the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

040. prison visits

"You think Reid should have taken the plea deal?" Luke asks.

"Absolutely not." JJ shakes her head.

"Now that it's off the table, he's looking at 25 years to life." Tara says.

"So you think he should have?" JJ asks.

"No. I'm just saying, 25 years is a long time." Tara says. "And as we know, juries are fickle."

"I still can't believe the judge denied bail." Stephen says.

"Did you guys see the look on his face when they led him out of that courtroom? The look when he saw Bedelia crying?" JJ asks.

"What are we gonna do?" Luke asks.

"Oh, newbie, oh, newbie, I'm gonna tell you what we're gonna do." Penelope says, walking over. "We're gonna send him letters every day, we're gonna put money in his commissary account, we are going to send him puzzles, magazines, books, whatever we can think of to make sure those gorgeous gears inside that boy wonder brain are lubed up and in perfect working order to keep us on track."

"And as we all know, he won't be okay if he knows his family isn't okay. So we are doing whatever for Bedelia, whatever she wants. We're getting her food -- breakfast, lunch, dinner, babysitting, mom-in-law sitting, she wants space, she gets space. She wants somebody glued to her, someone is glued to her. We make her as stress free as possible outside of this whole terrible doozy."

"I took the liberty of making a chat." Penelope holds the chart up. Flowers decorate the board to make it look cute. There's a column listing the agents and then the date, letters, packages, and lastly visits.

Bedelia's name is on the chart first and then Penelope, followed by Emily then Rossi, then JJ, then Tara, then Luke, and lastly Stephen.

"Good idea, Penelope." Luke says.

"Yes, I couldn't agree more. Also, if you've noticed, there is a visitation schedule." Penelope says, pointing to the names.

"Why do you get to go see Reid right after B?" Luke asks.

"Because I made the chart. And if anyone has any problem with that, tough noogies." Penelope says.

"What's all this?" Emily asks as she and Rossi walk over. Penelope holds the chart up for them to see.

"Uh, well, Miss Penelope here is keeping track of our correspondence and visits to Spence." JJ says.

"Very colorful, Penelope." Rossi tells her.

"Thank you, sir." She smiles. "Oh! And that reminds me, I'm sending the first batch of letters to Reid in jail today. I'm going to need you to pen your upbeat, articulate missives and give them to me no later than 3 P.M. sharp."

"I'm afraid you'll need a new mailing address." Emily says.

"What's going on?" Stephen asks.

"Early this morning, Reid was moved from the police precinct to the Millburn Correctional Facility." Emily informs.

"He's in prison?" JJ asks.

"How is that possible? There hasn't been a trial." Penelope says.

"You can blame overcrowding at the D.C. jail." Rossi says.

"Wh-- did anybody call Bedelia and tell her?" Penelope asks, frowning.

"I just got off the phone with her." Emily says.

"Oh, poor babies." Penelope whispers.

"I know this isn't great news, but his lawyer is doing everything she can, and she promised to give us updates. Right now, all we can do is put our faith in the justice system and follow Garcia's chart and work the case we just got."