A/N~ Hello! So here we have the ending of Revelations, but the beginning of the struggle with Reid and dilaudid. However, I hated how the show wrote Spencer with his addiction, because it could have been stopped before things got too bad. So here's my take on what should have happened.

This takes place right after the episode Fear and Loathing - in this AU, Spencer was on leave when they took that case.

Ariel's P.O.V.

I was being plucked and primped by the makeup ladies for Undiscovered Nemesis' photo shoot when my phone rang. I lept out of my chair, ignoring the cries of the makeup and hair people as I grabbed my phone from where it sat charging.

"Hello?" I asked breathlessly, clinging to the tiny bit of hope that I still had that my husband was on the other end. Normally I would have been a lot more composed, especially when I was in my 'Ari Ross' persona, but I had stopped caring about that after three days of no contact from my husband. Not that anyone at the shoot would comment, anyways. Our producer had told them all that I had a close friend in the hospital, and that I was desperately waiting for news on their condition.

"Hey, Ari-bear." my husband's voice rasped out, and I collapsed into a heap on the floor, tears rolling down my face just from hearing his voice.

People began to swarm around, yelling for help, but all I could make out was indistinct murmuring over the sound of my Spencer's voice.

"Don't you," I had to pause for a second to swallow the lump in my throat before I could continue. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"

Spencer laughed, and my heart skipped a beat at hearing that sound that I never thought I would hear again. "Yes, ma'am." he told me. "When are you getting home?"

"I should be home within a day or two." I told him.

"Alright." he sighed. "I love you."

"Love you too." I whispered, before flipping my phone shut. I looked up at the band members gathered there, and finally I smiled. "He's okay." That was when it really hit me. "He's really okay."

And yet, something still didn't feel right.

The entire group - Finn, Lee, Kat, and Gabe - wrapped themselves around me, and I could hear the whispering gossip even through my happiness. I knew what they were whispering about, though - Undiscovered Nemesis was showing emotion. Usually we were always cool and collected, with a lot of snarky attitude thrown in. But never this openly emotional, or at least not open with the negative ones.

"What is the holdup over here?" the photographer shouted, storming over with his camera in his hands. "I am waiting to make you people beautiful!"

The rest of the band backed away, except for Kat, who kept her arm around my shoulder. Finn walked over and clapped the photographer on the shoulder. "Sorry, man." he said. "We just needed a moment or two."

I walked back over to the makeup table, feeling completely embarrassed when I saw the mascara tracks that were running down my face.

The photographer came to stand behind me just as I reached for the makeup remover.

"Stop!" he cried out, practically tearing the bottle from my hands. "What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Fixing my makeup." I told him.

He shook his head, giving me a look that said I had no idea what I was doing. "Don't. Don't you dare." he grabbed me by the shoulders, steering me towards the set. "And… you!" he said, pointing to Finn. "Come here." Finn complied, even though he looked completely confused.

"Right." the photographer said, pushing us in front of the background - a post-apocalyptic scene complete with smouldering fires and smoke filling the air. "I want you to act like you are in love - like he just told you the most heartbreaking news ever, but that you still love him anyway."

Finn blanched, but I just got mad. "Are you insane?" I shouted at him. "There's no way in hell that I'm going to do that!" Finn was backing away slowly, knowing better than to be near me when I lost my temper, but the idiot photographer just kept coming closer, snapping picture after picture. Kat was slowly moving over, and I knew that she was waiting for me to snap.

Finally, I lost it completely. "What the damn hell are you doing?" I yelled, going to swing at him, but Kat stopped me.

"Just… wait, chicadee." she said quietly. "Give the man a second to explain." Then she glared at the man in question. "But he'd better do it fast, or else I might be the one to attack."

"I wanted to get her angry." the photographer admitted quickly. "Ari Ross shouldn't weep - she doesn't weep. But tears of anger, those are acceptable."

"What on earth are you talking about?" I asked him, but he didn't answer. Instead, he gestured to the screens behind him, where the last pictures that he had taken were displayed.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the pictures. I barely recognized myself in them. Instead, I saw an angry goddess, dressed in blood red lace and biker leathers. I recognized the clothes, though - black ripped jeans, studded high-heel boots, black fingerless gloves that were laced up to my elbows, a maroon lace crop top and a black leather jacket over it - but not much else. Her face was contorted with rage and anguish, and the mascara lines on her cheeks only added to the effect. My hand was raised in the picture, about to come down on the poor photographer, but Kat was holding me back. She was nearly unrecognizable as well. Her lips were painted black, and so were her eyes, making her hair pop even more than it usually did. She wore a black trench coat over top of a camouflage-print bralet, with dark ripped jeans and combat boots that laced up to her knees. She looked like a militarized avenging angel, what with the look of fury on her face as she held me back.

