The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. That's the one thing that seems to be holding Spencer back. He can't admit that he has a problem because that would mean reaching out for help and he didn't want to seem weak. He'd always feared being weak since his father walked out on him and his mother. So he kept quiet and slowly drowned while everyone turned a blind eye out of fear of losing him.
Despite the two-week time frame since Amanda had punched him, Spencer was still sporting a pretty nasty black eye. Although it may have been more because of the darker circles that were present due to his drug use than the actual punch. It does turn heads whenever he walks into the conference room, however. Nobody knew how he got it. Emily suspected because Amanda had been the last to talk to him and Hotch suspected because he saw how harsh Amanda had been with Spencer lately and the way he avoided looking at her while telling the lie.
Neither one said anything about it and by this time, the rest of the team had stopped questioning Spencer on how he had gotten it. It turns out that their new case was in New Orleans. There was a serial killer that was killing men. The police thought they died in the hurricane they had a few months back until they found another body. The killer had sent a letter to the old detective that was on the case but he had died in the hurricane and now his son was the lead.
They all quickly boarded the plane and about halfway into take off, Spencer tells them about his friend, Ethan, who he says he believes lived in New Orleans now. He tells them that they grew up competing with each other and both had their hearts set on the FBI until he dropped out. Emily makes a joke about him leaving because he couldn't take it and Spencer gets snippy. Amanda shoots him a glare.
"I remember Ethan," she speaks and Morgan turns to her with a grin.
"I always forget you and Spencer went to school together. Did you compete with Pretty Boy and his friend?"
She grins. "I don't compete, Morgan, I win, and for your information, no I didn't. I did use to sleep with Ethan but I was a bit of a slut in college."
"Amanda," Hotch patronizes and she shrugs, pretending not to hear Spencer mutter something about just in college.
"What, I'm not calling other people names, I'm calling myself them. Plus I'm only being honest," she jokes and Aaron rolls his eyes as JJ comes out to give them information about the murders, what little didn't get destroyed in the hurricane. Right before they land, Hotch tells everyone where to go, leaving Amanda to go to the station with him, but as they arrive, she turns to him. "Look, I know you don't really need me yet and I kind of have something to do here."
"What business could you possibly have in New Orleans?" He questions skeptically.
"You'd be surprised. I'll be quick though. I promise." He studies her before nodding. "Thanks, Aaron. I'll be back." He steps out of the car and Amanda watches him walk into the station before driving to a small bar that seems to be closed. When she walks in, however, nobody says anything to her so she walks to the bar where she sees the man she's looking for. "Now how did I know I'd find you in a bar?"
"Why doesn't it surprise me that you're in a bar in the middle of the day?"
"Well, I was looking for you, Ethe."
He turns to her with a smile. "Amanda Hotchner, it's been a long time."
"That it has," she says with a smile of her own as she hugs him.
"What brings you to the Big Easy, Amy?"
"I'm actually here on a case."
"A case? You joined the bureau?"
"Years before you and Spencer," she nods.
"So you two work together? That must be why he called me, right? Because he's here too?"
"Yeah. He's actually why I'm here."
"I know that look."
"What look?" She asks in confusion.
"The 'I'm worried about Spencer because he's the only person I care enough about to worry' look. What happened?"
"He's addicted to Dilaudid."
He blanches at her. "I see you decided to just rip that bandaid off before even telling me there was one."
"Ethan, that didn't even make sense. Look, the point is that I tried to help him and talk him into getting help and he brought up the fact that my fiancé died of a drug overdose and said it was because he wanted to get away from me." He looks at her in shock.
"That doesn't sound like the Spencer Reid I know."
"That's what drugs do to you, Ethan. I told him that I didn't care if he killed himself and that we weren't going to be friends anymore but-"
"But you lied because you know he only said it because of the drugs and you're hoping that I might have better luck."
"Just talk him into going to rehab, okay?" He nods and she starts to walk away, but his voice stops her.
"I just need to know, did you mean it when you said that you and he couldn't be friends anymore?"
"Did he ever tell you why I left school without him?"
"Because you got an offer from the FBI?"
"I told him I loved him and he told me that he was pretending to be my friend to avoid bullies. He broke my heart and I promised never to let him back in. And then I did and he broke it again so yeah, Ethan, I did mean it." She looks at her phone. "Look, I have to go. Just please, help him." He agrees and she heads to the police station, barely getting there before Spencer, and heads to her brother.
"Did you get your business handled?" She nods.
"I think so, yeah. Anything new?" He shakes his head and turns on the projector. "I always loved projectors. I have one you know?"
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest, Amy," Prentiss says from behind her. She turns and sends her a smile as Spencer asks about the note. He realizes at the same time as Amanda that the killer is impersonating Jack the Ripper. Around noon, Emily gets a call from Garcia about a victim missing their kidney in Texas, just like one of Jack the Ripper's victims. Gideon tells her to take Morgan and Reid and talk to the victim's fiancé. Emily nods and leaves to call them.
Meanwhile, at the same bar where Amanda was mere hours earlier, Spencer is there talking to his old friend and blatantly ignoring the calls. Amanda, however, is talking to Aaron at the hotel. "What did you have to do earlier?"
"I went to talk to my old friend Ethan."
"The old friend you used to sleep with that is also friends with Reid?" She nods. "Why?"
"Because as pissed as I am at Reid right now, I still want him to be clean. I don't want to watch someone else that I l- care for, die. I can't handle that." Hotch studies his sister, wondering if she's telling the truth.
"Why are you so pissed at him?" She scoffs before revealing what happened in Houston. He looks at her with sympathy before realizing that isn't what she's looking for. "I think Haley's having an affair," he reveals.
