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 is intended.
A/N: Shout out to criminalmindsrocks, Fashionista7, fishtrek, and Daisyangel for reviewing chapter 8.
Nicole: Your comment about me needing to to to therapy over my anger issues about JJ and my obsession over fictional characters was way OVER LINE since everyone who reads and/or writes stories on this website is obsessed with fictional characters just like you are since you also choose to visit this website and read and review stories as a guest while I haven't seen you write a review telling anyone else that they needed to go to therapy over their obsession on fictional characters too. Multiple readers have told me that JJ is their least favorite character on Criminal Minds too; so I'm entitled to hate JJ and write her as an antagonist in my stories since everyone won't approve of a relationship in real life while I always end up hating the women who break the hearts of my two brothers.
I'm sorry for everyone else who had to read that long rant, but an author's note was the only way for me to deal with that guest reviewer. I don't care if I lost readers over me calling out a guest reviewer for her out of line comment about me needing to go to therapy, but I just couldn't ignore addressing that review after deleting it. I'm sorry to say that the next time I get a review like the one I was sent, I'll be transferring all my stories to another website before I delete my stories here.
This chapter starts the morning after the last chapter and my reason why Spencer is refusing to spend time with Henry when JJ has Henry for the weekend will be explained in this chapter in response to Daisyangel's accusation of me punishing Henry unnecessarily.
Olivia looked at her husband as they ate breakfast, "How mad do you think that your teammates are going to be at you today?" asked Olivia.
"Since I haven't noticed any missed calls, voice mails, or angry text messages about not showing up, I take it that they listened to the lecture that Rossi gave them," said Spencer.
Olivia looked into her husband's eyes, "I'm still angry about Emily's death being faked too, Spencer. While you were in Oklahoma, I went to confession over my own anger issues about Emily's death being faked."
"What were you told?" asked Spencer.
"Father Davison told me that Aaron and Jennifer broke one of the ten commandants," said Olivia.
Spencer nodded, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
Olivia nodded before taking a breath, "There are six things that the LORD strongly dislikes, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."
"Proverbs 6:16-19," said Spencer.
"After we talked about Proverbs 6:16-19 and what the Catechism said about lying and forgiveness, Father Davison told me that it's understandable that we're not ready to forgive Aaron, Jennifer, and Prentiss since the lie we were told almost ruined our lives," said Olivia before taking a deep breath, "We both know how long it took for your mother to forgive you for committing her against her will even though the priest you talked to when you went to confession to confess that you committed your mother told you that you did the right thing for everyone's safety while you have a chance to live your life, how long it took you to forgive your father, while you know how long it took for me to forgive the men who killed my parents."
Spencer took a breath, "Even though I understand that Hotch and Jennifer were trying to protect Emily while Emily tried to guilt-trip me into forgiveness, I'm not ready to forgive them yet."
"Which I understand, Doc. Hopefully, you and your teammates attending therapy together will help you finally tell Aaron, Emily, and Jennifer about how you feel as a way to help you start healing over the betrayal," said Olivia before looking at Lafayette who was drooling over the turkey bacon on her plate, "I take it that you want me to share some of my breakfast with you before daddy and I have to leave for work?" asked Olivia.
Lafayette let out a bark.
Spencer chuckled, "I take that as a yes."
A few seconds later Lafayette was given two pieces of turkey bacon before he was let out by Olivia one last time so Olivia could drive her husband to the train station in Alexandria, Virginia so he could catch the train that would take him to Quantico.
Over two hours later Spencer had just finished hanging up his degrees and rewards and placed various framed pictures of him and Olivia from his wedding, pictures of him and Olivia on their honeymoon in Ukraine and Paris, pictures of him and Olivia with their niece and nephews, pictures of him with his parents, and a few pictures of him and Olivia together from when they were between the ages of 15 and 21 in his recently painted blue office when he heard Hotch's voice.
"Your office is nicely coming along," said Hotch as he placed the files that he and Garcia already chose for Spencer before thinking about the times that the rest of the team gave Spencer their consults to work on, "At least you won't have to worry about any teammates slipping their consults into your desk ever again."
Spencer nodded, "Which I'm glad about since I'm planning on going straight home if we don't get a case at 5 P.M. every evening we're not on a case," said Spencer before realizing why Hotch hasn't left his office yet, "Since you haven't left my office yet, are you about to lecture me about not attending the cooking lesson last night?" asked Spencer.
