A/N: I'm back with the newest chapter! (grins) But first…

THANK YOU, so very much, for your reviews and love for this story! (HUGS) I truly hope that you'll enjoy the ride to come as much as you seem to have enjoyed the road thus far.

Awkay, before I get all sappy… LET'S GO! Have fun?

Of Darkness and Light

Maeve gasped loudly when she woke up and bounced to a sitting position, cold sweat gluing her clothes to her skin. She would've screamed if she'd had enough breath for such. As it was all she could do was pant helplessly.

The dream… Of ice, terror and pain… It felt so real…!

She'd just managed to catch her breath when the room's door opened and JJ came in, carrying what looked like a breakfast. The agent appeared very tired and worried but still smiled at the sight of her awake. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Better." And it was the honest truth. Her stomach didn't feel content yet but the pain wasn't the sharp and piercing kind anymore. Surely it had to be a good sign. She thanked the other for the food, then frowned at how quiet the apartment was. "Where are the others?"

JJ's face appeared a touch tighter than before. "Don't worry about that now", the blonde adviced, then switched topics quickly. "So… Multiples, huh?"

Maeve nodded slowly. Her hand was tender and protective when she lay it to her abdomen, without realizing it trying to feel the lives within although it was much too early. "Spence… He revealed that, before…" Her voice broke and in a flash all words vanished. Her eyes grew misty and it took a while before she understood why.

"Hey." JJ took her hand and squeezed comfortingly. There was, however, some sadness on the agent's face. "We'll get him back. He'll be safe."

Maeve nodded, trying to find comfort from those words. She took a deep breath although it sounded too loud. "So will Henry. And Will."

JJ sighed. Her shoulders relaxed just a little bit. Her eyes were just as watery as Maeve's own. "I really hope so."

A silence full of understanding lingered while they both took some tea and drank slowly. Dreaming of a future where their loved ones would be safe and sound. Where there was no war raging outside.

Spencer opened his eyes. Simple as that. It took entirely too long before he truly comprehended what he was seeing. The realization made him blink with surprise.

It wasn't a laboratory. There was no Erica Leonor or her father. In fact the place he stared at wasn't anything that he would've seen before.

He seemed to be sitting on top of a cliff, staring at a valley spreading down below. It was stunningly beautiful. There was green and flowers everywhere. And further ahead spread an ocean, sparkling like a field of diamonds and continuing beyond his wildest imagination. In the horizon the sun was setting, painting the cloudless sky with a stunning display of colors. The air that caressed him was comfortably warm, carried the scent of roses and lilies.

The most amazing thing, however, was what happened inside him. Gone were the horrors that he endured before the blinding white came. In fact, it was very hard for him to focus on anything that happened… before. There was no pain, fear or coldness where he now sat. Only peace. Like he was exactly where he belonged.

Spencer didn't know where he was but he found himself unwilling to imagine leaving.

Apparently he wasn't alone. Because all of a sudden a very familiar voice managed to startle him out of the tranquil hue. "Oh, sweetie… This isn't your place. Not yet."

Spencer turned his head slowly to meet his mother's face. Even in that surreal situation, knowing full well that he was staring at nothing but an image projected by her mind, he felt a hint of discomfort. The previous time they met they didn't exactly part on the best of terms. There was still awfully lot they would've needed to talk about, to sort out.

His mother shook her head. There was a unreadable look in her eyes. "Not here, Spencer. This isn't the time or place." She approached. "But now… Would you mind terribly if I keep you company for a while?"

Sure, they were at odds. But she was his mother, the person who'd done so much for him and he looked after in return. He didn't have the heart to refuse her. And to be honest it felt comforting to not be alone in this strange reality. So he nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

And so they sat there, side by side, neither feeling the need to say anything for a while.

/ They were gruelling and painful eighteen hours of labor. While minutes dragged by Alex Blake lost count on how many times she almost gave up. Or how many times she cursed her husband, with a quite colorful and vulgar vocabulary, for forcing her to go through it. But then her son was handed into her arms. And the moment she looked into those unnaturally blue eyes she knew that she loved him more than she'd ever love anything or anyone.

