Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belong to the writers of Criminal Minds and CBS. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: Shout out to Fashionista7, fishtrek, criminalmindsrocks, Astrahan, Daisyangel, southernbeauty13, and Guest (I wish you included a first name or pen-name if you don't have an account or you're not logged in) for reviewing chapter 28.
Sorry for the delay because I was dealing with writer's block, worked on my other stories, while I ended up having to spend August 6th, 7th, and 8th babysitting my 22-month-old niece who ended up sleeping over on the night of August 6th so I couldn't work on my stories for a few days.
Even though in Nelson's Sparrow, we see Spencer not talking for part of the episode, but don't forget that in this story Spencer's and Gideon's relationship became strained after the Hankel case and Hotch stepped up to help Spencer with his recovery since he didn't want Spencer to lose everything he worked hard for. So when it comes to being the one to find Gideon's body, Spencer knows that he has to talk.
Previously at the end of chapter 28
Over two hours later, Spencer drove up the driveway to Gideon's cabin and sighed in relief when he saw Gideon's car parked in front of the cabin. After getting out of his car and turning on his flashlight, his eyes went wide when he saw Gideon's dead and decaying body laying on the ground with one hand to his chest while one leg was so swollen because of a bite mark that most likely belonged to some type of venomous snake.
5 minutes later
After throwing up everything his aunt forced him to eat for dinner in Milwaukee a good distance away from Gideon's corpse, Spencer shakily pulled out his phone and groaned when he saw that he didn't have any reception causing him to head into the cabin so he could use the land-line to call Hotch as he noticed an envelope with his name on it while Gideon's gun and badge were next to the envelope.
Meanwhile, in Quantico, Virginia, Hotch who was still at the B.A.U. musing on whether he should sleep on the couch in his office or find a hotel to stay in just as his cell phone rang causing him to answer his phone without checking the caller ID, "Hotchner," answered Hotch.
Spencer let out a few gasping sobs.
Hotch quickly recognized the sobs that Spencer let out after the Hankel case as he looked at the caller ID and realized that Spencer had to use the land-line in Gideon's cabin since his cell phone most likely didn't have reception, "Reid?" asked Hotch.
"I found Gid-Gideon dead outside of his cab-cabin. He was bit-bitten by most likely a tim-timber rat-rattlesnake since Gid-Gideon told me that he saw a pregnant tim-timber rattlesnake bask-basking in the sun when I last talked to him on Sep-September 6th," stuttered Spencer.
"You believe that Gideon has most likely been dead since then?" asked Hotch.
"Be-Before I vom-vomited, I was able to fig-figure out that he died ov-over a week ago based on the de-de-decomposition of his bo-body and I doubt that the near-nearby neigh-neighbors heard his call for help if he called for help. dur-during the two to three days it could have take-taken for the ven-venom to kill him," stuttered Spencer.
Hotch's heart broke for his youngest agent, "I'm on my way. Just stay there and I'll be there as quickly as possible with the current on-duty Bureau medical examiner."
"Are you bring-bringing the rest of the team too?" asked Spencer.
Hotch looked at the clock and noticed that it was midnight, "I'm not got going to call them since they're all most likely sleeping by now, but I'll plan on calling an early morning team meeting after we get a few hours of sleep ourselves. While I'm on my way, you can call Maeve and tell her that it's going to be a few hours before you'll be home. I'll be there as quick as possible."
"Gid-Gideon wrote me a let-letter, so I will read it be-before you ar-arrive," stuttered Spencer.
Hotch thought of a way to keep his youngest agent busy, "Read the letter he wrote for you and do a linguistic analysis on it to make sure that Gideon wasn't suicidal or not," said Hotch before thinking about how hard it was going to be for his youngest agent to have an eidetic memory at the moment, "Just stay in the cabin so you don't have to look at Gideon's body," said Hotch before hanging up and he quickly called the on-duty coroner and Agent Gina Sharp told the both of them that one of his agents found Gideon dead at his cabin and they need to head to the cabin immediately and not to tell anyone where they were going before he rushed out of his office and headed to Strauss's office where he thankfully found Strauss who was gazing at her paperwork, "Ma'am."
Strauss looked up to find Hotch with an emotionless look on his face, "Is everything OK?" asked Chief Strauss.
"Jason is dead," said Hotch.
"Did he commit suicide or did something else kill him?" asked Chief Strauss.
"Between September 6th and September 17th, a timber rattlesnake killed Jason since Reid told me that Jason told him about seeing a pregnant timber rattlesnake near his cabin. I already contacted Gina Sharp and the on-duty coroner and told them that they need to head to Jason's cabin ASAP," said Hotch grimly.