"Wow." I said, nearly speechless. "Just, wow."

The photographer smiled nervously, and I wondered if he was still afraid that I'd flip out on him again. "You like it?" he asked, and I nodded.

"I love it." I told him.

8888

I was opening the door to the apartment that my husband and I shared around thirty-six hours after leaving the photoshoot.

"Spencer?" I called out as I came through the door. It was only one in the afternoon, but I thought I'd see if he was home anyway. "I'm home!"

I was surprised when there was actually an answer - I heard something slamming shut, and then there was silence for a moment before Spencer appeared in the hallway. I couldn't help but cry out when I saw him, and I ran over, grabbing onto his shoulders.

"What the hell happened?" I asked as I looked him over. He was a wreck - he looked like he hadn't shaved for at least a week, his hair was hanging in his face, limp and greasy, and he was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and sweatpants that looked like he had pulled them out of the garbage.

"Nothing." he muttered, pushing me off of him. "I'm fine."

I looked at him in shock as I hit the wall behind me, but he didn't even react - that was what really worried me. Usually if he knocked into anyone, even accidentally, he would start apologizing like crazy. Now he didn't even look to see if I was okay.

"No you're not." I told him, shoving him back. I felt horrible about it as soon as I did, though, because he nearly doubled over in pain. "Oh god." I said, starting to panic. "Okay... sit down, shirt off." I said, trying to put myself into a detached frame of mind - I knew that I wouldn't be able to help Spence if I was too busy freaking out over his injuries.

Luckily he listened to me - even though Spence was a beanpole, I knew that I wouldn't be able to move him if he didn't want me to. He sat down at the dining room table and pulled the long sleeved shirt over his head.

"Oh my god, I am going to kill Gideon." I said, unable to think of anything else that I could say. "Spencer… what happened to you?"

His torso was covered in bruises, a whole spectrum of reds, browns, purples, blues, yellows, and greens.

He looked at me in confusion. "What? Why, what happened with Gideon?" he asked. I hesitated for a second before telling him, "Nothing." I didn't want to lie to him, but I also knew how Spence idolized the man. I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize that, no matter how much Gideon deserved to be knocked down a few pegs.

Then I noticed the marks in the crook of his elbow, and I got mad.

"Spencer Reid, you'd better have a damn good explanation for why there are track marks on your arms." I told him.

He sighed, thinking about it for a second before answering me. "The last UnSub kidnapped me." he said softly, his voice breaking a bit. "He… he injected me with Dilaudid." He hung his head, barely looking at me. "I - I got addicted, Ariel."

My anger faded away almost instantly, and I practically threw myself at my husband. "Oh, Spence…" I sighed, but then something occurred to me. "You've still been shooting up, haven't you?" I asked him, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod. That's when my anger came back, full force.

"Damn it, Spencer!" I yelled, then took a breath. Yelling wasn't going to solve anything. "It's one thing for you to be put in circumstances beyond your control. But it's a completely different thing for you to keep making things worse for yourself. There's not just you to think about here, for god's sake!" I pressed my hands to my stomach, hoping that what I was about to say would shock him enough that I would be able to get through to my drug-addled genius. "Spencer, I'm telling you this now, because damn it, I'm not going to put any one of us through you on drugs. I'm pregnant, Spence, and I swear to god if you don't get help, I will walk out of that door and you will never see me or our baby ever again."

My husband looked at me with his mouth hanging wide open, and if the circumstances were different I would've been laughing at how ridiculous he looked. "You don't mean that." he said, completely ignoring what I had just told him. I wasn't sure if that just made me angrier or more upset, but either way I was just about ready to kick his ass.

But instead of breaking down like I wanted to, I just looked at him and let my tears run down my face, not even bothering to try and wipe them away. "Try me." I dared. "I love you, Spencer. Which is why I'm not going to stand here and watch you fucking self-destruct."

I went to walk past him then, but he grabbed me around the waist. "Spencer, let go of me." I told him.

"Please," he said, and I could feel the lump forming in my throat just from how heartbroken he sounded. "Don't leave me."

I rolled my eyes as I turned around to look at him. "I'm not leaving you, you moron." I said, teasing him slightly - it was my way of letting him know that things would eventually be okay between us. I was still mad at him - mad wasn't even the right word. I was absolutely, completely, furious with him, but I was even madder at someone else. "I just have some errands to run, and I need some time to calm down."

"Okay." Spencer said, a bit too eagerly for my tastes. "I have the next week off, so we can spend time together when you get back, right?" he asked, and then his eyes flickered down to my belly. "And maybe then we can talk about…" he didn't say the last word, but made little rocking gestures with his arms instead, and my heart nearly melted at the cuteness.