Through her tears, through the still pulsating pain, she smiled. "Oh, honey… You're perfect." /

Alex's heart hammered while a elevator took her closer to the most precious thing she'd ever had. Towards something she'd imagined lost. Her hands shook and breathing was a lot harder than it was supposed to be.

What she did to be granted this… She'd never forgive herself. She'd never forget the look on Spencer's face when he fell down from the dart she shot. But she'd been offered a second chance after burying her son. What kind of a mother wouldn't have taken it?

"Why did you decide to tell me that he's alive?" she growled. Her eyes swept briefly towards her companion but she couldn't bring herself to look for long. "Why now, after all this time?"

Dr. Erica Leonor shrugged. There wasn't a trace of emotion in the woman's eyes. "Because I needed your… services and this was the only way to ensure your co-operation." The scientist sighed. "I can't imagine why you're so attached to that thing."

Alex's eyes flashed while she saw red. "That thing…", she growled. "… is my son."

Erica watched her for a moment but didn't comment. From there it was silent for a long time, with both of them deep in thought. Without noticing it Alex began to fiddle with the wooden pendant around her neck, her fingers caressing the picture engraved to it.

/ As years passed by Ethan grew up to be a astonishingly intelligent, curious and kind little boy. Unlike Alex expected the impossibly blue color of his eyes didn't fade over time. Instead it grew deeper, became such that scared some people. To her he was the most beautiful child she'd ever laid her eyes on.

One day when Alex came home a already seven-years-old Ethan ran to her, those baffling eyes shining with unimaginable excitement. He seemed ready to burst with joy. "Happy birthday, mommy!"

Alex chuckled, kissing the top of his head. "Well thank you, sweetie. Now, I think we have a cake to cut."

Ethan nodded eagerly. "But first… I made you a present, at school."

Alex blinked twice, then smiled. "You didn't have to…" All words died into her throat when she saw the gift.

It was a oval shaped wooden pendant that had a rose engraved to it. At first it appeared beautiful but nothing exceptional. Until she pressed the correct spot and the pendant opened. It unfolded to the shape of a butterly.

No child at the age of seven should've been able to make such.

Ethan frowned, disappointment appearing to his face. "Mommy? Don't you like butterflies?"

It took a touch too long before Alex managed to smile and grab him into a tight hug. "I love it, honey. It's perfect." Still she held him a bit too tightly, a part of her sensing the threat. /

Erica didn't attempt to speak, which was a very smart move. Alex didn't think that she would've reacted well to hollow attempts of small talk. It seemed to take a year before there was a bing that announced they'd reached their destination. Even longer was the wait for the doors to open.

Alex's legs were dangerously unsteady when she stepped out and froze. There was a massive, heavily guarded metallic door in front of her. Exactly nine steps away. Then a crystal clear memory of Ethan's laughter echoed in her head and she pushed herself forth.

Until Erica spoke. "Agent Blake." The voice was full of something she couldn't recognize. "The being in that room… I don't know what you imagine to find. But don't say that I didn't warn you."

Alex's eyes narrowed. She couldn't even look towards the scientist. "I'm not afraid of my own son", she hissed.

"That creature isn't your son, not anymore."

Alex tried not to listen. Her feet certainly seemed to have a mind of their own. As though sleepwalking she kept moving on, barely noticed the guards that opened the doors when Erica gave them a sign. The screech the doors made upon opening was deafening. The shockwave it brought was, however, nothing compared to what took over her when the sight inside met her.

All of Alex stilled and for a second or two her heart stopped while tears filled her eyes.

/ The epilectic seizures began when Ethan was eight. As did the crushing headaches and nightmares that made the little boy scream like a wild animal. The doctors were absolutely clueless, only muttered something about a neurological disease, and Alex was horrified. She didn't, however, know true fear until she came home a month after his ninth birthday. There he lay on the floor, seizing and gasping. Barely breathing, a glazed over look in his eyes. His skin was vividly blue.

