Hey everyone I'm finally back into the swing of things. I'm done with all my schoolwork so I'm really gonna try hard and get updates more regularly. Anyway I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 7

JJ and Dave both stared at Spencer's geographical profile and notes. Dave glanced at JJ and gave her a nod. She sighed before walking over to Aaron.

"Hotch."

Aaron turned, "Yes?"

"We need Reid. No one understands his markings other than him."

Aaron looked defeated, "I was afraid of that. I'll go talk to him."

"Maybe you should let me. He's probably angry at you for sending Morgan to his house."

Aaron nodded after a while and gave JJ both Spencer's addresses. She briefly glanced in Derek's direction and was gone.

~~~CM~~~

Spencer was hunched over, clinging to the toilet as he emptied his stomach. He heard the doorbell and groaned. Pulling himself upright, he rinsed his mouth and went to the door.

"JJ?"

"Hi Spence, can I come in?"

Spencer moved aside to let her enter, "Did Derek send you?"

JJ shook her head, "Nope. Come on I have a feeling you haven't eaten much today."

"I can't; pretty much everything I eat I throw up."

JJ walked to the kitchen with Spencer following, "I was like that the first month and a half of my pregnancy. You know what my doctor suggested? Lemon. Add a wedge of lemon or a little bit of lemon juice and it helps quell the need to vomit."

Spencer pursed his lips as he watched JJ make him something to eat. She sat of bowl of oatmeal in front of him and drizzled some lemon juice on top. He looked at her and she gave him a look.

"Just try it."

He did and found he liked it. JJ smiled and took his unoccupied hand, "It's good to see you."

Spencer blinked, swallowing before speaking, "Why? Don't you hate me?"

JJ shook her head, "No Spence. While I don't approve what you did, you're not the only one to blame here."

"But I should've said no and I didn't. I let him use me."

JJ stroked the back of his hand and smiled, "Yes, you could've but you didn't. Spencer, I knew how you felt about Derek. So tell me if you were given the chance to have something you always wanted, would you really give it up? The answer is no."

"Jayje…"

JJ smiled and patted his hand, "I don't approve of what you, but I know you did it," she said again.

Spencer didn't know what to say so he said nothing and finished his food.

"Now, onto the real reason I came by. We need your help."

Spencer frowned, shaking his head, "I can't…no…"

"Please Spence? You're the only one who understands your own…methods of doing things like the geographical profile. You won't even have to interact with him, I promise."

Spencer rubbed a hand over his face. After a few minutes, he nodded, "Fine. Let me get dressed."

Several minutes later, Spencer was seated in the passenger seat of the Suburban the team was using for the case heading to the precinct. Ignoring the gasps and looks as he entered, Spencer headed straight for the board.

"Have you talked to the girls' parents?" he asked JJ.

"Yeah, they all said they never came home after school."

Spencer hummed, "School lets out at three-fifteen, and if you stay after the latest you stay is four-fifteen unless you're in a club which, none of them were."

"That means what?" Emily asked, approaching him.

Spencer spared her a quick glance, "He's abducting them somewhere between school and home."

Spencer placed some markers on the board furrowing his brows, "There's a twenty mile radius between the school, and where he dumped the girls. In between that," he said pointing "Is a residential complex."

"So these girls are from the same area. And he dumped them there because of convenience," Derek stated.

"Okay, but, why these girls? What could they possibly represent?" JJ asked. "Hey Hotch, I'm going to take Spence with me and visit the victims' homes."

Aaron nodded, "Fine. Rossi, you and Prentiss head back to the school. Talk with their classmates. Morgan, call Garcia and see if there were similar cases like this one. Tell her to go back at least fifteen years."

Derek looked at him, "Hotch…"

Aaron narrowed his eyes, fixing him with his Hotchner glare, "I under you and your wife have issues, but for the sake of the case, squash them."

Derek sighed and pulled out his cell and dialed his wife

~~~CM~~~

"Dr. Reid?" Mrs. Roberts was shocked to see Brenda's math teacher.

"Afternoon Mrs. Roberts, I'm sure you remember agent Jareau. We wanted to ask you some questions about Brenda."

"What more do you need to know? My daughter's dead and no arrests have been made," Mrs. Roberts said harshly.

"Mrs. Roberts, I assure you we are getting close to finding your daughter's killer. By studying the victims this unsub chooses, we can find him," JJ explained.

While JJ talked to Brenda's mother, Spencer got permission to examine her room. By the time JJ joined him, he was closing Brenda's diary.

"Find anything?"

"Maybe. Let's go talk to the other families."

