Chapter 3

The needle was hot in my skin. A sharp pinch in my neck. The world seemed to sway as I staggered. Richard caught my body and held me against him. I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back. His hot breath in my hair. He kissed my head before laying me down on his apartment wood floor.

My arms were dead weight. They flailed like a fish on a deck as I tried to move them. I couldn't flip my body around, my limbs wouldn't move where I wanted them to no matter how hard my mind screamed for them to.

"Where do you think you're going?" He chuckled as I struggled to slide myself across the floor. My limbs grew more and more limp. I tried to scream but my mouth wouldn't move.

Is this what it felt like? All the victim's cases I had helped solve. Did they all feel this helpless? I held in my tears, he didn't deserve the satisfaction of seeing me scared.

The drug paralyzed me. I could blink, that was all. He lifted me and carried me to his bed. I closed my eyes as I waited for the worst. But it never came.

I watched as he left the room. The flight mode kicked in. I looked around the room, memorizing each detail. There was a window to my left that seemed to overlook the city. Like a few stories high up. I could see a Chase bank headquarters skyscraper.

My mind wandered to Spencer. How would they find me? Did he know it was Gloss?

Richard came back and sat at the edge of the bed. His smile was unsettling, but I could see how he could easily charm women.

"Do you know how long I've waited for this moment, Elaine?"

His gun was pressed tight to my temple. He was standing in the middle of the living room. He knew the team would find me quickly, we were good at our jobs, so he staged a scene. Gloss didn't want to just torture me, he wanted to torture Spencer.

Gloss had my hands tied tight behind my back, and he had his arm snaked through to keep me from running.

"Do you think they'll look at you the same way after this?" His voice was barely a whisper in my ear. His taunts made my stomach twist.

Spencer reached us first, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes immediately. His lips parted in a pained expression when he saw what he was walking into. His hands were shaking as he raised his gun.

"Don't come closer Dr. Reid," Richard sang. He yanked me around as he moved to position me more in front of him, to hide a clear shot.

He's been stalking me long enough to know how I feel about Spencer. This is my fault.

"You don't have to do this Gloss." Spencer attempted reason.

"You talk to me like I'm every other serial killer you've caught." Quicker than I could react, he moved the gun down and shot through my thigh. I saw white flash across my vision. The warm blood slid down my leg and splattered on the floor. Richard moved the gun back to my head. His voice leaked venom. "You don't have much time, Doctor. If you really love her, and I'm sure you do, what are you going to do to save her?"

Spencer dropped his gun. This was a test, he didn't want to kill me, he wanted to see exactly what lengths would Spencer go to save me.

"Please." He was panicking. His eyes met mine, and I've seen that look before. Desperation. He put his hands up. Richard moved his gun from me and pointed it to Spencer.

"Clearly she's more than a coworker to you. Thank you for confirming that for me. You hear that Elaine? He loves you back," Richard mused. I began to feel dizzy, their voices going hazy. "That's unfortunate because she's mine, Spencer Reid. Even when you lock me up and she's sleeping in your arms, you think she's safe and sound but her nightmares will be filled with me. I'll be in every inch of her mind and there isn't anything you can do about that. How does it feel?"

He was attempting to get under Spencer's skin, and from the looks on his face it appeared to be working. But Richard wasn't expecting me to use my last bit of energy to slam the back of my head into his jaw as hard as I possibly could. When his grip slacked in surprise I twisted out from the handle he had on my arms. I didn't get far when he grabbed the back of my shirt collar and choked me back, but I ducked my head down, and it left just enough space for Hotch to come out behind Spencer and take a risky shot to lodge a bullet in Richard's skull.

I crumbled to the ground clutching the pulsing wound at my side, the adrenaline disappearing now that the immediate danger was gone. The blood on the floor mixed between Richard's and mine. Spencer was instantly at my side. He moved my hands aside and pressed his palms hard to the wound.

"Thank you," my voice sounded strange, higher pitched than usual, it didn't sound like me.

"Sh, it's okay. You're losing a lot of blood quickly, I think the bullet hit your femoral artery. I need a medic!" Spencer's eyes welled with tears. "Elaine, I need you to focus on me and stay awake."

"There's a medic coming," Hotch kneeled down to my side.

"Spencer," I struggled to speak as my head felt like I was floating.

"No no. Save your strength and stay with me." His tears fell freely, his voice fell to a gentle whisper, but it almost sounded defeated. "I do love you."

I heard footsteps and Derek appeared. He exhaled deeply, it must look bad. "Where is the god damn medic!"

Spencer kept his hands on the wound to stem the blood until medics came for me. They bandaged the wound the best they could to keep from more blood being lost and loaded me on the stretcher.

"Go with her," I heard Hotch say as I rested my eyes. Spencer was at my side in the ambulance. He took my hand in his when I lost consciousness.