I've never had to plan a story this much before! Normally, I let the ideas run off and edit them for smoothness. I have notes this time! Thnx for the feedback ;)

The Ghosts of UnSubs' Past-Chapter 2

Checkmate in Three

"You're not as smart as you think you are, Spencer Reid." The smile on the brown-haired UnSub's face reached the far corners of her mouth, and as she lowered to the ice next to him, the view around them changed. Now, they were sitting on a park bench, watching from afar as two people played chess.

"I see checkmate in five, but you're getting the point now," Spencer smiled.

"Come on, play a round with me," the dark-haired boy challenged.

"Why are we here- how are we here?" Spencer asked breathlessly. As he looked around, he realized that Amanda Jackson had taken them to the park where he played chess with the local kids, and soon enough the rest of the scene focused in. The shapes formed by-passers and tress, grasslands and playgrounds. He looked at Amanda for answers, but in return she just shook her head. "You know as much as I do, Spencer. Just watch- we'll figure it out together." She almost sounded sincere, and if Spencer wasn't a trained FBI profiler, he would have sworn that she actually meant it. He had, though, picked up on the telltale signs of a liar, and he quickly called her on it.

"You know why we're here," he sighed. "I know that none of this is real, though. So please, tell my why we're here."

Amanda hesitantly rose to her feet, and in an instant, the scenery faded to white again. The 'personality' examined the walls of the white room with a frown, and as she swept her hands over them, they were taken to a new place. It was another park, and it somehow seemed fairly familiar. After a moment or two, Spencer realized where he had seen the park before, and he inwardly screamed as Amanda took his hand and led him across the dried-out grass.

"I suppose you remember being here," she said, sounding airy and unreal. She looked around in wonder as Spencer froze up. He knew he was being irrational, that he seemed to be so afraid of a mere dream, but it was all so vivid that for a moment he actually believed he was back in Las Vegas. "It was a long time ago that you were last here; the place has missed you- the people miss you, too."

Spencer frowned at Amanda as her eyes sadly swept through the crowd of cheering children. Her sadness was strange to him, and for a moment, he wished that he could offer her a smile. The urge passed, though, as his mind started thinking over the situation again. Finally, Amanda's wandering eyes focused on him again, and she pressed her hands against his chest. He gasped as he was pushed through the ground and into a new scene, and Spencer couldn't help but wonder what she was doing. The new room was at a side of a road- its significance was once again unknown to Spencer. Amanda's mood had seemed to change, and this time she smiled at him fondly. "You're starting at the wrong places, for I cannot yet explain anything. I've been ordered to leave that mystery for the others to help you solve." Before Spencer could open his mouth to press on for answers, he was back at the park he had first visited; Charlie and himself were still talking, but he was without Amanda this time.

"I heard that you got hurt," Charlie mumbled as he placed his piece on the board.

"I was hurt," Spencer nodded. "But don't worry; I think I'm better now."

"He misses you, you know."

Spencer flinched as the new voice joined in, but this time he noted that it was a male voice- an older man's voice, more specifically. He turned to face his new company's face, and he had to look twice to make sure that his eyes hadn't betrayed him. Randall Garner watched as Spencer and Charlie played chess, but he was still quite aware of Spencer's eyes on his own. "I suppose," he started in a husky, dry voice, "that I should thank you."

"Thank you for what?" Spencer frowned. He was beyond confused now, and all he wanted was to fall back into his once dreamless sleep. His mind was racing, and he had seemed to have no grasp whatsoever as to what his mind was forcing him to imagine. Nervously, Spencer coughed, and Randall turned his head to face him.

"There's only one really important question, Dr. Reid. You should know this, actually. You're the one who told me."

"Can you forgive yourself," Spencer answered. "I know, but why are you thankful?"

Randall chuckled disheveledly at the baffled genius before placing a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "You'll understand later, Dr. Reid. In time, it'll all make sense."

"Why did you help me?"

