You stood at the hotel window out in the dark as the small city a few floors below, your finger in your mouth as you bit absentmindedly at your nail.  You hugged yourself and let out a breath as you heard the hotel door shut and Emily whisper to Rossi. You didn't pay attention to what they were saying, your mind still not fully ready to accept what you had to do.

Spencer walked up behind you, the blanket you were using earlier draped over his arms. You looked at his reflection in the window finding it easier to talk to him that way instead of facing him. You felt his warmth as he stood behind your shoulder, his hand brushing your arm.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" His voice was gentle and you were thankful for his proclivity to know when you needed space and when you needed him close.

You let out a breath and let your chin fall to your chest as you closed your eyes. "Better than I thought I would, to be honest." You shook your head slightly. "I understand my role and what I have to do but I'm terrified of the aftermath. Of what will happen to me. Of what I might become." Tears dripped down your face and you couldn't help but sniff as your body began to shake.

Slowly you felt Spencer take the blanket and wrap it around your shoulders, all while turning you toward him as he pulled you into his arms. You let out a shaky sigh as you leaned into him, your body shivering no longer with fear but with comfort as Spencer rubbed his hands up and down your back and arms. You felt him rest his head atop yours and his chest rumble as he spoke.

"You will be monitored the whole time. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

You shook your head against his chest, your fists closing around his clothes. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Spencer blinked back tears and cleared his throat as he pulled away, but only just. Looking into your face, he reached up and wiped back some of your tears. "I just don't like seeing you this way."

You gave him a sad smile. "I will feel much better once he's behind bars."

"Or dead," Spencer growled.

Your sad smile turned endearing as you buried your face in his chest and breathed him in. "Please don't be kicked off the BAU again. Not even for me."

Spencer hugged you back, making your insides warm. But the embrace was all too soon rudely interrupted by Garcia making a ruckus in the living room. Curious, the two of you walked to where Garcia, Luke, and JJ stood huddled around Garcia's laptop, the usually flamboyant techy now red-faced with pursed lips clicked angrily on her keyboard. Spencer kept an arm around your waist, hidden by the blanket so you couldn't help but lean into him as you spoke.

"What's wrong, Garcia?"

Without looking up, PG tried to start several sentences but her anger made it hard for her to focus, making her even more upset. So Luke stepped in, placing a calming, gentle hand on her shoulder as he spoke.

"She has been trying to triangulate the places where all the bodies were found and where the Carpender could be hiding. But it either isn't enough information or he has some kind of technology inhibitor on his side. Almost like he knew we would be looking for him like this."

You shook your head, your temples starting to pound as you sagged against Spencer. You knew exactly what needed to be done to find him. With a shaky breath, you turned to Spencer seeing as how Emily was gone and she was the best at memory recall. But you liked the idea of Spencer's voice leading you through the worst part of your memory to date.

"Spencer, I need you to help me find him."

"How?" He looked puzzled.

You took his hand and walked him to the couch where you sat and he took a seat on the coffee table. "my mind."

Spencer scooted to the edge of the table and placed his elbows on his knees, keeping your hand in the both of his. "If that's what you want."

"It's the only way we are going to find him."

JJ walked over and came to sit next to you, placing her hand on your shoulder. "We are right here and you are completely safe. Let us know the moment you need to be brought back. Okay?"

You gave her a tight smile with a nod then turned to Spencer. Garcia stopped typing and placed a hand on Luke's on her shoulder and watched with a solemn expression as Spencer walked you through the steps.

But you had only made it as far as waking up tied to a chair and seeing the Carpender for the first time. Tears fell down your face and your body shook with the fear of what would happen next. But JJ's voice and Spencer's hands over yours brought you back to reality. Shaking, you leaned into JJ's side, keeping your eyes wide open to stop the memories from flooding your mind.

Spencer nodded to JJ for her to go and she motioned for Garcia and Andres to follow her out, leaving the two of you alone, your shaking breaths the only sound in the room. After waiting a few seconds after the others left, Spencer reached over to you and pulled you forward, his hands on either side of your face. He then pressed his lips to your forehead gently, with a comforting weight that made you close your eyes and sigh.

Pulling away, Spencer moved his thumbs across your cheeks to clear your face of your tears then smiled. "Are you sure you still want to do this?"

You gave him a smile too, nodding while blinking back stray tears. "Yeah, we really need to find him and get this over with and behind us."

Spencer nodded taking your hands in his again while holding your gaze with kind eyes. "Close your eyes again. But don't forget, I am right here the whole time."

You nodded, closing your eyes. Quietly Spencer spoke, asking you various questions that slowly immersed yourself deeper and deeper into your past. The past you didn't ever want to visit again. But it was needed to put an end to the Carpender's horrible reign. Soon you were fully back two years and lost in your locked memory of what happened.

