Episode: 14x01
"The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know." - Harry Truman.
"Just keeps going to voicemail." Lily groaned, annoyed, as she looked down at her phone while she tried to contact Penelope, sitting in the passenger seat with Matt driving and JJ behind her.
"All of Garcia's cells?" Matt asked, as Lily furrowed her eyebrows in worry.
"Yeah." She mumbled, trying again. "I can't get a hold of her."
"I talked to Spence for like a second before we got disconnected." JJ said
"All right, try the guard gate." Matt offered and JJ picked up the phone before sighing.
"Still busy." She said.
"Still busy?" Lily repeated.
"Yeah, it doesn't make sense." JJ said. "We've got a prisoner who could be escaping right now. We can't get anyone on the phone. Not even security."
"Maybe Prentiss got a hold of the director." Matt said as Lily sighed, trying not to freak out just yet.
"Yeah, let's hope so." She mumbled, before frowning when she noticed all the commotion around the bureau that was preventing them from actually getting to their workplace. "What's all this?"
"It's a fire alarm on the sixth floor, ma'am." One of the officers around said, overhearing the question when Matt stopped the car, unable to continue in the blocked road anyway.
"Which building?" JJ asked.
"Yours."
"How many injured?" Matt asked.
"Unclear." The officer said. "Director isn't taking chances. There's been a mandatory evacuation."
"We have a prisoner awaiting transfer..." Lily said. "Benjamin Merva."
"I can't look it up." The officer said. "System's down."
"Well, we need to search every vehicle, especially emergency ones." Matt said.
"I've got guards manning exits, but we're outnumbered." The officer sighed as Lily looked down at her phone and shook her head.
"No, we're under attack."
***
Emily had left Lily and Matt to look around the garage to see if they could gather any type of information after they had finally made their way inside the bureau only to realize that not only Benjamin Merva was gone but so were Spencer and Penelope. Lily felt sick to her stomach as she walked around, but she pushed through it. Agent Quinn had been shot, so he hadn't been the one to help Benjamin Merva out. Their suspicions had been wrong, but that didn't make Lily feel any better. She had been having a bad feeling about that case ever since she left Quantico about an hour before. Why did she ignore it?
"Is that Garcia's car?" Matt asked, noticing the woman standing in front of a particular car and staring into the void.
"Yeah." Lily nodded, apparently snapping herself back to reality. "Spence and Penelope's phones were left inside with their bags. If they were helping with the evacuation, they wouldn't leave those behind."
"No." Matt agreed, before following Lily when she started to walk away from him.
"Oh, and that. See that?" She asked, pointing at a few droplets of blood on the ground. "That's Quinn's blood. But over here, I mean, whose blood is this? What if whoever took Merva hurt Spence or Penelope?"
"We'll find them." Matt reassured gently, noticing Lily starting to panic a little.
"Doesn't make sense." She mumbled, trying to keep her mind occupied. "There's no fire, no sprinklers... It's clearly a false alarm. So why all the chaos?"
"Hundreds of people were evacuated." Matt agreed. "Some panicked, fell down the stairs..."
"Wait, hundreds evacuated?" Lily frowned. "Really, this late?"
"It's campus wide, all the buildings were emptied." Matt said. "New protocol, apparently."
"Ok, so whoever pulled that alarm knew it would cause chaos."
***
"Why is at the heart of every BAU investigation." Rossi said, as the team reunited in the conference room to try and piece together the case. "This one isn't any different."
"Why did Meadows join ViCAP?" Tara asked, as Rossi nodded.
"Exactly. As we know, ViCAP agents liaison between federal and local agencies." He said. "The whole point is to put together details of crimes that could be connected across the U.S. Then it gets on our radar."
"So let me guess." Luke spoke up. "Meadows has been erasing murders that would have connected us to the cult."
"We had to go back to when she joined and rebuild her case histories." JJ said, motioning for herself and Rossi who had been deep diving into Meadows cases ever since they realized that she had been the one to help Merva escape and not Quinn. "We found a pattern that she was hiding."
"So the murders she was covering up were the ones where the victims were missing hyoid bones." Rossi said.
"Like the 7 we found in storage." Tara said.
"As it turns out, this cult has killed more than 7." JJ said.
"How many?" Lily asked, as the blonde profiler sighed.
"299."
"What?"
"Yes." JJ nodded, showing a map on the screen behind her with all of the murders that her and Rossi had tracked down.
"I still can't believe that Meadows was able to cover up all these kills." Matt mumbled, as he looked over the map. "Over a decade."
"There doesn't seem to be an obvious pattern." Tara pointed out. "They're all over the continental U.S."
"Victomology's protector type." Luke pointed out.
"That's a good start, but we need more." Emily said.
