A/N: Now for the conclusion of the story you have all been following for so very, very long. Thank you all for your patience, my friends - you are all wonderful readers! Beta read by the lovely LT! Now let's end this...

-o-o-o-

It was a beautiful ceremony.

White lilies circled the auburn casket and several red roses lay on top of the lid. More people than expected had shown up to pay their respects at the funeral. The priest who conducted the ceremony had held a heart wrenching sermon about compassion and humanity. There were not many dry eyes in the crowd.

A few people had stepped up behind the pulpit and paid their respects. Now, the turn had come to Hotch. With heavy steps, he walked behind the casket and took a stand at the pulpit. Looking out over the solemn crowd, he cleared his throat.

"If today has taught us anything, it's the value of humanity. For a person with such a great heart to be taken away from us under these circumstances is painful as well as incomprehensible. A weaker man would not have been able to survive at all under those conditions, but this was not a weak man. This was a strong man; a kind and compassionate man. He made a difference in all our lives and because of that we thank him. We thank him for what he gave us and for what he did for our team and for everyone around us. We thank him for making our lives richer and brighter. And we thank him for the wisdom he left behind. He will always be a significant part of our lives because of what he gave us."

Hotch lowered his head and stepped down, returning to his team which stood a few feet away from the casket. Rossi turned and patted his shoulder. "Good speech."

"I meant every word." Hotch looked up as the next speaker stepped up to the pulpit. A rather unstable figure in a black suit walking with a cane and a limp, looking like he was about to tip over at any time.

With a cough, the speech began.

"When someone meaning so much to you as this man did to me is brutally yanked away from you, there's a gaping hole left behind. You wonder if you're even going to fill it. But someone told me once that life has a plan for everyone, and no matter if you believe you will ever rise from the ashes of defeat – you will. It might be days, weeks or years – or even decades. But you will rise. And that gaping void inside you will eventually be filled with something else; something new and just as wonderful as the thing you once had. Right now, I doubt that anything will fill the hole that's been left behind by this very untimely demise. This man gave me so much; he led my way through a place where I never thought I would end up. He took me through darkness into light and taught me how to survive. Freeman… I'm sorry. Eagon Montague, became a very close friend of mine. And he saved my life. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't stand here today. He gave his life for me. He's given his life before, but this time…it was the last life he had to give. I thank him for everything he did for me, for all he taught me and for the courage he brought up inside me that I never knew I had. He made me stronger; made me believe in myself. For that I thank him. I thank him for my life."

Reid strenuously stepped down from the pulpit and leaning heavily on his cane, he walked over to his team. Morgan took his arm as he stopped, and the young man leaned thankfully on him. His back hurt and there was nothing he wanted more right now than to get back into his hospital bed. He had temporarily signed himself out to attend Freeman's funeral.

As the crowd began dispersing, the team walked towards their cars. Slowly, but steadily.

"That was a beautiful speech, Reid", Prentiss said, lightly resting her hand on the younger man's shoulder as he staggered along.

"He meant a lot to me", Reid said, wincing at the pain. "He saved my life."

Morgan shoved his hands in his pockets. "We owe him for that.

"We owe him a great deal", Hotch said as they walked along. "He's the reason you're here with us today. We'll be forever grateful."

Reid nodded. "I know I will."

"It's good to have you back." Morgan patted his arm.

"Thank you."

Three weeks had gone from the day Rossi had called Haynesville Correctional Center and gotten the news about Reid. They had all rushed to the hospital to watch over their youngest former member who had come in an hour prior to the call with life threatening injuries.

Reid had been in surgery for over 12 hours before he was finally out of the woods. Relieved, the entire BAU had remained in the hospital room until the young man had finally opened his eyes and heard the news that he had been cleared. He was free.

Now they were walking slowly over the graveyard where Reid's convict mentor was to be buried. The pain in Reid's back became more and more unbearable with every step, and he could feel every stitch made to patch up his severed body after the attack. The severed nerves in his back would leave him with a limp and he would most likely need the cane for the rest of his life.

The young man looked up towards the car and spotted something. "Guys, go ahead. There's something I have to do." He patted Morgan on the back and stepped off into another direction.

"You gonna be okay?" Morgan asked, concerned that his kid brother wouldn't be able to walk for much longer on his own. He wasn't even supposed to leave the hospital for another two weeks.

"Yeah. I'll be right with you." Reid limped off towards a little grove a couple of yards away. As he approached the people standing there, he slowed even further.

