It had been a long time since they'd had a case end this badly. The knowledge that a little boy was dead and another child was in danger weighed heavy on Dave's shoulders. And it didn't seem like they would find Gary Michaels any time soon. He and JJ had gone through every inch of the big box electronics store where Michaels worked and talked to every coworker there. No one had seen him that day, and no one could give them any new information.

He pulled his usual mug from the cabinet. Caffeine was probably not the best idea right that second, but he needed something to distract himself. He poured in a generous amount as his mind wandered.

"Rossi, you're back?"

He turned around to see Alex standing in the hall. "JJ and I got back around twenty minutes ago," he said.

"Anything useful at Michaels' work?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm afraid," he said. "I'm guessing he left town as soon as he saw Hotch and Morgan at the kid's apartment." He dumped a creamer into his coffee. "How's the kid doing?"

"He's...he's okay, all things considered," Alex said. "He's scared, and worried, but he's okay."

"They're still putting him in witsec?"

Alex nodded and exhaled slowly, as if she was trying to steady herself. "Can I ask a favor of you?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. He tilted his head. "What's going on?"

Alex raked her hair back from her face. "I'd like you to sit in on a meeting I'm about to have with Hotch and Garcia," she said.

He frowned. "What's the meeting about?" he asked. "Are you in trouble?"

"No, no, nothing like that," she said. She smiled, her eyes a little bit too bright. "It's a good thing. At least, I think it's a good thing. I hope it is."

"Are you going to give me any other details than that, or are you just enjoying being cryptic?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Unexpectedly Alex laughed. "I'm sorry, I just...oh, I don't know how to explain," she said. She brushed her hair back from her face again. "They're looking for a foster family to take Spencer in witsec, since his mother can't be located."

"Is that what the meeting is about, finding foster parents for him?" Dave guessed.

"Yes," she said. "Sort of. I-" She pressed her mouth together. "James and I want to take him."

Her words rushed out as if she was afraid to say them out loud. Dave stared at her in shock. "Wow," he said. "Blake, I...wow. You're sure?"

"Pretty sure," she said. "James is in New York for a presentation at the Doctors Without Borders headquarters, he's on a train back right now."

"Wow," he said again. He couldn't think of anything else to say. "So you're bringing it up to Hotch?"

"And that's why I want you there, you...you know things that he doesn't," Alex said. "I thought...maybe you'd support me on this, and help sway his decision?"

"Of course," Dave said. "Of course I will. You and James…" His voice trailed off. It seemed wrong to say you were great parents. "I think you two will take good care of the kid."

She smiled, bright enough that it met her eyes. It suddenly struck him that he hadn't seen Alex smile that brightly in years. "I'm going to go talk to Spencer," she said. "I'd like to ask him what he thinks. But the meeting will be in the conference room in fifteen minutes."

"I'll be there," he promised.

She walked away quickly with a last smile. Dave set his coffee mug back down on the counter. It had been so long since he'd seen Alexandra Blake genuinely happy, and he had never realized it.

Spencer closed the book and hugged it to his chest, curling himself into the corner of the couch. He still had a little bit left to read, but his eyes felt so heavy and his head ached. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to actually sleep well, and he certainly hadn't slept the night before. The threat of bad dreams still lingered in the back of his mind, but the exhaustion weighing him down seemed to be winning.

The office door opened and he sat up quickly, his head spinning as he moved too fast. "Hi," Alex said softly. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I'm awake," he said, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

Alex sat down beside him. "I wanted to talk to you for a minute," she said.

"Have you found my mom?" he asked. "Have you found Gary Michaels?"

"No, sweetheart, not yet," she said. "We're still looking though."

His heart sank. If even the FBI couldn't find his mother, maybe no one ever would.

"Until we locate Gary Michaels, you'll need to go into witness protection to keep you safe," Alex said. "But we can't send you alone. We need to find a foster family who can take care of you."

"I can take care of myself," he said in a small voice. "I'm very independent."

Alex smiled, but she seemed almost a little sad. "I know," she said. "I know you can take care of yourself, but you're too young to live completely on your own. You need a grownup."

