A/N: This is the sequal to Prison Bar and Past Wounds. This one is set after Spencer and his team has saved Diana.

I obviously don't own HP or CM!

As I firmly believe for all writers, this is my personal version of how things go and I can't guarantee it will be agreed on by everyone. Once again, I would like your feedback but be gentle dear readers.

PS - To all the reviewers, especially the guest reviewers whom I can't send a PM to - Thankyou! I didn't expect much when I posted this story and so to get a response is simply overwhelming.

He knew Hermione was there, hidden in the shadows, aware of his team surrounding him, all equally tired but exhilarated by exonerating him, saving Diana and brining you both home. He chanced a look in her direction, and saw her pointing to the keys of his apartment, conveying to him that she'd meet him there. A small nod of his head and she was gone, giving him the time to reassure himself and his team that they are all safe and together for now - that they won this battle.

He held his mom in his arms, afraid that letting her go meant losing her again. The terror he'd been feeling from the moment Lindsey Vaughn had walked away with his mother in tow to when Hermione sent him the message saying she'd found them and was keeping an eye on both his mom and Lindsey, was something he had never felt before - and he had almost 14 years of experience with the BAU under his belt.

It went against every instinct in him to not ask her bring her right back home, him and Hermione both not wanting to have her using magic to save Diana leading to a botched up case against both women.

He could still remember the break in his mother's voice as she apologised to him again and again about his incarceration being her fault, no matter how much he tried to tell her otherwise.

Rationally he understood her reaction and wanted to help her understand that he did what he did because he loved her, to stop her from blaming herself for something that was out of her control, something that he would go through again and again, because she was his mom and it would be worth it if it helped her even a little bit. Emotionally he wanted to regress to the little boy who could rest his head in his mother's lap, because he felt so bone weary and this was the only thing that could soothe him.

Slowly the rest of his team also retreated, wanting to give them both the privacy, or at least the semblance of it.

As he released his mother and looked at her, he saw the exhaustion on her face. Suddenly realising that she went through a lot in the last few hours too, he bid his team - no, his family goodbye and left with his mother.

Home.

Everything was the same - at the same time it wasn't. It would take some time for him to get used to the freedom of being able to open and close doors, no longer needing to wait for a guard, no longer stuck to a small cell. It felt like he had been living in a nightmare - a nightmare that went on for three months too long.

...

Finally he was settled on his sofa, after making sure his mother was comfortable, in her bed, sleeping.

He was just trying to figure out what to do next, part of him disappointed at not finding Hermione waiting for him, when he heard the sound of a lock opening, and then she was there, in front of him.

No matter what had happened all those years ago, he followed his instincts and hugged her crushingly, not wanting to let go of her. It didn't seem to matter to her, as she was holding him just as tight, the reality of almost having lost him heavy in her heart and mind.

Everything that had happened to him until now, all the stress due to his mother's illness, the trips to Mexico, the last three months, his mother being taken away from him, the fear of not knowing where or how his mother was and then the face off with Cat - all of it caught up to him in that moment and he let go, safe in the arms of the one person who he never had to hide himself from.

The reversal in their roles was not lost on them, remembering that time when it was Hermione who broke down, and Spencer was the one providing comfort.

Today she was his anchor, and he let himself feel all the pain, fear, doubt and terror that he had been trying to suppress the last three months, wanting to only survive till he was proven innocent. His tears ran freely, unchecked as his body shook with the repressed emotions finally being released after so long.

Time became irrelevant as the two of them stood there in the middle of his living room, as his sobs turned to silent crying and finally only the sound of his tears and her voice was heard.

Vaguely he was aware of her murmuring to him, running her hand through his hair. The other was clutching his shirt, afraid to let go.

As he focused on the sound of her voice, he realised she wasn't shushing him, but encouraging him to let it all out.

Once he had stopped, they both moved to the couch, their hands almost intertwined with each other. All was silent between them for a while, the two of them simply enjoying the other's company.

Neither of them had forgotten the crux of their conversation the first time Hermione visited him in the jail, but she was trying to earn their trust, bridge back the gap, and he could appreciate that. Both were aware that it was going to take time - time he was willing to give.

Hermione was brought back to the moment as she felt Spencer lift their hands, and place a kiss on the back of her palms.
"Thank you", he said, his lips still pressed to her hands "for keeping her safe".

A scoff escaped her lips as she heard this. "I didn't. She was taken by that bitch while I was supposed to look after her. She killed Cassie too. All the while I was running around trying to find a man who in the end wasn't even involved in this. It's my fault she had to go through this. I should've been more careful. Maybe if I'd put up stronger wards they wouldn't have gotten to her. I should've been here with her - I could've stopped her dammit!"

"Hey hey hey! Hermione no! Nobody could've stopped her because nobody knew! The only reason you were chasing the wrong man was BECAUSE I gave you the wrong information! We all thought it was Scratch and so that's what I told you. Cat had planned everything down to the last detail - she had access to my file. She knew everything about me, everything that was written down in any file in our system! You can't blame yourself for this".

