Spencer Reid had not been expecting the current situation. He was just at home, reading some books when there was a knock on his door. At first he was a bit worried as to why someone was here so late at night but he opened the door to see that Elle Greenaway was standing in his doorway, asking for help to find her kidnapped daughter.

The two of them are riding to the BAU together, and Spencer has called the team to meet him there, because he thinks they have a case.

"Can you explain what you know so far to me?" he asks.

"I'll explain it to everyone when we get there," Elle replies.

"I didn't know you have a daughter," Spencer says.

"That's not surprising since we haven't spoken in a few years."

"I tried to reach out for a while, but you never answered."

"Reid, I needed space after everything. I don't need to explain myself to you, got it?"

"That's not wh-never mind," Spencer says before falling silent for the rest of the ride.

They arrive at the BAU and head into the briefing room to wait for the team to arrive. Soon everyone is there and after an initial bout of surprise at the presence of Elle and a quick hug from Garcia they get to work.

Elle explains,"My daughter, Taylor, who's four, was taken from her daycare yesterday, by a man claiming to be a member of law enforcement. This is in New York, just outside of the city. I also discovered similar abductions have happened twice recently. Both times one or both of the child's parents were members of law enforcement. Or former members," she seems to quickly add.

"What happened to the children?" Hotch asks.

"And what kind of law enforcement did he claim to be?" Morgan adds.

"He claimed to be an FBI agent. Both children were found dead four days later. They had been killed a few hours before being found. No signs of any sexual or other physical harm on them, other than slit throats. He claimed to be a cop in both previous abductions, which were in different parts of the city," she says.

"Well he certainly is confident if he's playing an FBI agent," Rossi says.

"And he's clearly got something against people in law enforcement," Prentiss adds.

"We have a ticking clock here too,"JJ adds.

"So can you guys help or not?" Elle asks impatiently, and everyone looks to Hotch.

Hotch nods and says,"Wheels up in thirty."

He pulls Spencer aside as everyone leaves the room.

"Are you alright Reid?" he asks.

"Uh of course why wouldn't I be?" Spencer replies.

"You were completely silent while we went over the case, and I could tell your head was somewhere else. Is there something I should know about?"

"Honestly Hotch I'm fine, okay?"

"Alright," Hotch says, obviously not buying it,"but just talk to someone if you need to, okay?"

Spencer nods before heading after the others. Hotch sighs before making his way to join the others as well.

The team goes over the case while flying to New York, and Spencer noticeably keeps his distance from Elle.

"He keeps them for four days, but what does he do with them? What does he get out of it?" Rossi asks.

"Maybe he wants to see how it affects the parents. What he does to the children is just a means to an end," Spencer says.

"But why is he going after law enforcement? There are much easier targets nearby," JJ says.

"Law enforcement is a symbol of power. This unsub wants to show that he is more powerful than them. And given that Elle is a former FBI agent, he wants to go after higher levels of law enforcement. It's a bigger thrill for him," Prentiss says.

"He also left a note with each body, directed at the parent who was a member of law enforcement," Elle adds.

"We need to figure out what triggered this rage and how he's choosing victims," Morgan says.

"When we land I want Prentiss and Rossi to go check out the daycare where she was abducted. Morgan and Reid go to the most recent dump site. Elle and JJ, you're going to come with me to the police station. Elle, you can't work this case, so you can consult with us at the station," Hotch states and everyone nods.

They land and head off to each of their destinations.

Rossi and Prentiss meet with the woman in charge of the daycare and ask her some questions.

"So you'd never seen this man before but you let him take Taylor?" Rossi asks, incredulous.

"Well he claimed to be her father and showed me an FBI badge. And Ms. Greenaway had told me the father was a member of law enforcement," The woman replies.

"Do you remember what the man looked like?" Prentiss asks.

The woman shakes her head,"Not really. He was wearing sunglasses, but he did look like he was probably in his late thirties or early forties."

"Okay thank you," Prentiss says as she and Rossi walk back to the SUV.

"So what do you think?" she asks.

"Elle is definitely withholding information about the father, but I don't think we'll get it out of her easily. What I want to know is why. Why is she holding back something that could possibly help us get her daughter back?" he says.

"And this unsub must've somehow known some information about the father as well, given that he impersonated an agent instead of a cop like in the first two cases."

