Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Lucy looked down at her wrist. It burned so badly. She wanted to rip the handcuffs off and throw them out the window behind her. She felt like throwing up again, but fortunately, there was nothing left to launch forward. The delicious room service of yesterday was simply nothing but a daydream at this point. The poor girl's throat was raw from the repetitive rising and falling of acid. Her hair was now more of a mess than it had been in years. It was covered in blood and caked with vomit. Her sports bra, which she was thankful for just this morning, was now doing nothing for her except keeping her cold. Her leggings felt nothing but itchy. Her sneakers were now tied too tightly together and Lucy was kicking herself for bending down to tie the one that had untied before. What a stupid move that was.
She felt her belly growl, but Lucy knew way deep down that she wouldn't be able to stomach anything for at least the next week. This situation was just too messed up to even think about eating. Her head pounded so insanely that she wouldn't actually be able to understand the hunger if it wasn't for the vomit. There was nothing left in her stomach so of course it was growling. But vomit was a sign of concussion, after all, so really, Lucy was only coming full circle.
The one thing Lucy was thankful for though was the constant thought of Spencer Reid. It seemed to make everything fade just slightly. It was a distraction from the cruel joke that was her life. First her mom dies and she's forced to grow up without ever learning that you don't run alone and then she gets kidnapped. Of course. And even with that; despite the fact that she was handcuffed to a radiator right now and that her butt was absolutely numb from the hard-wood floor, and that she was crusted in her own bodily fluids, and how hungry and thirsty and tired she was, despite it, she did, in fact, have Spencer Reid.
She gently leaned her head against the wall and stared up to the ceiling. She remembered how she had kissed him just a few hours ago. Like a habit. Like she would do it again for at least for more months. Now she was probably going to die alone in a puddle of her own piss.
"Hey," Lucy's head snapped forward and she clenched her jaw.
"Do not hey me." Lucy was now angry and less nostalgic for the morning hours with her man. "Uncuff me. You want to kidnap little girls and assault them, do it like a man. Uncuff me let's see how much you can really take."
"My name's Johnathan." The boy crept forward and sat cross-legged in front of Lucy. Very close, just not close enough for her to reach out and kick him with her feet. "I doubt you know who I am. But you know my older brother. Ryan."
"Ryan?" Lucy racked her brain for an answer. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan... She definitely did not know any Ryan. Her face grew red hot. What kind of a game was this "Uncuff me."
"Do you want some water?"
Lucy's eyebrows contorted. Even in the dimly lit living room, she was sure that Jonathan- whoever he was- could see her confusion. Do I want some water? Seriously, what kind of a game was this?
"No. Uncuff me."
"I'll get you some."
And just like that, the boy was gone and Lucy was alone again. She stared at the doorway that he had just used to escape. He couldn't have been much younger than her. To her, he looked nineteen, tops. She was twenty-six. He looked like a pure kid. Still going and exploring the world. Still figuring out who he was; who he wanted to be. What was he doing kidnapping girls? What was he doing kidnapping an FBI agent? What was he doing?
Lucy's head snapped to the left at the sound of an overly loud thud. She watched as a man older than Johnathan sat down beside her in a mental folding chair. He crossed his arms and leaned forward, staring down at her.
"Do you remember me?" He must be Ryan. No, she didn't remember. She knew of no such thing. No Ryans, no Johnathans. No creepy, soggy apartment, no water. Her ass was seriously numb right now.
"Uncuff me."
"Do you remember me?"
"I said, uncuff me."
The man shot out of his seat and fell onto his knees in front of her. She clenched her jaw yet again and dug her fingernails into her palms. Her head was throbbing even harder now. She exhaled hard through her nose as the man grabbed her face with one hand. The way he did it was so painful. His thumb on one side and all of his fingers on the other. Squeezing oh so tightly.
"Do you fucking remember me?" His voice was now violent and it sounded as though he was ready to kill someone with his bare hands.
Lucy shook her head, she could feel tears start to poke at the surface of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. A little pain? A little pain was something she could handle; something that was okay. This was going to be okay, she was going to survive some pain. She tried to choke out the words "No, I don't remember you," but it sounded more like a democratic version of gargling. Everything was fine.
He let go of her face, hard. Her throbbing wound made a painful contact with the wall. She hyperventilated as the man stood up. He backed away. He threw himself back down into his folding chair. He cracked his knuckles, then he ran his hands through his hair as if nothing had happened. He licked his lips.
"My name's Ryan. You and your son-of-a-bitch dad got me arrested. Your second case with the NYPD. Remember now?"
Lucy groaned and looked away from the boy. Her swollen cheeks and headache and wrist pain didn't care about some stupid boy who got caught and got what he deserved. She did'nt deserve this, that was for sure. He, however, probably deserved the jail time.
Lucy squinted towards the doorway. She could just make out Johnathan standing there and suddenly, the case rushed back to her. She did remember.
Lucy was twenty one at the time and had just taken the police exam five months ago. She had weaseled her way through the system and into the guidance of her father. She had always wanted to work with him and now she was finally getting the chance! Lucy can still recall how over-the-moon excited she was. Her first case had gone swimmingly; they solved it in only two months and caught their culprits, but the second was a little bit of a different story.