"Mrs. Montague?"

One of the women turned around. She was middle aged with long, black hair and glasses; tears in her eyes. "Yes?" she said in a cracking voice.

"My name is Spencer Reid. I was a friend of your husband."

The woman nodded. "Thank you for coming. He must have done something special for you to hold that beautiful speech."

"He was a wonderful man. He was like the father I never really had. I… I was with him when he died."

Mrs. Montague blinked and frowned. "You were? But he was in prison."

"Yes ma'am. I was there with him. We shared a cell."

The woman before him was frowning even more, but then smiled weakly. "We all make mistakes."

Reid nodded. "We sure do. He was talking about your son, Elijah."

A young man turned around behind Mrs. Montague. "What? He talked about me?"

Reid turned to the other man. "Yes, he asked me to give you a message." He could see tears rolling up into Elijah's eyes. "He said that he loves you and that he's always loved you. And that everything he ever did, he did for you. It was the very last thing he said."

There was a breakout of tears in the small crowd behind Freeman's wife and son. People embraced each other while crying and praying out loud. Elijah gave Reid a smile. "I know", he said. "I've always known. He was in there because of something he did for me. He gave his life for both of us. I just hope we deserve it."

Reid pressed his lips together. "I do too."

Elijah took his mother in his arms and held her as she cried. "Thank you", he said, then turned his head to kiss his mother's cheek.

Reid nodded slightly before turning around and limping away towards the rest of his team which was waiting by the cars. He had fulfilled his promise to Freeman.

After a much too long and painful walk he rejoined his team. Morgan took his arm to support him and led the younger man to the car.

"You good?"

"Yes. I am now."

Morgan smiled briefly. "Let's get you back to the hospital."

Reid nodded and strenuously stepped into the front seat of the large SUV, holding Morgan's arm to steady himself. Placing the cane between his knees, he pulled the seatbelt across his chest as the door was closed behind him.

Hotch took the driver's seat, Morgan and Rossi parked themselves in the back seat. The women took the other SUV and headed back towards Quantico as planned.

Reid sat silent looking out the window. So much had happened during the last six months, and he doubted there was any way that his life would go back to the way it once was. But at least he had his life, and that was only thanks to Freeman. Reid would be forever grateful. Not only had the older convict taught him to survive on the inside of the prison walls, he had also given the young man the strength and confidence to survive on his own.

He thought about all that had happened when he was an inmate at the Haynesville Correctional Center. Before the complete collapse of his existence, things had been looking up momentarily. He had had his job, friends and strangely enough, sort of a father figure. It had been something completely new to him.

One day, Freeman had come to him, asking if he was ready for a big responsibility. Reid had been hesitant at first, but after a while, he accepted. As it turned out, the previous employee of the library had been responsible for a certain service; a mail service. Many of the prisoners had not been privileged to receive letters from anyone, not even their families. The service had consisted in Reid having received the letters instead, and then passed them on to their right recipients. For a small fee, of course. It had given him some extra money to play around with and buy the items he had needed and wanted from the prison store. Thankfully, he had never been caught. Not until that day…

Reid chose to forget Vic and his crime. It was something that the young man couldn't handle right now on top of everything else. He just wanted to leave this entire ordeal behind him. Even if he wasn't sure it was a real ordeal after all. It had helped him in so many ways. Thanks to Freeman.

They drove in silence for a while until Reid's cell phone began ringing. The young man pulled up the phone and looked at the display. With a sigh he disconnected the call, muted the phone and put it back in his pocket.

Hotch glanced at him. "Not in the mood for taking calls?"

Reid shook his head. "It's my dad. He keeps calling." The young agent had only talked to his father once since he woke up in the hospital bed. It had been a very short call, since Reid already knew the story. He had told William that he knew about Simon, and that he never wanted to talk to his father again, and then had hung up the phone. Since then his phone had been ringing off the hook.

He still brooded over how to manage the conversation with his mother that he knew was inevitable. He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea.

"And you don't want to talk to him?" Hotch asked

The young man gave a short laugh and a snort. "Why should I? He's been lying to me my entire life. Freeman was more of a father to me during these six months than my dad's ever been. That man is nothing but a liar." Reid looked back out the window. "I don't understand", he mumbled. "How could they have kept this from me all these years? How did I never find out?"

