Spencer had lost track of time. He had no idea how long he'd been locked up, and it didn't help that to distract himself, he tried to think about his wedding with Cassidy, but he'd forget how long he had before the day itself arrived.
Spencer sat across from Fiona. He was upset. His case was being pushed back.
"A continuance? How long?" Spencer asked, his hands clasped together. He was trying to calm down, but having his case postponed wasn't helping.
"6 weeks." Fiona spoke, Spencer almost tempted to punch a nearby wall.
"I don't understand. The Alexandria District court is the rocket docket." Spencer groaned, Fiona nodding.
"I know. But there are delays because of the arresting officers' limited availability." Fiona explained, showing the email that she had received from the courthouse.
"Because they have to travel from Mexico to Virginia?" Spencer asked, confused.
"And because they have domestic testimony obligations. This...this is the price we're paying for getting the case moved back to the States. I'm working directly with the Warden on getting extra visiting privileges." Fiona explained to Spencer, who shook his head, trying not to cry.
"I don't know if I can..." Spencer almost sobbed, trying to remain calm - but failing.
"Spencer, listen to me. There is a strategic silver lining here. These extra 6 weeks give the BAU time to track down the woman that you remembered." Fiona smiled.
"Have they made any progress?" Spencer asked, hopeful.
"They're pouring everything they have into locating her. And now that you remember that big detail that the other person in the room was a woman..." Fiona started, Spencer exhaling.
"...I might remember more." Spencer spoke.
"I know how hard this is, but our best hope is exonerating you before a verdict. And these 6 weeks could be a blessing in disguise." Fiona was hopeful.
———
After Fiona's no-so-good visit, the last thing Spencer wanted was to see anybody. Not Fiona. Not Emily. Not even Cassidy. He couldn't bare to see his friends and family without crying.
"Get on your feet. You got a visitor." The guard instructed, removing Spencer from his cell before walking him to the interview room.
"I don't want to see any visitors right now." Spencer groaned.
The door opened to reveal his mom.
"Spencer." She breathed, happy to see her son.
"Mom." He smiled, happy to see her.
"What is this place?" She started to panic, and he could see it on her face.
"It's okay, mom. You're just here to visit me. Cassie told you." Spencer looked at his mother, who shook her head.
"Cassie? Oh no. I sent that girl packing." She explained.
"Well, then, mom, how did you get here?" Spencer asked, confused.
"The new girl. She's a real sweetheart." She smiled.
"What's her name?" Spencer asked. She was about to answer, but started to panic when ht guard shut the door.
"Oh, we gotta get out of here. I saw a back staircase down the hall. Let me out." She exhaled.
"Mom, mom." He called for her, watching as she nearly rushed toward the door. She managed to get ahold of the handle, noticing the door was locked.
"The door's locked! I can't be locked in!" She panicked.
"You're not locked in. You're not locked in. I am." Spencer gently held onto his mother's arms, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"You? No. No, not you." She shook her head.
"It's a misunderstanding and it's going to be okay." Spencer smiled.
"What is this place?" She looked around.
"We're in the Milburn Federal Correctional Facility." Spencer admitted.
"A prison?" She gasped.
"Yeah." Spencer nodded.
"It's where I'm incarcerated pending my murder trial." Spencer leaned back against his chair, watching as she covered her mouth in shock.
"Because of Mexico? This is all my fault. You were down there because of me. Because I threw away that medicine you were trying to get me to take." She almost cried.
"Mom, I did what I did because I wanted to." Spencer explained, shaking his head.
"You would have run out of medicine eventually, and Scratch would have been waiting. The same thing would have happened, it just would have taken longer." Spencer chuckled.
"I'm so sorry." She cried.
"Mom, it's not your fault." Spencer shook his head.
"I can't believe I'm losing you to this." She pointed to her head.
"Not like this. The Alzheimers...I was starting to make peace with that, but this, ohh, how can I leave you here?" She shook her head, wiping away her tears.
"You are not losing me, and you are not leaving me here, because I'm gonna get out. The BAU will clear my name." Spencer insisted.
"There isn't time. Pretty soon I won't even remember you're my son anymore. I won't remember loving you." She sobbed.
"Love isn't a memory. It's so much more than that. Remember when I was little and you first started having schizophrenic episodes?" Spencer asked.
"Oh, I used to scare you." She nodded.
"And you used to tell me that sometimes you got confused, but you never...you never stopped loving me. Because that type of love is bigger than a disease of the brain. You used to say, love is a..." Before Spencer could finish, she spoke up.
"...love is a world of its own that lives in the heart, not in the head." She smiled.
"I remember." He nodded.
"You were so little, I didn't think you would." She exhaled.
"Even if you forget, I never will. I'm so sorry. For everything." Spencer exhaled, wishing so badly that he could hug her.
"Time's up. The nurse is on her way down." The guard spoke, opening the door.
"JJ's gonna keep coming to visit you, okay? Cassidy is going to visit you as well." Spencer spoke up.
"I know. And I will write to you." She nodded.
"Ready, Diana?" The nurse walked into the room, a smile on her face.
"It's time." She spoke.
"Don't rush me." Diana shook her head.
