A/N: Guess what? The FINAL chapter is finally here! (gawks) Yup, that's right. We're REALLY close to the end. (wipes eyes a little bit)

BUT, first… Thank you so much for your FANTASTIC reviews! (HUGS) I can't believe that you've enjoyed this story so much. I REALLY hope that this last bit won't let you down, either. (gulps thickly)

Awkay… (shivers) Final chapters are always nerve wrecking so I'll just cut the chase before I chicken out. Have a good ride!

The Aftermath

Left. Right. Up. Down. Repeat. And again.

Finally, after what felt like a decade, the light disappeared. A look of the relief could seen in the brown eyes of the very young female intern who'd been most likely pushed out of everyone else's way with ordering her to keep a close eye on him. Aaron now understood why. She took her job far, far too seriously. "Good." She held up three fingers. "How many…?"

Aaron wasn't a very patient man, not really. His eyes narrowed before he growled in a tone of voice he might've regretted in some other state of mind. "Several of my subordinates are here as patients right now, and so far no one's told me how they're doing. I can't sit here any longer. What does it take to convince you that I'm fine?"

The intern – 'Karev, I' – gave him a somewhat wry look, then sighed and ran a nervous hand through her long, blonde ponytail. "Being able to stand up for longer than three seconds before falling down would be a good start. We both know that you're not up to that right now."

They stared each other down, with the intern lasting his infamous glare remarkably well, before the room's door opened and a familiar voice spoke. "I think I might have a better shot at making him listen. Why don't you let me try?"

Aaron's eyes immediately met Derek, scanning through. It was more than slightly unsettling to see the man in a hospital gown, especially with the nasty looking stitched up wound on his forehead and the casted left arm. But the younger agent was standing firmly, his eyes fully alert and full of worry.

They'd both been very, very lucky.

Turning towards the arrival the intern sighed again, appearing exasperated. "Didn't I tell you to stay in bed? What are you doing up and walking?"

Derek shrugged, not bothering to even attempt looking sheepish. "I didn't listen to you the first four times. What made you think that I would now?" The man then took a breath, something in his eyes that truly scared Aaron. "Look… I know that you take your job seriously and I appreciate it, I really do. But… Could you leave us alone for a while, please? There's something we really need to talk about." Seeing her look of suspicion the man went on. "I won't leave the hospital. I think we've already established that. And one of us will press the 'call'-button if anything happens."

The intern, seeing her defeat, sighed and began to make her way towards the door. "Fine. But a word of warning… If either one of you does anything stupid, I'm getting a permission to use restraints." So saying she was gone.

Any other day Derek might've smirked at those words. As it was the man gritted his teeth, then made his way to the chair beside Aaron's bed and slumped down eagerly. All the while the agent was rubbing his injured arm gingerly, indicating that whatever painkillers he'd been given weren't enough.

Aaron frowned, trying to find a better position. His back was killing him but he refused to complain, too relieved by the fact that it hadn't been damaged badly. "How's your head?"

Derek shrugged, giving him a meaningful look. "Judging by the looks of it, much better than yours." The man's eyes then became solemn. Too solemn.

Aaron shivered and steeled himself before daring to speak out. "How's Reid?"

Derek gritted his teeth, so loudly that he heard it. It took two endless seconds before words came. "He's… in surgery right now. That's all I know for sure."

Aaron nodded stiffly, looking away. It was raining outside. "Do you think he'll…?" It was almost amusing that he – a man most considered invincible, fearless – couldn't produce the rest.

Derek was silent for the longest time. When he looked towards the man he could've sworn that he saw unshed tears. The answer was barely audible. "I don't know."

The silence that fell on them was thick and heavy, like someone had pushed an elephant into the room.

JJ hated hospitals. Whenever she entered one the day her sister died was brought to life from the depths of her mind; the smells, the tears, the doctor's words… That's why she just couldn't be in the waiting room with the others, sitting helplessly. Instead she made her way out of the building and took her cell phone, her mind spinning in a mad loop.

It wasn't purely out of guilt and friendship she consoled Spencer for ten weeks after the Doyle-disaster, listened to him cry although it tore her up inside. He was a lot more to her than just a friend. He was her brother. And now… Now she didn't know if she'd ever see him again.

She knew that she'd done a lot of damage to her relationship with Will – they both had. But she could only imagine one person to call. He was the only person who could keep her from falling apart completely.

Her fingers trembled furiously when she called 'Will'. Her call was directed to a voicemail.

