Brother's Keeper Chapter 6: Lost Souls, a criminal minds fanfic

A/N: That's right, folks, I'm back! (grins)

BUT, first of course… THANK YOU for all those absolutely amazing reviews! (GLOMPS) You guys do wonders to my self-confidence, ya know? (grins, and hugs again) Thank you!

Awkay, because I'm seriously running out of time and I bet you'd appreciate getting to the actual story, let's go, shall we? (gulps) I REALLY hope you'll enjoy the ride!

SONG RECOMMENDATION: Seriously, you should listen to Lene Marlin's 'Unforgivable sinner', or at least read the lyrics! It fits this story so well. I put the lyrics underneath this chapter. Do take a look!

CHAPTER 6 – Lost Souls

/ Madison wasn't the kind of a girl who cried often. But that late evening she had tears in her eyes as she sat in the upper part of the barn that used to be a place for her and Spencer, not even noticing the darkness around her. The words he'd said to her that day echoed in her ears.

'I don't want to be your friend, Madison. So… So leave me alone already.'

She couldn't understand it, any of it. She'd thought they'd be best friends for as long as they lived, that he enjoyed her company. Had he lied to her?

No. Now that she was starting to calm down she understood that she couldn't believe in Spencer that little. But… Then why…?

She shuddered a little when the barn's door opened with a screech and someone started climbing up the ladder to her hiding place. She wiped her cheeks quickly, a hint of a smile appearing to her lips. Maybe Spencer had changed his mind, after all.

Her happiness was, however, short-lived. Because soon enough she realized that the steps approaching were too sharp and heavy to be Spencer's. She frowned and peered from where she was sitting behind one of the building's support pillars. Her entire body filled with cold when she saw Vincent approaching her, carrying a oil lamp.

The look in the boy's eyes scared her, although she was a bit too young to understand why. "I thought you'd be here", Vincent stated, stopping only two steps away from her. "I came to make sure you're alright."

"I'm fine." Her voice was filled with fear she couldn't hide. She licked her lips, wishing she would've been able to back away from him. "You… You didn't have to come."

Vincent frowned. "Why are you scared of me? I've never done anything to hurt you."

Her eyes darted towards the empty space behind the older boy, but all she could see was the dark. "Where's Spencer?" There was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She would've wanted to escape from the situation, but the boy was blocking the only route out.

"You'll play with me, now." It was a harsh demand, and Vincent's eyes only emphasized the point. The boy grabbed her wrist and pulled her up so harshly that she emitted a cry of pain. "You'll play with me, and we'll have a good time together."

Madison still didn't quite know why, but she was scared. More so than ever in her life. "You're hurting me", she half-whimpered, unsuccesfully attempting to pull herself free from the boy's hold. "Let me go, Vincent. Please. I just… I want to go home."

Vincent's moves were so fast that she couldn't actually tell what happened. There was sharp pain on the right side of her face, and then she was flying. Madison fell all the way down to the barn's first floor and crashed to the extremely hard stone-floor what felt like miles below. She cried out in pain when she landed, almost losing her consciousness when the leg she landed on unleashed a sickening sound and pain ravished her entire body. There was no way she'd be able to walk now, she was old enough to know that much.

The pain mixed with cold when she watched how Vincent approached her, the look on his face making her feel colder than ever before. "All I wanted was to play with you. I've seen the way Spencer looks at you – I wanted to feel the same way. But apparently you think you're too good for me. Then so be it." The boy raised the oil lamp and dropped it only four steps away from her. "I'm sick of people like you, Madison." With those words Vincent began to walk away, abandoning her to the fast approaching flames.

Terror made Madison's eyes widen when she finally realized what was going to happen. "Vincent, please, don't do this! Vincent, help me, please! Help me!"

The boy did stop to the barn's doorway, looked at her right into the eyes – and slammed the door closed between them. The sound that soon followed told her that the door had just been bolted. There was no chance of escape for her.

