A/N: Well it's been fun. Here is the last chapter. : )

It took Reid longer than he wanted to reach the car but every step he took made him feel like his chest would explode. He tried to take a deep breath in as they stepped off the elevator and walked into the garage but he found that his lung capacity had greatly decreased.

"What was the trigger for Charles?" asked JJ when she saw that Reid was struggling and knowing that any distraction would greatly help him.

"His mom had been diagnosed with terminal cancer; she had no more than a month left."

"How did you find that out?" When they reached the car JJ ran over to the passenger side and opened the door for Reid.

"Thanks," he said while climbing into the vehicle, "When we were in her house I noticed that she had been drafting up a will and that there were prescription drugs given to certain type of cancer patients."

"And he took the girls because they reminded him of his mom?" JJ guessed and watched as Reid nodded slowly. He was fading and letting the tiredness overcome him. The station was another ten minutes so JJ let him sleep while she continued to drive in the dark.

Eventually they approached the building and JJ gently nudged Spencer so that he would wake up. At the slight touch of her skin Reid jumped up and looked around trying to access his surroundings before getting out of the parked car.

"Are you ready?" asked JJ who was standing next to the passenger door waiting for her youngest colleague to get out of the car. Reid nodded as he slid out from the tall car and let his feet touch the cold ground.

The two of them walked slowly to the building, careful not to slip on the icy ground, and climbed the stairs until they finally reached their destination. Reid opened the door and saw every officer immediately stop what they were doing and look at him.

"Why are they all starring?" Reid began to grow nervous and self-conscious.

"You've become sort of a legend." JJ whispered back catching Spencer by surprise.

"What? Why?" he asked but JJ only shrugged.

"Reid." Hotch's strong voice echoed through the building causing everyone to return to what they were doing and causing the young doctor to turn and face his boss.

"Hey Hotch." He greeted him back.

"The suspect is in that room," Hotch pointed one of his long, thin fingers to a room with all the blinds closed, "I need you to find out where the girls are and what exactly caused him to take them? Got it?"

Reid nodded and walked towards the room, the adrenaline masked the exhaustion as he walked into the room and looked right into the eyes of Charlie Hoffman.

"Hello." the man said sheepishly looking up at Reid.

"Hi." Reid returned knowing this man was no more a threat to Reid than any other person in the building, "I have a couple of questions that I need answered."

Charlie nodded, his dark brown hair falling into his face as he rocked himself back and forth. He wasn't stable Reid noted, there were definitely signs of a chemical imbalance.

"I know you didn't mean to take those girls," Reid began and watched as Charlie moved his head up and down nodding at every word that he was saying "You wanted them because they reminded you of your mom and she wasn't there for you when you were a child, was she?"

"No," Charlie stopped moving and looked straight into Reid's eyes, "Do you know what it's like to always be the second most important thing to your own mother – never the first? Everyone always wanted her to watch their children; they always wanted her to be the nanny for her to babysit. She never had time for me.

"And then she got older and it started all over again. Everyone was grown up so then they asked her to help out with the house, to take care of their dogs, to watch their homes. I was never her priority. Do you know what that's like Dr. Reid?" Spencer wasn't expecting to hear his name which caused him to tense up but he then relaxed when he remembered the boy had his business card. Reid didn't answer at first; he wanted Charles to think about everything he said out loud.

"My mom is sick too." Reid finally said, "She has been for a long time now and I do know how you feel. Sometimes she would forget all about me, she would lock herself in her room and talk to her friends for days." Reid shivered thinking about the first time he discovered these "friends," she would talk to were nothing more than characters she had made up.

"I just wanted her to take care of me," Charlie said shaking and crying, "I wanted her to be proud of me. I thought that maybe if I took those girls they could watch after me like she never did. I thought that maybe I could eventually take everyone who my mom worked for and then she could look after me herself. But then you all showed up and I didn't know what to do. I never actually wanted anyone to get hurt."

"Where are they?" Reid asked swallowing hard, "Where are the three girls you took?"