"What?" Amanda asks in surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"I don't have any proof but it's just the way she's acting. Withdrawn, secretive-"
"Maybe she's addicted to Dilaudid. Who knows, maybe Spencer's her dealer." He gives her a look before they both chuckle, trying to make light of a bad situation. "I'm sure she'll tell you if it's true but maybe you're looking for something where nothing is present."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. So what about you and Reid, why is this bothering you so much? Enough to still try and help him after what he said."
"People say dumb things when they're drunk or high."
"Drunk, or in this case high, words are often sober thoughts."
She lets out a soft laugh. "You know why I was so good at breaking the hearts of the kids in our neighborhood?" He shakes his head. "Because finding out what they liked was easy but I had to be with them to learn exactly what to say to hurt them the most. I could figure it out in a couple of weeks. Spencer had 5 years to learn my weaknesses. He didn't want help and he knew I was the one most likely to force him to get it so he said exactly what he knew would make me stop helping."
"But it didn't really work because you went to Ethan."
"You don't give up on the people you care about, no matter what they do."
"Why do I get the feeling you aren't talking about yourself anymore?"
"Because I'm not. But I should be getting to bed. Goodnight."
_________
The next morning Emily and Morgan get back with the information that the unsub is a woman and that Spencer missed the plane. Amanda instantly lied on his behalf, not even noticing she was doing it, saying that the club had bad cell service and his phone most likely didn't ring. The excuse sucked but Amanda could make anything sound believable. Luckily, Spencer arrived with the same excuse.
With the new information, the team decides to head to the streets at night to keep an eye out for the unsub. They try their hardest but they don't manage to catch her before she kills again. Luckily, with this kill, they get a clue in the form of a stamp for a bar. A bar which used to be called Jones, the very word Detective Lamontagne's late father had written on the wall, or more like carved with a piece of glass.
Gideon, Prentiss, and JJ head with Detective Lamontagne to the bar to meet with the late Lamontagne's old partner. They come back with the reports that a girl was raped at the bar a few years back during Mardi Gras but nothing was done because the old partner didn't believe it really happened and didn't want to tarnish the reputation of one of the rapists. Amanda held out hope that the girl would kill that cop next. Sadly she didn't. She rented a motel room with her credit card and took a man she picked up from the very bar she was raped at.
They found her and Will talked her down before flirting with JJ, who gave him her number, unaware that Amanda was watching until he walked away. "Ooh, JJ has a boyfriend," she taunts.
"What. No, I don't."
"It's okay, JJ. He's cute. You could definitely do worse. Plus he's totally into you, I can tell which is a total plus because he seems like a genuinely decent guy who really cares about people. I think you should go for it."
"Really?"
"Definitely. You're gorgeous and sweet but you're also very confident, badass, and headstrong. Not a lot of guys can deal with that because they're asshats with ego issues. The detective seems different, meaning that he doesn't seem to be an asshat. Those are far and few between." JJ laughs at her as she throws an arm over Amanda's shoulder.
"Thanks, I think," she answers with a confused tone which makes Amanda laugh. "How're you doing, Amanda? I haven't had a chance to ask lately."
"Hmm, better. I'm not a fan of drugs so that was the worse of it but believe it or not, I'm oddly used to torture and gunshot wounds."
"Really?" Amanda just shrugs and JJ laughs as they head back to the hotel, aware that Gideon was going after Spencer and that was why they weren't allowed to leave that night.
________
The next day, they board the plane early and have to do paperwork as soon as they arrive at the BAU. Like always, Amanda finishes first and the minute she's gone, Emily heads over to the desk across from Morgan's that he refuses to let anyone sit at permanently, and the two gossip about if Amanda has a boyfriend and why she's always so quick to leave. Spencer points out that she just dislikes paperwork and that's likely why she finishes so quickly before turning in his own paperwork.
Little do they know that Amanda was meeting with a friend she had called a couple nights ago before confronting her sister-in-law. She knocks on the door and waits for Haley to answer. "Amanda, hi. I didn't realize you guys were back. Aaron hasn't come home yet."
"I know, he's at the office doing his paperwork. I came to see you, we need to talk." She pushes past Haley, knowing that Jack is asleep so she attempts to be quiet. "Look, I know that you are well aware that I'm not the closest with my siblings but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't very well die for either of them."
"Amanda, what is this about?"
"It's about this," she states, pulling the manilla folder out of her bag and pulling the pictures of Haley kissing an unfamiliar man. "I have friends that look out for the people I care about like my little nephew, who I love, and imagine his surprise when he saw my sister-in-law kissing someone that sure as hell isn't my brother. Now, I'm not going to force you to stay in a marriage you don't want to be in but I am going to force you to tell Aaron because I'm not going to let you hurt him like this.
"And if you even think for a second that you can take Jack away from him and ensure that Aaron doesn't see him, I want you to remember that I am a lawyer and that unlike Aaron I can practice while working for the bureau. I am very convincing and even when I wasn't a solo lawyer, I never lost. So if you try and take him away, I will make sure you never him again, do you understand?"
"Yes," Haley whispers and Amanda can hear the slight undertones of fear but can't bring herself to care.
"Good. As I said, leave him if you want but don't cheat on him, he doesn't deserve that and you know it." Haley nods and Amanda leaves, not wanting to be there when Aaron arrives because she honestly wants Haley to tell him herself because she thinks it won't hurt him as much and no matter how much he had hurt her, Amanda didn't want him to hurt. Just like with Spencer. That was just who Amanda was. She put others first regardless and she couldn't seem to stop.