long chapter and written a little different so that I could include everything I needed to!! hope you enjoy nonetheless!!! 

TWENTY-TWO. MEXICO AND MEDICINE

EVERYTHING WAS FUZZY. His vision, his hearing, and his heartbeat. The only thing he could register was a faint buzzing sound, like when a television would cut out during a thunderstorm and ring at a high frequency. He hated that. Maybe that was why it took him so long to get one for his home when he moved out. He'd never really been one for technology anyway - unless it was to watch Doctor Who or communicate with his peers and loved ones. 

Saying Doctor Who was the last thing on his mind before he was thrown in a jail cell would have been amusing to many, but for a genius whose brain ran at a million miles an hour, the world was turning slow enough to make him sick. People were shouting at him and pushing him around, and all he could do was try his best to understand. But, for once in his life, he couldn't. 

★☆

Rhea entered Spencer's apartment just as a slap rang through the main room. Instinctively, she dropped her bag and everything she held in her hands to run forward and deescalate the scenario without even fully processing it in the first place. She had no idea what had happened, but she was going to make sure it didn't happen again. She forced herself between Spencer and Diana, the former of which was cradling his face. "Whoa, what's going on here?!"

"Rhea, stay out of it," Spencer warned, but Rhea didn't move a step. He'd been hit by his mother, who clearly seemed to be having a break of some kind. So, she reached out for Diana, who swatted her hands away. "Rhea..."

"Diana, why did you do that?!" Rhea tried her best to keep a calm tone of voice, but she couldn't help the panic that seeped through. "What happened?"

"He was trying to poison me!" Diana threw an accusatory finger at her son, causing Spencer to flinch in fear of being slapped again. Rhea didn't make a single movement to get out of her way; she was going to stand there and take any necessary blows. "I don't want his medicine! I want to go home!"

"Diana, come with me," Rhea took a step forward, taking the woman by the hands. Diana struggled initially, but Rhea had such a soothing voice, and she seemed to know exactly what to do...so she trusted her. Rhea spared a glance over her shoulder as she led Diana down the hallway, as if to say to Spencer that she'd be right back. He could barely look her in the eye. He seemed heartbroken and humiliated.

They stepped inside Diana's bedroom and Rhea let her go, allowing her to sit down on the bed. She then moved to the chest of drawers, where she rummaged for a hairbrush before wandering back over quietly. She stopped in front of Diana, causing the mother to look up. Her sunken in eyes narrowed in suspicion."What are you doing?"

"My mom used to brush my hair to calm me down when I was little," Rhea explained. She decided to leave out the part of it being her only good memory with her. "You'd be surprised how comforting it is."

"I can brush my own hair," Diana snapped, crossing her arms. Rhea held out the hairbrush without hesitation.

"I know you can," she shrugged. "All I want is to be there for you - it's the same with Spencer. However, hitting him is never going to be the right thing to do, okay?"

Diana lips pursed tightly, before she took the hairbrush from Rhea and started gently combing through her messy head of hair. She winced as she found knots, but once she got them out it was like she'd won something. Rhea was right - it alleviated some of her anxiety and gave her a task to focus on.If she could concentrate, then maybe she could slowly find her way out of the episode she'd found herself in.

★☆

"Hey, Reid," Luke lifted his hands to hold the cell bars. They were cold and slightly rusty - something he knew the germaphobe Doctor wouldn't enjoy. Spencer looked up groggily, hardly recognising his colleague. He was a blur of a man, and with every word he spoke, his voice shifted in volume. "It's good to see you, brother. It's me, Luke."

"Luke," His eyes were vacant. It made Luke's heart ache slightly, seeing the intelligent doctor reduced to a shell of a man. Spencer got to his feet, his legs shaking slightly. "Thank you for coming."

Luke managed a sad smile. He spared a look over his shoulder to see Marnie talking on the phone to JJ. Her thumb was between her teeth so that she could gnaw at the nail to suppress her nerves. He then returned his attention to Spencer, and exhaled through his nose. "Of course."

★☆

"She threw them away," he tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat. He sat over the empty medicine bottles, his salty tears mixing with what was left of the drugs. He couldn't get them anywhere in the country; he didn't want to have to go back so soon. "I-I can't-"

"Threw what away?" Rhea asked from where she stood in the doorway. She had no idea whether or not to approach him after what she'd just seen - she didn't know how he'd react in his state. There was a red mark on his cheekbone from where she'd hit him, inflamed and likely to bruise. He needed ice, but he probably would deny the offer if she gave some to him. 

Spencer rubbed his wet eyes. He then stood up and kicked the glass to the wall, where it smashed and flew across the tile floor. Rhea jumped forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the shards. She winced slightly as a small pice of glass imbedded itself in her cheek, but didn't make a sound. She just watched as he toppled back, his face painted with fear and melancholy. "I've gotta go to Houston."

Rhea's shoulders dropped. Houston was where Diana's medical facility was, and Spencer had been there far too many times for it to actually be effective. "Again? Spence-"

He pushed past her so he could get to his bedroom, where he started packing a small bag. Rhea followed him, eyes wide and panicked. "If I can't get a flight out tonight I'll go after the next case..."

"If this is about Diana," she trailed off, watching his fast movements as he threw together some necessities. She reached for his wrist, stopping him. He stiffened, eyes focusing on anything but her. "Why can't you just talk to her nurse? Surely she can figure something out. You don't need to go all the way to Houston-"

"It's really none of your business," Spencer snapped, finally looked down at her small figure. Rhea recoiled, her hand dropping to her side. "She's not your mother. No offence, but what would you know about this kind of thing?"

His mouth clamped shut as he watched her face fall. The expression was almost one of betrayal; one of absolute disbelief. He knew exactly how to hurt her, and he also knew that it was the only way for her to give him the space that he needed.

