"Strauss isn't answering." Rossi says.
"Keep trying. Reid, any luck with Blake?" Hotch asks.
"Not yet." He says.
"The pictures of you were taken outside of Beth's apartment. I get it if you want to stay with them until we find him." Rossi says.
"I've got agents surrounding Beth's building. She and Jack are safer without me, since we're the targets." Hotch says.
"Blake. We'll pick you up in a few minutes. The Replicator's back." Spencer says.
+++
They're at the hotel and all meet up in the hallway, aside from Rossi.
"Strauss is missing." Hotch states. "Blake, you, Reid, and Davis talk to hotel security. We need access points and footage from every camera. Morgan, back up Dave on the roof. JJ, take the west staircase, I'll take the east."
+++
They're outside and where Strauss died, the medics and cops there.
"We've got an APB, but the description of The Replicator is too general." JJ says.
"He wiped out all of the hotel security cameras." Spencer says. "ATM and traffic cameras were compromised also. Which means he hacked into at least two dozen systems."
"Well, he got into Garcia's place, which means he can get in anywhere. This guy's bragging." Derek says.
"He also wants us to know he can take massive risks and still get away with it." Spencer says. "It's probably why he took Strauss into a crowd of people."
"That and to humiliate her publicly." JJ says.
"But he called Hotch from her phone." Blake says. "It was important to him that we find her alive."
"The director wants this contained and solved." Hotch states.
"Well, at least he's not taking us off the case." Derek says.
"He's given us 24 hours and then he will." Hotch says. He walks over to where Rossi is standing by Strauss' covered body.
+++
"He knew about Foyet?" JJ asks as they get off the elevator.
"Who's that?" Blake asks.
"He's the man who killed my wife." Hotch states.
"That's a classified case that's not in any database." Derek says.
"Then how would he know about it?" Blake asks.
"If he had access to the file, we're talking about someone on the inside." Spencer says.
"Conference room in 5." Hotch orders.
+++
"Garcia, is this everything?" Hotch asks, walking into the room.
"Yeah. The Replicator stuff is here, and the team stuff is there and there." She says. "How's Rossi?"
"Not good." Derek says.
"Is he with Strauss?" Penelope asks.
"Yeah." Derek nods.
"Ok. Uh-- uh, I-I-I started with the question you asked -- why attack Strauss, and on this day?" Penelope says.
"The most obvious answer is that it's an anniversary of some sort." Spencer says.
"But there's nothing historically relevant." Penelope says.
"It could be the smallest thing. Concentrate on New York. If the date's that important, the setting could be, too." Spencer says.
"It would be easier to attack Strauss at home. Is there a reason why he waited for her to be out?" JJ asks.
"Well, considering she's hardly ever in the field, he sure got a lot of photos of Strauss." Derek says. "It's like he's obsessed with her."
"Maybe Strauss was always his first target." Blake suggests. "He attacked the top of the BAU chain first."
"All right, Reid, you've matched up all the murder locations with the dates. Now we need to know how long it would take to drive to each of these locations, assuming a home base in the district. He brought the fight here for a reason." Hotch says.
"Well, it's nearly impossible to figure out when he arrived and departed New York, but we should try." Derek says.
"I'll collect all the public and private transport stuff." Penelope says.
"Garcia, I need Kevin to go through every single pixel of these photographs. This unsub gets off on taunting us. He's given us answers here. We just haven't found them yet." Hotch says.
+++
"Dave, a figure 8?" Hotch asks.
"That's what it looks like." He says. "I just sent you all a picture."
"Maybe it's an infinity symbol." Spencer says as they get their tablets out.
"Well, if it's infinity, he could be boasting "I'll go on forever"?" Blake suggests.
"Or if it's an 8, Strauss was his eighth victim." Derek says.
"If this is a taunt from him, it's too random." Hotch says.
"Well, he's only sent one message and he seems to be real proud of it." Derek says.
"Zugzwang." Bedelia and Spencer both state, Derek nodding to them. Spencer's hand rests on Bedelia's knee, silently comforting both of them.
