29

Spencer had lost track of what day it was. He sat on his straw and plaited little bits and made some into corn dollies which he sighed at and placed gently to the side. He'd not spoken to the teenager who was placed in the cave prison with him, but the lad had been taken a probably a couple of days ago now and hadn't returned. He was having either slightly burnt lumps of meat to chew on or was given a bowl of pottage containing unknown lumps of chewy stuff and watery slightly salty liquid. He was also given vegetables of various types. Some Reid knew what they were, and some were again unknown. He ate everything he was given though. Spencer decided that if he was going to survive this place that starving himself wasn't going to be a good start. He spoke politely to his gaolers but never got into conversation with them, and oddly since the incident with the cell phone they'd not been asking him questions either.

Reid wondered if they had a plan. If they had a plan was it actually taking place now? What did they want him for? What were they going to get out of this?

He had just settled down another little corn person when the cave door swung open. The chap with the eye-patch stood there with his hands on his hips.

'We're on the move.' The guy said. In reply Spencer rattled his chains. 'I'll get you unlocked later. Just warning you that if you try to escape or warn someone I'll have no hesitation but to kill you.'

Spencer nodded. 'I'll be ready.' He sighed.

'I dunno how you let them know, but…' He stopped wondering if he'd said too much. 'I was gonna leave you here, but they voted and want to take you with.'

'I see. Well I don't know if I should thank you or them.' Spencer said. There was no tone of sarcasm in his voice. Spencer was being serious. Sarcasm wasn't one of his greatest abilities.

And so they collected him at mid-morning. They removed the chain around his ankle, dragged him to his feet and prodded him with sticks as warning of what would happen if he attempted anything. Spencer wasn't inclined to be tempted to run off. He'd spent many a day, week, month in the forests with Floyd but Floyd had never shown him much more than what mushrooms he should or shouldn't eat. His survival skills for forest life were amazingly lacking. When Reid stepped out of the cover of the cave he could see that the people had almost finished de-camping. The tents were down, the log cabins were pulled apart, belongings were packed away. A few children stood around looking grumpy with dirty faces. Big dirt bikes were revving up with big bearded men sitting astride them. Spencer was guided in the direction of one of them. He was going to have to sit behind one of these brutes. The thought made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. There were a few reasons for this. He was suddenly missing Floyd like he'd just had his heart ripped out. He didn't want to sit behind this man and hold on like he did when he was with Floyd. He didn't want to close his eyes and rest his head on this man's back. He didn't want to feel that person move as they took corners and bumped over lumps and holes in the road. Most of all he didn't want to get so close to this man that he would smell of him.

'I was wondering if I could walk.' Spencer muttered when he was told to get his skinny white arse onto the back of the bike. He was told in very short obscene words that he was in actuality going to ride on the back of the bike and he was going to hold on and he was going to stop complaining and be thankful that he didn't have to face what was coming for them. 'And what is coming for me?' Spencer asked and was told it was dogs. Dogs were on their way. Reid cautiously wrapped his arms around the man and sighed. The smell of leather from his jacket and the smell of sweat and dirt along with the vibrations of the bike brought back again the feeling that if Floyd didn't find him soon he would just die of heart failure. Spencer didn't think he could live much longer without Floyd there to keep him safe. 'Just dogs?' Spencer moaned.

'Not just dogs. Obviously not just dogs.'

That was what he was told and any more information was not given. The bike moved off quickly and oddly didn't go in the direction everyone else seemed to be walking in. A train of people in furs and rags walked off one way and the men with the bikes and shotguns slung in holsters zoomed off in a different direction. This wasn't the best scenario Spencer could think of.

o-o-o

Floyd crouched yet again and placed his fingers onto the earth. He'd felt the place Spencer had beaten Sam. He'd felt rage emanating from the soil. It was thick and dark and vile. It made his lip curl as he'd walked over the ground, but he'd also felt deception and jealousy and hate from another source… most likely from Sam. There was also what he'd been feeling at the time himself… it was a sharp painful feeling of shock, pain, and helplessness. The feelings all mixed together just made Floyd want to get the hell out and off to look for Spencer. He found that place he'd been snatched from. He'd been tracking rage and fear and anger mixed with sadness and guilt… Suddenly it changed and the taint on the ground was now a sour and bitter taste of defeat. It was easy to pick up on Spencer, Floyd knew him well. He was used to sensing Spencer's fear and doubts but this was different. It was as though he was grabbed, and he just gave in to it. He didn't fight it particularly, he didn't try to get away. He was just snatched. Like a child would be in a mall. Gone in the blink of an eye.