"What about calling the rest of your team?" asked Chief Strauss.
"I'll let them get some more sleep and I'll call everyone to report here at 6 A.M.," said Hotch.
Chief Strauss quickly got up, "If you're about to head to Jason's cabin to be with my nephew, I'm coming with you so I can comfort my nephew."
"I was hoping you would since Reid needs his aunt right now," said Hotch.
A few minutes later Hotch, Strauss, and Agent Sharp were heading towards Gideon's cabin in a Bureau SUV while the on-duty medical examiner followed them.
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Maeve was sitting in a rocking chair in Violet's and Arthur's nursery breastfeeding Arthur when her cell phone rang causing her to reach into the front pocket of her husband's old short-sleeved dress shirt she snatched from her husband's side of the closet to make breastfeeding easier causing her to answer her phone without checking the caller ID, "Hello?" asked Maeve.
"Maeve," croaked Spencer.
Maeve thought about knowing that her husband had returned to Quantico and decided to drive to Gideon's cabin right away, "Is Jason, OK?" asked Maeve.
"I found Gid-Gideon dead out-outside of his cab-cabin. Looks like he died from a tim-timber rattle-rattlesnake bite since he told me about a preg-pregnant timber-timber rattlesnake sun-sunbathing nearby during the last time I talked to him, Maeve," stuttered Spencer.
Maeve gasped as she looked down at her wide-awake son who would never get to know his godfather, "Oh my, Spencer. Are you OK?" asked Maeve.
"I now have my an-answer on why Gid-Gideon never re-returned my calls for the past two weeks," said Spencer as tears fell down his face.
"How much longer do you think that it's going to be until you come home?" asked Maeve.
"It's go-going to be a few hours since Hotch is on his way," said Spencer.
"I'll stay up for you," said Maeve.
"I have to go so I can read the let-letter Gid-Gideon left me," said Spencer.
"I love you," said Maeve.
"I love you too," said Spencer before hanging up.
A few seconds later Maeve looked down at her son, "Even though you're too young to understand, your godfather passed away, Arthur. Your daddy is very sad right now, so you, Violet, your Aunt Stephanie, and I will have to cheer him up."
Meanwhile, inside of Gideon's cabin, Spencer was now sitting at the table and opened up the letter that Gideon left him and started to read it.
I knew it would be you who came to the cabin to check on me. You must be frightened. I apologize for that. I never meant to cause you any pain. And I also never envisioned writing this letter. I've searched for a satisfactory explanation for what I'm doing. All I've come up with is. A profiler needs to have solid footing which you have found by falling in love with Maeve causing you to have Violet and Arthur with her while taking in your newly found half-sister Stephanie. I don't think I do anymore. The world confuses me. The cruelty, the indifference. The tragedy. When my dear friend Sarah was murdered, it tore a hole in me.
Spencer continued to read the letter as tears fell down his face, and as he got to the end of the letter he steeled himself.
And that was the last domino. The death of that girl. Hotch being suspended over something that was my fault. I said at the beginning of this letter that I knew it would be you to come up here. I'm sorry the explanation couldn't be better. And I am so sorry that it doesn't make more sense. But I've already told you I just don't understand any of it anymore. I'm sorry.
P.S. Please promise yourself that you won't make the same mistake and end up divorcing Maeve or lose her to a serial killer because of working for the B.A.U. You've been happier ever since Maeve entered your life while fatherhood has suited you well ever since Violet and Arthur were born four months ago. I'm not going to be in contact with you and the rest of the team, so you have my blessing to name someone else Arthur's godfather.
An hour later Spencer had read the letter a fifth time when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder causing him to jump and look at Hotch, his Aunt Erin, while Gina Sharp who is a Trekkie and Whovian like him and would eat lunch with him and Grant Anderson in the cafeteria so they could talk about "Star Trek" and "Dr. Who" entered the cabin.
Chief Strauss quickly pulled her nephew into a hug, "I'm so sorry that you had to be the one to find Gideon's body, Spencer."
Spencer hugged his aunt back, "It's OK."
Hotch looked at the letter that was on the table, "Did you do a linguistic analysis on the letter?" asked Hotch.
Spencer looked at his Aunt Erin and Hotch, "Based on what was written in this letter to me and his gun and badge were on the table, it didn't seem like that he was suicidal since he would have killed himself after writing the letter."
Gina nodded, "I ended up finding packed up suitcase in the trunk of his car, so it seemed like he was about to leave," said Gina before she headed to the cabinet so she could start looking at security camera footage and went back over a week because of Hotch telling her that Spencer suspected that Gideon died a week ago.