She'd been trying to put up a brave front for three weeks already. But at that extreme moment absolutely everything inside her fell apart, so completely and throughoutly that it scared her. She could barely speak from the sobs ravishing her entire body. "It's… It's me… Something horrible happened, and I… I can't…" Her knees buckling she slumped to the ground, burying her face into her free hand. The cry she emitted was that of a wild animal, came from the depths of her heart and soul. "God, Will…! I… I know that I've messed up. First… First Emily. Then… Then that stalker… Then the baby…"

Three months after Spencer's near-death experience in Dr. Castro's hands they were handed a case in Virginia. A man was hunting women with her exact looks. When Will asked her why she was jumpy and edgy she told him that it was just a routine case. She was wrong. On day two with them working on the case the UnSub picked her as a target, began stalking her before moving on to something far more dangerous. One day she came home with Will still at work to find their UnSub – Casey Isaacs – sitting on her couch with Henry playing at his feet. She was lucky enough to be able to coax Casey into another room before taking him down, but not without getting shot. Will didn't want to admit it but she knew that he'd never truly forgiven her for putting their son in the harm's way. She knew she hadn't.

Exactly three weeks, two days and sixteen hours before today JJ went to a routine ultra scan on her tenth week of pregnancy. She found out that the baby had Down syndrome. Once again she lied to Will that she was fine, that their baby was fine, that soon she'd be ready to share the news with her team. He discovered the truth two days later, when he found her crying inconsolably with brochures of abortion her doctor gave her at her feet. That night he slept on the couch. She didn't sleep at all.

If possible JJ cried even harder, wiped away the tears although more flowed instantly. The phone barely remained in her feeble hold. She never noticed that she'd already waited past the timeline. The phone call had been disconnected. "But Spence… He may…" Her lips moved but for a while nothing came out. She whimpered, such pain filling her body she'd never felt before. "Will, please…! I… I'm so scared. And I… I need you. I need you so much."

From her sobs and whimpers she didn't hear the slow, cautious steps approaching before a gentle hand was laid to her shoulder. Startled and defensive she balled her fists and looked up. Her breath was caught into her throat when she saw Will's tired and pale, worried face.

He swallowed thickly, brushing her cheek with his hand. "I… Morgan called me. Told me what's going on. I would've called you, told you that I'm coming, but I didn't have the time." He gulped again, his eyes appearing moist. "I… Honey, I'm so sorry."

JJ didn't even hear him. Couldn't think. Her body functioned free of her will.

Will didn't have any time to prepare himself before she'd launched herself into his arms, wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she possibly could. Almost like she'd been afraid that he'd disappear. He held her just as tightly.

Right there and then, in his secure hold, she let herself fall apart completely. And although nothing was alright the world around her felt just a little bit less scary.

Spencer had been forced to battle with nightmares since he was a child. Eidetic memory gave his subconsciousness a fruitful ground for building up horror stories. He never, ever grew dull to those dark dreams but he managed to find ways to live with them. Waking up to his own screams and tears was the most horrible part.

It was even worse to wake up and realize that everything he'd been dreaming of was real.

He opened his eyes, gasping and a scream of sheer agony building up in his throat, to find the bruised face of Elle. A tremble of alarm crossed his being. "What…?"

To his surprise worry flashed on Elle's face. What the hell was going on? What happened to her, to them? "Shh…" He felt a squeeze on his hand and it took a moment before he realized that she'd taken it. "Just calm down, alright? I'm fine – no concussion, no broken bones. Just cuts and bruises. I'm fine. So are Hotch and Morgan. We've all been waiting for almost two days to see those eyes of yours. So calm down."

Spencer frowned, his body and mind still far from soothed. Two days? What…?

And then, in a violent flood, it all came crashing down on him. The rage… The fear… The guilt… The sheer, utter sensation of loss… The reactions of his body came from somewhere so deep that he had absolutely no control over them whatsoever.

His hand found its way to his stomach and although it was to be expected that he wouldn't feel any life whatsoever the sensation of void felt like someone had stabbed him. He began to scratch, as hard as he could, almost like he'd been trying to make his way through the skin. Through all this he kept hearing the chirping but it was a dying echo. As though he'd been losing the tiny being all over again, watching it die in his arms.

He didn't notice the tears. Didn't realize that he was hyperventilating, to a point where his heart monitor began to wail. Didn't see the blood.

