Chapter 8

A/N: NonCon and drugs warning

Cameras

What the human eye observes causally and incuriously, the eye of the camera notes with relentless fidelity: -Berenice Abbott

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

There were voices but too far away and faint for him to make out what they were saying. It sounded like someone was shouting or screaming and – well the rest he couldn't figure out.

Floyd attempted to open his eyes but found that was just not going to happen right now. Actually the more he thought about it – and this thinking thing was not too easy either at the moment – the less he seemed to be able to do. He tried moving his hands….and curling up his toes but it just wasn't going to happen. He could feel that he was laying on the ground and that was about all he could manage to sense. He wondered for a short while if he was actually breathing still. He concentrated on this fact and discovered that - no he wasn't.

Now with the small amount of time he felt he had left here he listened for the sound of his heart – it was there in the background somewhere but not pumping as it might – it was hibernating. Keeping safe. Keeping him safe. He could feel something dribbling from the corner of his mouth and he thought it was probably blood, maybe just drool….it didn't really seem to matter.

-o-o-o-

"Shit Kelly – what you shoot it for?"

"Dang hell shit! I don't know!"

"You just shot the dudes brains out over a tree and you don't know why?"

"I was just gonna scare him…."

"Well he's gonna have one helluva a fright when he wakes up from that!"

"Screw you Kelvin - Like you've never shot no one before?!"

"Well not someone sleeping I aint!"

"Just makes you so much better then does it? That they saw you coming?"

"See if he's got any money on him and let's get the hell out of here."

"I'm not touching him!"

"Damn you Kelly!"

The voices faded as they walked off back the way they had come.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

"What the hell for?"

"Want to watch him rot. Might bring the camera."

"You're one sick dude you know that?"

-o-o-o-

And suddenly the feet of the man mountain were in front of him again and hands in his hair pulling him up off his haunches and onto his knees.

"You're meant to be entertaining me." The voice sounded out of breath – but Spencer for now wanted to keep his eyes shut now having a very good idea what was coming next. "Pleasure me – and make it good. You only have your mouth."

He allowed his eyes to open a small crack to see the hugeness of the thing in front of him. Reid turned his head and began to scuttle back on his knees.

"This isn't – this – this isn't what……."

"What you expected? They all say that. You'll get used to it. Until then don't you move. Stay just where you are."

And again his neural pathways betrayed him and Taki's rules snapped into place. He sunk back down onto his heels and let his head drop.

"Get up off the damned floor and do your job!"

Now cross messages. One telling him not to move and to stay silent and keep his head down….Another telling him to move and uh well…keep his head down. He finally decided that the damage Taki could do was far worse than what Gert was asking and so he sat back and kept his head down.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? You sell your arse on the streets but wont blow me?"

No reply.

"I get it. You like a bit of roughing up first? You need to be high? I can arrange both for you."

Nothing. Total silence.

And then the pain started. A hard push from a hand had Reid on his back with his cuffed hands trapped behind him. He quickly opened his eyes and looked up at the man standing above him before the kick to the side of his head sent his vision into a strange spin. Still half undressed he now attempted to roll onto his side and escape the hand which was now reaching down and grabbing hold of the front of his dirty white shirt.

Gert was far too quick for the wriggling Spencer. He pulled him up so that his shoulders were off the floor and with his free hand delivered a punch to the side of Spencer's still giddy head. He released an 'umph' sound and he felt his teeth cut into the inside of his cheek. And now a well aimed foot caught Reid in an unprotected area which was still recovering from the knee it had received from Emily.

The guy was still holding on tightly to the front of Spencer's shirt and was dragging him forwards whilst Reid coughed up blood which had been gathering in his mouth and made a long drawn out howl of complete pain. This time he wasn't even given the comfort of getting into a less painful position. Gert was dragging him to the bed as he dry heaved and his nose ran and his eyes watered and now as he was lifted and thrown onto the filthy lice ridden bed he had a very nasty feeling that Gert was going to refuse to pay.

-o-o-o-

They sat of separate couches and Aaron signed the papers and they smiled. It was a good feeling. He hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. For once things seemed to be good. He had found a nice place to transfer to and now he was enjoying a friendly drink with a nice lady.

She packed all the paperwork up and stood.

"You're going?" Hotch looked at the uneaten pizza.

"No – I wasn't intending to. I was just going to put the paperwork somewhere safe." She walked out to the hallway and placed the folder on the table. She was feeling a happy warm glow inside as she turned and walked back. This time sitting on the same couch as Hotch – but right at the other end. Easier to reach the pizza.