"Damn hormones." I muttered under my breath, before smiling at him. "Of course we can." I said patiently. "After I get home."

I headed for the door as fast as I could, hoping that I wasn't forgetting anything… then I realized that I was. "Spencer?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any vials of that stuff in this apartment?" I asked him slowly, folding my arms over my chest as I turned to stare at him.

He hesitated.

8888

Spencer's P.O.V.

I didn't know what to say to Ariel. I wanted to keep the dilaudid, but at the same time, I didn't want to lose her… or our baby, for that matter. I had just learned about it, but I already knew that I wanted to be a part of its life.

But I didn't know what to do. The call of the drugs was strong, but I knew that there was no way that Ariel would stay if I continued with the drugs.

So I told her the truth.

8888

Ariel's P.O.V.

"Yeah." he admitted.

"Go get them." I told him, and he nodded before leaving the dining room. I heard him searching through a drawer for a minute before he came back with two little vials in his hands.

As soon as he handed them to me, I carried them over to the sink and poured both vials down the drain, then dumped the containers into the trash. When I was done, I went over and kissed my husband on the cheek, pulling him in for a hug as well. "I love you." I told him softly.

"Even with all of this?" he asked, and I would've laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the question if I didn't know him so well.

"Of course, stupid." I told him. "For better or for worse, remember?"

8888

I felt my breath hitch as I walked into the BAU bullpen, unsure of what to do next.

Luckily, things were made easier for me when JJ looked up from where she was sitting talking with Morgan and the new girl - Emily.

"Ariel!" JJ said frantically, hurrying over to me. "How's Spencer doing?" she asked.

"I really don't know." I told her honestly, glad to take a moment to collect myself before doing what I came here to do. "He's… he's in bad shape." I admitted, then tried to change the subject. "Have any of you seen Gideon?" I asked. "I need to talk to him."

The agents looked at each other for a minute, before Emily answered me. "Yeah, he's… up in his office. Why?"

But I was already heading up the stairs, deciding to stop in and talk to Hotch before going to see Gideon. He was without a doubt the most logical member of the team - at least, he was when Spencer wasn't there.

Hotch looked up from the paperwork that he was doing and looked surprised to see me there. "Mrs. Reid." he said, getting up from his chair. "What are you doing here?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Agent Hotchner." I said. "Call me Ariel."

He nodded and gave a small smile. "As long as you call me Hotch. Reid should be at home - is there something that you needed"

I decided to just be honest with him. "I'm here to possibly castrate Jason Gideon." I told him, leaning against the doorway. "Is that alright with you?"

Hotch gave me a Look before apparently deciding that I was kidding, because instead of stopping me, he gave a little smile and said, "Just don't hurt him too badly, alright?"

I gave him a Look of my own before replying. "No promises." and heading to the next office over.

I thought about knocking for a second, before deciding against it. I barged into the room then, and let the door slam shut behind me. Gideon didn't even bother to look up.

"Whaddya want, Hotch?" he asked, but I didn't correct him, instead waiting for him to look up. When he finally did, he arched an eyebrow at me before sitting back in his chair. "Mrs. Reid." he said. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why the hell you lied to me." I said. I knew that I sounded childish for saying it, but I didn't care. He didn't answer, choosing to just stare at me instead. "You told me that Spencer was undercover, that he was safe. Then, I get home and find him bruised and beaten, and barely able to stand!" I didn't mention the drugs, knowing that if the Bureau found out, Spencer would be kicked out in a heartbeat.

"I don't know what you expect me to say -" he started, and I cut him off.

"You don't know?" I said, my voice getting louder and louder as my irritation built. This was ridiculous. I was irritated - scratch that, I was pissed off - worried, and I could feel the morning sickness starting to rear its ugly head - because no matter what they said, morning sickness wasn't only in the mornings. "How about that you're sorry, to start. That you're sorry that you lied to me, that you knew my husband was in danger, that you knew there was a chance that he was never coming home, but you didn't give a damn."

"I could tell you that." he admitted. "But I'm not going to."

I smiled at him, although I was pretty sure that it looked more like I was baring my teeth. "I'm only going to tell you this once, Gideon." I said, my voice low. "Don't ever lie to me about him. Ever."

And with that, I left the BAU to head home.

Thank you once again to all who have reviewed - ahowell1993, ripon, raspberry dreams, tlcroft, Momochan77, Guest, Guest, and SakuraKoi - you are all amazing! Every reviewer is precious to me, and I'm so glad that you all read this! That goes for everyone, too, not just those who review. You all are amazing, and I'm so thankful to each and every one of you.