Hotch shook his head, "Dave had me show up an hour early so he could tell me what he heard Prentiss say to you during the flight home and told me that you weren't going to be coming."
"Do you agree that Emily tried to guilt-trip me into coming after witnessing my confrontation with Jennifer in a crowded police station?" asked Spencer.
Hotch nodded, "Prentiss shouldn't be the one to try and patch up yours and JJ's broken up friendship."
"I do understand that you and Jennifer were trying to protect Emily since my dad and Lou Jenkins protected my mom after Lou Jenkins murdered the pedophile that was targeting me right in front of my mom after my childhood friend Riley Jenkins was murdered by Gary Michaels," said Spencer before taking a deep breath, "but I don't think that I can ever consider Jennifer my best friend anymore since she tried to break Olivia and me up."
Hotch nodded, "I understand," said Hotch before taking a deep breath, "Even though I know that you have trust issues that stem from childhood, I hope that you're aware that you're one of the few people that I trust with both Jack's and my life since you saved my life during the times that Phillip Dowd and Chester Hardwick held us hostage while you managed helping Jessica take care of Jack during your sabbatical," said Hotch.
"And I trust you since I trusted you to understand the clues I gave you when Tobias Hankel held me captive for two days while you prevented me from getting addicted to Dilaudid when you saw the track marks on my inner elbow when you rode with me to the hospital and asked me if I took the Dilaudid that Hankel had on him," said Spencer before thinking about the rest of his teammates, "How did the rest of the team handle me not showing up?" asked Spencer.
"They were disappointed, but Dave reminded them that you have a right to be angry for as long as you want since you two are the innocents in everything that happened the past seven months when it came to being lied to about Prentiss's fate, Prentiss not speaking up when she realized that Doyle and his men were murdering Clear Water Security agents and their families, while Morgan and Garcia decided to search for Doyle and Declan without including either of you."
"Even if Prentiss didn't try to guilt-trip me into going, I still wouldn't have shown up since Olivia is severely allergic to onions, garlic, shallots, and many other vegetables and spices the allium family and I refuse to put Olivia's health at risk even though I always shower and brushed my teeth before I go near her after I consume anything that she's allergic to," said Spencer.
Hotch nodded, "Which is understandable since Dave had us use his original recipe."
"Plus before Rossi announced the cooking lesson, Olivia already made plans for us to celebrate our two-month wedding anniversary four days early," said Spencer.
"I understood your choice on choosing to spend the little free time you have with Olivia since Dave and I both told you not to make the same mistakes as we did with our marriages," said Hotch before looking at the clock, "You should focus on your consults right now because the entire team is supposed to head to the psych department at 1 P.M. for group counseling."
"Rossi told me that he was going to make arrangements for counseling since he wanted us to go to counseling together before you insisted on a cooking lesson," said Spencer.
"Even before Rossi could tell me that he was planning on setting up an appointment for us, I got a call from Chief Strauss telling me that she arranged group counseling sessions after she read the incident report that was filed about yours and JJ's confrontation," said Hotch just as his cell phone beeped causing him to see a text message from Garcia, "Counseling session will have to wait since a mass shooting just happened at Synalock Incorporated in Charlottesville."
"OK," said Spencer.
Later on that day Spencer was going through some boxes at the home of Luke Dolan's parents as he looked at Hotch and JJ who has been only talking to him about the case because of Hotch firmly telling everyone that they're going to be focusing on the case and not Spencer's no-show at the cooking lesson, "Post-traumatic stress disorder rarely turns people into killers, but soldiers with PTSD have been known to strangle their wives in bed while having flashbacks or nightmares, believing they're on the battlefield," said Spencer as he stood up to his full height as he thought back to a newspaper article he read from his hometown, "In 2005, an Iraqi war vet assaulted two people in Las Vegas, believing them to be enemy combatants."
"So Dolan's having a sustained flashback," said JJ.
"Pathological disassociation is one of the markers of complex PTSD, although Dolan has been stateside for six years. An escalation of the symptoms is possible, but it would be rare for them to appear out of nowhere," said Spencer.
"Well, he seems to have made a successful transition to civilian life," said JJ.