"Then what does this mean? Rossi, the cut looks jagged. Any idea what caused the serration?" JJ asks.
"Best guess is a piece of glass." Rossi says.
"Maybe he used empty bottles from the mini bar?" Derek suggests.
"Those were all plastic." Rossi says. "The M.E. is checking for splinters now."
"All right, let us know what you find out." Hotch says, hanging up. "Anything from the photographs yet?"
"We blew up a few more and this one seems to stand out." Derek says, putting a photo of him down.
"When were you in a tuxedo?" JJ asks.
"It was a British Embassy event." Derek says.
"Security clearance is high." Blake says.
"Security was insane there." Penelope says. "That kind of accessibility, plus knowing about Foyet, the fact that he was able to get through all of my security clearances alone, you guys are right. You have to trust you gut. The Replicator has gotta be on the inside."
+++
"If The Replicator's an insider, is there any way Strauss knew him?" JJ asks.
"She said she didn't recognize him." Hotch says.
"To her defense, she was disoriented by the drug overdose." Spencer says.
"She was adamant about it." Hotch says.
"Well, even if Strauss didn't know him, it doesn't mean he didn't know her." Derek says.
"Within the bureau, she is the face of the BAU." Blake says.
"And clearly a target from the beginning. But why?" Bedelia asks.
"More importantly, what was he replicating?" spencer asks.
"The drug overdose." Blake says.
"I-I mean with the 8. It wasn't part of any other case, and he's not one to make mistakes." Spencer says. "He thought he was replicating a crime."
"The director made us walk away from the case a few months ago. Strauss said that she wouldn't let it go." Hotch says. "What if she hadn't?"
"You think she started her own investigation?" Blake asks.
"Well, if she thought he was an insider, she might have done something to trap him." Hotch says.
"Why wouldn't she have told you about that back in New York?" Derek asks.
"Maybe she didn't have proof." Hotch says. "But her determination, plus the fact that he doesn't make mistakes makes me think that the 8 was part of her plan to catch him. Do we have her laptop?"
+++
"At least this narrows it down." Blake says. "Finding someone on the inside should be easier."
"Not necessarily. If our unsub was trained by law enforcement, he'd know how to fit in perfectly." Spencer says.
"There's meaning and purpose to everything he does. Why did he choose to replicate The Silencer case?" Derek asks.
"Well, that unsub went dormant for years cause he was locked up." JJ says. "Is that a clue about The Replicator?"
"Well, it speaks to his patience." Derek says. "What about his M.O.? He sewed mouths shut."
"It symbolizes keeping secrets." Blake says. "There could be something in that."
"He's targeting everyone. So how does that particular case factor into all of us?" Spencer asks.
"It's the first one Garcia and I worked on with Blake." Derek says.
"Yeah, but the rest of us worked on the Seattle case before that." Bedelia says.
"Right. The unsub who used his kid to bait the victims." Blake recalls.
"We need to see if he replicated that one." Spencer says.
~ ~ ~
Bedelia, Spencer, and JJ are still standing by the desks while Blake is over at the fax machine. Spencer looks behind the two women and they turn around, finding Rossi walking in. He goes up the steps, heading to his office. Bedelia starts to walk over, but Spencer grabs her arm, stopping her.
Rossi walks into his office.
"I need everybody in the conference room." Hotch states, walking in. They all go to the conference room. "A dozen federal employees have read our case files over the last two years. They all went through the highest levels of security. Each of those names needs to be checked against Reid's list."
"We should get them all in here and start the interrogations." Blake says.
"If he knows we're looking his way, he might retreat." Hotch says. "We should also check the support staffs of all those employees."
"Each one has two assistants, so we're already up to 36 people." JJ says.
"We should start with agents who work a 4 day, 40 hour week, given the fact that most of the murders happened over a long weekend, which means if the unsub traveled by car, no one at work would've missed them." Spencer says.
"Well, he probably wouldn't fly. It would leave a paper trail." Bedelia says.
"What's this?" Hotch asks, taking what Blake hands him.
"The Replicator's first case was the same as mine." She says. "Remember the sadist who made Ridgeway look tame?"
