The following night, Jessica's newly-pierced ears were bothering her, so she went down to the hotel lobby in search of an ice machine. She didn't find the ice machine, but she did find a TV tuned to a news station with closed captioning on—and to her horror, it was reporting an explosion in New York City. The reporter didn't seem to have any information beyond a vague location that was meaningless to Jessica, so she pulled out her phone to text Spencer. "I just saw a news report about an explosion in NYC! Are you and the team all right?!"
There was no response. After nearly a minute, Jessica started texting other team members as well. None of them responded either.
Then, the news reporter announced that she had just learned that the bomb was in an SUV. Jessica, fully aware that the BAU tended to use SUVs, found this information highly disquieting.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, Spencer finally sent a reply. "The bomb was under Hotch's SUV. He and another agent from the New York field office were injured. From what I hear, Hotch isn't too badly hurt, but the other agent is critical. Things are very busy here; go to bed and I'll give you an update in the morning."
Jessica heaved a sigh of relief and returned to her room, her sore earlobes completely forgotten.
That Sunday, Hotch answered his door to find that Jessica had come over with a dish of lasagne. "Thank you," he signed. "The kitchen is this way."
Jessica followed him and noticed that Rossi was sitting in the living room. She nodded in greeting as she passed. In the kitchen, Hotch opened the fridge and had some trouble figuring out where to put the lasagne due to all the other food inside. "I know too many cooks," he signed ruefully.
"Who are all of those from?" Jessica asked curiously.
"Dave and Garcia. And I've got ice cream in the freezer from JJ. She said she meant to get a salad, but she got distracted at the grocery store." Hotch swallowed, remembering a time Haley had done something similar while pregnant with Jack.
"Rossi cooks?" Jessica signed, surprised.
"He could have been a chef if he hadn't gone into writing," Hotch replied. He led the way back to the living room.
"Hello," Rossi signed. "I asked Aaron to work with me on my signing, since his doctor told him to rest his ears."
"Looks like you're doing well," Jessica praised.
"Where's Reid?" Rossi asked.
"Meeting with some other agent to plan a seminar on linguistics that they're going to give together tomorrow."
Rossi looked lost. "Plan a what?"
Jessica repeated herself, fingerspelling the words 'seminar' and 'linguistics'.
"And now I know what Spencer Reid does with his weekends. Somehow, I'm not surprised."
"He also reads textbooks, watches Doctor Who and Star Trek, plays chess, plays with the cat…"
"He plays chess with your cat?" Hotch interrupted, giving Jessica a strange look.
"No! He plays chess with himself, and uses cat toys to play with the cat," Jessica clarified. "He's also been giving me driving lessons in the garage and I think he's working on a degree in philosophy." When Rossi looked confused again, Hotch helpfully (and quietly) interpreted.
"Is he trying to set a world record for earning degrees?" Rossi asked incredulously.
Jessica shook her head. "No, he just likes learning new things."
"How old is he?"
"Twenty-six."
Rossi shook his head. "That kid is something else."
During Hotch's first case back with the team, Jessica got a text from Morgan. "Pretty Boy hasn't been getting into anything he shouldn't, has he?"
Jessica frowned. "Not that I can tell, why?"
"Because he seems to think that 'evil twin, eviler twin' is a valid theory for our current case."
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Come on, what are the odds of a secret twin?"
"You want the odds, ask Spencer. He probably floated that theory for a reason."
Morgan apparently had no response to that.
In July, JJ and Will finally closed on a townhouse in DC. Naturally, the team banded together to help them move in. Before long, JJ found herself ushered into a chair and forbidden to do any of the actual physical work, much to her annoyance. "I'm pregnant, not made of glass," she complained.
"Maybe not, but baby LaMontagne is," Garcia retorted. She held up a framed photo. "Now where do you want this?" JJ snatched the photo out of Garcia's hands and placed it herself.
"Babe, they're just trying to help," Will reproached.
"Will, if you plan to teach our child that women are some kind of fragile flower whose sole purpose in life is to pump out babies, I swear to god…"
"Easy there, I'm just trying to say they mean well," Will interrupted hurriedly.
"Mood swings are common in pregnant women due to the body's increased production…" Reid was abruptly cut off when Morgan clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Kid, let me give you a little hint: when a woman glares at you like that, stop talking."
Reid shot JJ an apologetic look. "Sorry."
"I'm surprised Jessica didn't want to help with this," Prentiss commented.
"Oh, she did, but her friend's family invited her to go to Disney World with them," Reid explained.
"Lucky girl," Rossi remarked.
Garcia pouted. "She gets to go to Disney World? I wanna go to Disney World! Hey, we should all take a trip to Disney World!"
"I don't think the budget committee would cover that," Hotch replied.
JJ gave Will a thoughtful look. "We should start saving up to take our kid to Disney World."
Will gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Whatever you say, babe."
"How was Disney World?" Spencer asked upon Jessica's return.
"Amazing," Jessica signed happily. "I got my costume for Halloween this year."
"I'm guessing either Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella?" Spencer speculated.
