A/N: Well aren't you some lucky duckies! Another chapter is up and out! This one is more like a filler chapter while I decide how to bring Kate and Daniel together and all that jazz. Once again, thanks so much for the reviews AND another thanks for DaisyDay for being my BETA and being so incredibly fast-I finished this chapter up last night and sent it to her and it was waiting for me this morning before I went off to work. You, madam, are a saint.
Please enjoy and review!
BRTxoxo
It had been two hours since Katrina had drifted off to sleep. Spencer was still wide awake, trying ever so valiantly not to watch the cat-woman sleep and failing just as miserably. She'd written in the very girly and shockingly bright journal for a few minutes, absently chewing on the end of the pen, just before they agreed to go to sleep. Just before that they'd silently eaten some of the food that Sweeny Todd had left, and Spencer decided that by the end of this-however far away that end was-if he was continually fed only crackers and water, he would never touch another cracker again-if he survived.
He also decided that he would ask the unsub-no, he wasn't an unsub anymore, at least not for him-he would ask Sweeny Todd for better foods that would provide Katrina with fat, protein, sugar, and calcium-especially fat. He knew cat's couldn't create their own body fat, and if she wasn't getting any in her diet, she would wither away soon enough.
He shuddered at the thought. He'd only known her for about five hours, but already he knew why Daniel was so upset about losing her, even if he never saw her and only conversed with her through letters twice a month.
There was a clock above the door that led out of the basement that told him it was almost one in the morning. The tick-tock of the hands was just loud enough to be heard above Katrina's soft breathing and grate on him.
His eyes were back on his new companion. She was wrapped tightly around herself in the fetal position, her tail curled around her legs, her ears lightly flicking in her slumber. The blanket that had been covering her was no longer doing its job. The chain connecting her to the wall was laying across her harmlessly, but he knew that it was one of the most damning things that she would ever know.
Spencer stiffly stretched his legs out and gently crawled over to her, lifting the blanket over her small form. He stopped moving suddenly.
Was that… did she just purr? A quick glance at her face showed him a small smile that twisted the corner of her mouth and she snuggled deeper into the blanket so that only the tips of her ears were showing. Once again he had to tell himself ever so ardently that he did not find that endearing and adorable.
The same could not be said for what had happened earlier.
*flashback*
"What story do you want to hear?"
Katrina smiled lightly. "Anything you care to tell me. I'm not picky."
"Hmm." Spencer hummed to himself, thinking about what story he could tell her. He'd never been one to tell stories, that job was left to his mother and the rest of the BAU team. He was the genius that spouted facts that were usually useless and earned him awkward stares. What kind of story could he tell that she could follow along with? There were the books he read but those were in different languages and he couldn't very well tell her a story that she couldn't understand. There were also the SciFi TV shows he watched.
Now there's an idea.
"Have you ever heard about 'Doctor Who'?"
She shook her head no.
"Well, there's this man. And he travels around a lot, almost everywhere in space and time. He's called the Doctor and usually he travels with a companion, but lately he's been alone. He travels in his spaceship called the TARDIS, time and relative dimension in space. Now the thing about the Doctor is that he's a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. He had two hearts and a way of cheating death-he can regenerate, but only about twelve times. It's extremely painful because every single cell in his body changes. He's the same man, but different-he has a completely new personality and likes different things, but he keeps all the memories from his past… personas.
"Now, he's in his ninth regeneration. He has short hair and big ears and a goofy grin. He wears a green jumper under a black leather jacket and black pants and shoes. The only things he carries with him at all times are his Sonic Screwdriver-which can unlock and work on everything-well, not everything, everything but wood-and his Psychic paper which will show anyone whatever he wants them to see-unless they have basic psychic training, in which case all the person will see is a piece of blank paper."
Katrina watched him eagerly, her knees still hugged to her chest, but her brown eyes were wide and bright. Her tail was wrapped around her feet.
