Hey guys, I am both sad and pleased to present you with the final installment of the Revenge Game. I'm rather sad to bring this journey to an end. But at the same time, I'm pleased with myself for managing to pull this whole thing off and making it live up to my own expectations.

Thanks to my beta Little Miss Artist!

Disclaimer: No, sadly I don't own it. I mean really, what were you expecting?

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Confessions

"Make yourself at home," Morgan said as they entered his house. Clooney bounded up to them and Morgan gave him an affectionate pat.

Reid was planning on staying with Morgan for a few days before going back to his own place. His arm still hurt badly and he would no doubt need a little help adjusting to using one arm while his left was in a sling for his broken collar bone.

He was yet to decide if he'd get a new place or not. He didn't really know if it'd be a problem yet, staying in that apartment after everything that had gone down that night. Had it really only been one night? It felt like it'd lasted an eternity. Though the whole ride had really started almost two weeks ago when he and Morgan were first kidnapped. They'd only been there for about two days but that too had felt like much longer.

"The guest bedroom is down the hall to the left. Help yourself to whatever's in the kitchen whenever you want," Morgan said as he slipped his jacket and shoes off.

"What are you smiling at?" Morgan asked when he noticed the small smirk on Reid's face.

"Well, it's kind of strange isn't it? I've known you for a few years and never once have I been to your home and you've never been to mine. It took this whole thing to get us to actually see each other out of work."

While Morgan was pretty sure Reid hadn't meant it to make Morgan feel bad, it still did. Reid was his best friend yet he'd never seen him outside of work. Why? He couldn't really blame Reid – he wasn't the kind of person to call someone up and invite them over. But Morgan should have.

"Yeah well, you know," Morgan said dismissively.

"You have a nice home," Reid observed.

"Thanks, kid," he said with a chuckle.

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Reid had nothing to say and Morgan didn't know how to say the things he wanted to. Reid ate on, oblivious to Morgan's struggle to find the right words.

Later that night, Reid sat awake reading a book when Morgan came in. He took a seat on the end of the bed. The small lamp cast a yellowish glow about the room and creating shadows across both their faces.

"Hey, Pretty Boy, what're you reading?"

"The Da Vinci Code written by Dan Brown in 2003. Did you know-"

"No I didn't," Morgan said cutting him off. "Reid, I have to ask you something…" Reid frowned slightly wondering what it could possibly be. Finally Morgan sighed and looked up.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Reid was slightly taken aback by the question. His surprise must have shown on his face because Morgan elaborated.

"I mean when you found the note."

"You know about that?" Reid asked sadly.

"Yeah, we found the note in your apartment when…we were there," he finished, not wanting to bring up the memories that would forever haunt him.

"I…I wasn't sure if it was serious or not…"

"Reid," Morgan said, "you had to know Mayella would carry out her threat."

"Well, yeah, but…all of you had just gotten back and I didn't want to make you all get up and rush down only to find she wasn't going to make a move for a while. I was going to tell you, I was just going to wait until the morning. I didn't think it would be that urgent. Besides, I thought I could handle her myself…"

"Reid, everyone needs a little help sometimes. Besides, we'd all rather be woken up at some ungodly hour to find out that you're being precautionary than wake up to a call saying you were killed because you weren't."

"I'm sorry," Reid offered with a shrug.

"Just…be safe not sorry next time, okay kid?"

"Did you know that even though that's an English idiom, 'be safe not sorry,' actually traces back to Irish novelist Samuel Lover's novel Rory O' More? Actually-"

"Reid," Morgan said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Reid replied instantly, though he was smiling slightly as well.

"There's something else I have to tell you…" Morgan said slowly.

"Yes?"

"Um, Mayella…she…she committed suicide."

"Oh." Reid didn't know what else to say; didn't know what to feel, to think. So, like always, he let his brain take over. "Did you know in the US suicide is the 4th leading cause of death between the ages of 18 and 65? And even though more females attempt suicide than males, more males are successful in it."

"Reid," Morgan said softly, clearing recognizing Reid was spewing facts as a defense mechanism. If he let facts and statistics fill and rule his brain, there was no room for emotions, especially fear.

"I just…I don't really know what to feel about that. Morgan, she's just like me."

"Reid, you're not some psycho killer…"

"That's not what I meant," Reid snapped. "I can't help but feel bad for her. Like maybe it wasn't entirely her own fault. Maybe everything just worked against her," he finished quietly, surprised at how much he'd said.

Morgan nodded.

"Sometimes we have a case and it just seems like we can't win, no matter what we do," Reid said tiredly as he slowed rubbed a hand over his face.

"But in the end it comes down to one thing. Regardless of why, the killer was killing innocent people and had to be stopped," Morgan explained, trying not to seem insensitive yet still get his point across.

"But-"

"To me, she's just another killer who went even further by kidnapping my best friend and myself then proceeded to attack you yet again, only this time in your own apartment. No matter how bad her life was, it was her choice to take it out on others. I mean, look at us. Neither of our lives were remotely easy but neither of us went on psychotic murder sprees. Look, Reid, I know it's not easy, but you did the best you could and now we just gotta move on."

Reid nodded mutely, unsure what to say.

"Night," Morgan said as he got up. He patted Reid on the leg once before exiting.

Reid sighed. He would never forget May, not even just because of his eidetic memory, but also because of the impact she'd had on his life, in more than one way.

She was so eerily similar to him. An unappreciated genius with a less than adequate home life which only involved one parent. Not that Reid would ever hold his mother's illness against her, but he couldn't pretend that it didn't hurt when she was having an episode and didn't even recognize him. Or when she didn't notice he was hurt like on that fateful night with the goalpost.

But Morgan was right, when it really came down to it, it was all Mayella's choice. She chose to let her feelings fester and storm inside of her and take them out on others. And in the end, she chose to take her own life. Just like Reid chose not to let his less than great childhood affect his attitude.

And that was the difference in it all. A person was defined by their choices, not their situation.

"One is never lost. One is always where one is supposed to be."
- Hadji Singh

I'm sorry to say, we have officially come to the end of this saga. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Please drop me a line and leave me a final review! I mostly certainly will continue with more Criminal Minds fic and thank you for blowing my mind with your incredible responses!