i'll keep you safe, criminal minds

007. halloween

Spencer and Kate are at the crash site for their case. Kate uses a glove to pick up a small toy truck.

"The plane broke up in 5 main sections. The two wings, the aft hull and tail, the forward hull and cockpit, which we have here." The guy leads them over to it.

"How large is the spread?" Spencer asks.

"About a half a mile."

"That means the plane broke up before impact." Spencer says. "Have you found the digital flight data recorder yet?"

"We're still searching. It might have been driven deep into the ground after impact." The guy says. "The good news is the DFDR and the cockpit voice recorder are in a single unit, so we're only looking for one black box."

"Where was the copilot found?" Spencer asks.

"About 20 yards that way." The guy points out. "Excuse me." He walks off.

"You've been quiet." Spencer notes.

"Sorry." Kate says.

"You know, a disaster of this magnitude is really hard to wrap your mind around, let alone your feelings." Spencer says.

"You don't need to worry about me." Kate says. "What, are you gonna profile me now?"

"It's hard to turn it off sometimes." Spencer admits.

"I guess I should just tell you this. Hotch and Rossi already know." Kate says. "My sister and brother-in-law died in 9/11. They were working at the Pentagon."

"So sorry." Spencer tells her. "I can imagine this must obviously bring back a lot of painful memories."

"Yeah." Kate says. She sniffs after a moment. "Anyway, I don't want to be that weepy agent with a tragic past, so you don't have to walk on eggshells around me." She starts to walk off.

"My girlfriend was killed in front of me and my mom has schizophrenia. Since we're sharing." Spencer says.

"Thank you for letting me know." Kate says. "After my sister died, I adopted all 10 of her kids."

"Wow." Spencer says.

"I'm kidding." Kate smiles, the two laughing. "They had a baby girl, Meg. We took her in. Actually, Chris and I moved into their house. Anyway, she's 13 and the light of my life."

"Oh, she sounds terrific."

"Yeah, she is. Maybe I could bring her by so you can meet her sometime."

"I would really like that. I, uh, I also technically have a 13 year old at home."

"Technically?" Kate questions.

"Yeah. Yeah, um, I, uh, I'm fostering her. About two months ago, we met her on a case. She was... she was a victim." Spencer quietly clears his throat. "She lost her whole family and, uh... I don't know. I just... took her in. This weird, unusual urge to take care of her."

"Think you're gonna adopt her?" Kate asks.

"Hopefully." Spencer answers after a few moments.

"This must have been the co-pilot seat." Kate says.

"That means the plane came from that way." Spencer points. "You know, it's possible the metal attaching the chair got caught in the power lines. It could have slowed his descent."

"A series of minor bumps instead of one big crash -- it's the only way he would have survived." Kate says. Spencer walks off. "What is it?" She asks, the two following him.

"Vomit. Passengers threw up before the crash." Spencer says.

"Sorry about that." The guy says. He notices news vans pull up. "Oh, great. The hardest thing about this investigation will be staying ahead of the media and all the stupid conspiracy theories."