Long time no see? Sorry it took so long. Had a bit of trouble with the 'waking from unconsciousness' bit.
Happy White Day!
CHAPTER NINE
DOCTOR WHO?
Spencer drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness. During the few moments of consciousness, he was aware of the ropes binding him, the mouth gag around his jaw and the gentle rumble of a car engine. He was in a small, cooped-up place, perhaps the boot of a car. He lurched in the confined space as the world around him shook. Spencer bumped his head against the metal roof of his prison and sank into unconsciousness again.
When Spencer finally regained consciousness, he was aware that he was standing up, his arms were bound above his head with metal manacles, his head hurt from the blow he'd received not too long ago and his eyelids felt heavy as he tried to lift them open. With much effort, he opened his eyes, only for it to be too bright, causing him to close them again, blinking with effort as his pupils constricted in response to the excess light. His feet, though touching the ground, were barely holding him up and the entire weight of his body was on his wrists, where he was bound by the steel manacles that dug into his skin, bruising it. Spencer placed his feet firmly on the ground, relieving his wrists of the pain and opened his eyes, now adjusted, to glance around. He saw nothing more than dark recesses and swinging lights. He opened his mouth and managed to form one word, the only word that mattered to him at the moment.
"Sadie?"
Almost immediately, his visual field was occupied by a tall, well-built man, at least half as wide as he was tall, wearing a dark suit that was one size too small for him. Spencer, with the light in his eyes, could not see the man's face, or make out any feature to distinguish him from another, except that he had a square face and a short, military-style hair cut.
"Welcome" the man said, his voice harsh and cold, booming off the walls and Spencer could hear the wicked grin in that one word, which was filled with anger and hate.
"Where is the remote?" the man asked. Spencer's head, still not entirely under voluntary control, went from hanging front to back, as the man shook him firmly.
"Don't know" Spencer said groggily, his head still aching and his mind still processing his surroundings.
Spencer felt the ribs in the left side of his chest crack under the man's fist as it collided with his chest harshly, immediately, almost efficiently. Spencer coughed, his breath knocked out of him and forced his eyes open to look at the man. The man's face was now mere inches from Spencer's and Spencer finally saw the dark eyes, the set jaw and the scars that were his distinguishing feature.
"Another try?" the man said, and Spencer noted that he had a faint accent, French, perhaps.
"Where has zee hid the remote?" he asked. Spencer, now wincing slightly to hold back his scream of pain, shook his head.
"I don't know anything, about a remote" he said, managing to get out all the words without slurring them, or screaming with pain.
The hand that collided with his stomach was hard and knew exactly how much pressure would be required to effectively wound him. Spencer felt the blow in his abdomen, right over his kidney, sending shooting pains from the damaged nerves, making it painful not just there, but along his spine too. He coughed again and this time, there were streaks of blood with bitter yellow bile that he spat out. Spencer's vision was speckled with dark spots as he looked up. He knew he had a few minutes before he lost consciousness. The man must've ruptured his spleen with that blow, he concluded.
"Where is it?!" the man demanded and shook Spencer by his shoulder again. But then, all went black and Spencer lost all consciousness again.
The voices surrounded him. Spencer half-thought he was dying, because the lights over his head and the dark figures approaching were so familiar. The dark figures over his head said nothing. And yet, Spencer was sure he heard a distant, low voice speak, not directly to him, but in his vicinity.
"Even monsters under the bed have nightmares. Don't you, monster?"
"Dear me. Got some cowboys in here"
"You'll like this bit"
"Did you find her?"
"It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up"
"Oh, you never want to listen to reason"
"Call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?"
"I'm not going to lose her"
"Sadie"
"Time to go home, A shor"
As Spencer stumbled through these phrases, his mind telling him he'd heard them before, and yet, not able to pinpoint his memories. His memories were vague and he could no longer tell real from surreal. Spencer saw the light being flashed in his eyes, and someone asking him his name, and what day it was. He didn't know if he answered the person, only that the dreams overtook him before he could figure anything out.
The smell of bleach and citrus disinfectant filled the air. Little streaks of sunlight came through the open window, and fell on the floor, and the bed, in small, ever-moving blobs. A gentle breeze moved the leaves in the trees and brought into the room the scent of Autumn: of fallen leaves, grass and traces of rainfall. A constant beeping sound was the only disturbance in the silence of the room.
