Penelope and Derek came back to the table after they'd finished on the dance floor about fifteen minutes after Mickey had left.
"Where's the birthday girl?" Derek asked, noticing Spencer's eyes were glued across the room.
"The bathroom," He said, sounding worried. "But she's been gone a long time."
"How long?" Penelope asked.
"Almost twenty minutes now."
Everyone agreed it was strange, but Melissa, the only non FBI member of the group, seemed unphased.
"Maybe she left and forgot to say goodbye?"
"She wouldn't leave without her phone," Penelope pointed to where it was still sitting on the table as Spencer nodded.
"Or without me," He insisted. "She would have told me if she was ready to go home."
"I'll go check on her," Penelope offered, but as she walked away Spencer followed.
It didn't take them long to get through the crowds, but just as they were about to turn down the hallway that the bathrooms were in, someone shoved past them as he ran towards the door.
"I swear that was..." Spencer started to tell Penelope who he'd thought he'd just seen, but when he took his eyes off the man to turn back to face her, he found she was already gone, running towards the women's bathroom.
She'd obviously seen him too.
"Spencer!" She cried as she pushed open the door. "Get Morgan! Call an ambulance!"
Spencer's eyes widened at the panic in her voice as he pulled out his phone, running down the hallway towards her. There, in a heap on the floor, was his girlfriend. Unconscious, laying next to her own vomit, bruises around her neck, her chest barely moving with each laboured breath she took.
He quickly dialled 911 as Penelope checked her friends pulse and vital signs to the best of her ability.
"I need an ambulance now!" Spencer barked into the phone, fighting back the tears in his eyes. "I'm at Flash Nightclub on Florida Avenue and my girlfriend's unconscious, I think she's been drugged, she's barely breathing."
He quickly sent a text message to Morgan as well once it was established that an ambulance was on the way before falling to his knees next to Penelope. He called Mickey's name as he stroked her hair, moving it out of the puddle next to her, begging her to wake up. Moments later, Derek and someone who announced he was the manager barged in with the rest of their group behind them.
"What happened to her?" Morgan asked.
"Nick was here," Penelope whimpered. "He did this, I know he did."
"We need to get her outside," The manager insisted. "I can't have paramedics marching through here, it'll kill everyone's buzz."
Spencer spun around to face him with an anger none of his team had ever seen on his face before.
"My girlfriend is dying on the floor of your bathroom and you're worried about killing the buzz?!" He snarled at the man by the door, but Morgan put a hand on his shoulder.
"It'll be easier to get her to the ambulance than have them come through all those people."
Spencer reluctantly nodded, his blood still boiling as he stood up, relieved when Morgan bent down to pull Mickey into his arms. There was no way he'd be able to carry her while her body was just dead weight so he was glad Morgan had spared him the embarrassment of letting him try.
The group headed out, Penelope leading the way to clear a path through the crowds, Spencer staying as close to Mickey as possible while the rest of them followed behind.
The ambulance was just pulling up as they got outside and Morgan quickly loaded her into the back where the paramedics could assess the situation as Spencer climbed in next to her, holding onto her hand for dear life. Morgan gave his shoulder a squeeze before jumping out of the ambulance and turning to face the large number of people waiting to get in the club.
"Listen up folks!" He shouted to get everyone's attention. "My name's Derek Morgan and I'm with the FBI, that woman just got drugged inside this club tonight so make sure you're all very careful and watching your drinks closely!"
Whispers erupted amongst the crowd and Derek smiled to himself as almost half of them left the line immediately. If the manager wasn't going to a medical emergency seriously, especially when it involved his friends, then he would do everything he could to make sure the business didn't succeed.
The sound of quiet sobs drew his attention back to the group that had followed him out of the club and his eyes settled on Penelope as she cried in Kevin's arms.
"Hey, baby girl," He said softly as he approached her. "She's gonna be alright. She's a fighter."
"I told her not to worry about it," She sobbed. "I said it was just a coincidence and not to let him control her life again and he attacked her. He did God knows what to her and could have killed her!"
"But he didn't," Derek insisted as the doors to the back of the ambulance closed and it sped away with it's lights and sirens blasting. "You sound exactly like she did when you got shot and would you have wanted her to blame herself for that?"
"No!" Penelope shook her head, horrified by the idea. "That wasn't her fault at all."
"Exactly," Derek smiled. "Now, let's go follow that ambulance to the hospital while you tell me everything you know about this 'Nick' guy."
