"Come on, baby, give it to me. Give it to me. See? Nuh-uh." Derek complains.
"Morgan, can you-- please, can you-- my head." Emily says.
"My bad. Sorry." Derek laughs. "You know these things are rigged, right?"
"Late night?" Rossi asks.
"I hate Vegas." Emily groans.
"Come on, Prentiss. How can you hate Vegas? This is a grown folk's playground." Derek says.
"Yeah, well, you can hate it if you have too much fun." Bedelia remarks, smiling in amusement at the raven haired woman.
"Anyone seen Reid?" JJ asks, walking up.
"I know he stayed with his mom last night." Derek says.
"Well, he should be here by now. He knows the departure time." JJ says. She looks at the machine Derek was just using. "This thing still has credit on it."
"JJ, I swear to God--" Emily warns.
"What?" JJ glances between the other three.
Rossi makes a drinking motion with his hand before making a grouchy face. JJ gets it and quietly laughs as do Derek and Bedelia.
"Oh, here he comes right now." Derek says, watching Spencer jog over. "What'd you do? Sleep through your alarm?"
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I--" Spencer says.
"Hotch is already at the airstrip." JJ informs. "How fast can you pack?"
"Actually, I'm gonna stay for a couple of days." Spencer says.
"Is everything all right?" Rossi asks.
"Yeah, I just, um-- I haven't seen my mom for a really long time, so I'd like a few more days." Spencer says.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, take a few days. Do what you need to do." Rossi says before walking out, Derek and Emily following.
"Have fun, I guess." Bedelia says, walking past the genius. Spencer smiles at her.
+++
Bedelia is sitting on the end bed and eating snacks while watching TV. Derek and Rossi are both in arm chairs and also have snacks.
"What are you guys doing here?" She glances at the door when Spencer walks in, holding a box.
"Hey. What's it look like we're doing?" Derek questions.
"Uh... breaking into my room and watching Days of Our Lives." Spencer says, putting the box down.
"Young and the Restless." Rossi corrects, turning the TV off.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a plane back to D.C.?" Spencer asks, hanging his satchel on the back of a chair.
"Yeah, well, plans change. For example, what happened to your mommy and me day?" Bedelia questions.
"Riley Jenkins?" Derek points to the box.
"No, that's not-- that's actually not why I'm here." Spencer says, stepping in front of the chair that the box is on so he can hide it from their view.
"Reid? Come on, man." Derek stands up. "Who do you think you're talking to? I know what this has been doing to you." Derek says.
"Let us help." Rossi says, standing up. "Maybe together we can find out who killed him."
"I think I might already know." Spencer says.
"So, tell us about the suspect." Derek says.
"Truth is, I don't know anything about him." Spencer says. "He's my father."
~ ~ ~
Spencer lays out all of the files on the bed.
"Before we go down this road, you need to be sure." Rossi says.
"He's right. Some rocks don't need looking under." Derek says.
"My mind is sending me signals. I can't ignore them anymore." Spencer says.
"Mixed signals. That's what the subconscious is all about, you know that." Rossi says.
"Reid, your dad left you. You take it to the Freudian extreme, you could say that he killed your childhood." Derek says.
"Could explain a dream in which you see him as a murderer." Rossi says.
"I've come this far, I'm not going back." Spencer says.
~ ~ ~
"Riley was six at the time. His father, Lou Jenkins, was supposed to pick him up from t-ball practice at 4. But he got delayed at work, prompting Riley to walk the three blocks home. When his mother got home in the early evening, she found him dead in the basement."
"So, the offender came to the house after the boy arrived home." Rossi says.
"Or picked him up on the way there." Spencer says.
"Coaxes Riley into the basement where he sexually assaults him." Derek says.
"Riley's mouth was taped shut." Bedelia notes.
"Symbolic. The unsub fears Riley will talk, panics, weighs his options... decides to make certain that he'll never talk." Spencer says.
"He finds a knife in the fishing gear under the stairs, stabs Riley nine times in the chest, stuffs him behind the washing machine." Rossi says.
"So, the unsub's a white male in his late 20s to early 30s." Spencer says.
"Means we're looking for a man in his 50s." Rossi says.
"Likely knew the boy. Maybe been to his house." Bedelia says.
"Neighbor." Rossi says, Derek nodding. Spencer looks through some of the papers.
"Reid? What is it?" Derek asks.
"My family lived less than a half mile from the Jenkins'." Spencer says.
"Do you think your dad knew the boy?" Rossi asks.