The feel of Elle's hand tightening around his made him shudder but didn't stop his violent self assault. "Reid, stop it right now! You're hurting yourself, do you understand? Stop it!" He didn't, not until she grabbed his wrists as tightly as she possibly dared to. Even then he kept trashing against her with all he had. Her lips kept moving. "Spencer, I understand that you've lost something precious to you. I understand!"

No you don't! He couldn't produce a sound.

"But don't do this, please. Don't do this. I'm not letting go of you."

He barely even heard her. All he could hear was that all too familiar chirping he understood full well couldn't even exist anymore. All he could feel was pain.

His howl of pure agony echoed in the room and through the hallway.

Several hours and a horrendous amount of sedatives later Elle was focused on watching over Spencer's restless sleep until the room's door opened. Fully prepared for any kind of a threat she tensed up and looked swiftly over her shoulder. Her body refused to relax completely even as she discovered a familiar face. A tiny, wry smile appeared. "I should've known that you wouldn't stay home and rest."

Derek most likely didn't even hear her. The man approached cautiously, rubbing his injured arm and never once looking away from Spencer. "Has he been awake yet?"

She nodded. In a way she was glad that Derek wasn't the first person Spencer saw upon waking up. There was no telling how he would've reacted to the older man's injuries. Her eyes shifted back to the sleeping genius. "He… was awake for a little bit, just now. He was pretty out of it, though." She found it best to leave out some details.

By then Derek was standing by the bed. The man's good hand twitched but remained still in the end. The moment of silence that followed was heavy. "Does he… remember?"

Elle nodded and could actually sense a shiver in Derek's body. He was like a bomb waiting to detonate. She waited with a great deal of alert what was coming.

And at that moment, finally, came the explosion that'd been building up for days. "I… I can't believe that he didn't tell us! He trusted us so little that… that we had to go to his apartment to find out the truth. He could've lost control over it! He could've been killed! He…!"

At this point Elle chose to bring an end to the rant before the man got the chance to sink even deeper into his fear, guilt and anger. "Morgan." Her voice was firm and authoritative, fueled by the years of her job experience. "You need to calm down, alright? Yelling… It isn't going to solve a thing. Besides, you're going to wake him up."

Derek's breathing was still far from calm and even but at least the man was in control over himself once more. He nodded, glancing towards Spencer to make sure that the younger agent was still asleep. "I just… I can't understand it. That monster... Why did it mean so much to him?"

Elle couldn't stop the smile from appearing. "That's because you've never carried something living inside you." Her eyes focused on Spencer. She was sure that his hand wasn't rested on his stomach purely out of physical pain. She took a deep breath. "You have no idea of what it's like to feel something moving and growing inside of you, connecting with you even though you've never even laid your eyes on it. Right then… It doesn't matter what comes out. It's a part of you. Depended on you. No other love is that absolute."

Derek was silent for a long time, obviously finding it hard to digest her words. "So… You're telling me that Reid saw that thing as… his baby? It doesn't make any sense."

Elle nodded. Even now she felt cold shivers upon remembering the look on Spencer's face when the tiny creature died in his arms. "I know that it doesn't but he did. And recovering from losing something that important… It won't be easy." She glanced towards Derek to find him deep in thought, worried. "But at least he won't be alone."

Derek nodded absentmindedly, most likely barely even hearing her words. It took ages before he finally decided to push his mind to a less painful track and looked towards her. One of his eyebrows was arched. "When you described a pregnancy… It sounded like you'd been speaking from experience."

A tremble crossing her she rolled her eyes, then swatted his head with a magazine she'd brought into the room and never even opened. "Stop profiling me", she commanded.

For the first time since she'd seen him during this newest nightmare he smiled, only slightly but still.

Twenty-seven weeks later

Spencer hated hospitals beyond all belief. That early morning, however, he ran into one with a barely noticeable limp. As soon as he crashed in he saw Derek. There was a exasperated look on the man's face that mirrored the storm raging inside Spencer as well. "I got Garcia's text. Is it really time?" he blurted out as soon as he was close enough for the older agent to hear.

Derek nodded. "Yeah. It's definitely go-time, now." The man nodded towards the elevators. "Let's get moving before we miss the whole thing."

Move they did, as fast as they possibly could. Spencer was pleased to discover that just this once the pain in his left leg wasn't slowing him down. There was no time for stumbling and whimpering right now.

For the time being they were both too deep in thought to speak. When they made it to the elevator his eyes locked on his own reflection in the mirror. Although there was nothing particularly unsettling to it he shivered.