She nodded weakly as she let go of her boyfriend who she'd been clinging to.
"I'll drive," JJ offered. "Our car's just around the corner."
"The rest of us can get a taxi and meet you there," Emily piped up.
Derek nodded and reached for Penelope's hand before leading her after JJ.
I woke up feeling fuzzy and confused to the sound of what I realized was a heart rate monitor. I blinked my eyes open and felt someone grip my hand.
"Mikayla?" Spencer asked softly. "Mickey, are you awake?"
I shifted my head to the side, seeing him there next to my bed, but my vision was still blurry and when I tried to speak, nothing came out so I simply nodded my head.
Spencer quickly passed my some water, holding it to my chin and lifting it for me to sip.
"What happened?" I managed to croak out afterwards.
"That's what we were hoping you'd be able to tell us," He said, his voice still low and calming. "You overdosed on GHB, I think Nick attacked you."
"Nick? I didn't see Nick..."
I was confused and the more confused I got, the more scared I was. I couldn't remember anything after we got to the club and judging from my surroundings something very bad happened to me and I had no idea what.
"I saw him when I came to find you," He told me, still squeezing my hand. "Sometimes GHB can leave you with retrograde amnesia so it's not surprising that you can't remember anything."
"It's surprising to me!"
My hoarse voice broke as I snapped at Spencer, feeling tears fill my eyes. A look of what could only be described as grief filled Spencer's face as he shook his head.
"No, no, don't cry," He begged. "I'm so sorry, Mikayla. I should have been there for you, I should have checked on you sooner, I should have kept a closer eye on him after we saw him that day."
"Checked on me where?" I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Am I okay? Why is my throat so sore?"
"You're alright," He nodded. "You weren't breathing well when we got to the hospital so they intubated you until you could breathe properly on your own."
"I'm scared," I croaked out. "I want to go home."
Spencer leaned over to place a long, lingering kiss on my forehead. When he pulled back I noticed how exhausted he looked and realized I didn't even know how long I'd been in hospital for.
"I'll go find a doctor and we'll see how long they want to keep you."
I wanted to protest, I didn't want him to leave me for even a second, but I knew a doctor would have to approve it if I had any chance of leaving.
I wasn't alone for long though because Penelope burst in the door with Derek hot on her trail.
"Garcia, Spencer said to wait until the doctor's seen her," He scolded as she threw her arms around me.
"I don't care what Spencer said," She huffed against my ear. "I have to see for myself that she's awake and okay."
"I am," I said, my voice still hoarse. "What happened to me?"
"I don't know, hun," She said sadly before repeating what Spencer had said. "Nick was there though, I saw him when I came to find you."
"Where did I go?"
"You really don't remember any of it?" Derek asked, concern evident on his face as I shook my head. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember us going to the club and having our first drink, but nothing's clear after that..."
"So maybe he drugged you at the first bar and followed us to the club..."
"Not necessarily," Spencer corrected Derek as he came back into the room with a doctor in tow. "One of the effects of GHB is retrograde amnesia which means she might not remember things from before she was drugged as well as after."
"Dr. Reid is correct," The doctor nodded. "How're you feeling, Mikayla?"
"Confused, scared, fuzzy, like I've been run over a few times," I admitted, tearing up again. "I just want to know what happened to me."
"Well what I can tell you for sure is that you were drugged, strangled and two of your ribs were cracked," He told me, explaining why my chest ached so much, but not how it came to be. "I just need to check all your vitals and do some tests, but we will need to keep you in for at least the rest of the day to get your fluids up and make sure the overdose hasn't done too much damage."
"How long have I been here?"
He checked his watch and was about to answer, but Spencer beat him to it.
"Seven hours and thirty-nine minutes."
I frowned at his answer even though I was relieved I hadn't lost days of my life.
"Then why do you look like you've not slept in weeks?" I asked him. "I'm pretty sure you look worse than I do."
There was a chuckle throughout the group and even Spencer had a weak smile on his face.
"I was so worried," He admitted. "I should've protected you. I let you down."
I shook my head, but instantly regretted it as the muscles in my neck spasmed in pain.
"You didn't let me down," I insisted. "None of you did. I should've told you sooner..."
A tense silence filled the room as suspicions of what I meant filled the room.
"What're you talking about, Mick?" Penelope asked, a very stern look on her face.
Luckily for me, the doctor interrupted.
"I know you have a job to do as well," He told the FBI agents in the room. "But I need to check her over first."
