Legion of Faith

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. – 1Timothy 4:12

Michael Nassar was a Christian believer. He made no bones about it and always seemed to have advice that was strongly based in his beliefs. It was often what grounded Spencer Reid during trying times. Other times included his family, his wife, his new daughter, and the people he worked with. It helped when they planned their move to get Garcia free.

It'll be okay, Spence.

Reid had a hard time believing it at first. He had a hard time understanding why his best friend and practically older brother was so calm while they were being kidnapped by the Believers of Benjamin Cyrus and taken to the new compound. Even when Michael had reacted and did what he did to try to protect him, Theo and Garcia, he had a calm that just seemed… different from when they were students at Cal-tech.

Reid supposed that being held captive by Islamic extremists and then having to relieve that back home plus the job Michael did for the DIA would have contributed to that, but he knew that wasn't the entirety of it. Since they first met, Michael had always been the one that stood between Reid and whatever force it was against them. He was a protector and he taught Reid a few things, so he was one himself. It was what impressed the Believers.

Michael wasn't even supposed to be there. The same with Garcia. In fact, when they staged the ruse to allow Garcia to get away, they were going to kill his brother. It would have been a blow to the heart for Reid if it did happen, but it went completely different. And it was something that came out of left field even for Reid.

Michael was always a physical fighter and would fight to the end. In fact, they had wrestled him to the floor and were going to kill him, but Theo shouted something. It was only when they were tied up in the truck that Reid realized what it was. What Theo said had them stop and manhandle Michael to get at what they were looking for.

Reid knew that Michael had a tattoo on his back and it was a source of fascination for anyone who had seen and knew about it. It was a result of his getting back up after what happened to him when he escaped his terrorist captives in Afghan. He came home, but he came home with scars both visible and invisible. The tattoo was a means of reminding Michael of why he did the job he did and reinforced the call sign that he had been given by his military peers.

The angel wings looked real. The tattoo had been designed with Michael's musculature in mind and when he actually did work out without a shirt on, the wings seemed to move like he really had them. Reid knew that Aurora Michael's daughter liked tracing them and she called her father a guardian angel. It was icing on the cake when the Believers saw them. The cake itself was on Michael's neck and Reid had never noticed it.

The tattoo had been part of a means of team building between Michael and his new team. It was located on the back of his neck and was hidden by the shirt collar when he dressed up for work or hid behind the blazer collar when he was more casual. It was a symbol for the archangel Michael and had been done by the same tattoo artist that did the wings. What Reid hadn't known was that Michael had built rapport with Theo when he saw it and explained it. That along with the wings was enough to convince the Believers to keep him alive.

Reid wasn't sure why they wanted Michael. Him he knew. They wanted his hyoid to be the last one in a set of three hundred because he was a protector the Messiah and Meadows remembered from the Liberty compound. It became clear that they wanted to make Michael their protector when they stripped him of his shirt and paraded him with him to where they wanted to perform the sacrifice. It was then that when they were allowed to speak, Michael said something that was more for Reid's benefit.

Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Reid had eidetic memory and knew Scripture and knew that there was a reason Michael literally spliced two verses together. It became clear when he looked at his friend and saw the calm look on his face. It made Reid feel calm too despite the fact that he felt scared that he was possibly going to die. He was afraid that his friend was going to die when they restrained his arms by raising them above his head, like they were going to force him to watch it.

Do not be afraid, Spence.

Reid felt his throat convulse as he remembered. They were rescued in time and the Believers rounded up and the team headed back to the BAU. It was a relief and it needed to sink in, and it did when Garcia grabbed him in one of her hugs. He could let it sink in that what Michael had said had come true. The team found them. They had been rescued. Everything was okay.

"Been a heck of a time, hasn't it?"

Reid looked up from where he was looking in at his sleeping daughter to see Michael leaning against the doorframe of the nursery Genevieve had prepared. He took in his brother's appearance, feeling relief he could still have him in his life. "Yeah," he said in whisper so as not to wake Michaela.