After finding the footage of a snake biting Gideon, Gina looked at Spencer, Hotch, and Chief Strauss with a grim look on her face, "Based on the security cam footage that I just watched, it looked like that on September 7th at 10 A.M., Agent Gideon had just placed a suitcase in his car and was about to enter his cabin when he walked by a rattlesnake that bit both of his legs causing him to fall down and hit his head. Based on the footage of him calling for help, it took him two days to die."
"The rattlesnake that bit him was a timber rattlesnake since it's the only rattlesnake found in Virginia. Their bites can kill you within two to three days if you don't get medical attention within the next 30 minutes," said Spencer.
"You know what snakes reside in Virginia?" asked Agent Sharp.
"In Las Vegas, there are Mojave rattlesnakes, sidewinder rattlesnakes, horned rattler, southwestern speckled rattlesnakes, and a bunch of other venomous snakes or desert creatures that everyone had to worry about. My parents made sure that I knew how to identify every snake that resides in or outside of Las Vegas causing me to learn about every snake in this country," said Spencer softly.
Two hours later Spencer entered his house with his Aunt Erin who insisted on driving him home and found Maeve in the kitchen fixing some tea.
"Maeve," said Spencer.
Maeve quickly hugged her husband, "How are you feeling, Spencer?" asked Maeve.
Spencer just started crying, "I'll never get to play chess against him again."
Maeve rubbed her husband's back, "Even though you don't have Jason to play chess against, you still have my dad, Emily, Aaron, your mother, people at the park, eventually Violet and Arthur, and me to play chess against, Spencer."
Chief Strauss rubbed her nephew's shoulder, "You have me to play chess against too since your mother taught me how to play chess when I was a little girl, Spencer," said Chief Strauss before looking at her niece-in-law, "We should probably get some sleep because Aaron and I are going to be calling in a team meeting at 6 A.M. to alert the rest of the team about Jason's death."
"Are you going to be staying the night?" asked Maeve.
"Can I? I have some clothes to change into in my office," said Chief Strauss.
"Yes," said Maeve.
A few minutes later Spencer was watching Violet and Arthur sleep in their cribs before he and Maeve headed to their bedroom so he could take a shower and get some sleep while Chief Strauss took the guest bedroom across from Stephanie's room on the fourth level.
After getting four hours of sleep, Spencer, Chief Strauss, and Hotch all entered the conference room at 6 A.M. when JJ looked at them.
"Did a case go straight to you Hotch? I didn't get any calls about our help being needed," said JJ.
Garcia noticed the redness in Spencer's eyes that forced the nearly 26-year-old agent and father of two kids to be wearing his glasses instead of his contact lenses, "What's wrong, Boy Wonder?" asked Garcia.
Hotch took a breath as he looked at his team, "After landing last night, Reid headed straight to Gideon's cabin to find Gideon dead outside of his cabin. Security camera footage showed that Gideon has been dead since September 9th."
JJ, Garcia, Emily, and Morgan all gasped in shock.
"How did Gideon die?" asked Morgan.
"It's been discovered on security camera footage that a rattlesnake bit Jason on September 7th," said Chief Strauss.
"If you don't have any health problems going on, a timber rattlesnake bite can kill you within two to three days if you don't get medical treatment within the next 30 minutes," said Spencer before taking a breath, "As someone who grew up around the Mojave Desert, rattlesnakes are snakes that you don't want to mess with. I remember seeing my parents, Aunt Ethel, and Uncle Gordon kill various rattlesnakes before my curious self could be bitten by a rattlesnake."
"Try living in the Middle East, Reid. I had to deal with watching out for cobras and various other venomous snakes," said Emily.
Before someone else could talk again, Chief Strauss looked at everyone, "After you guys finish debriefing on the case in Milwaukee and hand in your completed paperwork, everyone will be getting the next week off to grieve for Gideon's death and attend the funeral while grief assessments will be conducted by a Bureau counselor before any of you are allowed to leave for a case again."
"Have you told Gideon's son or do you want me to tell him about his father, Hotch?" asked JJ.
Garcia who had tears falling down her face spoke up, "When is the funeral going to happen?" asked Garcia.
"I already talked to Stephen about his father, and he's planning on having the funeral happen tomorrow morning," said Hotch.
The next morning, Spencer and Maeve approached Stephen Gideon who was standing by his father's closed casket, "I'm sorry for your loss, Stephen," said Spencer.
"You must be Dr. Spencer Reid," said Stephen.