JJ nodded and the two thanked Brenda's mother and went to talk with the other families.

~~~CM~~~

It was nearly four pm by the time the team met back at the precinct. Ignoring the looks of his friends, Spencer all but ran to the bathroom emptying his guts into the nearest stall. This was about the time Garcia called telling him she was about half an hour out.

"So Spencer," JJ spoke when he returned, "You figured something out when we were at the victims' homes. What did you find out?"

"Our unsub didn't choose these girls on random. Brenda, Hannah, Hermione, and Melanie were best friends."

Derek shrugged, "So what, he's grabbing friends. What's that got to do with anything?"

Ignoring him, Spencer continued, "Melanie had an abusive boyfriend. The other three wrote about it in their journals. They wrote how they were afraid he was going to kill her and how they wanted to tell someone but were afraid."

"So he killed Brenda, Hermione, and Hannah because they were gonna turn him in," Emily blinked.

"I think we're ready to give the profile," Aaron said after a few minutes.

~~~CM~~~

Tanya walked over to the woman she assumed was Spencer's "friend", "Penelope Garcia?"

Penelope nodded, "Who are you?"

"My name's Tanya, I'm a friend of Spencer's. He asked me to pick you up as he's at the police station helping with the case."

Penelope followed the young woman, "Spencer doesn't make friends easy, how'd he meet you?"

Tanya narrowed her eyes, "There's a lot you don't know about Spencer."

Penelope opened her mouth as she settled in the car but Tanya cut her off, turning to her, "Let's not play dumb shall we? I know exactly who you are and as I warned your husband, you hurt Spencer and I will disembowel you."

Penelope's eyes widened but she didn't say anything else. The rest of the journey to Spencer's was quiet. Penelope frowned when they approached the house.

"Spencer lives here?"

"We all do. Spencer, my girlfriend, and I all live here."

Penelope pursed her lips but kept quiet as she followed Tanya inside.

~~~CM~~~

After the team delivered the profile, Derek approached Spencer. Spencer held up a hand, "No. I'm here to help with the case and that's it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have company at my house."

Derek watched him leave and sagged, "I really fucked up."

Emily nodded, "Yup."

"I've lost them both."

Emily sighed, "Do you really want them back?"

Derek raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Emily shook her head, "You've done a lot of whining and complaining, but I have yet to see you do anything to get them back."

Derek gaped when he realized she was right. Well fuck.

~~~CM~~~

When Spencer entered the house he chuckled. Penelope was sitting on the couch and Tanya and Lidia both were watching her like hawks stalking their prey. Penelope grinned.

"Hey there boy wonder."

Spencer blinked, "Don't act all cheery like you're actually happy to see me. Why exactly are you here?"

Penelope's smiled drooped, "Like I said, I wanted to see you."

Spencer instinctively wrapped his arms around his middle, "Well you see me."

Penelope stood off the couch and walked toward him, "Answer me this Spencer, is everything you told me on the phone true?"

Spencer nodded, "You know I never lie Penelope."

"So why did you agree to keep going? You knew Derek was married, yet…" Penelope trailed off.

Spencer sighed and went to sit down. He put his head in his hands. Penelope nodded and sat down next to him.

"You love him."

Spencer nodded. He couldn't deny it. He was and had always been in love with his best friend, "I just…he made me feel…all I ever wanted was to be loved. And for a few hours, I was. True it may not have been every day but when Derek was there…Penelope, I felt whole. You have no idea what it feels like to feel empty inside."

He looked at her, "You think you can look up a person and you know them? So you looked into my life and found out I was a prostitute, but you have no idea who I am. So I was a prostitute, that makes me a bad person? I was twelve! I was twelve, taking classes at the community college, trying to provide for my sick mother and keep food on the table and a house over our heads! You think I could just go out and get a job like everyone else? I was twelve! No one would hire a twelve year old, not to mention a genius."

"Spencer…"

"I've been used, Penelope. Used, and abused. My mom was sick, my dad wasn't around, and I had no one I could lean on. No one wanted to be friends with the genius kid with the sick mother. I did what I had to do to survive. But you know where that left me? Aching. Empty, broken, and being with Derek took some of that feeling away, just for a few hours."

Penelope said nothing as she sat there listening to him. She knew Spencer had had a hard life. The entire team knew. But to hear it out in the open like this…wasn't what she expected.

"Anyway, you won't have to worry about me interfering with your life anymore. I'm not going back."

Penelope shook her head, "What?"

"Why torture myself and be in a place where I will be taunted with what I can't have? I've done enough of that."

"What about the child? It is Derek's child."

"And…? He has yours."

"So you'd deny him rights to his own child because you're mad at him?"

Spencer glared, "What I do and don't do is none of your business. I'm going to bed. One of the girls can show you to the guest room."

"Spencer?"

Spencer turned, "What?"

"I'm sorry."

Spencer said nothing and turned and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

TBC...