Spencer woke up in a firm bed, wearing only a gown, the kind that was fastened in the back with ties. His mind raced as he regained consciousness and suddenly, he was aware of all that had transpired before his arrival here. He was punched, interrogated and chained to a ceiling. But that was secondary, what was primary was the clear green eyes that he hadn't seen in so long. It seemed such a long time ago that he had been standing in the middle of Sadie's living room, and kissing her so that her face was flushed. He sat up, aware of the IV line in his right arm, the bandages around his chest and abdomen, and on both his wrists, wincing as he moved, looking around the room and trying to figure out everything at once.
"Sadie" he heard himself speak, and yet, she was nowhere to be seen.
The room, not very large, was a private one, so that only Spencer was there. He looked around and saw JJ standing at the nurses' station outside the glass doors that separated his room from the hallway, rubbing her face with her hands, as if she were crying. Next to her were Blake and Garcia, both looking sullen. Spencer looked at them, overcome with guilt for not listening to JJ when she'd told him to not do anything. In the end, he had done nothing. But, how had he be saved? And by whom? JJ and the team couldn't have found him as fast. They didn't have sufficient data. Spencer realized he didn't have sufficient data himself. He found the nurses' call button pushed into his left arm and Spencer pushed it. The three women looked up and on seeing him awake, were clearly relieved and JJ rushed to the room.
"Are you alright?" she asked, eyes red and nose pink. Spencer managed a smile and looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry, JJ" he said, sincerely. JJ, overcome with relief, Spencer assumed, shook her head and swallowed hard before throwing herself at him in a hug. Spencer winced as she collided with his body.
"What happened?" Spencer asked, as JJ pulled away, apologizing softly, "Where's Sadie?" he asked. JJ looked at him worriedly, then at her friends for help. Garcia was dabbing her eyes with a pink handkerchief. Blake looked at him with a small, encouraging smile.
"She's in surgery" she said, "They're fixing her fractures"
"Fractures?" Spencer repeated, eyes wide and feeling like there was a fire in the pit of his stomach, "She's not hurt too bad? Did you talk to her?"
Blake frowned.
"We don't know, truth be told" Blake admitted, "An Agent Rogers told us she was in good hands and that we needn't worry" she explained. Spencer scowled.
"What was it all about? Have you heard anything?" he continued, his heart racing rapidly, uncontrollably.
"No details" JJ informed, "Spence, we were worried about you. Hotch and Morgan are with Rogers right now, finding out details. Hotch was super pissed that you got involved" she said, sounding almost proud of Hotch. Spencer nodded and leaned back, wincing as he moved.
"She's ok" he said, more to himself than anyone, "She's ok"
JJ bit her lip and looked worriedly at him. Spencer looked at her.
"What's wrong?" he asked. JJ looked to Blake again, who nodded for her to go on. JJ turned to Spencer.
"They want to talk to you as soon as you're awake" she said, "But if you don't feel too well, it's alright. We'll get rid of them"
Spencer nodded.
"I can talk" he said, "You can go tell them I'm awake"
Spencer spent the next ten minutes staring absently at the wall in front of him. In his mind, he tried to piece together all that he could remember from the first moment he felt something was wrong, until he woke up in the hospital bed. He remembered walking into Sadie's apartment, finding the man in the mini-library, his face, square-ish, with a lean figure, and greying hair. He remembered being hit on the back of his head, and absently, he reached his hand up to feel for it. It was there, a small bump on his occipital bone, the skin over it was mostly intact, but it still hurt when Spencer pressed it. He remembered where he'd been kept: short room, concrete walls and floor, steel manacles and large spotlights. He remembered that the air in the place smelled of ammonia and rotting meat, and musty, like there wasn't enough ventilation. The man who had appeared suddenly had been tall, muscular, with the specific scars on his face. Spencer remembered that: the scars on his face, the way they criss-crossed on his left cheek, and the scar on his forehead that gave him the specific fringe because of the way it involved his scalp. Then, he remembered voices, not a voice he knew, but phrases, and bits and pieces of conversation, or so it seemed, then, he remembered waking up here, in the hospital.