"Exactly,' Rossi says as he pulls out his phone and makes a call,"Garcia we need you to dig up whatever you can about Taylor. Medical records, birth certificate, anything."

"Shouldn't we just ask Elle about this?" Garcia asks.

"No, because she should've told us this info before now. The father has some importance to this unsub and we need to know what. I have a feeling he may be a current or former FBI agent."

"Oh. Well I'll do some digging and let you know whatever I find my lovelies," she says before hanging up.

"In the meantime, I think we should all go over what we know," Rossi says.

Meanwhile, Spencer and Morgan are checking out the most recent dump site, but there's not much there.

"The unsub made sure to leave no evidence or anything we could use," Spencer says.

"So this guy is smart, careful, and prepared. He has to have planned everything out well in advance. The only things that looked out of place were the note he left, and of course the slashed throats," Morgan says.

"He has to have some connection to law enforcement. Maybe he lost a child and blames cops for it."

"Maybe. We should talk to the team about it," Morgan says, and the two of them get back into the SUV and drive away.

"So are you gonna tell me what's going on with you kid?" Morgan asks.

"What are you talking about?" Spencer asks.

"C'mon pretty boy. You've been acting weird ever since we started this case. What's up?"

"Fine. It's just weird having Elle around again, especially since she basically removed herself from our lives completely."

"Uh-huh. I know there's something you're not telling me kid. I'll be here when you wanna talk," Morgan says and Spencer nods in response.

At the precinct the team gathers and talks about what they know and what to do.

"Elle, if you're not going to tell us who the father is, you need to at least tell us who else may know. Otherwise there's no reason for you to be here," Hotch says sternly.

"I guess a doctor or nurse would possibly know. She was born in a hospital in the city," Elle says reluctantly.

"By the way, I noticed a pattern in the notes. So for the first victim, the father is a cop and the mother is an artist. The note was only directed to the father. The second victim, the father is a former cop and the mother is an active one. The note was only directed to her. The unsub has to know who the father is, otherwise he would have to change what he does. And this means that the father is still an active member of law enforcement," Spencer says.

"We also think the unsub lost a child or family member recently, and blames cops for it," Morgan adds.

Hotch nods and calls Garcia," Garcia we need you to look into all the doctors and nurses at the hospital where Elle gave birth. Look for recent losses, specifically ones that involved law enforcement in some way."

"Your wish is my command, I'll call you when I'm done," she replies before hanging up.

The team heads to the hotel for the night, hoping that they'll get something to go on by the morning.

In the morning Rossi calls Garcia to get an update on her search,"Garcia have you found anything about the father yet?"

"I'm trying but wherever it is, it's buried deep. I think I'm making progress though so hopefully I have a name soon," she replies.

"Okay. Thank you Penelope," he says with a smile.

"Well you are most welcome sir."

Later in the day Garcia calls the team, having found the probable unsub.

"Okay so this guy named Steven Wade has been a doctor at that hospital for the past ten years. Six months ago his son, Mike, was killed in a car accident. And, oh. His car was hit by a police car that was involved in a car chase. Apparently it was late at night and the cop was in between both lanes. Mike died at the scene, the officer was mostly fine though."

"Garcia, what happened to the officer after?" JJ asks.

"He was fired and then charged with involuntary manslaughter, as well as reckless driving. But two months ago he hung himself in his cell."

"That's the stressor then. He feels that the man who killed his son isn't getting the punishment he deserves and he snapped. He feels that all law enforcement needs to suffer, and they're going to suffer the same way he did," Hotch states.

"He must've worked with the victims at least once, and then went into their files to find out more information," Prentiss says.

"Correct, he's worked with all three families at least once," Garcia adds.

"Garcia, send us his home address. Rossi and Reid go check out the hospital. Morgan, Prentiss, and I will go to his home," Hotch says.

"Already sent."

"Thank you Garcia," Hotch says before ending the call and the team splits up.

At the hospital Spencer and Rossi find out that Wade is currently in the middle of a scheduled week off. The third one since the first abduction. They also are told that he started to act a bit erratically more and more leading up to each week off.

At his home the team finds pictures of all three families. Their homes, places of work, schools and daycares. All showing that he had been watching and studying them for a while before each abduction. But no sign of Wade or Taylor anywhere. And it looks as though Wade had been gone for at least a few days.

