A/N: And here comes the last one. (blinks rapidly and wipes tears) Oh man, I'm gonna miss writing this!

BUT, first… Thank you so much for those fantastic reviews! (GLOMPS) The best way to make a story grow is to make it feel loved, ya know? (grins) So thank you!

Awkay, because I'm always insecure when it comes to last chapters… (rolls eyes at oneself, then takes a deep breath) Let's go! I REALLY hope you'll enjoy the ride.

CHAPTER 12 – Epilogue

Six Months Later

The report psychiatrist René Dwellon – a forty years old woman with chestnut-colored hair and bluish green eyes – received before her first session with Dr. Spencer Reid made her emit a loud groan.

Partial loss of mobility of one leg, loss of one kidney, heart murmur that'd been caused by a combination of several factors, numerous injuries from brutal abuse, severe withdrawal symptoms from being drugged… Based on the files it was a small miracle that the man was still alive. And it wasn't just the physical side. Apparently Spencer had been suffering from nightmares and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder since waking up. Years of abuse – with the culprit being his own brother, no less – had left deep scars on Spencer, and having been kidnapped and tortured by the moster had only made them worse. Dr. Dwellon knew that she'd have a lot of work to do with this young man, and in the back of her mind she wondered if he'd ever recover enough to be a federal agent again. But nonetheless the words Dr. Landon had written to the end of her report made her smile faintly.

'And off the record… Don't let his appearance fool you. Spencer Reid is one of the toughest patients I've ever met. He just needs a lot of help right now. So take good care of him.'

Dr. Dwellon attempted to do just that, despite the fact that Spencer turned out to be quite a challenge.

She'd been a psychiatrist long enough to have the confidence to call their first few sessions disastrous. Spencer was highly intelligent, and whenever her attention slipped even the slightest bit he shifted their conversation towards harmless topics. Quite early on she discovered that his trust was very, very hard to gain. It was like playing cat and mouse, and she feared the young man was able to see her frustration.

But she was too stubborn to give up, and eventually they reached a breakthrough.

Their eighth session had progressed halfway when lights went out all of a sudden. It was winter and a quite early morning, which meant that darkness consumed the room completely. The blackout lasted less than five minutes, but the effects were dramatic. She'd never seen anyone as terrified as Spencer was when the lights were on again. Working instinctively she placed a hand to his shoulder, whispering that it was alright, that there was nothing to be afraid of.

And there, right before her eyes, Spencer broke down completely. During that session he cried for the very first time since the entire nightmare in Vincent's hands ended. And finally some of the emotional load hiding in his eyes disappeared.

Since then things changed. They still had their ups and downs – there were times when Spencer was tired of everything, too closed up and in pain to share anything. But finally they were marching forward together.

Spencer was moving forward.

This morning Dr. Dwellon's office bathed in sunlight while the two of them sat there. She gave her patient a small smile. "I noticed you walked a lot better today", she commented. "I assume the physical therapy is working miracles." Spencer still had to use a cane but at least the steps didn't appear as weak and painful anymore. That was a massive step forth.

Spencer nodded, casting a very displeased look towards the cane. "I can't wait to get rid of that one." Neither of them felt like mentioning that there was a great chance he'd need the support for the rest of his life.

Dr. Dwellon nodded back, deciding to jump to other matters. "You went back to work two weeks ago. How's that been?"

Spencer frowned and mused for a while before answering. "It's good to be back – I've been away for too long. It's… nice, to have something normal in my life. But it's taken a lot of adjusting, from all of us." It was impossible to tell if the flash on the man's face was a grin or a grimace. "I know they're only worried, but it feels unnerving to have them monitoring my every move. It's like they're afraid I'll disappear the second they let me out of their sight."

Dr. Dwellon smiled. "They came close to losing you. It's only understandable."

Spencer nodded, looking out the room's window. "I know." There was a moment's pause. "I just… I wish they'd stop worrying all the time. Morgan and Prentiss stiffen every time a stranger approaches me, Rossi keeps staring at my leg and Garcia's fussing around me all the time. I think she's fed me my weight's worth of cookies. And last week I was ten minutes late from work because of physical therapy. They were all staring at me like I'd been a dead man walking when I made it there, and Hotch just about exploded at me." He sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. "It's nice, that they care so much. But… I don't want them to be scared and worried because of me."

