you guys at the funeral," said Spencer.

"How are you getting there?" asked Hotch.

"Morgan gave me the keys to the SUV so I don't have to take a cab," said Spencer.

"Drive safely and I'll see you at the funeral," said Hotch.

"Yes, dad," quipped Spencer before hanging up.


Nearly 45 minutes later Spencer was carrying two bouquets of roses as he walked towards his parents' and uncle Daniel's graves and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he saw an elderly couple who looked to be in their 70's standing in front of his parents' graves talking in Hebrew.

"Hello?" asked Spencer.

The couple turned around and their eyes went wide when they saw Spencer.

"Do you two know my parents?" asked Spencer as he noticed that the elderly man had the same brown eyes as himself as he quickly flashed back to seeing the couple in front of him at his parents' funeral, his graduations, his wedding, and Diana's, Bridget's, and Evan's Christenings, "You two have shown up at my graduations, my wedding, and the Christenings of my three children and you have the same brown eyes as my two youngest children and me, sir," said Spencer.

The elderly couple exchanged glances before they hurried away as fast as possible while Spencer stayed rooted in his spot in shock.

"Come back!" called out Spencer just as his phone vibrated causing him to see a picture message of a grinning Bridget sitting in a pile of fallen leaves from Lucy.

BRIDGET WANTED ME TO TAKE A PICTURE OF HER AND SEND IT TO YOU. ~ LR

A minute later Spencer was laying down the flowers before he sat down by his parents' graves.

"Hi, mom. Hi dad. I turned 27 last month and I'm currently working on a case in Las Vegas that is reminding me a bit about Riley Jenkins. You two and my little brother or sister have been dead for over 22 and a half years now and the baby I told you guys about over Christmas ended up being a boy and he's going to be five-months-old on the 15th. I really wish that you two and my sibling could have had a second chance in life like I did after my abduction and torture so you guys could watch your grandchildren grow in person," said Spencer as he wiped a tear, "Your oldest granddaughter Diana will be turning five next month and she has an IQ of 168, an eidetic memory, and is reading 19,000 words per a minute while having her mother's outgoing personality. Bridget is such a sweet and quiet 15-month-old toddler who is an extreme daddy's girl like her big sister and she's very sweet on her baby brother Evan. Your first grandson Evan is an exact replica of me, is a mama's boy, and he's already crawling," said Spencer before he decided to tell his parents about how he and Clarissa were doing.

After talking for another 10 minutes, he heard a familiar voice.

"I didn't know that your parents were buried in this cemetery," said Hotch.

Spencer turned his head to find Hotch, Morgan, Emily, and Rossi standing with Michael's parents while Hotch held out his hand.

"Come on, Reid," said Hotch.

Spencer took his brother-in-law's hand and a few seconds later Hotch was pulling him up.

"Thanks," said Spencer as he started to brush the grass off his pants.

Amy looked at the two headstones and noticed that Diana and William Reid both died on March 30th of 1985 while seeing Baby Reid also inscribed on Diana's headstone before seeing another headstone that contained the name Daniel Reid who also died on March 30th of 1985.

"How old were you?" asked Amy.

"I was four," said Spencer before motioning to Hotch that they needed to go for a walk.

As soon as they were away from the Bridges, Spencer looked at his brother-in-law.

"I just had a really strange encounter when I arrived here," said Spencer.

"What?" asked Hotch.

"I saw an elderly couple standing by my father's and uncle Daniel's grave talking in Hebrew and I remember seeing them at my wedding and Diana's, Bridget's, and Evan's Christenings and they always left before I could talk to them. The man had the same brown eyes as my late father, Bridget, Evan, and me and he looks old enough to be my grandfather or great-uncle because I never met any relatives on my father's side of the family other than my uncle Daniel," said Spencer.

"Seems like you have some estranged relatives you don't know about," said Hotch.
Spencer nodded.

"Part of me wants to call Garcia and ask her to look up my father's family, but I'm not going to waste Bureau resources to look up my father because I can easily just visit the courthouse here in Las Vegas and look up my father's birth record," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "As much as I want to pull myself off the case and investigate the couple I just encountered, I'm going to wait until after this case because Michael needs my help because I'll never look at Diana the same way again if we don't save Michael," said Spencer.

"Good, and are you planning on taking a few days off like I suggested after we arrived?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded.

"Clarissa, the kids, and Lucy are flying out here after this case because Diana has a family tree project to work on and she's not allowed to use the internet to research her ancestors," said Spencer.

"Now that sounds like a fun project and let me know when Diana's ready to learn more about her maternal grandparents," said Hotch.

"Thanks," said Spencer.


After watching Emily and Rossi interrogate the man who was videotaping the funeral, Spencer called his brother-in-law who answered on the second ring.

"Hotchner," answered Hotch.

"He doesn't know details of the murder," said Spencer.

After a few seconds of silence, Hotch spoke up.

"You sure?" asked Hotch.

"He assumes the boy was molested," said Spencer.

"All right. Thanks," said Hotch before hanging up.


After listening to the recording of the phone call between Amy, Hotch, and the unsub, Hotch looked at Amy and Craig Bridges.