"Dammit!" Morgan yells as they head back to the precinct.

Hotch calls Garcia,"Garcia, find out if he owns any other property nearby."

"Will do sir," she replies but sounds shaky.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I found something that you guys need to see once everyone is back together at the precinct."

"Okay we'll call you when we're there."

Prentiss asks,"What do you think that was about?"

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem good," Hotch replies.

Everyone is back at the precinct and looking at Garcia on the computer screen.

"So uh, Rossi asked me to try and find out Taylor's father is, and I did," she says.

"You what?!" Elle screams with wide eyes.

"Elle you need to calm down or you will be escorted out," Hotch tells her, as she glares at him.

"So is he an FBI agent?" Rossi asks.

"Uhm yeah he is." Garcia says.

"What's his name?" Spencer asks.

"His name is uh…" she trails off.

"Garcia, just tell us," Prentiss says and Garcia takes a deep breath.

"Spencer Reid"

The entire room goes still. Even Garcia just sits on the call silently. Slowly the team looks between Elle, who's avoiding looking at them, and Spencer who is just frozen.

"Spe-"JJ starts before he suddenly gets up and leaves the room wordlessly.

They all stand around for a few more seconds before JJ speaks up.

"I'm gonna go with Spence."

"Good, keep me updated," Hotch says and she nods before walking away.

Elle leaves the room as well, not saying a word.

"Morgan, if you could talk to her at some point about this," Hotch starts to say.

"I'll try, but it won't be today," Morgan replies.

"Of course. I think we should all go back to the hotel for tonight. We aren't going to get anything else done today," Hotch says, and the team nods before heading out, noticing Spencer and JJ are already gone.

JJ sees Spencer standing outside the precinct, just frozen in place, trapped in his own head.

"Spence," she starts when she's right next to him, which startles him as he clearly wasn't aware of her presence,"wanna go back to the hotel?"

He nods absently and slowly climbs into the SUV. They arrive at the hotel soon.

"Let's go into Emily and my room okay? I don't want you to be alone," she says and he just nods again before following her up to the room.

They head into the room and Spencer just sits on the floor in front of JJ's bed, and stares off into space. JJ sits on the end of the bed right behind him, watching him and unsure of what to do.

Rossi and Hotch are talking about Spencer.

"Dave he's been through a lot, especially for someone his age. But I've never seen him look so lost," Hotch says.

"The kid's tough Aaron. I think he'll be alright in the end. May just take a little while, but we'll all be there for him. This isn't something that he can move past and forget. But another question is, are we gonna let him stay on this case?" Rossi asks.

"Even if we tried to, I doubt we'd be able to stop him from helping. He can be pretty determined during a case," Hotch says, and they both laugh.

"Well, you're right about that."

Morgan and Prentiss head into her room, as the two of them and JJ have all pretty much decided they are staying with Spencer throughout the night. Spencer is still sitting on the floor, staring absentmindedly. None of them can get him to talk or really interact with them at all, and no one wants to push him about it either.

Eventually he speaks, saying,"I-I don't know what to do…"

"Spence, that's okay. Anyone would feel the same in your position," JJ tells him, really unsure of how to proceed.

"Just, how could she not tell me? We were friends and were close but none of that mattered to her! Maybe I should've tried harder to reach out," Spencer says, fighting back tears.

"Spencer it's in no way your fault she didn't tell you. Elle made a choice, and obviously didn't care about the repercussions of that choice. It is not your fault," Prentiss says.

"I still don't know what I'm supposed to do now. If she had told me I would've wanted to be in Taylor's life. I wou-" Spencer says before Morgan interrupts him.

"Kid, stop doing that. We all know you would've been here for her. But the fact that you didn't know about it, means you cannot blame yourself. The only person at fault is Elle. She should've told you long before today."

They continue talking until all four eventually fall asleep. Morgan wakes up before everyone else, glad to see Spencer is getting some rest. He leaves the room and heads out of the hotel, as it's time to have a talk with Elle.

Soon he arrives at her house and after knocking and waiting for a bit she answers it, looking angry.

"What do you want, Morgan?" she asks.

"To talk to you. Now," he replies, and she reluctantly opens the door more to let him in and they both go sit at her kitchen table.

