A/N: This chapter has a little bit of twin weirdness that is necessary for later chapters. It will relate to Spencer's drug use and it's affect on Mercy. Sorry if it's a bit too out there for some people. P.S. I also know a set of twins this actually happens to.
***3rd Person POV***
Spencer looked worriedly down at his sister as she fell into a deep sleep. She was very pale, covered in bandages, and had IV tubes coming from her arm. She was also receiving a transfusion. "What type of blood are you giving her?" He asked the doctor.
"Since we didn't know her blood type we're giving her O negative." The doctor said. "Do you know her blood type?"
"We're AB negative." Spencer replied.
"That's a pretty rare blood type, isn't it?" Hotchner piped up from the other side of the hospital bed. Spencer looked up at him with a confused expression.
"Why are you still here?" Spencer asked. Gideon had already wandered off. Hotch held up his hand, Mercy's hand was still tightly wrapped around it. Spencer shook his head. "Hope you don't need to go somewhere any time soon." Hotch smiled fondly.
"I thought so." Hotch said. Spencer turned back to the doctor.
"I can give blood if she needs more." He told her. The doctor nodded and he sunk into the chair by the bed.
"That would probably be best. A relative's blood is always preferred." She said. Then she looked at Hotch. "I have no objections to you staying, if you let her rest. But the decision is ultimately Spencer's." She turned back to Spencer. "I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on your sister." With that she turned and left. Hotch pulled the chair from by the foot of the bed over so he could sit.
The men fell into a comfortable silence, both worriedly watching the unconscious girl on the bed between them. A while later Spencer broke the silence. "I've never seen her sleep so deeply before." He said.
"Her body needs the rest in order to heal." Hotch said. "She's been through more than most people can handle." Spencer nodded and they lapsed into silence again. Then Hotch thought of something. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead." Spencer said.
"Where are your parents?" Hotch asked. "You're both only seventeen and your sister nearly died tonight. Most parents would be here." Spencer sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Our father left seven years ago and we haven't seen or heard from him since. Besides, I highly doubt he'd care even if I was able to contact him." Spencer said. "He and Mercy always hated each other."
"Why's that?" Hotch asked.
"Besides from having an IQ of 197, Mercy has a brain condition called Synesthesia." Spencer said. "The sensory part of her brain is enlarged. The symptoms include heightened senses and a sort of crossing of senses. She sees colors when she hears sounds, different pitches are different colors. She says everyone's voice is a different color."
"Wow." Hotch said.
"Yeah, he wanted to fix her. Needless to say, that didn't go over well with us or our mom." Spencer said. "Even the doctor that diagnosed Mercy was pretty pissed at him."
"And your mother?" Hotch asked.
"Huh?" Spencer asked. "What about our mother?"
"Where is she?" Hotch asked.
"Oh, she's in Nevada." Spencer said. "She's not well and she hates planes, but she'd come out here for Mercy. I, uh, haven't told her yet." He smiled sheepishly.
"If she's not well that's probably best." Hotch said.
"Yeah, Mercy would probably be more concerned about Mom than herself." Spencer said. "Knowing her, she already more concerned about how this is affecting me than her own injuries. That's just who she is." A young nurse popped her head in.
"I need to check Miss Reid's vitals." She said.
"It's Doctor." Hotch and Spencer corrected at the same time. The nurse looked at the chart in her hand and frowned.
"Her chart says she's seventeen." She said sounding confused.
"She is and she also has an IQ of 197." Hotch said angrily. "Do your job and go." The nurse scurried to check Mercy's vitals, scribbled them down on the chart, and scurried back out.
Spencer raised an eyebrow at Hotch, but said nothing. Hotch caught the look. "Sorry, that was unprofessional of me." Hotch said.
"No, you're fine." Spencer said and pushed up his sleeves. There were bruises on his arms in the same places the cuts on Mercy's arms were.
"What the�" Hotch asked
"Crap." Spencer said and pulled his sleeves back down quickly.
"Those are in the-" Hotch started.
"Yeah, that happens sometimes." Spencer cut him off. "We've kind of kept it a secret."
"I understand." Hotch said and left it alone from there. The fell silent again.
"Do you have any idea who did this to her?" Spencer asked after awhile.
"Yes. A serial killer who calls himself the Reaper." Hotch said. "He normally calls 911 after he kills the victims, but Mercy managed to call right before she was attacked. She's the first to survive."
"Serial killers almost always have a distinct pattern or ritual." Spencer said. "Mercy disrupted his, he won't like it." Hotch raised an eyebrow.
"You take Behavioral and Social Neuroscience too?" Hotch asked.
"No, I'm currently working on a PhD in Psychology. Mercy is as well." Spencer said. "The only PhD we both currently have in common is Engineering. I have a PhD in Mathematics. Mercy hates math, it's one of the few things she's not good at. Well, it's not so much that she's bad at it but that she never paid attention long enough to get good at it. She says it's boring." Hotch smiled listening to the kid babble.
"You do that a lot, don't you?" Hotch asked.
"Huh?" Spencer asked and Hotch grinned.
"Never mind." He said. Mercy's eyes started fluttering again.