"I don't know. My memory's lack of recall just reinforces how little I knew about him." Spencer says.
"Reid, we're going to have to track him down. You do know that?" Derek asks.
"We should talk to my mother first, neighbors. Get their impressions." Spencer says.
"Reid, I don't need to tell you that this signature was need-based and sexual in nature." Rossi says. "The man we're looking for is a pedophile. So, I'll ask you again. Are you sure you want to go down this road?"
+++
"It's just a theory, Mr. Jenkins." Spencer tells him.
"You must be out of your damn minds." Mr. Jenkins says.
"We're trying to get some new facts." Derek says.
"Well, you're hell and gone from facts if you think Will Reid killed my son." Mr. Jenkins says.
"So, you were friends?" Spencer asks.
"Who the hell are you to come here, asking this?" He asks.
"I'm his son." Spencer states.
"Spencer?" Mr. Jenkins asks and he nods. "Spencer, a G-man? How about that? I don't understand."
"Was William around your house often?" Derek asks.
"The occasional barbecue, that sort of thing." Mr. Jenkins says.
"Was Riley around on these occasions?" Spencer asks.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I need to know." Spencer says.
"Take it from someone who does know, he was a good man." Mr. Jenkins says. Bedelia fights back an eye roll.
"Thanks for your time." Derek says. He and Bedelia start to walk away.
"Where is he these days? My dad?" Spencer asks.
"It's been years, but he's probably still at the same firm in Summerlin." Mr. Jenkins says.
"He's been in town this whole time?" Spencer asks.
"Far as I know." Mr. Jenkins says. Spencer walks away, the other two following.
"You know Summerlin?" Derek asks.
"Yeah. It's, like, 9 miles east of here. Off the 95. He was 10 minutes away and never let me know." Spencer says.
+++
"Can I help you, gentlemen, miss?" The receptionist asks.
"Yeah." Spencer says. He opens his mouth to talk, but no words are able to come out.
"We'd like to speak with William Reid." Bedelia says, worriedly glancing at Spencer.
"Is he expecting you?" The woman asks.
"I don't think so." Rossi shows his badge.
"He's in a meeting right now. Why don't you have a seat and I'll tell him you're here." The woman says, walking off.
"Hey." Bedelia taps Spencer's arm. "You okay?"
"Yeah." He nods. "No-- yeah-- I'm going to go to the bathroom." He rushes off. Bedelia watches him speed away in concern.
"I've never seen him like this before." Derek says.
"Well, I know if I saw my father after all these years, I'd be pretty freaked." Bedelia mutters.
"17 years is a long time to go between visits." Rossi comments.
"Not long enough. The kid's still angry." Derek says.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that." Rossi says.
"Can't really blame him." Bedelia sighs.
"I'll be right back." They turn at the voice, William walking out of the room. "Here you go." He hands the receptionist a file. "You from the FBI?" He asks the three.
"Yes, sir." Rossi shows his badge. "Mr. Reid, I'm Agent Rossi. This is Agents Davis and Morgan."
"This wouldn't be about the city council investigation, would it?" William asks, laughing a little.
"No, this is a more personal matter... about your son." Bedelia says.
"My son? Did something happen?" William asks.
"That's what we're trying to find out." They turn to Spencer as he walks up. "Hello, dad."
~ ~ ~
They're in William's office.
"You don't look like me anymore. You used to. Everybody said so." William says.
"They say some people look like their dogs, too. It's attributed to prolonged mutual expressions. Elderly couples, also. They unconsciously mimic the expressions of people they've been around their whole life. So, it kind of-- kind of makes sense that I wouldn't really look like you. I haven't seen you in 20 years."
"So, are you in town on work?" William asks.
"We're just wrapping up a case." Rossi says.
"A 5 year old boy was abducted and murdered." Derek says.
"I read about that. Uh, Ethan Hayes, right?" William asks. "That's terrible."
"That case got me thinking about Riley Jenkins." Spencer says. "You remember Riley Jenkins?"
"Of course." William says.
"I've been having dreams about him for a really long time. But when we came back here for this case, it jogged something and the dream changed. I saw his killer and he was you."
"Interesting dream."
"You don't seem all that surprised." Bedelia comments.
"I stopped being surprised by Spencer's mind a long time ago." William says.
"There are certain criteria we consider when looking at this type of suspect." Rossi says. "You fit parts of that profile."
"Me?" William asks.
"We just want your cooperation." Rossi says.
"My cooperat..." William trails off as he looks between the four. "You're not actually saying you think I killed Riley Jenkins?"