He looked down at the floor. "Is somebody coming to take me away, then?" he asked.

"That's what I wanted to ask you about," Alex said. She held out her hand, and he tentatively slipped his fingers into hers. "What would you think...if you came to stay with me and my husband for a little while?"

He stared up at her in shock. "Really?" he said.

"Really," she said. "You'll be safe with us. And my husband James is a very kind man, I think you'll like him a lot. He's a doctor and he works with Doctors Without Borders. He'll be here soon so you can meet him."

Spencer bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "What if my mom comes back?" he asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Alex said. "But for right now, James and I can take care of you. We just bought a new house so you'll have your own room, and you can go to a new school. A better school. And I have a whole library of books, you can read all of them if you'd like." She squeezed his hand. "Would that be okay with you?"

He hesitated.

Alex was right. He did need to stay safe. And living with a doctor and an FBI agent was probably the safest place to be, until the coast was clear.

But what if his mother came back to the shabby apartment on Fifth Street, and he was gone? What if she went looking for him and she couldn't find him? What would happen?

Alex rubbed the pad of her thumb lightly over his fingers. "It'll only be temporary," she said softly. "And I promise we'll keep you safe."

He couldn't hesitate forever. "Okay," he said. "I...I can do it."

She smiled at him. "I'm going to go talk to Agent Hotch about it, okay?" she said. "There's a lot of things that we need to make sure are in order. I'll come back and check on you soon." She let go of his hand, almost reluctantly. "Do you need anything?"

"No, thank you," he said.

"I think we're going to order lunch soon, if I don't come in and check on you before that I think Emily or Penelope will," Alex said. She brushed his hair off his forehead. "Do you want to lie down and take a nap? You look so tired."

"Yeah," he said quietly. And he was, he was so tired, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, he wanted to sleep forever.

Alex rearranged the pillows on the couch and he laid himself down, pulling his knees to his chest. "I'll come check on you soon, okay?" she said.

"Okay," he echoed. He closed his eyes, and he was in a dead sleep before she had even closed the office door behind her.

"You're sure you want Garcia to sit in on this meeting?" Hotch said skeptically.

"I'm sure," Alex said. She kept her hands under the table, as if she was keeping something hidden. "If anyone is going to be here for this, I want it to be Penelope and Dave."

He looked over at Rossi, who shrugged. "I have an idea of what's going on, but I think she ought to be the one to explain," he said. Hotch bit back a frustrated sigh.

Garcia hurried into the conference room, closing the door behind her. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, I had a lead, and I was following it, and I just totally lost track of time," she said.

"Did the lead pan out?" Rossi asked.

"Unfortunately not," Garcia sighed. She sat down next to Alex and set her iPad down on the table. "But I'm here. I'm ready." She looked over at Alex. "You're sure you're ready?"

"I'm sure," she said. "And I've talked to Spencer, and he agreed."

"Agreed to what?" Hotch asked.

Alex looked from Garcia to Rossi; Penelope nodded in expectant encouragement. "Spencer needs a foster family to protect him in witsec," she said.

"Yes," Hotch said slowly.

"So far there are no options for a foster family willing to take a child in witsec."

"Yes," he said again. "What are you getting at?"

Alex raised her chin. "My husband and I would like to have custody of Spencer," she said.

Hotch sat back in his chair. "Blake, that's really noble of you, but with all due respect, I'm not sure if you're experienced enough to take care of a child, particularly a child affected by trauma," he said. "Just because we haven't found a family willing to take him yet doesn't mean we won't find one. Spencer needs-"

Alex took the item she was hiding under the table- a single photograph- and slid it over to him. Hotch frowned. "What's this?" he asked.

"My son," she said softly.

Hotch picked up the photo. It was a candid shot- taken in a park or a backyard, a younger Alex smiling at a little boy cuddled on her lap as the wind blew her hair back. "You've never mentioned a son," he said.

But the longer he looked at the photograph, the more he knew she was telling the truth. The child looked exactly like her- her pointed chin, her sharp cheekbones, her dark hair and dark eyes.