"It's time to go." She smiled. Spencer looked at the nurse, something about her seeming familiar.
"We have to go and meet Cassidy to pick our your dress for the wedding in a few weeks. Remember?" The woman spoke up.
"It's time to go." She smiled once again.
"Have we met?" Spencer looked at the woman, confused.
"No. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. Carol Atkinson." She nodded.
"I know you." Spencer almost gasped.
"What you do to me will be nothing compared to what my dad will do to you." Lindsey Vaughn threatened as she stared up at the man who was holding a gun to her head.
"Go on, kill him, daddy!" Lindsey begged as she looked at her dad, who was holding a gun to the man's head, fear all over his face.
"Put the gun down and freeze!" Spencer yelled, aiming his gun.
"Please help me!" The man begged.
"Listen to what she wants. She's begging you to kill somebody right in front of her. Your life has been about violence, and if you do this, Lindsey's will be, too. Do you want that?" Spencer spoke, trying to de-escalate the situation.
"Kill him." Lindsey whispered before a loud gunshot echoed through the bathroom.
"You're Lindsey Vaughn." Spencer gasped.
"Um, no. Carol. Carol Atkinson. It's nice to meet you. Your mother's an angel. I'm so glad you had this time together." She shook her head. Spencer could tell that she was panicked when she heard him use her real name, but that panic disappeared when she was talking about his mother.
"Let's go, Diana. Time to go." She insisted.
"You keep saying "her." Tara looked at him confused, shaking her head.
"'Cause it wasn't Scratch who framed me. It was a woman." Spencer finally realised who was in the motel room with him and Nadie. He wasn't exactly sure who the woman was, but he was sure that she was a woman.
"It's time. Time to go." The woman spoke as she held up a set of keys in her hand.
The spraying stopped. The woman's face was still blurry, but he watched as she removed the beanie from her head, revealing her long brown hair. It was Lindsey Vaughn.
Spencer snapped out of his memory too late, as he watched Lindsey Vaughn - pretending to be a nurse - walk out of the interview room with his mom.
"Guard! Guard!" Spencer yelled, bashing his fists against the door.
"Mom! Mom!" He kept yelling, watching as Lindsey and his mom walked away.
———
(At The BAU Office, Emily's Office)
Cassidy walked into Emily's office, confused.
"I came as fast as I could." She admitted.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Emily nodded, both of them sitting down.
"Why couldn't you tell me on the phone? What happened?" Cassidy asked, confused.
"Fiona and I went to see Spencer." Emily admitted.
"And?" Cassidy asked.
"Reid, are you okay?" Emily asked.
"It's my mom, she's in trouble." Spencer insisted.
"Were Spencer and Diana scheduled to have a visit?" Cassidy asked.
"He didn't think so, but it happened anyway." Emily exhaled.
"What does Cassie say?" Cassidy asked, tilting her head.
"Cassie didn't bring Diana. Another nurse did, a Carol Atkinson. Garcia's running a search on the name now, but it's an alias." Emily revealed.
"For who?" Cassidy questioned.
"Cassie didn't bring my mom. It was Lindsey, from Witness Protection. She pretended to be my mom's nurse. Now, I haven't figured out the mechanics yet...replacing Cassie, winning my mom's trust, getting past prison security guards, but I will. I just haven't figured it out yet." Spencer explained.
"Reid..." Emily shook her head.
"Do you remember that...you remember, right? Her father, that case, April 2007?" Spencer was adamant.
"Okay. Maybe you think you saw her..." Emily continued, but Spencer couldn't stop.
"Her father's Jack Vaughn, former hit man for the Irish mob. He and Lindsey were in Witness Protection. Lindsey and her friend Katie were abducted, Katie was killed, and Jack murdered the unsub in front of me. Do you honestly not remember any of this?" Spencer became upset and a little angry.
"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry, I forgot. But, Reid, how could she possibly..." Before Emily could continue, Spencer shook his head.
"I don't know! That's why I'm telling you this. I don't know, but I know what I saw!" Spencer insisted.
"Lindsey Vaughn? From that case in Chula Vista 10 years ago?" Cassidy asked.
"You remember it." Emily raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"It was one of Rossi's first cases back. But how could it be her now? And why?" Cassidy asked.
"I asked him the same thing." Emily explained.
"And how did that go?" Cassidy looked concerned.
"You're not even listening to me! I know what I saw, all right?! Now find Lindsey! Find Lindsey, please! Get me out of here. Get me out of here! Find Lindsey!" Spencer yelled as he was dragged out of the interview room, both Emily and Fiona looking at each other in shock.
"Any chance he's wrong?" Cassidy sat down.
"Well, Spencer did smell Scratch's drսgs before the murder, and he said there was another woman in the room with them." Emily nodded.
"Well, if Lindsey took Diana to visit, where's Cassie?" Cassidy asked, concerned for Cassie's safety.
"We don't know. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. She's not returning texts, either. JJ said that has never happened." Emily insisted.
"And Garcia pinged it?" Cassidy started to panic for the safety of not only Cassie, but her future mother-in-law, Diana.
