A.N. Like many others, I've been missing the gentle genius during this current season. It turns out his teammates have as well. Could this be why? With a nod to my all-time favorite author.

P.S. As with my story The Test, the science isn't there yet. But one day….

The Imposter

Morgan was still using an office, but was a frequent visitor to the bullpen. This afternoon, he was leaning on Emily's desk.

"Emily, have you noticed anything strange lately…about Reid?"

"You mean stranger than usual?"

Morgan snorted. "Yeah. Something just seems a little bit off to me. He barely talks to me anymore. Did I do something?"

"You know, now that you mention it, he barely talks to me either. I know I did something, hiding from all of you-but I'd thought he'd forgiven me for that. I don't know, maybe it's not something either of us did. Maybe something's actually wrong with him."

They shared a look, thinking of the headaches he'd confessed to both of them. "He hasn't said a word about the headaches in months. I'd thought they were gone-maybe they're not gone at all," fretted Emily.

JJ came from upstairs. "Hotch wants us at the round table in 10 minutes. There's a case in New Mexico that sounds pretty complicated." She looked more closely at the two of them. "Is something wrong?"

Morgan answered. "That's what we were wondering. Have you noticed anything 'off' about Reid lately? He's not talking to either of us very much, but we thought he might have told you something."

JJ put her folders down. "You know, I have thought Spence was different, for months now. I just thought it was me. He was so angry with me when Emily came back," and at Emily's guilty expression, JJ patted her arm to reassure her, "but we were getting past that….I thought. Still, I feel like he's hardly been around at all. And, when he is, I don't get that same vibe that I used to. It's almost like he's not really there anymore. He just doesn't seem like the same Spence."

Emily wondered. "Do you think maybe Hotch knows something?"

"If he does, he'll never share it, Princess. I've tried to get Reid to talk to me. Every time I do, there's a distraction, and when I turn around, he's gone. It is just weird," he said, shaking his head.

"Do you think Garcia might know something? Spence told her about his mother long before he told any of us-even me. Maybe he's talking to her. I'll ask her about it when we get a break," offered JJ.

Just then Hotch summoned them all to the conference room. Reid was already at the table, a stack of files in front of him.

"Hey, Pretty Boy, why weren't you working at your desk?"

Reid looked puzzled but made a joke of it. "I was. Maybe you just didn't notice me. Maybe I was just invisible."

Hotch entered. "Let's get started, everyone. Garcia?"

At Hotch's nod, Garcia hit the remote. "What we have here, boys and girls, is the case of the missing megamind. One week ago, a physicist from Los Alamos was found dead in his car. The word "tesseract" was written on his windshield…from the inside. As you can see from the photo, it was written so that someone approaching the car from the outside could read it. There was an autopsy, which showed absolutely nothing. Toxicology is still pending. Local law enforcement thought it might be a suicide, until a second scientist failed to show up for work two days ago. They're worried they have a serial on their hands. Given the nature of the work, they're also worried the unsub may have something bigger planned."

"Okay, I'll bite, "said Rossi. "What's a tesseract?"

All six of the others automatically turned to Reid, expecting an encyclopedic explanation. He merely looked down at his hands and said nothing. Morgan, Emily and JJ all exchanged looks.

Garcia caught the looks and shared one of her own. She'd looked it up, just in case, but had fully expected Reid to answer. "A tesseract is a wrinkle in time….just like the kids' book."

"Perfectly clear," Rossi responded sarcastically. "And what, exactly, is a wrinkle in time?"

Again all six of them looked at Reid. Again he said nothing.

Hotch broke the silence with an impatient "Reid? Can you help us out here?"

Reid looked around the table and then, without making any further eye contact, began. "A tesseract, or a wrinkle in time, is a concept, related to quantum physics. Think of linear time as a line starting at point A and going to point B. If you want to get from point A to point B faster, you fold the line in half-or 'wrinkle' it. Then you get from point A to point B almost instantaneously." He went on. "In quantum physics, the idea is that particles keep jumping from one point to another so rapidly that they can go backward and forward in time."

For a moment, they all breathed a little more easily. They hadn't understood a word, but at least this was the Reid they knew…sort of. Now they just needed to keep him here.

"Do we know what they were working on? Did they work together?" Morgan began the discussion.

"They were both involved in something "that cannot be disclosed" (making finger quotes)," said Garcia.

"Not even to us?" Morgan was incredulous.

"Welcome to government work, son." Rossi had been here before.

Emily asked, "Well, do we at least know if it had something to do with a tesseract?"

"Since that cat is out of the proverbial bag, they are willing to give us that much," acknowledged Garcia. "And they will tell us that it was something that was happening exclusively at Los Alamos. But they're not confirming that the incidents had anything to do with their work."

"Did the scientists have any connections outside of work?" from Hotch.

"Well, Los Alamos is the largest employer in the area. Most people who live in and around Los Alamos work there. So they could easily have had connections through social circles as well. That's where it seems like they'd prefer we look."

"Garcia, who, exactly, are "they"?" asked JJ.

"A combination of suits from the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security,"

"All right. This is crazy, but we'll go with what we've got." Morgan was annoyed. "What exactly do we know about Los Alamos?"

Again, they all turned to Reid. Again, nothing.

Hotch tapped him on the shoulder. "I need a word with you outside." Reid followed him out, virtually expressionless.

Hotch was simultaneously concerned and frustrated. "Reid, I need your head in this. What is going on?"

"Nothing."

Reid squirmed a little under the stern Hotch stare. Looking down, he offered, "I don't know what it is. I just haven't felt right lately…..not really lately, more like for months. It's hard to describe, but I feel like I'm separate somehow, like I'm not really here. I mean, I see the rest of the team, and they're all carrying on as they do normally, and I want to help, but I keep feeling something holding me back. I can't explain it."

Hotch realized he had a problem on his hands, but had no time to deal with it. "We'll talk about this when the case if over. Right now, I need the Reid I know to do what he does best. "

"I'll do it the best I can, Hotch."

When they reentered the room, the others avoided eye contact with Reid, as though he'd been taken to the woodshed. Hotch nodded at him to begin.

"Los Alamos was once known as Project Y, and is now officially called the Los Alamos National Laboratory. It's where much of the country's work on nuclear weapons has been done, but there are also projects relating to other areas of physics as well. Like the tesseract."

"Is a tesseract something that can be used as a weapon? Could this be related to terrorism?" asked JJ.

"Or international arms trading?" added Emily.

Reid looked like it was taking a huge effort, but he did respond. "Either is unlikely. I think the tesseract is pretty far from actual use. Although," he mused, almost to himself, "I haven't kept up with it since I got my doctorate in engineering. It's been a while. I guess things could have changed."

Hotch got them moving. "People, I think we'll be better off when we're on the ground there. There's too little information being shared right now. Maybe we can persuade them otherwise in person. Wheels up in 20."

The team dispersed. Morgan meant to say something to Reid, but he seemed to have disappeared.