Author's Note: And finally, the end. Hopefully you will all agree that this wrapped up well. I hope the entire journey can be considered worthwhile.

Story Notes: I would absolutely advise reading from the beginning as many of the flashbacks(anything in italics) in this chapter will make more sense if you do.

Thanks for all of your fantastic feedback. It has been appreciated.

She saw lights above her head. Blurry, too bright, blinding. And voices, merging together, saying things, few of which she could understand.

In fact, the only thing she could make out was her name.

Jennifer.

No, that wasn't right…

She looked up, watched as her aunt walked slowly towards her. She tilted her head, confused about the tears on Kristina's face.

"Hey, kiddo," Kristina said softly, kneeling down in front of her. "How are you holding up?"

She shrugged, looked over Kristina's shoulder, towards where the two long wood boxes were. All afternoon, she'd been wondering what was in those boxes. All afternoon, even as a child, her instincts had told her that she didn't really want to know what was in them.

"We're going to head back to the house in just a bit, "Kristina assured her, reaching out to touch her face. "I'm sure you're hungry."

"Will Mommy and Daddy be there?" she asked. Almost immediately, Kristina's face darkened.

A long moment passed before Kristina said softly, "Jennifer…"

She didn't hesitate. "JJ."

After all, that was what Daddy liked to call her.

"JJ," Kristina corrected. "Do you remember what I told you and David about heaven?"

"Yeah."

And then silence again and she looked back towards the boxes.

"JJ…" Kristina said, reaching out for her.

Nothing was in focus yet. Quite the opposite really.

And so she settled for closing her eyes and just listening.

She recognized two of the voices immediately.

Hotch was one of them.

Her brother David was the other.

The third voice – one she didn't recognize at all - had to belong to the doctor in charge.

He was tossing out medical terms. None of them sounded serious, but everyone seemed so grave, so worried.

She wondered if she was seriously hurt.

She didn't feel hurt.

She didn't really feel anything.

Probably the drugs.

Good drugs apparently. Very good.

"When will we know if she suffered any head trauma?"

"Soon. We're going to run a full battery of tests on Agent Jareau. If there's something to find, I promise you, we will find it."

She figured that she was all out of tears and yet every time she had thought about it, they came again. In great emotional watery torrents.

She could barely get the words out. "He tried…to…attack…"

"I know, Jen," David soothed, again stroking her hair. He'd been doing that all night. Just sitting with her, holding her, assuring her that it wasn't her fault, promising her that the high school senior who had tried to get fresh with her would never do so again. "It's okay," he'd promised. "You're okay."

She blinked and slowly, the light fell back and shapes began to take form. The first thing she saw was the smooth white ceiling. No holes in this one.

"'Jen?"

She looked up and smiled (as much as she could – with all the drugs coursing through her, she felt a bit like someone after a Botox treatment) when she saw David's worried brown eyes gazing down at her.

"David," she managed.

"Yeah," he said, sighing with relief. "Are you…"

"I'm okay." Then, in a lower more hesitant voice, "Aren't I?"

"You are," Hotch said from the doorway. He entered the room and the first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing his jacket. She considered mentioning that to him, but it would have required a lot more speaking than she wanted to do.

"Hey." She tried to sound casual, like nothing had happened. No one was buying.

"Hey," he replied. "You had us all worried there."

"Really? I wasn't worried at all. I knew I'd save the day."

He smiled, this one large and genuine.

Immediately, calm came over her.

Either he was smiling because everything was okay.

Or he was smiling because everything was so far gone that it just didn't matter anymore.

Either way, she could see the black at the edges of her vision. Taking her towards a restful nap or the final one, she just didn't know.

Her last thought as she faded back was that she hoped she'd wake up again.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking up at her mud and blood stained reflection. She could still feel her heart pounding. Loud. Louder.

The memory of their victory – her victory – was still so fresh in her mind. The Miracle Kick as her teammates had decided to call it.

It had taken awhile for the adrenaline to fade. But finally, it had.

She could feel the pain winding its way through her slender frame.

When she had kicked the ball, she had landed hard on her front, connecting with the hard ground at full speed. It hadn't hurt then. It sure as hell hurt now.

She lifted her shirt and looked down at the dark bruises already forming around her ribs. Blacks, blues and purples. Explosive and in full bloom.

"Very nice," David said from the doorway.

She looked back at him, then back down at the bruise. And then, she smiled.

Broken ankle. Two broken ribs. A badly bruised jaw. A mid grade concussion.

All ugly injuries, but none horribly serious.

The worst of them was the ankle, which had required a screw to be inserted to hold everything together. She'd be on crutches for at least six weeks.

She was lying in the bed, head against the pillow, listening to the machines when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see Oscar Baron in the doorway.

"I hope you don't mind me coming by," he said with a smile.

"Not at all. Please, come in."

"Thank you, my dear." He stepped into the room and sat down beside her. "I'm frankly surprised to find you alone."

"Me, too," she chuckled. "But to be honest, it's kind of nice to have a few seconds alone with my thoughts."

"Then I won't stay long."

"That's not what I…"

"I know. Look, I wanted to talk to you about the promotion you were offered." She opened her mouth to ask him who had told him. He held up his hand. "Jason did. He's quite proud of you. It's a big promotion, I understand."

"Yeah."

"Turn it down."

"Excuse me."

"Agent Jareau, I don't know you from the lady who I pass by every morning when I walk my dog, but I do understand a little bit about teams. I understand a little about your team. It's something special."

