Spencer knew what had to be done, but felt saddened that it had come to this point.
He had kept his powers a secret. He hated knowing that he was so different, but he had to do it. He silently prayed for forgiveness.
He pictured Hankel being pushed back a few feet.
The muscle, unused for so long, still worked, but would have to be toned again. He grunted, then slowly imagined a bubble, wrapped around his body like a catsuit. Slowly, he pushed it away from him. The strain on his body was harsh, but it was worth it. He had to survive.
He murmured to himself, trying to concentrate.
"Eleka nahmen nahmen ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen... Eleka nahmen nahmen ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen..."
"You devil spawn." Charles spat.
Spencer's eyes snapped open.
NO. No more.
"Get away!" He shrieked. Hankel was pushed back three feet, shocked. Unbeknownst to him, the entire team was watching.
"What just happened?" Asked Prentiss.
"I think Reid just had a moment right out of Carrie." Morgan commented.
"With his IQ I can't say I'm surprised." Murmured Hotch.
"Now all we have to do is find him." Said Garcia.
Hours passed, but Spencer maintained the thin shield, much to Tobias' chagrin. His heart was racing like never before, but he had to keep it up. He relaxed his body as much as possible, then imagined the ropes binding him to the chair dropping to the ground.
To his surprise it worked.
He was quick to disarm Hankel before running to the computer and sending Garcia an email so that she could find him.
He kept the shield up, just in case Hankel was faking a head injury.
When the team arrived, he let the shield down, but his heart ran into overdrive. He collapsed to the ground and took gasping breaths. People were talking around him. People he knew. But he couldn't focus. His heart was pounding so hard that he wondered how he was still alive. The feeling of an elephant sitting on his chest refused to leave him be. He started coughing and moved so that he was on his hands and knees. He was afraid of throwing up, and his hand flew to his mouth. He wiped away what he thought was spittle, but caught a flash of color and stopped to look at it.
It was blood.
His eyes widened with horror. He was still gasping for air, but he choked on it the way people choke on water that they swallowed down the wrong pipe. He started shaking as black terror rose up in his mind. Things in the room started toppling over, but he didn't notice. Voices around him grew louder and louder, but he didn't move his eyes from the blood that was beginning to dry on his hand. He wanted to scream or cry or find something to express the whirlwind of emotions that were consuming him. His heart rate was still high, but not as dangerously high as it was before. Slowly, he got to his feet, still shaking. He looked back toward the camera that had been taping him and pictured it being flung across the room. It did as he wished. There was a tiny bit of glass on the floor. His upper body swayed precariously as he tried to get steady on his feet.
A hand set on his shoulder. He was a hair shy of flinging the owner across the room when he recognized the face of agent Derek Morgan.
"Reid, are you alright?" The words were serious. He nodded, not wanting to talk. "We're going to take you to the paramedics, okay?" He shook his head no. He didn't want to be analyzed like some medical experiment. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"It's not safe." When Morgan reached out to him, he backed away. "I know you mean well, but leave me be. Just stay away and you'll be safe from me." He turned his back to them, ashamed. Momma had told him from the time he had first used his talent that it must be concealed, or he would be ostracized. As a genius and prodigy, he had experienced it enough to know that he didn't need to give people another reason to make fun of him. However, he had used it a few times. To get himself down from the goal post when he had been tied up there by the popular kids. To trip the jock who picked on him every day. To do chores while Momma was hallucinating. Now, standing there after revealing himself so nakedly, he could feel his cheeks redden as they all stared at him.
Things started coming towards him, swirling around him, as if he had his own gravitational pull. They started spinning faster and faster, like a tornado around him, responding to his inner panic. He fell to his knees, head throbbing with pain. He gripped the sides of his head in anguish.
"Leave... Now!" He gritted through his teeth. The sheer panic growing within him was evident by the look of growing terror on his face. "You're not safe here!"
Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.
He gasped, and his head shot up so that he was staring at the ceiling. The dim lightbulb above them shattered.
Slowly, he was lifted into the air as the vortex continued it's tornado-like spin. It was getting out of hand. He felt his control slipping away. The fear would prove to be his undoing. He screeched. His body twisted and contorted in ways he didn't think anyone who wasn't a professional gymnast or yoga guru could do. Then, consciousness became inconsistent. It wavered in and out, and the vortex weakened significantly. His energy gone, he was getting closer to the ground.
