The familiar and obnoxious sound of an alarm clock woke Spencer from his rest. If he could even call it that, four hours after two days of no sleep wasn't much. As much as it sucks, he's used to it. It's for a good cause, saving people, he had to go a few nights without sleep so people could live and he was fine with that.

It wasn't so much the lack of sleep this morning however, as it was the throbbing pain behind his eyes. Great another migraine he thought to himself as he dragged his body to the bathroom. Ever since that case with the Palo mayombe he had woken up with a headache nearly three times a week. The numerous doctors all told him the same thing, 'he was fine.' But those words spoken constantly did nothing to quell the anxiety crawling at his skin. Brought forth by the subtle but constant reminder that his mother was schizophrenic and that he too could one day fall victim to the same disease.

He splashed cool water on his warm face and sighed at the momentary pain relief. But the feeling soon passed when he remembered he couldn't just stand there with his head under the faucet all day. He did in fact have to work.

Hoping it would be a slow day, he got changed into his usual black pants, a pink button down and a navy blue vest. His tightened his tie and slipped on his converse, grabbed his bag and headed out the door. He almost locked the door when he remembered he forgot his gun so he headed back in and retrieved it from the safe. Once it was secure he headed out the door and to work.

Work, where he spent the majority of his life. He hated to admit it but he didn't have much of a life outside of the BAU and the people in it. They were his true friends, Derek Morgan who would dance with any girl and every girl at the bar. Jennifer JJ Jareau who was mother to his beautiful godson and a mother like figure to the team. Emily prentiss who, despite faking her own death eventually leaving Reid to consider Dilauded again, had become one of Reid's closest friends. After she came back to life, of course. Penelope Garcia, a truly eccentric woman who brightened up the room even when discussing the most brutal murders. Rossi who was one of Reid's biggest idols and who mocked the unsubs every chance he could get. Finally that left Aaron Hotchner, the 'father' of the group, always trying to keep them out of trouble and sometimes succeeding.

He was greeted with these faces as he entered the bull pen. His first stop was coffee, as usual. Except today he really needed it because he hoped it would lessen the constant build up of pressure behind his eyes. He cleared his throat and found it was slightly painful to do so. He closed his eyes and prayed he wasn't getting sick, that never went well with a team of profilers.

He was finished making his coffee when JJ called them into the briefing room. He took his usual seat and placed his bag on the floor, sipping the coffee.

"What've we got?" Morgan asked from beside Reid.

"Well, it's a bad one. Local law enforcement wasn't even sure it was serial until the latest murders"

"Murders? As in plural?" Emily asked a frown forming on her face.

"Yes, four victims two couples, Mary and Lucas Holding, and Lila and Gary Feildson. Both couples were abducted around twelve hours before their estimated time of death. There were no signs of sexual assault, the males both had thirty seven stab wounds to the upper torso but the cause of death was overdose. The females were shot twice, once in the heart and once in the head" she pulled up the pictures of the bodies on the screen.

"That's different, these types of unsubs usually blitz the males in order to gain control of the females, there seems to be no evidence of a blitz attack" Rossi pointed out.

"The most likely explanation is that the unsub knew the victims in some way" Morgan explained.

"Ok we'll discuss this more on the jet. Wheels up in twenty." Hotch ordered and left the room. The rest followed leaving Reid alone, his hands moved to his head and he massaged his temples. Stifling a cough he stood up to leave, the room tilted dangerously before fighting itself. He took as deep a breath as he could before grabbing his bag and heading to the air strip.

Reid arrived just as the others did and they boarded the plane. Reid, of course, grabbing the couch. He was thankful that the lights were dim enough that they didn't agitate his headache.

They got to work discussing victimology, instructing Garcia, via video chat, to look into the connections between both couples. Businesses, personal lives even online stores they shopped at. Reid tuned most of it out, only speaking when absolutely necessary, his throat really started to ache.

"Hey pretty boy, you ok? You haven't given us a random statistic or fact yet" Morgan called from across the jet, forcing everyone's attention on the youngest member of the team.

"Um" he cleared his throat, "one habit of intelligent humans is being easily annoyed by people around them, but not saying anything in order to avoid a meaningless argument"

"Was that shade I'm hearing" Morgan gasped.

Reid just rolled his eyes and focused on the geographical profile until they landed in San Fran. A popular place for their travels apparently.

"Ok Morgan, Reid I wasn't you two to meet the medical examiner and find out what they know" hotch ordered and both nodded their heads, "Prentiss and Rossi you two will go to the crime scene, JJ talk to the families of the victims and I'll get started on the profile with the sheriff." They all nodded Their heads and got ready to leave.

The autopsy room was awfully bright and Reid was not happy about that. His headache had grown over the course of the flight, now it took most of his attention. He almost didn't hear Morgan call in his name.

"Sorry sorry, what did you say?" He said looking over at a concerned but annoyed Morgan.

"I said what do you think about the means of disposal?"

"Where were they found again?"

"Could you give us a minute please" Derek nodded towards the ME, who nodded and left. "What's up with you kid, were you listening to anything the examiner said?"

"Sorry I'm fine I just, where were they found?" He asked coughing halfway through the sentence.

"Are you sick Reid?" He asked walking over to stand in front of Reid.

"No I'm fine, I just have another headache" he lied, his chest had started hurting when they landed and he could feel fluid in his lungs. But he could still breathe so he could still work.

"That's what? Like three this week alone? And it's only Thursday" he figured out, eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, it's fine though. They're just not usually this bad" he coughed again, turning away from Morgan.

"Nope you're sick" he decided, reaching a hand out and placing it on his forehead. "Reid you're burning up"

"No I'm cold" he shuddered as if you prove his point and walked past Morgan to look at the first victim. "So he kills the women first, why?"

"Maybe so the men have nothing to fight for?"

"No I don't think that's it" Reid mumbled.

"Then what Reid, talk to me"

"He kills the women, but it's not blitz, it's methodical. He's able to shoot them in the heart then head, but why that?"

"Sorry to interrupt but I have some other information that might be useful" the ME announced walking back in. "Both females had traces of bandage around the chest wound, almost as though the bleeding had been stopped"

"That makes sense now, he's shooting the women in the chest, healing them in order to keep them alive long enough for them to witness the husbands torture and slow death. Before he kills them and dumps them"

"But why, what is it that makes this guy tick?"

"That's what we have to figure out, thank you" Reid nodded to the ME, leaving the room and stepping into the dimmer hallway sighing in relief. He waited for Morgan to leave and they walked it the car together.

"If he has access to ketamine he probably has access to animals, isn't it used as a tranquilizer for them?"

"Yeah and it's completely safe to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems until a dose much higher than that needed for anesthesia is used"

"So he puts them to sleep, cuts them and waits for the ketamine to kill them completely?"

"I don't think the ketamine is a means of finalizing death, I think it's a form of control. If the unsub is able to slip the male ketamine either in a drink of dish then he would have total control. It can be used as an abused party drug sometimes, causing a dissociative state. They might not need to be a vet they could just know the right people"

"Great, so it could be anyone"

"It could always be anyone, especially those we don't suspect" Reid sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"You sure you don't need to take time off?"

"I'll be fine, let's just tell the team the news"