She gave him a look of sympathy. "If it gives you any consolation it should get easier over time." She tilted her head. "What about your father, and Gideon? How are things going with them?" She knew that during the past six months Spencer had been doing a lot of talking with both of them. The process hadn't been easy, but slowly things were mending between him and both of the men who'd walked out of his life once.

The slight smile on Spencer's face was most deffinitely a genuine one. "Gideon and I write to each other every week. And my father is still in Quantico – he's almost as bad as the team when it comes to worrying."

Dr. Dwellon nodded. "Do you still fear he may leave?"

Spencer frowned and remained silent for a long time. "I'm just… taking one step a time with him." Then a sudden thought seemed to pop into the young man's head. A clear hint of sadness could be seen in the brunet's eyes. "I'm… not sure how important this is, but… Last night I had a dream of Madison. This time it wasn't a nightmare. We were playing by a river as kids, and she was smiling. She… seemed happy." Finally Spencer looked at her. "What do you think it means?"

Dr. Dwellon couldn't hold back a smile. "You know… I think it means that you're finally ready to move that photograph from your pocket to accompany other mementos."

Spencer blinked twice, surprise clearly evident in his eyes. And then the man smiled.

When Spencer emerged from the office almost twenty minutes later his steps felt slightly lighter than before. It felt easy to breathe although there was a hurricane of thoughts in his head and his eyes stung.

He was so deep in thought that he shuddered with startle when his cell phone came to life. His eyes softened slightly when he took a look at the caller ID.

For the past two months it'd said 'dad' instead of 'William'.

Shaking his head to clear it he picked up. "Hi dad."

"Hey." William cleared his throat, still – after six months – unsure when it came to approaching him. "Listen… I understood you have a day off today. What do you say if we'd go and get some coffee?"

He nodded although he knew very well the man couldn't see it. "Yeah." It came out without hesitation. "Coffee sounds good."

As soon as he went to work the following day Spencer opened one of the drawers of his own desk, revealing its content.

There were three photographs – the ones he valued the most. One of them was of the team from the days when Jason and Elle Greenaway had still been a part of it. In the picture they were all gathered together like in some kind of a yearbook-picture. He'd taken the picture almost a year and a half after joining BAU. When they'd asked why he came up with some lame explanation, but the real reason was that it was then the team started to feel like a family to him. A waitress of a Chinese restaurant had taken the second picture, which was of the team's current version, when they'd gathered together for Derek's birthday. The birthday-boy seemed to enjoy the attention he was getting and Spencer remembered that they'd all been in a good mood. It was on that day he'd been able to feel that perhaps they could be a family again, despite the losses they suffered. The third snapshot was of him in his mother's arms when he was four. That picture had been taken by William, and both he and his mother had bright smiles on their faces. It was the pretty much only happy picture of them he had.

Spencer took a deep breath, then put a hand to the hidden pocket of his omnipresent bag and pulled out another photograph. It took all his self-control and a lot of blinking to keep himself together as he looked at it.

In the picture he was sitting right beside Madison on the biggest branch of their very own tree, one of his arms wrapped around her. Her mother had taken the snapshot one hot summer day when they were eight. They were both smiling like a couple of idiots, blissfully unaware of what was lingering in the future.

It was the only picture of them together Spencer had, which made it his greatest treasure. But now… Now it was time to stop carrying the memory's weight with him all the time.

He felt a small twinge of ache in his chest when putting the picture away and closing the drawer. And then he was able to smile again.

The rest of the team couldn't possibly know exactly what he did, but he could tell they sensed that something remarkable had happened as they appeared one by one. And then they sunk back to their daily routine when Aaron announced that they had another case.

From thereon things were a little bit closer to normal.

One Year Later

A yet another case took the team only one hour's drive away from Las Vegas. That was when Spencer realized that there was something he needed to do. And to even his own surprise he didn't want to do it alone.