"Let's see, how to begin." He felt a bit strange, telling her the story of the Doctor. He didn't feel like himself-he was never really all that much of a story teller unless it had to do with past serial killers. "It's like this. There's this girl, Rose. She's only nineteen, living in London with her mom-most of the stories happen in London or Cardiff-and works in a clothes shop. She has a boyfriend, Mickey, and her dad died when she was just a baby. One day while she's at work, the shop dummies-you know the mannequins-come to life and start to chase her around the building basement.
"That's when she meets the Doctor. He opens a door right in front of her and the first thing he said to her was 'run'. He introduced himself to her and then blew up her work place…"
*end flashback*
He could remember clearly the way her mouth stretched into a smile as he portrayed a few episodes of Doctor Who to her. She'd never even heard of the BBC show and her attention was successfully ensnared for an hour or two. The way she had watched him so intently and listened so carefully to his words had been energizing and somewhat refreshing, compared to the usual confused stares and half-horrified-half-disgusted looks he was used to.
He sighed heavily and dragged his hands down his face, tearing his eyes off Katrina's resting form. Stretching again, he pulled himself over to the sink and toilet that stood just beyond the desk next to the mattress they sat on.
Spencer splashed some cold water on his face, hoping to wash away the growing fatigue that plagued him. He never slept much, having trouble with insomnia many nights and finally sleeping after exhaustion claimed him.
The clock read one thirty.
He groaned as he sunk back down onto the opposite end of the mattress. Things were starting to get very complicated.
Sleep was obviously not going to come easily tonight.
. . .
The exact same could be said for the rest of the BAU team. Elle had gone home, finding it hard to constantly look up, wanting to ask Reid a question about who might have abducted Reid and why, only to realize that Reid was the one they were trying to find and couldn't ask him a question regarding himself. She wasn't sleeping very well; the sleep she did catch was fleeting and drenched with dreams about a Reid-less BAU team.
Garcia and Morgan were sitting quietly in her tech room, just to be with someone else who knew how they felt, not wanting to sleep or be out where there were details that would remind them of the young genius. The tech analyst was tapping away at her keyboard, looking for anything that would give them a lead to find Reid, but coming up with nothing. She continually sighed heavily and Morgan would start to massage her shoulders while she covered her face with her hands. "I know, baby girl, I know," was all that would be said before she started typing again.
JJ sat in her office chair, staring at the file folders that cluttered her desk and then out her window to Reid's empty cubicle, also cluttered with files and miscellaneous nondescript items, and then out the other window towards the twinkling stars. She often found her fingers brushing tears from her face and under nose so she wouldn't start crying.
Gideon was in his office, his fingers pressed together in a steeple under his nose, watching the clock on his desk tick the time away. His mind was on Reid, on the young man that he took under his wing, that he felt responsible for. His absence was painfully obvious, and often he could feel his heart beating in his chest while his breath came harshly and he blinked hot, angry wetness away from his clouded vision.
Hotch was left in the conference room for a few moments before he stood leaning against Reid's chair in the room, his head bowed and shoulders slouched as he let his firm and strict mask fall, revealing the wounded and tortured emotions show on his face. His fingers gripped the chair tightly and he left abruptly, the chair spinning from his lost contact. He wouldn't look back-he knew all too well that if he did the spinning seat would be occupied by a ghostly image of Reid. By the time the BAU leader reached his home, his hair was disheveled, his tie was undone and his suit jacket rumpled over his arm. The only thing he could get out of his mouth was a broken, "Reid is missing" before his wife's slightly annoyed and flustered "why are you home so late?" face was replaced by concern, sympathy and comfort. She wrapped her arms around him as he sank to his knees in front of the door and held onto her. Her fingers ran through his hair and gently rubbed his back as he fought with his inner demons.
He had been with Reid-if he had only stayed with him while he looked for the letters, if Reid had gone with him to talk to the manager, if only he hadn't been gone for so long, if only Reid hadn't been so adamant about going down to the girls' apartment, if only-
Guilt gnawed at Hotch's heart and mind. He knew he wasn't going to find sleep that night.
He wasn't sure how the team would survive without Spencer Reid.
