A/N~ Hello sweeties! So, some people have been asking me when Ariel and Spencer are going to have a kid. My answer is not for a while at least. After all, Ariel hasn't even met the team yet, and they are both very invested in their jobs. Plus, I still have a lot of things planned for them before they actually get to that point. So now that that's all cleared up… back to the story!

Ariel's P.O.V.

I had just finished packing when my husband came into the apartment and nearly swept me off of my feet.

I laughed as he picked me up in a hug, spinning me around. "Someone's excited." I teased.

He nodded. "Two weeks of nothing but sun, the strip, and you." he mumbled into my hair.

"Even though you've been banned from most of the casinos in Vegas?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Spencer sighed, rolling his eyes, and I giggled. I just couldn't help it - we were both so excited. We had planned a week in Vegas - where Spencer grew up - and then another week in Pasadena - where I grew up - with no interruptions from either of our jobs, unless the end of the world occurred. Kat had left a week or so ago, so we were going to meet up with her in Pasadena, and then we would all fly back together.

Which, given our luck, would most likely happen.

8888

Roughly seven hours later, we were touching down in Las Vegas, and Spencer and I shared an excited smile as we got off of the plane.

"Ready?" Spencer asked me, and I winked at him.

"I think that the right question is: is Vegas ready for us?" I asked, and he laughed.

I reveled in the lightness that he had. Most of the time he seemed almost weighed down by all of the evil that his job exposed him to, making my husband appear older than he actually was. But now, under the neon lights that lined the Vegas streets, he looked as carefree as anyone else our age - even if his tan button-down shirt and red striped sweater vest made him look more like a teacher's assistant than an FBI agent.

I rested my head on his shoulder as we waited for our bags to come out. "Are you excited to see her?" I asked, and I felt him nod in response.

"Yeah. I'm actually a bit nervous." he admitted. "This will be the first time since we moved out to Virginia that I'm going to see her."

I lifted my head long enough to give him a look. "What are you talking about, 'I'? You want me to come with you, don't you?" I asked. I was confused - and honestly hoping that we weren't about to have a repeat of the same argument that we always had when it came to his mother. I had known about Diana's illness since we were seventeen and he showed up at my parents' house at three in the morning in the middle of a thunderstorm because his mom had been having an episode and wouldn't let him into the house.

"Of course I do." Spencer said, quick to reassure me. "I just wasn't sure if you wanted to come…"

I had to wait to answer him while he went to wave down a cab. After we had gotten our suitcases loaded in the back and were on our way to the hotel, though, I picked up the conversation.

"Spencer, I'm coming with you." I told him firmly. "There's no way I'm letting you do this alone."

He smiled at me before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I love you." he said softly.

"I love you too." I told him.

8888

The next morning we were up bright and early to go to Bennington. It took us all of five minutes to get dressed - Spencer in a dark short-sleeved polo shirt and khakis, and me in shorts and a pale green button down, with the sleeves rolled so that they hid my tattoos.

As soon as we got to Bennington, one of the doctors was coming over to us.

"I heard a rumor that you were here." she said.

I turned to shake her hand, but Spencer couldn't take his eyes off of Diana.

"How's she doing?" he asked, sounding like he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Schizophrenia is a lifetime illness." the doctor told us, and I nodded - I remembered when they had explained it to us the first time. "The meds stabilize the worst of her symptoms, but she still has bad days. What makes her most happy are her journals, and your daily letters."

I squeezed Spencer's hand when she said that, smiling at him. "See? I told you that those were a good idea." I teased.

Spencer spared a moment to give me a teasing glare, before turning back to the doctor.

"She is exceptionally proud of you." the doctor added, and I felt Spencer stiffen.

"She is?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course she is, you moron." I teased, bumping him lightly with my shoulder. "Why wouldn't she be?"

He just shrugged.

"Talks about you all the time, to anyone who will listen." she told us. "Staff, other patients. Her journals are filled with the cases you write her about." she laughed softly. "Calls them your adventures."

"Diana always did believe that adventure is all around you - as long as you know where to look." I said nostalgically. I remembered her telling me that on one of her better days.

"That's what happens when you're a professor of fifteenth century literature." Spencer said, smiling softly.

"She's going to be so excited that you were finally able to get here in person." the doctor said.

I felt Spencer's hand tense up in mine, and I didn't even have to look up at him to know that he was frowning.

"Maybe it's better if we just let her rest for today…" he mumbled, and both the doctor and I looked at him, confused.

"Rest?" I asked him. "Why on earth would we do that?" The doctor looked about as mystified as I was.

"Yeah." Spencer said. "We'll come back tomorrow."

He went to leave the hospital, nearly yanking my arm out of its socket as he dragged me with him, before turning back around and dragging me right back to the doctor.

"But, doctor - can you give this to her?" he asked, handing her a book. "It's Margery Kempe - her favorite."

"Babe, we should really -" I started, but Spencer was dragging me back out before I could say anything more.