"In Seattle, so it wasn't The Silencer." Hotch says.
"Do you think it's a coincidence he started all of this when I joined the team?" Blake asks.
"I don't know." Hotch says. "Dave's back? Excuse me." He leaves, Derek following.
+++
They watch from inside the bullpen as the medics wheel Rossi off. Hotch walks in.
"They've given him a sedative and they're going to take him to the infirmary. He's gonna be okay." Hotch says.
"How did it get into his system?" Blake asks.
"The report must have been dusted with whatever he used on Strauss." Hotch says.
"Luckily the transdermal absorption rate was lower than her ingestion of it, so it wasn't fatal for Rossi." Spencer says.
"Then this was a warning. If he wanted to kill Rossi, he had every chance to do it." Bedelia says.
"If this is his endgame, why is he wasting time with warnings?" Blake asks.
"He's toying with us and we're playing into him." Hotch says. "He's turned Rossi against Morgan. Even if it was temporary, he wanted to show it could be done."
"But why?" Blake asks as Derek walks over.
"Strauss was dosed with a chemical cousin of Doctor Death." Derek states. "He altered it so her torture would be longer."
"A biochemist, computer hacker, and federal agent? Who the hell is this guy?" JJ questions.
+++
"Only half the cameras are working because the system is till rebooting itself, so the security guards have to go old school." Penelope says. "That means everyone has to sign in. You can't take your ID and run it through-- well, you know what old school means. So, if you have a badge, you don't get harassed. The man who signed in to see Rossi went up to the sixth floor, held the door open for Kevin and Anderson..."
"I can't believe he was right there." Kevin says.
"Walked through our BAU into Rossi's office, signed in as Adam Worth." Penelope says.
"Adam Worth?" Spencer asks.
"Adam Worth was a famous criminal from the late 1800s. Commonly referred to as the Napoleon of Crime. This unsub obviously sees himself in the same light." Spencer says.
"So this guy is a malignant narcissist who wants to be known as the worst enemy we've ever had." Derek says.
"And look, he's careful to hide his face from the cameras." Blake says.
"Because he knows exactly where they are." Hotch says.
+++
"The Replicator has directly taunted everyone on this team except for me." Blake says.
"You may be part of his endgame." Hotch says.
"Then so was Strauss." Blake says.
"He chose to use drugs as his final replication. That's no accident." JJ says.
"Is that a connection to you?" Hotch asks.
"Strauss and I had issues during the Amerithrax case. It started in New York with poison." Blake says.
"And it was delivered by envelopes." Spencer says.
"Why would anyone on the inside hold resentment over that case?" Derek asks.
"Because that person suffered a professional setback just like Blake, but was patient and psychotic enough to get revenge." Hotch says.
"I am all over the DOJ names including support staff." Penelope says, walking in. "I have Kevin pulling files and photos. System is down, so it's hard to check entire career paths, but there were two agents in New York in 2001." She says, looking at the files in her hands.
"Scratch that -- Lehman died in October. That leaves Curtis." She puts the files down.
"Wait a second. John Curtis?" Blake asks.
"You know him?" Penelope asks.
"I haven't seen him in a long time. He was a nice guy. We were first office agents together, but I thought he left the bureau after the Amerithrax case." Blake says.
"Could it be him? Does he fit the profile?" Hotch asks.
"He was quiet and a loner, but brilliant. He specialized in a lot of fields, but his passion was biochemistry." Blake states.
+++
"He inherited a family compound in rural Virginia. Coordinates are on your phone." Penelope says.
"What else do we have on Curtis?" Blake asks.
"Just like you thought. John Curtis was demoted in the FBI after the amerithrax case. He was slated to take over the coveted New York field office, but then was shipped to the not coveted Kansas City one. He worked there for many years quietly before he was able to weasel his way back into the nation's capital."
"On paper he is a rock star. He immediately transferred to the Department of Justice, the intelligence oversight section. He's a genius on multiple levels."
"What's his background?" Derek asks.
"Only child, parents died when he was 18. Never married, total loner, just like Blake said." Penelope says.
