The next few months blurred together. I found someone to take over my lease of my Stafford apartment, I interviewed at The Washington Post (and got the job on the investigative journalism staff), I started seeing a therapist (Dr. Charles Longford), I moved into the small house I found, and I started seeing Spencer again.

Everything was finally getting a little better.

I found myself smiling and doing the things I loved again. I even went to Austin a few times and visited Ash, Charlie, and Ben where we jumped on the trampoline.

What I wasn't ready for, was when I turned on the news to see my face plastered there.

I knew that the death of an international crime ring leader, like Madeline, would catch media attention, but I forgot the part where I was a part of it too. I was asked to be interviewed, but I declined every time, redirecting them to the FBI or to my recently-published article. When I worked on the piece that started it all, it never got published, so as to protect the sanctity of the investigation and, ultimately, my undercover work for the CIA… but now that it was over The New York Times published it, with my permission and revisions.

Spencer and I, well, it wasn't easy at first. We had to start from scratch and there were fights. Fights about my lies and fights about his constant checking-in, but after a while, we started to truly rebuild.

I told him about my family, explained my past with Nicolas, and showed him pictures from my childhood. He told me about his job, about his past troubles with drugs, and we even went to Vegas to meet his mom. We were lucky; the day we went, she was having a good day.

It broke my heart when I brought Spencer to Austin to really meet my family. It was clear that he loved playing with Ben, and knowing that I would never be able to give him that…

I cried a lot that weekend.

But there were also good times.

Like when Penelope and I went out to a bar and got absolutely wasted, and had to have Spencer come bring us home. I owed her a drink for protecting my secret, and one drink turned into one too many.

Or, when my piece about homeless rates in DC got approved for publication. Spencer and I made pad thai to celebrate before we fell asleep on the couch.

It was about 7 months into this new life, when Spencer and I were reading in the small living room when he brought up something.

"It feels like I am always over here," he said, setting down his book.

"It's not like half of your clothing is here," I said, laughing. "Oh, wait…" I gave him a playful nudge.

"What if I brought the other half and some of my other things…"

"Wait," I said, realization spawning on me, "you mean… like… move in?"

"Obviously, only if you want that," he said, "but DC is closer to my work and I wouldn't have to drive so much to see you…"

"Yeah," I said, smiling, "let's do it."

"We can pack up my stuff this weekend?" he asked. It was Thursday, so that meant we could start tomorrow evening.

"Yeah," I said, before pausing. "Are you sure you're ready for this… I mean, moving in together is a really big step…"

"I think we are ready for it," he said, scooting over towards me. "I mean, we've been dating for a little over a year now, right?"

"I guess you're right," I said. "I guess you're moving in, pretty boy."

"You've been hanging out with Garcia and JJ too much," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What can I say?" I said. "I needed some girlfriends!"

OOOO

Packing up Spencer's stuff was much more difficult than I thought it would be. He had a lot of books.

"I guess now I have a new project," I said packing up the fifth box of books.

"And what would that be?" Spencer asked, busy packing up the rest of his clothing.

"Making some bookshelves!" I said happily. "I used to do this kind stuff with my dad…" My voice trailed off. I hadn't gotten used to being able to talk about my parents, Christine and Jonathan Hansen, even though it had been seven months since I was able to resume life as Danielle.

"Really?" Spencer asked. "Home improvement kind of family?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at the memories, "my mom loved to do that kind of stuff… she got the whole family into it… hell, my headboard was made out of a door."

"You'll have to teach me some stuff," he said. I turned to see Spencer leaning against the door frame of the room.

"Yeah," I said laughing, "like I'm letting you touch a drill."

"Can't be any more dangerous than me having a gun," he said, chuckling.

"I still have to talk to Hotch about that," I said. Just then I felt a sock hit me. "Hey!"

"I am perfectly capable of handling a gun," he said, grinning guiltily. Especially since the other sock was in his hand.

"I'm gonna get you for that," I said, throwing the sock back at him.

"I don't doubt it," he said, retreating into his room. I watched him as he left, shaking my head as a smile spread across my face.

OOOO

A few months later, Spencer and I found ourselves back in Stafford.

