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A/n hello all, here is the last chapter. Kudos to my excellent beta REIDFANATIC for keeping me honest and helping to fix my endless grammer and spelling mistakes. Kudos to all of my faithful readers who let me take this flight of fancy into the supernatural for the holiday. I hope you all liked reading it as much as I loved writing it.

Epilogue

Reid perched on a chair in Garcia's office. She was sitting on the floor with her upper body under the desk. He was in charge of tools for her today and would hand her want ever she wanted. It was Friday and two weeks had passed since the discovery of the body in the old house.

The body… It's not just 'the body,' it was Katie.

That was true. The DNA results had come back that very day, and all the hope that it had all been a mistake or a bad dream was gone. Katherine Duncan was dead and had been dead for five years.

"Hey Reid… I asked you for those pliers three times." Garcia's concerned and annoyed face looked up from her upgrades to her babies.

"Sorry…" He said morosely and handed her the tool in question.

"Ok… you've been moping around for the last two weeks. I know what happened at Halloween was terrible for you, but you have to let her go. You helped her finish what she needed to do. I know it was hard for you to watch her move on, baby cakes. I 'm so sorry you had to go through that." She gave him a sunny smile before continuing her gentle lecture.

"The cops found what they need to nail Zacharias on her murder. He's going to a cell instead of a cushy mental health hospital. He deserves to rot in hell."

"I know that Garcia… That's not what's bothering me."

"Then tell me what is bothering you, sweet cheeks."

"I just don't understand why she chose me. There were lots of other people that could have helped her sooner, like Detective Markowitz."

Garcia snorted impatiently. "I keep telling you that you're a great guy. You're kind, gentle and sweet. You have enormous empathy and sensitivity to people in pain. She must have been drawn to that."

Reid didn't say anything, because what did you say to something like that? Sure he was a nice guy, but didn't nice guys always finish last?

"Stop moping and look on the bright side." Garcia poked him in the leg with her screwdriver.

"What bright side is that?" He asked sarcastically.

"At least you helped a poor, stranded soul, crossover."

"Not funny Garcia…"

"I wasn't trying to be funny. You did a good thing. Just like you always do." She stood up wiped her forehead and then leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "Now… I'm done here, so get out of my way handsome!"

He got out of his chair and walked to the door. Her voice stopped him as he reached for the door knob.

"There's nothing wrong you, doll face. You're special… That's why extraordinary things happen to you.

--

He stared out at the grey building from his car. He was parked in the very same spot he'd used a month ago. It was raining again. He didn't shut off the ignition this time, but sat listening to the heat pushing through the vents in the dashboard. The warmth didn't penetrate the cold around his heart, the cold that had been there since Halloween. He watched the windshield wipers dash back and forth across the glass, clearing the rain as it beaded up endlessly. The building wavered in the sheeting rain as though it didn't belong there, but in some other time or place.

"Where ghosts walk," He said softly.

He opened the door and pulled the hood of his raincoat over his head. He left his messenger bag in the front seat and hurried across the parking lot to the stairs that led up to the door. He climbed them slowly, feeling the raindrops smack the top of his hood.

He wasn't sure what he expected when he opened the door, perhaps the entrance to a gothic castle where Dracula laid, or a secret lab where Dr. Frankenstein created his monster, instead it was just the library. The relief was so enormous, that he almost fainted where he stood.

The lights were welcoming yellow and the room was warm. He pulled off the hood and walked past the check out desk. Mrs. Warren wasn't there. He supposed even librarians took days off. Laughter tried to well up and burst past his lips. He held it back and passed the desk.

The shelves of books were shadowed as they had been a month ago. He passed two teenage girls giggling over the latest vampire romance. A very old man passed him in the non-fiction aisle. The man was white haired and walked with a cane, but his back was straight as a soldier on parade. He ignored Reid just like everyone else.

He wandered up and down the rows of books, avoiding the poetry section for half an hour. He went to the back of the building and found a chair to sit and watch the rain fall. Several people passed him, deep in their own concerns and he didn't look up.

The rain couldn't hold his attention for long though. With a heavy sigh of frustration and the air of a man headed to the gas chamber he went to the row of books where he'd first seen her. It was empty, just like it had been that day.

The book won't be there, and when it's not, I'll go home.

The book was there, as he had known it would be. He reached for it and nothing happened. He plucked it out of its spot and nothing happened. He opened it and a voice said.

"Excuse me, but is there another copy of that book."

He almost dropped the book because with the voice came the scent of lilacs close to his elbow. He whipped around in shock, but it wasn't Katie. The woman was medium height, a bit plump, with light brown hair and green eyes. She wore gold rimmed glasses and a light blue sweater with jeans. She was looking at him very warily, as though he were dangerous. He could see she was deciding whether or not to leave, so he made a show of looking at the title then handing it to her.

"Is this the one you want?"

"Yeah… but you got it first." She said politely.

"I don't think there's a library rule that says the first one to touch a book, gets to check it out."

She smiled at his tone and said, "Sure there is, it's written in the rule book."

"I've never seen this rule book."

"It's very secret…" She whispered as though they shared a great secret. "I'm Jackie," She said.

"Oh… my name is Spencer, um Spencer Reid."

"Well… Spencer Reid, I see you like Elizabeth Barrett Browning…"