"So divorced?" she plunged into the questioning.

"Recently." He opened the pizza box.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's one of those things."

"Same here. He couldn't cope with my odd working hours. It's not nine to five you know working doing this job. He didn't seem to see it like that."

"I completely understand."

"I love my job though you see, wouldn't give it up for anything."

Aaron nodded. "Help yourself. I'll open the wine."

Hotch got up and picked up the bottle of wine. He was feeling oddly nervous around this woman and he didn't know why. Some sort of miracle took place when he opened the bottle and the cork didn't get stuck and he didn't slice anything open with the cork screw. He looked over at Rosie and smiled.

"Oh I love red wine. I hope you have nice big glasses." And a very nice not too big not too shiny not too white smile.

"I've got beer mugs if you'd rather." A rare moment of humour from Aaron.

When he sat down again he found he was sitting slightly closer to Rosie and she seemed to have moved over a bit too. They didn't touch. They didn't really look at each other that much, but they talked. Aaron told Rosie about Jack and Rosie told Aaron about her cat.

"You have no children?"

She now looked directly at Aaron. "I think that you really need to be in a very good stable relationship before you start on that route. Even what appears to be set in concrete can crumble as soon as a child is involved and I never thought I had that sort of a relationship with my husband. Too delicate was that balance and now I know I was right. It failed without the added pressure of children."

And she tipped another glass of wine down her throat.

-o-o-o-

As his brain tried to reorganise itself, once again he felt his hands being released but this time they were just pulled around and re-cuffed in front of him.

"Do you know what? I think you need to learn to relax a bit."

Reid who was now on his back pulled his knees up tightly to his chest and tried desperately to pull his jeans back up again – but a hand grabbing his ankle pulled his leg down again.

"I said you need to relax. Put your hands above your head."

A shake of the head. He wasn't going to do what this person was asking. He wasn't going to be used like this – he didn't want this, and so why was his stomach twisting in excited knots as he felt Gert pull his hands up and link the cuffs to one of the rings on the wall….and why was his body betraying him like this.

"There you go! I knew you'd get into the swing of this. I thought maybe I'd invite some friends around for the party."

Reid's eyes shot open again. "NO!"

Which was probably the wrong thing to say, but sometimes Spencer's mouth just blurted out what his brain told him to.

Things began to happen now in such a while that his mind couldn't react to the different thing happening quickly enough. Gert was straddling the struggling Reid now who was writhing and trying to get the man off him. One of Gert's hands was now holding a bit of cloth. He smiled down at Spencer as he placed the cloth with a hard hand over Reid's nose and mouth. Initially Reid thought that he was going to be gagged, but Gert just held it there, not preventing Reid from breathing, but forcing his breaths to take down the fumes from the chemical on the rag. It stank of gasoline and at first made him gag but as that first feeling of surprise and a touch of fear passed he lay back and let the ether take control of him. There was in reality nothing he could do to stop it.

Gert sat and watched the glazed look gradually come over Reid's face. He pulled back and slipped off him and pulling on a bath robe went and unlocked the door.

"Who's up for a party?!" He bellowed out into the large room in front of him. "Someone go get Lemmy." A few scuttling noises and doors opening and shutting then a couple of guys walked over. One of them had very visible track marks up his arm, the other just looked tweaked.

"How much?" The tweaker asked.

Gert looked over his shoulder at the pathetic thing laying on his bed. "I don't think money is a suitable exchange here. Just go enjoy – and remember you owe me."

Tweaker smiled and walked past Gert into the room.

"And remember – absolutely no smoking – I don't want you to blow this place up too."

They guy turned and grinned a rotten toothed brown smile at Gert. "But that was a blast!" he then turned and walked over to Spencer who was now making odd noises and rolling his head from side to side.

Spencer wasn't completely sure how he got here but this was a nice place. It was very dark but hanging around him like long crystal shards of something he couldn't get his head around was loveliness that he was unable to find a name for.

He thought probably he might have died. This would explain a lot. It would explain the way he was laying on the ceiling looking down at some filthy rent boy on the bed. He wanted so much to stretch his arms out but they seemed to be attached to the – thing he had no name for but it was stopping him from moving. A tendril? A life line maybe. Something so he could pull himself back again…..for now he floated and laughed at the scene going on below him and shook his head to try to get rid of the fog filling his mind.

