(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)

So I had no idea this story was on 70 followers, that's crazy. Thank you all so much. I'm trying hard to keep on top of this story but I'm not forgetting the other stories too. I'm going to get at least one complete before easter... it will hopefully be Arrow through my heart.

Enjoy.

Night one

Spencer leaned against the wall, keeping his breathing as even as he could. He was steadily easing into his third panic attack of the evening. He didn't like the dark. The darkness only meant bad things and Spencer just wanted everything to be good.

It finally toppled over him, the sizeable panic attack seizing him and Spencer screamed through his wheezing, feeling the inevitability of death collapsing in on him until the little boy finally passed out.

Since the handcuffs were so restrictive, Spencer couldn't pass out on his knees or his backside so he was left hanging by his weak wrists, his knees just inches from the floor and his shoulders baring most of his weight.

Day one

When Spencer woke from his panic induced sleep it was only to more panic.

He briefly lapsed into a bout of shortened breaths until he found control again.

Spencer sniffed, looking around the dark closet. He eyes adjusted to the blackness of his surroundings and he could make out a few shapes.

He spent the day trying to call out for help but not a sound escaped the basement. He tried to keep drinking and despite clutching his legs he couldn't hold his bladder and he had to go to sleep with him pull-up sagging and his pants wet.

Day two

"Mummy..." Spencer sighed and pressed his head back against the wall. "Help me..."

Tears rolled down Spencer's cheek and he twisted his elbow to wipe at his dirty face.

He thought another night had ended but he couldn't be completely sure. He knew he had a long time there still.

Spencer shuffled on the spot, moving his stiff legs, attempting to bring some life into them. He pressed his chin against the bucket and stretched his tongue over the rusty rim, pulling in several gulps of water and cringing at the rancid tasting water.

Maybe... Spencer closed his eyes and let a smile cross his face. Maybe Mr. Rossi was still thinking about him. Spencer sniffled roughly. Mr Rossi was probably back in Virginia, he probably didn't even remember Spencer's name.

"Oh..." Spencer whimpered when the dark thought crossed his mind.

Night three

Spencer could make out the shape of an animal. He tilted his head and the figure of a rat emerged from the blackness.

Spencer smiled. "Hello," he whispered in his torn voice. The rat shifted back at the noise, nosing at the hole it had come through in and Spencer sucked in a breath. Don't leave me alone in here, he thought.

The rat didn't leave, it sniffed its entrance in and turned back, moving slowly around Spencer as the boy made his best attempt at crouching. His arms wrenched behind his back awkwardly, pulling the split skin.

"I had a rat when I was a little girl."

Spencer looked at his mother in awe, giving her all the attention a three-year-old could give.

"Was it big!?"

Diana chuckled and shook her head, sweeping Spencer's hair from his eyes as he looked back at the mouse walking around their garden.

"No, she was probably double the size of that mouse but not very big. She was white with a brown stripe down her back." Diana stroked a finger down Spencer's back and he giggled. "And she had patches of brown on her eyes and her nose," she added, poking Spencer on the nose as he beamed back at her.

"I love wats," Spencer said.

"Rrrr-rrrr, rats, baby. And you've never seen one, because there are no wild rats here, just little mice like that one.

"Rrrwwww wwwr." Spencer pressed his teeth to his lip as he tried to force the sound out. He gave up after a few moments of trying which Diana indulged in watching. "I like mouses a-and wwrrr-wwwr... wats!"

Spencer smiled down at the rat, wondering if it had the same colourings as his mother's childhood rat.

"Be my friend," Spencer whispered as the rat walked over his feet and back to its corner where it lay.

Spencer squinted, making out the shape of the rat as it cleaned itself. At least he had company now.

Spencer was sure his shoulder was out of its socket. It was aching, the muscle stretched taunt. He must have leaned against it too hard.

He was also aware of the gnawing hunger clawing at his insides. The nice agent lady, JJ, had made something for him to eat Wednesday, and before that he'd been taking things from empty outdoor restaurant tables and bins (he never took things that smelled but he'd eaten someone's half eaten burger which had made his stomach hurt.)

Whatever JJ had made him had been amazing. It was a sandwich with meat and cheese and he'd eaten nearly three quarters of it.

Spencer felt his eyes grow hot with tears and he sniffed quietly. He would give anything to have another sandwich.