Michael smiled and quietly walked into the nursery to take a look in. He looked into the crib and his lip curled before he muttered something in Arabic of all languages before pressing his first two fingers of his right hand to his lips, kissing them and them touching them gently on the sleeping baby's cheek. He gave a look at Reid before stepping back with a knowing look.

It was a few minutes later with them sitting on the couch, drinking tea of all things that Reid said, "How did you know?"

"Know what, Spence?"

"That everything would be okay?"

Michael took a sip of his tea and said, "I surrendered."

Reid frowned in puzzlement, "Surrender? I don't understand."

"It's part of faith." Michael set his cup down and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "Faith is surrendering to complete trust in God even when you think it is the most ridiculous thing to do."

"But you know I don't subscribe to what you believe."

"I know. But you listened. You heard. You believed."

"Mike…" Reid paused. He didn't want to say anything to diminish everything that they had been through. He ran his forefinger on the rim of his mug thoughtfully. Finally, he said, "I trusted you. You've never let me down when it counted and seeing you… I felt calm."

"And I was calm because I surrendered. I surrendered my life into His hands. I do it all the time when I deploy. I ask for guidance to do His work and I feel at peace even if I am faced with the possibility that I might die." Michael clasped his hands together and studied Reid. "But that isn't what you want to know."

Reid shrugged, "Part of it." He put his mug down, "I just don't understand why they let you live. I'm not saying that I'm not happy. I am but…"

Michael felt his lip twitch. He didn't understand it fully either since it was clear that Meadows had wanted Reid from the moment they entered that standoff. He got that he and Garcia were collateral damage and could possibly be killed. He had no idea that his tattoo would be the one thing that saved him from getting a bullet. It was too late for Theo though. He pointed in the direction of his neck, "This was a team building thing. My current team, we all got one that would be unique to us. I introduced them to the guy who gave me my wings."

"But how couldn't we not have seen it?"

Michael shrugged, "It never occurred to me to say anything about it. I just let Jabal pick it. He had a way of picking out what would be best for the person getting the tattoo." He studied Reid before adding, "Theo saw it and asked about it. He must have known something that would resonate with the Believers and then…" He shrugged again. "In the end… I chalk it up to faith."

Reid sat and thought about it. He ventured, "And that's all you can say?"

"What else is there?"

Reid shook his head. "I don't know."

Michael smiled at Reid. He put a hand on Reid's knee. "Don't think about it, Spence. Enjoy the fact that we made it back. We're fine and get to spend another day with our families. That in of itself… that's a result of faith."

Reid smiled as he stood up with Michael. "I don't know about it."

"One day at a time, Spence." Michael patted Reid on the shoulder before picking up his coat. "Well, I better be going home. Rory will want her bedtime hug." He gave a grin at that.

Reid couldn't help but smile in return. "Ok. Thanks for coming over."

"Had to see my goddaughter."

"I knew I should have thought twice about naming her after you." Reid grinned. He didn't have regrets about naming his daughter after his best friend and asking him to be godfather to her. It was something he and Genevieve agreed upon when she was pregnant.

Michael chuckled softly before letting himself out. He did pause to remind Reid that it everything was good and going to be okay. Reid watched him leave and made sure everything was locked up. He still had questions, but he decided that Michael was right. Sometimes it was best not to question things but to take the win.

A lot of things happened that day and he had been scared that he might not live. It was the same as when he was in prison. And yet, he had been calm. He had been calm throughout the whole thing even when his brother wasn't in the same room. He had the sense that everything would be okay, and Michael's words just reinforced it. Maybe it was faith as Michael put it, but one thing for certain was that Reid loved his family and they knew that. That was important.

The most important thing in the world is family and love. – John Wooden

A/N: And here we are in the aftermath of Reid, Garcia and Mike rescued from the Believers. Tag to 300.