"Why take hyoid bones?" Tara asked.
"Well, they're unique to humans, they float in the neck, and they aren't connected to any other bone." Lily offered. "It anchors the tongue. Without it, the victims have no voice."
"Run with that." Rossi nodded as he turned to look at Lily. "They removed them while their victims were still alive, which isn't just sadistic, it means they want them speechless."
"What if removing the hyoid isn't just a ritual, but an individual's signature?" Tara suggested.
"So it isn't a cult of killers, it's just Merva." Emily said.
"All the victims were sacrificed by The Messiah." Tara nodded. "The followers are simply hunters."
"That would eliminate some of his risk." Emily said. "He gave the hunters hyoids as trophies, maybe as some kind of reward for their hard work. That's why he gave Theo's parents 7 of them."
"All right, look, The Believers, they're just like Jonestown, Manson, Heaven's Gate, even Rajneeshpuram in Oregon." Tara continued. "There's always a charismatic leader and a strong right hand who appears as a devoted disciple. In this case, Meadows. Merva has killed 299 innocents for a reason. We just don't know why."'
"But now that he's taken Reid and Garcia, The Believers have declared war on the BAU." Emily said.
"So this has got to be working toward their end game, one that could make either Reid or Garcia their 300th victim, perhaps their last."
"Garcia wasn't a part of this." Luke said. "She was just racing to the elevator."
"So it's Spence." JJ said. "It's been him all along."
"He's a protector." Lily mumbled. "It fits the victimology."
"Reid has to know something we don't." Luke said. "Ben's Believers. Reid could have told us anything, but he chose that."
"I... Excuse me."
And without giving anyone much time to react, Lily spun around in her heels and walked out of the conference room, racing toward the bathroom with heavy breath as she cried quietly into a sink. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but when she finally managed to stop her tears from falling and wash out her face, she jumped a little when she noticed JJ coming toward her through the mirror.
"You okay?" She asked gently, approaching her friend carefully. After all, she knew that having both Spencer and Penelope taken from her would affect her the most out of everyone in the team.
"I remember the first time the three of us hung out together." Lily smiled a little as she breathed in and out slowly, her voice cracking with each word she spoke. "We got together at Penelope's house. It was around three weeks after I was hired in the team and Penny and I were already forming a bond. Penelope figured Spence and I would get along, though, because we were close in age and geniuses or whatever, so she invited us over. You know Penelope, though... She made a fuzz out of it and decorated the whole house and bought so much food we could barely tackle half of it."
"Yeah?" JJ smiled fondly as Lily chuckled under her breath.
"Yeah." She nodded. "We spent the whole night watching reruns of Doctor Who like the huge nerds we are."
"It's a good thing Penelope decided to do that." JJ said. "The three of you have been inseparable ever since I can remember."
Lily nodded, the lump in her throat reappearing as she swallowed back her tears.
"I don't know how to do this without them." She choked out. "If, hum, we can't get them back I..."
"It's okay." JJ cooed, pulling Lily into her arms and letting the woman cry on her shoulder for a bit. "It's okay, we'll get them back."
***
After finding the connection between the Believers and the Liberty Ranch in Colorado, remembering that Meadows was actually part of that cult as well when Spencer and Lily had been held hostage by them ten years before, Tara, Luke and Matt were watching the news from that day to catch up with what had happened since they were the only ones from that team that weren't around when it went down.
"Liberty Ranch." Tara said, as the three agents watched together the footage of the news. "This case is still legendary for extreme survivalists."
"And when the local police invaded, they took it as proof that the prophecy had come true." Luke said.
"Polygamy was huge for them." Matt continued. "Meadows wasn't the only one married to Benjamin Cyrus. So they blamed the BAU for the death of their messiah way back then. And they've been planning their revenge for a very long time."
"The team went in there to save some kids from a sketchy situation a decade ago, and now this." Luke said.
"After the explosion, the ranch was condemned." Tara said. "Local FBI has eyes on it for us in case they head back there."
"When the women and children were rescued from the ranch, the government offered to relocate and give them a fresh start through WITSEC." Emily said, as she and the rest of the team walked closer to the three newest members.
"That makes sense why Meadows was able to clear the FBI background check." Luke pointed out. "She accepted their help knowing she would betray the government."
"Not every survivor wanted help." Matt said.
"We ran those who left the ranch and kept their names." Emily said. "A few relocated in rural Maryland and Virginia."
"Well, they could be helping now." Tara said. "Any of them have large pieces of property?"
"A few. The Washington field office has started searches in Maryland." She nodded. "We'll take the lead in Virginia."