Her heart pounding painfully Madison looked towards the flames, heard the crackling of fire through the rush of her blood. The barn was full of old hay. Soon the flames would be everywhere.

It was around then she realized what was about to happen. It was absolutely horrifying for a ten-year-old to realize that she was going to die.

And at that moment of despair – in her last minutes – she screamed the only name she could think of. "SPENCER!"

Less than three minutes later Spencer hurried to the scene, limping with the ankle he'd hurt while escaping from the bathroom. The heart-stilling sight he discovered would never, ever leave his worst nightmares.

The barn where he'd been with Madison so many times… It was on fire – the flames seemed to be everywhere. And Vincent stood a safe distance away, observing the destruction with utterly emotionless eyes.

And then he heard the screams. "Spencer, help me! SPENCER!"

For a long while the terror racing through him stilled Spencer's heart. And then, finally regaining control over his own body, he ran – until Vincent stopped him with wrapping two stone-hard arms around him.

"What are you doing?" he screamed, struggling against the hold the best as he could. "Maddy… Maddy's going to die! We have to help her! We can't let her die!"

"SPENCER!"

Vincent looked at him with dangerous, narrowed eyes. The hold on him became so tight that he could barely breathe. "Shut the fuck up", the boy hissed at him.

"SPENCER! Help me!"

Spencer fought with everything there was in him, but Vincent was older and a lot stronger. His efforts were fruitless. Tears ran down his cheeks and blinded him while he could do nothing but listen to Madison's terrified, pained voice screaming his name time and time again.

And then, so suddenly that Spencer unleashed a weak whimper, she became quiet. The only sounds filling the soon falling night were those of the fire.

That night a part of Spencer faded to dust with her. /

It took a lot longer than Spencer had anticipated before his head cleared, although with the dosage he'd been given he shouldn't have been surprised. As soon as he was fully awake he groaned lightly, a wave of headache swimming in. His body seemed to be shaking uncontrollably and he had a nasty feeling that the drug had quite a bit to do with it.

For some ridiculous reason the first thing he noticed when opening his sore, suspiciously moist eyes was that his shirt had been taken off while he was out cold. His jaw tightened slightly as he felt violated all of a sudden.

What was going on?

"Spencer?" The sound of William's voice actually brought him a hint of comfort. A sharp sound of metal rubbing against metal came when the man attempted to move. "What the hell did he give you? Are you alright?"

Spencer nodded, although he knew the other man wouldn't be able to see it. "I'm fine", he uttered in weak, raspy voice, sounding anything but believable.

There was a long moment of silence as they both tried to clear their thoughts. In the end his father spoke first, his voice low and quiet. "Spencer… What did he mean, when he said you've had… problems with the substance he gave you?"

A jolt of pain shot through Spencer, making his body convulse once or twice. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, embarrassment and intense nausea filling him. "I… I'd rather not talk about it, 'k?"

If William was about to press the matter further he never got the chance to, because just then the room's door opened and Vincent walked in. The man's eyes flashed when they spotted him awake. "Ah, good. I was getting tired of waiting for you to snap out of it."

Spencer blinked once, trying to steel himself for whatever was to come. Gaining a life of its own his gaze traveled – and stopped to a video camera that'd appeared to the tiny room's far corner. At that moment his breath disappeared for several seconds.

"As much fun as I've had with you two, it's getting a bit boring with just the three of us present." Shadows made Vincent's expression appear even more dangerous. "So I decided to… invite more people along."

Spencer's eyes widened when he realized what was going on. "Don't", he half-pleaded, although he knew it was pointless. "Please, leave them out of this."

Vincent gave him a look that spoke louder than any words. "That wouldn't be much fun, would it?" He shuddered when the man's cold fingers brushed his jawline sharply. "They're attached to you, Spencer. You've let them closer than I could've ever imagined you'd dare to, especially after what happened to Madison." The man clicked his tongue. "That was a pretty stupid move. I'll make sure they'll pay a high price for it – and you're going to help me."