"We didn't say that." Spencer says.
"Good. Cause that's absurd." William says.
"We'd just like permission to look through your computer, access your records." Derek says.
"And what would you be looking for exactly?" William asks. "You want access to my files? Get a warrant."
+++
"Was the envelope dropped off at the front desk first?" Rossi asks.
"Nope, it went straight to my room." Spencer says.
"So, they knew what room you were in." Rossi says.
"I do have to admit, the timing of this is a little suspicious." Derek says.
"Yeah, an hour after I see my father, we're handed another suspect." Spencer says.
"You think you knew this guy?" Rossi asks.
"I don't know. I think so, but I'm not sure. I-I-- no, I don't know." Spencer says.
"Exposed himself to a minor. That's a precursor to molestation." Rossi says.
"And murder." Derek adds. "We should take a closer look at this guy." His phone rings and takes it out. "It's Garcia." He answers, putting it on speaker. "Yeah, talk to me, baby girl."
"I'm not interrupting boy time at Crazy Horse 2, am I? Well, boy time plus Mads." Penelope says.
"You know that's not my thing. I'm more for in-room entertainment." Derek says.
"I can't help you there. But I do give good phone." Penelope says.
"Let me hear what you got." Derek says.
"Reid, we've been all up in your father's business." Penelope says.
"What'd you find?" Spencer asks.
"Well, let me tell you first what I did not find. No kiddie porn, no membership to illicit websites, no dubious emails, no chat room history." Penelope says.
"What about his finances?" Spencer asks.
"We went back 10 years. No questionable transactions that we can find." Hotch says.
"Well, he did buy a ticket to see Celine Dion six months ago, but I think we can overlook that." Emily says.
"He's smart. Is it possible he kept things under the table?" Spencer asks.
"Well, of course, but... from what we can tell, Reid, he doesn't fit the profile." Hotch says.
"We can tell you other things about him, if you want to know." Penelope offers.
"I'm listening." Spencer quietly says.
"He's a workaholic, he actually logs more hours than we do. e makes decent money, but he doesn't spend a lot of it. He has a modest house. He drives a hybrid. He doesn't travel much. He stays away from the casinos. Um, and according to his veterinary bills, he has a very sick cat." Emily informs.
"He appears to spend most of his free time alone, he goes to the movies a lot, and he reads." Hotch says. "And from his collection of first editions, it seems his favorite author is--"
"Isaac Asimov, I remember that one." Spencer says.
"He does have one other major interest. On his home computer, he's archived, like, a ka-jillion things on one common subject." Penelope says.
"What?" Spencer asks.
"You, kiddo." Penelope answers. "He's got, like, everything that's been published online. Every article you've been quoted in, pieces you've written for behavioral science journals, he even has a copy of your dissertation."
"He's keeping tabs on you. That's saying something." Rossi says.
"Yeah, he Googled me. That makes up for everything." Spencer says. "I'm gonna get some air." He rushes outside.
"You guys still there?" Derek asks.
"I thought we were giving him good news." Penelope says.
"What else can we do?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah, look up a name for us, if you would. Gary Brendan Michaels." Derek says.
"You like this Gary guy for the Riley murder?" Emily asks.
"Somebody does." Rossi says.
+++
"I'll put mine out if you buy me a drink." A woman sitting next to Spencer says.
"Uh, not today, sweetheart." Derek says.
"Yeah, no." Bedelia says.
"We've been looking all over the place for you. Come on." Derek tells Spencer. He stands up, the four walking off.
"Hey, you won, like, $2,000 here." The woman says.
"Keep it." Spencer says.
"Keep it?" Bedelia frowns.
"You do realize you just gave two grand to a hooker?" Rossi asks.
"Must have been quite a conversation." Derek comments. "What was it about?"
"How to stop smoking." Spencer says, walking off.
"Wha-- is that really worth two grand?" Bedelia questions.
+++
Spencer told them about the hypnosis plan.
"One of us should go with you." Derek says.
"Um... yeah, I-I know." Spencer says.
"Okay, so who do you want?" Rossi asks.
Spencer's mouth opens and shuts multiple times as he tries to answer. His eyes fall onto Bedelia, the woman only getting it after he doesn't look away.
"Wh-- y-you want me?" She asks.
"If-- if you're okay with that." Spencer says.
"Wh-- uh, y-yeah. Yeah, no, of course." Bedelia nods, offering him a comforting smile.
+++
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice." Spencer tells the woman.
