Spencer and Cassidy were 4 months out from their wedding. Everything was pretty much completed. All Cassidy needed to do was attend her final wedding dress fitting.
"Hey, babe. I'm gonna head to Houston for a day or two, three days at most. My mom's medication is changing and the doctors want me to come down there." Spencer spoke as he put his packed duffle-bag near the front door.
"Okay. I'll get packed." Cassidy smiled.
"No, Cassie, you stay here and help the team. I'll be fine. I promise." Spencer smiled, placing a passionate kiss on her lips. And with that, Spencer was out the door with his duffel-bag, heading off to go and visit his mom's doctors.
———
(Matamoros Police, Northern Mexico, 24 Hours Later)
The car stopped, but the truck sped off. After a long car chase, the car pulled over to the side of the road. The police got out of their vehicles and walked over to the car, demanding that the driver get out.
The driver himself sat in front of the steering wheel, his eyes glancing at his right hand, which had a massive cut right in the middle. Blood was covering it, confusing him.
He was ushered out of the car by the police. Falling to the floor, he put his hands up and surrendered, being handcuffed before roughly pushed into the back of the police car. Other members of the police searched the car, then the trunk, finding lots of drugs stashed underneath the fabric of the duffel-bag.
20 minutes later, the man stood in front of a wall, a member of the police behind a camera in front of him.
The camera clicked, the light flashing.
"Hey." The policeman snapped, trying to get the man's attention. After successfully getting the man to turn to his right, the policeman attempted to get the man to turn to the left, with no success.
"Oye! Hey!" The policeman snapped his fingers again, gesturing to the man to turn.
The man was dazed and confused, unsure of where he had ended up. He didn't even feel the pain that the cut on his right hand was producing. Standing in the cell that rested in the middle of the station, the man put his head against the cell bars, exhaling.
"I should call my mom." He breathed.
"You need...your mommy? You're gonna need a lot more than that, vato." The man behind him chuckled, remaining seated.
"You're American?" Inspector Casteneda asked, the man nodding.
"Where's your identification?" He asked, tilting his head.
"I don't know." The man breathed.
"Your papers? Passport?" Inspector Casteneda asked.
"Something's wrong. I can't...I can't remember anything." The man closed his eyes, unsure.
"What's your name? What happened to your hand?" Inspector Casteneda asked, seeing the large cut on the man's hand.
"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders.
"It seems like the kind of thing a person would remember. It could get infected." He suggested, calling over a medic.
"I should call someone." The man whispered, trying to ignore the lights.
"You don't get a phone call. That surprises Americans when they get in trouble here. But maybe if you help me figure out why you had narcotics in your possession, I can help you notify someone." Inspector Casteneda spoke, confusing the man. He looked at the Inspector with confusion.
"You forgot that too? In the trunk of your car?" The inspector watched as the man closed his eyes, trying to remember.
The driver himself sat in front of the steering wheel, his eyes glancing at his right hand, which had a massive cut right in the middle. Blood was covering it, confusing him.
He was ushered out of the car by the police. Falling to the floor, he put his hands up and surrendered, being handcuffed before roughly pushed into the back of the police car. Other members of the police searched the car, then the trunk, finding lots of drugs stashed underneath the fabric of the duffel-bag.
"What were you doing way out there?" The Inspector asked.
"I, uh...was meeting someone. I was meeting a woman. I'm not usually like this." The man breathed. His voice was raspy, like he hadn't had a sip of water in days.
"Heroin will do that." The Inspector nodded.
"I don't use drugs." The man shook his head.
"You just run them. You're not high right now? Why are you in Mexico?" The Inspector asked, watching the man's behaviour.
"Because I'm trying to...help my mom." The man exhaled.
"Your mother is with you in Mexico?" The Inspector asked, happy that he was finally getting some form of answer.
"Mm-mmm. She's not, but...Rosa. I'm meeting Rosa, who's a doctor, so I should find her." The man connected more dots.
"Rosa who? Where does she live?" The Inspector asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Jefe. Boss." An officer walked up to the Inspector and the man imprisoned, showing them what was in the bag that had the man's belongings.
"Deme. Give me." The Inspector asked, being handed the plastic bag.
"You're not just American. You're Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI?" The Inspector almost gasped at this revelation, turning the badge around so that the man could see it. He nodded, starting to remember who he was.
———
(At The BAU Office)
Things had been different since Hotch stepped down from his position within the BAU. When Peter Lewis was discovered to be stalking Jack, Hotch insisted that he and Jack be placed in WITSEC, which they were. So, when he departed, Emily became the Unit Chief. As much as she liked the position, she wasn't exactly happy with how she ended up there.
"Thanks, Strauss. This is bad. I know. It doesn't make sense." Emily nodded as she hung up the phone.
"What's wrong?" JJ asked, confused.
"Reid is in jail." Emily revealed, everyone looking at her in shock and confusion.
"Jail?" Derek gasped.
"In Mexico." Emily nodded.
"What the hell is he doing down there?" JJ asked.