"Ethan passed away when he was nine," she said.

"I'm so sorry," he said automatically. He looked up at her. "Really. I am."

He thought about bringing up his own knowledge of loss, but thought better of it and kept his mouth shut. Alex gazed at the photo, her eyes soft. "He was diagnosed with a neurological disorder, but they were never able to figure out what exactly was wrong," she said. "But...I was a mother, once."

"She and James are great parents," Rossi said. "Alex took several years off from her career to take care of Ethan himself. I can vouch for them, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better foster family to care for Spencer."

Hotch handed the photo back to Alex. "I believe you," he said. "Unfortunately, even with the unusual circumstances, certain protocols have to be followed. Spencer has to go to foster parents approved by the state."

Garcia leaned forward. "Oh, oh, that's where I come in," she said. "See, James and Alex-" She paused and looked at Alex. "Maybe you should tell this part."

"James and I have been hoping to adopt," Alex said. "We're partway through our application to become foster parents."

Rossi blinked in surprise. "You didn't tell me that," he said.

"We haven't told most people," Alex said.

"Yeah, and somehow Garcia knew about it," he countered.

Garcia leaned around Alex to look at him. "Don't worry about it, we can talk about that later," she said.

"In any case, Hotch," Alex continued, but she stopped, biting her lip. "James and I could take Spencer. I think he'd be safe with us, and happier than if he ended up lost in the system."

Hotch crossed his arms and studied the back wall, running through his thoughts until they could fall back into neat orderly rows. It was unorthodox, but he had to agree with her. She was right.

"I'll talk to witsec," he said at last. "Maybe they can work something out."

Alex smiled, visibly relieved. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much, Aaron."

Penelope leaned back in her rolling office chair, frowning as she looked back and forth from one monitor to the other. "Oh, I don't like any of this," she said aloud. "I don't like any of this at all."

One screen displayed all the information she'd found on the Reid family. There was very little about Spencer's father. She had his law school transcript, a record of the cases he'd worked, the bank account where he deposited the child support money he sent to Diana. But the last mention of William Reid was the petition for divorce that he'd filed three years earlier. After the divorce, it was as if he had vanished into thin air. She couldn't find him anywhere.

Diana's affairs were messier. She'd already dug through the traffic violations and the suspended driver's license, the foreclosed house in Vegas and the multiple unpaid bills sent to collections, the letters of warning and probation from her university. Spencer was wrong- she hadn't been on sabbatical, she'd been fired.

But he was right about her illness. Diana's medical records were a rollercoaster of new medications and sporadic therapy sessions, even inpatient treatment at a private institution when Spencer was only four years old. Her college transcripts around the time of her diagnosis proved she was exceptionally bright, but marked with classes with plummeting grades and frequent absences.

What made everything worse was when she started to find the photos.

First, she found the listing for the foreclosed house in Las Vegas. It was a nice little starter home, in a nice suburban neighborhood built in the nineties, but the yard was overgrown and the stucco chipping. The photos of the interior were worse. Clearly Diana had left in a hurry, knowing it was only a matter of time before she and her child were evicted, and the house looked like a bomb had gone off. The appliances were out of date and broken, the dust and grime thick on every surface, trash piled on the floors and counters. Even the room that had to have been Spencer's childhood bedroom was a wreck, the drawers hanging at crooked angles like broken teeth and the covers half ripped from the bed. There were gaps on the shelves where books had been taken, but no signs of toys or posters like any other child might have.

Then she found Spencer's school records. In Las Vegas he seemed like a fairly normal child, smiling hesitantly for class photos. He was smaller than most of his classmates, and on the thin side, but there were no easily seen red flags. His grades were high across the board in every subject, and there was a paper trail documenting the year he was moved from first grade straight to third. Notes from teachers indicated that he was "remarkably bright" and "sweet-natured, but seems anxious," but the paper trail ended shortly after his sixth birthday. There were no medical records after his elementary school physical, no dental records- nothing other than report cards with straight As.