"Hey Emily", he greeted when she responded to his uncertain knock on her hotel room's door. He licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair, feeling ridiculous all of a sudden. "I… was just wondering, if you could give me a ride to this place." Seeing the look on her face he hurried to add a weak excuse. "My leg's giving me a hard time." It was only partially true, and he had a nasty feeling she knew it.

Emily appeared confused for a moment but in the end nodded. "Sure."

Apart from the instructions Spencer gave from time to time their drive to his planned destination was a quiet one. He was far too worked up and deep in thought to really notice the occasional beginnings of a conversation Emily offered, and eventually she stopped trying. And then he told her to park. Emily appeared surprised when discovering that they'd come to a cemetery but didn't say anything.

It'd been years – almost two decades – from the last time Spencer visited the cemetery and moving was still awkward with his leg. But eventually they found the correct spot.

Emily emitted a sound he couldn't identify when noticing the name on the stone. "Reid…"

'Madison Rogers

A beloved daughter and friend

May God look after his little angel'

Spencer swallowed thickly, fighting furiously against the lump in his throat. "Today… Today would've been her birthday, and I just… I wanted to come and say 'hi'."

Emily nodded. "I understand."

They were silent for the longest time until Spencer almost whispered all of a sudden. He was surprised by how hard it was to find his voice. "Maddy… If she'd grown up, she would've been just like you." He focused on the stone to avoid meeting Emily's eyes although he couldn't be sure which one would've hurt more. He swallowed thickly and blinked furiously. "Sometimes when I look at you I… I could swear I see her instead. You both have the same fire in your eyes. And when you smile… You have the same smile." A single stubborn tear made its way to his cheek and he wiped it away rapidly with a trembling hand. "She would've been just like you."

Emily was quiet for almost a full minute before she placed a hand to his shoulder and gave a small squeeze. "Thank you, for bringing me here today."

Spencer nodded, unable to form another word.

He couldn't be sure if they stood there for five minutes or five hours before he finally came to a conclusion that it was time to go. It was time to say goodbye and leave the ghosts of past to rest.

Blinking away the moisture in his eyes Spencer outstretched a hand and brushed the name engraved to the stone with gentle fingertips. He closed his eyes, and for a brief moment she could see her face. "See you later, Maddy", he whispered so quietly that even Emily couldn't hear.

Out of nowhere a warm breeze of wind appeared, brushing his cheek.

"Are you ready to go?" Emily asked in a atypically gentle tone.

Spencer nodded. There was no hesitation or regrets inside him anymore.

There was still a long road ahead of him before the nagging fear and nightmares would be behind him. But it felt much better to continue that journey when he knew that he had a guardian angel watching over him along with his earthly family.

As Spencer walked away right beside Emily he felt someone watching him. He didn't have to look over his shoulder to know who it was.

'Letting go has never been easy, but holding on can be as difficult. Yet strength is measured not by holding on, but by letting go.'

(Len Santos)

End.

A/N: And so it comes to a close. (sighs and wipes eyes)

Sooo… Was the finishing bit any good, at all? Or should I go back to the drawing board? PLEASE, let me know your thoughts – it'd mean A LOT, even though the story is over!

You guys… THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, for sticking around this story this far – for reading, listing and especially reviewing! You can't even imagine how good it feels that this story made so many friends during its course. So thank you! (hugs every single one of you) You guys are amazing!

Who knows, maybe we'll meet again with some other story. (glances hopefully)

All the very best!

And, of course…

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU ALL! (Consider this as my gift to you.) (grins)

cmsp: No problem, sweetie. After all you DID review, even with all the trouble!

I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that you enjoyed all those little bits! (beams)

Ah, as for the time skip… We'll see exactly what's going on, and if something's described earlier than eighteen months later. It remains to be seen how Reid's long road to recovery has progressed… (grins mysteriously)

HUGE thank yous for the review!
-

vetgirl1231: As always, it means A LOT to hear that you enjoyed the chapter so! (beams)

Ah, we'll see what's cooked up in my head for the epilogue. (grins mysteriously) I really hope it meets your expectations, anyway. (glances hopefully)

Massive thank yous for the review!