Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Author's Note(s): A massive thanks torogueandkurt, SLITH, tearbos, didi2909, Carla-Leigh, RavennaNightwind and Dr. Cameron and everyone else who is still reading for your support :) I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I'll admit that writing this has become a bit of a chore, but fear not, I shall persevere and finish it.

Easier to Lie
Chapter 15

Somewhere between the car and the park, Spencer had overtaken JJ and she was walking a couple of steps behind him. At least that was the case if the sound of soft footsteps following him were anything to go on. Spencer wasn't really thinking about that at the moment though, for he had only just realised that it was absolutely freezing cold. It didn't matter how tightly he pulled his brown jacket around himself, nothing helped to fight off the bitter chill.

He wished JJ hadn't insisted on being stubborn and wandering off on their own. In the dark no less. The only comfort Spencer was drawing was from the constant sound of someone, JJ, trailing him.

Spencer suppressed a yawn, he was exhausted. Not only had he not slept in a stupidly long time, but giving up drugs was bloody hard work. As if his job wasn't difficult enough as it was, there had to be all these other problems piling up on top of it as well. A holiday was definitely in order for the entire team at some point in the near future. A proper holiday though, not a suspension or a couple of weeks off to recover from work related injuries. Somewhere sunny where the likelihood of a sudden serial killing spree was small to none.

The heavy footsteps still followed behind him and Spencer moved his flashlight to look between the trees.

Suddenly there was a piercing cry somewhere to the left of him. Reid spun around to the direction of the voice.

"JJ, did you hear that?"

JJ didn't answer him.

The shout rang out again. Spencer's first reaction was utter bewilderment, it sounded exactly like JJ and it sounded awfully like she was shouting his name, but that wasn't possible. JJ was behind him. But then again, since when had JJ been so heavy footed?

Before he could react, two strong hands wrapped themselves around his neck, effectively preventing him from crying out. He tried to turn and fight off his attacker, however his erratic punching, kicking and biting was not enough to overcome the sheer brute force of the man holding on to him. Spencer tried to clear his head and think of a logical means of escape, but the panic and the fact that the man was now dragging him by the scruff of his neck through the woods prevented him from doing so.

"Stop struggling," the man said in a low voice, "Trust me. This is for your own good."

Spencer squeaked and tried to reply, but one of the man's hands had moved to cover his mouth, making it difficult for Spencer to breathe, let alone speak. So he took the time to study his captor in hopes of finding some sort of weakness. The man was tall and strong, but the thing that struck Spencer the most was the way his eyes darted around and the way he moved like a caged animal.

They were in a very small clearing now. The man threw Spencer down at the foot of a smallish tree before fishing a long coil of thin rope from his backpack and wrapping it around both the tree and Spencer. As soon as Spencer found his voice, he let out a shrill cry, hoping to let JJ know where he was. The man reacted quickly though and struck Spencer painfully across the face, effectively silencing him for the time being. He gasped in pain and tried not to whimper.

He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to clear his head, whilst he would much rather have rubbed his face where the large man had struck him, he instead found his voice and tentatively started to talk to the man.

"Who are you?" he said in a quite voice.

The man grunted and for a moment Spencer thought he wasn't going to reply, then, "You can call me Dylan."

"Why have you brought me here, Dylan?" Spencer said in the same quite voice, he didn't want to agitate his captor again.

"Where is your girlfriend?" said Dylan, look furtively between the trees.

Hesitating for only a second, Spencer replied, "I don't have a girlfriend."

This simply seemed to anger the man more, and he sprung towards Spencer again, obviously with the intention of hitting him again.

"Wait!" cried Spencer as loudly as he could, "Stop. The woman I was with isn't my girlfriend."

His shout seemed to distract Dylan for long enough for him to forget his anger, the manic glint in his eye remained though. He began to pace in front of Spencer.

"You don't have to lie to me, son. Just tell me where she is," he said in what he obviously thought was a kind voice.

"I'm here with you, so even if she was my girlfriend, I couldn't tell you where she was," Spencer pointed out, trying to keep his panic at bay. Although the likelihood of him being to reason his way out of this one was slim, he was still going to try.

"It's okay, boy. You can tell me. It will be for your own good. I promise. She'll only break your heart anyway," said Dylan, still pacing.

"Maybe if you untied me, we could look for her together," suggested Spencer hopefully. He obviously had no intention of leading this man to JJ, but maybe he could escape if he were untied.

Dylan shook his head sadly, "I don't think so, son. Why don't you just point me in the right direction and I'll bring her to you?"

Casting his mind about, Spencer tried to think of a way to change the subject, "What is your second name, Dylan?"

"Drayton-Corbett," the man grunted, then he added darkly, "Or at least it would have been."

"Would have been?" asked Spencer before he could stop himself.

"Yes," Dylan blurted out violently, "If that stupid whore hadn't ran off with our bloody dentist it would have been!"

"Who-Who's that? Your fiancé?"

"Yes," said Dylan, again using the same vicious tone, "She broke my heart, just like women always do."

"Is that why you are killing couples?" asked Spencer softly.

Dylan obviously did not like this line of questioning, for his pacing seemed to quicken and become more agitated, "I'm saving them from the inevitable heartbreak!" he cried, acting quite hysterical, "It hurts so much more than any physical pain, I'm doing them a favour!"

"Not all relationships end badly you know," Spencer pointed out.

The large man snorted, "Oh yea? You married?"

Spencer faltered, "Well no…"

"Your mom and dad still together?"

"No, but-"

"See! All relationships end with one person, usually the man, completely destroyed," interrupted Dylan furiously. For a second, Spencer feared he was going to hit him again, but instead he just kicked his backpack, sending some of the contents sprawling across the floor.

It was true that Spencer had never been in a successful relationship before, it was something he dwelled on often. He had had girlfriends, but they had been few and far between. He suppressed a sigh and the bitter pang of loneliness that often accompanied these thoughts. As he looked up to watch Dylan angrily throw his things back into his bag, something caught his eye. JJ and Prentiss where slowly making their way over to the clearing, being very careful not to be seen. He felt a surge of hope.

Dylan stood up again, bag in hand, "Well then, I'm off to look for your girlfriend-"

"FREEZE!" shouted JJ and Prentiss simultaneously, holding their guns in front of them, trained at Dylan's head.

Rather than freeze though, the man rapidly drew a long knife from his bag and pressed it to Spencer's neck, while spinning himself around so he was effectively using the tree and Spencer himself as a shield.

Spencer gulped.

--

Author's Note(s): For some reason I don't feel this flows quite as well as other chapters have done…I'm at a loss about how to fix it though so I'm afraid it will just have to make do.

Slightly random note: How do you feel about the potential up and coming pregnancy storyline? I'm feeling rather ambivalent about it.

Hope you liked this chapter,

Rubiks