The new voice was fragile and thin, and it caused both Spencer and Randall to turn around. When Spencer turned back to face Randall, though, he was gone, and instead of a bench Spencer was sitting on a subway seat beside Nathan Harris.

"I was a monster whose mental health led me to be a killer, and you helped me. I was a menace to society-I could've been a killer!" Nathan exclaimed.

"But you didn't, did you?" Spencer smiled. "I knew you didn't want to be like that- that you wanted the urges to stop. I helped you get better because I thought you were worth it; everyone deserves a second chance."

"Is that why you helped me?"

Owen Savage approached the small gathering with a rifle in his hand, and before Spencer could even blink, they had phased back to the house Owen had set up for himself and his girlfriend. "Is that why you helped me?" he repeated.

"It's the reason I help UnSubs," Spencer nodded. "Some of them...some of them don't have a choice- like when they're young- and when that is the case, I do everything in my power to help them. You deserved better, Owen, and I wanted to give you that."

"So what's the difference, then, between good and evil?" Owen sighed. The younger man was obviously flustered, and even though the UnSubs were a distraction from his current state, Spencer too was flustered. He had no idea what was going on, and he seemed to be stuck in a dream sequence of UnSubs that he needed to talk to. He figured that there was a lesson to learn for each and every one of them, but the problem was, what was he supposed to learn?

"I think you know that already, Owen. You're not evil; evil is ruthless and can't be stopped. You came willing when my team found you, and that to me says something really important about you."

"Is that why you visit- because you think there's still hope?"

Spencer was now sitting on a couch in what appeared to be a hotel room, and standing in the middle of the room was Adam Jackson. Spencer frowned; hadn't he just seen Amanda? If he was right about what was going on, then he had to learn something from each UnSub that had really gotten to his head. He had never thought of Amanda as an UnSub, rather just a personality, but in truth, it was probably just the opposite. Amanda did exist now, and she had taken over Adam.

"You didn't kill those men, Adam, Amanda did. You're one of her victims, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure that she lets you go. You deserve to live your life, but she took that away from you."

"I feel so guilty for what she did," Adam admitted. "I was there for all of it, but I couldn't say anything to stop her!"

"You don't have to feel guilty," Spencer frowned. "I've forgiven you, and you should forgive yourself. You can't feel guilty for all of this; it wasn't your fault!"

"How are they doing, my dolls?" Samantha Malcolm appeared from the corner of the room, and as she drew closer, the room morphed back to how it looked the day that Spencer had walked in on Samantha with her dolls in his hand.

"Don't you still have them?" Spencer frowned. His head was aching from all the visits, and he silently wondered when he'd wake up. H

"I do, but how are the people- those women I took?" She sat down cross-legged on the floor, and Spencer joined her. She frowned sadly as she waited for him to answer.

"They're doing great, actually," Spencer nodded.

"Good." This time, she smiled sincerely at him. "I was a bit worried after the way I had treated them." Samantha hesitated, as if pondering whether to ask a question or not. Spencer took her hand supportively and inched her closer to asking. Finally, she sighed and opened her mouth. "If my father hadn't taken me to the room with the lightening, would I still be this way?"

Spencer hesitated before answering, because to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure of the answer. Her father had abused her, and that had more than likely led her on her way down the dark path she was on, and if he hadn't had given her dolls away, she wouldn't have needed people to take over in their absence. Spencer knew what answer she needed to hear, though, so he nodded his head. "Yes, Samantha, you wouldn't have done those things."

"How can you know?"

The new male voice was familiar to Spencer, and he turned around to see who it was. When he looked back in his own direction, the scene changed again and he was then sitting on a graveyard. In front of him was Tobias Hankal, frowning and shaking.

"I know because it's my job to know," Spencer sighed. "If your father hadn't hurt you, too, you wouldn't have grown those other personalities. You would have been a normal guy and wouldn't have killed those people."

