Paranoia - s.reid

Dehumanization

 Liz perked up slightly when Spencer entered the room, looking slightly better than he did during their last meeting.

"Hey, how'd you get in here?"

She smiled nervously. "I might have some good news."

"You shouldn't be here." He instantly turned to leave.

"Don't do that." He paused, barely turning around. "Don't push me away. I'm here about Scratch. Walker thinks he might have a new way to find him but to do so I need to walk you through another cognitive."

"I understand what you're doing and I really appreciate it but you've tried and it didn't really work."

She continued to reason with him. "That was over a month ago. You were still under the influence. As you know distance from the incident can sometimes yield additional insights." Almost pouting, Liz watched him tiredly rub at his eyes. "When's the last time you slept?"

"I don't know which is why I don't really have the energy to do this right now, Ellie."

"Well exhaustion's not necessarily a bad thing. If your resistance is down you might be more receptive to the cognitive. Okay?"

Spencer nodded, giving in. "Okay."

They sat down, harsh screeches from the chairs dragging across the floors not fazing them. "Close your eyes. Are you there?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what you see."

"She's waiting for me. Nadie Ramos?"

"Is she alone?"

"Yes. She seemed upset. And we were standing by a window."

"Was somebody there?" He hummed, intrigue and relief flooding Liz as she leaned forward. "Who is it, Penny? Think."

He opened his eyes, clearly irritated. "I don't know, I blacked out."

"It's okay. What happens when you wake up?"

Spencer closed his eyes once again, uncertainty barely dwindling by his wife's optimism. "Nadie was struggling."

"Because the other man is stabbing her."

"Yeah. And I think that I should try CPR but there's just so much blood. My heart's beating fast. And it feels like I'm moving in slow motion. Wait. Something's wrong. There's a knife and blood."

"Who has the knife?"

"It's in my hand. I'm bleeding."

A small pit had began festering in Liz's belly as she attempted not to put words into his mouth. "Because you cut your hand."

"It all goes blank after that."

She sighed. "That's about how far we got last time. You're psychologically blocking whatever happens next and I'm not sure why. Why don't we take a short break?"

"Okay."

Minutes later, they were back at it. "Did they check the vents in the motel room? The last time we caught Scratch he was dosing people through the vents which might be why I'm remembering in pieces."

Liz pursed her lips. "Dad said that was the very first thing he checked for when we were in Mexico. Look we need to start again. Now this time I want to focus on Nadie's reaction when the door opens. Is she frightened? Does she know the person?"

"We were both surprised. It all happened so fast."

"What about you? Did you recognize him?"

Spencer shook his head, eyes remaining closed. "I'm trying but I can't make out his features."