Chapter 16
BAU Headquarters
Quantico, VA
December 2005
JJ
They were going in to their second night of trying to find Jeremy Rivers. After the Unsubs first assaults were over they decided to take turns spelling, or at least supporting Morgan in sitting with Spencer and keeping track of everything Jeremy fed them through the connection he and Spencer shared. So far Morgan, Emily, Gideon and even Hotch had endured shifts watching Spencer either stare off into space while he and Jeremy talked, catch what rest he could, or worst of all, mirroring Jeremy's suffering. Now it was her turn to go sit with them.
But as she walked in the world around her changed.
She was standing in Spencer's white country kitchen. Standing in front of her were two men, one tall and slender with wavy, sandy brown hair that fell limply over his collar. He wore a loose plaid shirt over cords and from the ties around his neck and waist a white apron. The one next to him was shorter and just as slender if not more, with darker brown cropped curls, wore jeans and a white t-shirt, and the same kind of apron ties. They were both doing something at the counter. "Remember," Spencer was saying, "Don't work the dough too much. It'll make the scones tough."
"So the butter shouldn't be evenly distributed?" Said a gentle, soft male voice.
"No, it doesn't have to be." Spence replied. "Walnuts will also work in this recipe, as will chocolate chips, but I like pecans and butterscotch."
"Sounds like a great combination."
Somehow, in this dream world, JJ managed to scoot around to see what the two men were doing. Spencer and Jeremy were standing there, making some kind of baked thing, each working on his own pile of ingredients. But as she watched Jeremy's eyes drifted closed and his head nodded forward. "I think I can sleep now." He said.
"Okay." All of a sudden her perspective shifted. Now they were in Spence's living room, in the great pile of floor pillows, between the couch and the fireplace. Jeremy was curled up in a quilt, practically in Spencer's lap, in Spencer's arms. "Sleep." Spence said. "I'll be right here."
Slowly the vision faded.
When JJ opened her eyes she was sitting down, and Emily was standing over her. "You okay?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah." She said, shaking it off. What the hell was that? What could it be? "I think Spence is broadcasting. He's thinking so hard it's projecting into other transmitters."
"Is that even possible?"
"Look at which brain we're talking about." She looked over at Spencer, who was lying on the mat blinking up at the ceiling. He looked so tired. "I've got him for a while."
"Okay. You need help, call."
"I will." JJ went over and stretched out on the mat next to her friend. "Hey."
"Hey."
"I just saw something strange."
"What?"
"You and Jeremy making pecan butterscotch scones."
Spencer smiled thinly. "It's a technique the military teaches. It was used by POW's in World War II and Vietnam to maintain their mental strength. If you can focus your imagination on a task with enough detail you can shut out pain and hunger for a while, endure captivity for longer."
"So you're imagining things with him?"
"Right now the Unsubs have left him alone. I'm trying to keep his mental fortitude up."
"By teaching him how to cook?"
"He wanted to learn. And it's not torturing him with thinking of food, it's only going to be another day or two." His eyes drifted closed again.
"Spence, you need to sleep."
"I will." He said. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Where are we on the case?"
"Garcia is tracking the Unsubs financials to find either the purchase of the house or some of the equipment they're using. We figure it would have to have been sometime in the past year, at least since Roger Bryant was sent to prison. She'll find it; it's just a matter of time."
"I hope we have time." Spencer said. He pulled a pillow under his head.
"I thought Jeremy was hanging in there."
"He is. But what the secondary Unsub keeps doing to him is hard on the heart. The physical heart. And they haven't been feeding him, which is not helping." Spencer closed his eyes again.
"Is he injured at all?"
"No. The primary Unsub...well..."
"Yeah."
"But the secondary Unsub hasn't had any violent contact with him at all. It's amazing what lack of good sleep, lack of food, humiliation and a lot of cold water can do without leaving a single mark."
"What do they want?"
"They want him to act like he loves the primary Unsub, to fulfill the fantasy that the primary rescued him from his mundane life and is setting his true personality free."
"His true personality?"
"Something less than human but more than animal. Non-verbal and entirely sensual. The Unsub keeps referring to him as a 'beautiful creature' and beat him the one time he tried to talk."
"Lovely."
"The secondary is using abusive treatment to break him into that. He's the...the stick to the primary's carrot. They keep promising that if he just gives in it will all stop and he'll have all the comfort he wants."
"What is the secondary getting from this?"
"I suspect a target for his sadistic desires and a paycheck."
"Hired stooge. Makes sense. Jeremy's not giving in?"
"No. He's a lot stronger than he looks on paper. But I think the shared vision is helping him with that."
"It likely is. Couldn't he just play along until we get there?"
"I'm not certain he would mentally survive that. I suspect this is playing in to some issues he still has from childhood. They are promising him love and comfort and a home."
"Abandoned by his family, grew up in the system, I can see that being tempting. But they don't know that he can also get all of that from you."
"Exactly."
"So what have you two made so far?"
"Mac and cheese casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, raspberry muffins and now we're working on scones. We might try bread next." He smiled. "I like baking bread. But he really likes pie."
"Couldn't you cook something healthy?"
"Healthy is overrated. I tried reading stories but it wasn't distracting enough. Baking engages more senses." Spencer smiled. "He's finally asleep."
"You should sleep too."
"Mmm-hmm..."
JJ watched as Spencer drifted to sleep in front of her. Then she pulled up the blanket and moved to the chair at the far side of the room. Penelope had set up a laptop there for people to use when Spencer and Jeremy were sleeping.
JJ had an idea.
"Maybe I can't cook." She muttered to herself. "But I can do takeout like a goddess."
Spencer
I don't want to.
It was only a couple of hours later. Jeremy had woken from nightmares. The realization that he was still captive had powered those transmitters right back to full charge. And that had woken Spencer. You might have to.
I don't want to give them that.
You're not.
It would feel like I am.
I know. But you're getting weaker; you need to go there to survive. If you're worried about me, don't. I would never hold it against you.
Spencer could feel Jeremy's tears starting to fall. I know. I just wanted it to be real, you know?
It will be, I promise. We're getting closer. We will get you out of there.
There was nothing for a long moment. Then...It will be, huh?
If there was one thing Spencer always wanted it was love. He loved people so hard and so deeply, so much so that they never understood, that they never understood how cruel it was to leave. But now Jeremy could feel just how much was there, all the love he ever wanted or needed. Yeah, it will be.
No matter what?
No matter what.
Okay, what do I have to do?