Jessica frowned at him. "Sleeping Beauty, of course. My step-parent of sorts is far too nice for me to be Cinderella."
Spencer smiled and hugged her, then suddenly drew back. "Wait, Sleeping Beauty's parents sent her to be raised by fairies…are you calling me a fairy?"
"Well, you do magic and protect me from the bad guys, so…yes?" Jessica shrugged.
Spencer thought about it for a moment, then decided that was actually a reasonable comparison. "Okay, I guess that means you're not getting a spindle for your sixteenth birthday."
Jessica fake pouted. "Darn."
After Jessica's first day of tenth grade, Spencer came home and found her curled up on the couch with Bianca, looking highly disgruntled. She was simultaneously petting the cat and reading a book—or at least, attempting to; she wasn't actually turning the pages.
Spencer sat down next to her. "How was school?"
"Mike is in all but one of my classes," Jessica complained.
"Has he been harassing you again?" Spencer asked worriedly.
"No, he was just being obnoxious in general."
"Let me know if he becomes a problem," Spencer signed seriously. "No one should ever have to endure bullying."
Jessica gave him a small smile. "I think my knee to his groin in seventh grade was enough to convince him I'm not worth the effort."
"Good."
When Prentiss and Reid went to investigate allegations against a cult leader in Colorado, Prentiss noticed that Reid became oddly tense from the moment they met Jessica Evanson. But with all the chaos of the raid, it wasn't until after the state police had left that Prentiss finally realized what was bothering him.
"She's not your Jessica, you know," Prentiss said quietly.
"I know," Reid replied. "Logically, I know that. But…they have the same name, they're the same age, they even look similar. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop imagining my Jessica in her place."
"Would you have given consent for a marriage like that?" Prentiss asked curiously.
"Absolutely not," Reid replied instantly. "I really am impressed with how self-sufficient this place is, but I highly doubt that that marriage is a healthy, equal relationship."
"Well, keep a lid on it," Prentiss warned. "The way things are going, we're going to need whatever rapport you've managed to build with Cyrus."
"I know," Reid agreed, grimacing.
Jessica checked her phone at the end of the school day and nearly dropped it in shock. Forty-five minutes later, she turned up at Quantico, and Garcia brought Jessica up to her office.
"What's going on?" Jessica demanded. "What do you know?"
"Right now, only that they're trapped in a cult compound with a bunch of heavily-armed cultists," Garcia revealed grimly.
"Are they going to be used as human sacrifices or something?" Jessica demanded, eyes wide.
"No, no!" Garcia quickly assured. "There's nothing to suggest that this cult practices human sacrifice. Technically, the cultists didn't even kidnap Prentiss and Reid; they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Then why are they being held hostage?!"
"The state police tried to serve a warrant while Prentiss and Reid were undercover there, and it turned into a shootout," Garcia explained. "The cultists have been holed up in their compound ever since, and Prentiss and Reid just kind of got stuck in there with them."
"You could have started off by saying the cultists might not actually want to hurt them," Jessica grumbled.
Garcia winced. "Sorry, sweetie. But so far, whatever's going on doesn't seem to be as bad as Georgia."
Jessica shuddered. "Please don't mention Georgia."
After several more hours of freaking out, Jessica did eventually settle down enough to do her homework. She couldn't really imagine going to school with Spencer still hostage, but she'd learned her lesson from Georgia; at least schoolwork would provide a distraction. She was just glad she didn't have any tests coming up this week.
Garcia eventually took off her headset and turned to Jessica. "Rossi just got confirmation that Prentiss and Reid are alive."
Jessica heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank god."
Garcia nodded. "And nothing else is likely to happen until he drops off some medical supplies in the morning, so we should go get some food and sleep. Bianca must be hungry."
Jessica's eyes widened. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten her poor cat. "Let's go!"
The next day, Beth and Claire commiserated with Jessica over her and Spencer's continuing streak of bad luck. That was the only part of the school day that Jessica really remembered; she couldn't focus in class. She kept anxiously checking her phone whenever she thought she could get away with it, but Garcia didn't send her any updates.
As soon as school let out, Jessica headed to the Metro and returned to Quantico. Unfortunately, Garcia didn't have much in the way of good news. "Some idiot in the press leaked that there was an undercover FBI agent," she revealed, scowling. "Prentiss took the fall, and it sounds like she got beat up pretty bad. Silver lining, though, Reid's still okay."
Jessica swallowed. "Emily's alive, right?"
"For now. Let's hope she stays that way."
Jessica took a deep breath. "Do…do you think we'll get them back?"
"We have to," Garcia signed determinedly.
"But do you think we will?" Jessica pressed.
"I'm not letting myself think otherwise," Garcia insisted.
Jessica looked down at her backpack, not reassured. Bad enough that Spencer had fallen afoul of another religious nutjob. Now that nutjob was beating people up. This was all feeling a little too familiar for her tastes.
"Their law says a fifteen-year-old girl is a child," Cyrus said, rising to his feet. "Fifty years ago, that same law said a fourteen-year-old was an adult. Have children changed so much in fifty years?"
