Chp. 8

Spencer sat in the conference room of the Las Vegas field office of the U.S. Marshals Service while he waited for Emily, Derek and the rest of the team to finish the debriefing. Most of the team, at any rate. Max Ryan had died as a result of the gunshot he'd suffered in the cemetery. Spencer knew this and he felt guilty that someone had died protecting him. Actually, two people had died protecting him. He knew that was why his mother was dead. She'd tried to keep him safe from his father and she had tried to teach him things. His mother had always told him that he was smart and she'd read him lots of books. It had been wonderful! But now, he could barely remember it.

Spencer had known his father was going to send her away. Even at three years old, he'd seen the signs, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Hot tears pricked his eyes as he remembered the night before his mother had been sent away. She'd come to him after his father had gone to bed. Diana had held him all night, telling him to remember her arms around him when he was scared, afraid or bad things happened to him. Spencer remembered that she told him that no matter what, he was brave, he was strong and she loved him. He'd started regressing a couple weeks prior to Diana being institutionalized, but it worsened once she was gone. He was surprised his father hadn't killed him, because he hated taking care of him like a baby and had told Spencer that more than once. During one of his exiles to the closet, Spencer came to the reluctant conclusion that his father only kept him around to use when his urge for sex couldn't be suppressed and a suitable 'partner' couldn't be found. Keeping other kids from being hurt was the only thing that had kept him sane.

"Spence?" He jumped at hearing his name. Turning to the voice, he saw Emily looking at him the same way his mother used to. Reaching out to her, the agent pulled the small boy into her lap, pushed her chair back and stood. It was clear to her that something had triggered a bad memory for the boy who had stolen her heart and Emily wasn't about to make him relive it in front of an audience. The team studiously ignored the scene and concentrated on their reports, except for Morgan. He discretely caught Emily's eye, concern on his face. She gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head, signaling that she had the situation handled. Feeling Spencer's arms around her neck, Emily reached up and laid his head on her shoulder, then opened the door and carried the child out of the office.

000

Will LaMontage had been among the officers who'd arrested Mr. Reid. It was actually a beautifully executed operation, in the former Ranger's opinion, and he'd been on enough ops to know when they were fouled up beyond all repair. Between the FBI agents, U.S. Marshals and the BAU's Technical Analyst, it had almost been too easy, despite the fact that one agent had been killed. But it would make killing William Reid a million times harder than it would've been if the BAU had never been called in. C'est la vie, the Louisianan thought. It wouldn't be any fun if it was easy.

Reid was droning on about his rights and wanting a lawyer and a thousand other things as the two Marshals escorted him to interrogation. They were almost to the conference room the BAU was using when the door opened and the Marshal's, as well as their prisoner, saw Emily carrying a clearly distraught Spencer. Emily's eyes widen slightly when she saw the two men and, more importantly, who they were escorting. She tightened her hold on Spencer, desperate to protect him, even if William clearly couldn't do anything to him at the moment. William's eyes locked on his son and he started to speak, "Spen-." Whatever he'd intended to say was cut off when he was violently shoved into the opposite wall of the narrow hallway. Before he could protest, he felt cold metal behind both his ears and hot breath next to his right ear. "You even thing about looking at him and we'll put two bullets in you. Clear?" Will drawled, his normally calm nature strangely absent. All he had to do was think about his own son back home in Virginia. What he would do if Henry went through the same abuse that William Reid's victims had and he was sorely tempted to end the scum's life, due process be damned. Once Emily and Spencer gone, the two deputies holstered their weapons and continued escorting their prisoner to the interrogation room as if nothing had happened.

000

Emily ducked into an office that appeared to be unused as the space only had a desk, desk chair and a couch. She sat down on the couch and leaned back, still holding Spencer. They sat like that for a few minutes, until Spencer broke the silence. "Why is we hewe?"

"You seemed like you were upset about something a minute ago. I thought you might like to go somewhere and talk about it."

Instead of answering, Spencer began cataloging everything he knew about Emily Prentiss and his experiences with her. He concluded that she knew how to take care of kids, she knew how to talk to kids but not demean them, and she knew how to make them feel at ease. In short, Emily knew things a mom would know and she knew them instinctively. Spencer knew that the best way to get an answer was to ask a question. "Emily, can I ask you somethin'?"

The profiler in Emily noted that Spencer's diction had improved. The maternal side of her missed being called 'Emwy.' But she set that aside and focused on Spencer.

Gathering his courage, Spencer plunged ahead. "Do you have any kids, Emily?"

She was glad Spencer wasn't looking at her because he wasn't able to see the pained look that crossed her face. "No, sweetheart, I don't have any kids."

"Do you want any?" Spencer asked quickly.

"Very much," Emily answered, just as quickly.

"I wish…" Spencer started, then a sob choked off his next words. Before Emily could speak, he started again. "I wish you could be my mommy."

Tears pricked Emily's eyes, but she held them at bay. "Why…um…Why can't I be your mommy, honey?"

Spencer was quiet for a long time, then Emily could feel wetness on her shirt. He spoke haltingly through tears. "'Cause I-I got my mom-mommy killed…and…and…those other kids, and that other FBI guy. I'm wor..worth…" Spencer was sobbing now and couldn't finish. Emily was crying unashamed right along with him.

Largely because of the child she was holding, Emily restrained herself from marching down the hall into the interrogation room and emptying her Glock 19 into William Reid's head. The bastard had told this precious baby that he was worthless. William had told Spencer that his only purpose was to serve him and that by allowing him to do what he wanted, the boy prevented other kids from getting hurt.

Emily held Spencer for a long time and just rocked him, not saying anything because he was too distraught. When he calmed down and his sobs were quiet hiccups, Emily spoke again. "Sweetheart, I want you to listen to me. Can you do that?"

"Ye-, yes, Emily."

"Ok, good. You are not worthless. You are worth more than anything in the world to me. What happened to your mom, those other kids, you and Max; that wasn't your fault. You know whose it was?" She waited until he asked in a small voice, "Who?"

"Your father. In fact, you're really brave. Do you know why?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "You're brave because you didn't give up. But you're not alone anymore, kiddo. Do you hear me?"

"Yes." Spencer whispered in a small, sleepy voice. Emily glanced down and saw that his eyes were closed, his head pillowed on her chest. She smiled and rubbed his back. "You just rest, baby. Mommy'll be here when you wake up."

Just outside the office, Derek Morgan leaned against the wall and thought about everything he'd heard. Like Emily, it took every ounce of restraint Derek could muster not to walk down the hall and exact swift, bloody vengeance on William Reid. Instead, Derek spent his time praying that Spencer would accept him as a father.

000