Before she had a chance to contradict him, he continued, "And you did keep her safe. You put that tracking spell on her even when you didn't know Lindsey was targeting her. The moment you realised she was gone you found her! You knew you couldn't take her away from that cabin and so you made sure she was not hurt in any way." Spencer took a breath, and she could hear it was shaky - showing how much affected he still was. "Hermione, if I hadn't known that she was safe even if still captive by Lindsey, I don't know if I would have been able to face Cat and not done something I would regret for the rest of my life! You kept my sanity intact too. So don't you dare think you didn't do anything right. Hell, you had no way of knowing about Cat or that there was a partner involved."

"but-"

"No anything. You- you did the best you could do! You have to believe that"

"I jus- I feel so useless right now! I'm a witch Spence! The brightest of my age - they call me. And all I could do was ensure that that damn bomb wouldn't go off and give Diana a freaking calming draught! What's the use of- of all this power? All my promises and it came down to this!"

Spencer was shaking his head even as she finished speaking. "Hermione any skill can only be utilised with the right information. You can't solve a problem you don't know exists! Tell me, what should you have done? You were trying to find the man that you were told was behind all this. And you told me you have made headway on that. You kept an eye on my mom and put a tracking spell on her, which by the way did come to use! You found her half an hour after you realised she was gone. The only reason it took so long to find her was because I waited in telling you. What more could you do? You knew this had to play out - using magic to do anything would only bring up questions no one could answer. Which, by the way, would've ruined any case we would've built against them. This was it. This was Enough. Please believe that".

There was silence for a few seconds, and then -

"I can understand what you're saying up here-" Hermione said, pointing to her head, "but I just feel like I failed her and you, here." she continued, putting a hand to her heart.

Before Spencer could start again about her having done all she could she said, "But forget about that. Are you okay? I know it couldn't have been easy going to see that woman in jail, right as you got out of prison! And I also know you stabbed yourself to get to solitary. What the hell were you thinking? I mean seriously Spencer! Did you even think how wrong that stunt could've gone? I almost stormed in there to give you a piece of my mind then heal your moronic self!"

And suddenly, the gloomy spell was broken by the sounds of Spencer's chuckles, her whiplash of a subject change and her twisted priorities too much for him to take. He'd tried to smother his laughter, but at one point he just lost his control.

After he'd calmed himself down, ignoring the red face of his friend and her huffing, he spoke.

"It was a small stab wound Hermione!"

This apparently was the wrong thing to say, as he saw her expression become even more angry.

"Sma-small stab wound! There is no such thing as a small stab wound, you idiot!" The word 'small' was said with apparent disdain for his choice of terminology.

Spencer continued, occasional chortles still present, "Okay, so it was a stab wound, but it was not that deep. I didn't go in there guns-a-blazing. The team had exhausted all the ways of getting me to solitary & this was the only one left. I'd considered all the probable outcomes and I made sure to put the plan in action with all the variables in mind so as to have as much control as possible. The were enough guards to ensure it wouldn't have gone out of hand".

"Still".

"Hermione".

"uh-uh".

"It's over. I didn't get too badly hurt. In fact I've had worse while in the field".

"Not helping, really".

"The point is I'm home, safe. Mom is safe. I'm no longer accused of things I didn't do. Let's focus on that for a while please. Please Hermione."

Damn him, damn his common sense and double damn his puppy dog eyes - they should be criminal. No longer allowed to be used on people to break their strong will, thought Hermione. But you'd want these eyes only for yourself and no one else either, said a part of her. Shaking her head in attempt to shake off her, in her opinion, inappropriate and ill-timed thoughts, she looked into his eyes, finding a smile creeping up on her face automatically.

Smiling in his presence always came as easy as breathing to her, she remembered. In fact just being with him had always been easy, effortless. Small realisations like this always make her feel more guilty for how she's hurt him. But she'd be damned if she let this chance go.

Humoring him, she asked what he wanted to focus on. His reply was quite surprising.

"How are Hugh and Isla? I haven't spoken to them for so long, I don't even know where they are! Are they still practising in London? Or travelling on a vacation somewhere?"

"Mum & Dad are well, if not a little pissed at you for not telling them about what's been happening with your mom and then the whole jail business. Obviously they are also quite worried about you. It was all I could do to stop them from getting on a jet and flying straight down here when they found out!"

"They know? How? I mean I...wait you told them didn't you? What the hell Hermione! Why did you do that?"

"Of course I told them! I went to see them first thing after my first visit to you. After the crying spell here, I shed a river there with them too. It was not easy, let me tell you! They kept saying I didn't have to do this and that they understood. And I was like of course I do! I have to apologise and make up for it all. Obviously it was not okay! And I may have mentioned you and my visit to them. And then they asked me about you and I, well, I sort of hesitated. And you know mum. She has this crazy spidey sense about secrets and she just knew something was wrong, and that woman does not stop when she puts her mind to it and so she got me to fold. And then we were both crying and dad was also upset and then they started discussing about hiring a jet because last minute flight tickets are a bitch and it took me more time convince them to stay back than it did to apologise. Apparently they love you more."