"Over a year later, and we are finally going to the Stafford Civil War Park, huh?" I asked, wrapping my jacket around me a little tighter.

"You always said we should go, and I figured…why not?" Spencer said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, looking around. "It's just weird being back here after a year."

"And look at how much we've changed," he said, grasping my hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"Yes," I said, smiling brightly at him. "Look at us now."

We walked looking at the various things at the park.

"Did you know that 35,000 soldiers occupied Stafford County while their new commander, General Joseph Hooker rebuilt his army?" Spencer asked.

"That I did not know," I said, "but thank you for enlightening me."

"And I think that," Spencer said, pointing to a fixture ahead of us, "would be the Daniel Bridge." I squinted my eyes as we approached the building. It was a bridge with three archways covered in a floral kind of ivy.

"It's beautiful," I said. "It's amazing that it's still structurally sound after this many years."

"It was built in 1771 but restored in 1920," Spencer mused as we stopped in front of the building.

"Well, they did a great job," I said, admiring the architecture of the building. "Don't you think?" I turned, looking upward, to meet Spencer's eyes, but he wasn't there.

He was on the ground.

With on knee on the ground and ring in hand.

"Spence?" I asked. "What are-"

"Let me talk for a minute, okay?" he said. "Do you remember what you told me about happiness? You said that happiness was reliant upon us holding on to the good so we have something to keep us afloat when nothing seems good. And it's those moments that light the darkness, that are our happiest… Danielle, despite the mess that we've dealt with, you are the good in my life, so I want to ask you… will you continue to be the happiness and good in my life."

I looked at him, tears welling in my eyes. I found myself kneeling in front of him.

"Spence," I asked. "Are you sure? I mean, I know that you want kids… and I can't… I can't give that to you, and I don't want you to-"

"There are other options," he said, before smiling at me, and grasping my hand. "I love you, Danielle, and nothing will ever change that."

"I love you too," I said, before giving him a kiss.

"May I?" he asked, motioning to the ring.

"Of course," I said, giving my hand as he put the ring on that finger. I kissed him again as we sat under the arch of that bridge. And all I could think was how I hoped for us to last like the bridge we sat under had for years.

OOOO

"Let me see the ring!" JJ asked, rushing towards me, as I walked in the FBI headquarters. I let out a soft chuckle, and extended my left hand. "What do you know? Pretty boy and pretty ring…I think you lucked out."

"That I did, JJ," I said, glancing at Spencer who gave me a small wave, before returning to his work.

"You here to see Spence?" she asked.

"No," I said, clearing my throat, "I'm actually here to see Hotch."

"Oh," she said, surprise on her face. "Yeah, he's just in his office up there."

"Great, thanks JJ," I said, making my way up the stairs and knocking on the door.

"Come in," came the familiar voice of Hotch.

"Hey Hotch," I said. "You busy?"

"Never too busy for the future Mrs. Reid," he said, a shadow of a smile dancing on his face. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," I said, "but I had the easy part… I just had to say yes."

"I suppose so," he said. "How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?" I asked, sitting down across from him.

"Depends on what it is," he said. I knew that he was referencing anything to do with Nicolas or the Cartel del Golfo. That, according to Hotch, was not something I needed to get into again.

"I promise, nothing to do with that."

"By all means," he said, motioning for me to continue.

"Ok," I said, sitting straight. "Well, um, you were the first person of the team, I met, and without you, I wouldn't have met Spencer and I would probably be dead in that warehouse… And I'm really grateful for that… and you know that Spence and I are engaged, but my parents aren't here anymore… so I was wondering, because I kind of think of you as an older brother – I hope I'm not overstepping here – if you would be willing to 'give me away?' And you don't have to, I just thought that-"

"Danielle," Hotch said, smiling, "I would be honored to."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"I'm going to hug you now, okay?" I said, getting up and hugging him tightly. He returned the hug, before letting go.

"Do you have a date yet?"

"We're thinking early May," I said.

"Sounds lovely."

"Yeah," I said, glancing out his window to Spencer, who was furiously reading case files. "It does."