Cold spread all the way through Spencer, making it almost impossible to breathe. He opened his mouth, but before he could make a sound the camera was already on.

Back in the BAU headquarters Penelope was pushing her poor computer to the very extreme while trying to find something – anything – that would've helped them find Spencer. Her eyes stung while she ran a frustrated hand through her by then extremely disheveled hair.

She hadn't felt this helpless even during the entire Tobias Hankel ordeal.

Then, as though things hand't been bad enough already, her computer's screen went completely black.

Penelope's eyes widened while complete, utter terror went through her. This… had happened before. She remembered it all too well.

And then the screen came to life once more, revealing the image of a badly battered, shirtless Spencer Reid. There were so many bruises on him that it made her stomach ache and brought a stinging sensation to her eyes. She would've given anything if she'd been able to erase to look in the brunet's dazed eyes.

What was going on? What had happened to him?

For quite a long time Penelope stopped breathing, and she was fairly sure her heartbeat disappeared as well. It was a miracle she managed to talk. "Guys!" she called out in a badly shaking tone. "You… You need to see this."

Spencer swallowed thickly. He knew full well he looked horrible. The handling Vincent had given him when taking him from his apartment had made sure of that, and the horrendous dosage of Dilaudid didn't help matters at all. And now… Now his team would have to see him.

Vincent's eyes held no emotion as they focused on the camera. "As you can see Spencer is here with me, alive and well. How long he remains that way is up to you and him." Those chilling eyes turned towards him. "Is there something you'd like to say to your team?"

Something Spencer couldn't even name spun inside him as he stared at the camera, feeling numb and lightheaded. His licked his lips before speaking in a voice he barely recognized. "I… I'm fine, okay?" He hoped dearly he looked at least a bit more convincing than he sounded. He swallowed, his throat feeling dry and sore all of a sudden. "I'm fine, so you don't have to worry about me. I can take this, okay? Just stay away. I can take this." Oh, how he wished he would've been able to believe those words…

Vincent snorted, rolling his eyes. "You've never been much of a liar, midget. But, since you so boldly declared you can take this…" The man revealed the dangerously sharp knife he'd been holding, a chilling look appearing into his eyes. Torturously slow steps approached him. "Let's give it a little test."

Spencer steeled himself with a quick, deep breath that made him feel dizzy and prepared himself for absolutely anything.

He should've known he couldn't have prepared himself for Vincent. Because just then the knife penetrated the skin of his chest and stomach, once, twice, thrice.

Spencer had been shot and tortured in the past. But this… This was something else. The searing pain spread absolutely everywhere inside him, ravished his body without a hint of mercy. If he hadn't known better he would've been sure he was torn to pieces.

He managed to fight it for a remarkably long time. But eventually his lips parted and a scream crawled through his painfully tight throat.

He couldn't tell how many cuts Vincent made, as though creating a map to his skin. Blood sped downwards on his skin, but he was in no condition to worry about the amount. All he could focus on was the pain and the prayer that the torment would be over soon – whether it was because of Vincent having enough, he passing out or he dying he didn't care. He just wanted the knife away from his skin.

Another scream he didn't even notice erupted from his mouth, but this time the sound that came was a lot quieter, exhausted.

And then it was over. Spencer's line of vision narrowed and blurred threateningly while he watched how Vincent turned away from him and made his way to the camera. "I hope you enjoyed the show, because there'll be more to come soon enough. Now hurry and find us. Spencer here is waiting for you."

Spencer's heart took a leap he didn't like at all and his mouth went completely dry. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that he would've been able to reassure the team, that he would've managed to tell them he was going to be okay. But there was absolutely no strength, let alone voice, left in him anymore.

His world faded into dark while Vincent turned off the camera.

Once he was finished Vincent first turned towards Spencer, and took a long moment to memorize the wounds and blood.

He was very, very pleased with these new marks he'd left on his brother.

Deciding that there wasn't much he could do before Spencer woke up Vincent walked towards their father. The sight he met made something shudder pleasantly inside him.