Spencer nodded, "Your father has told me so much about you, Stephen."
Stephen quickly pulled Spencer into a hug before Spencer could protest, "He has told me a lot about you too, so I'm sorry about the loss we both have to deal with."
After breaking out of Stephen's hug, Spencer gestured to Maeve, "This is my wife of one year and one month Dr. Maeve Donovan-Reid. She's a geneticist at Mendel University."
Maeve shook hands with Stephen, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Stephen thought about his father telling him that Spencer became a father to twins and he was named Arthur's godfather, "Where are your twins? I was hoping to meet the baby boy that you named my father godfather to."
"Maeve and I didn't feel comfortable about bringing Violet and Arthur to a funeral yet since they're only four-months-old and we didn't want them to interrupt the funeral because of needing to be fed, their diapers need to be changed, or they get too fussy," said Spencer.
"My father is watching them right now, but he'll be bringing them to the luncheon," said Maeve.
"I understand. Will I be allowed to hold them when they come?" asked Stephen.
"Yes," said Spencer.
"Why don't you two take a seat over there," said Stephen as he pointed to where he was going to sit, "Knowing my father, he would want us to sit together at his funeral since we're both his sons."
A few minutes later Spencer was sitting between Maeve and Stephen as the Rabbi began to speak about Gideon.
A few hours later, Spencer who just had finished eating lunch was holding Violet and Arthur both close to him while Maeve sat next to him when Max Ryan approached them.
"I see that you got married and became a father since Walter Kern's arrest," said Max.
Spencer nodded, "This is my wife of one year and one month Dr. Maeve Donovan-Reid while these two munchkins are our four-month-old twins Violet Guinevere Reid and Arthur Nathaniel Reid. Gideon was Arthur's godfather."
Max looked at Violet and Arthur, "They're beautiful and Arthur looks so much like you while Violet has your eyes and curls."
At that moment Chief Strauss walked over to them and rested a hand on her nephew's shoulder and looked at her nephew, "How are you doing, Spencer?" asked Chief Strauss.
"I'm OK, Aunt Erin," said Spencer.
"Aunt Erin?" asked Max.
Chief Strauss looked at her former coworker, "Spencer is my older sister's son."
"I didn't know that Chief Strauss is my aunt until I got back from my honeymoon last year," said Spencer.
Arthur looked up at his great-aunt and held out his arms.
"Do you want Great-Aunt Erin to hold you, Arthur?" asked Chief Strauss.
Arthur grinned at his aunt, "Aye."
Chief Strauss gently took Arthur from her nephew, "Have you and your twin sister been helping your mother take care of your father?" asked Chief Strauss.
"They've been cheering me up with their smiles, laughter, babbles, and wanting to be in my arms," said Spencer.
"Babies and children are like that," said Chief Strauss before she kissed her nephew's forehead and passed Arthur to Maeve so she could hold Violet.
An hour later Spencer, Maeve, Violet, and Arthur were about to leave the restaurant that the reception dinner was at so Violet and Arthur could take a nap in their nursery when Stephen walked over to them, "Before you guys go home to settle Violet and Arthur down for their naps, I have something for you, Spencer," said Stephen.
"What is it?" asked Spencer.
Stephen handed Spencer a key and some papers, "My father left you his cabin in his will."
"He didn't leave it to you?" asked Spencer.
Stephen shook his head, "My father asked me if he could give you his cabin when he called me to tell me that you and your wife gave birth to twins on the day they were born."
"Were you OK with your father's decision?" asked Spencer.
Stephen nodded, "He didn't tell me what happened to you, but dad told me that you had a rough couple of months earlier this year and you deserve a place outside of Washington D.C. to relax at with your wife and children."
Spencer looked at his wife, "Since you've been to Gideon's cabin a few times over the past year, should we accept the cabin?" asked Spencer.
Maeve nodded, "It would be a nice place to have a romantic getaway without having to spend money on a hotel room while we can take the twins and your sister there on long weekends and during school breaks if your mom isn't up for visitors in Las Vegas."
Spencer looked at Stephen, "We'll take the cabin."
A/N: Since Mandy Patkin is Jewish in real life, I decided to have Gideon be Jewish.
I thought about having Rossi show up at the funeral, but I decided that he's currently on a book tour that he didn't want to cancel even though he called Stephen Gideon as soon as he heard about the death. Rossi will be appearing during the next few chapters.
The month of August has been treating me better after catching COVID-19 and getting staples in my head last month (They're out) since Zumba has started back up while my boyfriend of six months and I finally went on our fourth in public date.