Chapter 16

BAU Headquarters
Quantico, VA

December 2005

Spencer

Thirty-six hours.

Spencer didn't know how Jeremy was hanging on. Indulging the Unsubs fantasy had so far prevented another molestation, another rape, but now there was something new going on. Spencer hissed as he felt a sharp pain over his eye. But it wasn't his, it was Jeremy's. Owwww!

At least they're being very sanitary. And piercings can come out and heal without much scarring. We can have a doctor be sure of that. Unless you want to keep them.

No thank you. I have nothing against body art but it is just not my thing. Oh fuck, not my nose!

Septum?

No, the side.

This shouldn't be that bad.

There was a pause, then a sharp pain. Owww!

Spencer's eyes were running from the empathetic pain. Not my thing either.

For you? Or you don't want a diamond encrusted creature to play with.

Both thanks. Is that cleaning solution? Is he really using diamonds?

Yes. It looks like both sides of my lower lip are next. What are the chances of them going lower?

Unfortunately good. He wants something that doesn't look quite human.

Yeah, well, he's getting that. Oh shit, here we go.

Just as Spencer winced away from the sharp pain in his mouth he heard Morgan hang up the phone. "Kid." He said. "We've got the address, we're going. Baby girl is going to sit with you."

"I'm going with you."

"Reid, you haven't slept. Garcia will bring you to the hospital when we're on our way."

"I. Am going. With you."

What's that? What just happened?

I'll tell you in a little bit.

Outside Potomac, MD

Hotch made him hang back. "You're not on this case." He said. "If anyone asks you're a family member."

But that just meant that Morgan went in first. They found the primary in the kitchen, draining a bottle of water, likely to rehydrate himself after his recent romp, and talking on the phone. Thankfully they had him and his two bodyguards by surprise. A wheeler dealer business type with too much money and too much power and a law degree.

"He's mine, you know." He said to Hotch with a confident smile.

"No, he's not." Hotch replied.

"He's here of his own free will. Ask him."

Morgan lead the second team further into the large, empty house. "Where kid?" He asked.

"Upstairs." Spencer replied through gritted teeth. Jeremy was just going into the last hour of this cycle and he was not doing well. Spencer had been fighting off debilitating stomach cramps for the past hour on top of the pain from the fresh piercings. Pretending to give in to the primary's demands hadn't softened the treatment from the secondary one bit.

As they started up the stairs they heard the screaming start. Spencer hissed as his skin started to burn.

Spencer hung back and let Morgan and the others go in first. There was the expected yelling, the cursing, the noisy sound of the secondary Unsub being taken, and over all of it the screaming. It took nearly everything Spencer had not to push the SWAT team out of the way and find the source. But it was only moments before the bustle of the arrest started slacking off. "Reid!" Morgan called out.

Spencer ran. The large, opulent bathroom in what had to be the master suite had a giant shower alcove. Shower heads were mounted on every wall. They could fill the space with a strong, almost needle sharp spray. It would be a decadent sensation when used as intended, like walking into a strong, warm rainstorm. But with snow three feet deep outside if the water was turned to full cold it would be torture.

Practically hanging from cuffed wrists in the center of the space was a man. He didn't quite look human, slender and light and long limbed, with bits of golden metal and jewels distorting his features and with his skin so pale from the cold it was faintly blue. Spencer quickly wrapped Jeremy in a towel as Morgan got him down. Jeremy leaned heavily against him, shivering as he tried desperately to get warm. This had not been the only use of cold water this day, his core body temperature was dangerously low, borderline hypothermic. "You're going to be okay." Spencer said. "We'll get you warm."

Jeremy turned to look at him with wide, constricted eyes. "I thought you were a voice in my head." He said.

"Mom calls me Percival for a reason." He replied. Yes, this was a rescue. He held the younger man close to him and looked over at the other men in the room. "Medic?"

"On their way in." Morgan replied.

Spencer landed on the floor of the bathroom, with Jeremy all but falling into his lap. He put a hand on the younger man's abdomen; carefully avoiding the glittering jewels embedded in his skin, and tried to rub some of the lingering soreness away. "Hurts." Jeremy murmured.

"I know. You'll be okay."

"Take me home?"

"Hospital first, but then yeah, we're going home." Jeremy sighed and closed his eyes and rested heavily against Spencer's shoulder. That was all right, Spencer had no desire to go anywhere. But the medics were coming up the stairs. "He's still shivering." He said to the medics.

"Good. Let's not move him just yet." The lead medic replied. He placed the oxygen mask over Jeremy's face while they worked.

Spencer nodded. Hypothermic patients were at a high risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Gentle handling until Jeremy was warmer would help avoid that. So he ever so carefully helped wrap a thick, warm blanket around the young man in his lap and tucked hot packs in next to his skin. He couldn't help but smile a little as Jeremy groaned and started to relax as his body started to warm again. But his heart was still beating too fast...