Throughout the whole ordeal William hadn't said a thing, hadn't uttered a sound. Even now he didn't have to because the way his whole body was shaking and the tears rolling down his pale, bruised cheeks spoke loudly enough.

Vincent smiled, the room's shadows once again looming in his eyes.

It looked like he was progressing just fine.

Gathered to Penelope's computer the entire team was completely, utterly silent for the longest time as they stared at the once again black screen. Disbelief, terror and wrath mixed together, swelling in each of them until they could barely contain it.

And then a single, almost soundless sob broke the suffocating silence.

It took a lot more than Emily had expected to tear her eyes away from the screen, towards Penelope. The blonde's body shook while she wiped her cheek, visibly fighting against another sob and tears. "'Sorry", the usually bubbly woman uttered uncharacteristically quietly.

Emily wished she could've said it was okay, that everything was going to be alright. But she couldn't find her voice – perhaps it had gotten lost into Spencer's screams.

David's eyes were slightly wider than usual while he kept staring at the screen, placing one hand to Penelope's shoulder.

Jason looked just about ready to throw up as he squeezed the back of Penelope's chair, and Emily felt deep sympathy for him. He'd only just come back, and Spencer was almost like a son to him. She couldn't even imagine what this all must've felt like to him.

The loud crash startled them all. Turning her gaze Emily discovered that Derek had almost taken down the door while leaving the room – his fist had left a mark on the door. This time she didn't even think about moving to follow him.

And then it was completely silent once more. It wasn't until then Emily was forced to focus on herself and realized that she was shivering like a leaf. She wiped her stinging eyes and didn't realize until then that they were moist.

Spencer had been in a lot of tight spots. But she'd never dreaded actually losing him like now. The fear wrapped around her stomach like a icy fist.

Nothing in the room moved an inch before Aaron turned all of a sudden and made his way to the room's door with loud, extremely sharp steps. It was easy to hear and even feel the boiling underneath the unit chief's skin.

David frowned, finally snapping out of his trance. "What…?"

"I've got a phone call to make", Aaron cut the older man short. There was a hazardous edge in the man's voice that sent chills down Emily's spine. "Let me know if there's another broadcast." Without any further explanation he disappeared from the room.

For a while they all stared at the door, shock amusingly visible in their eyes. But soon enough their gazes began straying towards the computer's screen although they feared what they'd see.

At the moment all they could do was wait for another broadcast to appear, although they had no idea how they'd be able to watch it. And they didn't know how much more Spencer would be able to take. How bad condition was he in after what they'd just seen?

They just hoped, prayed, that they weren't too late already.

"Spencer."

He frowned, unwilling to emerge from the dreamless gray hue.

"Spencer, wake up." This time the voice came to his ears a lot more clearly. And once again he was forced to wake up to the reality at hand.

He opened his eyes slowly, unwillingly, and immediately winced at the intense ache that seemed to attack him from every imaginable direction.

William must've felt him shudder, because there was a clear touch of worry in the man's voice. "Are… you okay? What did he do to you?"

Feeling a lot more dizzy than he would've liked Spencer looked downwards, although a voice in the back of his head reminded him that it was a huge mistake. His stomach shifted uncomfortably when he saw all the blood on his still bare skin and on the floor below. He also saw all the wounds on his upper body. Most of them appeared so deep that they would've needed stitches.

He bit back a groan when headache also swam in as a nasty aftershock of Dilaudid. At around the same time nausea crept up to his throat, and he would've most likely thrown up if he hadn't swallowed hard. "I'm okay." His voice was raspy but at least not frail. That was a pleasant surprise. He was utterly relieved his father couldn't see the pain in his eyes. "Just… a bit sore." After about five seconds of sullen silence his voice worked free of his active consciousness. "What… about you? Are you okay?"

For a moment William was stunned to silence until there was a extremely bitter, brief chuckle that sounded suspiciously moist. "I… I just listened to you screaming – I… I thought he was going to…!" There was a long pause before his father continued. Spencer hoped dearly it wasn't tears he heard in the man's voice. "So no, I'm not okay."