Reid swallowed. "I have full custody of my fifteen-year-old cousin. I provide for her, but I believe in letting her make her own decisions. She's very responsible." He stared into space. "She's probably worried out of her mind about me right now."
"Have faith," Cyrus suggested. "The Lord rewards those who are devoted to their families."
Reid snapped out of it, realizing he'd come dangerously close to dropping the persona he'd crafted for dealing with Cyrus. He forced himself to get back on track. "She's old enough to know her own heart, to know if she can love a man for better or for worse. I can't tell you the number of times I've investigated abuse charges against small religious groups. Almost all of them turn out to be false."
That night, Garcia once again drove Jessica home to feed Bianca, but they both went straight back to Quantico afterwards. So long as the team was still active in Colorado, Garcia wanted to be available to help and Jessica wanted to learn any news as soon as possible. Jessica decided to bring a blanket and pillow, not knowing how late they were going to be at Quantico.
Eventually, Garcia got word that the team intended to make their move at 3 am. This would be 5 am Eastern Time, so Garcia suggested that Jessica go crash in Hotch's office. Garcia herself leaned back in her chair, too wired to even think of sleeping. Her babies had to get home in one piece. They had to.
Jessica slept fitfully, plagued by nightmares. First Spencer was lying dead on the floor of that shed, then the shed transformed into a church, then an altar on which Spencer was an apparent human sacrifice. Cyrus and Hankel both stood over him, giving some sermon about fire and brimstone and the end of days. Shadowy figures surrounded them, watching in apparent approval. Jessica signed, begging the two men to let Spencer go, but they both looked at her and told her that her deafness was proof that her entire family were demonspawn. Suddenly, Jessica was lying next to Spencer on the altar. The ground began to shake as Cyrus loomed over her…
…And then Cyrus became Garcia, who was trying to shake Jessica awake. "They got them both out okay," Garcia revealed, smiling.
"Emily and Spencer are safe?" Jessica checked, almost afraid to believe it.
"Completely safe, and so are most of the lower-rung cultists."
Jessica scowled. "Why should I care about them?"
"They weren't the ones involved in all the shooting and beating and hostage-taking," Garcia signed reproachfully. "They were the ones your cousin was trying to save."
"Right. Good, then," Jessica replied, chastened.
Garcia nodded. "It's about 5:20; do you want to go home, or sleep here until it's time for school?"
Jessica shrugged. "Just stay here, I guess."
Garcia nodded again. "Sweet dreams."
Later that day, Jessica left school and found Spencer waiting for her outside. He wasted no time in giving her a very big hug, which she readily returned.
"You have got to stop being held captive," Jessica signed once they let go.
"I couldn't agree more," Spencer replied wryly. "At least last time, there wasn't a fifteen-year-old blonde named Jessica who blew herself up."
Jessica briefly stared in surprise, then shook herself out of it. "I'm not planning to blow myself up, don't worry."
"Good. Don't go marrying any 'prophets', either."
"…I won't," Jessica assured, now wondering just what the heck had happened in that cult compound. "What are you doing here? Did Hotch give you the day off?"
Spencer nodded. "He told both Emily and me to take a long weekend."
Jessica smiled. "Good, now we have more time to plan your birthday party."
"Party?" Spencer repeated worriedly.
On Sunday, the whole team came over to Reid and Jessica's apartment. Jessica and Garcia had argued over cake-baking rights, with the end result that they'd each baked a small cake for the occasion. "Oh my god, that cake smells amazing," JJ said, taking a large slice of Jessica's cake.
"What, mine doesn't smell amazing too?" Garcia demanded, pouting.
JJ cautiously sniffed it, then took a step backwards and made a face. "Hormones. Sorry."
"I'll eat your cake, baby girl," Morgan offered. "I'll eat it off you too, if you like."
Rossi loudly cleared his throat, looking pointedly at Jessica. "There are minors present."
"And she's looking the other way," Morgan replied, unconcerned.
Prentiss raised an eyebrow. "If she was looking, would you have let that stop you?"
Morgan shrugged. "Hey, she's in high school. She probably hears—well, sees—worse from her classmates. C'mon, Rossi, you expect us to believe you never said anything dirty at that age?"
"Your point is well-taken," Rossi conceded.
Meanwhile, Reid was sorting through the gifts and cards. He stopped in surprise when he noticed a postcard with familiar handwriting wishing him a happy birthday. "Where'd this come from?" he asked.
"That came in the mail while you were in Colorado," Jessica informed him. "I was keeping it hidden until today."
Hotch took a closer look. "Is that Gideon's handwriting?"
"He sent one for my birthday this year, too," Jessica added.
Reid frowned at Jessica. "You never mentioned that."
Jessica shrugged. "You were on a case."
"Oh, right, the Chula Vista one." Reid grimaced. "And I wasn't really asking how your birthday went afterward."
Hotch looked over the postcard again. "Well, I guess Jason must be doing well."
"I hope so," Jessica agreed.
Reid silently stared at the postcard, not sure how to feel about it. He was still a bit annoyed with Gideon for leaving the way he had, but at least Gideon was acknowledging Reid's continued existence. It was more than Reid's father had ever done, anyway.