"Well, I'm always happy to assist the FBI." Jan says. "Is there a witness you want me to look at?"
"Uh, yeah. Me." Spencer says. "I'm trying to recover memories from my childhood. There was a murder."
"How long ago are we talking about?" Jan asks.
"I was 4." Spencer says. Jan sighs.
"Memories from that age can be difficult to interpret." Jan says.
"I'm aware of the limitations of hypnotherapy." Spencer says.
"Well, then you're aware of suggestion issues. If you've looked into this case, you may have a bias." Jan says.
"Are you saying that what he remembers under hypnosis might not be real?" Bedelia asks.
"It's a possibility." Jan says. "Either way, it's a tough sell in court."
"We won't be using this for evidentiary purposes. It's really just for me." Spencer says. "The suppressed memories are about my father."
"I, uh, I'd like to monitor the session." Bedelia says.
"You want to sit in?" Jan asks and Madelyn nods. "I don't normally allow that."
"Well, nothing about this is really normal." Bedelia says.
"I want her in here." Spencer says. "It-- it would really help."
~ ~ ~
Spencer is lying on the couch and Jan is sitting in a chair next to him. Bedelia is sitting in a chair a few feet away.
"I want you to hold my wrist in your left hand. And if you should feel any fear, I want you to squeeze, do you understand?" Jan asks.
"Yes." Spencer says.
"Go back to the night you were just telling me about." Jan says. "You're at home, in your room. You can't sleep because your parents are arguing."
"He's coming in." Spencer mumbles.
"Who?" Jan asks.
"It's dad."
"What about him, Spencer? What is he doing?"
"I don't want to be here." Spencer says, the fear in his voice making Bedelia's chest ache.
"Okay. It's okay, Spencer." Jan says. "Take us to where the light is. To the next morning. The sun is coming up. Where are you, Spencer?"
"Mom? My mom. She's at the window. She's thinking. She's been crying. She saw him."
"Who? Your father? Do you talk to her?"
"No. No, I wanna-- I wanna see..."
Spencer's grip on Jan's wrist tightens and starts to panic.
"What is it, Spencer?" She asks. "What are you seeing?"
"I-I think that's enough." Bedelia says.
"I need you to leave this location now, Spencer." Jan says.
"Wake him up." Bedelia orders, rushing over and kneeling by Spencer's head. "Wake him up!"
"I'm going to count backwards from 5." Jane says. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and wake."
Spencer's eyes shoot open and he's taking short, harsh breaths.
"Spencer. Hey, hey." Bedelia puts her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay." She assures as he struggles, his hand gripping onto her forearm. "It's okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's all right." She promises, resting a hand on his chest. "You're okay."
She waits for him to catch his breath and some of the fear to leave his eyes.
"What happened? What did you see?" She asks.
+++
"She's not stable, Reid." Derek says. "You can't put stock in what she says. I don't need to tell you that."
"And I don't need to tell you this is textbook. Father reroutes compulsion to molest away from his own son to a surrogate." Spencer says.
"The woman thought Riley Jenkins was an imaginary friend until you told her otherwise." Derek says.
"The mind's way of suppressing memories she doesn't want to face." Spencer says.
"You're losing objectivity here, kid."
"I'm not trying to say I know what happened. Or how my dad's involved, Morgan, but my dad's involved." Spencer states as the three stop walking.
They look over at the police station and watch Riley's dad leave walk down the steps and leave.
"What's he doing here?" Spencer asks.
+++
"You got no evidence." The detective says.
"A suspect can be detained for questioning for 48 hours, regardless of evidence." Spencer states.
"I'm not in the habit of ruining people's reputations on a whim." The detective says.
"Where's your captain? I want to talk to your captain." Spencer says.
"Talk all you want. This is a local murder, and your authority ends at the state line." The detective says. "Look... why don't you just head back over to the Fountain View and have a couple of drinks by the pool and think about this." He says, sitting on the desk so he's closer to Spencer.
"I have thought about this."
"The guy's your father."
"What's your point, detective?"
"Maybe you're here to work out some other issues?"
Spencer starts to stand up.
"Okay, listen, detective." Derek walks up, Spencer moving back. "Look, we would consider it a personal favor if you helped us out with this. We just want him on his heels."
"You've got 24 hours." The detective says.
"I appreciate that." Derek says.
Spencer walks out, Derek and Bedelia following.
"Reid." Derek calls, shutting the door to the office behind him. Spencer turns back. "You gotta keep your head, man."
