A/N: Dear Guest, thank you for another glorious review. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it when someone takes the time to give me feedback on my work. Thank you so much. I hope the upcoming chapters somewhat undo the grief I have caused the readers. I have to admit though that this one won't be exactly happy. But thank you again for your kind words!

"I wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone in this whole world. I wouldn't hurt them physically or emotionally. How then can people so consistently do it to me?"

- Beatrice Sparks

El Paso, Texas

"Night, Saul"
"Night"
As the officer left the building, the janitor set to work. He whistled as he swept the floor clean. There was cause for his jolly mood.
His daughter had won some big scholarship the same day. He kept on picturing his little girl as a doctor, the first one in the entire seven generations of his family. Visions of her bright future clouded his head, filling him with paternal pride and joy. These pleasant thoughts occupied his mind so much that he never realised he wasn't alone.
Someone was lurking nearby as a shadow.
It couldn't have bothered Saul any less in the moment. He happily rolled out his cleaning equipment, wondering what he could afford to buy his daughter to celebrate her success. The shadow waited.

The moment the precinct was nearly deserted, the shadow came to life. It did take notice of the two novices chatting away in the break room. But the task would be over by the time the uniformed officers re-entered the bullpen. They were talking.
"I liked the Asian guy. He seemed solid"
"Blondie wasn't too bad either. I mean..."
Gone. In and out in mere minutes, just like training.
The two uniformed officers were alone in the building once again. Soon, the night shift descended on them. And the El Paso PD's precinct resumed its usual hustle-bustle.

Away from the precinct, out of the reach of a streetlight's glow, the shadow materialised into a familiar form. It breathed so hard and deep, her chest rumbled. Sighing, Monica glanced at her watch.
9:30 pm.
She looked up and away into the distance. A car passed along the street few yards away from her. Next to her, alley cats hissed at each other. The gloom of the night around didn't touch Monica. She had enough of her own.
She seemed to be looking far away into another world. Her green eyes, now hidden under brown, saw the brightest spot in her world. She closed her eyes and said to it,
"Good night, Veronica. I love you"

Washington DC

His job had made him speedy and efficient when it came to packing. He just had to hear the words "Wheels up", and he was ready to chase after a serial killer. Never once had Spencer thought that he would be chasing after the woman he loved.
Monica, his own St. Monica - how could she do this to him? To him and Veronica!
"Hey", he said to Harper, "Can I talk to Nica for a second?"
"She's your kid"
Harper gave her little cousin a smile before leaving the room. Spencer took the chair she had vacated, preparing his mind for the talk he was about to have with Veronica.
Though only three years old, she seemed to understand that something was going on in their house. Her doe eyes watched him with care and concern. Spencer smiled at her, mostly to ease the anticipation creasing her brow.
"You like playing with Harper, don't you?", he asked.
Veronica nodded.
"Yeah"
"She tells me she likes spending time with you too. So does Nathan", he said.
Veronica didn't respond to that.
"Sweetheart", Spencer said, "I was wondering if you would like to stay with Aunt Audrey and Uncle Mark for a while"
"At their house?"
"Yes"
Veronica seemed to give it a thought before asking him,
"Will you stay with me too?"
"I'm sorry but I can't. I have to go out of town again. It's..."
She asked,
"Work?"
"Sort of"
"Will Monica come back before you do?"
"I sure hope so"
That seemed to make up her mind.
"Okay. I'll stay with Aunt Audrey 'til you get back"
He said,
"It will be fun. You and Bubbly will enjoy it, I'm sure"
"I know"
He watched her look away from him and reach for her bunny. Veronica snuggled with the toy. She kept petting it for a while.
Spencer said,
"Nica, I want to ask you something about Monica"
"What?"
"Last night, did she tell you she was... did she tell you she had to go somewhere?"
"Uh-huh"
"What did she say?"
"She said she had to go away"
Veronica caressed bunny's ears, saying,
"I didn't want her to go, but..."