JJ sat beside Spencer, eyes no longer red, but cheeks a little flushed. Spencer, waking from his daydream looked at her worriedly.
"Where's Henry?" he asked, hoping it would improve her mood.
"Will's taken him out back" she said, smiling a small smile, "We didn't want Henry to see you unconscious and start to worry" she added. Spencer nodded.
"Sorry about all this" Spencer said, "And about not listening to you"
JJ looked up at him.
"I get it" she said, "Because Sadie was in danger, right?" she asked. Spencer swallowed and nodded.
"It was a gut feeling" he admitted, "And when I saw her apartment door ajar, I knew something was wrong. She never leaves the door open for too long, it bothers her"
Spencer frowned and wondered why Sadie hated leaving the door open for too long. Then, as he thought of her, he wondered if she was alright, and if the surgery was almost done, and if hadn't been treated too badly when she had been kidnapped. Spencer frowned absently.
"There was another person" JJ said, making Spencer turn to her in confusion.
"Another person?" he repeated, "Where?" he asked.
"Where they found you, and Sadie" she said, sighing, "There was another person, an agent, Rogers said, who'd been missing for two days already"
Spencer scowled.
"Cara" he realized, making JJ scowl at him in astonishment.
"Cara Fitzgerald" she nodded, "How did you know?" she asked. Spencer felt worse now, as he thought of Sadie's worried voice on the phone all those days ago, telling him Cara hadn't been answering, and he'd ignored it, worse still, he'd told Sadie to ignore it too.
"Sadie said something about Cara not answering phone calls" he admitted, softly. JJ sighed.
"Well, Agent Fitzgerald got the worse end of the deal" JJ informed, "She's in surgery to fix a femur fracture and internal bleeding"
Spencer felt sick to his stomach, like he was punched again. It was his fault. If he had taken her absence more seriously, Cara wouldn't be in so much trouble right now.
"Spence, are you alright?" JJ asked worriedly, looking at him. Spencer swallowed hard and nodded.
"I feel nauseous" Spencer admitted. JJ frowned at him and pressed the call button for the nurse.
JJ rubbed his back soothingly as Spencer looked down at his lap, feeling the bile rising up his chest. Then, it was out and the quick-thinking nurse, who had just arrived, had placed the kidney tray in his lap where the yellow fluid collected as he retched. Then, as JJ asked the nurse to do something in a worried, shrill voice, Spencer tasted the bile in his mouth and felt more sick and retched into the tray some more. He was aware of the nurse pushing something into his IV line, but he couldn't see exactly what, he retched into the tray again, which was now filled with yellow fluid streaked with blood. The nurse took the tray away and put an empty one in his lap, holding him upright, along with JJ.
After a few more attempts at retching(he'd emptied his stomach, or so it seemed, for nothing came out anymore) he felt less sick and more better. He looked up and saw the look of worry in JJ's eyes, then caught her looking out the glass doors. following her gaze, Spencer found himself staring at two tall, well-built men, dressed all in black, as if they had just returned from a raid, which they probably had, their weapons and other things still in their holders. Beside them were the rest of the BAU team, with Morgan, Hotch and Rossi looking at him worriedly and Blake looking like she was holding it all together, and Garcia, who was still dabbing at her eyes worriedly, leaning onto Morgan for support.
"Is that them?" Spencer asked, his nausea passing as the drug that the nurse had injected started to take effect, "The ones who rescued us?" he asked. JJ nodded once.
The nurse was busy pushing in meds into his IV line, checking the monitors, filling in the charts, basically being a busy-body all around the room. Spencer felt faint and his headache reduced considerably. He leaned back onto the propped-up bed, resting his head on the pillow and feeling less faint as the moments passed.
"They can wait, Spence" JJ argued worriedly, frowning at her like she always did when someone she loved was hurt, "I'll tell them you can't talk right now" she finished, decidedly, standing up to do what she'd planned.
"No" Spencer argued, eyes fixed on her as JJ stopped walking and looked at him, "I want to talk to them, or rather, I want to know about Sadie's condition" he said, his voice thick and almost slurring from whatever opioid the nurse had pushed into his system.
"Spence" JJ said worriedly. Spencer looked at her.
"Please, JJ" he begged and JJ sighed and smiled, knowing full-well she couldn't refuse when he begged for something.
