can't help falling in love- spencer reid

forty five

"just keeps going to voicemail." evelyn sighs in frustration. "all of garcia's cells?" "yeah, i can't get ahold of her. i talked to spencer for like a second before we disconnected." "all right, try the guard gate." evelyn nods, trying to call them but getting the 'busy line' tone. "still busy." "still busy?" "yeah, it doesn't make sense." "what's all this?" rossi asks once they arrived." "fire alarm on the sixth floor, sir." "which building?" "yours." evelyn zoned out after that. her head was racing with too many scenarios that could've happened, all of them being bad. "is that garcia's car?" was the first thing evelyn heard when she zoned back in. "yeah." evelyn responded, looking inside. her heart sank. "spence and penelope's phones were left inside with their bags." she continues. "if they were helping with the evacuation, they wouldn't leave those behind" evelyn once again zoned out for a few moments, biting her lip as a nervous habit. "what if whoever took merva hurt penelope or spence?" she piped up, tears welling in her eyes. "oh, evelyn" emily said, hugging her tightly. "we'll find him." jj reassured her. evelyn nods, emily pulling away from the hug.

.......

"i underestimated how much he cares about you. he's given me everything i need." meadows scoffs. "because we're a family and you do anything to protect those you love." "funny. you say that as if i wouldn't know." "you've abducted us, you've tricked the FBI for years, and you worship that benjamin merva guy, so i'm sorry, forgive me for thinking you wouldn't get it." penelope snaps. "i need your handiwork." "let me see reid." "he isn't here." "yes, he is. i will die before i help you."

.......

"Ok, here we go." evelyn said as they began to watch security tapes. "She's running to the elevator. Garcia wasn't part of the plan." "No, but she is now." "Got any cameras on the elevators or in the garage?" "Uh, they were disabled." "Ok, there's reid. Why is he racing downstairs? See, what happened in the garage? They came up, Garcia's still down there." "And there's Theo. Reid said the Believers think that Theo is their next messiah." "Yeah, but Theo wanted no part of this. He killed his parents. He told us about the cult." "Nah. Reid must have convinced Meadows that pulling the alarm was the best distraction to escape with Theo and Merva. He wanted to prevent her from shooting anyone else. Reid knew we'd find this. Let's go back to the top." "So he's making eye contact. But he wouldn't risk saying anything." "Hold on, hold on. Look at his hands. He's signing." evelyn points to his hands. "B-e-n-s-b-e-I-I-e-v-e-r-s. Ben's Believers." "He already knows we figured that out. Why's he reminding us?" "Ok, Garcia's keycard was used to exit the garage at 10:09 pm and then Reid's 7 minutes after that and then Meadows' after that. So she separated all of them. 'Cause she had the manpower of an entire cult to help her." "But of all the departments, why did Meadows join ViCAP?" "It's a desk job. She never had to pull her gun or arrest anybody. But what I can't figure out is why she didn't just keep her head down about Quinn." evelyn said. "She risked exposure by coming to my office. Unsub 101. Inserting herself into the investigation." "And also, you're our leader and she probably got off knowing she tricked you." evelyn added. "However, she did improvise Garcia's abduction, which means that this whole this is not as solid as she would have hoped. I'll have Dave and JJ look into her work history. She was in the FBI for a reason."

.......

"Oh, my god, is he... You're really hurt. What... what do they want?" penelope exclaims as spencer was brought to her. "Me." "Why? Why you?" "I'd be their last victim." "What? Why?" "I don't know. I overheard them. There have been hundreds." "I gave you what you want. Now it's your turn. Or I'll blow his big, beautiful brains out." meadows pipes up. suddenly her cell phone rings. "Yeah?" "They've got a firewall, so there's no way to warn the team, but they're coming for us. You know they are. We're gonna be ok. We have to be ok. We're not gonna die here, Spencer. This can't be how our story ends." "What can we do?" "They'll trade. We'll make a barter." "Take me." "No." "The team needs you." No, they don't. They need you" "evelyn needs you. They need us. We need us. What can we do?" "You've got one minute." "I hate you." "I don't care." "Garcia, listen to me. Please tell my mom..." spencer fake cries until the phone rings again. "They're taking me and Theo." "Theo's here?" "We'll distract them. The car we were in is right outside the door. We're 18 minutes away from Quantico. Turn left outside the parking lot, take a right at the light. You'll recognize the rest. They stayed off the highways." "Ok, ok, but what about you?" "I'll delay them. Get the rest of the team back here and do not worry about me." "Time's up. It's all happening. Ten twenty-three. Get to it. Now."
.......