And before anyone could even say anything to that, Lily gasped when she noticed a very disheveled Penelope practically stumbling into the room with a hazy gaze in her eyes. Rushing past everyone, Lily ran to Penelope and gently grabbed her best friend by the arms to get her to focus on her a little.
"Oh, my God..." She whispered. "Are you hurt?"
"It's a warehouse that's in Hillcrest, 18 minutes." She mumbled, barely paying Lily any mind as the woman sighed, but kept her hold on her. Without any more words, however, the rest of the team started to rush away to the cars, knowing that Lily would rather be there with her best friend at that moment. "I can take you there. You got to hurry. They hurt Reid. He's been bleeding. They're in trucks with Theo. I heard a gunshot. It's a warehouse."
***
Penelope had been quiet ever since she arrived at the bureau. Lily had managed to get her to drink some tea, but that had been about it. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get her best friend to open up at all and, as much as Lily knew it was mostly due to trauma, it frustrated her a little. They had Spencer after all and Penelope wasn't telling her everything, she knew it.
Still, she played her game and didn't push her. The team would find him in time. They'd bring him back and Lily would finally be able to take him home to Alec again. They would be fine. He would be fine. He had to be.
"Reid said it all happens at 10:23." Penelope said, as she sat with Lily in her office with the rest of the team on the phone in the warehouse Penelope had just come from.
"But it's past that." Lily noted. "So what did he mean?"
"Could be a clue here." Rossi said. "They got sloppy since they left in a hurry."
"Ok, well, you can't be that far behind them." Lily said.
"I know, but there's easy access to 3 major highways, and we don't know which way they went." Penelope almost whimpered.
"Right, but they're in tractor trailers." Emily said, as Penelope shook her head. "That means we can track them through weigh stations."
"No, you won't be able to." She said.
"Why?"
"I hacked the AVI, the Automated Vehicle ID, and created clean histories for each of the trucks so they wouldn't have to stop." Penelope said, her eyes finding Lily's for a moment as she whimpered again when she noticed the little hope she still had slipping from her eyes.
"So as long as they're within the legal weight, they'd get a green light." Emily said, clearly frustrated.
"I did that." Penelope almost cried. "I wanted to see Reid so I did that. I did the wrong thing."
"But there's got to be a way to trace an electronic weigh station bypass." Emily said, as Lily reached over to place a hand on Penelope's knee, not wanting her to feel guilty for anything. "They're transponders, like a carpool lane. Each one is assigned..."
"No, no, you won't be able to." Penelope said. "I used old registrations, nothing legit. It's all untraceable. I tried to leave a trail, but I couldn't. There wasn't enough time. This is my fault. We're not gonna be able to find Reid in time, and it's all my fault."
"Penelope, it's gonna be ok." Lily tried to reassured her, even if she could feel her own heart thundering in her chest.
"How is it gonna be ok?" Penelope asked. "They killed Theo and we don't know where they're going."
"Look, they've been gone less than an hour." Lily tried to find any silver-lining she possibly could. She needed it just as much as Penelope right now. "There's a good chance they're still in Virginia."
***
"What have you got?" Matt asked, as soon as he and the rest of the team walked into the conference room after having returning from the warehouse with no new leads.
"Multiple routes they could take out of state." Lily said, as she pointed at the map being shown on the screen behind her. "Based on the size of the truck Garcia described, we're talking two fuel tanks filled with diesel."
"Those tanks could be anywhere from 50 to 300 gallons, and they get roughly 7 miles a gallon average." Luke said.
"Yeah, we're looking at 1,200 to 1,800 miles before they need to refuel." Matt said.
"They won't want to risk stopping." Emily said. "They'll stay inside that radius."
"They're using trucks for transport because of all the supplies, so they're setting up a new compound." JJ said.
"Agreed." Rossi nodded. "But where?"
"Where will they be at 10:23?" Emily asked, as Penelope typed something on her computer and the calculus were made.
"Well, 500 miles in any direction." She said. "Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Kentucky."
"Only connection between those states is that there were victims killed there." Tara said.
"Emotional history's in Colorado, but that wouldn't connect to 10:23 at all." Lily said.
"But they can make it to the ranch without refueling." Luke said.
"It's too risky." Rossi shook his head. "They know it's the first place we'd look."
"I... What about this?" Tara offered. "Do you have any idea why they'd want to kill 300 victims?"
"It feels like the ultimate sacrifice." JJ said.
"Cyrus was a history buff." Rossi added. "He chose Franklin as his middle name after a founding father."
"300's a recurring number in history." Luke said. "Spartan's guard of the King, it was 300 men. 300 invisible soldiers of Gideon."
"Coincidence?" Matt asked, but Emily shook her head.
"Gideon was no longer on the team when we were at the ranch." She said. "It could be connected, but..."