"Well, at least on paper it does. We should find out if he's had any symptoms since he left the Navy. It could have been the catalyst for the separation," said Hotch.
"I'll have Garcia check his records," said JJ.
Spencer noticed an open journal he found, "Hotch, Dolan's been going through this. Look, old mementos and journals from his days in the service."
Hotch looked at the journal in Spencer's hands, "He didn't come here just to kill his parents. He came to get something."
"He's on some sort of mission," said Spencer before he and Hotch joined Morgan, Emily, and Rossi outside.
Morgan noticed the damaged car that Luke was driving, "The car's washed, spotless inside, there's no paint separation or rust. This accident was recent."
"I agree. The Navy in his blood. He would never let that go without getting it fixed immediately," said Rossi.
"It might have triggered his condition. I'll have Garcia run the plates, check for any recent accidents," said Morgan before walking away.
"So, Dolan left his sedan and didn't take the parents' car. He was smart enough to know it'd be tracked," said Rossi.
"He's either on foot or he's stolen another vehicle," said Emily.
Spencer thought about how he, Olivia, and his brother-in-law all had to deal with PTSD at some point when it came to Hankel for him, Olivia losing part of her left leg to a rattlesnake bite, and Edmund serving in various wars in Europe, the Middle East, and Pakistan, "If he's capable of doing this, he's rational and clear-thinking enough to evade his perceived enemies."
"So despite any mental incapacity, he's still performing at a high level," said Rossi.
At that moment JJ joined them, "Just got word the local P. D.'s at the wife and daughter's house."
"Dolan's unpredictable when he's on a rampage. We need to go wide. We need to get the profile to the press," said Hotch.
Spencer was sitting at his desk texting Olivia that he won't be home for dinner when Garcia walked over.
"OK, so it turns out 6:20 Friday night Dolan got in a car accident in Bethesda," said Garcia.
"That must have been after he dropped off his daughter," said Morgan.
"He suffered minor injuries, he refused medical treatment," said Garcia.
Emily thought about the interview she did with Luke's wife, "Well, his wife said he was fine when he left her. What was his mental state after the accident?" asked Emily.
"Normal. Field sobriety test came up negative," said Garcia.
"That wouldn't rule out drug use," said Morgan.
Spencer rubbed his chin as he thought about knowing that he will finally be free from having to worry about having a schizophrenic break in six days, "I'd consider schizophrenia, except he's the wrong age for the first psychotic break."
Emily thought back to being at the hospital in Paris with Olivia and learning that the doctor was going to have Spencer checked for an aneurysm or brain tumor to be safe, "It could be an aneurysm or a brain tumor."
"Well, one thing's for sure. He's having a mental breakdown, but what are the specific features of it?" asked Morgan.
Spencer rubbed his chin again, "He's not living in a past time and place, he's living in the present, with the capacity and intelligence to evade law enforcement."
After helping Morgan give Wendy Milgram a cognitive interview, Spencer was standing with Morgan and Hotch as Emily looked at them.
"All of the Milgrams' cars are still here, so he must have taken the General in whatever vehicle he came in," said Emily.
Spencer thought about what he learned from the interview while knowing that he needed to stay calm so he could make sure that General Boyd Milgram is found alive so his brother-in-law won't have to attend a funeral of a General, "He talked about gaslighting. He thinks someone's trying to purposely distort his reality."
"He said his parents had been replaced," said Morgan.
"He just sounds delusional," said Emily.
Spencer quickly realized what Luke Dolan could be suffering from, "You know, he might have Capgras syndrome," said Spencer before he noticed the looks that Hotch, Morgan, and Emily were giving him, "It's a delusional disorder in which one believes that their friends and loved ones have been replaced by imposters."
"Sort of like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."," said Morgan.
"It typically involves only one sense, such as sight. Basically, the neural connection between the visual cortex and the emotional center of the brain becomes severed, so that looking at a loved one doesn't elicit the same emotional response one would expect," said Spencer.
Hotch looked at Spencer, "So you think they're an imposter."
Spencer nodded, "And the interesting thing is that the auditory connection remains intact so that if they were to hear a loved one speak and not see them, they'd think that they were real."
Emily thought about how much she missed getting to learn about new things from Spencer, "What causes this syndrome?" asked Emily.