Tobias nodded his head, but he still didn't seem quite content yet. He glanced straight ahead at Spencer with a frown on his face. He took Spencer's hand, and he looked into Spencer's eyes. "Look how far you've come- how far we've come. I dosed you with drugs, and my other personalities beat you. You're fine now, though, and so am I. I'm finally at peace now, Spencer, and I owe that all to you."

"But I... I killed you," Spencer whispered. Tobias shook his head, and he let go of his hand.

"You killed Raphael. You saved me," he corrected. "You saved me, and that's all that matters now."

"Are you afraid, Spencer?"

Spencer whipped to his feet, and all around him became dark. He backed up until he was flat against the wall, and he hung onto it with his nails digging deep in them. He could hear laughing in the background, and he suddenly realized who the next UnSub was. "Why are you doing this, Dr. Howard?"

Suddenly, Spencer couldn't breath, and the UnSub stood right in front of him. He let Spencer fall to the floor with a smirk on his face. "Tell me something Dr. Reid, was it as bad as you thought it would be? Being trapped in your mind is hell, isn't it?" he spat bitterly. "Is this what it all comes down to? At the end of the day, why did you really take this job? What is it all about in the end? Is it a guilty conscientious or the actual desire to help people? I'll be honest with you, Dr. Reid, I've been in your mind for a while now, and I'm getting some mixed signals."

"I do this job because I want to help people- I have to help people!" Spencer yelled. "I was groomed for this job; I don't know how to do anything else," he hissed.

"That's not a valid answer anymore, Spencer. You can't lie to yourself any longer, because you're really pissing yourself off," Dr. Howard replied calmly. He scrunched down on his legs and placed a hand on Spencer's forehead. "Any last regrets?"

"There is no such thing as a pure mind that has no regrets. What that person chooses to do, however, is entirely up to them."

The darkness was suddenly filled with a white light, and Dr. Howard had disappeared. Spencer blinked his eyes to adjust to the new lighting, and as he searched the room for the new UnSub, he realized that he was in a church pew. Sitting opposite of him was Father Silvano, who was smiling sincerely at him.

"I was once afraid of the dark, too. I overcame it by turning to the light," he said.

"Why am I here? This case involved Prentiss, not me."

"You'd be wrong to say that, Dr. Reid. All of the cases involve your whole team. And besides that, you gave Agent Prentiss your opinion when you could have kept mutual like Agent Morgan, and to me, that's enough to think that you have doubts of your own." Spencer remained silent, and the priest smiled and took his hand. "I suppose that's something for you to dwell on another time, though."

"Then why am I here?" Spencer asked again.

Father Silvano shook his head as he sat down the Bible that had been in his left hand. He guided Spencer to his feet, his hand still in his, as he led him out of the church. Outside, rather than there being streets and trees, was Spencer's apartment. Father Silvano sat on Spencer's couch and motioned for Spencer to sit as well. Reluctantly, he did so.

"Is this what it comes down to, Spencer? Is this what's left? Tell me something, what do you think will happen next- what do you want to happen next?" Spencer frowned as stared back at the priest who was currently shaking his head. "It's okay not to know the answer to every question you're asked, Spencer. It's okay not to understand now, because in time, you will."

In an instant, Spencer was back at his childhood park. He was sitting on the bench with Amanda again, and they were both staring at a younger Spencer huddled under a tree with a book. Two children who were a few years older than him walked up to the younger boy and ripped his book in half. The other boy yanked Spencer frown the ground and threw him against a pole.

"It's sad, isn't it," Amanda sighed, "that as many times as we stare back into the past we can't change a thing. That's okay though, I suppose, because the past is what defines us, isn't it?"

"Why are we here?" Spencer asked. "Who are you?"

Smiling, Amanda turned her head to smile at Spencer, and as she did so, the scene changed to a cityscape filled with people and cars.

"I'm the ghost of Christmas past."

~* MC *~

A monster of an introduction, but it was necessary, honestly! Thnx for reading everyone; hope it was okay :)