"Would it be possible for us to work in private for a while?" asked Hotch.

Spencer continued reading the transcript while Amy looked at Hotch.

"He was at the funeral. I told you," said Amy.

"He was at the funeral, and you arrested the wrong man," snapped Craig.

Spencer looked up at his teammates, Amy, and Craig.

"I don't think it is a man," said Spencer as everyone glanced at him, "Did you hear the way she described the clothing? She said the blue shoes. Lime green oxford. A male wouldn't reference specific details like that," said Spencer.

"I think Reid's right. She talked about what the child wanted. How he slept. How she took care of him. She said, "I loved him. "," said Morgan.

"A male unsub would have emphasized the competition, not the care giving. He would have talked about how he was smarter than the FBI bragged about not being caught," said Spencer.

"We could have been looking at both men and women…," said Amy.

"The statistics are overwhelming. Women abduct newborns. Men take children," said Rossi just as Hotch got Garcia on the phone.

"Garcia," said Hotch.

"I'm right here, sir," said Garcia.

"Will you run the license plates the police gave you and find any that might be registered to a woman," said Hotch.

Everyone heard some typing before Garcia spoke up.

"That would be... Zero," said Garcia.

"How's that possible?" asked Amy.

Spencer quickly thought about the amount of time that he's allowed to talk to his adoptive aunt on the phone.

"Transcript almost reads like she's been institutionalized," said Spencer as he quickly sat down.

"You mean she's crazy," said Craig.

Spencer looked up at his team and the Bridges.

"She described herself as being "locked down" not "arrested" or "put away. " Plus, most mental facilities are very rigid about the amount of phone time they allow per day. I think her talking about only having three minutes isn't her rule to us. It's what she's been institutionalized to think of as normal," said Spencer.

"Garcia, can you get records of women released from mental institutions this past month? She most likely has some trauma in her case file... possibly the death of a child," said Rossi.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that. To protect patient privilege there's no central database. I could hack each hospital individually, but even then, most diagnoses are kept separately by the different doctors," said Garcia.

Spencer looked up at his teammates and the Bridges.

"I think I might have a way," said Spencer before looking at his brother-in-law, "I'm going to head to Bennington Sanitarium and see if my adoptive aunt's doctor can help," said Spencer.

"Go," said Hotch as he tossed Spencer keys to an SUV.

Spencer quickly caught the keys before hurrying out of the house.


A short while later Spencer was watching his aunt writing in her journal when Dr. Norman approached him.

"Dr. Reid. Your aunt didn't tell me you were in town," said Dr. Norman as he quickly shook hands with Spencer.

"She doesn't know I'm here. I'm working on a case. And I actually thought you might be able to help us," said Spencer quietly.

"Of course," said Dr. Norman.

"You've read about the recent child murder and second abduction?" asked Spencer.

"Yes," said Dr. Norman.

"We think the person responsible is a woman. She would have been institutionalized. But we believe she may have been released within the past few weeks, just before the first abduction," said Spencer.

"What can I do?" asked Dr. Norman.

"I'm assuming you have a good working relationship with the administrators at other hospitals?" asked Spencer while Dr. Norman nodded, "When it comes to being married to a pediatric nurse, I know no one can open their files," said Spencer as he passed the file he was holding to Dr. Norman, "But if you wouldn't mind just giving them the profile, that would be a tremendous help. She's delusional. Fueled by grief. Very well might have lost a child of her own, probably around the age of five," said Spencer as he watched Dr. Norman go through the file.

"I'll see what I can do," said Dr. Norman before walking away.

A few seconds later Spencer approached his adopted aunt.

"Spencer? What are you doing here?" asked Elena

"I'm here for work. We're investigating the murder and abduction of two five-year-old boys," said Spencer.

Elena shook her head as she thought about how her own son died from a rattlesnake bite.

"I don't like the idea of you working on things that are so sad," said Elena.

"I know," said Spencer.

Elena took in her adoptive nephew's appearance.

"At least having a wife and kids at home are keeping you from getting so thin," said Elena.

"I was going to come to see you the second we solved the case," said Spencer.

"When will I get to meet Evan?" asked Elena.

Spencer thought about the text message he received from Clarissa about finding plane tickets for 1 PM East Coast time for Las Vegas and she took the day off while allowing Diana to play hooky from school.

"Clarissa, the kids, and Lucy are currently on a plane heading here right now," said Spencer.

"Diana's missing school right now?" clucked Elena.

"Diana has a family tree project to work on for school, so it will be OK to take a few days off from school to learn more about my father's history," said Spencer.

"If I knew anything at all, I would help you, but I don't," said Elena.

"My godmother doesn't know much about my father either," said Spencer just as Dr. Norman approached them.

"I'm sorry. I talked to the heads of nine different hospitals. There's no one who matches your description," said Dr. Norman.

"Thank you for trying," said Spencer.

Dr. Norman thought of something.

"You know, if this person has an axis-1 condition, her release wouldn't be as important as whether or not she keeps to her medications," said Dr. Norman.

"All right. Thank you. Again, thank you very much," said Spencer as Dr. Norman got up and walked away.