Finally, consciousness was obliterated completely, and he collapsed onto the dirt floor, the tornado dissipated and everything in the air came crashing down, though strangely not on Spencer himself. Perhaps the shield was still operating subconsciously. After making sure nothing else would fall, Hotch and Morgan carried their friend into the ambulance.
It took them twenty minutes to get to the hospital. Twenty minutes of pure uncertainty for their entire team as they tailed the ambulance. The cops had already come to pick up Hankel. Spencer was rushed into the ER. The BAU sat in the waiting room, waiting for news about their friend. Morgan called Garcia, who made him promise to call the second they heard any news about Spencer's health.
Two hours passed before there was any word on his condition. When the doctor came back, they were on edge.
"Spencer Reid?" they all stood up. Hotch stepped forward.
"I'm Agent Hotchner, Doctor Reid's superior."
"I'm Doctor Roberts. Do you have any idea of what caused the trauma he went through?"
"No sir." He lied.
"Whatever it was, it put a serious strain on his body. He came very close to having a heart attack. He clearly has a very severe case of tachycardia, but the worst of his symptoms have cleared themselves. He'll be perfectly fine in a few hours. He just needs some rest. You can come and see him if you'd like." They nodded and went to see their coworker and close friend.
What they saw was sobering.
Spencer lay hooked up to tubes and wires, face pale and almost translucent. It was terrifying. JJ called Garcia while the rest of them gathered at their bedside. He had been given a private room. Even in unconsciousness his expression was troubled.
They all agreed to watch in one hour shifts. Hotch took the first watch, and then Morgan would go, then JJ, Gideon, and finally Prentiss. Those not on guard could get some well-deserved rest. It was going to be a long night.
Time passed all too slowly. It wasn't until six the next morning that Spencer opened his eyes. He blinked, looking around sleepily. He groaned as his head throbbed with pain. What had happened to him? He wasn't really sure. Then he saw the tubes and wires sticking out of him. The memories came crashing over him. Oh. Oh.
A hand touched him, and he flung his arms in front of his face in a feeble attempt to protect himself. He was so used to being laughed at and made a spectacle of that he forgot that these were his friends. He expected the doctors to come in and do tests on him, as if he were some sort of lab rat. When he glanced over and saw that it was just Morgan, he relaxed. His panicked breathing slowed until it was steady again. The color returned to his skin until he looked normal, aside from the tubes and wires, that is.
"How are you feeling, pretty boy?"
"Fine, I guess."
"You sure about that?"
"Not really..." He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach. He couldn't make himself manage a smile. He had seen the sanitarium treat his mother like a hamster- imprisoning her in a glass cage and constantly being watched. He honestly expected that type of treatment now.
Derek was quiet a moment as he gathered his thoughts. His friend was clearly in a bad place right now. What could he do to make him more comfortable? Could he even do anything?
"Do you want to tell me what's really going on here?" The words were out before he thought them through. Spencer flinched, then sighed.
"What do you want to know?"
"How long has this been going on?"
Spencer looked away. "Ever since I can remember."
"How did you even find out that you could do this?"
"It's just something I've always been able to do. My Mom told me that I shouldn't use it... That it would just make me more of an outsider. That someone would find out about it and take me somewhere to be dissected like a frog or put in some cage... So I stopped. I still used it when my Mom wasn't around, so I never lost the ability completely. And when put in a life threatening situation, adrenaline often enhances strength- including that of the mind. So I was able to protect myself." He shrugged. "It's just science, really."
Morgan chuckled, but he could tell something was bothering his friend.
"What's bothering you?"
Spencer sighed. "I don't want to be looked at like a freak. I've lived that life, and I don't want to do it again."
"And you really think we're going to turn on you just like that?" It wasn't offended as much as surprised.
"Maybe... I don't know. It's what I've always expected to happen when someone found out."
"Maybe you need to change your expectations."
Spencer looked at him, confused.
"Man, we know who you are as a person. We aren't going to let one thing change the way we see you. It's a part of who you are, and we can accept that as long as you do."
Spencer grinned. "Thanks. I really needed to hear that."
"Any time, man. Anytime."
From then on, the team was much closer now that Spencer's secret and worst fear had been expunged. And Spencer himself felt so much more accepted than he had ever anticipated. He had a great family, and he had great friends. And for him, that was enough. He was finally able to be completely himself, and that made him happier than ever before.