Hey there yall! im really sorry that i took so long to update this ending chapter. It's been bugging me forever, that i just left my story unfinished! So im back to finish it up; im starting out some weeks later from where i left off. I really hope that this last chapter was worth the EXTREMELY long wait. Oh and as always i DO want to hear what yall think, so feel free to review! I hope yall enjoy this last chapter, and THANKS for reading and staying with my story this whole time :D oh yeah im really sorry if i misspelled some words in my story. i have no idea why, but the spell checker isn't working :(

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, or any of their characters.

Chapter 13- Epilogue

JJ had fallen asleep in the plastic chair that she had pulled beside Reid's hospital bed. He'd been having restless nights for the past few days; nightmares of Ryan had consumed his subconscious. Reid would wake up screaming, completely convinced that his nightmare was reality. Every time Reid would wake up in a state of panic one of his friends was there to console him; they all had taken turns spending the night at the hospital.

Around two in the morning, Reid's tossing and turning turned violent. JJ was awakened by the beeping on the heart monitor; it was obvious Reid was terrified. JJ acted quickly, gabbing Reid's shoulders trying to hold him still as she spoke words of comfort. Seeing her college like this brought tears to her eyes, Reid was abnormally pale and sweaty; she wouldn't wish this kind of anxiety on anyone, espically one of her good friends.

"Reid, Reid come on wake up. It's just a dream." JJ said in a soothing voice.

Reid winced at JJ's touch, but he slowly stopped thrashing around and his heart rate fell back to normal, as he began to wake up. Reid took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Thanks JJ," Just by the sound of Reid's voice one could tell he was becoming sleep deprived.

"No problem. You were having another nightmare, I hate seeing you suffer like that."

Reid opened his hazel eyes and turned, so he could see JJ better. She wore a frown of genuine concern, and looked as if she hadn't slept well in days.

"JJ, I'm going to be released in a few days, you need to go back to your hotel and get a real night's sleep."

"I'm only worried about you," JJ answered in return, "I'd be here for anyone in our team."

Reid began to sit up in his bed, he winced at the few aches and pains that were still present, but contiuned to move to a seated position.

"JJ, Noah and his mother are dead arn't they?" Reid asked. During his entire stay at St. Luke's Hospital, Reid had either been asleep, willingly, or he was sedated. Either way he had not been able to talk to his collegues, to find out any new/ important information.

JJ was caught off guard by Reid's question, she wasn't prepared to tell Reid what had happened, honsetly she didn't think that he would ask her for that answer. JJ took a deep breath to ready herself and gather her thoughts, but was cut off by Reid's voice.

"I already know the answer."

FUNERAL_

The wind blew slightly, and the clouds were gray and heavy with snow. The BAU team was attending the funeral of 6 year old Noah and his mother. There were few people that had attended, but from the few a little boy stood out the the team. He stood in front of his mother, not crying but his face solemn. His hair was light brown, and was need in a trim because his bangs fell infront of his brown eyes. He was wearing a black double breasted jacket, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle gloves and hat. The boy's mother on the other hand had all her emotions smeared across her face. Her eyes were red and tears cut paths down her cheeks, and her whole body shook from the cold and her sorrow.

"She must have been close to Noah or Abigail," Prentiss said sympathetically.

"Oh yes," and elderly woman cut in, "Caroline Mastif was Abigail's older sister, and they were as close. Their son's were good friends too," the woman took a breath and sighed, "I guess Micheal is too young to emotionally, or mentally comprehend the death yet, though. The poor dear he's only seven years old."

The elderly woman was dressed in a heavy, black trench coat. She also had on a gray scarf and gloves. The woman paused to pull four red roses out of her bag; the act of reaching for the flowers took some time because of all of the folds of winter clothes she had to navigate around.

"Here, you all are welcome to place a rose on the caskets, you are the FBI agents I'm assuming; My name is Doris by the way,"she added while shaking the teams' hands, and handing them all a red rose.

Just as Doris had finished introducing herself, a priest, dressed in a black cope walked up to the small platform where the two caskets were positioned. They both had a chestnut coloring to wood, and were identical in appearence except for the size.

"Today we are in mourning, but we need to move past the sadness and sorrow that is heavy in our hearts. Today we need to celebrate the life that these two wonderful people lived, the Priest stated."

After the Priest had blessed the caskets, and wished an peaceful eternal rest to both of the deceased, he turned to Caroline and Micheal, and motioned for them to come foreword.

Caroline wiped her eyes, and stood to walk up to the podium; Micheal followed behind her like a loyal dog.

Caroline took a deep breath to calm herself as best as she could, but her shaking hands were quite noticeable to the few people in the crowd.

"Thank you to everyone that came today," Caroline forced out. "Abigail was my little sister, and why this happened to her is still a mystery to me... We were from a normal family, we had fights over stupid things like sisters do; To see my little sister buried kills me, an I-"

The tears that had been only a few in the beginning of her speech, were now streaming from her eyes. Micheal stepped up to his mom as she began to shake again, he hugged her and stepped up to the podium.

