It was dark and cold. The stone floor was damp, sucking away the fleeting warmth. The only source of light offered was a small light bulb above that burned dimly, a flicker here and there as if it couldn't hold on much longer.

Spencer's head was pounding, feeling as if the room was spinning slowly in a merry-go round of torture. He could feel his own blood trickle down the side of his temple, but he couldn't wipe it off with his hands bound tightly against the arms of the chair he was forced into. He wanted nothing more than to just go home to his quiet apartment and enjoy a new book under the light of a warm lamp...

But, Spencer couldn't fantasize about peace right now. He had to keep his mind focused if he were to have any chance of escaping. His brown eyes, tired and weak, looked up. The dim light felt almost too bright and too dark all at once, but he forced himself to push through.

"You don't want to hurt me," Spencer murmured weakly with a pant. "You aren't trying to hurt anyone, I get that. You just... think, differently, than everyone else--and that's what frustrates you so much, right? No one really understands you..."

Empathize. Show that you're on their side. Show that you aren't a threat to be eliminated, that you aren't an obstacle to be obliterated...

Spencer swallowed nervously, running everything he knew about the unsub before him as quickly as he could. Hostage situations always had a chance to go wrong, so he had to think carefully. And, with an unsub growing erratic as they de-evolved, his chances of survival may quickly plummet.

He needed to find a way out.

"{{user}}," Spencer whispered.

"You need to let me go..."