"Where are you?" Spencer's voice entered your dreamscape but you stayed

The hotel room melted into the dark interior of the van the Carpender had stuffed you in and where you were sliding around for roughly three hours. It smelled old and like oil.

"I am in a van. He drove around for three hours only stopping for a few minutes a handful of times. I am the only thing in the van. It smells like oil and it's a bit damp."

"Once he takes you out of the van, look around. What do you see?"

Suddenly, the car stopped and immediately the side door opened and you were roughly pulled out of the van. Quickly you looked around, taking care to memorize where you were and what it looked like. But it was the smell that hit you first. Hot, sharp, and salty.

It was sunny, making you squint but that meant you were somewhere high. Carefully, you did your best to look around while the Carpender dragged you from behind into a mall building where he parked next to. Off in the distance, there was a tattered and sunbleached billboard for a pest control, one of its corners pealing off. Off to the side was a large pile of scraps and behind that, there was another pile and another and another. You noticed it was a dump of some kind, the uniformed piles of scrap sending chills down your spine.

Suddenly the scene shifted. You no longer heard Spencer's voice but you knew what you were doing now. You were now strapped to a chair. In front of you was a table and on the other side of the table was a slumped body strapped to her own chair, hair covering her face, dried blood under her nails and on the armrests.

Other than the table an the woman in front of you, everywhere else your vision was blurry but you could still make out your surroundings. Just to your left was a wall of books and next to that a small kitchen nook, but it looked like a child's science project threw up all over it. To your right the room went deeper, holding various large metal contraptions and medical instruments. The metal ground was shiny like it was just cleaned.

Movement behind the unconscious woman drew your attention. A figure walked in through a door but didn't come any closer. You remember waking up here and what you had to do to this woman. But as you watched the figure standing there, you noticed that they were waiting for someone. A second person walked in from the corner of the room, meeting the first figure. They spoke animatedly, moving their hands and bout and gesturing wildly. The first figure was at least a head taller than the second one, the second one had longer hair and thinner frame.

The first one was definitely the Carpender. But the second figure...it was a woman but you didn't know who. You tried to think harder but they parted ways as the Carpender came close, his face lighting up as he walked into the light and where you vision was clearer. The woman he was talking so just stood where she was, not moving. The Carpender laughed, grabbing a fist full of the slumped woman's hair and yanked her head back.

"Now the fun can begin."

The scene changed again. You alone now, leaning back on a table, your arms and legs strapped to a bloody metal bed...the room reeked of blood and something else far fouler. Fear and pain filled your body as you realized when and where you were. This was right before Spencer and the others had arrived. You remembered gnawing at the strap across your chest and tears falling down your face as you tried to keep your breathing under control.

Almost like watching a movie going in fast forward, the scene played out how you remembered it The BAU crashing in, the Carpender getting captured, the dead womens' files and pictures being collected. Spencer holding you close as you numbly stared at noting.

But you weren't staring at nothing. The scene slowed down to a crawl, people blurred and voices muffled. Your eyes stared at the side of the half-constructed building that you were captive in, it now crawling with official officers and forensic teams. But there, on the side of the building, was a woman dressed in a medical officer's uniform with her head down carrying a very old looking briefcase. she shouldered past people not once looking up or talking to anyone. You watched with glassy eyes as she left the building and the other medical teams to hop into a car hidden by a fallen sign. Without anyone noticing, the woman drove off in a hurry, the BAU and crew non-the-wiser.

But you noticed. And you had a pretty good guess at who it was.

With a gasp, you sat up from laying on the couch. Everyone was back, crowding around you as you blinked yourself back to reality. Spencer was still perched on the edge of the coffee table, his hands holding yours. Overwhelmed with what you just learned and the people around you, you turned to him, his calming gaze and soft eyes grounding you as you formed the information you found into words they would understand.

Spencer leaned forward, his hands rubbing your affectionately. "(Y/n), what did you see?"

You didn't blink as you whispered your reply, your throat going dry, "We were right about two things. The Carpenter is back. But this time he is a she. And she was his apprentice."

Spencer looked defeated and the others all took a moment to process what you said. But you weren't done. With a weak smile, you leaned back on the couch, pulling Spencer with you, making him sit next to you, his eyes never leaving your face. You closed your own eyes as you grasped onto Spencer's hands like a lifeline, your heart beating wildly.

Taking a deep breath, you let the image of the woman driving away fill your mind, the sight of wet mud clinging to her car as fresh an image as if you saw it yesterday. "But I know where she's hiding."

HEY! So I have changed the update day to Wednesday. Interpret that as you will hahaha! I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying these so far! See ya Wednesday.