never grow up, criminal minds

044. reunion

"Spencie." Cat smiles when he walks in.

"Where are my mother and daughter?" Spencer asks.

"I missed you." She says.

"What did you and Lindsey do to them? How did you--"

"No. Stop." Cat orders. "You don't get to walk in here and hiss at me like I'm the criminal. No. We do this my way." She kicks the chair out, Spencer catching it. "Have a seat." He sits down.

"How was prison? Did you like it?" She asks.

"No." He answers.

"It's not fun, is it?" She asks.

"Unlike you, I didn't deserve to be there." Spencer says.

"How did you stay sane?" She asks. "A brain like yours needs stimulation in such a gray place."

"I worked in the laundry room and I played chess."

"That's 3, maybe 4 hours, tops. What about the other 20?"

"I read."

"That's still not enough. You have to... go someplace. Up here." She points to her head. "Or else you go crazy. Do you want to see where I go? I'll show you. Come here." She motions him to come closer.

Spencer leans forward, his arms resting on the table. Cat reaches out to his face.

"No touching." JJ orders.

Cat glances at her before proceeding to reach out to Spencer.

"Close your eyes." She says, drifting her pointer and middle fingers over his eyes so he shuts them. "Good. Now keep them shut." She sits back in her chair. "Sit back and relax." She tells him. Spencer sits back in his chair. "Now, when you open your eyes, I want you to look at me like I'm the first woman you've seen after being in prison for 3 months. Now... open." Spencer does so.

"Hello, Cat." He greets and she giggles.

"You're here!" She throws her arms out in celebration. "You're really here."

"There's nowhere else I would rather be." Spencer tells her.

"You're good at this." Cat says. "You're so good at this, I almost believe you don't want to kill me."

"I don't want to kill you." Spencer says.

"No?" She asks.

"No." He confirms.

"What if I let your mother die? Or what if I let your precious baby girl die? A bullet straight through her little head? Blood everywhere. Then would you kill me? Or would you just... hurt me? Would you pin me down and leave bruises that don't go away?"

"Is that what you want?"

"I guess I just want to know if you would. If you could."

"No."

"No?"

"It's not the kind of man I am."

"Do me a favor and tell Blondie over there to step aside because we're gonna play another game. And this time, we're going to find out exactly what kind of man you are."

Spencer looks over at JJ and nods. Cat waves to her. JJ opens the door and walks out.

"Let's play." Spencer says.

"Let's!" Cat grins. "Are you hungry?" She asks.

"No." He answers.

"Me neither." She says.

"So the same game as last time?" He asks. "I answer every question you ask honestly?"

"No, this time you get to ask the questions." She says.