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A/n here's the last chapter. Thanks to all my faithful readers, and to my wonderful beta who kept me sane and on track. I hope you all enjoyed this tale.

Checkmate

"Don't even think about it." Morgan said as he stepped carefully up to Mason who pointed his gun at William.

"Put your hands on your head." Reid said. "You're under arrest for the murders of Lily Camden and Detective David Hyde. Also, for conspiracy to murder Lou Jenkins, Angie Beauvais, for the kidnapping of William and Dianna Reid and money laundering, I'm sure the FBI will find a few interesting charges more to throw in the mix."

Mason put his hands on his head. "This isn't over Dr. Reid. I have friends on the outside and the inside that are loyal to me."

"If you mean the two jackasses we ran into a few minutes ago, they're already on their way to county lockup." Morgan said as he cuffed Mason's hands.

"You don't have any proof." Mason began to bluster as his smile returned. "It'll be my word against yours," he stated, confidently. "I'm a rich business man that employs hundreds of people. My lawyer will make mincemeat of you."

"Get him out of here." Hotch said as Morgan began muscling Parker to the door.

"Parker…" Reid called out.

Morgan's prisoner turned around despite Morgan's restraining hands. "What do you want?"

Reid pulled the recording device from its hiding place under his shirt. "You lose!"

Mason made to lunge at Reid but Morgan held him back. "Settle down!" He hissed through clenched teeth.

Reid turned his back on Mason ignoring the man's ranting about setups all the way down the hall from the over bright kitchen. "Mom…" He held out a hand and helped her to her feet.

"I'm so proud of you." She said, touching his cheek.

"Are you okay?" He pushed back the bangs from her eyes.

"Yes! Don't worry about me. You should worry about your father." She nodded in William's direction.

"I'm fine." His dad whispered as Reid looked at him. "Take care of your mother. We'll talk later."

"You need to talk now." Dianna admonished both of them. "I'd like to get back to my room if you don't mind." She said.

Reid hugged her tightly. At first, her arms didn't come around him, and then she embraced him hard. "You did well Spencer. I love you."

"I love you too mom." Reaction had begun to set in. He began to shake, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to roll out of his eyes.

"It's okay." She pulled back and smiled at him. "It's over for good this time."

"I can't believe you're okay." Reid said without thinking.

Dianna smiled sardonically. "I'm sure I'll wake up tomorrow and think this was all a dream." She said, "Or one of your adventures in a letter."

"I'll come see you tomorrow." Reid choked out. He looked back at JJ who stood just inside the door as though guarding the family from invasion. "Will you take my mother outside?"

"I'd love to," She smiled at Dianna. "Do you remember me Mrs. Reid?"

"Of course I do young lady. Spencer speaks about you all the time. You're the one who collects butterflies."

It was a testament to Reid's growth, and the stress of the situation, that he did not blush. JJ winked at him and took his mother's arm. "We've got some water in the SUV." She said to Dianna as they left the room.

Reid stood alone in the old kitchen with his father. William was watching him as he paced the length of the room. "Dad," he finally said. "Let's get out of here. You must be tired and -"

"Thank you son," William interrupted. "You came back to help when you didn't have to."

Reid stopped pacing and studied his father. William looked as though someone had rolled him in dirt. He had bruises on his face under his right eye and soil in his brown hair. It stuck up in all directions, the same way Spencer's did when he woke up in the morning.

"What are you thinking?" William asked as Reid sat down at the table.

Reid looked around at the kitchen instead of his father's eyes. If he could just get holds on all the emotions slamming around in his chest like tennis balls bouncing on a court.

"I guess I'm surprised."

William stretched out his bare legs under the table. "Why?" He asked curiously.

"You led me here. It was your clues. You remembered the code I made up as a child." Reid rubbed at his nose with the knuckles of his right hand. "I'm just surprised."

"You didn't think your old man was smart enough to be so cunning."

A flash of embarrassment made Reid's face go hot. "No! I mean yes… I mean…" He leapt up from his chair and started pacing the room again. "I just realized something that I should've known all along."

"What?"

Reid stopped in front of the sink. He couldn't face his father. It was too much all at once. "Everyone, when I was growing up, just thought of me and my mother as the smart ones in the family." He turned around to see his father watching him with kind eyes. "I'm sorry dad… I shouldn't have let people think that way. No," He held up a hand when William wanted to speak. "I should've recognized that you have brains too, just in a different way. It must have been hard for you to live with a kid that could outthink you."

William laughed.

Reid went scarlet. "Well… You know what I mean?"

"Yes I do." William finally stood up and limped slowly over to where Reid stood. "I was so jealous of you and your intelligence. I was jealous of your relationship with your mother. It's why I tried to force you to do stuff you didn't want to do. Please forgive me. I was weak."

"No dad," the tears that had been threatening for hours fell unchecked down his cheeks. "You're not weak. You survived here for the last three days. I can see that you're standing up right now through sheer force of will. You need to go to a hospital."

"I'm fine Spencer. It's nothing that a little rest, some food and perhaps a hug from my son might cure."

"I don't know if I'm ready for that yet dad." Reid kept his arms at his sides even though he wanted to embrace his father.

"I understand Spencer… I don't deserve forgiveness. Will you let me try to make it up to you?" He asked, leaning on a chair next to the table where Dianna had been sitting.

"Yeah…" Reid choked out. "I promise the next time you call, I'll answer unless I'm in the middle of a case. Then I might let it go to voicemail." He smiled and it felt good on his face and directed at his father.