'Fucking fucks.' Floyd had announced. 'He was here. Someone took him.'

They already knew that someone had taken him. They told him that.

'Well if you don't want my fucking help, I'll go.' Floyd stood and wiped dirty hands on the leg of his jeans. He glanced back to where they'd taken what had been left of Sam. 'It's almost impossible to think straight when I have a good idea that they'll be screwing the top of Sam's head off and removing his brain. It kinda puts me off what I'm doing here.' Floyd walked in a small circle. 'They had motor bikes. Big dirt things.' He pointed in a direction. 'And they went in that direction… but it was long ago… the trails not going to be easy to follow by scent. It's only so strong here because this was the place it initiated.'

Hotch walked to stand next to Floyd. 'They wont remove any part of Sam. They have instructions to look and that's all. Finger prints and samples for DNA I'm sure will be taken. They will want to know what happened.'

'I could be there telling them. I could…'

'First we take care of finding Spencer.'

Floyd ground his teeth but nodded. 'Take care of the living first.' He stated. 'This might take a few days you know. I hope you've got a change of undies.' Floyd turned away from Hotch and walked quickly through the widely spaced trees. They walked for most of the day in silence. There was the occasion yap from a dog and curse word from Floyd, but mostly no one spoke. When Floyd suddenly hunkered down again and cocked his head to one side, Hotch was next to him in a flash; being very careful not to actually touch him.

'Problem?' Hotch whispered.

'Yes.' Floyd whispered back and then raised a hand to silence Hotch. Floyd turned his head and looked back at the dogs. 'Cant you keep those fucking mutts quiet for five sodding minutes? It's like trying to listen out for a single raindrop in a thunder storm.' He now looked back at Hotch. 'I have a suspicion about something and it's not helped by those animals back there. I cant think. I cant keep focused. Get rid of them or my assistance stops now.'

'They are helping track.'

Floyd shook his head and plucked at some leaves on the ground. 'No, I'm tracking, they're following me. Haven't you noticed that? I'm in front. They're just tracking me. Not too difficult really is it? Hotchner… I heard something and I'm going to investigate what I heard. I don't want or need the distraction of dogs biting at my heels.'

Hotch gave the silent dogs a quick glance. 'What did you hear? I cant let you go running off on your own. You know that.'

'I don't know that at all Aaron. Listen…' He pointed to his own ear.

Hotch listened and all he could hear was the slight breeze in the leaves and the occasional noise of people behind them. 'I don't hear anything.'

'If a tree falls in a jungle and there's no one to hear it, does it made a sound?' Floyd smirked at Hotch.

'Of course.'

'And you know that how? Sound is a result of the ear drum vibrating… if there's no ear drum to vibrate then there is no sound. Sound can be recorded using electronic equipment, but again there has to be something there to pick up the initial vibrations of sound. Therefore the answer is a resounding no.'

Hotch frowned at Floyd. 'What has that got to do with anything?'

'Just because you cannot hear it, doesn't mean it's not there.' Floyd stood and stretched slightly. 'Spencer was taken in that direction. There's a trail… an obvious trail to follow. The dogs can pick that up easily enough.' He now turned and looked in another direction. 'I'm going that way though, not because I don't believe he was taken and forced away that way, but because he's not there now. He's travelling roughly south-east. I'll go get him. Sit here, wait, have a picnic, play ball with the dogs, or carry on and find that he's already gone, but I'm going alone.'

This time a hand reached out and grabbed at the sleeve of his shirt. 'You're taking us to where Reid was taken.'

'That's not what the deal was Hotchner. You requested my assistance in location Reid. Reid isn't there anymore. He's been moved. In that direction and that's the direction I'm going in. Fuck the dogs. I heard him.' Floyd tapped his temple. 'In here. Are you going to shoot me in the back Hotchner? As far as the law goes I've done nothing wrong. You have no right to stop me. I'm going. Shoot me in the back if you so wish… watch your fucking feet too. They've set traps. Not all is as it appears to be. If you follow, follow slowly and quietly and if I signal for you to keep down you will keep down and keep quiet.'

