Emily leaves for London a few days later and Spencer uses the vacation time and leave he has accrued in order to avoid leaving his apartment and having to deal with the team. He knows they mean well and want to help him move through this but he just cannot deal with them. He hasn't spoken to anyone other than Hotch, and that was just to inform him that he would be taking some time off before ending the call to avoid unwanted questions. The team has all tried to call him as well as having showed up at his apartment to try and get him to interact with someone. But all he can do is think of her and what he's lost for the second time.

Eventually he goes back to work, a few weeks after the break up, and pours himself into it. He gets up and goes about his routine, goes to work, goes home. He begins trying to get back to normal again and slowly starts doing things with the team again and becomes friends with their newest member, Dr. Alex Blake. Although he's doing better, Spencer continues to throw himself into their work much more than ever.

JJ tries to talk with him about everything one day,"So Spence how are you doing? We haven't talked much recently and I know you've been going through some things."

"I'm fine JJ. You don't need to worry about me," he says quickly.

"Okay then. Well I was talking to Em-" she starts before Spencer quickly walks away to avoid talking about her in any way.

Things are like this for Spencer for a few months, and then he meets Maeve.

At first he contacts her to help with his migraines, which have returned and worsened since the break up, but then they start talking much more and it begins to become more than just the two of them talking. They begin a relationship, although it's only over the phone, and Spencer is beginning to actually feel happy and hopeful again.

He is able to actually see a future with someone again, although he is still extremely hesitant about moving forward at points because he is too afraid to be broken again. But Blake's encouragement helps push him to take the leap and then they nearly get to meet in person finally, after he gains the nerve to bring it up and plan it out for them, if he hadn't gotten worried about possibly seeing her stalker at the restaurant they were going to meet at. After the close call they go back to talking over the phone a few times a week, tentatively planning another date. But, as Spencer later thought, what happened soon was far worse than being left again. Far worse.

Zugzwang

The word runs through Spencer's head on repeat as he makes his way to the BAU as fast as possible following the phone call. He explains the situation to the team and once they are convinced that Maeve's stalker may have actually kidnapped her, they get to work, although Spencer can barely form a coherent thought and is at the moment just trying to keep himself together. The team diverges and heads to Maeve's apartment and to her parents house where they find out about Maeve's ex-fiance Bobby.

Bobby recognizes Spencer because he was the guy Spencer had felt off about at the restaurant when he and Maeve were originally going to meet. Hotch is annoyed that he hadn't been told, but Spencer had just assumed it was him overreacting. But now that he has been sent out of the room while the others talk to Bobby, he is continuing to become even more undone by everything.

Bobby's girlfriend Diane comes to ask Spencer about the case until she is sent off by Morgan.

"All right, kid, talk to me. I can tell you're adding something up in your head. What is it?" Morgan says.

"2,412. It's the number of hours we spent communication, counting phone calls and letters," Reid replies.

"That's about a hundred days."

"100.5. What if that's all I get?"

"Well, it's not.

"You can't say that."

"Yes I can. Cause when we find her alive, and you finally get to lay your eyes on her, what's the first thing you're gonna say to her?"

"A couple of months ago we were getting off the phone and she said, "Bye. Love you." Just like that. "Bye. Love you." I know it was just a slip, but-"

"But she said it, Reid. She said it. You didn't say it back to her, did you?"

"I was waiting for when we finally met."

They continue working on the case and Spencer starts snapping at everyone as it goes on. Spencer can't get his thoughts straight at all and picks Blake to help him sort through all his memories of his conversations with Maeve to see if she may have given information about the stalker that he had missed.

Soon he realizes that there was know way Diane could have known he was a doctor when she called him it, and the team discovers Diane and Maeve have interacted in the past. They figure out that the kidnapper/stalker is Diane and head to the apartment that is under the names of her deceased parents after Diane has Maeve give Spencer a message.

They arrive and Spencer goes in blindfolded, unarmed, and without his vest, led upstairs by Diane. He lies to her in an attempt to stop her. He talks about how good her research and thesis is and that he loves her not Maeve. He talks her up and tries to convince her that her research is too valuable for them to send her to prison. He makes her believe he wants to be with her, that he chose her over Maeve. He tells Maeve he doesn't love her even while he is getting to see her for the first time. And it works. Until it doesn't.

Diane kisses him and Spencer accidentally looks at Maeve as Diane opens her eyes to see the look. Diane snaps and calls him a liar so Spencer has to fight for the gun, which he does unsuccessfully. He gets shot in the arm and Diane grabs Maeve, holding the gun to her as the team rushes into the room.

He continues to try and talk her down as Maeve brings up Thomas Martin and it drives Diane over the edge.

Spencer watches as she raises the gun to her head.

"WAIT!" he screams but it's too late.

The team can do nothing but watch in pure horror and despair as Diane pulls the trigger.

Two bodies drop to the floor as the team can only lower their guns and while some stare, others have to look away.

Spencer drops to the floor, sobbing, and stares at the bodies of the two women.

Sees where the bullet entered and exited both skulls.

Crawls through the puddle of blood

Lays his forehead against Maeve's for what feels like an eternity.

Next thing Spencer is aware of, JJ and Blake are pulling him up and basically dragging him from the building to get his arm dealt with. Once he's patched up they take him back to his apartment, guiding him through getting cleaned up and then into his bed. Although he would normally hate this babying, especially them helping clean him, he barely registers any of it. He just collapses onto his bed laying there, staring out the window but not really seeing anything.

The two of them stay on Spencer's couch for the night, hoping that he will get some sleep but knowing it's unlikely. They sit there talking about Spencer and the horrificness of what happened, until they both eventually fall asleep.