the great war, spencer reid [ 2 ]

081. face off

"The truth is, I don't think Lisa ever got over what happened to Phil." Luke says as he, Bedelia, Penelope, Tara, and Matt sit in the living room of the Reid apartment. The girls are both asleep and Robin has been glued to the guests since they got here. "I mean, how could she, really?"

"I'm so sorry, Luke." Penelope says.

"Lisa and I'll still be friends, I mean, you know. We were always honest with each other." Luke says.

"So, unfortunately, Rossi can't make it tonight, but Emily is on her way over right now." Spencer informs, walking in.

"Great, and thanks for hosting, Spence, B." Tara says.

"Well, thank you for coming." Spencer tells them.

"Of course." Bedelia smiles. "Just, uh, hope you don't mind the baskets of toys we attempted to get cleaned up."

"Completely understandable." Matt assures.

"Guys, I have something to say." Penelope says. "An opportunity has presented itself to me, and it is in the Silicon Valley." She informs. "Global Stratagem Development. They're a private research group that's expanding their stratagem to include combating global environmental change."

"Wow. That sounds perfect for you. You get to do all the good work you do at the BAU without the gore." Luke says.

"Yeah, okay, but... are you trying to get rid of me?" She asks him.

"No." Luke denies. "I don't want anybody going anywhere."

"Right, and I don't want to go anywhere." Penelope says. "I love-- I mean, this is my home. Not this room, but, you know, the BAU is and... come on. We're family."

"Yeah, we're family." Luke nods. "And our relationship to each other is not bound by wherever we show up to go to work."

"If you have the opportunity to do something you love, Penelope, you should absolutely explore." Tara tells her.

"I agree. Change is scary, but sometimes it's really worth it, and this could one of those times." Bedelia tells her.

+++

"So, Rossi gave me the heads up, and I was able to find stuff that confirms our very own silver fox's theory that Everett Lynch is on the lookout for his long lost father." Penelope says. "You see, in all of the cities that Lynch has committed a heinous crime, I have uncovered an alias linked to a wired payment to a P.I. who was retained to conduct searches for men we know were associated in a naked way with Lynch's mother, Roberta."

"Including Douglas Moore, the man she claims is Lynch's real dad." Luke says.

"But all these searches are recent, like within the last eight weeks." Rossi says.

"Yeah, it looks as thought they began a week after we found Grace's body." Matt says.

"It's fascinating. He might not be a complete sociopath after all." Spencer says. "It could also explain his dormancy."

"You don't think he feels guilty, do you?" Bedelia asks her husband.

"Not guilt. I think it's more like fear, as if maybe something in the act of taking his child triggered some deeply buried memory of his own father's violence towards himself." Spencer says.

"If Lynch never really knew who his father was, or if he had reason to doubt what Roberta told him, then that would motivate him to search for the truth." Tara says.

"Well, there's only one person we know that knows the whole truth, and that's Roberta, and so she's been manipulating everything in order to get out of jail." Matt says as Emily walks in. "Then--"