Last night –

Veronica didn't like it. Where was Monica going? And why wasn't she taking Nica with her?
"Why do you have to go?"
Monica told her,
"To find peace"
"Peas?"
Monica smiled,
"Peace. It means... not feeling bad anymore"
"Why are you feeling bad? Were you naughty?"
"No, darling. I... I just... I'm going so that I can stop feeling what I am feeling. You're a smart girl. You must have noticed that I haven't quite been myself lately"
"Yeah. Daddy said you're sad. Why are you sad?"
Monica took a deep breath, which seemed like a big effort to Veronica.
"It's because Uncle George died. I'm sorry I had to tell you that, baby, but you deserve to know"
Uncle George?
Her Uncle George?
But how could he die? She had skyped with him just last Sunday.
Veronica asked, feeling confused,
"He died?"
"Yes, sweetie. I'm sorry"
She couldn't picture it. How does a real person die?
"Like in the cartoons? His eyes became X's?"
"That's not how it happens with real people. Think of it like going to sleep, and never waking up"
"But... but that is so sad"
"I know"
"Can't we wake him up?"
"I wish we could, honey. I wish"
She had never seen Uncle George asleep. She had seen him skate-dancing. She had seen him eat two cupcakes at once, but never sleeping. Veronica wondered why they couldn't wake him up.
"Can we go visit him?", she asked.
"We can. We can see the place where he was laid down, but not his body. It's covered"
"In a coffin?"
Monica's eyebrows rose. She asked,
"How do you know about coffins?"
"Wyatt's Mom is in a coffin. He told me when his Mom died, they put her in a box and they call it a coffin, and he sat with her all day 'til his Dad came over to get him"
"Oh... that must have been terrible for him"
Her friend Wyatt seemed all right to Veronica. He did get weird sometimes when someone asked him about his Mom. But he was always nice to Veronica.
"He's okay. He says his Mom comes to visit him every night. She stands by his bed and smiles at him"
"What..."
"Mon? Is Uncle George going to visit us too?"
"Darling, I don't think so. Dead people can't visit us"
Veronica heard Monica mumble to herself,
"I'm going to have to talk to Wyatt's Dad when I get back..."
Veronica would have liked Uncle George to come and visit them. The thought of never seeing him again made her feel like she had swallowed something bad. Something that stayed in her stomach and hurt. But she had to know.
"Are we never going to see Uncle George again?"
"No, darling. I'm sorry"
Death was bad. It didn't sit well with her, made her feel spooky.
And why did Uncle George go to a sleep he could never wake up from? Didn't he know he could never see them again if he did?
"We may not be able to meet him again, Veronica, but... in a way, he's not really gone", Monica said.
"How?"
"Well... let's see. Did Daddy tell you about atoms?"
"Yeah. Everything is made of atoms. And they are so tiny we can't see them"
Monica smiled,
"That's right"
She smoothed the hair falling over Veronica's forehead. She said,
"You see, even when people die, their atoms don't. Their atoms become a part of something else. A gust of wind, a leaf, a little insect, or maybe another person. Even if all those atoms are no longer together, they do exist. They are all around us. So in a way, part of Uncle George will always be around us. And do you know why his atoms won't move too far away from us?"
"Why?"
"Because he loved us and we loved him. And we will always remember him. When we miss him, we will talk about him. We will see his pictures, we will watch those terrible home videos he liked to make of himself"
Veronica giggled,
"I like his videos"
Monica just smiled. She finally said,
"I miss Uncle George. And it makes me sad. But I don't want to be sad anymore. He hated the idea of anyone being sad. I have to do right by him. I... I mean... I have to go so that I'm not sad around you and Daddy anymore. You understand that, don't you, my love?"
Veronica thought she didn't, but she nodded anyway. Monica looked pleased, like that's what she had wanted to hear.
"When will you be back?", Veronica asked.
"A few weeks or more"
"Weeks?!"
"I'm sorry but I have to"
What was she supposed to do without Monica? Who was going to watch Dora the Explorer with her? Who was going to sing to her in the bath and at bedtime? Daddy was fun, and Veronica had always thought she loved Daddy more. But now she wanted to be with Monica wherever she was going.
"Can I come with you?", she hoped.
"No, sweetheart. It's too... you will be safe here. Harper and Nathan are going to come see you tomorrow"
"They are?! Yay!"
The thought of being with her favourite cousins drove her worries away. Monica's sadness and Uncle George's death didn't seem like a big deal anymore. If only she could have a sleepover at Aunt Audrey's house...