By the time we got outside of Bennington's front doors, I had had enough. "What the hell was that?" I asked him, yanking my hand out of his.

"What was what?" he asked me.

"That shit that you pulled inside. Spencer, what is going on? You were so excited to come and see your mom, and now you don't want to anymore?" I asked him. "Is that it? You don't want to see her?"

By this point, we were starting to draw strange looks from the other people who were coming to visit.

"Ariel, can you keep your voice down please?" Spencer asked me urgently. He hated making a scene.

I, on the other hand, didn't mind it as much. "No, actually, I can't. Not until you tell me what's going on."

Reid sighed, running a hand through his hair before answering. "I just… I don't want to see her like that - especially if she's having a bad day."

My anger melted away almost immediately - although there was still a little part of me that was irritated that I had had to wake up at six that morning to not even see the person that we were getting up to see.

"Alright, Spencer." I agreed, kissing his cheek. "We'll put off seeing Diana until tomorrow. But not a day more, got it?"

"Yes ma'am." my husband sassed, and I threw my head back as I laughed.

"So what are we going to do for the rest of the day, hmm?" I asked as Spencer and I walked away from Bennington and back towards where we had parked our rental car.

"I have a few ideas…" Spencer mumbled, and I grinned slightly. That grin grew, though, when I looked up and saw how red he was blushing.

"Alright then." I said, trying to keep myself from giggling at how adorable he looked. "Lead the way."

8888

The next day we got to Bennington a bit later than the day before, so we hurried past the nurses station before the nurse on duty called us back.

"Dr. Reid! Wait!" she called out.

Spencer stopped, but he had to pull me back to meet the nurse. I was determined to get to see Diana today, whether he liked it or not. I'd go without him if necessary.

"Someone delivered this to the desk last night for you." the nurse said, handing my husband a small package.

"What? Who would've known that you were here?" I asked Spencer.

"I have no idea." he said honestly, and I smirked.

"Well you don't hear that one very often." I teased, and Spencer gave me a fake glare before turning his attention back to the package. He flipped it over in his hands, examining both sides of the package before opening it.

He looked at me in confusion after he pulled a smaller envelope out of the original one.

"Hey, don't look at me babe." I told him. "I only send you things while I'm gone, and if I was going to send something here, I would have addressed it to Diana."

He nodded, but still looked puzzled. "Then who…?" he trailed off as he opened the envelope and let a key fall out and into his palm. He turned it over in his hands for a second, before pulling a note out of the envelope.

I came up next to him to look at the note - I would have read it over his shoulder but already knew I was too short to make that work.

She will die unless you save her, Dr. Reid. The note read. Call Gideon. He knows.

We both stared at the note for a moment, utterly lost. Then I sighed.

"I guess this means that you're going back, aren't you?" I asked. I didn't even have to say where he was going - it was obvious.

Spencer nodded, kissing my forehead softly. "I'm sorry, Ari-bear." he said, using his stupid nickname for me (I still loved it, no matter how much I pretended otherwise).

"It's okay, Spence." I told him. "Duty calls." And I really was okay. He and I had both known that our schedules would wreak havoc on our personal lives, but we didn't care. We wouldn't have it any other way.

He turned to leave the hospital, but was only a few steps away when I stopped him. "I'm not coming with you." I said.

"What?" Spencer asked, turning to look at me.

"I'm staying here." I said. "It seems to me like whoever sent you that package is trying to make this personal, so I'm going to try my best to stay out of it." I explained. "Besides, I haven't visited Diana in ages. And this will give me a chance to go and play in the casinos without having to leave you behind." I finished, trying to make it seem as much like a joke as possible. I think something in my voice gave me away though, because Spence immediately crossed over to me and pulled me into a big bear hug.

"Be careful." he said softly, and I smiled at him.

"Now where's the fun in that?" I asked him. "Besides, I hear that Ari Ross is in town for a bit. Who knows, maybe I'll run into her."

Spencer smirked, chuckling under his breath. "Alright." he said. "Have fun, okay?" Then he kissed me one last time before heading for the door.

I watched until he was out of sight, and then turned around and headed for the common area where most of the patients gathered. I figured that I would spend a few hours with Diana before making my way to the strip.

But first…

I pulled out my phone and hit 2 on speed dial. It only took a few seconds for Kat to answer.

"Hey chicadee, what's up?" she asked.

"Pack yourself a bag." I told her. "I think its time for the city that never sleeps to get a visit from Undiscovered Nemesis."

A/N~ Thank you all once again for reading! I love you all, and I'm so grateful to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, or read this story! HUGE thank-yous to ahowell1993, opukata, and ripon for reviewing! Also - and here's a shameless bit of self-promotion - if you like stories that have OCs inserted into the storyline, check out my Angel series - Codename: Angel (Doctor Who), Codename: Lake (Criminal Minds/Doctor Who), and Angel in the TARDIS (Doctor Who).