"Only for a little while" she said strictly, like the mother that she was, "And don't strain yourself too much" she warned. Spencer nodded and let his head fall back, and waited.
He heard the door sliding open, then close. The nurse was still being a busy-body around the room, and despite her sneakers, Spencer could hear her move around the room, checking everything before she wrote it down in the charts. A few moments later, the door slid open, and Spencer heard unfamiliar footsteps enter, making him lift his head up and open his eyes to look at them. The two men dressed all in black for combat were not as similarly built as he'd assumed them to be through the glass doors, accompanied by a man in scrubs, Spencer assumed that he was his doctor. One was short, skinny and wore thick glasses under his mane of shaggy blonde hair, the other was tall, well-built, but not entirely muscular and wore a pair of dark goggles, his black hair was swept back and kept there, out of his face, with what Spencer assumed to be, hair gel, and lots of it. It was the short one who stepped up to speak. The doctor checked Spencer's vitals and gave him a full head-to-toe while the man spoke.
"Dr. Reid, I'm Agent Rogers, and on behalf of the entire European Unit, I would like to extend my humblest apologies for your being dragged into this whole fiesta" he stated, in a clear voice, with vague hand gestures and finished it off with a grand bow. Spencer stared at him, stunned, by his behaviour and all his word-forming capacities came to a sudden stand-still. The man, Rogers, looked up, seemingly disappointed, then stood up straight.
"Well, let me introduce you" Rogers went on, looking only slightly offended, "to the chief of our unit and the master of these plans, the Doctor" he said, gesturing to the tall man. Spencer turned his head to look directly at the taller man and waited. The Doctor had a ring to it, Spencer thought.
"Well" the tall man spoke, his voice low, his accent strangely familiar, "I suppose I ought to introduce myself" he went on, grinning and Spencer sat up, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief, staring at the man who was now taking off his dark goggles to reveal his clear green eyes, of the same shape and colour that Spencer had learned to love.
"SAC Nolan O'Connell" he said, eyes fixed on Spencer, "Nice to meet you, Doc"
Spencer continued to stare at him, his eyes fixed and disbelieving, his heart racing wildly, his mouth open to say something, anything at all, but words failed him and he stared at the man who was supposed to be dead and wondered what could be said to such a person?
"In short" Nolan went on, ignoring Spencer's internal dilemma, pacing the room from glass door to window and back, "You were not supposed to be there that day" he said, "Sadie was taken, I knew that, I had a plan for that, but you, Doc, you were the joker in the mix, the wildcard, and truth be told, I don't even know why you went there that day. I mean, you were supposed to be in New York, or New Jersey, or somewhere else out East!" he said, now turning to look Spencer in the eyes. Spencer stared back, still in shock at seeing a dead man walking around his hospital room: not a very comforting thought. Spencer stared as the man stopped at the foot of his bed and looked at Spencer seriously.
"Good to see you up, laddie" he said, grinning brightly. Spencer's mind, as if a dam had broken, flooded with words, that formed questions, which then poured out of his mouth in a continuous, breathless monologue.
"Where is Sadie? How is she? Does she know you're alive? What about Cara? Does she know? Why did Sadie have to get involved? If you knew about the kidnappings, why didn't you prevent them? How long have you been here? Have you been here at all? Who are the people that kidnapped us? Why had they kidnapped us? How did you survive an assassination? Why did you need to fake your own death? Why did you return even after you'd faked your own death? Are you planning on telling Sadie? Is she awake? Is she back from surgery? Have you spoken to her? Is she alright?"
When Spencer paused for a breath, he heard Nolan laughing boisterously. Spencer looked up, frowning, angry at this man who had been the cause of Sadie's pain and suffering, who was now acting like it didn't matter. Spencer knew. He knew because he's seen her, gloomy and dark and withdrawn from the world. And the way Cara spoke, he realized that she didn't know either, or perhaps, she was just a good actor. In any case, he felt bad for Sadie, who had been deceived by this man, who seemed unaffected by the pain and suffering that Sadie had endured, by herself, all this time.