But then she found the news reports from the day Diana left Spencer in the hot car. There were photos, and articles, and that was bad enough. Apparently Diana had forgotten to take Spencer to his daycare, and he'd fallen asleep in the car, and she had left him behind when she parked at the university. A sophomore running late for her next class had noticed the three year old in the backseat and called for help. There was a video that had made the seven o'clock news, of police officers breaking the car window and pulling the limp child out of the backseat.

Penelope closed the video before it could finish. "Oh, I can't do that today, I just can't," she mumbled to herself. It helped knowing that the little boy in the video was safe, sleeping in Hotch's office right that second, but it wasn't much solace knowing that William had swept the incident under the rug, and then three years later left his wife to take care of their child alone, even though he knew how dangerous it could be.

She turned to the other monitor, pressing her mouth into a grim line. This wasn't much better at all. Morgan and Prentiss had brought back Gary Michaels' CPU from his rented house, and she was running diagnostics trying to hack through the files hidden and embedded throughout his hard drive. There was no luck yet- he was clearly better with computers than she had initially thought- but it was only a matter of time before she broke through. At the same time, though, she was dreading what she might find.

Penelope pushed her chair back, picked up her empty cup, and gave it a little shake before she put it back down. She needed to get out of her lair for a little bit, walk around the halls and remind herself that her team was there to fix broken things like this. Once she cleared her head, then she could go back to work.

She headed down the hall towards the break area. Usually she kept drinks for herself in the illegal minifridge she had hidden behind a couple of decommissioned computer towers, but after the week she'd had they were all gone. But she knew Emily kept a secret stash of energy drinks in the back of the breakroom fridge- she wouldn't mind if she took one.

She headed down the hall, her heels clicking brightly on the polished floor, and rounded the corner as the elevators opened and a tall man in a suit walked out. "Hi, sorry, do you know where-" he started to say. He paused. "Hi, Penelope."

She jumped. "Oh my god, James!" she exclaimed. She hugged him hastily. "Oh, it's so nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too," he said. He grinned at her. "I was going to ask if you could tell me where the Behavioral Analysis Unit is, but if it's you, I suppose I can ask if you know where my wife is."

"Yes! I know exactly where she is!" Penelope said. She grabbed his hand. "Come on, come on, I'll take you to her."

She dragged him into the bullpen. Alex sat at her desk, frowning at her computer as she rested her chin on her folded hands. "Dr. Blake, Dr. Blake is here," Penelope announced.

Alex turned towards them. "You're here!" she said, getting up quickly from her desk. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour."

"Traffic was on my side today, apparently, and Penelope walked me in," James said. He paused. "Am I allowed to kiss a working FBI agent?"

Alex laughed. "I'll make an exception for you," she said, and he smiled as he bent to kiss her. She squeezed his forearms. "I'm so glad you're here."

"How are things going?" he asked.

"Good, really good," Alex said. "Hotch is talking to witsec right now. They may be able to approve us even without our application being complete. He's been on the phone for an hour."

"Yikes," James said. "God, I hope it works out." He shifted his weight. "Can I...can I meet him?"

"He's in Hotch's office," Penelope said. "He was taking a nap earlier, but Emily woke him up when she brought him lunch."

Alex took James's hand. "Come on," she said. "You should meet him."

Penelope trailed behind them. After sinking so deep into Reid family records, it would be reassuring to see Spencer for herself.

Alex tapped the door open. Spencer was curled up in the corner of the couch, half asleep, a book open on his knees even though he wasn't reading. He lifted his head as she walked in. "Hi," she said. "Did you get any sleep?"

He shrugged and closed the book. "A little, I think," he said.

Alex switched on the lamp on Hotch's desk, casting a warm glow across the room, and sat down on the edge of the couch. "I have somebody I'd like you to meet," she said. Spencer rubbed his eyes as he sat up. "Spencer, this is my husband, James. James, this is Spencer."

James knelt down so he was eye level with him. "Hi," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," Spencer whispered.

James smiled at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. "What book are you reading?" he asked.

"Alex let me borrow it," Spencer said, holding up the cover so James could see. "I like it so far."