"I'm telling you, he's mine!" The Unsub must have broken free of the agents downstairs, now he came running up and into the room where they were working. "Tell them you're mine!" He ordered even as Morgan moved to subdue him.

Jeremy opened his eyes and pulled the oxygen mask off but otherwise didn't move. "I am not yours you son-of-a..." For the next five solid minutes Jeremy cursed the Unsub heavily and thoroughly, so much so that seasoned law enforcement officers were blinking from some of the language. It quickly became apparent that while he might be slight and appeared delicate he had remarkable levels of endurance and fortitude and a mouth that would make a sailor blush.

Which thoroughly shocked the Unsub. He too had likely been fooled by the proper, polite librarian. "But...But you're mine!"

"He was never yours." Gideon pointed out in that calm, overwhelming way of his. "Are you familiar with the alien virus?" He waited until the Unsubs micro expressions changed, indicating that he knew... "Yes, Dr. Reid has been in communication with Dr. Rivers this entire time."

Spencer knew he shouldn't say anything, he should leave this up to Hotch and Gideon, he should just keep his mouth shut. But this was personal, he couldn't help it. "You really call that foreplay?" He asked the Unsub.

The Unsub's jaw dropped. "No! This is not possible! Dorthea's men were following him for months, they would have told me!...She...She told me he was alone, he needed someone to look after him, to keep him safe. I saw she was right, I..."

"Which answers that question." Gideon said.

"Get him out of here." Hotch replied to the others.

Spencer watched as the Unsub was hustled away. He no longer mattered. What mattered was that Jeremy was starting to feel very relaxed and comfortable. "What did you give him?" He asked the medics as he put the mask back over Jeremy's face.

"Warm fluids and glucose." The medic replied. "Everything else can hold until we get to the ER."

"...feels wonderful..." Jeremy murmured behind the mask.

"His pulse is stronger. Let's bundle him up and move him."

Spencer helped shift Jeremy on to the gurney but when he stood up the world dipped and spun a bit. Of course the team was immediately there. "Uhhh, when was the last time you slept?" Emily asked.

"Or ate anything?" JJ asked in reply.

"Ummm..." Spencer couldn't come up with a good answer to either question.

The medic took his arm. "Know what? Let's move you too."

Washington Medical Center
Washington DC

December 2005

"I hold Dr. Reid's power of attorney." Hotch asked when the doctor came out into the waiting room. "What's wrong?"

"Exhaustion and mild dehydration. He should be fine by morning. I'd send him home but with them both having an active case of alien virus it would be better for him to stay with Dr. Rivers."

"Can you tell us what happened with Dr. Rivers?" Morgan asked. "In general."

"Reid is the closest thing he has to next-of-kin." Gideon added. "We already know the rape kit will be positive."

The doctor sighed. "Mild hypothermia and pretty severe hypoglycemia. Also some intestinal issues. Nothing that won't resolve in a few days. I'm keeping him overnight for observation but I'd like him to check back in in a day or two. Psychologically..."

"We can help them work with that." Hotch replied.

"Are you going to be okay here?" Penelope asked.

"Oh yeah." Morgan replied. "We're going to have a guard at the door, just in case anyone else in the Bryant family gets any ideas. I just don't want to leave my little brothers alone tonight."

"Brothers?"

He grinned. "Oh come on."

"No no, I agree." She kissed his cheek. "Call if you need?"

"I will momma." Morgan watched her go and then stepped into the hospital room. Spencer was snoring lightly in the near bed with one IV going, which would rehydrate him nicely. Jeremy had a few more things going, but he was snugged under a pile of blankets in the far bed, out like a light.

There was a recliner for visitors in the room. Morgan slipped off his own shoes, fetched a blanket, and made himself reasonably comfortable. The room was quiet, both of his brothers were tucked in, safe and warm...

Everything was exactly as it should be.

Sometime in the middle of the night Spencer got up to find the bathroom. On the way back he noticed a pair of eyes open. "Hi." He whispered.

"Hi." Jeremy replied. He scooted back in invitation.

Spencer accepted, sitting on the edge of the bed, then reading Jeremy's intention and lying down beside him. Instantly the younger man pressed against him, insisting on being held. "You should sleep more." Spencer murmured.

"Mmm-hmm." Jeremy buried his head into Spencer's chest. "You know, in all of those stories they never tell you what happened at the evil king's castle before the hero gets there."

"They never tell you how long it takes to get to happily ever after." Spencer replied. "But they always get there."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

Spencer held his love as his tears soaked his shirt, and they both slowly drifted to sleep.