A/N: Hello readers! This is a short chapter that basically sums up the case. Thanks again for reading and please continue! Reviews are like sunshine :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, CBS does! I do own Cameron Mansfield.

Tracking down Martin and Karen in the woods turned out to be the start of a very long day for the BAU. A lot of paperwork, a press conference, one on ones with the victims and their families and the case was finally wrapped up.

The team was sitting around the police station, it was late and their flight had been delayed until noon the next day because of a bad snow squall. Hotch had managed to keep their rooms at the motel for another night. Everyone was hanging around and talking about the case and Cameron was about to get a major wake up call.

It was nearly 8 o'clock when Jim and Nancy Strauss walked into the Skidmore Police Station. Their completely reasonable grief had quickly escalated into slightly less reasonable anger.

Cameron was the first to take notice and instinctively stood up and walked over to them, "Mr. and Mrs. Strauss, what are you doing here, is everything alright?"

Mr. Strauss stepped forward in a manner that was almost menacing, "Our daughter is dead, Agent. So everything is not alright." Once again she didn't find it appropriate to correct them.

She mentally kicked herself, what an insensitive thing to ask. "I'm sorry, I know this is a very hard time for you."

Mrs. Strauss shook her head, "You bitch. You don't know anything!"

The officers respectfully moved into the back room and Hotch stepped forwards but Cameron discreetly shook her head.

"I can't imagine what you're going through."

"You promised," Mr. Strauss spoke up. "You promised you'd find Clarissa and bring her home."

Cameron did her best to ignore the unimpressed look on Hotch's face.

Cameron's eyes were sympathetic, "What I said was that—"

"You said you could find her! You told us we should trust you. We trusted you!" Mrs. Strauss shouted at her.

Cameron looked positively ill, she started stammering, "I… I didn't want you to lose faith." Her voice was even softer then normal.

"We had faith!" Mrs. Strauss grabbed Cameron's arm tightly, "You gave us false hope. You made us think there was something where there was nothing!" She said this through gritted teeth.

Mr. Strauss spoke up again. His voice was calm but cold, "You didn't even have a lead when you talked to us. Even when you came up with something, you were still wrong. By the time you got it right, that man had already hurt our daughter."

By now Nancy was crying while she yelled, "We were stupid for ever listening to you! You took her! You took our daughter from us!" She tightened her grip on Cameron's arm.

Cameron felt tears welling up but choked them down again. "No I didn't." She didn't try to pull her arm away. "You need someone to blame. You don't consider Martin fully responsible because he's sick. That's why you're blaming me, and that's why you're blaming yourselves."

Nancy shook her head but Cameron continued in an impossibly gentle voice. "You've blamed yourself from the beginning. Trust me; I know what that's like." Cameron looked her in the eyes and the grip on her arm was slightly loosened.

"I'm sorry your daughter's gone. I'm so sorry. But I wouldn't have told you that we'd get her back if I didn't believe it myself. I honestly thought we'd get to her in time. I was wrong. But it wouldn't have done you any good to spend these past two days without hope, thinking she was already gone."

There was a moment of treacherous silence but finally, Nancy completely let go of her arm, and she started to sob, "But she's gone now." She was shaking with grief and pulled herself towards Cameron, she continued to sob on Cameron's shoulder.

Cameron's eyes clouded over yet again and without hesitating she wrapped her arms tightly around Clarissa's mother who began to cry even harder. Mr. Strauss stood a little behind his wife while silent tears rolled down his cheeks. Cameron reached out one hand and squeezed his tightly. Mr. Strauss nodded his head and looked back towards the ground. Cameron's heart ached for this couple, they had to rebuild their lives again. She blinked rapidly to keep from crying.

No one could really say how long they stood like that, but, in time, the Strauss' were ready to go back home and try to work through their grief. Holding each others hands the couple headed out the door. Before leaving Mr. Strauss turned back to Cameron and gave her a hug. "Thank you." He said to her and then they broke away and walked out the door with his wife.

Cameron couldn't believe he thanked her, after everything that had happened, he was thanking her. She just stood their numbly for a few minutes, in that time the team had joined the officers in back room.

She rubbed her eyes and grabbed her jacket as she walked out of the police station. She stood outside in the dark and breathed in the ice cold air. Despite not having slept in 45 hours she felt consumed by energy. She began to pace back and forth across the parking lot. She finally walked over to Officer Malcolm's unlocked car, opened the door and pulled out the snow brush.

Morgan watched though the window in bewilderment as she brushed the snow off the car and scrapped the ice off of the windows. He just shook his head and returned to the back room with everyone else. Officer Malcolm approached him, "Did you see where Cameron went? I wanted to talk to her."

Morgan nodded, "Yeah, she's outside cleaning you car man."

Charlie scratched his head, "What?"

Morgan shrugged and held up his hands.

Officer Malcolm grabbed his coat and headed out into the snow to talk to Cameron.

He approached her crunching in the snow loudly so not to startle her. "Why are you cleaning my car? I thought I owed you a favor."

Cameron sighed, "I needed to burn off some energy."

Malcolm smiled, "I need to keep you around."

"You should go home and see your family." Cameron faked a smile, "Your car's clean and they just plowed the roads."

"Thanks for that." He said with a grin. "How are you going to get to the motel?"

"I'm going with the BAU, we should be leaving soon."

"You leave noon tomorrow and I'm working so I'll say goodbye now." Charlie gave her a goodbye hug.

She held on tight, "See you around."

Cameron waved Malcolm off as he drove away in his car and she slowly headed back indoors. One officer was answering the phone and the other was headed out on a call. The team was packing up all the case folders and their personal belongings. Cameron walked past them and avoided looking at anyone. "Could someone let me know when we're leaving? Thanks." She walked into the empty back room. Reid stood up and followed behind her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his features creased with concern.

She turned around to face him. "I'm fine." She said firmly and shut the door in his face because she didn't feel like talking.

Reid stood there looking dumbfounded while whole team noticed the happenings but wisely decided to let it go. Except for Morgan, who walked over to Reid and shook his head. "Okay, she's turning out to be a handful."

Reid turned away from the door to face him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying, the girl's got some issues. Don't get me wrong, she's nice. But... You see how she's been acting?"

Reid frowned, "Come on man, give her a break. She's had a rough day and she hasn't slept. You'd be cranky too."

She was more then cranky just now. "We've all had a rough day Reid."

"Not like her."

Morgan rolled his eyes, "You're defending her kid? This is very interesting."

Reid crossed his arms and frowned, "It's not that interesting."

Morgan switched the topic, "You think she'll change her mind when Hotch offers her a job again?"

"What are you talking about?"

"On the way to the Luna's motel Hotch told me he was still trying to get her to change her mind."

Reid shook his head, "She won't take it." He said simply.

"You don't know that."

"Trust me, there's no way she'll stay."

Lying on the table in the back room Cameron closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She had done everything possible right? Even so, she didn't belong with the BAU, that was clear. But she wasn't about to throw this fight, she still had one more person she owed herself to.

A/N: Let me know what you thought!