"Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it." ~ Bear Grylls

It had been a long, long, long and extremely unusual week for Doctor Spencer Reid and the rest of the BAU since they had hijacked ... sorry, GOTTEN Ashley Al'Ghul's case. He and Prentiss had been chosen to visit Ashley's only relatives besides Hannibal that lived in the states.

The poor Doctor had barely gotten through the front gate before it quite literally tried to EAT his messenger bag with a loud thwacking sound and what sounded suspiciously like growling. Emily had been absolutely no help at all, because she had just stood there laughing until Spencer had managed to pry it loose.

Everything about the house and the land itself seemed... concerning to say the least. The plants were either all dead, poisonous in some way or other, or carnivorous. The house seemed to let out a raspy breath every time the wind outside would pick up. The eyes of the portraits seemed to follow them as they moved about. And, despite the fact that he couldn't prove it, Spencer was certain the two older children were trying to kill them.

Even if his memory wasn't eidetic, Spencer was sure he never would be able to forget his first encounter with the Addams clan.

The families of most unsubs were shocked when it came to admitting their husband or family was a serial killer. Others started off in denial before going "now that you mention it..."

Families of witnesses were typically concerned. The Addams fit neither. When Emily told them that Ashley had accused Hannibal of being the Chesapeake Ripper, Gomez had laughed. "Did she now?"

Morticia half smiled, half smirked mischievously. "Oh, my niece would bury him alive if only Hannibal would sit still enough. She's quite fond of digging holes for us to get out of."

It was hard to tell if she was joking or not. They hadn't gotten much farther than that when a loud boom shook the entire house. Instinctively, the two agents ran towards the sound.

"Children! What have I told you about using dynamite when we have guests over?"

The two kids turned their heads in unison. "Make sure we have enough to bring the whole house down."

Before Spencer could stop himself, he blurted out "PETN is more powerful. It contains nitro groups which are similar to TNT and the nitroglycerin in dynamite."

The little girl blinked once, painfully slow, before stating simply, "You must be Doctor Reid. Cousin Aretha spoke of you in her letters. You recommend her The Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants."

Spencer could feel himself starting to sweat under Morticia's almost thoughtful gaze and Emily's half amused, half taken aback look. "She said it was for homework."

"It was for my birthday. I found it deeply fascinating."

Oh. Now he felt dumb AND embarrassed. Who needed a book on poisons for homework besides Med students and Morticians?

"Good?"

The little girl and boy eyed him. "Want to help us with the PETN you mentioned?"

His eyebrows shot up slightly. "You have some?"

Gomez was the one who responded. "Of course, old man! We're not barbarians!"

Spencer turned to Gomez and Morticia, then to Emily, as if asking for permission.  Prentiss sighed slightly. With any other family, Emily most likely would be asking 'have you lost your mind?' Instead, she gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Only if it's okay with your parents."

The little boy, who he would later learn was called Pugsley, turned towards his parents. "Please?"

Morticia smiled coyly. "Oh alright."

Spencer let the memory fade as he clambered into the ambulance, his eyes trained on the delirious teen's hands. At first, it had looked like she was just having muscle spasms from his quickly she was signing, but then it repeated, again and again. One phone number, over and over like some sort of broken record.

He dialed the number and waited for a painful moment as the dial tone filled his ear. "Doctor Crane."

Spencer tried to fact that his breathing had hitched. "Hi um... Mr. Scarecrow, sir." Mentally, he scowled at himself before he continued. "My name is Doctor Spencer Reid, I'm with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI."

"Is that screaming I'm hearing in the background, Doctor?"

"We found Ashley. I don't suppose you'd know anything about the fear toxin in her system, would you?"

"She's immune. Unless..." He goes silent for a painful moment before cursing in what sounded like Greek. Well, Reid ASSUMED he was cursing from his tone. "My earliest concoctions were all fatal. How long has she been like that?"

"Umm..." Reid moved the phone away from his ear to address one of the medics. "Do you know how long she's been like this?"

"Hard to say. Around thirty minutes maybe?"

"Thirty minutes, give or take."

"Interesting. None of the others lasted nearly that long... and they were all adult men. What hospital are you going too? I'm on my way."

Only Jonathan Crane could make 'I'm on my way' sound like a threat. Ashley, who was still restrained stopped thrashing for a moment and looked suspiciously like she had been caught stealing out of a cookie jar. Now, that wasn't to say she appeared calm. Her eyes were almost comedically dilated and wide as she focused on the phone. The teen seemed slightly more aware now and had transitioned from screaming and thrashing to heavy breathing.

Reid nearly forgot about the other Doctor entirely and focused on trying to calm the teen until ANOTHER set of sirens steadily approached the hospital just as they were exiting the ambulance. A delivery car swerved around the corner, followed by two police cars. The car barely even slowed down as a blur of brown barrel rolled out of it. The truck and police cars were nearly gone before Reid finally snapped into action.

"FBI, he's with me. You must be Doctor Crane. She's over here."

Startling blue eyes bore into him behind their burlap cage.  "I can certainly see that. Help me hold her down, she'll probably struggle."

And struggle she did. She was back to thrashing and screaming until the needle was injected into her skin.