"Oh, yes, that's one of her favorites," James said. "What's your favorite book?"

Penelope hung back in the doorway, her heart melting as she watched them talk. Please let this work out for them, she thought fervently.

James and Alex had started attending her support group about three months after Ethan passed away. Like most first-timers they were shaky and silent, their eyes red-rimmed as they held hands and listened to everyone else speak. Over time they became more involved, sharing their own story, but as they went their own ways- Alex to Georgetown and later the BAU, James to Doctors Without Borders- they visited less. They had mentioned their intention to foster and adopt at the last meeting, and Penelope couldn't remember the last time she'd seen either of them so hopeful and happy.

She didn't know Spencer as well as she knew the Blakes, but she did know that any child would be lucky to have them as parents. And if Spencer was as smart as his school records claimed, then he would be in excellent hands with Alex.

James listened to Spencer talk attentively, smiling and nodding at the right points to show he was interested. There was a slight rasp to Spencer's voice, and his hazel eyes were ringed in bluish shadows. At one point he paused to cough, and Alex looked at James in silent concern.

"Did Alex tell you what I do for work?" James asked. Spencer shook his head. "I'm a doctor."

"What kind?" Spencer asked.

"I'm an emergency physician," James said. "I usually work in an emergency room, but the past couple of years I've traveled a lot with Doctors Without Borders."

"Where have you traveled?" Spencer asked, eyes wide.

"A lot in West Africa," James said. "And a couple of stints in Russia and Belarus." He looked up at Alex and grinned. "Every time I go to a new country, Alex tries to teach me a new language, but I'll never be as good at languages as she is."

Spencer turned towards Alex. "How many languages do you speak?" he asked.

"A lot," she laughed. "I'm only completely fluent in a couple."

"Oh, she's just being modest," Penelope called from the doorway. "Let's see, how many have you used so far...American Sign Language, Porteguese, Russian, Spanish...pig Latin…"

James laughed. "You used pig Latin for a case?" he teased.

"I suppose I did," Alex said.

Spencer shifted his weight. "Did you know the earliest confirmed use of pig Latin was in 1919, but Shakespeare might have made a reference to it?" he said.

He looked up at Alex. "Love's Labours Lost," she confirmed.

"I didn't know that," James said. Spencer coughed again, and James's smile turned to a concerned frown. "That doesn't sound too good. Have you been coughing like that a lot lately?"

"He was out in the rain for hours last night and it was freezing cold," Alex explained.

James's frown deepened. "Is it okay if I touch you?" he asked. "I want to see if your lymph nodes are swollen." Spencer nodded. James probed the sides of his neck gently, then touched the back of his hand to his forehead. "You're definitely coming down with something, buddy. A cold or the flu, most likely." He leaned back. "Alex, do you know if we're okay to take him home?"

"Not yet," Alex said. "Hotch is still talking to witsec. He was with JJ and her family last night, so they'd probably be okay with him staying with us for today, but beyond that…"

"We won't worry too much yet," James said gently. "But for now, Spencer, you should try to get some rest."

"I have like eight million blankets in my lair, would that be helpful?" Penelope asked, rising up on her toes.

"Yeah, that'll help," James said, smiling at her enthusiasm. "Some water too. Staying hydrated will help you feel better."

"I feel okay," Spencer said, but his shoulders slumped and his little face was pale and pinched in the warm light. He didn't resist as Alex tugged off his shoes and moved the pillows around so he could lie down.

Penelope slipped out of the room. "Poor baby," she said under her breath. At least he was in good hands with the Blakes.

But what if they can't keep him? she thought, and she pushed it away. She had to stay positive.

JJ walked into the bullpen and frowned. "What's going on?" she asked.

Emily and Derek both jumped. "Jesus, Jayje, you scared me," Emily said.

"Why are you both staring at the conference room windows?" JJ asked. "The blinds are closed, you can't even see anything."

"Hotch and Rossi are in there talking to witsec," Derek said. "They're trying to figure out what to do with Spencer."

