A/N: Thank you editor frog for beta reading the story! We are closing in on the end now, people! Hang tight!
Penny returned to the basement a little while later, carrying a plate and a glass. Walking up to her bound prisoner, she kneeled before the young doctor, setting the dishes down on the ground. With a swift move she ripped the duct tape off Reid's mouth, making him whimper. His skin was red and irritated, and burned like fire when she pulled the tape away. Penny lifted the plate to show her captive what was being offered. "Made you some mac and cheese! It's all I can make, so I hope you like it." A happy smile was plastered on her face.
Looking up at his assailant in pure disgust, Reid felt a strange sensation rise inside him. It was the urge to hit the young girl, and very hard. It was a feeling he had seldom experienced, but at this moment it felt very justified. The girl in front of him had subjected him to the worst treatment of his life. Not even Georgia came close to this. Pain he could handle. It was the mind games that were breaking him down, and the molestation. The young man refused to open his mouth. He would not satisfy her perverted urges any more.
Penny gave him a funny look. "Not hungry? You haven't eaten since you came here, and that was early yesterday. You gotta be starving." She scooped some macaroni and cheese onto a fork and put it to the young agent's lips.
He jerked his head away, pressing his lips shut, and it made Penny drop the fork onto the ground. She didn't pick it up. Instead she put the plate down behind her, and leaned over her prisoner. With a sharp tug, she grabbed the hair on the back of his neck, yanking his head back. He cried out, gritting his teeth.
Penny was furious, and her eyes had darkened once again. "What is your problem?! I cook for you and you don't eat! I jerk you off and you can't even get a hard on! I tell you you're beautiful and you don't even say anything nice back to me! That's very ungrateful, doctor!"
Reid tried to think fast, finding a way to calm the deranged girl down. "Penny..." he moaned. "You are beautiful... I'm sorry was so ungrateful..." He was mortified by what he said; enraged by the fact that he had sunk so low as to lie to his assailant and tell her she was beautiful to spare him from more pain. "Please forgive me." His scalp felt like it was going to be torn off his head as the young girl's grip hardened.
"Bullshit!" she screamed straight into his face. "Liar!" She let his hair go, pushing his head away. "All you do is lie, and lie and lie!" She stood up, beginning to pace back and forth on the basement floor
Panic ensued in Reid's mind. She's having a psychotic episode! I have to keep her calm! "No, Penny... I-I'-m not lying!" He tried to make his coarse voice sound sincere, no matter how hard it was. "You are a very beautiful girl. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before; I didn't know you wanted me to! Penny, you are beautiful."
Penny stopped, staring at him. She took a few steps towards her prisoner and shook her head slowly. "No... You're lying. You're all lying." She brought her right foot back and kicked the plate of food straight at Reid, spreading the macaroni and cheese all over him. The plate flew over the young agent, smashing against the wall. Just in the nick of time, Reid ducked down slightly, avoiding getting the plate straight in the face.
The young girl looked at the mess she had made, then sharply turned around and walked up the stairs without saying a word. The young agent let is eyes fall on the dead teenager in the corner. It felt horrible not to have been able to help him. Then a realization came over him. Oh, god – not the hose again! He shook some mac and cheese out of his face and once again tried to tear free from his bounds, but was not successful. Suddenly, he felt something sharp in his hand. A shard. The plate! Please let this be a thin rope, please..! He maneuvered the shard into his right hand, and started to rub it against the rope tying him down.
The steps in the staircase were all too familiar. They were slow and steady. Reid looked up at the young woman entering the basement. Her face looked nothing like the insane woman who had just been down there. Her eyes were once again bright and a small smile had made its way onto her lips. She's clearly bipolar. The worst kind, the kind that swings at a second's notice. Please, don't have the hose with you..!
There was no hose in Penny's hand, but she did carry something else. A small digital video camera. And it was rolling, pointed straight at the young, incapacitated doctor. She smiled. "Say it again."
Reid felt confused. "What?"
"Say it again, what you said before."
The young doctor steadied himself, still carefully rubbing the shard of porcelain against the ropes tying him down. "You're...beautiful." He was utterly humiliated. The girl wanted to torture him to the brink of insanity; she wanted him to meet her where she already was. Play along. Play along. Stall her so she doesn't notice the shard.
"Good boy!" Her voice was almost giddy as she stopped in the middle of the basement. "Now, tell me I look amazing."
Reid gritted his teeth. "You look amazing."
"Tell me how much you want me."
"I want you so much." The young agent's voice began to tremble. He did not want that girl's hands on his body again. He frantically rubbed the shard against the ropes, desperately trying to free himself.
"Tell me..." She sat down in front of him. "Tell me you love me."
Reid kept looking straight into the camera, having never felt more humiliated in his life. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up, as clear as he could. "I...love you, Penny."
"Oh, Spencer..." Penny's voice was swooning, as she lowered the camera. "I love you too!"
In that moment, Reid felt the rope snap behind his back. A small light of hope came to life inside him, but he knew he would never be able to jump the young girl from a distance because of his injuries. He had to get her closer. "Penny..." he whispered.
The camera was still rolling as Penny put it down onto the ground. "Yes, Spencer?"
"I love you so much. I want to kiss you." Shaking his hands undetectably behind his back, the young agent had finally rid himself from the rope and his wrists were free. He had to get her closer. He hoped to god this would work.
Penny smiled ecstatically, leaning in over the incapacitated man on the ground. She put her hand gently on his cheek and let her lips meet his. As she closed her eyes, Reid saw his chance – and took it.
--
"I should have listened to Reid!" Hotch hit the steering wheel in anger. "He was telling us from the start! That it was a woman, that it was a student! He even asked me to reconsider the profile!" Hotch was furious with himself for being so oblivious to the young agent's pleas.
"Well, there's not much to do about that now, is there?" Gideon sat in the passenger seat, preparing for the meeting with the very possible UnSub, and hopefully – Reid. "All we can do is catch the UnSub and get Reid back."
Hotch knew his older colleague was right. Speeding through the city, he ran red light after red light, praying that they would not make it to Penny's house too late.