Floyd didn't wait for an answer. He turned and started a long loping jog in the direction he said he thought Spencer was going in. He jumped over small bumps in the ground. He sidestepped things which he didn't like the look of. He could hear Hotchner and Rossi stumbling behind him, but he didn't care any more. Spencer was getting away from him. After an hour of this running Floyd stopped and cocked his head to the side and put up a silence hand and made a cutting gesture with the other. The forest fell into a deep silence… almost. Somewhere in the direction they were going… Even Hotch could hear it now… motorcycles.

'I fucking told you.' Floyd hissed. He lowered his hands and took a few deep breaths. 'Are you going to carry on or stay here and wait for us?' The dogs seemed to have gone now. 'Dogs?'

'The dogs have carried on in the direction we'd been going. I can hear something now, but it's not coming our way.'

'Not our way, not yet. They're not going in a straight line… they're circling… no idea why. I'll keep going this way… eventually we'll pick up the tracks and have a better idea of what we're dealing with here.'

Hotch nodded and again they broke into a run. Floyd ran almost as though he was an inch off the forest floor. He ran on the balls of his feet at a speed somewhere between a full pelt run and a jog. It was a speed which was hard to keep up with. But at least it was consistent. Half an hour later again Floyd stopped. He turned and looked at Hotch and then at Dave who was very obviously out of breath and finding the travelling hard work.

Flanders was shaking his head slowly. 'Something feels very fucking wrong.' Floyd hissed at Hotchner. 'Very…' His eyes flitted from Hotch and back to Rossi again and then to Hotch. The alarm bells were ringing so hard in Floyd's ears that it was making his eyes water. Something was wrong, or something was going to be wrong very soon. 'Any chance that I can carry on alone? No didn't think so. It's just… something's making my skin itch.

'Fleas.' Rossi suggested.

'Being around arseholes.' Floyd countered. 'Come on then… just be doubly aware of where you're treading.'

o-o-o

The bikes rattled on stopping occasionally for four of the men Spencer was with to wander out into the undergrowth and fiddle around with things. He could have run. He could have slid off the bike and legged it, but for what reason? So that fur clad hunters could chase him and shoot him in the back with a shotgun? Spencer didn't fancy that.

They returned after about ten minutes with smiles on their faces. Spencer didn't want to even start to consider what they'd been up to. The big hairy man slipped back onto his bike and looked at Reid who was sitting with his back to a tree.

'Come along then sweet thing.'

Spencer sighed and walked over to the bike. He slid himself back on and wrapped arms around the man.

'Scared you'll fall off? You have a mighty tight grip for such a skinny little thing.'

'I'm not scared.' Spencer told him. 'But I don't want to go flying off the back and hit my head on something; which would be very likely. I'm used to riding on bikes and I always hang on tightly for much the same reason.' That last bit being a lie. Spencer held on tightly for the simple reason that he loved to wrap his arms around Floyd's body and… He stopped thinking about that. It was wise to. He didn't want this ride to be more exciting that it had to be! 'What were you doing out in the woods?' Spencer asked him as the bike moved slowly away.

'Someone has been tracking. Following for a while. They had dogs, but they've gone now. It's just a few men. So we've laid a couple of surprises for them. You'd not have a problem with that though would you? After all one of them is the chap who virtually handed you over to us in the first place. The one called Floyd. Sam's friend.'

Any joy Spencer was feeling about the wind in his hair and the vibration of the bike between his legs was gone in an instant. 'Floyd?' He asked stupidly.

'That's the one. He's with some other people. No need to worry. The son of a bitch wont get you… Hold tight! Bumpy ground.' The man was grinning broadly. Spencer couldn't see his face but he could feel the thumping of this heart under his hands.

o-o-o

Floyd dashed off again at a sprint. But from behind him Hotch could see that he was looking around constantly. He didn't know Floyd well enough to be able to tell if he was being extra cautious or if he was just observing his surroundings for pleasure. Spencer would have been able to tell. Spencer would have been able to tell Hotch that Floyd was panicking slightly. It didn't happen often, but when it did… Well there was a good reason for it… usually. At least in Floyd's head there was a reason for it.