"Oh, god, have they not found a foster family to take him yet?" JJ asked. She sat down on the edge of her desk. "Will said we could take him, but we're not approved foster parents. And I have no idea how we could take care of him, and Henry, and both keep working, and-"

Emily and Derek exchanged a look. She paused. "What was that?" she demanded.

"What was what?" Emily asked.

"That- that look you just gave each other," she said, pointing from one to the other. "You guys know something that I don't. Spill."

Derek leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "There's someone in the department who was already getting approved as a foster parent," he said. "And you'll never guess who it is."

"Garcia," JJ said. Emily shook her head. "Anderson. One of you. Hotch? Rossi?"

Emily laughed. "Can you imagine Rossi raising a child?" she said.

"You have to tell me who it is," JJ said. "Who am I missing? Blake?" Derek raised an eyebrow. "Oh my god. Blake? Alex is a foster parent?"

"She and her husband are in the middle of their foster-to-adopt application," Emily said.

JJ tilted her head. "I never would have guessed," she said. "Although she's really good with Henry and Jack. She'd be a good mom."

"See, that's the other thing," Derek said. "Did you know that she had a son?"

JJ blinked. "I asked her once if she had a child, and she said no," she said. "She-" She paused. "Had. She had a son?"

"He died when he was nine years old," Emily said. "He had some kind of neurological disorder. It's why she stayed away from the bureau for so long, she was a stay at home mom to a terminally ill child."

"Oh my god," JJ breathed. "She never...I had no idea."

"Rossi said she never talks about him," Derek said. "It's too painful for her."

Penelope walked briskly into the bullpen, a bottle of water in one hand and a bottle of gatorade in the other. "Garcia, did you know about this?" JJ said.

"About what?"

"Blake had a son," Emily said.

"Ethan? Oh, yes, I know about Ethan," Penelope said. "And that she and James are trying to adopt. You guys have to keep up."

The conference room door opened and JJ slid off her desk as Hotch and Rossi walked out, both looking slightly confused. "Any updates?" Derek asked.

"I'm...I'm not sure," Rossi said. "I was mid-sentence when they suddenly said everything was fine and hung up."

"Well, what does that mean?" Emily pressed.

"Not a clue," Hotch said. "Where's Blake?"

"Oh, she and James are in your office with Spencer, the little nugget is under the weather," Penelope said. "Why? Should I go get her?"

"I think that's a good idea," Rossi said. Penelope nodded and scurried away quickly, her heels clicking.

"Do we have any updates on Michaels?" Hotch asked.

Derek shook his head. "Not much," he said. "It looks like he's left the city in a hurry. We've got an APB out on his vehicle and a detail watching his house, but who knows if that'll turn anything up. We'll have to hope that he comes back at some point."

"And when Michaels is found, then what happens to the kid?" Rossi asked.

"Hopefully we find his mother, or at least some relative willing to take him," Emily shrugged.

JJ turned around at the sound of footsteps in the hallway, and immediately stood up straighter at the sight of Erin Strauss. "Where's Blake?" Strauss asked without preamble.

"She's in my office, she should be on her way out," Hotch said.

"Is there something we can help you with, Erin?" Rossi asked.

She squared her shoulders. "I'd like Blake to be here for this," she said. "It's about the Riley Jenkins case, but it concerns her."

Alex and Garcia walked out of Hotch's office, and Alex immediately frowned at the sight of Strauss. "What's going on?" she asked.

Strauss cleared her throat. "I understand there's a child involved in the Riley Jenkins case, and he needs to go into witsec," she said. "And that you and your husband would like temporary custody."

Alex raised her chin. "That's correct," she said. "I understand that an agent getting personally involved in a case is unusual, but-"

"I've called in a few favors," Strauss interrupted. "They've approved the fostering license for you and James. You'll be able to take the child home with you today."

All the fight seemed to fall from Alex's shoulders. "Erin, I…" she started to say. "Thank you."

"I've owed you for a very long time, Alex," she said. "Hopefully this will help put a few things in the past."