"In my mother's basement." He said, "I took care of them, I promise. They never went hungry or had any problems." He whimpered as he broke down in more tears.

"Thank you Charlie." Reid said placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder before exiting the room.

"Hotch, they're in the mom's basement." Reid said as he closed the door behind him.

"Reid stay here with JJ and Emily. Morgan, Rossi let's go get the girls." Said Hotch as he and the two other men got up and left.

It seemed like an eternity but finally, thirteen minutes after they had left, Reid's phone started to vibrate.

"Hey Hotch." Reid flipped open his phone and answered.

"We got them." Hotch said to Reid over the phone. Reid looked up and nodded to an officer who walked into the room and escorted Charles Hoffman out of the questioning room.

"I can't even look at him." Maggie said averting her eyes away from her son who was now walking away in handcuffs. Reid wanted to yell at her and tell her how this was just as much her fault as it was her sons but he didn't. He just nodded as if agreeing with her words; as if he understood how disappointed she must be in her son.

"Reid," JJ waved him over to a desk where she and Emily stood, he excused himself and walked over to his female coworkers, "Hotch told me to take you back to the hotel to pack up all your things. We want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Reid nodded and followed the girls in silence.

A blizzard had kept the plane from leaving for several days. Reid used the time to finally be a good patient and let the others take care of him. When they were eventually cleared for departure four days later is had become obvious that he was already bouncing back from the illness. An hour after they got the phone call letting them know the storm had passed the entire team had eagerly boarded the jet and was waiting for it to take off. It had been an exhausting case and everyone just wanted to get home. Morgan sat across from Reid; Emily was next to Derek and JJ placed herself right beside Reid.

"How are you feeling?" asked Morgan smiling. It was clear to the team that Reid was on the road to recovery. His pale complexion had returned to its natural shade and there was only a hint of pink remaining in his cheeks. His fever had finally broken the night before; causing his eyes to no longer look glossy.

"I've seen better days; but I've also seen a lot worse." He internally shuttered when he thought about just how many things he had gone through: being drugged, shot, kidnapped, exposed to anthrax. He had never really thought about how serious the job they did was but he truly was lucky to be alive.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Emily smiled and crossed her legs.

"Me too." Reid answered honestly. Suddenly a loud sneeze interrupted their conversation. They all turned their heads and saw as Aaron Hotchner pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his congested nose.

"If a sick Reid was a hand full what do you think a sick Hotch will be like?" JJ asked causing the four agents to think about what awaited them.

"Tis healthy to be sick sometimes"

-Henry David Thoreau

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I had so much fun with this story. I would like to challenge all of you writers to write a Reid sick-fic, because they are fun. : ) Also, I would like to share with you the beginning of my newest story that I will upload shortly and inform you about some of the other projects I've been working on.

My next full-length story (entitled Down Poor) is about a local case where several children have gone missing and after one body turns up it's a race against the clock for them to find the others before it's too late. Here is the opening paragraph:

"

8:00 a.m.

Cold and wet – two things that Spencer Reid separately loathed, even worse was when they combined their powers to create freezing rain. As Reid ran into the building he noticed all of his clothes were sticking to his body revealing his thin frame and matting his hair to his head. He shivered trying to rid himself of the excess water before opening the door.

"Hey Pretty Boy, did you just get out of the shower?" Morgan joked as he and Garcia walked in through the open door with an umbrella protecting them from the water.

"

I'm also working on a one-shot being uploaded later tonight called Con Te Partiro, in which Morgan and Garcia talk about how they really feel for each other.

The final thing I'm working on is a multi-chaptered story in which Morgan and Reid are living together and in a steady relationship until one day when Morgan leaves unexpectedly. The story is told in the present day but each chapter ends with a flashback of when Morgan and Reid were living together. I'm very happy to announce that they'recomingtotakemeaway is going to work with me on finding some awesome quotes for this new piece.

Finally if anyone has suggestions for a story they would like to see written (like a sequel to this), an idea they would like to share, if someone would like to work together or if someone just wants to talk please message me anytime. Thanks again for reading. Cheers.

-Emma