Chapter 31

"Katie." Peter came up to where Katie and Hotch were standing in the kitchen, watching her team and the locals work. "We found this."

This was a binder labeled 'experiment journal' and filled with meticulously kept notes. Unfortunately all those notes were in code. "And the last person we want to ask is our best code breaker." Hotch sighed. "Did you guys see any sign of any kind of an experiment down there?"

"Not so far." Katie replied. "Lots of books, many printed out and spiral-bound on that equipment upstairs and a ton of work, but it's all in their individual disciplines. No sign of any cross-over or anything else."

"Great." Hotch sighed and pulled out his phone.

Morgan was sitting there watching his friend's now completely numb hand being encased in a fiberglass shell when his phone rang. "That was Hotch." Morgan said to Spencer. "He said they found an experiment notebook Rudger was keeping but it's in code. Can you tell us anything about that?"

"Experiment," Spencer said, thoughtfully. As Morgan watched some of his old friend began poking through the fog. He could almost see the infamous IQ starting to rev back up to speed. "Experiment, that's a good metaphor; dehumanizing, of course, but a good metaphor. You could say we were running the first stage of an experiment for him. Yes, that works."

Dr. Cargill had said that if you could frame it in logical, unemotional language you might be able to get more sooner. "So tell me about the experiment, at least what you can."

"He…profiled for ideal test subjects relevant to his outcome, I believe. I never had a chance to profile him to…find out if that was accurate but, um, the more we got to know each other the more we noticed certain traits that we had in common."

"Yeah, we know." Morgan inwardly winced as Spencer blinked in that new bit of data. "I'm afraid you don't have a lot of secrets left. Katie got the test results back from Simon Frasier U."

"I'm assuming this means it's not schizophrenia."

"It's not schizophrenia. And just so you know, none of us give a damn."

Spencer quirked a smile at that. "Good to know."

"So you decided to work it for him?"

"He…threatened to cut off the water if we didn't comply. Not that it was all that…hard, once we got the hang of it. Laura's…" Here he did get a smile, a real one, the gobsmacked smile of a man head over heels in love. "… a great partner." He sighed noisily, then again. "You know, I don't give a damn about ethics this time."

Morgan chuckled. "She's your new lady then? Hang on, hang on, I'm not going to tease. I just want to be sure."

Spencer's ears were turning red, but he nodded. "Yes, we're staying together. We're going to go back to my place…"

Morgan winced. "No, you're not."

"Why not?"

"You know a Mr. Benton? Lived up on the fourth floor?"

"Yeah. He was having some problems. Mrs. Cavanaugh suspected Alzheimer's."

"She was right. He forgot the stove on. We saved the box with Maeve's letters but the water damage took everything else. I'm sorry."

Spencer sighed and sagged. "This might be for the best. Laura and I can start over. I don't know what we're going to do now though. Maybe the University Club…"

"Maybe Rossi's guest room. He's already got you set up."

Spencer stopped to think a moment. "Laura and I…"

"Rossi's a big boy, he knows what grown-ups do." For a moment he saw Spencer's eyes close tightly in pain. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No, you don't get to do that anymore. We're all adults here, we can take it. What?"

"She's…still recovering from the…end of the experiment. Rossi doesn't have to worry about that much."

Wait a minute. "You sure she shouldn't see a doctor?"

"I think she should but she…probably still feels too vulnerable. She wants to wait for a specialist in DC. She should be fine to travel."

"You sure."

Spencer considered a moment. "94% probability she'll be fine."

"All right. Good enough. So you started working on his experiment. Is that why the place was so slick? Was he trying for compliance?"

"Partially. Mostly he was trying to optimize variables; conditions as ideal as possible while still holding us there."

"Why did it take you so long to escape?"

"He never came down. Only once to deliver his threat, otherwise we didn't see him. I didn't know how to manipulate him into opening the door until the end of the experiment."

"When he came in to see the results?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened?"

"The…experiment ended early, but we thought…the outcome was good. But…one uncontrollable variable…he wasn't pleased with the result…"

"What did he do?" As Morgan watched the fog that seemed to surround Spencer grew denser. He watched as he swallowed, tried to get his mouth to work but even the metaphor failed. "Just relax. We don't need to know now. Can you tell me what happened after?"

"I thought my part was over, but…he wanted us to try again…"

"And that wasn't going to happen?"

"Not under those conditions." Spencer showed a trace of emotion, finally. Deep anger. "Never under those conditions. Never again."

"I agree with you there." But some instinct hit the brakes in Morgan's head. "What about under other conditions?"

Spencer looked at him then, met his eyes for the first time. Before he sank back into the fog of shock Morgan saw fierce determination and challenge and anger and a longing he'd never seen in his friend before. "Absolutely. With Laura. And if the FBI doesn't like it they can keep my badge, I'm done."

"Hey hey, no need to get ahead of ourselves here. You up to telling me exactly what you two are planning to do?" As he watched Spencer sank even deeper into that fog. After a moment he shook his head. "Okay, how about a when?"

Spencer sighed. "The Unsub wanted us to start again in another three weeks, but…for…long-term safety another 21 weeks would be ideal."

Okay, they had some time to work with this. "Longer sounds better to me."

"I agree. Neither of us is really recovered enough. We might need some help with that but I don't know…"

"Well, we've got time. What do you need to do first?"

"Food, showers, clean clothes and a good night's sleep somewhere safe. Find a specialist for Laura; make sure she's all right." Spencer sighed. "I'm not thinking much past that."

"That's all right; we can work with that for a start."