OOOO

The wedding was small. We did it at a small outdoor venue at a local garden in DC. Hotch gave me away, Ashley was the perfect maid-of-honor, with Penelope and JJ both were bridesmaids, Ben was an adorable ringbearer, Morgan teased Spencer the whole time as his best man. I even was able to get Spencer's mom to come. She was confused and dazed, but Spencer was excited that she was there all the same.

We had a small reception at our house. Everyone mingled and danced to the music that we played through a speaker in the kitchen. Spencer and I swayed to the music for the traditional "first dance."

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"Being Mrs. Reid?" I countered. "It feels wonderful."

"I love you," he said, giving me a kiss.

"I love you too," I murmured, putting my head against his chest. I felt safe and happy with him, something that I had so long been deprived of.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"What would you think," he began, lowering his voice, "about starting to start the adoption process?"

My breath hitched. We had talked about adoption a few months before, and we both knew that we wanted to have kids, I just didn't think it would happen as soon.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"Let's do it," I said, pulling him into a hug, a smile spreading on my face.

"We can start it as soon as tonight."

"Sounds like a plan, Dr. Reid," I said, as the song we had been swaying to, stopped. And it felt like we were the only people in the world.

OOOO

It took two years, but eventually Spencer and I were chosen to adopt the child of a teenage girl in Indiana. Before we knew it, we were waiting outside of a hospital room to meet a child.

Our child.

"You ready?" I asked him, holding his hand tight.

"Of course," he said.

"You know," I said, "this baby is going to be in serious trouble with all the spoiling they'll be getting from their aunts and uncles… especially Auntie Penelope."

"You got that right," he said.

"Doctor and Mrs. Reid?" a voice said, grabbing both of our attention.

"Yes?" Spencer asked.

"Would you like to meet her?"

Her.

We didn't want to know the gender until after the baby was born.

Her.

"Please," I said, following the woman, Spencer's hand tight in mine. We walked down a few hallways, and found ourselves in front of the nursery.

"Right there," the woman said. "You can hold her in a few hours."

"Thank you," I said, gazing at the baby. She was bald and small.

"She's beautiful," Spencer said, wrapping his arms around me, "just like her mom."

"I'll bet she'll be smart as hell," I said, kissing his arm lightly, "with you for a dad."

"So… a girl…"

"Yeah," I said. "I guess we should think of names, huh?"

"I already have an idea," he said.

"And what would that be?"

"Christine Diane Reid."

"Christine…" I said, turning to face him. "Like my mom?"

"And Diane," he said, "like mine."

"I love it," I murmured. "It's perfect… just like her."

And as we stood out of that nursery, gazing at our Christine with Spencer's arms wrapped around me, I couldn't help but feel that I got my happy ending. No matter how improbable Spencer had thought that they might be, I knew that this was bliss and happiness.

OOOO

Author's Note:

Thank you.

When I came up with the idea to write this story, I wrote thousands of words a day, and then my pace fell slower, taking more time to write and refine my chapters. I'm positive that this is littered with grammatical errors and story line holes. I am by no means a writer, least of all a fiction writer. I'm just a teenage girl who had an idea and put those thoughts to paper (or a computer in this case).

I have to be honest. In my initial plan for this story, Danielle was supposed to die. Maybe you caught onto that. It was supposed to be a tragic death, one that was almost stopped. And then I was going to explore how Spencer's rebuilt from that, and didn't let the loss destroy him, something that I feel the series didn't touch on as much as I would have liked. But I realized that she had become a dynamic character on her own, and that she was a fighter… With that in mind, I let her take control of the wheel and left her have her happy ending. After all that she's been through, I felt she deserved it.

Maybe some of you feel cheated by the briefness of the ending of this story. That's on purpose. I wanted to let you all think of what may have happened in the events not described, reflect on the loss that these characters went through, and to allow for you to draw your own conclusions on how they rebuilt from there.

To those who reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just read my story, thank you. I don't reply to comments because I try not to let a reader's thoughts or feelings influence my work, but I did read every single comment and my heart swelled with every notification I got.

I don't know if I will write another story on this website. It all depends on when/where/how the creativity bug bites!

May you all continue writing and reading and being the absolute amazing human beings that you all are! I'll be rooting you all on.

XOXO

K. Manning