"He just agreed to it. It happens all the time." Spencer says.
"You know how these guys are. They just want to feel like they're the ones in control." Derek says. His phone rings and he answers it. "Talk to me, Garcia." He says while Spencer leaves. Bedelia sighs, watching Spencer leave, tuning out Derek's conversation.
+++
William is in an interrogation room, the four FBI agents outside the room.
"You still think he did it, don't you?" Derek asks Spencer.
"Why shouldn't I?" Spencer asks.
"Well, for one thing, Gary Michaels fits the profile." Derek says. "For another, he fled town after Riley's murder. He's a better suspect than your dad, Reid."
"He's a convenient one." Spencer says. "Someone slipped the file under my door, Morgan. What am I supposed to think?"
"Maybe they're trying to help." Rossi suggests.
"Maybe they're trying to protect him." Spencer says.
"You're talking about someone helping to cover up the murder of a child. Who would do that?" Rossi asks.
"Do you remember how resistant Detective Hyde was when I asked him to bring in my father?" Spencer asks.
"So, what? You're accusing a cop now?" Derek asks.
"It was a police file." Spencer says.
"It was a very old police file." Derek says. "Anybody could have accessed it."
"He told me to go back to the Fountain View, have a drink by the pool, and think about things."
"You can't possible still be mad about that."
"I'm not mad, I'm confused. I never told him we were staying at the Fountain View."
Spencer goes into the interrogation room and sits across from his dad.
~ ~ ~
"It's a simple question." Spencer says. "How did the blood get on the clothes?"
"I told you, I'm not going to talk without council." William says.
"If you don't have anything to hide, you don't need a lawyer." Spencer says.
"Spencer, please. I'm not stupid. I'm proud of you, you know that?"
"I'm not stupid either."
"No. You've done a lot of good. I mean, other people with your talents, they might have sought different opportunities. The private sector. My God, you could have made a fortune. But you chose to help people."
"I chose to study murderers. Why do you think that is?"
"I didn't do this, Spencer. Why can't you believe me?"
"Like you said, I do have special talents. One of them is being able to tell when somebody is hiding something."
"You're angry that I left. And you're right to be."
"You want to make it up to me? Tell me the truth."
"I didn't kill that boy. But I know who did."
"Gary Michaels?"
"How'd you know that?"
"That was the whole idea, wasn't it? So, where is Gary Michaels now, dad?"
"Spencer, please. Forget it. You don't want to go down this road."
+++
"He's dead?" Spencer asks.
"They dug him up 7 years ago when some new construction broke ground in the desert." Derek says.
"Whoever killed him was smart enough to bury him across state lines." Rossi says. "Vegas P.D. never made the connect."
"How was he killed?" Spencer asks.
"Judging from the fractures, they think the was beaten with something. A pipe, maybe." Derek says.
"Or a bat." Rossi adds.
"Bat?" Spencer asks.
They all turn and look as Detective Hyde leads William out.
"Maybe it wasn't Riley's blood on those clothes your dad was burning." Bedelia says.
+++
"Been rumors a body was buried up at the Barker Ranch for years. On account of that's where Chuck Manson had his hideout." The sheriff says. "When we dug this one up, we went ahead and had him typed. Thought maybe it could be related."
"It's a good thing you did. Might never have I.D.'d him otherwise." Derek says.
"So, why all the fuss over a dead pervert?" The sheriff asks.
"We think he may have killed a boy in Vegas over 20 years ago." Bedelia says.
"Is that how he ended up in the ground? Revenge?" The sheriff asks.
"Possibly." Rossi says. "It says here you have a fingerprint in evidence, lifted from the victim's broken glasses."
"We ran it up the flagpole a couple of times. Nothing ever came up." The sheriff says.
"That was then. Now we have someone to compare it to." Spencer says.
"A suspect?" The sheriff asks.
"Well, we're going to want to run it through AFIS, too." Derek says.
"That's a lot of taxpayer dollars being spent to solve a public service murder." The sheriff says. "If you ask me, the guy got just what he deserved." He says before walking out.
"He's right, you know. We don't have to run this print." Rossi says.
"Of course we do. Whatever Michaels did, he deserved a fair trial." Spencer says.
"Reid, you wanted to know if your father killed Riley. All signs point to "no." You got what you need." Derek says.
"What I need is the truth." Spencer says.
"If this print belongs to your dad, he could go away for a long time." Derek says. "You're just determined to nail him, aren't you? Doesn't even matter what for."
"If you don't want to run it, I will." Spencer says.