As he watched the person below him get pulled and pushed and rolled over and touched he started without wanting to – enjoy it – he wanted more of it….and when this person stopped and stood back Spencer let out a long moan of disappointment. He wanted to touch the person down there too but still his hands were where he couldn't move them. He closed his eyes and moved to try to get a better look but this time things were different. The person down there was being pulled back onto his back and Gert was there and Gert was taking money this time and nodding. He wanted to hear the words he wanted to know what this new person was doing but he couldn't concentrate. Again he started to shake his head and let out sounds of disappointment but things worked out differently this time.

Reid was suddenly on the bed looking up at a twitchy young man. He was here for whole different reasons than the last one. The cuffs were detached from the bed and Reid was half carried half dragged to some chains on the wall where he was re-attached. Still he was half dressed and so Gert took the chance now to remove Spencer's jeans and shoes and turn him so he was facing the wall. His hands now above his head at full stretch.

"Having fun? I think you are? I doubt you've ever enjoyed yourself so much in one evening before have you?"

He didn't answer. He wasn't given the chance to answer. The stinking rag was again put over his mouth and nose and held there for a few minutes.

Reid looked at what was happening from across the room. They had him chained against a wall this time and he noted how he was naked from the waist down. He smiled. This person looked nice from the back….maybe a bit skinny.

He let himself have a little laugh again as he watched him pulling at the chains and swaying side to side almost as though he was drunk.

It looked like the whip had small barbs in the end. He could see the way it sliced across the buttocks and dug into the thighs causing little dainty rubies to appear. The deep red lines forming over the backs of his legs also had tiny jewels trying to creep their way out. A big smiley face of rips was appearing slowly but now he couldn't see…..he was spinning laying on the ceiling looking at the cracks as something warm lapped on his back and buttocks and legs and a tongue licked and lapped at him….

Suddenly the pain was there.

He could feel it all and he was back hanging from the chains. Spencer was confused and howling and yelping strange noises and words and now that the mouth had moved away he felt that now familiar sudden coldness as hands grabbed him by the hips and held him still.

-o-o-o-

She was ready to go. She had her jacket on again and was standing looking at Aaron's front door. "Uh."

Hotch put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me call you a cab. I can't have you driving home like this."

Rosie turned to face. "I think I've had a little too much. Do you mind awfully if I just crash on your couch? I don't think I could manage any kind of motion right now."

Hotch smiled. "I have a spare room. You will be safe. There is a lock on the door."

"Thank you Aaron. I would really appreciate that."

-o-o-o-

She finally managed to get to her hands and knees. Her head had been bleeding badly but she reasoned that all head wounds did and as it had stopped it would probably be alright – but the woozy head and the double vision let her know that this was likely a nasty concussion and a hand to the place she had hit her head let her know she needed stitches.

"Well damnit." As she stood and put a hand out to the wall her towel fell off and for the tiniest split of a second as it slipped she felt a fingers running down her spine. As quickly and carefully as she could she picked the towel up again and wrapped it around herself. She went back to the bedroom and pulled on the shorts and vest top he had on earlier. She then looked at the phone.

"I have to call Hotch. He needs to know what's going on here. If I knew what was going on here. She picked up a business card laying on the bedside table and squinted at the phone number on it. With a sigh she punched in the number.

"I need a cab to the local A and E – yes – as soon as possible please." She gave her location and slipped back into her trainers and waited for her lift to the hospital. "Crap." She mumbled as her head began to swim again.

-o-o-o-

He hung there as they took the photographs. They moved him so he had his back to the wall and used the whip again. He could feel it bite into the flesh on his chest and abdomen as it ripped through his shirt. Spencer knew the best thing to do was to keep still and keep his head down. This is what he had been told. If he did that then there would be no pain. Hadn't Taki taught him that much? So why did it feel like they were flaying him alive. He had no howls left in him now. They pulled his face up and took nice shots of his wide open glazed over eyes. They took out camcorders and took moving pictures of different people doing different things.

He heard a discussion but he refused to understand it. His mind was so foggy with ether and so muddled with pain that he couldn't think beyond the rules Taki had given him and the look of disappointment Floyd would have had on his face.

Slowly the people left. The flashes of camera's stopped and the smell of the rag was gone. Someone was wiping Spencer's face with a damp clean cloth and then releasing his hands. He wanted – no needed to go to his hands and knees now. He had to appease Taki and then this would go but he was dragged back to the bed and secured to it by one hand and one ankle.

"Do you smoke?" He was asked.

"Yes." He replied.