"Conspiracy theory killer in Roswell? What are the odds of that?" Piper sat back, leaning her chair against her bookshelves. Garcia had sent them the file, even though Piper had been pulled over by Violent Crimes to consult on a case, and Reid had been teaching at the Academy when they got the call.

Reid shook his head, leaning against the wall and thinking out loud. "I doubt it's actually based in any of their theories."

"I doubt it too, but it's funny," Piper admitted, getting up and liocking her office, Reid following her down the hall. "Where are we going for lunch?"

"The usual burger place?"

"Sounds perfect," Piper said, rounding the corner to find Garcia on her way to get more coffee. She set her phone back in her bag, asking, "Penelope, do you want to come to lunch with us? They've got great veggie burgers at this place."

"I'm sold. Let's go," Garcia smiled, setting her coffee cup down. "I've just got to run and get my purse. Back in a jiffy." Piper and Reid watched her dash downstairs, coming back with her bag in record time. "I'm starving. Ready?"

While they sat and ate, they reviewed the case, marvelling at how people who had been so involved in conspiracy theories had suddenly died just as their favorite theories dictated - a man obsessed with finding out the truth about the Kennedy assassination had been shot, things like that. A man had shot himself in the room where they had gathered all of the conspiracy theory group that had been linked to the deaths, and now a woman from the group they had brought in for questioning had been recording everything. Lots of things had been going wrong with the investigation, but they were all amusing.

Reid had bet on the woman who inserted herself into the investigation all along, which Garcia backed up. On the other hand, Piper thought there was something else, someone quiet in the ring of conspiracy theorists. It turned out a day later that Reid had been right, but no one had expected otherwise. It was a puzzling and peculiar case, but that was their specialty, and they never wanted anything otherwise.

The BAU would always have cases like this, the strangest things that the rest of the FBI couldn't figure out. Some of them would brand themselves as taking on the FBI's most unwanted cases, while others would say that they got the special cases, the cases that just seemed too impossible. But they would always be a team, and they would always be a family, no matter how far they went from each other and from Quantico.

Tara Lewis eventually left to go into private practice, working forensic psychology cases in New York. She wrote a book that rivalled Piper's, the two of them collaborating on a second and winning a couple of awards, even though they could never beat Rossi for the number of titles or the prestige. She and Piper would consult on each other's cases all of the time, and they never lost touch, even when Tara had moved across the country.

Matt Simmons stayed with the BAU for years before eventually going back to the International Response Team. They had borrowed him a few times, and he eventually shifted his work their way before being recruited full-time. In the end, he wound up working with the CIA, on Prentiss' recommendation. He helped to bring behavioral analysis to the CIA, strengthening their version of the BAU. But when he finally retired, he bought a motorcycle and spent his time staying fit by training with his youngest son, who was going into the police academy. No matter how far away he went, or how many cases took him across the world, he always came back to visit his friends at the BAU.

Rossi retired just a few years later, for the second time. He would always be willing to consult for the team or for anyone else who needed him, even when he was busy writing one of his books. He had been a prolific writer before his second retirement, but even more so when he was out of the FBI for good. There would always be dinners at Rossi's house, whether it be when someone got a promotion, when they had cracked a rather difficult case, or when so many lives were saved that it merited a big celebration. And, of course, whenever Rossi felt like cooking for all of them, which was quite often. He would always be there to support the team, through serial killers and bombers and strange murder plots that took weeks to figure out. No matter what, Rossi was there for them to eat with, for a consult, or for friendly advice.

JJ and Will stayed in the DC area, raising their family. Will was on the Metropolitan Police Force for years, handling his share of tough cases, some of which he referred on to the BAU. He worked in violent crimes for a while, eventually moving to a desk job before he retired. JJ stayed with the BAU for the rest of her career, eventually taking over Prentiss' position and leading the team. They never had any more children, since they were so busy, but raised their kids to be just as "amazingly fantastic" as they were, according to Garcia.

Alvez eventually moved to head up the Fugitive Task Force, bringing his BAU knowledge to the team. He hunted down a record number of people who had been deemed impossible to find, and was praised by the FBI for his dedication and bravery. He and Roxy had plenty of adventures around the country and around the world together, but when the dog got older, Piper and Reid would watch him as Alvez went off on another manhunt. They were there through a marriage, a child, and a divorce, and were the first people to offer a toast at his retirement party. He ended up moving to Richmond, but would come to visit often, bringing his daughter to see her Aunt Piper and Uncle Spencer. Even though she had been named after her mother, the rest of the BAU smiled to themselves when the birth announcements were sent around - her middle name was Roxy.

Prentiss remained BAU chief for a long time, watching as new agents came in and old agents left, either for other departments, other units, or for different jobs entirely. She stayed with the BAU for years, but eventually moved up in the FBI until she became assistant director. Following ber being promoted and moved to a desk job, where she had more stable hours and being able to stay in Virginia, she met and married a wonderful woman working on the Virginia Police Force. They never had any children, but they were the perfect pair of aunts to all of the BAU children.

Garcia loved her job, practically living in the basement for years. Even though people came in and out of the BAU, it was Garcia who really linked them together, bringing them back for reunions and meetups, whether they were all in the area or around the world. It was her idea to video call them all in when they had dinner at Rossi's, cooking together across different time zones and continents and having dinner together, even if it was breakfast time for some of them and well past midnight for others. But still, she brought the BAU family together, despite all of the barriers that they had. She and Kevin eventually reconciled, the rest of the team knowing that they would get married in due time. Garcia was named the godmother of so many of the BAU children, and when she eventually had twins of her own, they made sure that they were the most spoiled little girls in all of the District.

Reid's mom lived with them until the end of her life. Although Reid persisted in trying to find clinical trials for her, nothing worked, and they ultimately had to resign themselves to the fact that she would be forgetting more and more, until she hardly remembered who they were. But they made the best of it, Piper taking her into the city to different museums and to all of the gardens, signing up for painting classes and all sorts of things to keep her busy. Garcia loved bringing the kids to visit her, and they would keep her entertained for hours.

Reid and Piper stayed with the BAU for another decade or so, until Piper moved to work in Violent Crimes and Reid went to teach at the Academy full-time so he could be there to help take care of his mom. The never had any more children, but helped to raise the others that their BAU family had. Piper kept writing books, and Reid wrote some of his own, even though not a lot of them focused on crime - instead he wrote about quantum mechanics, about mathematical principles that Piper could never understand, and about the studies of geographical profiling that had helped to make him so good at profiling. They spent the rest of their lives in Quantico, taking a vacation once or twice a year when they actually had time. The BAU had been their lives, and it always remained their family.

Through troubling and impossible cases, through all of the ups and downs that life threw their way, the BAU remained a family. They would always be there for each other, even across the country or across the world. No matter what, they were there to go to graduations and ceremonies, to celebrate book releases, and to support each other even when things were difficult. They would always be a family, the BAU family that they made themselves.