"Hey." evelyn says seeing jj. "Hi." she replies, clearing her throat. "Did I ever tell you about the Redskins game, gosh, 14 years ago now?" jj asks, evelyn shaking her head no. "Well, Spence... Spence got us good tickets. Actually, Gideon gave them to him and talked him into asking me to go. So, you know, I just figured all the youngest team members should hang out, so I, of course, asked Garcia to come along. Ugh." jj face palms. "Well, it turns out Morgan and Hotch were giving him pointers on the side thinking it was going to be a date. Gosh. I mean, he'd never been on one before. Poor Spence. He didn't know what to do. I'm just glad he forgave me. and now he has you and grayson, and grace, and you guys are the absolute cutest." jj gushes. "He adores you. And it sounds like that was the beginning of something even better. The 3 of you have been inseparable since I met you." evelyn smiles. "I don't know how to do this without them. If, uh, we can't get them back I..." jj drifts off, evelyn engulfing her in a bear hug, knowing exactly how she felt. "i know." evelyn replies.

........

"Oh, my god. Are you hurt?" evelyn exclaims as a very disgruntled penelope walked in. "It's a warehouse that's in Hillcrest, 18 minutes. 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." evelyn nods, hugging penelope. "thank god you're alright." she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. penelope didn't hug back, being in such a daze due to what had just happened.

.........

"Before we take his voice as our own, He has something to share." merva said. spencer was tied to a post, the believers surrounding him as merva was about to make spencer his 300th victim. "To every thing, there's a season. And a time to every purpose under the heaven... A time to be born and a time to die... A time to weep and a time to pluck up that which has been planted." "Ok, he's stalling. That's enough." meadows says, growing impatient "All right, let the sacrifice begin. Protect us from all harm." merva says, the believers reciting his words. "Let the sacrifice begin. Protect us from all harm. Let the sacrifice begin. Protect us from all harm." "Today we give thanks for our patience, perseverance, and strength. Without these, our efforts would have failed. And we thank the others who have sacrificed for us." merva says, the believers now reciting this. "Thank you for your sacrifice." "And for our guardian, who will protect this family now and always.Spencer, keeper of provisions... You are given selflessly to others and will be rewarded by the highest honor we could bestow. Your blood will be our blood. Your life will fuel ours." suddenly there was a gunshot. "Go, now!" "Down!" "Merva! Lay on the ground." emily shouted as evelyn rushed over to spencer, quickly untying him, tears running down her face. "Thanks." spencer says.

..........

"You ok?" evelyn asks as she sits down across from spencer. "Yeah, I am." spencer replies with a smile. "It'll take a while, but those will fade. You look kind of tough." she laughs. "Thank you. That's what I was going for." he jokes as evelyn intertwined their fingers. "I always had a hard time saying what I feel. I think maybe it's because I'm afraid of being disappointed. But... I've never said... How much I love all of you. i know you know but even if we weren't together and you were just apart of the team. i'd still love you." spencer says. "That's the beauty of family. We already know." evelyn replies softly, moving to sit on his lap. "i'm so glad you're okay." she sighs contently, leaning her head on his chest as she wraps her arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around her waist. "you're not getting rid of me that easily. we have a wedding to plan." spencer smiles. "wedding?!" emily exclaims excitedly, turning around to look at them. evelyn laughs softly, burying her face in his neck as she lifts up her hand, showing off her ring. "oh my god! he popped the question!" jj gasps excitedly. "i thought you knew? since the kids were with you." evelyn says confused. "no! he didn't tell me! he said you were just having date night!" jj exclaims as she admires her ring. "oh, it's beautiful!" jj smiles. "beautiful ring for a beautiful girl." spencer smiles, kissing her softly.