"Then all he's ever had to care about is his work." Hotch says.
"And when he lost that, he snapped." Derek says.
They get to the roof and get in the choppers. Bedelia sits between Blake and Spencer.
~ ~ ~
"HRT will divide us up when we land." Hotch says.
"As you can see from the GEO ref'd, he's got plenty of privacy." Penelope says. "5 1/2 acres, 3 structures, house included." The screens show static.
"Garcia?" Hotch asks.
"I see it, too, sir. It must be some sort of system override." Penelope says.
The chopper starts to violently shake as an alarm sounds. Bedelia tightly grips onto her seat.
"What's happening?" Penelope asks.
"The autopilot's seized." The pilot says.
"Oh, God." Penelope panics.
Bedelia squeezes her eyes shut, tightly gripping onto Spencer's hand who squeezes back just as tightly.
The chopper levels out soon, making Bedelia let out a deep breath of relief.
"I got it back." The pilot says.
"Are you okay?" Penelope asks.
"We're stabilizing." Hotch says.
The plane starts to shake again and the alarm comes back on.
Bedelia tightly grips onto Spencer's hand as he holds onto the helicopter with one hand.
"Brace for impact." The pilot says. Bedelia tightly grips onto whatever she can.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday! Mayday, mayday, mayday!"
~ ~ ~
Spencer slowly wakes up, grimacing. He looks around, eyes falling onto Bedelia.
"Delia?" He asks, noticing she's unconscious. "Delia." He gently shakes her. "Bedelia." He cups one side of her face. He sighs in relief when her face scrunches up and she quietly groans.
The doors open.
"Are you guys all right?" Derek asks.
"Yeah." Spencer answers.
"I've been better." Bedelia mumbles.
"Where's Blake?" JJ asks. Bedelia finally looks at the seat next to her, seeing the woman gone.
"What the hell is this?" Derek asks, holding up a cannister. "What is this?" He shows it to Hotch.
They help the others get out, Bedelia using JJ for support as she climbs out.
"Are you sure you're okay?" JJ asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Bedelia says.
"Are you sure?" Spencer asks.
"Yes." Bedelia nods.
"If he'd wanted to kill all of us, he could have." JJ says.
"He's playing God, just like he's done all year." Spencer says. "He hard landed us, knocked us out with whatever was in those canisters so he could take Blake."
"He had plenty of chances to take her before tonight." Hotch says. "He wants it to be a spectacle."
+++
They go into the house, being careful and quiet as they search the place. They get to the basement where more photos of the team are. Bedelia still feels her skin crawl at the idea, wanting to vomit at how many photos this guy has.
Derek leads the way to a shut door and opens it. They find Blake chained to a chair.
JJ rushes over to her after they're sure the room's clear and she takes the gag out of Blake's mouth.
"Which way did he go?" She asks.
"I don't know." Blake says.
"Morgan, you and JJ find him, we've got this." Hotch says. JJ and Derek leave.
"He said he used 8 locks because there's 8 of us." Blake says.
"That's all he said?" Hotch asks as Spencer deals with the keys.
"About that, yes." Blake nods.
"There's only 6 keys. That means two keys will be used twice. Each key is a letter. Likely corresponds to a number on the locks." Spencer says. "7 -- seventh letter of the alphabet is G."
"What are the other letters?" Hotch asks.
"Um, Z, U, W-- zugzwang." Spencer says. "It's too easy."
~ ~ ~
They're working on unchaining her, having taken the keys off the ring so it could be done quicker.
"He's got the place lined with C-4. We've only got 3 minutes." Derek says as he and JJ walk in.
"This seems too easy." Spencer says. "Zugzwang also means a dilemma in chess where the best move is not to move at all." They finally get Blake completely unchained and she sighs in relief.
"Wait, don't get up!" Spencer yells as Blake stands up. "It's a pressure sensor." The door slams shut.
Derek rushes over, trying to open it, hitting it when he can't.
Bedelia lets out a shaky breath.
They're only stuck in there for a few moments before the door opens and Rossi walks in.