There were nasty scars were decorating his leg, which had been operated on three times before the doctor had announced quite gloomily that it was as good as it was going to get. His side and back had also sustained quite a bit of damage. There were vivid scars and it still hurt a little bit to lie on his back. He found some bitter irony in the fact that the scars on his practically peeled off back looked like huge wings. According to his treating doctor back then, trauma surgeon George O'Malley, along with head trauma and slight swelling in his brain it were the injuries to his abdomen that almost killed him. He must've gotten those in the car crash. Bruising… Internal bleeding… Ruptures… His memories from that time were foggy at best so the details were vague. Spencer didn't mind. In his opinion the scars spoke loudly enough. His face, on the other hand, had sustained no scars in the creature's attack but his eyes had changed. Even with hours and hours of therapy there was a somewhat haunted look in them. Shadows that couldn't be chased away, at least just yet. Naturally the damage done to his mind was the worst part. He still had nightmares that made him hyperventilate, scream until he disturbed neighbors and scratch himself to a point of bleeding almost every night, which was why he was always exhausted and had caused scars that'd never heal. He'd become a vegetarian because the taste and even the smell of meat made him throw up. A lot of sounds pushed him to the edge of a panic attack; birds chirping, screeching tires, gunshots… He was by no means stable yet. That's why he wasn't allowed back on duty yet.

In truth, he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to return.

And the longing… It never, ever went away. Not a day passed without him thinking of the creature he'd lost. Without him wondering how things could've been. Without him wondering if…

A poke to his cheek startled him back to the present world. He glanced towards Derek's worried face through the mirror. A stab of guilt crossed him. Hadn't he caused enough trouble and distress already? "I'm fine. Just… thinking."

Derek gave him a wry look in return. "So that's why you zoned out completely. Because you're totally fine. Really convincing, Reid."

All of a sudden Spencer's interest was pulled towards the floor. The words were hard to find. "I… don't regret it – protecting her, trying to save her. But… I wish that I'd done things differently. I think about it every day." Finally he faced Derek, not the man's mirror image. It was much harder than he'd imagined. He wondered if he'd looked at his best friend in the eyes even once since… "I'm sorry, for pulling you into it. I'm so sorry." This time the words were easy to find.

Derek sighed, and smiled. "For the most part it wasn't your fault, you now? You didn't choose to be attacked. You didn't choose to have that thing come after you again. But you did choose to hide things, to not trust us – me. And I've gotta admit that it hurt."

Spencer bit the inner side of his mouth. "I'm sorry." Why hadn't they reached their destination yet? "It's just… hard to share things, sometimes."

Derek nodded with a look of understanding. "Trust me, I know. But… We're your family. You can trust us with anything. Don't ever forget that again or I'll feed you to Clooney."

Spencer nodded obediently, some of the weight sitting on his chest disappearing. "I won't."

"Good." He hadn't noticed that Derek had stopped the elevator until the man pushed a button and it began moving again.

They remained in silence for the longest time until Spencer uttered the about last words he'd expected. "Lisa, my new physical therapist… I've been thinking about asking her out for a coffee… or something."

Derek's eyebrow bounced up. Mirth and curiosity danced in the man's eyes. "Really, now?" The man patted his shoulder. "Well, loverboy, I think anything goes as long as you don't take her to a comic book fair."

Spencer looked at his friend with genuine confusion. "What's wrong with comic book fairs?"

And then the elevator reached its destination. They rushed out to find the rest of the team already there. There were looks of excitement, worry and anxiety on their faces. Everyone was staring at the door through which JJ had most likely been wheeled.

"Any news?" Derek demanded.

Aaron shook his head and opened his mouth but never managed to produce a word. For just then the doors opened and they saw Will. The wide smile on his face spoke volumes long before their eyes found the tiny baby in his arms. "JJ's alright, just tired and sore. She asked me to introduce our angel to you, before she's taken by a nurse." The man's eyes were full of unconditional, indescribable love when he looked towards his daughter. "Meet the newest Jareau-La Montagne."

Eagerly, forgetting absolutely everything about the rest of the world, the team gathered closer. In an instant they all gasped, wide smiles appearing. Penelope wiped her eyes and even Aaron appeared genuinely moved.

It was easy to detect the signs of Down syndrome but none of them noticed the insignificant imperfections. All they saw was a extremely beautiful baby girl who seemed perfectly content in her father's arms. All they saw was…

Spencer didn't quite manage to sort out his thoughts before Emily spoke right next to him. "Have you thought of a name?"