"It's unknown in 60% of the cases, but the rest have an organic cause, such as a tumor or head trauma," said Spencer.
"He was in a car accident Friday," said Emily.
"People with delusional disorders don't all become killers, though," said Morgan.
Spencer nodded, "True, but Dolan's background as a Navy Seal, his knowledge of secret missions, plus Capgras syndrome, could result in extreme paranoia. It's the perfect storm."
"Is there a cure for this?" asked Emily.
Spencer shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. Although medications have helped in a few cases."
"So this guy's stuck with it. He's not killing for the thrill of it, he does it because he believes he has no other choice," said Morgan.
"He murdered his best friend and his parents because he believed they were imposters. So if he were to see his wife and daughter, the results would be deadly," said Emily.
"Dolan kidnapped the General and didn't kill his wife because he had never met them before," said Morgan.
"There might be another reason. He wants contact," said Hotch.
Later on that night at 3 A.M., Spencer tiredly entered the master bedroom and quietly entered the master bathroom and turned on the water in the shower before stripping himself down just as he heard the familiar click of his wife's crutches causing him to look at his wife who was wearing a dress shirt of his as a nightgown, "What are you doing up Livy?" asked Spencer.
"I heard you come in and nature calls," said Olivia as she balanced herself as she lifted up the lid of the toilet before she lifted her husband's dress shirt and sat down and licked her lips at the sight of her naked husband who was about to step into the shower, "After I'm done using the bathroom, do you have room for one more?" asked Olivia.
Spencer smiled, "I always have room for you."
A few minutes later Spencer was standing in the shower washing the stress of the day off of him while Olivia sat in her shower chair as he told his wife about having to catch a former Navy Seal who had Capgras syndrome and killed multiple people including his parents and best friend while he abducted General Milgram before holding him and a few of his teammates hostage in the bullpen with a bomb.
When Spencer was done talking about his day, Olivia looked at her husband, "You definitely had a crazy day today, but I'm glad that you came home safe to me," said Olivia.
Spencer nodded, "Me too. How was your day?" asked Spencer.
"Since I didn't have office hours today, I spent today helping Danielle take care of our namesake," said Olivia before sighing sadly, "I can't believe that baby Spencer is finally six-weeks-old."
"Me too and hopefully we'll be able to have our own baby by next July," said Spencer.
"I hope so too, Doc," said Olivia.
"As much as I want to spend some time trying for a baby right now, I need to get some sleep because I'm required to show up at work at 10 A.M.," said Spencer.
"Then let's get some sleep," said Olivia.
Ten minutes later Spencer and Olivia were fast asleep in their bed.
Almost ten hours later, Dr. Merrill was sitting in a chair in front of Spencer, Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, JJ, Emily, and Garcia who were sitting in a semi-circle, "Now I understand that a few of you have been having trouble trusting each other ever since Agents Reid, Rossi, Morgan, and Technical Analyst Garcia found out that Agent Prentiss's death was faked," said Dr. Merrill.
Hotch nodded, "That is correct."
Dr. Merrill looked at Spencer, "Since you've been seeing me ever since you got back from your honeymoon, why don't you tell your teammates about how you have been thinking about ever since you found out that Agent Prentiss is alive. Talk for as long as you want since this session is four hours long."
Spencer nodded as he started to tell his teammates about the goalpost incident, how he felt about Emily leaving him like his father, Gideon, and Elle even though he and Elle have been writing letters to each other since the wedding, that he's still occasionally dealing with migraines, and it's going to take a while for him to forgive JJ, Emily, and Hotch and trust them again for the lie they told.
When Spencer was done talking and Morgan, Rossi, and Garcia all got their say on how they felt about Emily's faked death and Emily apologized to Spencer about trying to guilt-trip him into attending the cooking lesson and Spencer apologized about everything he said in Durant, JJ who was crying a bit looked at Spencer, "After the lecture that Rossi gave me on Sunday, you can take as long as you need to forgive me and I'll apologize to Olivia for accusing her of abusing you by forbidding you from talking to me," said JJ before sighing, "but I want you to stop punishing Henry by choosing to only spend time with Henry when Will has him."
"If I was punishing my godson, I wouldn't be visiting Henry when Will has him too," said Spencer firmly.
"Then why are you refusing to see him during the weekends I have him?" asked JJ.