+++
Derek's phone rings. He looks at it before looking at Spencer who nods. He answers the phone.
"Yeah, Agent Morgan." He says. "You did? You're 100% certain?Okay. Thank you." He hangs up. "We're going to have to get an arrest warrant." He tells Spencer.
"It was a match?" Spencer asks.
"Yeah." Derek nods. "But it wasn't your dad."
+++
They arrested Riley's dad are have him in the interrogation room now.
"Who else was with you?" Derek asks.
"No one." He says.
"You're saying you killed Gary Michaels by yourself, all alone." Derek says.
"That's right." Lou nods.
"And William Reid wasn't a party to this?" Spencer asks.
"No." Lou says.
"You're lying." Spencer says.
"I'm not lying." He says.
"He was burning bloody clothes. I saw him."
"What makes you think Gary Michaels killed your son?" Bedelia asks.
"He admitted it." Lou says.
"You beat a guy with a baseball bat, he's going to admit to a lot of things." Derek says. "How do you know he was the right guy?"
"I know. He approached another kid in the neighborhood." Lou says. Bedelia notices him look at Spencer and she looks to him.
"And how do you know that?" Derek asks.
"I was told by a concerned party." Lou says.
"Who? Another parent?" Derek asks.
"That's all I'm going to say on the subject." Lou says.
"Who was it?" Spencer asks.
"I told you that's all I'm going to say on the sub--"
"Who was it?" Spencer asks, leaning down, his hands on the table.
"Agent Reid?" Hyde calls.
"Do not interfere with this interrogation, detective. This is not your case anymore." Spencer snaps. He stands up when his mom steps in, William next to her.
"Spencer, it was me." Diana states.
+++
They're on their way back to Quantico and Derek and Rossi fell asleep. Spencer is reading and Bedelia sits across from him making him glance up.
"Hey." She greets. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine." Spencer says.
"Mm-hmm. You sure?" She asks.
"Yeah." He nods.
"I'm, uh... well, I'm not sorry with how this all turned out, but... yeah. Least your dad isn't gross along with mean." Bedelia says.
"Yeah." Spencer mumbles.
"He's still a major jerk, though." She states. "Walking out on you and your mom... just to be ten minutes away and never let you know."
"Yeah." Spencer frowns.
"You deserved better than the childhood you got, Spencer." Bedelia says.
"Thanks." He weakly smiles. "This, um... this might be pushing boundaries, but... why haven't you seen your dad in years?"
"What?" Bedelia asks.
"Morgan told me you mentioned you haven't seen your dad in a while. I just... I was curious." Spencer shrugs. "But you don't-- you don't have to tell me. I-- it's none of my business."
"Well... my-- my childhood was... fairly decent. You know, cookie cutter and everything." Bedelia says. "But, uh... my mom died when I was 10 and then... my dad met his second wife and-- and they started having their own kids. But... since he got a new job and we were moving, they decided that they wanted the cookie cutter family image. Can't be that if your kids have a half-sister. So he kicked me out when I was 14."
"I'm so sorry." Spencer frowns. His heart aches as he thinks of her going through all that, so much to process within the span of four years. "Where-- where'd you live afterwards?"
"I, uh... I crashed with some friends. Couch surfed through the years. CPS managed to get ahold of me, though. Spent some time in foster homes, never for too long, though. Nobody wants a teenager." She gives him a pained smile. "Kept my grades up and got a college scholarship, decided I wanted to help people."
"So, that's my sob story." She weakly laughs. "But, we all have one, right?"
"Right." Spencer sighs. "You deserved a better childhood, too."
"Thanks." She whispers.
+++
Spencer and Bedelia get to JJ's hospital room and Spencer knocks on the wall.
"Is there room for two more in here?" He asks.
"Spence, Bedelia, hi." JJ smiles.
"Welcome back." Hotch tells the two.
Spencer smiles.
"Wow." Spencer says, looking at Henry. "Congratulations." He shakes Will's hand.
"Thank you." Will says.
"How is it that I just went through 15 hours of labor and you look worse than I do?" JJ asks.
"Eh, I don't think he looks too bad." Bedelia shrugs.
Other team members share knowing looks, Bedelia and Spencer both oblivious to it.
"Don't be ridiculous. You look beautiful." Spencer tells the blonde.
JJ gives Will a look.
"Well, I could sure use some coffee. Anyone else?" Will asks. "My treat."
"I could always go for more coffee." Bedelia says as everybody but Spencer leaves so JJ can ask him to be the godfather.