Elena looked at her adoptive nephew.

"I went off my medication when I was pregnant Caleb. I spent every day in terror, but I made it. And it was beautiful. I had Caleb," said Elena.

Spencer realized what the missing part of the profile was.

"Oh, god," whispered Spencer to himself.

"What is it, Spencer?" asked Elena.

"Women abduct newborns. Excuse me," said Spencer as he quickly got up and went to Dr. Norman.

"I don't understand," said Elena.

"Doctor, would it be possible for a woman to convince herself that a random five-year-old child's actually her own newborn?" asked Spencer.

"If her psychosis is strong enough. And, again, if they'd stopped taking their medication, absolutely," said Dr. Norman.

"Thank you. Thanks," said Spencer as he quickly got his brother-in-law on the phone, "Hotch, I'm pretty sure I know why the medical examiner was so confused. I think she's breastfeeding them," said Spencer.


Spencer quickly pulled over at Clara Bate's house and quickly got out of the SUV as he pulled out his revolver and ran into the house. After searching every room, he approached a locked door and unlocked it before sighing in relief when he saw Michael standing in the room causing him to reach for the microphone on his vest.

"I've got Michael! I've got Michael!" said Spencer as he holstered his gun and entered the room and knelt down and opened his arms that Michael eagerly ran into as he hugged the five-year-old boy and cradled Michael's head, "I got ya," said Spencer as he hugged Michael tightly before scooping up the little boy and carried him out of the bedroom.

A few minutes later Hotch, Emily, and Rossi found Spencer sitting on the couch doing magic tricks for a giggling Michael.


A short while later Spencer was staring at the desert when Morgan joined him.

"You know, this is about as good a day as we're gonna get on this job," said Morgan.

"I know," said Spencer.

"I believe you could have done anything in the world with your life and you chose to do this job. I know that your childhood led you to this career choice but to the same city where your adopted aunt lives and for us to have the opportunity to save this child," said Morgan.

"Yeah," said Spencer.

"Like I said, this is about as good a day as we're gonna get, man. Enjoy your moment," said Morgan just as Hotch joined them.

Spencer looked at his brother-in-law.

"Apparently Clarissa to take a personal day from being a nurse at Diana's school and let Diana play hooky because Clarissa, the kids, and Lucy are currently on a flight heading to this city and they're landing in two hours," said Spencer before smirking a bit, "What do you say about me introducing you and the rest of the team to chicken fried lobster from Binions and you guys fly back home tomorrow while I take a few vacation days like I planned?" asked Spencer.

Hotch looked at Morgan.

"Do you think you could find something to do in Las Vegas for the night after Spencer introduces us to one of his favorite restaurants?" asked Hotch.

Morgan smiled before looking at Spencer.

"What are you going to do tonight after dinner?" asked Morgan.

"Most likely take Clarissa and the kids stargazing in the desert after dinner and tomorrow morning I introduce Evan to his great-aunt and help Diana with researching my father in the afternoon," said Spencer.

"You do know that my fiancee would be willing to help Diana with her school project," said Morgan.

"I know, but Diana said that she can't use the internet to look up her ancestors," said Spencer before JJ, Emily, and Rossi joined them, "I promised you guys that I would introduce you guys to chicken fried lobster from Binions someday, so I'm treating you guys to Binions," said Spencer.

JJ rubbed her growing stomach.

"That sounds so good," said JJ.

"And Clarissa, the kids, and Lucy are joining us because they're currently on a plane to this city," said Spencer causing some grins.

"So you're taking a few days off?" asked JJ.

"Evan has to meet his great-aunt Elena and Diana has to create a family tree for one of her homework assignments. With not knowing a lot about my father's side of my family, I have to help Diana do research the old-fashioned way because she's not supposed to use the internet," said Spencer.

"Visiting a courthouse would give you the best answers," said Rossi.

"That's one of the places I'm planning on taking Diana to," said Spencer.


Two hours later a freshly showered Spencer was on his knee when Diana ran straight into his arms.

"I missed you, daddy," said Diana.

"I missed you too, Diana," said Spencer as he spent 30 seconds greeting his wife and two youngest children before Clarissa looked at her husband as the Reid family and Lucy headed towards the baggage claim area, "How did Evan handle his first time on a plane?" asked Spencer.

"Very well," said Clarissa.

"Good," said Spencer before looking at Diana, "What do you say about going to Binions for chicken fried lobster before we go stargazing tonight?" asked Spencer.

"Yay!" cheered Diana.


A half-hour later Diana and Bridget were running towards their uncle Aaron outside of Binions before the Reid family, Hotch, Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Rossi went into Binions for dinner where they talked about anything over dinner except for work.


After dinner was eaten, Lucy took Evan to the hotel while Spencer and Clarissa took Diana and Bridget stargazing while the rest of the BAU team decided to spend the rest of the night in their hotel room or enjoying the casinos.


A/N: The mystery of the elderly visiting William and Daniel Reids graves and crashing Spencer's and Clarissa's wedding and the Reid children's' Christenings will be revealed in the next chapter and EnthusiastReader your question will be answered in the next chapter with a plot twist I created.