"Since you claimed that you are a better profiler than me due to me not being able to read your micro-expressions and detect the deception that you and Hotch pulled while we were in Durant, then please profile the reason why I'm refusing to visit Henry on the weekends you have him," said Spencer.
JJ sighed, "I don't know."
Rossi quickly spoke up, "Reid is a Mama's boy who rarely gets to see his own mother because of our job and her schizophrenia so he wants his godson to only spend time with you during the weekends you get visitation with your son."
Morgan nodded, "During the time Rossi and I helped Reid solve Riley Jenkins murder, we were told to leave after Reid's mother had an episode that caused her to be sedated."
Spencer nodded at what Rossi and Morgan said, "When I'm able to visit my mom and she's lucid, I cherish the few hours I'm given to spend with her until its time for our visit to end. When she's having a violent episode that deals with the government or when she believes that she's Professor Reid, the staff members at Bennington don't allow her to have any visitors. Whenever Olivia visited my mother with me, she always snuck away for the last hour of our visit so my mom and I could have some alone time."
Hotch looked at JJ, "Reid, Morgan, and Rossi are right that Reid isn't punishing Henry, JJ. Between Haley and me getting a divorce and Haley and Jack going into Witness Protection, I chose to have Jack be my main focus when I had visitation while Jack is now my main focus outside of work."
"Whenever I go home to Chicago to visit my mom and sisters, my sisters allow me to have one on one time with our mother," said Morgan.
Dr. Merrill looked at Garcia who was releasing some tears, "Are you OK, Penelope?" asked Dr. Merrill.
"I thought that as godmother, it would be OK to spend time with Henry on the weekends that JJ has him since JJ would invite me to join in on spending time with Henry, but now I realize that Boy Wonder has been doing the right thing all along and should refuse to see my godson the weekends that JJ has Henry," said Garcia.
Dr. Merrill looked at JJ who had tears falling down her face, "Now what do you have to say about Spencer's reason on why he's refusing to spend time with Henry during the weekends you get to see your son?" asked Dr. Merrill.
"That Spence is doing the right thing by refusing to spend time with his godson when I have my son for the weekend," said JJ before looking at Spencer, "I'm sorry for accusing you of punishing Henry."
"Apology accepted," said Spencer.
Later on that evening, Olivia had a homemade kumquat pie cooling on the kitchen counter and was chopping up ingredients for their tacos when Spencer entered the kitchen, "How was work, Doc?" asked Olivia.
"Even though I was able to go in late today after the events of last night, today was draining because of the team and I having a counseling session together," said Spencer as he looked at the teapot that was resting on the stove.
Olivia took a sip of the pomegranate tea that she was letting cool, "I just heated that water ten minutes ago."
"OK," said Spencer as he grabbed a mug before he found a packet of green tea from the kitchen cabinet before noticing what his wife was making, "Tacos?" asked Spencer.
Olivia nodded, "It's Tuesday and you know that I love making tacos on Taco Tuesday."
Spencer licked his lips, "I don't mind what you make for dinner as long as creamed spinach or chili isn't involved," said Spencer before noticing a freshly baked kumquat pie, "I take it that I'm not allowed to have a slice until after we eat dinner first?" asked Spencer.
Olivia nodded, "You are correct."
A few minutes later Spencer and Olivia were cooking their tacos while Spencer told his wife that he might be able to start forgiving his teammates.
Three hours later Spencer and Olivia had just run Lafayette outside one last time before they hurried off to their bedroom where they fell onto their bed where they undressed each other while kissing each other.
A/N: Here's a heads up that I posted a prequel called Promised Love: The Beginning since I wanted to write a prequel that dealt with Spencer's and Olivia's friendship/relationship from when they met when they were 15 (I ended up realizing that in August of 1997 Spencer and Olivia would be both 15 instead of 16 since they were born in either October or December of 1981 so I went back and fixed the mistake I made in newly titled Promised Love: The Reunion while this story is now known as Promised Love: Honeymoon Phase instead of Promised Love: Book Two) until their breakup when they were 21 so Spencer could enter the F.B.I. Academy while Olivia eventually joined the Peace Corps because of how much I brainstormed their first relationship. So please follow and favorite the prequel so you readers can read about how Spencer's and Olivia's relationship turned out the first time around.