Now –

Spencer asked,
"She didn't tell you where exactly she was going then?"
Veronica shook her head. She yawned and put her little hand over her mouth.
It was nap time.
"Thanks for telling me that. Come on"

After a while, he lifted Veronica into his arms and carried her to the car. He strapped her into her seat. Harper sat next to her.
When Spencer was locking their front door, it struck him hard just what kind of journey he was about to embark upon.
He was going after Monica. He had to stop her before she did something stupid and put herself in further danger. But if she had already erred against the law... he didn't know if he had it in him to bring her to justice.
"You guys buckled in?"
He observed them in the rear-view mirror. Veronica was already nodding off. Harper gave him a non-committal "Hm".
Spencer drove to Audrey's house, where he would drop off Veronica and Harper. And then drive himself to the airport.

"I specifically told you to stay and be there for your girlfriend. Reid, you can't just abandon your..."
"Emily", Spencer said over phone, "I am coming over because of Monica"
"What do you mean?"
God, how was he going to explain it? Tell his friends that the woman they knew as his sweet, friendly girlfriend was a former spy. One who was chasing the same serial killer they were. And if push came to shove, he would have to tell them the truth about Monica and Beatrice too.
"I'll explain when I get there. I have to go now. We're about to take off"
He hung up and put his phone on airplane mode.

The flight attendant began her instructions, none of which he could focus on. All he could think about was Monica and the possible look, of having been betrayed, upon the faces of his friends. They would loathe him forever probably for having kept Monica's involvement in the Beatrice disaster a secret from them. That had cost them Roane, and Emily and Luke too almost.
He tried to bolster what courage he could summon. Nothing was more important than getting to George's murderer in time, before Monica could get to him. Spencer didn't have enough data to guess who would be more easier to find - a serial killer or a former spy.

El Paso, Texas

The slimy guy at the reception had given her an appraising look at first. But when Monica began with her 'battered wife fleeing her husband' charade, he was holding the door open for her and telling her she didn't have to worry because he kept a shotgun under his desk at the reception. She had thanked him in a shaky voice before closing the motel room door from within.

Now she finished her humble dinner of chicken pot pie while sitting at the creaky table, wearing her headphones. She could only bring herself to eat for nourishment. Proteins were good when you were on an assignment. She would need the carbs too for what she was going to do to that bastard when she caught him.
At the thought of his murderer, George's laugh rang in her ears. For a moment, she couldn't breathe. She forced herself to. Her ribcage thrummed with the impact of that deep breath. She concentrated on the sound coming from the headphones. Now George came to her in mental pictures, memories. Memories of seeing his corpse in the morgue, his handsome face bludgeoned, his skin so pale and cold...
She invited less depressing thoughts. None came.

'A man who desires revenge should dig two graves'
She remembered her Grandpapa telling George that when they were little.
But this wasn't about revenge for Monica. Vengeance had nothing to do with it.
It was about battling injustice, and setting a wrong right. If she had to live in a world where George wasn't alive anymore, she couldn't stand the thought of George's murderer living in it too.
She read through the police files she had obtained, those which detailed his past deeds. For all his karma, the man deserved death and torment. And if Monica had to be the one to deliver it, she would do so gladly.

