A/N: look guys, I made a thing, aren't you happy? I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter churned out, but with work, and the entire remodeling of half our house and boyfriends and all that jazz-including writers block and worrying about things so much I can't sleep well-it took longer than expected. Of course, add to that the new addiction of tumblr and SUpernatural and well... my life is deteriorating before my eyes.
I'll be starting school again too, August 20th I believe. 5 classes, tuesdays and thursdays, all day, beginning at 8 am. and then work. and stuff.
Anyway. Enjoy the show (chapter) and please leave a contribution in the little box (review. much appreciated.) (oh, and thank you so very much to DaisyDay for being a fabulous beta)
BRTxoxo
Spencer gently washed the blood off of Katrina's shortened tail. She whimpered slightly from the pain, gripping the sheets tightly in her hands. He didn't say anything as he cleaned the wound, covered it with an ointment and clean gauze, wrapping more gauze around it and a short ace bandage.
With the left over gauze pads, Spencer gently cleaned the smeared blood from Katrina's face and hair while tears fell from her eyes and pooled on the mattress under her head.
She hissed in pain as her tail twitched. "I can't do this Spencer," she gasped. "I can't… it hurts…"
"I know-well, I don't really know but I can imagine. I know it hurts. I'm sorry."
Her eyes clenched tightly against the tears that continually poured from her eyes.
"You can't not move it can you?"
"If I try very hard. But I have to concentrate on not moving it." She winced as she pushed herself up, sniffling. Her thin fingers flicked the tears off her face and she looked at Spencer with bloodshot and tired eyes.
"Katrina-"
"Please, call me Kat." She pried the sodden gauze from his fingers and started to clean the blood off of his cheek.
"How appropriate," he whispered, quirking a smile.
"Taryn would call me Kitty. I called her Puppy sometimes, just to get her riled up. She would try not to smile because she knew why I was doing it. I would never make her angry; she was almost scary when she got mad because she was part dog, y'know? She always said that I was cute when I was mad."
"I never had any siblings. It was just me and my parents until my dad left."
"Spencer I'm so sorry." Katrina let her hand fall from his face to squeeze one of his. Her fingers felt chilled against his warm hand; it was soft.
"It happened a long time ago. People always say there are many ways for sons to defeat their fathers. I just keep getting PhDs." He returned the squeeze, but never let go of her hand.
. . .
Day 54
Sweeny Todd cut off my tail today. I don't know why and it hurts more than anything. Spencer took care of it. He… I think I might… I think I might love him. I don't know what it's like to be in love, but Spencer… the way he talks about Doctor Who, and he gets so excited about it. The way he smiles is just so… attractive. His hands are really soft, and his hair, and his eyes are just so… I sound like such a fan-girl right now. And he's a genius too, like a legit genius with a high IQ and everything, and it's really kind of attractive, you know? But I mean, even though I'm captive, and he is too, I just… I don't know how to explain it. It's not fair. I never got to bury Taryn, to say goodbye, I'm chained to a wall in a dingy basement, held by a madman, my tail's been cut off, and there is nearly no hope in sight, and yet I think I'm falling in love with this man that's been forced to share this fate with me. He told me more stories about the Doctor today. He even told me about Penelope. She sounds like she's doing so well now.
Katrina stopped writing and closed the brightly colored journal. She was curled up tightly in the corner, keeping an eye on Spencer. Her face heated when she remembered how long they'd sat holding hands. Of course it had been awkward-the young boy genius, pride and joy of the BAU, who had a hard time around women, holding hands with the young cat-woman, who'd never held a conversation with another person of the opposite sex for longer than one minute, and the entire reason Spencer was locked in the same basement she was.
Spencer was focused on the mattress, watching it intently.
"Spencer how many PhDs do you have?"
"Three. I also have to Bachelor degrees in psychology and sociology."
She looked at him with soft eyes. "You do all that, just to defeat your father? To be better than him?"
"I needed something to do with my time. My mind is always racing, always thinking about something else. Focusing on something like school helped. Working at the BAU has been good. It keeps my mind occupied, but I suppose at some point it was a way to prove that I wasn't my father and that I was better than hm."
Katrina smiled apologetically at him. "Spencer… thank you. For taking care of me. I'm sorry that you're stuck here with me, and that you've been hurt because of me."
"Katrina it's not your fault. I was in your apartment looking around for anything to help us find you and apparently he had been there."
"Spencer…"
The door to the room the occupied at the top of the stairs opened with a slam.
Kat's eyes widened in horror. As Sweeny Todd came down the stairs, she curled into a tight ball on the corner of the mattress, leaving the journal out on the comforter. Spencer picked the journal up; Sweeny Todd was nearly to the bottom, carrying a new mattress. Without thinking, Spencer shoved the journal in between the wall and the radiator before sitting in front of it.
Their captor dropped the mattress on the ground, sending dust flying through the air, and then went back up the stairs and outside. Given more time, the FBI agent pulled the journal from behind him and quickly tucked it away under the sink.
This time Sweeny Todd came down the stairs with a new sheet and blanket set. "Get up."
The two captives stood up quickly, Katrina wincing as she pressed against the wall.
Sweeny Todd removed the sheets and blankets from the mattress, balling them up together, and pulled the bloodied mattress from the ground. "Don't move."
Katrina avoided eye contact, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. When Sweeny Todd returned from taking out the bloodied mattress and blankets, he shoved the new queen sixed mattress into place, tossing the sheets and blankets on top. "I'll be back in an hour to give you your food." He left once more, stomping up the stairs and locking the door loudly.
Kat let out a shaky breath as she slowly knelt down.
"Kat, drink this." Spencer took the lid off one of the water bottles they'd been left with and handed it to her. "You need to stay hydrated. You've probably been in shock all day and lost a lot of blood."
The cat woman took the bottle and tentatively took a few sips before nearly draining the entire bottle in one gulp. "We should make the bed."
Spencer nodded and they set to work pulling the sheet over the mattress.
"Spencer tell me something."
"Hmm?"
"Anything. Any random facts."
His brown eyes looked at her curiously. "What do you want to hear?"
"Whatever comes to mind." She met his gaze steadily.
"You want to listen to me… ramble off useless facts of information?" his voice sounded as if this was something new.
"I never went to school or college. I was homeschooled with Taryn and there's so much that I want to know that I've never gotten the chance to learn about. Who wouldn't want to listen to you?"
"Everyone."