"Rossi!" Bedelia sighs in relief.
"Come on. Out, out. We gotta move." Derek says.
They run out of the room, getting outside.
"Everybody get back! There's C-4 in the basement." Hotch warns.
"Wait, where's Rossi?" Spencer asks.
"He was right behind me." Derek says.
"Dave!" Hotch shouts.
"He just let us out. Why would he go back in?" Derek asks.
Bedelia anxiously waits, but after a few moments she spots Rossi running over making her sigh in relief.
Rossi gets over just in time as the house explodes, everybody ducking and covering their heads.
Spencer looks over at Bedelia, reaching out for her arm.
"You okay?" He asks and she nods.
They watch the flames engulf all of the rooms and smoke rise from the building.
+++
Spencer is at the apartment and Bedelia gets back to the apartment with dinner.
"Ooh." Spencer lights up at his favorite food.
"Yeah." Bedelia grins. "So... um, I-I have some news." She says, putting the food down.
"News?" Spencer asks, trying to gauge her expression to know if he should be excited or worried.
"Yeah. But-- but before you get mad, I just need you to remember that everybody involved is okay." Bedelia says.
"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Spencer frowns.
"I'm pregnant." Bedelia states.
Spencer freezes for a moment, staring at her with wide eyes.
"You-- you're-- preg-pregnant?" He stammers.
"Yes." Bedelia nods.
"You're pregnant." He laughs, grinning. "Th-- this is great." He kisses her and tightly hugs her. "This is amazing." Bedelia softly smiles, kissing him. "Why would I be-- wait, how long have you known?"
"I bought a test right before New York and... it was positive. Then I-I went to the doctor tonight. That's why I insisted on getting the food alone. Despite the major anxiety that gave both of us." Bedelia says.
"You-- you're pregnant. But you-- you went out into the field. You-- why would you do that?" Spencer frowns.
"And we've now arrived at mad." Bedelia says. "I know. I know. It was wrong and I am so sorry. I couldn't find it in me to sit out. I needed to be there when we got him. After everything, we've been through, I needed to be part of the takedown. I'm sorry and no more going into the field until after maternity leave. I swear."
"The helicopter crashed."
"I know. But the doctor assured we are both okay." Bedelia says. "Nobody's hurt and so now we can celebrate having a baby."
Spencer sighs, just relieved that everybody's okay.
"I'm... I'm excited." Spencer grins.
"Me, too." Bedelia grins back, going to kiss him.
"But also terrified." Spencer whispers as his lips ghost over hers. Bedelia giggles, pulling him into a kiss.
+++
After Strauss' funeral, the team are sitting outside of Rossi's while reminiscing and drinking wine, aside from Bedelia who has water.
"It had to be a perfect round. And sure enough, coming right back at me was the target. And it was blasted right through the chest. The goggles come off... and it's Strauss." Derek says. "I mean, I was like, what?" He laughs. "I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. That woman... she was one hell of a shot."
"Um... do you guys remember that one time that she called me, but I thought that it was somebody else?" Penelope asks while pointing to Derek.
"That-- that was funny." JJ says.
"Oh, maybe for you. I was mortified." Penelope says.
"What did you say?" Blake asks.
"I said, "talk dirty to me."" Penelope says. Blake's jaw drops.
"Penelope." Bedelia grimaces.
"I know." Penelope laughs.
"Yes, she did." Derek nods. "That's my girl."
"Are you kidding?" Blake asks and Penelope shakes her head.
"Hey, that was my line." Rossi says.
"Whatever are you doing here?" Derek asks.
~ ~ ~
Rossi taps his spoon against his glass.
"Last year, right here, we had a... very different celebration. Of life, of love, and good people. This year it's the, um, other side of that. Because, well... that's what families do. It's been a hard year."
Spencer reaches for Bedelia's hand under the table, gently squeezing it. Bedelia rubs her thumb over his knuckles.
"But tonight... we celebrate a life well lived... well loved... to a good woman... an even better mother... to our friend... who I will miss very much."
They all reach out to the middle and clink their glasses.