Derek ushered a protesting Penelope out of the room as Spencer nodded and returned to the chair next to my bed. He had an unreadable look on his face, similar to the one he had the night I'd first seen Nick. It was a look of frustration, but also sympathy. I watched him the entire time the doctor did his tests, but he didn't look at me, he just stared off into space and I could practically hear his thoughts spinning around his head.
Once the doctor left the room with ominous parting words of leaving me to decide if I wanted a rape kit done, he was immediately replaced with Penelope, Derek and Emily. JJ and Will had apparently been there up until a few hours ago, but with JJ being pregnant, she was exhausted enough.
"Thanks for coming, guys," I forced a smile, touched that they all cared enough to spend their night here.
"Of course," Emily nodded. "How're you feeling?"
"I've been better."
I shrugged and was about to elaborate, but Penelope cut me off.
"What did you mean when you said you should have told Spencer something sooner?"
I could've lied and said that I just meant about the whole Nick situation so we would've been more prepared for this to happen, but seeing as I had no memory of what had happened to me, there could be a real threat to my life and I didn't want to hide it anymore.
"He started sending me letters and pictures again," I confessed, looking down at my hands. "And I saw him all the time. I didn't just think that I had like last time, I saw him for real. He'd always give me this creepy smirk and wave and then last night or I guess the night before, he cornered me when I left work, said something about catching up and that he'd see me soon. I didn't think he meant anything like this..."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Spencer asked, his voice soft as he looked at me like a puppy that had just been kicked. "You promised that you'd tell me if he contacted you again."
"I know," I nodded, tearing up as I cleared my throat to try and get rid of the hoarseness. "I was going to, I swear. I just wanted to enjoy my birthday without making it all about him. And I didn't even read most of the letters he sent me, I hoped if I ignored him then he would just go away."
"Stalkers tend to escalate when they feel like they're being ignored," Derek informed me when Spencer stayed quiet. "They don't back off unless they get the validation that they want."
"Well I learnt that the hard way," I sniffled. "I just want to know what he did to me."
"You guys could do that thing!" Penelope suggested excitedly. "Where you make the victims remember!"
"A cognitive interview?" Emily questioned as Penelope eagerly nodded her head. "It might work..."
"We usually only use it on victims who have suppressed their memories due to the trauma they faced," Derek pointed out. "It might not work as well if your memory loss was caused by a drug."
"Think of your brain like a movie camera," Spencer explained, finally breaking his silence. "The GHB may have switched it off so it's almost like it wasn't recording or the tape was immediately erased."
"But it might work?" I asked hopefully, desperate to try anything.
"It could," Emily nodded. "It's worth a shot."
I looked over at Spencer, wanting his opinion on the situation. He knew from my glance what I was asking, but simply shrugged.
"Your memory may come back over time," He informed me. "But if you want to know sooner, this is probably the best chance you have."
"It might not be things you want to know though, Mickey," Penelope piped up. "Ignorance can some times be bliss..."
"I need to know," I insisted. "I'll do it."
It took a while to get everything organized, but it was eventually decided that Emily would be the one to lead me through the interview. They thought it would be easier for me to relax with a woman, depending on what was brought up and even though I wanted Spencer in the room, everyone agreed it would be better for him just to listen. He fussed around anxiously as Emily sat on the side of my bed.
"Okay, so just try to relax," Emily started. "It's as much about the things you sensed as the things you saw. Are you ready?"
I took a deep breath before nodding my head and closing my eyes.
"What's the first thing you remember?"
I thought back before I answered.
"I remember getting to Flash," I told her. "It's not very busy, but people are coming in quite quickly. I remember Derek and Will making fun of how drunk girls get so affectionate with each other and I remember thinking how happy I was to be with you all."
"Good," She told me. "So you're in the club, how're you feeling?"
"A bit tipsy," I admitted. "I can feel the alcohol, but I'm definitely not drunk."
"Who're you sitting next to?" She guided me. "Are there any faces in the crowd that stand out to you?"
"Melissa is next to me," I said confidently. "She's pointing to a man on the dance floor so we decide to join him. I think that dancing will stop me from getting drunk too fast."
"Perfect, Mickey, you're doing great," She praised me. "So you danced with Melissa and then went straight back to the table?"
"No," I shook my head, surprised by what was coming back to me. "We get a drink first. She wanted to buy me one for my birthday, but I can only drink about half of it. I don't feel well."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm dizzy and jittery. I feel hot, I think it's too crowded in the club," I confessed, feeling my heart rate pick up as we started getting to the bad part of the evening. "I tell Spencer I'm going to the bathroom because I need some air."