It didn't stop him from taking an apologetic step forward as soon as the words left his mouth. But, he didn't have to say anything more for Rhea to turn around and leave him alone in his cold, dark apartment with the slam of the door and tears in her eyes. 

★☆

"It's a good sign things are coming back," Emily clasped her hands on top of the table as she took a seat opposite Spencer. They were in one of the interrogation rooms in the local police station, without eyes watching their every move.

It was strange, having to do a cognitive with the main suspect, especially since he was one of her dearest friends. One look at the pair and you wouldn't have guessed they were both FBI agents. Spencer wore a dirty flannel shirt and a pair of jeans, far from his usual attire. It was like he was an entirely different person. At the moment, he was. 

Emily, however, had never looked so professional. Mexico wasn't exactly on her travel plan, especially considering she had been told Spencer would be in Texas, though this fact wasn't going to stop her from getting to the bottom of things. All they knew so far was that he'd met with a woman named Nadie Ramos to get medicine for his mother. They had no idea how he'd ended up in a police chase in possession of cocaine and heroin. To be fair, neither did he. 

She pressed the 'record' button on her phone, beginning the cognitive interview. "Okay...so, you remember landing in Houston, but you haven't said how you got across the border..."

★☆

Spencer watched as the husband of the latest Unsub reunited with his two friends. He tucked his hands in his trouser pockets and watched on, before he turned to see Emily walking up beside him. She touched his arm gently, her eyes filled with the same concern that she'd carried over the entire case. "How're you doing?"

"You know, Bill thought he found true love," Spencer nodded over to the spouse in the distance. Avoiding the question had worked initially, but he and Emily both knew he couldn't keep it up much longer. "But it turns out he didn't really even know the person he was married to. Which got me thinking, do we ever really know anyone?"

"Well, that, my friend, is the question that keeps us in business," Emily words were almost light, but her facial expression betrayed the humour.

"I suppose it does," Spencer hummed.

"Spence," Emily turned to face him. She shut her eyes for a moment, trying to figure out the right words to say. "I know you've been under a lot of stress with your mom living at the apartment. But, I've known you long enough to know there's something more going on."

Spencer's eyes trained on the ground beneath his feet. He wasn't a huge fan of cobblestone - he used to trip over the uneven stone when he was younger. "I really thought that bringing her home with me was the best plan, but I don't know. I feel like now I...I made a mistake. It's not really working. And Rhea..."

Emily tilted her head. "What about her?"

"I screwed up," Spencer sniffled, his voice breaking a little. He cleared his throat and turned his head to look anywhere but his friend. He didn't need someone else seeing him upset. "We were finally getting somewhere...a-and I said something she didn't deserve to hear, and now we haven't spoken in days."

Emily sighed softly. "Spence..."

"Why do I always do this, Emily?" Spencer ground his teeth together in frustration. His jaw was starting to hurt because of how often he'd been doing it. "I always find a way to hurt her..."

"Rhea Reeves is the most understanding person I think any of us will ever meet," Emily assured him. "She's not going to let this break you two apart."

"I made a comment about her mother," he muttered. Emily bit her tongue to hold back any loose comments. Noticing her expression change, Spencer groaned, running his hands down his face. "I wanted to make her feel bad, and I knew exactly how. And it was pretty much right after we'd...after we'd slept together."

"You slept together?" Emily's eyes widened. A surprised laugh bubbled from her mouth and she clapped her hand over her lips at her bad timing. "Oh my God, finally!"

From the look she received from Spencer, the woman quickly apologised, though she knew that she'd have to relay the new information to the rest of her colleagues. Garcia would be over the moon to hear. If only Daisy was within contact - she'd be ecstatic. 

Nonetheless, she reached out and patted his arm. "It'll be fine, Spencer. People and circumstances change unexpectedly. She knows that better than anyone. We need to learn how too adapt and regroup and go on."

Spencer exhaled. "I might need to take a few days. I was gonna fly to Houston and talk to Doctor Stanfield before the case, but now that we wrapped up early..."

"Take as much time as you need," Emily's voice was warm and understanding, just as it had always been. She watched as he started to walk away, fiddling with her hands. "Spencer?"

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

She managed a smile. "I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Why?" a deep furrow appeared between his brows. 

She paused. "Because it's difficult caring for family. But it takes tremendous strength to ask for help. Just...do me one favour?"

"Of course."

Emily could see in his eyes how much he was hurting, and that made her hurt too. "Get Rhea back. We need two geniuses on the team to win trivia night."

Spencer chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

★☆

"How's he doing?" Rossi asked as Emily shut the interrogation room door behind her. She was exhausted, practically bleeding with concern, and had just deleted the recording from the cognitive interview that could possibly incriminate Spencer. She'd tampered with evidence, but she genuinely didn't care. She need him safe, even if it meant losing her job.

She crossed her arms as she stood opposite Rossi, Luke and Marnie, clearly at a loss for words and ideas. No one would be sleeping tonight, that was for sure. 

"He's made some breakthroughs, but I'm not sure how helpful they'll be," she muttered, a frown etched into her face. She noticed that the group was quiet, and that only set the simmering nerves in her stomach alight. "What is it?"

Marnie and Luke exchanged a look, before the former stepped forward. She wore an academy hoodie and a pair of flip-flops (hardly professional, though in her defence, they'd picked her up on the way to Quantico after she'd spent the night drinking), yet she seemed the most alert. In her hand was her cellphone, and in her eyes was fear. 

"They just charged Reid with the murder of Nadie Ramos."

★☆

long chapter I'm sorrry1!!!

but oooooweeeee drama 

we finally made it to #prisonreid baby

who knows how rhea's gonna react oooo drama oooo angst oooo whatsgonnahappen