"ETHAN!" /

There, in a laboratory that a small bed, a chess board and books were supposed to make a young adult's room, sat a bald eighteen year old with radiantly blue skin. Bizarre, chillingly beautiful patterns traveled underneath his nearly transparent skin. Upon first glance she didn't believe that she was looking at a human being at all. But then she saw those astonishingly blue eyes, which were currently intently focused on some sort of a chemical mixture. And the mother in her knew.

The intensity of the emotions that came over her nearly swept Alex off her feet. She did wobble while one unsteady hand clasped to her lips. The tears fell as she whispered the only thought that existed in her head. "Ethan…!"

That sound finally made him aware of her presence. His head snapped up and his gaze was sharp upon clashing with hers. Sharp, but not hostile. They stared at each other for the longest time, through a infinity of stilled seconds and trying to swim through all the years they'd lost. "Do I… know you?" he inquired in the end, his voice echoing rather in her head than in the room.

/ "Mr. Blake?"

James Blake's eyes snapped towards the kind eyed, young doctor. For a moment he attempted to draw comfort from her presence but at the moment nothing such existed. He swallowed against the bitter taste in his mouth and focused on his son once more. "So… He's dying?"

The doctor sighed. "We… don't know what, exactly, is happening to him." She gave him a evaluating glance. "But his vitals, organs and his very body… What's becoming of him isn't human. It won't be your son. If he even survives the transformation."

James stared his little boy who withered and trembled in his bed. Silvery tears running down his cheeks, fever and something beyond ravishing his small frame. Clearly under agony that James couldn't even imagine. His heart shattered in his chest but the words came out strong. "Take him."

"Would you like me to inform your wife?"

James gritted his teeth. Fighting back the tears was one of the hardest battles in his life. "No", he muttered. "I'll tell her."

Half an hour later, while holding Alex's crying and crumbling body in his arms after telling her that their son was dead, James tried to convince himself that he did the right thing. That he hadn't lied, not really. Their little boy was gone, anyway. /

It was very calm and peaceful in the world inside Spencer's head. He sighed, watching how in the horizon the sun continued to set. It would've been so tempting to close his eyes and just sleep, at least for a little while.

"Spencer, don't." His mother's hand grabbed his, anchoring his mind to the present. There was something beyond terror in her eyes. "You know what'll happen if you do. And surely you know better than to let go now."

Spencer swallowed. His eyes strayed downwards, ashamed. "I'm… just tired."

"I know, sweetie. There's been too much terror, pain, grief and heartache." The tone was tender but firm. "Maeve is tired, too. But she's holding on with with absolutely all there's in her. For you and the twins."

Those words made something inside Spencer shudder. All of a sudden the dull hue that'd been taking over him wasn't so tempting anymore. Cold that he hadn't noticed before began to creep in. "She'll be a great mother."

"And you'll be a great father", his mother assured him, her voice full of emotion that she didn't even try to mask. "So you can't stay here. Not like this. You need to keep fighting, just a little bit longer."

Spencer swallowed. The cold from before was intensifying. "What if I can't?"

Diana smiled, even if there was a hint of sadness behind it. "Do you remember what I told you? What made me choose the path that I did? It was your brother. And you." She looked away, the memories darkening her eyes. "When I was saved from that hellhole and the birth began three weeks too soon… And when they gave him to my arms, already dead… I thought that I wouldn't be able to go on for even a second. I swear that I lost my breath, right there, because the pain was so great. But then, twenty minutes later, you came. Screaming at the top of your lungs, very much alive. And I knew." She looked directly into his eyes and he didn't think that he'd ever seen anyone feel so much all at once. "The moment I looked at you and saw what kind of a fighter you were… I made myself a promise that I'd never, ever even think about giving up and letting go anymore. And that I'd never let you do so, either. Because you were born a warrior, Spencer. And no matter how dark and horrifying this world may become… You're the one thing that keeps me hanging on, that guides me back to light whenever I'm lost. So don't you dare leave me now, do you hear me?" There were genuine tears in her eyes. "Because to me you're the one thing that makes this world worth fighting for. I need you. So do your little ones and Maeve. Even your team."

