the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

033. mirror image

"I'm vigilant myself." Penelope tells Emily as JJ, Bedelia, and Spencer walk into the round table room.

"What's going on?" JJ asks.

"It's Gabriel." Spencer points to the screen making Bedelia and JJ look at it.

"Oh." JJ says.

"How did-- how come you guys know about--" Penelope asks.

"Uh, she told us about him when she first joined the team." JJ says.

"He flew in this morning, probably looking for money." Bedelia says, tsking.

"Hey. Is there a case?" Luke asks as he and Rossi walk in. "What's Tara's brother's picture doing up?"

"Well, he's in town." Emily informs.

"He must want money." Rossi says.

Penelope angrily puts the remote on the table.

"Come on, the new guy?" She sneers. "He knows? How come I was the last one to know?"

"It was an experiment. She wanted to time how long you could keep a private conversation private." Spencer says. "And you made it 12 hours."

"Damn. I had you down for 6." Luke says.

"Okay, you know what? You guys, I thought you were my friends. But you suck. You all suck. Especially you, new guy. But then you always suck." Penelope says as she marches out. "Newbie." She hisses.

"I had 14 hours. I think I win, right?" Spencer asks.

"Uh, who had 11?" JJ asks.

"Oh, I did." Emily smiles, raising her hand. Spencer frowns.

+++

"We're running prints and DNA. So far he's not in the system." Spencer tells Tara.

"We can hold that man for 24 hours. After that we need to either charge him or let him go." Emily says. "Is Gabriel answering his phone?"

"This is his phone. His contacts, his emails." Tara says, holding the phone up. "Look at this." She shows them a photo. "He was in the capitol district. And look at the time stamp. He's been in my backyard a month and he hasn't told me."

"Does your father know?" Emily asks.

"Maybe. I mean, I have to speak to him." Tara says.

"Albert Lewis Body Shop. He's listed, right? I'll bring him in." Spencer says, walking off with Bedelia.

+++

"Okay, here's what I can tell you about Carl Brubaker." Penelope says. "He does in fact live in the city, and the GPS on Gabriel's phone has been consistently there for the last month."

"So he had been staying with him like my father said." Tara says.

"Maybe he still is but our unsub got ahold of his phone somehow." Luke says.

"With my brother, it's never that simple. Something else is going on." Tara says.

"Guys, we're being set up." Spencer says.

"What do you mean, Reid?" Luke asks.

"The fact in the driver's license photo displays perfect facial symmetry, I mean perfect, beyond what the human genome can produce." Spencer says. "The picture's a computer generated forgery."

"Who would hack into the DMV and plant a fake..." Penelope trails off as she realizes.

+++

"I've placed protective details on Hayden and Joy and Will and the boys and Theodora." Emily informs. "We need to assume that Mr. Scratch is targeting this entire team."

"You know, that could be why he had Gabriel screaming out my name." Luke says. "He wants us to know that he knows I'm part of the BAU now."

"Isn't his M.O. to drug his victims and make them hallucinate?" Emily asks.

"Then he evolved. He's taking these victims multiples personalities and brainwashing them with someone else's memories." JJ says.

"So he took Tara's brother and did God knows what to get him to spill his life story." Luke says. "And then he planted those memories in the guy downstairs. The more memories he has, the stronger the identity he can create."

"He must have put Gabriel's whole life inside of Desmond." JJ says.

"Well, the good news is we have a list from before. Patients with dissociative identity disorder Scratch might target next." Penelope says.

"Okay, cross reference those against missing persons." Emily tells her and she nods. "The rest of us need to figure out how to deprogram the unsub safely. He's still our best lead to Scratch and Gabriel."

"It's the pictures that are baffling." Spencer says. "Scratch left them out specifically to call our attention to them."

"He's a math genius. He likes us to solve his puzzles, which usually tend to lead to bigger traps." Luke says.

"But it's the configuration that's strange." Spencer says. "The pictures are obviously of Gabriel at different ages, but normally one would arrange them in chronological order or reverse chronological order. 15, 11, and 32 is a pattern that he wants us to see."

"Not us. Tara. It's a pattern he wants her to see." Rossi says.

+++

"Bedelia and I'll coordinate from here. GW emergency's on alert. The director wants a report if you catch Scratch dead or alive." Rossi says.

"Will do." Emily says.

"Hey. Be careful." Bedelia tells her husband.

"I will. I'm coming back, promise." He gives her a quick kiss before going to the elevator.

"It's something bad, isn't it?" Albert asks his daughter as the team pile into the elevator. "Something you're not telling me."

"Dad, I have to go." She tells him.

"Tara Elizabeth..." He calls making her stop. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I can take it. Because, uh... it's all my fault."

Tara puts her hand on his shoulder.

"This is no one's fault." She tells him. She walks into the elevator, Bedelia watching the doors shut.

+++

The team get back and have Gabriel, the Lewis family reuniting.

Spencer walks over to Bedelia, giving her a small smile.

"Hey." She smiles, leaning up to peck him on the lips. "You good?"

"Yeah." Spencer nods, intertwining their fingers, gently squeezing her hand.