Epilogue

It had been a year and a half now since he was first diagnosed. He'd been taking the pills regularly ever since the operation. His hair was finally coming back to him though some of the side effects still hit him every now and again. He was most thankful for his team through all of this. They'd supported him, defended him and picked up the slack for him.

There had been the occasional time where he'd found the side effects a little overwhelming. He'd feel so incredibly tired and take a nap wherever they happened to be working at the time. Thankfully it never happened when they were in the field. In fact he mostly limited his time out in the field and stayed at the stations.

Whenever someone would ask what was wrong with him he'd just hear his team say he was just incredibly tired. They'd never tell them that he had cancer which he was more than thankful for. This was his personal battle and he didn't want it to be aired out like someone's dirty laundry. He could just imagine how intimidating his team's protective sides could be to people who didn't know them that well.

Cruz had found out in the end that Aaron was battling cancer. It had come up when a sheriff had mentioned in passing that the Unit Chief had had a little nap during the case. He'd ended up having to confess to Cruz he had cancer fearing he'd keep him out of the field and give him absence from work.

Instead he'd suggested he limit his time in the field and take it easy. He'd informed him they both knew if he was taken off cases and made to stay at home it would kill him and being able to work gave him incentive to fight the cancer. He'd agreed. If he'd been forced to sit at home whilst watching his husband go off on cases it would have literally killed him. Having been able to work had taken his mind off his illness and given him the strength to fight his own battles along with the cases.

Today he had an appointment with the doctor. He was hoping it would be his final one. They'd been monitoring his cancer from the moment he'd been diagnosed. Recently they'd said the amount of cancer cells were dwelling and it hadn't spread. He was praying to get the all clear today.

He was just getting ready to head off to the hospital with his husband. He was so thankful for him and how he'd kept him strong during the fight. He'd accompanied him to each and every appointment as well as being the first to jump to his defence if anything had cropped up. He simply didn't know what he'd do if he was without his Spencer.

"Ready?" he heard his husband ask before feeling a kiss on his cheek.

"Ready," he smiled turning round to see him there.

They headed off to the car and even though Aaron finally had a good feeling about this visit he let his husband drive. He was still feeling the side effects of the tablets but he hoped soon he'd be rid of them permanently. He couldn't wait to finally feel good again and not so dog gone tired. He also couldn't wait to go back into the field again.

As usual they met Dave standing outside of the outpatients. He'd been there at every appointment just as Spencer had. Aaron was so thankful for the both of them. He didn't know what he'd have done without their support.

"You ready?" Dave asked when they arrived.

"More ready than ever," Aaron smiled slightly feeling good about this visit.

"Good, good," he smiled back at him then they headed up to the specialist. Once they were there they waited for his name to be called after sitting down.

Soon his name was called so he followed his doctor leaving his husband and best friend out in the waiting room waiting to hear the outcome. Spencer placed his head back against the wall trying not to worry about all the positive negatives that could come out of this visit. What if his feeling better was a false alarm? Sometimes you felt better before the end. He couldn't lose his husband; he just couldn't.

Dave placed his hand on Spencer's knee. "He'll be alright. Remember what they said at our last visit. The cancer's regressing and there was only a few cells left," he assured him.

"But what if there's a setback, Dave? Aaron's doing so well I don't know if he could handle it. I don't know how any of us could handle it," he answered vulnerably.

"He won't. This is Aaron Hotchner we're talking about. The cancer is regressing and soon he'll be in the all clear." Spencer just nodded.

They waited in painful silence just hoping Aaron would be back out soon with good news. The waiting felt like an absolute eternity as they heard the ticking of the waiting room clock. Spencer tried his hardest not to twitch and turn every time he heard a sound but it was incredibly hard.

Finally they heard footsteps and looked up to see Aaron smiling and looking like he'd had a great weight taken off his shoulders. They daren't hope but they went up to him hoping anyway he was in the all clear.

He smiled at the two of them as they came up to him and he nodded. "I'm in the all clear," he smiled back at them while they walked up to him and Spencer hugged him while Dave patted his shoulder smiling at him how proud he was.

"I'm so proud of you and the way you've fought through everything," Spencer replied while Aaron hugged him close.

"You've been the greatest help," Aaron answered placing his head on his shoulder. "Thank you."