Spencer swallowed loudly. This time it wasn't memories that filled his head. It was flashes of a future he'd never dared to even dream of.

His wedding with Maeve, his whole family there, together. Their twins, happy and growing up in safety. Maeve and he growing old together in a place that was far away from the madness that'd taken over the real life.

They'd been through so much to find each other, over and over again – he couldn't just give up and let it all go like this.

He looked towards his mother. This time there was new kind of fear in his heart. The cold… It was suffocating. "How… do I find my way back?"

His mother smiled once again, squeezing his hand tightly. "Don't worry, honey. This time I'll be the one to guide the way."

In a car that was approaching but still hopelessly far away Diana Reid refused to open her eyes when she came back to herself. She wiped her cheeks, much too aware that more moisture came immediately, and emitted a shuddering breath. Her heart was thudding so hard that she feared it might break.

"What happened?" Jason Gideon demanded from the driver's seat, his voice so tight that his throat had to hurt.

Right there Diana did something she hadn't expected. She smiled through the still rolling tears. "I… guided him back. He's still alive."

She couldn't see it, of course, but even without using her abilities she felt the tremor of relief that swept through Jason. He added speed to a point where it was dangerous. "Then let's hurry up. We'd better not fail him again."

Against all expectations, unlike he'd perhaps dared to hope, Spencer actually did manage to open his eyes. At first there was a lot of blur in his vision, shapes that didn't make any sense. Little by little the world around him began to settle.

There was a hard, uncomfortably cold floor underneath him. Or actually, he was feeling incredibly cold all over. He coughed and shivered, attempting to shift to a more comfortable position. His efforts were rewarded with a violent stab of pain that exploded from his side and spread mercilessly throughout his whole being. He gasped, then fell into a coughing spell that brought some moisture to his still bleary eyes.

A broken rib, maybe even several, his very slowly clearing head supplied. So they'd… resuscitated him? Yes, and harshly. His chest hurt a lot as well. Every new cough felt like he'd been torn to pieces. The gnawing cold was, however, the worst part. It didn't help at all that he had only a wet t-shirt and equally drenched pants on him.

He'd have to get out fast, or at least he'd have to move.

Taking a deep breath that his injuries and lungs didn't seem to appreciate at all Spencer shook his head to wake up properly, then looked around. What he discovered certainly didn't help him feel any better. He swallowed, a touch of panic flowing through.

Was he… inside a well? The round shaped, seemingly endlessly tall space he was trapped in certainly looked like one. He couldn't see a door. Or any sort of a window. Only darkness that was eased a little by the flashlight that'd been tossed down there with him. The only sound he could hear was his own unnervingly loud breathing.

Spencer shuddered and this time it didn't have anything to do with the cold.

"Hello?" There was, of course, no answer. It didn't keep him from wishing for one. "Is… Is anyone out there?"

Another fit of coughs tore through Spencer, rendering him speechless and breathless from sheer pain. He slumped back to the floor, no longer able to support his own weight. Once more he looked up, as though hoping that the desolate sight would change somehow. It didn't. There was no added light. No one came.

There, on the floor with only his wheezing breath keeping him company and feeling like he'd been frozen to death, horrible questions filled Spencer.

Was he… dead, after all? And even if he wasn't… How much longer would he survive, forgotten into his hollow tomb?

"Is anyone out there?"

TBC

A/N: Okay, woah… Poor, poor Reid! Such a nightmare he's in. (winces) But what are the team and Diana planning? Will they be able to save him – and themselves?

PLEASE, do leave a note to let me hear your thoughts!

Until next time, folks! I really hope that you'll all stick around for that one.

Take care!

Violet: There's quite a bit of dark stuff going on, no? (shivers) Let's hope that they all make it through this in one piece.

Awww, no worries. There'll be LOTS of more stories for those two shows coming! (grins) It warms my heart that you'd be so happy to read more.

Huge thank yous for the review!