Derek stood on set of the commercial shoot, watching it for what had to be the fiftieth take that morning. He saw Hotch talking to the owner to his left, but he didn't really find it in him to care about what was being said. Instead, he walked over, shaking their hands and looking at the video monitor.

"Can I see playback on this please?" he asked, pointing to it. Soon after, the commercial replayed.

"Come on, Derek, you know you want to open me," he heard Rossi's voice taunting him. He rolled his eyes, turning to face him, and saw him with an issue of Spencer's magazine in front of his face.

Derek shoved him out of the way. "Get that out of here, it's not funny."

"Please?" Derek ignored him, keeping an eye on the monitor. Rossi took it upon him to flip the magazine open to the article, holding it out to him. "You might want to give this a look."

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Yeah, really?" He looked back at it, looking for bits to read out to him. "'I've lost a guy and I don't know why. What went wrong? When I started with this month's column, I wanted to commit everyone's dating faux pas and show how they don't work in anyone's favor. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was making the biggest mistake of my life'." He sighed, holding it back out. "Here, trust me, it's worth the read."

Derek took it, looking down at the article and reading it. Highlighted were a few quotes, including 'I've lost the only guy I've ever truly fallen for', 'the last ten days were the best I've ever spent with anyone in my life', 'I played a game and I played it too well: when I won, I lost', and another, stating that it would be his final column with the magazine. He flipped through it a few times before sighing, knowing that he couldn't let him get away.

He turned to Hotch, biting his lip. "Hotch, I need to take off, there's something I need to do."

"But, Derek, this is your campaign-"

"And I trust that my creative team can handle it." He reached in his pocket, taking out the keys to his motorcycle. "Hotch, please."

He eyed the magazine in Derek's hands and looked back at him, nodding. "We'll get your approval before we finalize anything."

He put his hands together in a thank you to Hotch before running up to his office and grabbing his helmet, then rushing to the elevator.

He got on his motorcycle, fastening his helmet, and weaved through traffic like he never had before. Even though he'd never been to Spencer's work, he remembered the address from sending him the chocolate covered strawberries, and did his best to map out the way there on his own. Luckily, he ended up in front of the building and parked his bike between two cars, before running to the elevator and pressing the button for the right floor. The wait was agonizing, but he finally arrived, running out. He walked up to the desk, tapping on it.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Spencer Reid?"

She pointed to the area with the cubicles and he nodded, walking over and looking in several of them before finally finding it. Stepping inside, he saw that the desk was empty, everything had been taken down from the walls, and the only thing remaining was the fern. He looked at it, shaking his head, before turning to Emily's cubicle.

"Ma'am?" he asked.

She turned around, facing him. "…Holy crap."

"Can you tell me where Spencer Reid is?"

She raised an eyebrow. "He's not here."

"Then can you tell me where he is?"

JJ walked up behind him, playing with her nails. "He quit yesterday, he's got an interview in D.C."

"…Do you know when he's leaving?"

Emily nodded. "Today?"

"When today?"

She checked her watch. "Well, he's probably leaving for the airport now."

He grabbed the fern off her desk, and as he was walking away, turned to JJ. "Tell me, you're not a real therapist, are you?"

JJ's eyes widened, smiling nervously. "Oh, me? ... No, not at all."

He smiled, nodding. "Good job though," he told her before walking away.

JJ looked at Emily, proud of herself as Derek called back. "You owe me $300."

He ran out of the building, putting the fern on the back of the bike, strapped in, before putting on his helmet and climbing on, on a mission to go directly to Spencer's apartment. He got there just as the doorman was putting his bags into the trunk of the cab and saw Spencer get into the backseat. Knowing he had to act fast, he lifted up his helmet.

"Spencer!" he called out as loudly as he could, but it didn't get his attention. Groaning to himself at the red light above him, he could only hope the cab hit traffic. After a bus passed, he blew through the light, following several cabs and looking in each one as he passed them. He had to admit, this wasn't his brightest idea, but it was something he needed to do.

Spencer sat in the back of the cab, looking down at his lap. He knew he couldn't go back to that magazine after telling Strauss off. He knew he couldn't go back to his apartment and not think about Derek. He knew that everything here needed to be put in the past, and he needed a new life, where there were no incentives that involved breaking somebody's heart after really getting to know them. Chewing on his cheek, he was sure of one thing: this place couldn't be home again if he couldn't have the one person he'd ever fall in love with.

Soon after, there was a pounding on the window and he jumped, unsure of what had just happened. Looking over, he saw Derek on his motorcycle, riding alongside the cab.

"Spencer," he called out, knocking on the window, "pull over, we need to talk right now."

He raised an eyebrow, rolling the window down. "Derek, what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He shrugged. "If that's what it takes, then yes. Now, pull over the cab."

Spencer was confused, but he leaned toward the driver. "Excuse me, can you please pull over? I'm really not feeling well."

The driver made a disgusted face, but did as he requested, pulling over after the next light, Derek parking behind it.

Spencer got out, slamming the door behind him. "What in the world is wrong with you?"

Derek held up the magazine. "Is this the truth?"

"Derek, please-"

He cut him off. "Is this article true, or are you just trying to sell magazines and make yourself look good?"

Spencer licked his lips, sighing. "I meant every word I wrote."

"Then tell me where you're going."

"…I have an interview somewhere else."

"Yeah, Washington, one of your coworkers told me. Now, where are you going?"

Spencer blinked a few times before chancing a look at Derek. "It's the only place I can go where I can actually write what I want to write and do what I want to do without ridiculous incentives."

He shook his head. "I'm not buying that. You can write anywhere. You're running away."

Spencer rolled his eyes. "Why don't you save your stupid little mind games for your next little bet? I'm not running away." He turned around to get into the back of the cab.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Bullshit."

Spencer turned around to face him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, it's bullshit." He leaned over, throwing the magazine into a garbage can.

The cab driver turned around to face Spencer. "What are you going to do?"

Derek reached in his pocket, taking out cash and handing it to him. "Do me a favor and take the luggage back to his place, he's got a new way to get home."

Spencer looked at him. "Are you calling my bluff?"

"Yes, I am." He rested a hand on each of Spencer's cheeks before pulling him in for a kiss.

Spencer allowed himself to melt into it, smiling and pulling back. "So, should we take this back to your place?"

Derek nodded. "I think so… one condition?"

"Anything."

He smirked. "Don't you dare start calling anything on me princess."

Spencer laughed softly, nodding. "I think I can handle that."

Looking back on the story of his life, Spencer could point out several things that mattered to him, though only one ever took precedence over the rest: the day that he got back the one that got away. He had gotten his dream job, he felt like he was making a difference, and he knew he was doing something but mattered. The highlight of his day, every day, was going home to the one man who ever really, truly loved him. Spencer took several trips back to Chicago with Derek, telling his mother they were back together, they were happily dating, and then when they got engaged. There was no longer any assignment binding them together, or a bet driving them to love each other – they did it all on their own. There didn't need to be anything forcing them to be together, because they found exactly what they needed in each other's company.