JJ looked at Emily and Derek, raising her eyebrows in a question; they shrugged back, seemingly equally confused. "Thank you, Erin," Alex said.

Strauss seemed like she wanted to say something else, but she cleared her throat brusquely instead. "Now, witsec will still need to help you get him settled and place him with a new identity, and that I have no control over, but-" she started to say.

"I've already discussed that with Garcia and with James, we can take care of that," Alex said. "Can I...can I go tell him?"

"Absolutely," Hotch said. "You should tell him. And take him home."

Alex's heart beat too fast against her ribs as she slipped into Hotch's office. The lamp was still on, making the room seem a little safer and warmer, and cast soft shadows on the floor. Spencer slept on the couch, his knees tucked into his chest and his thumb in his mouth. One of Penelope's fleece blankets covered him securely. James sat next to him in Hotch's desk chair, thumbing through her well-worn copy of Jane Eyre. He looked up at her and smiled as she closed the door behind her. "I haven't read this since you made me read it in college," he said. He paused. "Everything okay?"

She nodded. "We can, um...we can take him home," she whispered. "He's ours. For the time being, at least."

James nearly dropped the book. "You're sure?" he said. She nodded. "Oh my god. I can't believe it."

She held up the stack of papers Penelope had put together for them. "We're all set," she said. "Well, maybe not all set. We'll have to figure out school, and putting his room together, and I don't think he has any warm clothes-"

"One step at a time," James said. "Right now we'll just worry about talking to him about it, and getting him home. Are you still sure about...about everything?"

"I'm sure, as long as you are," she said. "It really will be the safest option, giving him an already established identity."

He squeezed her hand. "Let's wake him up and tell him, then," he said.

Alex sat down on the edge of the couch and brushed Spencer's hair back from his hot forehead. "Hi, sweetheart," she called softly. "Wake up." Spencer blinked sluggishly, twisting around so he was lying on his back. Alex smiled at him. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he mumbled around his thumb still in his mouth. That had to be a lie, he was burning up and he seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open.

"We wanted to talk to you about something," James said.

Spencer pushed himself into a sitting position. The pillow had left lines on his reddened cheek and his hair was a tangled mess. "What's going on?" he asked as he pulled his thumb out of his mouth. "Did you find Mr. Michaels?"

"Not yet," Alex said. "But...we found out that James and I have been approved as foster parents. We're going to take you home with us, and you'll live with us until he's been found and we can find a more permanent place for you."

"When you find my mom?" Spencer supplied hopefully.

"Yes," Alex said. "But for now we'll take care of you."

Spencer didn't say anything, but he seemed relieved at that, leaning back against the couch, as if he'd been stressing himself out trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. "Do I still qualify for the witness protection program?" he asked. "Do I have to relocate?"

"Yes and no," Alex said. "We won't be relocating. But we are going to make some changes to your identity."

"We'll get your hair cut, maybe change the color," James said. "You'll go to a different school, we'll get you all new clothes."

"What about my name?" he asked. "Do I have to change that too?"

Alex looked at James. "We can still call you Spencer at home," she said. "But you'll need a new name for everybody else. And you'll need to refer to us as your parents. We can be Mom and Dad, or-"

He shrank back. "I can't call you Mom," he said in a small voice. "My mom...Mommy is still going to come back."

"That's okay," James said quickly. "You don't have to call her that. You can call her Mama, or Mum, or she can help you find something in one of her languages. And when we're home, we can just call us James and Alex, that's just fine."

Spencer nodded, his lower lip trembling. "What's my name going to be?" he asked.

Alex's fingers tightened around the papers in her hand. It had been so easy for Penelope to fix it, to swap photos and change details and put everything together. It didn't make it much easier for her.

She relaxed her grip and held the papers out so he could see- birth certificate, passport, social security card.

"Your name will be Ethan Blake," she said softly.

Author's Notes:

I'm back! And this arc is now complete!

Now I get to write about James and Alex and Spencer becoming a family, which I am SO SO SO excited about! The Blakes definitely have their work cut out for them though. Spencer needs SO much love and care and attention. But that's going to be SO fun to write!

Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you!