"I don't know. I didn't talk to him. The call came in to Strauss from their lead investigator." Emily explained
"What's he being held for?" Penelope questioned.
"Drug possession, with intent to distribute." Emily shrugged her shoulders.
"What type of drugs?" Rossi asked.
"Cocaine and heroin." Emily exhaled.
"Oh, my God. This can't be happening." Penelope shook her head.
"Does Cassidy know?" JJ remembered.
"Oh shit." Derek exhaled.
"Penelope, I need you to-" Before Emily could continue, Penelope nodded.
"Yeah. I can call her. I can do that." Penelope nodded, grabbing her phone.
———
(Matamoros Police Station, Northern Mexico)
"I'm gonna run some tests to figure out what you're on right now." The Inspector explained as the medic knelt down in front of Spencer, bandaging his hand.
"Thank you. Helpful." Spencer nodded, hunched over while he was being helped.
"We're having a hard time finding this Dr. Rosa. You still don't remember her last name or where you met her?" The Inspector's arms were crossed as he looked down at the disheveled man.
"I'm trying." Spencer insisted.
"When my officers chased you, you were racing toward the border. My guess is you planned on crossing it. Is that true?" The Inspector asked, letting the medic exit the cell.
"No, I, uh...think I was chasing someone." Spencer shook his head.
His hands gripped the wheel as he tried to catch up to the truck that was racing ahead. His vision was blurry, like if he was drugged.
"Who?" The Inspector asked, moving to sit across from Spencer.
"They were in front of me. Maybe your officers saw them." Spencer breathed.
The car kept driving, the truck getting further and further away. He could hear the police sirens behind him as he drove.
"They did. No one got the tags." The Inspector nodded.
"This has to be a mistake. I think I'm being framed." Spencer admitted, exhaling.
"You have enemies who would do this?" The Inspector looked at him up and down, watching as the man nodded.
———
(At The BAU Office)
"What do you mean Spencer's in jail?!" Cassidy sat in the conference room with Penelope and JJ, on a call with Emily, Rossi and Derek while they traveled to Mexico.
"He was apart of a car chase, and when the police caught up with him, they arrested him and checked his car to find heroin and cocaine in his trunk. They charged him with drug possession with intent to distribute." Emily explained.
"T- This cannot be happening. We're 4 months away from our wedding! This cannot be freaking happening!" Cassidy started panicking, Penelope holding her hand.
"Penelope, why don't you take Cassidy to get something to eat and drink?" Derek suggested.
"No. No way. I'm going down there." Cassidy shook her head.
"Cassidy, that may not be a good-" Before JJ could continue, Cassidy shook her head.
"My FIANCÉ has been arrested and is currently in jail. You're crazy if you think I'm not going down there to see him." Cassidy growled.
"Okay, sure. We will let him know that you're on your way once we get there." Emily exhaled.
"Back to the actual reason why he's in jail." Rossi reminded the team.
"Right. This has got to be Scratch. He was laying low. Now we know why." Derek insisted.
"Crossing the border as a fugitive is a huge risk." JJ shook her head.
"The reward is greater. He's been punishing the team. Now his target is Reid." Emily explained.
"Peter Lewis dropped off the map after escaping from prison. Maybe he's been hiding in Mexico this whole time." Cassidy crossed her arms.
"We also have to consider this isn't related to him." Emily exhaled.
"Who else would it be?" Rossi asked, looking at her confused.
"Drug cartels. Could have threatened Reid and used him as a mule." JJ suggested.
"Agreed. This could simply be a case of bad luck. Reid was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Rossi shook his head.
"Spencer's mom is okay. The home nurse he hired said all is stable." JJ smiled, relieved.
"Oh, thank the stars." Penelope smiled.
"Cassidy, how long did Spencer say he'd be gone for?" Rossi asked.
"Uh, a day or two. Three days at most." Cassidy pinched the bridge of her nose, starting to feel a bit nervous.
"That sounds reasonable." Emily nodded.
"He s- said that his mom's medication was changing, and that the doctors wanted him to come down there - I assumed to tell him about the new meds." Cassidy explained what Spencer had told her.
"Well, Houston is only a 5-hour drive from the border." Derek exhaled.
"Usually I can read him. I can't believe I didn't pick up on any of this." Cassidy shook her head and stood up, beginning to pace around the conference room.
"He didn't want you to, and there's no way you would have guessed he'd end up in Mexico." Derek shook his head, glancing at Rossi and Emily.
"The question is, why did he go down there? And why does he have narcotics?" Rossi asked.
"Yeah, exactly. That...that. He wouldn't...he wouldn't do that. Those drugs were planted on him." Penelope explained.
"Absolutely. But there's something bigger in play. That's why he crossed the border and kept it a secret. There's something he didn't want to share with any of us." JJ rolled her eyes.
"I'm his fiancée god damnit! I am going to be his wife in 4 months! Why would he keep this from me? Why wouldn't he just tell me? Maybe I could've helped him AVOID this situation." Cassidy became angry, thinking that she would kill him for keeping a secret from her.