Will nodded, the corners of his lips twitching. He couldn't look away from his daughter. "Yeah", he nearly whispered and swallowed thickly. "Her name is Hope."

At first Spencer blinked twice. But then, for the first time in what felt like years, a extremely tiny yet genuine smile made its way to his lips. Outside rain was falling but traces of sunlight could already seen behind the heavy clouds.

Six months later

There was a place in a forest right outside Quantico where Spencer always went alone. It wasn't an issue of trust. It was just something so personal that he preferred being alone when he faced it. There, all by himself, he didn't bother hiding the still very much present limp as he approached the tiny, wooden cross on the ground.

'Lily', had been written on it.

Such a plain place to remember something that meant so much to him but he hadn't wanted to take the chance of someone getting curious. What he'd buried was something never to be dug back up. He was sure that the tiny creature understood.

"I know that I promised to never come here again, that I'd move on. But… We had this case, with children being killed, and… I just had to come and see you, once more. To say goodbye." He swallowed and blinked furiously, glad to notice that it was still possible to chase away the stinging. "Now that I've been back for a month it's… It's starting to feel normal again. The death and terror. I'm starting to feel like myself again. So… You don't have to worry anymore."

Spencer could've sworn that he felt a breath in the air but it was most likely his imagination. Nonetheless it brought him a hint of comfort. Convinced him that he was doing the right thing, that he didn't have to feel guilty and linger in the past anymore.

He didn't wipe his eyes although they felt moist. "Thank you, for saving my life. I promise to make sure that you didn't die in vain, alright? I promise." He planted a tiny kiss to the single white lily he'd brought along and laid it right before the cross. "I miss you. And I love you. You'll always have a special place in his heart. Don't ever forget that."

Despite his brave words Spencer felt like he was falling apart into a million pieces when he straightened his form, then turned and began walking away. But this time he knew that he'd survive. Knew that although he wasn't the man he was before there was a future waiting for him – a good one.

While walking away Spencer could've sworn that he heard a chirp. This time he didn't look back.

Spencer didn't know that he wasn't alone. A respectful distance away stood Aaron, observing him as he performed his small, quiet ritual. As soon as he'd walked away the older man took his cell phone and dialed familiar numbers.

"How is he?" was Elle's greeting.

Aaron found himself smiling ever so slightly. "I think he hasn't lied to his therapist this time. He's actually getting better." He took a breath, looking at the cross. He had no idea of how to feel; there was a mixture of guilt, anger and confusion. "I think he came here today to say goodbye."

"Sounds good. It's high time." There was this bizarre, screeching sound in her end of the phone. "I've… gotta go. Take care of him, alright?"

Aaron nodded, suddenly very serious. "I will." He'd already failed enough times. He never would again. He took a breath, relaxing his shoulders, and wondered what the nagging bad feeling in the back of his head was. "You take care of yourself."

"You too. Bye."

He said his own byes, wondering if she'd hung up before she even heard it. He stood there for the longest time before regaining control over himself. With a shiver he turned around and walked away, all too aware of the shadows following on his tails. He didn't look back on them.

He'd face those shadows tomorrow with his family – all of his family. The thought made him smile again.

End.

(ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely no characters from Grey's Anatomy, either. (winks) )

A/N: Oh… my dear gosh…! (takes a deep breath) Here we are, at the end of this. I'm absolutely overwhelmed. This has been a long, at times extremely tough but also an amazing ride. I seriously can't believe that this is all over!

You guys… THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart! I mean it. You've kept my head and heart attached to this story when I would've wanted to just give up. And here we are! (beams) For all those reviews and listings, for reading… Thank you! You guys rock. (hugs)

Awkay… (breaths in deep) It's time for me to head towards new projects although I'm still not over laying this one to rest. I really hope that you found this a worthy ending! I sure had a lot of fun typing it.

Once more, thank you! I really hope that I'll be seeing ya later.

Take care!

felicityphoenix: (gasps) You sure how to render me speechless! (hugs) But seriously, hearing (reading?) that means more to me than you know. There are days when I think about quitting and things feel… well, dark. It helps me push through to know that there are people who want to read my stories.

I truly hope that the final chapter of this story won't end up being a disappointment!

MASSIVE thank yous for the absolutely amazing review!

Steph: Oh, I'm happy to hear that. (beams) We'll see just what happens in the finalle…

Gigantic thank yous for the review!