"She tried, but the battery must be dead. The GPS was turned off. Derek and Tara are on their way to Spencer and Cassidy's apartment now." Emily explained.
"So what if this has been a Scratch-Lindsey partnership this whole time?" Cassidy almost sobbed.
"If that's true, given his mental state, I'm not sure Spencer makes it to trial." Emily exhaled, seeing the tears form in Cassidy's eyes.
———
When Tara and Derek went to the apartment, it unfortunately didn't give them many - if any - positive results or signs. So, they both returned to the BAU.
"We first came across the Vaughns 10 years ago when Lindsey Vaughn and her friend Katie Owen were abducted outside of a crowded movie theatre by 3 men. Ryan Phillips, the triad's dominant, tortured and strangled Katie." Emily started.
"Jack Vaughn then took matters into his own hands, using his skills to find Lindsey." Rossi added.
"It ended when Jack murdered Phillips in front of her and Spencer." Emily continued.
"They let them stay in the program after that?" Tara asked.
"Jack was too important a witness to cut loose." Rossi shrugged his shoulders.
"And no one's heard from either of them 'til now?" Derek asked.
"That's right. And Lindsey, posing as a nurse named Carol Atkinson, was able to get Diana Reid in and out of the Millburn correctional facility." Penelope explained.
"And despite all the cameras, this is the only one that picked her up." Rossi spoke as Penelope put up a video of Lindsey within the facility.
"So she knew exactly where they were and how to avoid them." Derek scoffed.
"Diana and Cassie weren't at the apartment. There was no forced entry and no signs of struggle. And Cassie's car is gone." JJ explained.
"Garcia, where are we on that APB of her car?" Emily looked at Penelope.
"I don't have anything yet." She shook her head.
"Okay. Also, search recent traffic in and out of Spencer and Cassidy's apartment. Lindsey probably entered as Carol." Emily added.
"Copy, copy." Penelope nodded.
"Cassidy and I know Diana's routine. We will hit up those places first." JJ smiled as she looked at Cassidy, who was trying to remain calm. They had a viable lead that could possibly free Spencer.
"The rest of us need to find Lindsey ASAP." Emily insisted.
"I know a marshal that can help cut through WITSEC's red tape." Tara smiled.
"Yeah, I'm friendly with some people at Homeland Security." Derek explained.
"I got a buddy at the DOJ, lost a lot of money to him at poker. He owes me." Rossi nodded.
"Garcia, there was degraded female DNA and prints found at the crime scene. No matches in CODIS, but there might be something in WITSEC." Emily noted, Penelope having started furiously typing away.
"I'll pull every favour, try every star. Are we gonna tell Spencer?" She asked.
"Not yet. I don't want to add more stress for him." Emily shook her head, watching as JJ and Cassidy left to go get started on trying to find Diana.
A few hours had passed, so Emily decided to check in the the team.
"Homeland Security gonna come through?" Emily asked Derek.
"No." He exhaled.
"DOJ?" Emily turned to Rossi.
"No." Rossi sighed.
"I just got off the phone with Fiona. Calvin Shaw and 6 other inmates were poisoned. They were just released from the infirmary this morning." Emily revealed, everyone gasping.
"Wait, what if this was what Spencer was covering up in our cognitive?" Tara asked.
"Could be?" Emily nodded.
"With them back, Spencer knows they'll target him." Penelope exhales, worried.
———
After driving around, having no luck finding Cassie or Diana, JJ and Cassidy almost gave up, until Penelope called.
"Garcia. What do you need?" JJ asked as she and Cassidy sat in the SUV, on a call with Penelope.
"Metro P.D. found Cassie's car and called it in immediately. No signs of her or Diana. No foul play. There are...there are 3 visible cameras. One nearby and two down the way. I can tap into them, see what I can find." She explained, both JJ and Cassidy exhaling. They headed straight for the location of Cassie's car.
"Oh, oh, uh, uh, Tara and Derek are calling in. You want me to patch you through?" Penelope asked.
"Please." Cassidy nodded.
"Tara, Derek, you're on with JJ and Cassidy." Penelope announced.
"Hey, Tara. Hey, Derek. No luck finding Cassie or Diana." JJ shook her head.
"We're at Cassie's car right now. Forensically, it's a dead end, but, uh, behaviourally we might have something. It's parked down the block from a high school." Cassidy explained.
"A high school is where Jack Vaughn killed Lindsey's abductor in front of her and Spencer." Derek added.
"Well, placing the car there could be a taunt at us. That's what I'm thinking." JJ explained.
"I can look into that. I can!" Penelope smiled, typing away at her computer while on a call with Tara, Derek, JJ and Cassidy.
"Garcia?" JJ got her attention.
"Oh, uh, uh, per Emily, I was supposed to look at the recent foot traffic in and out of Spencer and Cassidy's apartment. There is no sign of Carol Atkinson, but a Jaime Lamantia keeps popping up. She lives in unit 26 down the hall from Spencer. She paid 6 months of her rent up front in cash, and there's been not a peep from her since." Penelope explained.
"How's Jaime connected to Lindsey?" Tara asked, confused.
"No, no, there's no connection. You don't understand. They're the same. They're the same person." Cassidy realised, gasping.