At 7:40 AM, she lay in bed and kept listening. Sleep wasn't even the last thing on her mind. Because Dr. Reid had arrived.
Tears came to her eyes on hearing his voice through the headphones. She would have recognised his voice anywhere. She held the headphones with both hands, wanting to feel the vibrations of his voice on her skin.
Judging from the authoritarian tone, Emily was angry with him for flying over. He had to talk to her, to the team.
Would he tell them everything? Monica knew he had to do.
She hated herself for having put Spencer in that situation. What felt worse was eavesdropping on him and his teammates. All of them, who had only ever treated her so well. But she knew it was her best chance of catching George's murderer. Loath herself for it as she might, she had to do it. She was a spy, not an investigator. She couldn't risk going after the guy herself and get tangled in the investigation.
There was no turning back anymore. No point in making mistakes for the sake of ethics.
"There's something I should have told all of you about Monica"
Her face darkened with pain on hearing the anguish in his voice. She hoped against all hope that his friends wouldn't detest him because of her. They should hate her, damn her. But Dr. Reid didn't deserve one iota of hatred. It was all due to her.
"I'm sorry"
She whispered, despite of knowing he couldn't hear her.
"I'm so sorry, Spencer"

In the El Paso PD's bullpen, Spencer's teammates had gathered around him. He could tell he was dripping of guilt, and the most highly skilled profilers he knew would catch on to it too.
"There's something I should have told all of you about Monica"
He was composing his thoughts when Emily said,
"Not here"
She turned and began walking to the farthest end of the bullpen. Her team didn't need a cue. They followed, and came to a stop by turning to Spencer.
He felt like he was on trial. But their faces didn't suggest judgment. They suggested empathy and concern.
Sometimes he wondered if he deserved to have them as his friends.
"Reid?"
It was time for him to come clean. There was no way he was going to find the UnSub on his own. His team had to know everything if they were to catch the guy in time.
"Monica", he began, "...is in El Paso. She left some time last night. And I think... I know she is looking for the man who killed her brother"
He had braced himself for a delayed reaction. But Matt's sudden exclamation surprised him.
"Monica? Your Monica?", Matt said, "That's... but she's so..."
Tara finished the sentence,
"Non-threatening"
Being more intimately acquainted with him and Monica, JJ was angry.
"Is she out of her mind? She could get herself killed. What was she thinking? She doesn't have the skills to track down a serial killer"
Spencer spoke,
"Actually, she used to work for the British government"
When they gave him an incredulous look, he explained.
"The Security Service. MI5"
"Hang on a second", Luke asked, "Monica is a spy?"
"Was. It was a..."
Luke went on in a low voice, dismayed,
"She just made dog biscuits for Roxy last month"
No one seemed inclined to accept what he was saying. They looked utterly bewildered. Emily was quiet though, too quiet. Spencer's eyes met hers and she sighed.
"I had a feeling about her, like we were... kindred spirits. I wasn't sure what exactly it was, but... anyway"
Emily demanded their attention. She said,
"I don't have to tell you all that this doesn't leave the room. We can't involve the El Paso PD. This is something the BAU is going to have to deal with personally"
No one contested that. Spencer simply watched his friends' faces, a pang of guilt coursing through him for having involved them.
Emily continued,
"We have a former MI5 spy going after our UnSub. Reid knows her best, and I know how the mind of a spy works. While working on finding the UnSub, some of us also need to be looking for Monica. That will be me, Reid and Matt"
Matt gave a nod. Spencer looked from him to Emily. For a moment, he was distracted by how tired she looked. But she went on despite of it.
"It is crucial that we bring the UnSub into custody before Monica finds him. It is unlikely that she will, but I don't want to underestimate her. We either do that, or we get to Monica first. But if you ask me, that might be more difficult than it sounds"
JJ said,
"No offence, but it's Monica. Reid knows her the best. He can find her before she gets to the UnSub"
Emily shook her head, saying,
"It's not that easy to find someone who doesn't want to be found. Especially someone with that particular skill set. Anyway, we have been huddled together too long. We are drawing attention. We'll take this up again soon. For now, let's focus on the UnSub"
They dispersed just in time. Some of the El Paso PD officers had begun to throw curious looks their way. Spencer ignored those looks aimed at him and walked to the window.

The merciless Texas sun shone over the city , swaddling it in heat and sweat. As Spencer gazed into the streets below, he reminisced about the face that owned his thoughts. He made a vow to himself.
'I am taking you back home to Veronica before you do anything that ruins our life. You're coming home with me, Monica'