They jogged on for another couple of miles. Floyd had to keep stopping to let the others catch up, and though that was the only reason he stopped for some twisted reason Floyd didn't let on. He crouched and felt the ground and sniffed at his dirty fingers and then waited a few minutes. Once the others had caught up and had a minute to catch breaths, he was off again.

It tingled up his spine and shot down across his hips and into his groin. Floyd stopped so suddenly that it looked from behind that he'd run into something. He could see broken twigs and snapped branches. He could see where the ground had been scuffed. That wasn't what stopped him though. He was staring up at a tree. His hands at his side were clenched into fists. He was muttering something under his breath as Hotch moved up and stepped in next to Floyd.

'What?' Hotch asked. He was hot and tired and not looking much like the calm stoic Fed anymore.

'Don't move.' Floyd hissed. 'Not a foot.' Floyd carried on looking up into the branches of the tree.

'What can you see?' Hotch did as he was told and stood very still… he too was looking upwards, half expecting to see a dead Spencer hanging there.

'Absolutely fuck all. That's the problem. The ground is disturbed. They've been here…'

Hotch took a step forwards.

It was an odd sound. Almost like a bird, or some kind of flying creature. They both heard it. Hotch didn't know what it was. Floyd did. This was why Floyd suddenly reached out and pushed Hotch to the side out of the way of something sweeping down from the tree.

Hotch felt Floyd push him. He heard a soft sweeping sound and a thump. He was on his knees on the forest floor when he turned to look at Floyd, about to shout at him… but he snapped his mouth shut again. Floyd was looking at him with one eyebrow raised.

'I told you not to fucking move you stupid motherfucking cunt!' Floyd spoke with his jaw clamped tight. One of his hands was on his chest and the other was holding onto something in front of him. Something which had swung down from the tree and impaled Floyd in the chest. 'Now this is a fine mess.' Floyd wanted to kneel down and alleviate some of the pain of being stabbed by a flying bit of tree, but it was still attached to the tree by a long bit of chain. 'You going to help or just sit there and look stupid?'

Rossi moved to Floyd's side and looked at the spike in Floyd's chest. Hotch stood and took the couple of steps to Floyd's other side. 'You pushed me out of the way.' Hotch informed Floyd.

'Well yes. You see I have a fetish for being maimed by flying trees and other objects. Get that bit of chain off the end and get going. Spencer… Reid needs your help. I'll be fine.'

He shouldn't have even been talking with that thing in his chest. Rossi had a quick look to see if it was coming out of his back and seeing that is wasn't let out a soft sigh. 'We can remove it.' Dave said gently.

'I will bleed out. Just get the fucking chain off so I can at least sit down and work out what to do. If I fall it's going to do damage I'll not be able to deal with quickly.'

The man should be dead and Rossi knew that. He fiddled with the chain and removed it from the end of the spike and helped Floyd lower himself to the ground. 'We cant leave you.'

'Dave, you have no option but to leave me. Go and find him… please… get your arses out of here. They're playing games with us. Dangerous games it would appear. Aaron? Aaron… you don't have to thank me for saving your life. It was gut instinct that did it, not a need to keep you alive. I would have done that for anyone. Even Reid.' As Floyd spoke his fingers played around the edge of the spike. He was tempted just to pull it out. It wouldn't do any more damage than it already had, but throwing a bit of guilt at Hotch was never a bad thing in Floyd's mind. 'Keep going the direction we were. There's obvious tracks. I can hear the bikes. Just follow it.'

Hotch closed his eyes for a second to try to get his thoughts into order. 'Reid, as far as we are aware is not injured. You are.'

Floyd shook his head. 'Stop pantsing around and move your tight white rears in that direction. Get him and come back for me. It's not going to kill me, but it's sort of delayed me for a few. Now get the hell out and watch where you walk, though I suspect that this mess here was the result of setting this thing up. If you hear anything untoward just throw yourself to the ground.' Floyd glanced down at his bloody fingers. 'GO! For the love of fuck get the hell out of here and find him!' Floyd looked up at Rossi and sighed. 'My concern that you don't go isn't because I have any feelings for Reid. That's long over. My concern is simply that you'll not do what is needed to be done and the blame will fall on my shoulders again. I can only take so much Dave. Eventually that weight is going to crush me.'