Spencer's lips opened, but in the end he didn't manage to push out whatever had been building up in his mind. Instead he let his exhausted eyes close although he knew it was a huge mistake.

He didn't know how long he'd been drifting somewhere between awareness, sleep and unconsciousness – seconds, minutes, perhaps even hours – until William's voice pulled him firmly back to the present. "You… know the statistics, right?" His father sounded exhausted. "What… are our chances of getting out of here?"

Whether he wanted to or not Spencer knew the bitter number. He grit his teeth together tightly and lifted his gaze towards the ceiling although he could barely see it in the nearly dark room. A part of him noted that his body was becoming numb and he welcomed the change even though his reason screamed that it couldn't be a good thing.

He was most likely about to slip back into gray until William spoke all of a sudden. "Spencer… I'm so sorry that I left you and Diana." The man swallowed so loudly that he heard it. "I… I had to make sure they'd have Vincent locked up, that he'd never hurt you again. The trial… It took so long – I thought it'd never end. And… When I could've returned I just… I just couldn't. I didn't know how to be your father anymore after failing you so badly. I couldn't just go come back and look at you in the eyes. It was easier to take coward's way out."

Spencer's eyes stung hellishly. He would've liked to blame it on the room's stuffy air. "Why… are you telling me this now?"

He wished it wasn't a sob he heard. "Because… Because in case we're not making it out of here I… I want you to know that you're the most important thing to me in this entire world."

All of a sudden Spencer's throat was completely blocked and words disappeared from his head. The stinging of his eyes intensified, forcing him to blink furiously. His mouth opened, but in the end he couldn't come up with anything to say.

And then there was no time to say anything. Because just then the room's door opened and Vincent entered. Shadows seemed to dance around his brother when the man approached them. "Time for the second show", Vincent announced in a chilling, almost purring voice.

It was already night when Aaron eventually re-entered the room where they'd watched helplessly how Spencer was tortured. His head hurt and anger tingled everywhere in his body as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Unlike most people probably thought Aaron wasn't a particularly patient man. And he'd never been tried as hard as he was during the phone call he had a while ago.

His already agonizingly tense muscles stiffened even further when he realized that he wasn't alone in the room. Turning his gaze towards the faint noises he fought back a sigh at what he found.

Jason was sitting before the computer, the nearly unbearable footage of Spencer still rolling on the screen. Every single trace of pain on the brunet's face, all those cuts… Aaron had to use his all to maintain his composure, and he could tell Jason wasn't doing any better.

"Vincent… made sure we had a recording. That we'd be able to watch this over and over again. I've been watching this in hopes of finding some sort of a clue, but so far I've come up with nothing." There were so many undertones in the man's voice that it was impossible to name them all. As the video finally ended Jason rubbed his face with one hand, clearly exhausted. There was a pause. "I told the others to go and get some rest, though I'm pretty sure they won't be getting any sleep."

Aaron nodded. He had to wait for a couple of seconds before he dared to trust his voice enough to speak. "I just got a hold of Alyssa Perabo, Vincent's doctor in Valley of Ataraxia. She wasn't happy about talking to me." That was quite a understatement. It'd taken all his persuation skills and professionalism to coax her into talking without snarling or threatening her with violence. "She told me that those in charge of the hospital like to pretend Vincent doesn't exist. But he's extremely dangerous. The day he escaped he injured himself badly enough to be sent to a local hospital's ER. As soon as he got there he killed one of the hospital's nurses as well as the security guard escorting him, and took the guard's gun."

Jason finally looked at him. The man's eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions. "So he's armed and dangerous?"

Aaron nodded grimly. He didn't like the thought any more than Jason did. The doctor had told him that charges would be pressed against the hospital's management for how they'd handled the situation. But that wouldn't do anything to help Spencer. "She also told me that Vincent had access to a computer. Apparently he caught a night nurse stealing the hospital's medicine and blackmailed the nurse into letting him use the staff's computer. It wasn't until after his escape they found out Vincent is a extremely skilled hacker – he was taught by a fellow patient and internet. He'd been gathering information on Reid and his father for four months." It took a full minute before he managed to talk once more, feeling a ton's weight sitting on his shoulders. "I tried to contact William Reid to warn him, but apparently he's gone missing."

