As they headed into the station, they were approached by a burly uniform with a big grin on his face.

"Spencer!" He called after them.

Spencer turned around and returned the man's big smile. "Eddie! Oh my gosh, man, you passed the police exam?"

"Flying colors, all thanks to you," he replied proudly. "I couldn't have done it without you. My mom is so excited and the steady paycheck is a lifesaver."

Eddie looked over at the two FBI agents next to him. "Are you friends of Spencer's? You're not taking him in or anything, are ya? He's good people, I can vouch for him. He's the type of guy who should be on the force."

"Actually—" Tara said, getting cut off by Reid.

"No, nothing like that," Spencer reassured him. "They just want me to take a look at some pictures and see if I can help them with a case."

"Oh, okay," Eddie said with a sigh of relief, his shoulders softening. "Spencer's really good with that kind of thing. He's the type of guy who should be on the force. Speaking of, I've gotta head in before the sergeant reams my ass. See you in there, Spencer!"

Tara and Matt exchanged a quick glance, with Spencer telling them. "He had some high school football related head injuries, but he's a good guy!"

—

Walking into the station sent Spencer into a flashback. The last time he entered one of these places was in Mexico and the memories were spotty. He had these types of flashbacks a few times since he left prison, but he tried to shake them off. Mandy had suggested he go talk to someone about it, but he didn't want anyone in town to know about his past. He wanted a fresh start.

He looked around as he was led through the station by Tara and Matt, straight into the conference room where Emily and Luke were seated. They were in the middle of brainstorming motives related to the killer's MO - suffocation after shallow stabbing throughout the torso. They almost didn't notice him enter, until Emily felt the rush of humid air coming in through the door.

"Spencer?" She asked, barely believing it. Luke looked up and was equally shocked, but not nearly as breathless.

"Reid, my man," he approached and pulled him into a big bear hug. Emily held her breath until Spencer gave into the hug and returned the affection. "I can't believe we ran into you here. We were just talking about you."

Spencer shifted his weight from side to side. He didn't like the idea of being spoken about when he wasn't around, especially in this case. They were talking about him but couldn't visit him when he was trapped in a cell?

"All good things, of course…" Luke offered, seeing the discomfort on his face.

JJ and Rossi entered like two bats out of hell, JJ launching straight into her findings. "So we spoke to the manager at the grocery store and she corroborated the story we heard at the barber shop. James Stephens is one sick son of a—"

Rossi tapped her shoulder and pointed in the other direction, his mouth agape.

"Spence," she said quietly, as if speaking too loudly would scare him away or wake her out of this dream.

The entire situation was making Spencer increasingly uncomfortable. He just wanted to get through the photos and get out - go back to his garage, his work, and his home. "I came to look over some suspect photos."

"You live around here now?" JJ asked.

"Yep, have been for the last 15 months," he replied shortly. "You would have known that if you had checked on me sometime in the last three years."

"Spence—" JJ squeaked out.

"Do you have something for me to look at, or can I go?" Spencer said impatiently. "I have to get back to work or my boss is gonna make me stay after my shift."

—-

Spencer looked over the photos, recognizing James Stephens as the owner of the auto body shop. He rarely came around there, preferring to stick to his other more successful businesses like the diner and the grocery store.

"I've gotta go," he said, getting up from the chair.

"Spencer, man, we just saw you for the first time in three years. Can't you stay a little longer?" Luke asked. "Penelope would love to hear from you."

Spencer headed for the door. "I would have liked to hear from her too—about three years ago." His words were cutting, but understandable given the circumstances. He had previously been abandoned by his father, Gideon, and then his entire team. His entire family. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

He left the conference room in a frenzy, nearly knocking over Eddie on the way out. Once again, the silence was painful. How could they fix this?

—

JJ and Emily decided to take the initiative to meet Spencer and work things out. They were the two people on the team he knew the longest, and they were two of the most present figures during his arrest and imprisonment. They went over the auto body shop right around five, hoping he hadn't headed home yet. As they approached, they saw a surprising sight.

It was Spencer, a brunette, and a baby in the woman's arms. He was getting into the car with them as he caught JJ's eyes and made contact. He broke eye contact and got into the car, driving off.

"What the hell have we missed?" Emily asked no one in particular.

—

Emily and JJ decided to keep what they saw to themselves. They didn't know what was going on, and they didn't feel right discussing Spencer's personal life especially after everything that had happened. They continued on with the investigation through the night and into the next morning.

"We're gonna head to the diner," Tara said to the group with a yawn. "We're trying to speak with a brunette whose name is either Jennifer or Mandy."

"Maybe she can tell us something that will help us nail this guy," Matt suggested. "Hopefully, because I cannot sleep in this office chair for another night."

JJ got up from her chair stretching. "Tell me about it. I'm gonna go with you guys and see if I can get a halfway decent cup of coffee."

"Ooh, if you find one can you please bring some back for us less fortunate?" Emily pleaded.

—-

"Mandy?" Matt called out to the brunette at the coffee counter in the diner. The tall tanned brunette didn't respond. He sighed. "Jennifer?"

"Yes, do you need something?" She said in a faux perky voice.

JJ recognized her right away as the woman she had seen the day before with Spencer. She wanted to question her about that right then and there, but Matt and Tara were peppering her with questions about her boss.

"Yeah, Jimmy is my manager. He owns a lot of the properties on this side of town. His family has been in Tallahassee for generations."

"Did you ever feel uncomfortable around him? Or sense anything suspicious or not quite right?" Tara asked.

Mandy took a minute to think about her answer. Truthfully he had creeped a lot of the waitresses out, it's one of the reasons she suspected so many girls ended up leaving the diner so soon.

"He's a little handsy," she replied. "But you know, what man isn't?"

JJ coughed, wanting to say 'Not Spencer,' under her breath.

"Do I know you?" Mandy asked JJ. "Your face is so familiar."

JJ wanted to question her about Spencer, but heeded Emily's word. Give him space, let him open up about it to us himself.

"Nope, must be someone else," JJ said with a smile. "What is your last name, maybe you went to high school with someone who looked like me."

It was an innocuous question, but Tara and Matt instantly caught onto what she was doing. She was going to get a little basic information about Mandy to see what Garcia could dig up on her.

"Reid," she replied casually. JJ had to keep her eyes from bugging out of her head. "But in high school I went by Carlisle. Mandy Carlisle."

She paused and chuckled to herself. "Or actually, I guess I'm Jennifer Reid around here," she said pointing to her name tag.

Matt chuckled, but the looks on the faces of Tara and JJ told a different, less enthusiastic story.