"Does anyone stop you on your way?" She asked. "Or follow you?"
"No," I shook my head again. "No one stops me and the bathroom is empty."
"So what do you do? Do you use the toilet?"
"I go to the sink," I continued. "I'm dizzy, I have to hold the counter, but I turn the tap on and splash my face. When I look up he's there, closing the door."
"Who's there?"
"Nick," I gasp, tensing at the image of him in my newfound memory. I feel Spencer's hand slip into mine, squeezing it gently as I keep going. "He looks smug and I'm so scared, but I'm trying not to show it."
"Does he say anything to you?"
I nodded and swallowed hard.
"He says he warned me that he would see me soon," I repeated what I'd told them already. "He's moving towards me and I'm backing away, but there's no where to go. I can't escape him and I feel so weak."
A sob fell from my lips as the feeling of helplessness rushed back to me, but Spencer's warm hand comforted me as he brushed his thumb over my knuckles and kept me focused.
"It's okay," Emily assured me. "He can't hurt you here. Did you say anything back to him?"
"I asked him why he was doing this to me, but I'm confused," I explained. "He says I was his first, but I wasn't. I couldn't have been. And he clarifies..."
Tears were streaming down my cheeks as his words now echoed in my head, but Emily calmly urged me to elaborate.
"He's done it again, to other girls," I continued. "I wasn't his first time having sex, I was his first victim. There's other girls. I wasn't strong enough to press charges and now he's hurt other people like he's hurt me."
"How do you react to that information?"
"I'm angry," I tell her. "I called him a rapist and now he's angry too. His hand's moved to my throat and I don't feel well. He's squeezing. I can't breathe, I want him to stop, but I'm not strong enough."
"But he does stop, why?"
"I don't know," I admit as images are flooding back to me faster and faster. "But he throws me to the floor and I'm gasping for air. My stomach is turning and the coughing makes me throw up, but I can't move. I have vomit on my face and it's in my hair, but I can't move away from it. He's laughing at me, he thinks it's funny how helpless I am, but I feel
relieved because he says I'm too old for him, too used up. He's not gonna rape me...He didn't rape me!"
I opened my eyes as my sobs took over, this time with more relief that he hadn't hurt me like that again. I glanced over at Spencer and saw he was visibly less tense at that news as well as he lifted my hand to press it against his lips.
"Do you remember anything else?" Emily pressed. "Did he tell you if you'd be seeing him again?"
"I don't remember that," I frowned, fighting back more tears as the last thing I saw before I passed out crossed my mind. "But he took my necklace. He smashed it, said he wanted to warn you that I'm not worth it."
"You are. You are worth it," Spencer insisted, kissing my hand again. "We'll get you another one, don't worry about it."
"That's not the point," I cried. "I loved that one and he took it from me."
Emily offered me a sympathetic smile as she patted my leg gently.
"He could have taken a lot more than that," She reminded me. "I'm glad you're okay."
I knew what she meant by those words. She was glad he hadn't hurt me again in the same way that he had all those years ago. Even if it was still a horrible night, it could have been a lot worse.
Armed with the new information that I'd given her, she went out to tell the others, leaving Spencer and I alone once again.
"You should have told me."
His voice was quiet, but the hurt was clear and I nodded my head, knowing he was right.
"I know," I agreed. "But he never went this far before, I didn't expect it. I thought I could handle it."
"When did you get the first letter?"
"A few weeks after you got back from that case in New York when Hotch got hurt," I told him, cringing as I knew how long ago that was. "I didn't want to add to your stress."
"I would have been stressed," He admitted. "But it would have been worth it because I could have kept you safe. You promised me, don't you trust me?"
"I do," I insisted, squeezing his hand since there wasn't much else I could do in my weak state. "I trust you one hundred percent. I just thought he would go away if I ignored him."
"You should have told me," He repeated and I realized that this was something that would take him a while to get over. "But he'll go away this time. I'll make sure of it."
I lifted his hand to my lips to kiss it like he had with mine moments before and as I saw his team, our friends, huddled together in the hallway, no doubt making a plan of how to take him down, I knew that this would be over soon enough. Nick wasn't a smart man. He was impulsive and foolish and absolutely no match for the BAU.
Note: It's amazing what procrastination can do! No packing has been accomplished, but I've written quite a bit today so I figured I'll post another chapter now and one again tomorrow before I leave. Enjoy!
