The person returns before Spencer has been able to block out his pain. "Ready everyone?" The person asks. Spencer closes his eyes and fights to stay awake.
Spencer is once again strapped down. He's positioned like he's on a cross. "Hello team. I've got Spencer prepped here. He seems to be asleep, though." Spencer opens his eyes for a moment before needing to close them again. A sharp slap to one of his wounded legs has him mewling in pain and sitting up.
Spencer is pushed back down. He doesn't try to move. He lies limp and tries to control his breathing. His battered body throbs in alignment to his steady heartbeat. "Do you know who I am yet?" Spencer can barely make out the words of the question. "I do," he answers softly. "Do you know why?" Spencer doesn't answer. He has no idea why.
"You've always been a burden to me. You've always needed more help or more attention or more love. It's always all about you. And this? This is torture for them. Their instincts say to protect you, but they can't. "
"If your hate is for me, why hurt them?" Reid asks. "Because it is the best way to hurt you." Spencer can't argue anymore.
He tries to relax his aching body. "The next round is about to begin. Are you ready?" The curtain falls and Spencer closes his eyes. "Doctor Reid, have you done any body modification?" The person asks. Spencer shakes his head. "This will be fun," the person says with a hint of sadism. The person turns to the glass with a smile visible under the mask. "Hello team. Ready for another case?" Spencer doesn't move. "Today is going to be more difficult. There aren't many of you left." The team frowns. "I am giving you an hour. Figure out who I am. Spencer already has. If you get it wrong Spencer will pay in a very creative way."
After half of their hour has gone by the team is still frantically going over the few clues they have. This person knows a lot of criminology. This person knows all of them and has a personal vendetta against the youngest member of their team. "I think it's time for a little punishment," the person says. They clamp Spencer's nose and he opens his mouth in panic. The person grabs his tongue and plunges a needle into it. Spencer cries out and blood runs down his chin.
Hotch doesn't look away. Derek and Rossi do. "I can't think of anyone that hates Spencer specifically," Rossi says. Derek feels sick. Spencer is shivering. "Ah canth... ah cans," Spencer groans. The person turns the microphone on so that the team can hear him. "Pleath... pleath," they hear Spencer beg. "Oh God, Spencie. It turns me on so to hear you beg. I wonder if the team enjoys it as well."
Spencer leans his head back in pain. "Spencer, your body was made for art. I'm sure of it." They're given fifteen more minutes before the timer goes off. "My dears. You may take one single guess. This is very important. Collaborate and answer me." Rossi answers with Spencer's father's name. There is laughing. "Not even close. Wrong, wrong, wrong." The person grabs Spencer by the hair and carves into the flesh of his neck. "They're useless without you, Spencer. Your whole team is useless," the person says. He has carved into Spencer's neck the word "worthless". Spencer is whimpering and trying to curl up without moving his neck.
The person walks out of the room and returns shortly with a gallon of water and a funnel. The needle is pulled from Spencer's tongue. He flutters back into conciousness. "Spencer, they think I'm your father." Spencer feels dizzy and disoriented. The person shoves the funnel into Spencer's mouth and clamps his nose shut again. They open the gallon of water and dump it into the funnel. Spencer chokes almost immediately. He gurgles and coughs but the water keeps filling him. He thrashes his head and attempts to continue swallowing. The cuts on his neck are covering him with blood.
He's coughing for air when the torture ends. "Have sweet dreams, doctor." The person says. Spencer's body feels completely spent. Nothing is left that doesn't ache, and yet, the constant hum and throb leaves his body almost numb.
He closes his eyes, no longer embarrassed of what his team may see. They've seen the worst of it already and he is out of caring.
Hotch and Morgan are left feeling ill. "He needs food and a blanket," Rossi yells out. "Are you willing to pay for it?" The person asks. Again, they all agree. "If one of you will be willing to personally hurt Spencer I will give him a feeding tube and a blanket."
"What exactly would you have us do?" Hotch asks. The person chuckles. "I will only tell you after you agree, but to be nice, I will let you choose who does it after you know what it is." This is the hardest and yet the easiest decision to make. "He needs food. He needs warmth," Derek says. "He'll go into shock," Hotch voices with agreement. "Great! Oh, you guys do not disappoint! I want his hair chopped off and I want his fingerprints scraped off. Which of you accepts?"
Hotch, Morgan and Rossi exchange looks of despair. "Morgan, I can do it," Hotch tells him. Morgan shakes his head. "I need to see him," he says. Morgan rises and the person opens the door to pull him out. Spencer's body is even more frightening up close. Morgan presses a kiss to Spencer's forehead before accepting a pair of scissors.
He tenderly cuts his lover's boy band lock short. "Would you prefer to cut them or burn them?" Morgan kisses Spencer's fingertips. "Burn," he says. He's handed a lighter and a spoon. "Most fitting for a junkie, right?"
Morgan heats the spoon and holds it to each of Spencer's fingers. He doesn't wake at all. Tears are running down Morgan's face when he finishes. He pulls Spencer close and kisses him again. "I love you Spence. I love you so much."
He's tossed back into their room. They watch with careful eyes as the person inserts tubing into their friend. Then a blanket is pulled over him and the curtains are closed. The lights in their room go out and they all huddle on the ground together. "I think the unsub is a woman," Derek whispers. "Up close... her figure gives her away. Whoever she is... She knows that Spencer used to be an addict." Hotch frowns. Very few people know about that.
"It isn't anyone on our team," Morgan growls as though he can hear Hotch's thoughts. "Not our team... But someone within our system," Rossi says. Morgan goes still. "You don't mean... Her? Why would she do this to him? She knows better than anyone how useful he is... And how likely it is that she will be caught!" Hotch shakes his head "She could be angry over a past squabble... It may be something more simple." Rossi looks towards the window of the room in which Spencer resides. "Jealousy. Strauss is jealous."