This story somewhat ignored the season finale of Criminal Minds, sorry! But I couldn't work with that. So things have continued as normal. Forgive any errors, I've been out of the fanfiction game for quite a while.

You may notice in later chapters that some text is replaced with boxes indicitave of broken unicode. This would be because your computer is not set up to support Japanese characters. Ask and I can explain how to fix it; otherwise, Google is your friend.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or the Liar Game.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Reid, but there is nothing we can do in this case."

Spencer knew that arguing would get him nowhere. He thanked the collector for her time, and hung up. He sighed deeply and rested his head on his palms. He stared at the desk between his fingers, cluttered with a pile of credit card bills and loan payment notices worth nearly a half a million dollars, all in his mother's name.

He had just gotten off the phone with the fourth company that day, trying to clear the sudden, overwhelming influx of debt his mother had mysteriously acquired. Quite obviously, none of it was hers, but the bills were in her name, nonetheless.

Spencer has seen his share of identify theft cases, but none had quite hit like this one. His own mother! And he was the one footing her bills, since she was in the hospital. Even on the BAU's salary, it was an exorbitant amount of money. And the credit card companies could do nothing!

He began to list ways of seeking legal help with the issue. His laptop was unburied and opened. He swat a few more stray papers away as he began to do some Internet research on the subject. There had to be a way out, he just didn't know where it was quite yet.

--

"Mr. Reid, I understand you are in a rather particular situation."

Spencer looked up from his laptop. The pretty young waitress has a somewhat unsettling smile on her face as she poured his coffee. "You need money, and fast, don't you?"

"It's a personal matter," Reid protested. Her smile didn't change.

"I know where you can earn money, tax free and under the table. A lot of it. A million dollars worth, if you need."

Spencer straightened up. It didn't sound legal.

"Once you agree to the contract, it's perfectly legal," the woman said, as if reading his mind. "Nobody gets hurt, and you simply come out a little bit richer or poorer than you first were. What have you got to lose?"

"What are you talking about?" Spencer asked with a frown. The woman pulled a glossy black envelope out of her apron. She handed it to Spencer.

"If you're interested, watch the DVD. It explains everything." Spencer looked down at the envelope. It was sealed with wax, and had white lettering in the bottom corner: LGT Secretariat. He flipped it over. The front had white embossing; "Dr. Spencer Reid"

He looked up, eyes wide, but the waitress was gone. He waited for almost an hour for her to return, but she didn't. Finally, he stood up, threw some bills down for his coffee, and left.

Once home, he opened the letter. The enclosed card was equally glossy, embellished with white designs and lettering. It outlined a game that Spencer immediately dismissed as absurd, disgusting, and definitely illegal, no matter what the "contract" says.

After deciding against participating, he glanced at the Mini-DVD attached. It was useless, he thought. He put the envelope back together and filed it in a drawer.

It still left the problem of how the waitress knew him, what his troubles were, and had an invitation to this game just waiting on hand for him.

He didn't sleep well that night.

--

"You don't look too well," JJ was the first to express concern for their youngest teammate. She was showing a few months pregnant, but had not shown any signs of quitting. Despite that, her mothering had increased a hundredfold. She lay a hand on Spencer's forehead.

"I didn't sleep well last night," Spencer admitted. "There was... there have been some problems with my mother's finances," he said, only withholding half the information. "I've been concerning myself with that."

"Do you need a lawyer?" Emily Prentiss asked, furrowing her brow.

Spencer looked at her. "I might. I think she's a victim of identity theft," he said. "I have at least a dozen credit card bills at home that she could never have signed up for."

"I know someone," Emily said, "I could get you his number."

"I appreciate it," Spencer said. Emily nodded and went to go look up her friend, while Aaron arrived and set everyone to work.

--

Spencer opened the door and frowned. There was a rather large pile of envelopes in front of the mail slot. He picked them up. More bills?

His frown deepened. More bills.

His eyes darted towards the file cabinet with the black envelope hidden deep inside. He pushed the thought out of his mind, and began going through the bills. He had the number for Emily's lawyer, and resolved to call the next morning.

He slept only slightly better.

--

Spencer woke up early, intending to get coffee on the way to work. He dressed, gathered everything he needed, and took his keys off his key rack. He opened the front door and stopped.

At his feet was a small, black paper covered box. On top, a small note on glossy black card stock: "Do not open unless you intend to play the Liar Game."

Spencer's eyebrows furrowed as he examined the box. After a moment, he dragged it into his front hall.

His mind was spinning. He was confidant that he could beat this game, if he joined. But it would involve the theft of a million dollars, something that went against everything his was.

But the money wasn't even theirs. It belonged to the game.

Even so, it had to be returned to the.. Secretariat? at the end of the game, whether you had acquired the money from your opponent or not. If he lost...

He would be in further debt... One million dollars further into debt.

He had no doubt that he could win, unless his opponent was specially selected to be able to match his mind.

For almost an hour, he stood in front of the box, staring at it—through it—debating and arguing every pro and con to the game. One million dollars would cover the debt his mother's identity had accumulated, albeit with little to spare... But it could also break Spencer entirely if he lost.

If he won, someone else, somewhere else, would be one million dollars in debt. Should he be responsible for that?

They knew what they were getting in to. They agreed to the game, didn't they? They knew the risks just as he did.

Spencer's cell phone rang. He jumped, startled. He fumbled in his pockets for it.

"Reid," he spoke into the mouthpeice.

"Reid, where are you? You're a half an hour late. Is everything okay?" Aaron Hotchner's voice came through the receiver. Spencer breathed a sigh of relief.

"Everthing's fine," he said. "I'm just running a little late. I'll be in shortly," he said, stepping over the box and closing his door behind himself.

--

Returning home that night was a sharp jolt of reality. There were even more bills just inside his mail slot, fallen on top of the simple black box. He picked it up, ignoring the bills, and dropped it on his coffee table. It was heavy. The package was about 5 inches deep, by 12 inches wide and 25 inches long. He opened the box. Inside were 10,000-dollar bricks of crisp 50-dollar bills.

He took a shaky breath. He was officially agreeing to this game. He was going to do this.

He was going to participate in The Liar Game.