The Boss' Niece (Spencer Reid)

82. So close, yet so far

"You've justified it." Meadows chuckled.

"I'm a pretty good person and I'm doing a really bad thing." Penelope shook her head.

"Again, justification. Now that you've made my point, maybe you won't be so quick to judge. Woman of her word. The world needs more of us, am I right?" Meadows smiled, watching as Penelope stopped typing, clearly finished.

"You need to sync that right now or it will lock me out and set a bunch of alarms if I try to hack it again." Penelope groaned.

———
(At The BAU Office)

The entire FBI Academy had been evacuated, except for the BAU team. Spencer walked off, needing to clear his head and try to calm down. He walked to the nearest male bathroom and splashed water on his face before standing outside the BAU bullpen, staring out the nearest window. No matter how hard he tried to focus on the task at hand - gathering as much intel on Meadows as possible - his mind always wandered to Cassidy. She was always his intended target. Why? He didn't know. He didn't know why Cassidy was Meadows' target, and he hated himself. He used to be able to figure this kind of thing out in 60 seconds. But after everything that he and Cassidy had been through, and his time in prison, it had definitely changed a lot. He was no longer the brilliant genius who could drop information or figure out the missing piece of the puzzle at the snap of his finger. If he was a version of Spencer before prison, then maybe they would've discovered Meadows' plan sooner. Maybe they could've prevented Cassidy and Penelope from getting kidnapped. It also didn't help that he couldn't do anything to help his pregnant wife. He knew she could take care of herself, but not knowing if she or his son were okay, it was killing him. It was affecting him. All he wanted to do was wrap her in a warm hug and tell her that everything was okay. But he couldn't. Not until he and the team had found her and Penelope.

"Hey." Spencer looked behind him to see Tara.

"Hi." He replied, exhaling.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" Tara smiled.

"Of course I am. I can't help it! She's my wife. She's carrying my unborn son. She's somewhere out there being tortured by a cult member and I can't do anything to help her!" Spencer became angry, almost punching a nearby wall.

"Calm down, Spencer. It's okay to think about her. Yes, you're both FBI Agents. Yes, you're supposed to be doing a job right now. But you're also a husband to Cassidy and a father to your unborn son. Being those things come first. Even before being an FBI Agent." Tara reassured him.

"I- I...I just want Cassidy, my son and Penelope to be okay." Spencer sobbed.

"You, Cassidy and Penelope have inseparable since I met you." Tara smiled, wrapping her arms around Spencer, who happily accepted the hug.

"I don't know how to do this without them. If, uh, we can't get them back I..." Spencer tried to continue his sentence, but he was too upset.

"It's okay. I know." She nodded, understanding him.

After a few more moments of silence, Tara and Spencer returned to the conference room.

"All right, I've got Metro P.D. looking for any properties owned or rented by any and all Benjamins in the tri-state area since the old warehouse was compromised." Rossi spoke.