"I know that."

"Hotch and Jason will both push you to take the job because that's what they should do. They just be trying to help you in your career. But life isn't about careers. It's about being happy. It's about being at home. Think about that."

"Okay."

He turned to leave and then stopped. "It was a real pleasure to meet you, Agent Jareau."

"You, too, Mr. Baron."

He smiled and exited, leaving her once again alone with her thoughts.

Only now she wasn't so sure that she wanted to be.

She had come up with a way of dealing with the cases that she walked away from. She had created a network of contacts that she could passes cases along. She had made sure that even when she said "no", somebody was going to say "yes".

And then she would go home and pour herself a stiff drink. Just one. No more than that. Enough to dull the pain, enough to feel it.

It had gotten easier over time. She had learned to rationalize better.

And she had made sure to take pride in the victories. Each one of them mattered, kept her whole.

Each one reminded her of why she was doing this.

David had wanted her to come back with him, stay for a few days while she recuperated. She had even considered it, but realized that she needed to take care of a few things first.

"I'll see you in a few weeks," she promised him, arms wrapped around his neck.

"I don't like this," he whispered into her ear.

"I know, but little sister needs to fly."

"Little sister always flies."

"Yes, she does," JJ said with a smile. She touched his cheek. He pulled her close again, kissed her hair and held on.

She went with Reid in the morning. Stood beside him, almost holding his hand. They explained everything to Hotch and Gideon.

The nightmares and the drug use. They recited the practiced lie that he had never used while on the job. She said nothing of his apparent pseudo suicide attempt. All of that was between them and would always stay that way.

Reid agreed to out patient rehab. His career would stay intact.

"JJ?" Hotch called her back.

"Sir?"

"Forgive yourself."

She smiled slightly and then turned and exited.

"She won't," Gideon had murmured. "She can't."

"She will when he's okay."

Hotch looked up at the knock on his door. "Come."

It opened and JJ came in, on her crutches. Most people looked uncomfortable on them, but she looked downright wrong, completely stripped of her usual grace.

"You have a moment?"

"Always. Please, sit down."

She did slowly, wincing just a bit as she settled herself into the chair opposite Hotch's desk.

"I went and spoke to the director."

"Good. When do you start?"

"I don't."

"You –"

"With your permission, I'd like to stay here. In the BAU."

"JJ, are you sure about this?"

"Yes. Do I have your permission?"

"Of course you do. I just…I need to make sure this is the right decision for you."

"That's two different questions. Is it the right decision? I honestly don't know. Maybe so, maybe not. I guess we'll find out. Is it the right decision for me? Yes. This is where I belong. This is my…this is my family, Hotch. You guys."

She looked down and away, a bit embarrassed.

"JJ…"

She looked back at him and there was the barest glimmer of tears in her bright blue eyes. "I've spent most of my life wanting to catch the man who took away the life I was supposed to have. It was all I thought about. But you know what? When I was lying in the hospital bed, after everything happened, I realized it was all okay. I have a good life. I like my life. What we do here, it matters. I matter. I need that. That's my tribute to my parents. I can't give them that if I'm sitting behind a desk answering emails for the director."

"Okay."

"Okay." She stood back up. "We're about to head out for drinks, the rest of us. Even Gideon. Will you join us?"

"Sure," he smiled.

She didn't sleep that night. How could she? She had come home for Easter and found out that everything she thought she knew about the terrible accident that had taken her parents from her was a lie.

Now what?

She climbed out of the bed and made her way over to the dresser. The scrapbook that she and David had been looking through lay there. She brought it back to the bed and flipped it open.

Mom. Dad. David.

The four of them together.

Family.

Family lost.

The tears fell like rain.

And then determination steeled inside her.

She would find this man, the one who took her family from her.

She would. Whatever it took.

"Okay, okay, toast," Morgan said, holding up his glass.

The others did likewise.

"To JJ, who has decided to stay with us. You poor sad soul."

Laughter and then everyone took a drink. JJ met Hotch's eyes.

"Okay, my turn," she said, lifting her glass again.

"To…family." She said with a smile full of emotion. She was close to tears, but they didn't need to know that.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then, " "Yeah, I'll drink to that," Emily said. She reached out and squeezed JJ's hand.

"You'll drink to anything," Reid chirped.

She responded with a small punch to the shoulder.

"And me, Reid?" Garcia queried. "You saying I'm a lush, too?"

"Uh, no...I didn't..."

More laughter and teasing. JJ tuned out most of the actual words.

It occurred to her that she'd been wrong. Her tribute to her parents wasn't the bad guys she put away. That was in honor of them. No, her tribute to them was this.

The family she'd found.

They would be proud. Of that, she was certain.

She closed her eyes for just a moment, her hand rising up to touch her necklace.

"JJ?"

She opened her eyes, saw Morgan watching her.

"You okay?"

"No."

"No?" Hotch asked, concern furrowing his brow.

"No. I haven't beat anyone at darts yet. Which means that I still have to pay for my own drinks. Derek, care to take me on?"

"Even with you on crutches, I can't win, can I?"

"No."

"We'll see."

He stood up. So did Reid, Garcia and Prentiss. The five of them made their way over to the board, leaving Hotch and Gideon behind.

They walked as the younger agents teased and mocked each other. They watched as JJ obliterated Morgan.

Their eyes met and then Hotch nodded.

JJ's toast had been right.

This was his family, too.

-FIN.