the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

028. the storm

"The thing is, you have to take the time or it just flies by." Tara says.

"I know." Spencer says.

"I've heard Alaskan cruises are pretty amazing." Tara says.

"Mom has a phobia." Spencer says.

"Of water or--" Tara asks.

"Cruise ships, specifically." Spencer says.

"Okay. But she's good to fly?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so there's gotta be a place she's always mentioned she wanted to go. What's the first thing that pops into your head?"

"Uh, it's Paris, actually."

"Deal." Bedelia immediately agrees making the other two chuckle.

"Wow. Done. Book that." Tara says.

"You're right. Thank you." Spencer says.

"If we're talking about vacations, guess where I'm going." Penelope says, walking up.

"Hmm. To visit Emily?" Spencer says.

"Yes. How did you know that?" Penelope asks, an excited smile on her face.

"Because nothing else would make you this excited." Spencer says.

"Have you ever been to London before?" Tara asks.

"Yes. One time. 4 years ago. It was work slash play. This is gonna be all play. I am leaving all my phones at home." Penelope says. Spencer and Bedelia give her skeptical looks. "You're right. That's not true. I'm going to bring them all, but I'm going to put them on airplane mode most of the time."

"Yeah. Baby steps." Tara says.

"That's right, mate. Oh, I am putting the kettle on. Would anyone like a proper cup?" She asks in a British accent. "It's a lot of Dr. Who, you guys. No big deal."

+++

"Where's Hotch being held?" Spencer asks.

"I don't know yet. I have calls out." Rossi says.

"Metro SWAT took him?" Tara asks.

"Yeah, but it has to be bigger than that." Rossi says.

"JJ's on her way here right now. She couldn't explain everything on the phone because she's with the kids." Spencer says.

"Okay, maybe Hotch was swatted. That's an extreme prank that gamers pull on their opponents, where they fake 911 call on them." Penelope says. "It's recently escalated among celebrities.'

"If it was a prank, they wouldn't have arrested him." Bedelia says.

"Unless they didn't know." Spencer counters. "If someone called 911 and said that Hotch is a threat, SWAT has to respond. Which means somewhere there's a record of that call."

"Yeah, on it." Penelope says, sitting down and getting on her laptop.

JJ walks in and is holding Michael while Henry, Jack, and Will following her in.

"Hey, guys!" Spencer excitedly greets.

"Hi, Uncle Spencer." Henry greets.

"Oh, hello!" Spencer bends down, picking Henry up and spinning him around as he hugs him and Bedelia softly smiles. "How are you doing, Henry?" He asks, putting him down.

"Good. Everybody's gonna hang out at mom's work today." Henry says.

"Oh, that sounds super fun." Penelope smiles.