Jason frowned. "Do you think Vincent has him?"

Aaron nodded. It wasn't only a likely option – he was sure of it.

Silence filled the room as they both stared at the screen, their eyes locking unwillingly to the final image before the video-clip ended. Spencer was barely conscious, bleeding and clearly in a lot of pain. And there was nothing they could do to help him.

It was the utter helplessness that got to Aaron the most. Nothing was worse than not being able to do a thing.

"He's been through so much already." It sounded like Jason had been talking more to himself than him. There was a distant look in the man's eyes. "How much more of this can he take before we'll lose him completely?"

Aaron was about to respond when the computer suddenly gained a life of its own. What appeared to the screen made them feel unbearably cold all over.

Spencer was sitting in a different chair this time, in the middle of the tiny cell they'd seen during the first broadcast. His feet had been put into a metallic bucket that was full of water. The young man seemed to be shaking, and all three of them knew exactly what was going to happen.

Aaron shivered a little against his will when Vincent appeared to the screen with two wires that were crackling with electricity. "Are you ready for the second show?" The man's eyes were some of the most threatening things Aaron had ever seen. "We'll see how much longer Spencer will beg you to stay away…"

TBC

A/N: Oh crap… (winces) That Vincent guy is getting really, REALLY annoying. And poor Reid, it looks like things are only going downhill for him! (growls)

Awkay, I've gotta start tuning out.

PLEASE, leave a review to let me know how you found the chapter! Was it any good, at all? (gives puppy's eyes) Awww, c'mon, you know I love hearing from you guys, and that 'review' button down below is very, very alluring… (winks) You can bash Vincent if you like.

IN THE NEXT ONE: As Vicent's torment continues Spencer is pushed to the very extreme. The team can do nothing but watch as Vincent goes what's perhaps too far. Just as they're about to lose hope they receive a clue that sends them to motion, unaware of the unpleasant surprise waiting for them. It's a race against time, and not everyone comes out alive.

Until next time, folks – I really hope I'll meet ya all then!

Take care!

Lene Marlin – 'Unforgivable sinner'

Kinda lose your sense of time
'Cause the days don't matter no more
All the feelings that you hide
Gonna tear you up inside
You hope she knows you tried

Follows you around all day
And you wake up soaking wet
'Cause between this world and eternity
There is a face you hope to see

You know where you've sent her
You sure know where you are
You're trying to ease off
But you know you won't get far
And now she's up there
Sings like an angel
But you can't hear those words
And now she's up there
Sings like an angel
Unforgivable Sinner

You've been walking around in tears
No answers are there to get
You won't ever be the same
Someone cries and you're to blame

Struggling with a fight inside
Sorrow you'll defeat
The picture you see it won't disappear
Not unpleasant dreams or her voice you hear

Maybe one time lost
But now you're found
Stand right up before
You hit the ground
Maybe one time lost
But now you're found
Stand right up before
You hit the ground - hit the ground

rotten little rat: (just to make sure you get this response I'm responding this way)

I'm very happy to hear you'd been waiting for my update! (beams)

We'll see what happens next… (rubs hands together) But sending Vincent go gaboom… Ah, now there's a fantastic idea! (nods furiously)

Massive thank yous for the review!

lolyncut: Why indeed! (winces) Poor Reid, no?

Reid death is the worst, hmm? (scratches chin, musing) Weeeelll, we'll see where the story goes. But let's hope not there, no? He'd deserve to be happy.

Colossal thank yous for the review!

pottyandweezlbe89: I'm thrilled to hear you've enjoyed the journey thus far! (beams) 'Hope you'll have as good of a time with the next one(s)…

Gigantic thank yous for the review!