"If this is about a believer's rebirth, babies are born with 300 bones, and they're taking the hyoids." JJ said.
"And the hyoids we had in evidence are missing, which means Merva needed them back." Tara said.
"That means they mean more to the end game than we thought." Lily bit her lip.
"But why did Reid need us to know it all happens at 10:23?" Penelope insisted. "That's got to be important. It was the last thing he said to me."
"Listen, you're right. It means something to him." Matt said, gently placing a hand on Penelope's shoulders to try and reassure her but Penelope just shrugged him off. "We're trying to figure it out."
"You better." She spat, before standing up and leaving the room, causing Matt to frown.
Lily smiled a little at him, letting him know it was alright and, after exchanging a quick glance with Emily, Lily walked out of the room as well, going after Penelope. She knew her friend needed to talk and, as much as she wasn't sure she would be strong enough to hear everything she had to say to her about how Spencer was the last time she saw him, Lily knew she'd had to try. So, pushing Penelope's office door open, she was only half-surprise to find her best friend there, curled into herself in her chair as she cried in her hands. Lily didn't say anything. Instead, she just walked up to Penelope and pulled another chair closer to hers as she sat down and all but pulled Penelope in her arms for a hug.
"Come here, it's okay..." She cooed, as the older woman quickly latched onto Lily and sobbed into her shoulder. "It's okay, shh..."
"I'm sorry..." Penelope cried out, as Lily shook her head gently, already having expected that. "I'm so sorry, I... I left him alone, I... I shouldn't have left him alone, I..."
"You needed to, Penny." Lily assured gently as Penelope continued to weep. "You worked together, didn't you? Spence distracted them so you could run?"
"Yes." Penelope nodded. "He said you guys needed me more than you needed him but..."
"Spence knew what he was doing, Pen." Lily assured, her own voice cracking but she still tried to keep herself composed. "You've helped us so much since you arrived. We have made more progress with you here than we have without you."
"But Reid..."
"He's strong." Lily said, sounding as if she was trying to convince not only Penelope but herself. "He'll make it out of this. We are gonna find him, Pen. We're gonna bring him home."
"Really?" Penelope asked.
"Really."
"You're not mad at me?"
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because... Because I left him there."
"You did what you had to do to survive." Lily said. "And... In a way, Spencer is right. We needed you here. I needed you here."
"I love you, Lily Scottley." Penelope smiled, finally taking her head from Lily's shoulders as she sent her best friend a small smile, wet from her tears. "We're gonna bring your Boy Wonder home."
"Yes." Lily returned the gesture, just as emotional as her best friend at the moment. "Yes, we will."
***
After finally figuring out that 10:23 meant a passage from the bible, the team managed to figure out where the new compound for the Believers would take place and, apparently, managed to stop them from killing Spencer for some sort of ritual that they were performing with the bones. Lily had stayed behind with Penelope once more, but, as soon as they got the call from JJ saying there were already on the jet home, the two women moved to stand just before the elevator, all too eager to see Spencer back.
They waited for almost an hour, but, then, the elevator doors slid open and Lily finally felt like she could breathe again. Yes, she was more than pleased to see all of her team coming back unharmed, but as she caught Spencer's eyes at the back of the elevator, she felt the tears coming up to her eyes again. She chuckled, though, at the strangled dob that Penelope let out from beside her and tapped her gently on the shoulder.
"Go on." She encouraged, nodding when Penelope sent her a look.
Penelope didn't need another word. With a smile, she rushed to Spencer and engulfed him in a hug that he was quick to return. Lily smiled gently, off to the side as the two of them embrace, clearly seeking one another's comfort after the traumatic experience they went through together and, sure, Lily wanted to hug her fiance too, but she let her best friend do it first, knowing she needed it more.
They did pull away from each other eventually and, as soon as Spencer stepped out of Penelope's embrace, he turned to Lily, his eyes soft and almost pleading as he opened his arms for her. He didn't even have to ask really, because, as soon as he was free, Lily was rushing to him across the room, crashing into his arms in a tight hug as Spencer rested his chin over Lily's head and breathed in her scent to try and ground himself.
He was safe now. He was home.
"I was so worried for you..." Lily cried, her voice muffled by his chest as Spencer cradled her head with his hands.
"I'm okay." He reassured, more so to himself than to Lily. "I'm alright now. I'm here. But I just... I just really want to go home."
Lily chuckled gently then, nodding her head as she pulled away from Spencer, her eyes meeting his as he used his thumb to wipe her tears away.
"Let's go then, Spence." She whispered, grabbing his hand in hers as if to make sure he was real and there in front of her. "Let's go home."
"The family, that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor in our innermost hearts never quite wish to." - Dodie Smith