" we know right now, is that her name is gracen jones, and that she's been missing for ten years. her disappearance was only reported once to the authorities, and that man was found dead five years ago." david rossi said, as he and spencer reid walked side by side down the hallways of the hospital. "...with the same m.o. as the x-killer."

spencer let out a sigh, rubbing his head. "there's an obvious connection, i just know it—"

"help in room 267! NOW!" a nurse called out, causing people to become uneasy at her panicked voice.

"267." spencer repeated. "her room is 267."

rossi looked at him. "you sure?"

"with all due respect, you should know that my memory is flawless." the doctor deadpanned.

the agent and doctor ran down the hallways, reaching room 267, where they pushed to the front of the crowd that was huddling around the door.

"out of the way! please move!" spencer called out, shoving away the people blocking his path.

"hey! get out of here!" rossi ordered.

when the two made it to the front of the crowd of people, they saw the distressed girl from before—gracen jones—looking even worse than when they had found her.

the victim had a crazed look on her face, as she held up a large shard of glass. reid caught sight of the broken glass window in the back of the room, and then to her arm—in which blood was running down her elbow.

at first, reid thought someone had tried to break in, but he soon realized it was her that smashed the window.

the nurse that was taking care of her was now cowering in the corner of the room, with a terrified expression on her face.

"miss jones, we're gonna ask you to please calm down." rossi said beside him, voice mellow. "put it down."

gracen's attention shifted to us. "who are you?"

"we're the fbi, gracen." spencer said, proceeding to show her his badge.

"are you here to take me away?" she asked, breaking out in crazy laughter. "you found out, didn't you? I KILLED THEM! I KILLED ALL OF THEM!"

spencer looked at rossi anxiously. was she responsible for the serial murders? "who did you kill, gracen?" he asked in a calm voice, drawing a little nearer.

gracen grabbed her head, making reid flinch at how close the glass was to cutting her head open. "analeise. tommy. kara. all of them—MOM, DAD, PETER—" she screamed. "THEY HATE ME! THEY ALL HATE ME!"

rossi now had his hand on his gun, but spencer didn't dare reach for his, not wanting to scare the girl. something in spencer told him that she wasn't a murderer. factually, the information just wouldn't match up, unless she was an accomplice with extreme guilt.

analeise finkler, tommy ramsey, kara sawyer. these were all the names of people's bodies found in the woods, all of them with the same M.O.— two slashes in the neck, making an "x."

"did you commit these murders gracen?" rossi asked. "did you kill these people?"

she closed her eyes, her cries quieting down. "it was me...i killed them...all of them..."

"why did you kill these people, gracen?" spencer asked. "why did you kill your mom and dad?"

the girl's head snapped up at him, dazed with madness. "BECAUSE NO ONE FOUND ME! NO ONE CAME LOOKING FOR ME!" she cried out. "it's because of me..."

"where were you?" the doctor asked, taking another step closer.

"i-in that PLACE! the-the cellar—" she shuddered. "i can't go back. he can't find me." gracen shook her head quickly, looking down at her hand holding the glass.

"he won't find you, we promise, gracen." rossi said. "put it down."

spencer followed her gaze, hand now drawing close to his gun on his waistband. "hey-hey—" he tried to avert her attention. "who's he?"

"he killed them." she whispered. "he killed all of them. because of me. for me." tears streaming down her face, her hand trembled as she brought the shard of glass to her neck. "i'll die so he won't find me." gracen paused and smiled with ironic joy, looking spencer dead in the eyes. "that's the game. that's how i win. that's how the world will not get-get murdered."

"gracen, put the blade down." spencer said, shakily calm. "you're safe. we'll protect you."

gracen let out a cackle. "for ten years, no one came looking for me. why now? why not before?" when there was no answer, she made herself clearer. "WHY NOW?!"

"gracen, we all can protect you now. we will do everything to make sure he doesn't take you away. just put the blade down—"

"he will come." she closed her eyes, chuckling to herself in disbelief. "he'll even come for me in hell." her hand shakily lifted the glass.

with that gracen, began to slid the glass across her throat.

remembering a certain detail about their encounter yesterday, spencer took out his gun, and fired at the ground multiple times. the sound shook the whole room, including gracen, who let out a scream, dropping the glass and covering her ears. "HE'S HERE! HE'S HERE!!"

spencer ran to the girl, kicking away the glass and shoving the rest of the pieces away with his bare arms, making sure she couldn't reach for any more.

rossi started barking orders to the people around, telling medics to come and people to leave the scene.

spencer grabbed the screaming girl, hurriedly enclosing his arms around her little body before she became even more hysterical. his hand held the back of her head, only lightly pushing it into the crook of his neck while caressing her head.

doctor spencer reid wasn't a touchy person at all. the thought of germs crawling around on an individuals body made him shiver. but spencer wasn't thinking about that at the moment. the only thoughts taking up his mind was how he was going to help this distraught girl.

"you're safe. it's okay." he whispered into her hair. "we're going to protect you. the fbi is going to protect you."

he remembered yesterday when gracen came crashing into him, saying how she was going to get shot. that's how he figured she was scared of guns. specifically, being shot.

"he'll find me. and he's going to finish me off when he does." she whispered weakly, fingernails digging into spencer's arms. spencer flinched at the contact, but he didn't move.

"no, the fbi will protect you. we leave no person unattended, okay? calm down, breathe." the doctor said, letting the girl collapse into him a little more.

"you're lying. you left me unattended for ten years...inside of—that place."

spencer had no idea. of course only a certain amount of cases reach him, and his team usually only request for serial killer cases—but her words left him guilty. not everyone could be saved, and spencer knew that when he took this job.

you. the way she referred to him so personally even though he was merely a stranger to her, was rather odd. spence came to conclusion that she hadn't been in contact with many other people for years, and if she did, they were soon gone.

spencer had a feeling he was the person she was going to rely on desperately from now on, because she wouldn't know who else to go to.

it was against the rules to develop a personal relationship with a client, but the BAU would need this leverage to find the "x" killer.

he went with it. "i'm sorry, okay? i'm so sorry i left you alone.." spencer whispered, trying to coax the girl into a more relaxed state.

"i wasn't alone. he was always there." she whispered. spencer's eyebrows furrowed when her tone didn't sound hateful at all—in fact, it sounded grateful.

"but we're here now. we'll protect you. i'll protect you, okay?"

—