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Chapter Two:
Fiona Duncan refused to represent him this time. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Reid's innocence, it was because Prentiss was her friend and she couldn't stand looking at the crime scene photos. Rossi ended up hiring someone for him, named Ed Dalton. For all his impressive credentials, Reid could tell he thought he was guilty. Reid couldn't blame him, even as it made him bitter.
"We'll get you out," J.J. said from behind the glass. "We did it once and we'll do it again."
"You know it isn't that simple this time around Jennifer," he said sadly. "This took meticulous planning. There won't be any paper trails to track. She is just too good."
"Everyone has a flaw," she said fiercely. "And people do believe you were coerced into that building."
He shook his head and looked down. "I could have tried to send her a message when she answered the intercom. I just wasn't smart enough."
"You would have died if went off script," she said.
"How was her funeral?" he asked changing the subject.
"Lovely," she said and wiped away a tear. "Her friends from Interpol came and we all swapped stories."
"J.J.," Reid said softly. "I'm not getting out of this."
"But you will!" she said angrily. "I promise."
"Let's just make sure my mom is taken care of," he said.
"Visiting hours are over!" the guard announced.
Reid waved sadly as he left. Dalton had told him to take the deal. Twenty to life. Little did he know had already made a deal.
…
J.J. woke up in the middle of the night to her phone ringing.
"Is this Jennifer Jareau, the emergency contact for Spencer Reid?" the voice said.
"Yes, it is," she said breathlessly. "Is he okay?"
"I am sorry to tell you that Spencer Reid has been murdered while in custody," she said.
"What happened?" she asked trying sound calm as she fell apart.
"I only know pieces. Apparently, he picked a fight in the prison yard and as retribution his throat was sliced."
"What? Spencer never picks fights! Never!"
"That is all that I know Ma'am. Do you know where you want his remains to be transferred to?"
"Give me your number and I'll call you back."
"Okay," she said.
J.J. took down the numbers and hung up the phone.
Will already had his arms around her.
"Why?" she sobbed. "Why?"
…
It was apparent in a letter he had put in the mail the day of his death.
Dear J.J.,
I love you like a sister. I love Henry and Michael as if they were my own sons. I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger.
I didn't like what prison did to me the first time I wan in there and I knew I was going to be facing worse this second time. I saw all the evidence. I knew what untraceable drug had been put in my system. The case was air-tight. I am a coward J.J. and I'm sorry.
You will see in my will that I have arranged for all my assets to be transferred to you with the stipulation that you use some of it to oversee my mother's care. The rest will go to the boys for their college education. I had always planned to help finance their education and I hope you will accept the money.
Yes, she beat me, but not you. Not the rest of the team. Do what you need to do to find peace. I love you and I want you to be happy. I'm sorry I couldn't be happy with you.
Spencer
PS: Please destroy after reading. I think you know why.
It was a precaution in case they suspected that Reid planned his own death. She burned it on the stove.
"Goodbye Spence," she said.
…
While Prentiss' funeral was terrible, Reid's was too much. Morgan ran out halfway through his reading. Rossi tried to stay stoic as he read the eulogy but crumbled at the end. They tried to get Diana to come for closure, but she tried to run once they reached the burial site and a nurse stayed with her in the car.
Henry and Michael each placed a rose on the coffin.
"Where do you think he is?" Henry asked.
"Traveling the stars," she tried to say optimistically.
"Like an astronaut?"
"Better, because he doesn't need a suit," she said. "He's probably exploring the galaxy with Emily when he isn't watching over you."
"I miss him," he said.
"I do too," she said and hugged him tightly. "I do too."
…
Barnes shifted her groceries to her hip as she unlocked her apartment door. She entered the kitchen and suddenly dropped her groceries.
J.J. was sitting at the kitchen table with her gun with a silencer aimed directly at her.
"Congratulations," she said. "Two of my team members are dead, Rossi is retiring to California, and Garcia is going into the private sector along with Lewis. Alvez and Simmons are transferring out. Leaving just me. You won, Linda Barnes. Congratulations."
"You have no proof I did anything," she said angrily.
"I don't need any," she said. "Because who else would hate my friends as much as you to set up such a plan?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.
"Lying to the end," J.J. said. "I should expect nothing less from you."
J.J. pulled the trigger. Barnes was dead before she hit the ground.
…
They never did discover who killed Linda Barnes. Some believed it was someone from her past who had come back for revenge. The truth wasn't far off, but no one could pin it on J.J.'s alibi of being at the movies paid for with her credit card. People didn't suspect how easy it was to sneak of back entrances. No one would say it but finding who killed Barnes wasn't a top priority for anyone. Her cold ambition made her impossible to like, so there was a certain lack of conviction in searching for her killer. It was just another unsolved case put in cold storage.
After a year of trying to put a team together, J.J. quit to be a full-time mother. In her spare time, she and Rossi exchanged emails as he taught her art of writing a book. It was a work of fiction as real life was still too painful.
Once a year, the team would gather to remember Prentiss and Reid. Their tomb stones were next to each other even when some thought it was in bad taste. They lit candles and shared memories. Their stories were unfinished, but they would live on in the people who would love them forever.
THE END
I know. Tragic, sad, and dark. Not every story can have a happy ending. My next one should be more uplifting.