"Aunt Abigail was one of the best people that I know," Michael proclaimed, as he looked back to his mother. "Every time I went to her house she'd be playing music and singing along with it, while Me and Noah played spy's with our NERF guns. Aunt Abigail was always smiling and she didn't yell at anyone." Micheal took a breath then continued. "Noah was one of my best friends, I'm gonna miss him a lot."

Everyone expected Micheal to continue his speech, but he just stepped down from the small platform, and walked slowly to his seat next to where his mother stood crying.

The Priest then stood and announced that the roses were to be placed on caskets, starting with the immediate family members.

"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later- Romans 8:18," stated the Priest as people began to stand and move toward the caskets.

Micheal followed his mother over to the caskets and placed a white rose on top, next to the roses that his mother placed on the boxes.

"Mom, you know that Noah and Aunt Abigail are going to heaven, don't you?" Micheal asked, as they stood to the side while the guests places their roses on the caskets and stated their condolences.

Caroline wiped a tear away then reached to hold Michael's hand,"I do know that sweety."

"But you're still crying." Micheal stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Before Caroline could answer, Doris walked up to them, with three official looking people.

"Caroline, I'm extremely sorry for your loss. I thought you would like to meet the FBI agents that worked the case," Doris added with a small sympathetic smile.

"Hello Mrs. Mastif, I'm Agent Hotchner. This is Agent's Prentiss and Morgan." They all shook Caroline and Micheal's hands.

"We are all very sorry for this devastating tragedy," Prentiss added.

"I used to be angry with you all and sometimes I still am," Caroline said while the tears began to fall again, "but none of this was your faults. Thank you for your help."

"You got the guy right?" Michael asked quickly, cutting off any replies to his mother's conversation. He had been sitting in one of the lawn chairs set under the tent, quietly waiting for his mother to finish talking.

"Yeah Buddy, we got him," Morgan answered smiling toward Michael.

After the funeral ended the clouds finally opened up and dropped dropped down heavy loads of snow, forcing the guests to head home.

HOSPITAL_

JJ had finally given in to Reid's constant nagging to go get some sleep at her hotel, and now Morgan was visiting Reid. Reid was going to be released from St. Luke's in two days. He made sure to tell his friends that he was going stir-crazy from having to stay in his bed all day. The team was happy to hear that he was becoming bored, it was a sign that he was starting to feel better, and heal faster.

Morgan was sitting in a hospital chair, next to Reid's bed while he shuffeled some cards.

"Ready to loose?" Morgan asked with a smirk on his face.

Reid paused and then shook his head, "Not possible."

"Because some of us are cheaters... Reid," Morgan said. When Reid didn't throw an insult back at him he looked up from the cards he was shuffling. "What's going on inside of that big brain of yours pretty boy?"

"Morgan, Noah and his mom they're dead." Reid said in a tone that Morgan couldn't decipher as a question or a statement.

"Reid," Morgan began, "Before we go into this conversation, I need to know that you to understand that what happened to Abigail and Noah was not your fault in any way."

Reid sighed,"I know that they're dead, and that its not my fault, it's just I'm always catching myself wondering if there was something that I could have done to help them. There's always something that can stop a person, or momentously delay, their actions; I couldn't find one strong enough to stop Ryan from...killing them."

"Don't even go there. Reid you need to get this into that big brain of yours," Morgan sighed getting slightly frustrated, "don't over think your actions. You beat Ryan and came out of all this alive, come on man is that so hard to accept?"

"I feel like I'm living at the expense of other people's lives, and I can't being to understand how to live with that. Ryan left me on the ground, in the snow, long enough to kill his father, and long enough for help to come." Reid paused, "I can still hear the way Ryan's father was pleading with him, and Ryan just wouldn't stop beating him with the rocks," Reid shivered and then continued. "I can hear Noah crying while his mom is being beaten, I can still see their terrified faces."

"It's going to take time for those images and sounds to fade away, if they go away at all," Morgan stated, "You did everything possible to keep those people safe, Reid, and sometimes that's just not enough. But there is nothing wrong with being alive today."

"I know that everything that you're telling me is true, I've told it all to myself so many times," Reid replied with a sigh.

There was a moment of silence, that was broken by Reid's voice again. "So what game are we going to play?"

"How's Speed sound?" Morgan asked, he knew that their conversation was over for the moment, Reid would talk about it all agian when he was ready.

"You're going down," Reid replied with a smile.

That's the end yall! THANK YOU to everyone that read and reviewed! you have no idea how helpful it was to read what yall liked and disliked :D and it was encouraging to write more when i got great reviews! i've had a lot of fun writing this story and thanks for making me want to finish my story :D i really hope yall enjoyed this last chapter, so as always dont hesitate to leave a review for me! THANKS AGAIN!

- JOBAN/ZC