Hotch nodded, Dave rubbed at his beard. 'Very well.' Dave said. 'We will come back for you.'

'Of course you will. You still have Sam's death to get me strung up by my balls for don't you? You're not going to let me get away with that.' Floyd dismissed them with a wave of his hand and the pair of them walked onwards through the forest.

Floyd stayed on his knees with his hands around the spike until they were out of sight. He then touched the end of it carefully and gave it a practice tug. It moved slightly but didn't actually come out, so Floyd lay on his back and with his knees bent and his teeth clenched he grabbed the spike and gave it a harder pull. It made a squishing squelching sound as it slid out of his chest. Floyd threw the spike to the side and screwed his eyes tight as his fingers investigated the damage. 'Nothing I cant cope with.' He rolled onto his side and then pushed up to his knees. Blood bubbled and ran out of the hole in his chest and a couple of coughs later he was spitting blood onto the floor at his knees. 'Right… now you motherfuckers have a hurt and pissed of Flanders to deal with. I hope you all have groin guards on. This is going to be a blood bath.' He pushed up to his feet and then dropped back to his knees again. 'Fuck.'

Floyd stayed where he was on his knees for ten minutes. It was ten minutes he didn't want to waste. They would be back soon. The circuit they were taking was going to bring Spencer to him. Hopefully Hotch and Dave would be further ahead and would miss the main bit of fun. The Feds had guns. Floyd didn't. He would be mighty pissed off if all of this fun was taken from him by a couple of metal slugs. He crawled around for another five minutes looking for a particular bit of fungus which he then chewed on for a further minute then spat it out onto his hand and stuffed it into the bleeding hole. Using a tree to get to his feet, Floyd shook away the light headedness and walked in quick sure strides at a slight angle to the direction Hotch had gone. 'Leave a man to bleed to death huh? It should have been you, you bastard. Next time it will be.'

The track the bikes had been taking was easy to see. They had left behind muddy gouges in the forest floor. Floyd stood on the track and looked in both directions, listening for the sound of the bikes coming back again. They were out there… in the distance. He had time to prepare himself. As a rule Floyd didn't carry weapons. He had made a promise to Spence many years ago never to carry a gun and knives just got in the way. It was too easy to be disarmed or for the weapon to not do what you wanted it to do, but even so today Floyd picked up a length of tree branch, much like the one Reid had smacked Sam with. He tested it on his palm and smirked to himself. The rumbling of the bikes was getting closer. He quickly checked behind him to ensure that Rossi and Hotchner were not around and then stood still in the middle of the track. He stood with his feet together and his hands at his side; one of them clutching the bit of wood and the other in a tight fist. He stood with his head cocked slightly to one side. They would have a choice, run him down and die, or stop and die. Floyd really didn't care which it was. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and a slight buzzing in his ears… his right eyelid twitched annoyingly and a flying insect landed on his booted foot. Floyd licked his lips and took a deep breath. It was time. Every muscle in his body prepared for battle.

The bikes stopped. Which was in a way fortunate. No one moved. They were about ten foot away from Floyd who was just standing there staring off into the distance behind the bikes.

'Get out of the way.' One of them demanded.

Floyd's eyes seemed then to focus. He turned his head slowly to the lead biker. 'Spencer get off the bike and come over here.' Floyd's voice was quiet but still very clear.

'If the Fed gets off the bike I'll take his fucking head off.'

'The Fed will get off the bike. He will come over here and you will not touch those weapons. I'm not here to have a fight; I'm here to recover what you took from me. Spencer, now please. The game is over. Time to go back home again.'

Slowly Reid moved off the bike. No hands had yet gone to the holstered shotguns, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't. 'Floyd.' Reid whispered to himself. He'd been correct. Floyd came in the end. A Floyd covered in fresh blood. A Floyd who looked like he was going to obliterate every living creature within a ten mile radius. 'I'm fine.' Spencer said. 'They didn't…'

'Don't give a flying fuck Spencer. I'm here to take you home so move your sorry and very dirty arse over here quickly. I'm in no mood to negotiate with these creatures.'

Spencer took a step forwards. A big beefy hand landed on his shoulder. 'You want your little buddy to be blown to pieces?' He asked Reid. Spencer stopped walking and looked at Floyd questioningly.