"Why was it so damn important to hide something that big?" Morgan asks.

"Because you guys didn't need to know it that's why," She replies, her voice full of venom.

"But why didn't you tell Reid? I was with him all night, and he's broken."

"I had hoped he'd never find out but Garcia just had to find it out didn't she?"

"You're the one who asked us to come out here to help! Of course it would've been discovered! You know he blames himself for not trying harder to reach out to you? He says that's why you never told him and he hates himself for not being in Taylor's life. He said he would have absolutely been here for her."

She winces a bit at his words and says,"I didn't want to hurt him more."

"How did you not think this would hurt him? He sat on the floor for hours, silently thinking and unable to process his emotions!"

"I'm sorry, okay?! After everything that happened I needed to get away from anything that reminded me of the BAU. What happened between me and him wasn't planned. He came to talk to me in my hotel room the night before everything with Lee and things just happened," she says and Morgan nods in a bit of understanding.

"You need to talk to him, soon."

"He won't want to talk to me after this. And what would I say to him?"

"Believe me, he will. I'm sure you'll figure it out," Morgan says before getting up and leaving.

As Morgan gets to the precinct and meets up with the rest of the team he calls Garcia.

"Hey baby girl found anything yet?"

"Actually yes I think I have. Also, how's our boy wonder doing?" she says.

Morgan looks to where Spencer is sitting silently, away from everyone.

"He's, uh, he's taking it hard. But the kid's strong. He'll be alright."

"I hope so."

Morgan puts her on speaker so she can tell everyone what they found, meanwhile Elle walks into the room too.

"Okay so Dr. Wade doesn't own any other property, but I did find that there's a bunch of abandoned houses near where his son's accident was," she says.

"That's where he is, everyone we need to go now," Hotch says before walking over to Spencer and placing his hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"Reid you know I can't let you come with us," he says and Spencer nods.

"I understand, Hotch," he says.

"You can stay here with JJ and Elle," Hotch tells him, before heading out.

Rossi walks over to Spencer as well.

"We'll get her back, kid. And then we'll figure out what to do next," Rossi tells him.

"Rossi I ju-" Spencer starts.

"Stop worrying. Trust me, it'll be alright. You're gonna be a great dad," Rossi says with a smile.

The team gets to the houses and quickly locates the unsub and Taylor. They quickly get in position, with the unsub unaware of their presence.

They burst in and Hotch yells,"Steven Wade! Drop the knife!"

Meanwhile Elle walks over to Spencer and sits across from, while JJ listens from the other side of the room.

"Spencer, I'm so sorry. And I know that isn't enough and you probably hate me…"Elle starts.

"I don't hate you Elle. I could never hate you. I just don't understand why you never told me," he tells her.

"I honestly don't have a good enough reason anymore for why. And I'm sorry. I thought it would've been better if you never knew but I was so wrong. I should've told you from the beginning. I know I hurt you, and if I could go back and change it I would."

"I do understand that you needed space, but I just don't understand why you hid it so long."

"I was selfish and thought it was better for both of us, and I'm truly sorry. I should have never cut you out of my life like I did and I want to change that, if you still want to. And I do want Taylor to have her dad in her life, if that's something you want."

Spencer smiles and his eyes light up as he says,"I would really like that Elle. So much."

They hug and continue talking until the team arrives back. Wade is in handcuffs and being walked towards a cell. Then Prentiss comes in holding the hand of a little girl. She's brunette and looks like a smaller version of her mother, but they can see bits of her dad in her too.

"Mommy!" she yells before running over to Elle, who wraps her in a tight hug and picks her up. The team smiles and watches their reunion.

"Baby I missed you so much! I love you so so much," Elle says.

"I love you too mommy," she says before Elle sets her down and walks her over to Spencer.

"Taylor, do you know who this is?" she asks as he kneels down to be eye level with Taylor who gives him a quick hello.

"He's one of the agents, right mommy?"

Elle nods and says,"That's right. But he's also your daddy."

Taylor looks confused for a second before walking over to be right in front of Spencer. Elle and most of the team are holding back tears, while JJ and Spencer have some tears trailing down their cheeks.

Taylor reaches up to wipe away his tears and asks,"Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm just so happy Taylor," he tells her, before she wraps him in a hug with her little arms. He takes a second before wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

Yeah, things are going to be alright.