"I can live with that son."

"Good… Now let's get you out of here."

One of the medics entered the kitchen at that moment. He draped a blanket over William's shoulders. He checked him over thoroughly. "He's got some contusions and a nice bump on the back of the head, but I think he'll be fine. Let's get him in the ambulance.

"I don't want to go to the hospital." William pushed away the medic's hands.

"He'll go!" Reid insisted.

"I'm fine," William tried to stand up. He swayed a bit and fell back in his chair.

"Oh you're fine." Reid said. "I want you to go to the hospital.

"Perhaps you're right," William allowed his son to take his arm, to bear some of his weight and to gently help lead out him of the place that had been his prison. It was a beginning.

William Reid knotted his tie and pulled on his suit jacket. The first real smile he'd felt in a long time made its way onto his face. He studied his appearance, hoping that the white shirt, dark brown tie and matching jacket would be appropriate for his first day back at work.

He went to the kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee. He looked up at the clock on the wall and fidgeted. Only fifteen minutes had passed since he'd last looked at the clock before going in to make his bed and change. Why did time seem to fly when you didn't want a moment to end, and drag when you wished it were over? Was there some kind of flaw in the human mind that made it impossible to see time as a constant? He sighed and chided himself for thinking that way.

A week had passed since his son had found him and saved him from death at the hands of a lunatic. He looked up at the clock just as the doorbell chimed. He jumped a little. The house had been just a little too quiet, but at least he had a visitor now.

"Hi…" He said when he opened the front door. "I'm glad you were able to come see me before you left."

Reid stepped into the house and followed his father into the now familiar living area of the house. There were no outward signs of the trauma that had brought the two men together.

"I wanted to say goodbye." Reid went to the small end table and picked up the photograph he'd noticed with Rossi. "We've finished tying up loose ends. It was a lot to go through, but we've picked up all of Parker's men and dismantled his organization."

"Are you upset that I have that here?" William asked noticing his son's interest in the picture.

"No… I noticed it when Rossi and I searched the house. It caught me off guard. I sort of dismissed it, but it's because I was so happy that you cared enough to have a photo out."

"Of course I do," William remarked in a very surprised tone. "I love you son. I want to see your face every day.

Reid twisted his tie between his fingers. "I don't know how I'm supposed to act. I'm not used to all of this." He swung out his arms wide. "I don't know what to do."

"I'm trying too hard." William said softly. "I'm sorry… I'm putting way too much pressure on you."

"No dad! I'm not trying hard enough. I want to leave everything behind, but I can't stop thinking about the last twenty years."

William put a hesitant arm around Spencer's shoulders, "Stop being so hard on yourself. All of this time in between now and then is my fault. We'll take this one step at a time."

Reid embraced his dad very quickly and stepped back. "I'll try."

"That's the best I can ask for." William led the way back to the kitchen. "Do you have time for coffee and to fill me in on the case? I want to know how your mother is doing too. Did you tell her I'm coming to see her soon?"

"Slow down dad." Reid laughed at his father's eagerness. "I don't have to be at the airport for a couple of hours and you're not due in to work until ten o'clock. We have time for a chat."

"How did the visit with your dad turn out?" Rossi asked Reid as the pilot announced they were about to take off.

Reid sipped his third cup of coffee that morning. He thought for a moment before answering because everyone was listening even if they pretended to be busy with other tasks.

"It went a lot better than I thought it would. The two hours passed so fast…" He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to say goodbye."

"Good," Rossi said as he pulled out his file folder. "Are we safe in assuming that no more of Michaels' relatives will rear their ugly heads and threaten the Reid clan?"

Reid choked on his coffee as the rest of the team laughed. "I checked into it sir." Garcia said from behind her laptop. "He was the last of his family."

"Is it wrong to say woo-hoo?" JJ wanted to know.

"I think that's a very good idea." Emily said from the other side of Reid. "Should we worry though, that he's in prison. He can still communicate with any friends we may have overlooked."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Rossi said. "You know how the inmates in general population treat child molesters. The brother of one will probably suffer the same threats. In addition, he will have to contend with any friends Lou Jenkins may have made. They won't be happy with Parker for having him killed."

"How do we know he'll go to the same prison?" Reid asked.

Rossi looked over at Garcia who winked at him.

"What did you do Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Um… I sort of hacked into the corrections main frame and assigned Mason Parker to the same prison, and general population."

"Garcia!" Hotch chastised, then he smiled and said. "Good work."

Garcia flushed pink, "Thank you sir, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to know that."

"I've gone temporarily deaf." Hotch said.

"Hey kid?" Morgan asked over the top of his coffee cup.

"What Morgan?"

"Did you get Martinez's phone number?"

The others stared at him except for Hotch, but a smile twitched at the unit chief's lips as he went back to reading a book instead of a file folder.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Reid said, looking out of the window at the blue sky and fluffy white clouds that seemed to carry the jet east on gossamer wings.

"Whatever man."

"If he didn't, I have it stored in my phone memory." Garcia added.

"Good one," Morgan said. "I knew I could count on you mama."

"If you two are finished," Hotch looked up from his book. "Some of us are trying to relax."

"Sorry sir," Garcia hid behind her laptop.

Reid went back to watching the clouds float past them. Mason Parker was safely in jail. His father and mother were finally safe from an evil that had stalked them for years and he… Well, he was seriously thinking about calling Gabriella when they landed in DC. After all, not everything that happened in Vegas had to stay in Vegas.

THE END