Day three

The rat was still watching Spencer when the he woke up. He glanced down to see the two sparkling inky eyes and penny-ears watching him intently in the darkness.

"Go away," Spencer croaked, swallowing around the soreness in his throat and wincing, sniffling miserably.

The rat continued to stare at him so Spencer ignored him, standing weakly and moving his arms to bring them back to life. He staggered to the right where the water bucket was dangling and gingerly pursed his lips toward it. After a moment of struggling in the handcuffs and craning his neck to the extreme Spencer managed to take a few sips of water. His throat still hurt terribly but it helped a little.

His stomach rumbled angrily and he glanced at the rat. He was probably hungry too. The hole he'd come from had leaked water into the room. Spencer imagined it was a burrow, and the rat had come through it to find the room and now it was blocked. He'd heard the rat attempt an escape and he heard the sloshing of the animal falling back into the room.

Spencer leant back on the wall and closed his eyes, wishing away all the pain in his body.

It was while he was trying to rest that Spencer heard the scuffling of paws.

"Away," he murmured sleepily, unaware of the closeness of the rat. Suddenly, four dirty teeth sunk into Spencer's heal.

"Ahhh!" Spencer jerked his foot away, bringing the rat with him, its teeth still latched on. Spencer shook his foot, screaming for help while the rat sunk its teeth deeper.

"Ow! Daddy! Ahhh! Daaaaa!"

The rat flew off after Spencer shook his foot again but it came back with a vengeance and leapt at Spencer's ankle, grabbing onto him with its teeth.

Spencer wailed louder, bashing his foot back against the wall. His wrists rubbed against the cuffs as he threw his body back and forth.

The hungry rat had just taken a third bite when Spencer's body smashed into the water bucket, sending it toppling to the floor, spraying the rat in water. The rat squeaked, moving back down to Spencer's toes.

Spencer, still screaming, blindly stomped his other foot down on his toes, he missed the first time, yelping when he caught his second toe painfully between his heel and the floor. The second time he got the rat just as it was about to attack again.

He managed to smack the rat on the head, disarming it before he jammed his heel into the back of its skull.

Spencer sobbed as he kept stamping, even when he felt the mashed head of the rat between his toes.

"I sorry," he whispered. "I sorry, I sorry."

Spencer kicked the rat, sending it as far from him as possible and he started to cry again, his shoulders shaking as he tried to come to terms with the throbbing in his foot.

After a few minutes of panting sobs, Spencer managed to calm down slightly. But when he saw his bucket knocked over he couldn't take it anymore. He glared up at what he assumed were his cuffed hands and he yanked. The pain was excruciating due to the skin-bared tightness of the cuff but Spencer just yanked again. The pain in his wrists distracted him from the chunk the rat had taken from his foot and he pulled his hand hard, screaming as he split skin peeled away from what he assumed was his bone.

Spencer screamed even louder, twisting his body and yanking his wrists. A hot stickiness ran down his arm but Spencer kept at it until there was a sudden crunch that had the boy freezing.

Spencer gasped, choking on the air around him for a moment. His bloody, skin-peeled wrist seized up, the bone had snapped inside and was pulsing agonisingly throughout Spencer's body.

The young boy rasped, sobbing through his ragged breaths before his body rampaged and he vomited stale water that had just been sitting in his stomach. The action caused him to lean heavily against his wrists and he was sick again.

Finally... finally, Spencer passed out.

Day four

Spencer knew it was over.

He'd be dead before his father came down to get him.

It felt like it had been a week already.

The closet had started to smell more than his own bodily waste. There was a distinct stench of death and the four-year-old wasn't sure if it was coming from him or the rat. The tangy smell of blood was definitely the rat. Spencer looked up and felt the agony of his shredded wrists... maybe that smell was him too.

He knew he needed something to drink, his throat was tight and his breaths raspy but he couldn't get his feet under himself.

Spencer closed his eyes to a darkness inside his mind that only he could control.

He had no intentions of ever opening them again.

That was hard to read back through. I feel like I've definitely been too hard on Spencer, especially with the rat (although, that rat has been part of this story since I first thought of it so I have to give him a little credit.)

Thanks for reading, please consider reviewing, it really helps my work ethic when it comes to writing FanFiction.

See you soon.