"There's no point focusing on what could have happened. Right now we have to figure out exactly what led to Spencer's arrest, as well as how we can help him clear his name." Emily exhaled, determined.
"Okay, so what would make him risk everything?" Derek asked.
"His mom." Rossi suggested.
"Yeah, but she's here and she's safe." JJ shook her head.
As the team in their separate locations talked, Penelope's gaze went to her laptop when a notification popped up.
"Oh, wait. Strauss just sent me the arresting report. Hold, please. Translating now." Penelope informed.
"O...kay. It says here that Reid was involved in a high-speed chase?" Penelope looked at her screen in confusion.
"What? He hardly ever drives." Emily scoffed.
"None of this sounds like him. It says he was wearing jeans, he was really confused. And...according to the arresting officer, he was really high on something." Penelope looked up at Cassidy and JJ.
"No, no, he wouldn't do that." JJ shook her head, holding Cassidy's hand.
"What does the report say about the intent to distribute?" Rossi asked.
"Uh, it says he was charged with constructive possession, and in the duffel bag there was cocaine, cash, and 3 bricks of heroin." Penelope kept reading the report.
"Okay, we'll be there in less than an hour. Dave, were you able to reach Jack Garrett?" Emily turned to Rossi, who shrugged his shoulders.
"He's deep in a case, but he promised to do what he can." Rossi nodded.
"Okay. We're gonna need all the help we can get." Emily exhaled before the call ended, leaving JJ, Cassidy and Penelope alone at the BAU office.
"You know, we should check with Monty over at IRT to see how many times Reid has crossed the border." Cassidy suggested.
"Our smarts are on the same channel. I just IM'ed him." Penelope smiled.
"Where are you with the searches?" Cassidy asked.
"The 'Scratch' of it all, I am thus far coming up with nothing. For all we know, Peter Lewis could be in Mexico orchestrating this whole thing. We're talking about a dude who hacked into DMV records, and cross that with a cyber wall run by the Mexican drug cartel, which is an even scarier wall of cyber than I'm used to." Penelope exhaled.
"What about Spencer?" Cassidy asked.
"Oh, right. Well, luckily, he leaves more digital breadcrumbs than Mr. Lewis, i.e., I have info on Reid's flight to Houston. Looks like he checked in and out of a hotel there. But if he rented wheels to get to Mexico, there's no record of it." Penelope looked at her computer.
"Well, maybe he has a contact down there and he could have borrowed their car." Cassidy asked.
"He could have taken a bus. There's all kinds of ways to cross the border. I'll keep looking." Penelope smiled.
Seconds later, JJ walked into the conference room with a pile of books in her hand.
"Okay, so I dug around his desk, I found a whole lot of articles in medical journals, no big surprise." JJ rolled her eyes.
"This is all about experimental medicine." Cassidy looked confused as she opened up a book that JJ had given to her.
"Okay. Experimental medicine makes sense. I got an email from a librarian friend of mine from the FBI library. It looks like our boy wonder has been processing a lot with that beautiful brain of his, all having to do with alternative medicinal procedures for fighting Alzheimers." Penelope explained.
"Well, he told me he was supplementing her meds with omega-3s and making sure she was eating a ton of leafy greens. But he said her prescriptions plus vitamins weren't enough. Maybe he took it to a new level." Cassidy exhaled, crossing her arms.
"Because it takes years to pass the FDA guidelines, a lot of holistic medicine is practiced outside the United States." JJ spoke before picking up her phone, seeing a text from Emily.
"Okay, they have landed and they are on the way to Spence. All right, well, let's start digging through these, see if we can find anything that can help." JJ insisted as her and Penelope started looking through the books found in Spencer's desk.
"I'm gonna go and get some stuff packed. I'll message you two later." Cassidy stood up.
"Cassidy, are you sure you want to go and see him? There's a chance that he might have actually done something bad, intentionally or not. You don't want to see your fiancé when he's locked in a jail cell." Penelope asked.
"I need to see him, Penelope. The last thing I want is for him to think that I'm giving up on him. He's not guilty of whatever he's been charged with. I'm not going to sit here and look through stupid books. I'm going to go and see my fiancé and help him out however I can." Cassidy insisted before leaving the conference room.
———
(Matamoros Police Station, Northern Mexico)
"Thanks for calling us." Emily smiled as she, Derek and Rossi walked into the station, following the Inspector.
"A U.S. Fed in our custody isn't something we see every day." The Inspector scoffed.
"We appreciate you letting us talk to him. Have you gotten his tox-screen panels back yet?" Emily asked.
"No." The Inspector shook his head.
"You will need to expedite that. We have cause to believe that Agent Reid was drugged." Rossi explained.
"He was definitely high and driving like a maniac with $20,000 worth of heroin in his possession. Both of which put my officers at risk." The Inspector warned the three agents as they got close to the cell that Spencer was in.
"You're in our jurisdiction. The rules are different here." The Inspector exhaled.
"We understand." Emily, Derek and Rossi nodded.