The end of her monologue was accompanied by a huff, which worked very well to absolve Spencer's anger at her. He, of course, understood very well how terrifying it can be going against Isla Granger in trying to hide something from her. She is absolutely relentless and knows exactly when something is wrong.

"You know that's not true. And how did you even manage to stop them? That's the real question here! I mean your mom is-"

"I know how she is, thank you very much. I mean, she would just not understand that it was simply not safe for her to be here, especially what with Peter Lewis on the loose and not to mention, I knew you wouldn't want them to see you like that but she just wouldn't budge. Dad's obviously no help because he's as scared of her as anyone!"

"With good reason", exclaimed Spencer.

"But he's been married to her for almost forty years! You'd think he'd have learned how to get her to listen to reason at least!"

Her remark had him chortling again, the image of a tiny Hugh Granger cowering in front of an Amazonian Isla Granger coming to his mind.

"Why are you laughing? This is not funny!" Hermione said.

"It- It is!" he replied amid his laughter, telling her about the vision in his head. At this he was joined by Hermione, both of them losing control but trying in vain to keep the noise to a minimum.

For a while the living room was filled with the sound of their joy - free and unbound, with no fear of anything.

Hermione looked at him, noticing the play of lights and shadows on his face and the echo of their laughter, still visible in his shining eyes. It was a relief to her, seeing this shine which had been missing the last time she visited him in prison.

"I umm, I missed you, you know. And I'm so glad you're out! I just, I really missed you."

"Hermione, I-"

"It's okay! I just wanted you to know. That's all. That I'm trying."

"I know you are. And I missed you too."

Hermione, who had been looking down in her lap while saying all of this, looked up at him on hearing this. Spencer's face held a fond expression, the closest she'd seen since years ago. She felt a huge weight lift off of her and at the same time her heart beat just that much faster, their proximity brought to her notice as she realised both of them were leaning towards each other, moving closer slowly.

The moment was broken by the sound of Spencer's mobile going off, the happy tune letting him know it was Garcia. A sigh escaped both their lips as Spencer picked up the phone, his eyes still fixed to Hermione's.

"Yeah Garcia".

"uh-hmm. Yeah we both got here fine. Mom's resting now".

A slight chuckle, and "Yeah I'm tired too. Obviously. I was just about to- no I mean-What is it Garcia? I know you're running around what you really wanted to talk about".

"No I'm tired but I don't really feel like sleeping now, or going out or anything".

"No I don't have any plans. Seriously, what is this about?"

"What? Morgan knows? How? Who told him? Well then how does he...Wha-What do you mean he'll explain? You mean he's coming over?"

"But Garc-"

Hermione had to bite her lip to stop from laughing at the perplexed expression on his face right now. She didn't have to use a spell to know what he was thinking, which was somewhere along the lines of What the hell just happened?

Spencer was still looking at his phone in confusion and Hermione cleared her throat to bring back his attention. All it did was get a verbal response, his eyes still downcast.

"She hung up on me! Didn't even explain what she was saying and just said that Derek is coming over an-and I don't know what is happening?"

"I'm pretty sure it means exactly that Spence! That Derek is coming to see you. It is after all something that friends do, you know!" choked out Hermione between her giggles. But as it dawned on her what his friend coming over meant, she sobered up and turned to face her friend.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to head out then."

"What no! Why do you have to leave? You can stay. Actually, you should stay. Mom would also want to see you when she wakes."

"Spence—"

"And I want you to stay too".

At this she had to smile as her melted even more for her dear friend, if that was even possible. "It's not like I'm flying back to London now is it? Besides how do you plan to explain my presence to your friend? As I recall he's someone very close to you and you didn't even tell him about you being in prison and he suddenly comes over and finds out I did knew? Someone you haven't seen in ten odd years?"

But Spencer was shaking his head, an argument on his lips just as a knock sounded in his apartment.

"Jus-just stay here okay."

And before Hermione could say anything, he left to open the door.

Words weren't spoken between the two men, who just looked at each other.

Derek Morgan pulled his friend, his brother into a rough hug muttering "Hey kid" as he went.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you" he continued.

"Not really your fault was it" came Spencer's muffled reply.

As Morgan released him, he said, "We're gonna have to talk about that!" continuing to walk into Reid's home.

Spencer knew he'd come across Hermione because he heard the sudden stop in his steps and a sharp intake of breath.

He followed his friend into the living room to see both his friends facing each other, not really saying anything.

Derek Morgan was surprised, but years facing down the worst of humanity has taught him to hide his reactions well. Despite that, those who really knew him could detect the slight widening of his eyes and the hint of a raised eyebrow, and understand his surprise and curiosity both.

For Spencer, introducing Hermione to his friends was more than just a spontaneous act. It was a declaration to her that she will not he the only one working on repairing their relationship, he has a part to play as well, and he has no intention to let her go through this alone.

With this thought in mind, he took a deep breath and turned to his former teammate.

"Derek, this is Hermione Granger. She's a really old friend of mine. Kinda from childhood really."