"Sadie was just brought out of surgery" Nolan said, his laughter fading, "She's a fighter, that one. I didn't talk to her before because she was unconscious, and no, she didn't know. Neither did Cara, for that matter. The doctor said Sadie was unresponsive because she may have had a blow to the head, but the scans were clean, she's responding to sounds right now, recovering in the ICU. Cara's out of surgery too, and wide awake, scundered off at me for no good reason" he informed, shrugging, "and you're fine, as far as I can tell" he finished abruptly. Spencer swallowed.
"Sadie... can I see Sadie?" Spencer looked at him seriously. Nolan stared back, as if he were sizing Spencer up. The doctor met Spencer's eyes.
"Sure, it could be good for her" he said simply, "We'll have the nurse take you there soon, Spencer" he assured in a kind voice.
Spencer stared at him. The man, Nolan, Sadie's brother, was looking at him almost wistfully.
"Well" he said at last, "Time to go home. Rogers will swing by when you're better to write down your statement" he informed, then, turning on his heel, walked away, out the door and into the corridor, Roger, the little blonde guy, following him, shutting the glass door, leaving Spencer alone in the silence. The doctor was still looking over Spencer's charts when Spencer felt the drugs kick in and he slipped into a deep sleep.
In his dreams, Spencer heard voices, and now, he knew what those voices were, they were Nolan's voice, mostly and he kept saying absurd things, completely randomly, it seemed to Spencer, even in his dreams.
"Even monsters under the bed have nightmares. Don't you, monster?"
"Dear me. Got some cowboys in here"
"You'll like this bit"
"It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up"
"Oh, you never want to listen to reason"
"Call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?"
"I'm not going to lose her"
"Sadie"
"Time to go home, A shor"
When Spencer woke up, his flimsy hospital gown was soaked in sweat, the light outside his window was fading and he realized he'd slept through the day. Morgan was sitting in a chair beside his bed and looking through a magazine. Spencer felt his head throb with pain as he sat up. Morgan, stirred from his concentration by Spencer's movement, turned to him, and on seeing him awake, helped him sit up and offered him a glass of water.
"Bad dream?" Morgan asked softly as Spencer sipped his water.
"I think they were memories" Spencer admitted, swallowing down the water with much difficulty, "Of my rescue" he finished, putting the glass down. Morgan sat back and looked at Spencer with a strange curiosity.
"But you were unconscious until the paramedic in the chopper saw you" Morgan said, "Or so Rogers claimed"
Spencer nodded.
"I remember that, I think" Spencer said uncertainly, frowning to himself, "someone did ask me what my name was, and what day I thought it was. It seems more like a dream right now"
Morgan frowned, and Spencer turned to look at him.
"Have you seen her?" Spencer asked, "Sadie?"
Morgan's frown deepened.
"What's wrong?" Spencer asked, knowing that Morgan was thinking of a way to put things lightly, "Is she alright? Morgan?" he asked, now worried. As Morgan stalled his response, a knot formed inside Spencer's stomach, which tightened with every passing second. Morgan sighed.
"She's awake" Morgan said and Spencer released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"But?" Spencer asked, sensing that Morgan wasn't even close to done. Morgan looked up, searching Spencer's face, and choosing his words with care, and caution.
"She hasn't spoken a word" Morgan said, "The doctor said that she's dissociated from her feelings" he continued uncertainly, "It could be anything from locked-in syndrome to acute stress disorder. There's a whole bunch of shrinks in her room right now, trying to get her to respond to anything less than pain, which they can't seem to get out of her"
Spencer, having heard enough, sat up, pulling his covers back and made to leave the bed, to walk over there right now, to hold her hand and kiss her and tell her that everything was fine. Morgan stood up.
"Let me call the nurse up for some wheels, pretty boy" he offered, when Spencer opened his mouth to tell him off. Spencer closed his mouth and nodded.
"Thank you" he said, swallowing by the tears that burned in his eyes and forcing himself to calm down as the words that Morgan had spoken sank in. Sadie was alive, but not quite herself. She was only a shell of her former self.
Note:(I've never written one of these before!)
1. A shor - an Irish term of endearment; means 'my treasure'; used on children and loved ones.
2. Scundered off - Irish phrase meaning 'got pissed at' or 'yelled at'
3. The sentences in Spencer's dream sequences: dialogues from 'Doctor Who'(don't own that either, I'm afraid.)
4. Please, please, please review.
Next chapter will be uploaded as soon as I finish writing it(probably by next month, knowing me!)