I apologize for the delay in posting…I will try to give at least 2 chapters this weekend. Warnings for inferences of non-con and child abuse and violence in one scene.
Criminal Minds and all characters are the sole property of CBS television. I make no profit from this.
Chapter 4
Spencer had calmed completely by the time the ambulance arrived, and was sitting quietly in Hotch's lap, leaning against his chest, eyes wide open and thumb firmly in mouth. He was determined to show his rescuer that he was brave, not some crybaby. That resolve wavered a bit as the 2 female paramedics approached him but firmed again once Spencer reminded himself that no lady had ever hurt him. In fact, he realized that ladies got hurt down here too-he should warn them! Spencer gathered his courage as the first woman knelt by the bed to be at his eyelevel and greeted him "Hello Little Man. I'm Angie, and I'm here to help you feel better, OK?"
"Run Angie! Not safe here for pretty ladies! Ladies hurt!" Spencer whispered urgently.
"Don't be scared honey, the bad guy is dead. He can't hurt anybody anymore." Angie replied in a gentle tone. "Now let's get you out of this old basement, OK?"
"Ok, but hurry! Him dead, yes, but Him not only bad man. Bad mans hurt the ladies."
"Spencer, how many ladies have been brought down here? How many different ladies have you seen?" inquired Hotch.
"27 ladies since first came here. 26 stayed 3 days then went away." Spencer promptly replied.
"What about the other lady", asked Hotch, dreading the answer. "Her under green trunk there" responded the child, pointing to the far left corner of the room. "Her dead."
Hotch gestured to Morgan to check out that corner and returned his attention to the boy in his lap. "How many bad men have come down here? Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you, we just want to find them and lock them up in jail so they can't hurt anyone anymore."
"THE Man, blue man, Bill, angry man, lollipop man, Grandpa come hurt Spencer; THE Man, red hair man, long hair man come hurt ladies. Don't wanna talk no more," and the boy replaced the thumb in his mouth and turned his face into his protector's chest.
"That's ok Buddy, you did really good, just rest now, OK?" soothed Hotch, who turned to the paramedics to ask "Would you like me to just carry him out to the bus? Let's get him out of here before hooking anything up."
At their agreement, Hotch warned Spencer before gently picking him up and carrying him up the stairs, through the back of the house and out into the crisp desert night air. "Wow" the boy exclaimed, seeing the star spangled sky for the first time he could remember. "Cool, huh?" responded an amused Hotch. "Uh-huh" agreed the awed child, as he looked around him at the world outside of the basement for the first time in what seemed like forever.
Things went rapidly downhill, however, when the little group reached the ambulance and Hotch attempted to set the boy down on the gurney. He tightly grabbed hold of Hotch's neck screaming "No! Don't leave Spencer! No! No go!" while Hotch tried to assure him that he wasn't leaving the boy, he would go with him. Spencer was basically at the end of his rope at this point, after all the evenings proceedings, and no longer able to comprehend. Hotch realized this fact, and proposed a plan B.
"Ok," he suggested, "What if I sit on the gurney with Spencer in my lap? Then you could strap us both in for safety, and I'll help steady him for the IV?" The medics quickly agreed, and Spencer seemed to understand Hotch's explanation. So long as he was in the arms of his protector, he stayed calm. He even held his right arm straight and unmoving at Hotch's instruction as Angie placed an IV access and started a bag of fluids dripping. They then loaded the gurney into the back and headed to the hospital-sirens silent to avoid panicking the child. Hotch pulled out his cell and informed Rossi and Morgan that he was riding in with Spencer and asked to be kept up to date with what they found at the house. Morgan sadly confirmed the presence of Irene's body under the floor where Spencer had indicated. Rossi had so far found a room with shackles on the wall, but no more victims.
He returned his attention to the boy when he freed his left arm and swatted at Angie as she began assessing his injuries. "NO! No Touch! No Hurt!"
"No honey, I won't hurt you" the medic cooed, "I just need to look at your owies."
"No! Only Eh-Run touch Spencer. Please! No hurt!"
Angie checked in with the base hospital and received orders for sedation. "I think that would be best," she explained to Hotch, "considering the exam he'll need at the ER." At Hotch's nod she injected medication into the boy's IV port and he relaxed, eyes drooping. Moments later sleep claimed him and Angie resumed her work. Gently unzipping the windbreaker, she gasped at the sight of the bruises, scars, cuts, and bite marks peppering the boy's body. "God! Please tell me you are going to catch the bastards who did this!" "Two down, four to go" Hotch stated grimly.
Shortly thereafter the ambulance pulled up to the ER and the contents of the gurney raised a few eyebrows as they were wheeled through the double doors and into an exam bay. Hotch gently stood and laid the sleeping child on the exam bed, standing protectively nearby. He pulled out his badge and refused to leave when the ER staff tried to usher him into the waiting room, informing them that Spencer was under the FBI's jurisdiction to be protected as an integral witness to a human trafficking investigation where unsubs remained uncaught, and there was to be an agent guarding the child at all times. Delivered with his "death glare". Needless to say, everyone backed off, and respectfully requested he stand by the boy's head to allow them room to work. He nodded and complied, after first scrutinizing everyone present and noting all entries and exits to the room. After the paramedic, Hotch wasn't in the mood to automatically trust anyone.