"Reid…" Hotch began. "Your father was never a factor in your life when you were growing up. And your mother…"

"I know. I know… It's just so odd. I have a twin brother that I didn't know about and I didn't find out about him until I ended up in prison and you guys talked to the doctor that delivered me…us. It's like an episode of the worst daytime soap ever."

"Like Days of Our Lives?" Morgan interjected.

"No way, that rocks." Reid laughed shortly and kept the smile on his lips. "I'm glad I found out, though. It cleared up a lot. Thank you for telling me, Hotch."

"It's your right to know." Hotch had hesitated as he sat by Reid's hospital bed and prepared himself to tell his former subordinate about Simon. However, he had come to the conclusion that Reid had a right to know, and as his friend and former colleague it was his duty to tell him. Reid had taken it surprisingly well; shocked of course, and angry at his father. He had placed no blame on his mother. She probably didn't remember it anyway.

There were a few moments of silence while they drove towards the hospital to get Reid back into his designated bed with fresh linen waiting for him.

"So when are you coming back to work, Reid?" Rossi broke the silence in the car by asking the ever-present question. "It's not the same without you. Your temp is a disaster."

Reid chewed his lower lips, holding on the cane between his knees. "Uhm… I've been thinking about that. I think I'm going to take some time off."

"Oh? You have something special in mind?" Rossi raised his eyebrows. He'd expected Reid to be eager to get back to work after spending so much time away from the team and Quantico.

"Not really. I just need some time to gather my thoughts and figure out where I want to go from here."

"That sounds like a good idea", Hotch said as he turned a corner and drove up at the hospital entrance. "Take all the time you need. You're welcome back whenever you feel ready."

Reid nodded. "Thank you." The young doctor wasn't even sure if he was going to return to Quantico at all. Too much had changed, and he needed to work everything out and process all that he'd been through.

Hotch got out of the car and walked around to the other side, opening Reid's door. "Sit still, Morgan's getting you a wheel chair."

"I'm fine, Hotch."

"You shouldn't even be walking around, Reid. We'll be back in your room in no time and you can rest. It's been a long day."

Reid nodded tiredly. He looked at his former superior. "Thank you for everything today. You didn't have to hold the eulogy."

"Yes, I did. Eagon Montague gave us all something special." Hotch held on to the handle of the door. "He gave us you. He saved your life and we will be forever thankful to him for that."

Reid smiled. "He was a good man."

"He was. If there's ever a reasonably justified reason to be in prison, his was." Hotch knew that it was every parent's greatest fear. For some reason he shared the greatest of understandings with the people who had caved in to their anger and despair.

Morgan came up to the SUV with a wheel chair. "Your chariot has arrived, sir!"

Reid snickered as he stepped out of the car, holding on to Hotch's arm. "Here comes the cripple, beware", he joked.

"Oh, hush up, kid. Or I'll eat you're jell-o." He mussed Reid's hair as the young man sat down in the chair and pulled his legs up on the plates.

"Hey, you can't do that to me – I'm a cripple."

"Kid, you've been watching too much House M.D."

"Did you know that the creator of House M.D., David Shore, traced the concept for the title character to his background as an inexperienced young doctor at a teaching hospital? Shore recalled that he knew, as soon as he left the room, they would be mocking him relentlessly for his cluelessness... and he thought that it would be interesting to see a character that actually did that before they left the room."

Morgan laughed out loud, patting Reid on the shoulder as he pushed the wheel chair down the hall towards his room. "You know, kid – for once I'm actually happy to hear that garble."

"Garble? House M.D. is a brilliant show! It's very influenced by the early workings of Sherlock Holmes and a column in the New York Times from the early 1940's where…"

Morgan grinned as he listened to Reid's rambling.

Good to have you back, Reid.

-o-o-o-

Three weeks later, Reid walked down a barren hallway. It smelled clinical and a little damp, and the noises in the background were very familiar. He was still walking with his cane; like he would be doing for probably the rest of his life, but the pain was much lesser as long as he didn't lean on the bad leg too much. He refused to take any medication for the pain.

He was led to the door of a room which opened and he stepped inside. Slowly, he limped over to the free chair and sat down. The room was completely silent and duskily lit. After a few moments, Reid placed his arms on the table, folding them and leaning forward slightly.

"Hello, Simon. I'm Spencer."

The end.

-o-o-o-

A/N 2: I'm toying with the thought of making a short epilogue to the story. Would there be any interest? Thank you all for reading and I hope to see you again next time!!

/Addicted Archangel