It seems more people would like an epilogue when I asked some readers, so this is the final chapter before that epilogue which will be set sometime in the near future! Also I realized near the finishing of this chapter after doing research on poisons that Ricin has no antidote, contrary to what managed to keep Rosemary from dying in the previous chapter. For the sake of my sanity in trying to find another poison that works as perfectly (doesn't that sound strange? I hope the government hasn't been looking through my internet history haha) and for YOUR sakes in finally getting this chapter, I'm willing to bend my morals in keeping my writing as accurate as possible just this once. So we shall pretend that there is some substance (which there could very well be) that isn't a full antidote but will perhaps help the person a little to keep them from dying until they can get the proper medical treatment at a hospital. Thank you for bearing with me on this tricky subject, and please know I looked very hard for just the right substance to be the poison utilized by the unsub!

Rosemary wasn't exactly happy to be in a hospital bed once more, but she could at least recognize that she was lucky to be alive. The doctors had confirmed that the antidote had been administered in just the right amount of time after the initial injection of what they decided had been a formula of Ricin. Had Spencer waited any longer, her muscle and lymph nodes around the area would have failed and then her liver, kidneys, and spleen would have quickly shut down, leading to worse damage and her eventual death.

Thus, they did need to keep fluids running in her to restore those roughly treated organs and regain hydration. She also had breathing tubes in her nose to keep her breathing steady. Her wrist, as she had predicted in the barn, had been further strained and her recovery time had been lengthened to ensure it would heal properly. Other than that, the doctor told her, she was simply incredibly lucky.

Rosemary, however, did not believe it was just luck. Her mother had been called down again to visit, though Rosemary had been more anxious for someone else in particular to join her in the hospital room. Spencer had been torn from her side the second she was taken into the ICU, and she had lost consciousness before she was able to ask him to stay with her. She was sure he had had no choice; they had a case to close up and an unsub to identify.

Rosemary had found it much easier to rest knowing that that mask would never hide the face of a living man again. It would be stored away forever and his body would be far below ground. While the trauma might never leave her, she had regained some freedom. She had faced the worst- she could handle anything now.

The entire team had regrouped after a restful night to put the final pieces together and bring closure to the deceased victims and their families. In the middle of the table they all sat at was the golden mask, now property of the FBI, and a USB drive placed beside it.

"Where did the USB come from?" Spencer asked finally, the silence overwhelming for all of them.

"It was found on the unsub," Hotch murmured.

Everyone's eyes were trained on the small storage device, and Penelope now spoke.

"Well- I guess we should watch it," she offered, reaching across the table to collect the USB and plug it into her laptop.

Immediately the file popped up on the screen for everyone to see, and a video began to stream. Their masked man, still alive in this video, sat in front of a camera without uttering a word. A few seconds of tense silence continued before he spoke.

"If you're watching this, you're probably the one who killed me," he said, that chilling voice incredibly wry. "I expect the FBI team that was chasing me down is watching this."

A few of the team members exchanged uncomfortable looks, though Spencer's eyes were glued to the screen.

"But I'm glad you're watching. I know Father never thought of me as being good enough or capable. He thought he could control me- but he's wrong. Because my legacy will last forever, through this video and the scenes I created, the news reports and the photos- I will never be forgotten. Especially by you, agents."

Spencer's hands were gripping the edge of the table with a tightness that left the knuckles pale.

"And if Rosemary Lennox survived me again- she'll never be able to forget me. She was always the perfect choice... I had to have her. I was the only one who could truly appreciate her beauty and intelligence- I was the only one who could do her justice with my art."

He paused again, static silence filling the room. He then leaned in closer to the camera, the harsh blue of his eyes standing out behind the mask.

"I still won in the end, and that's all that matters now."

The video clicked off and Spencer finally tore his eyes away from the screen.

"Has the coroner identified the unsub?" Hotch then asked Penelope, who had been in a melancholic trance as she stared at her laptop.

She quickly snapped out of it when she realized he had spoken to her and began typing furiously. A file popped up now on the screen and everyone was now able to see the face behind the mask. Their criminal had a face that was as haunting as his deeds, with sharp features that could be handsome but held a contempt and coldness that made him more disturbing.

"Markus Young," the blonde read, her voice still a little soft after witnessing such a creepy video. "Both of his parents died when he was eighteen and he's been on his own since then. He worked for a while at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology."

"That has to be where his obsession with Greek mythology," Spencer then spoke, finally allowing himself to resubmerge into the present.

"He was fired for attempting to steal a Greek antiquity from the museum," Penelope confirmed, still typing to pull things up on the screen. A report of the incident popped up and she frowned as she began to dig deeper.

"Hold on- I think I found the tie between the unsub and Rosemary," she said slowly, her eyes scanning the screen carefully.

Spencer leaned forward in his seat then, waiting for her to further explain.

"What'd you find?" Morgan questioned, dark brows furrowed.

"Apparently Rosemary's father was doing some seminars a few years back," Penelope elaborated, glancing up from her laptop. "He was traveling to nearby universities to give lectures on classical studies and Greek history."

"And the University of Pennsylvania was one of his stops," Hotch quickly suggested, the pieces clicking together. "He found himself the one man who knew everything he wanted to know. And he had something else too- Rosemary."

"He must have been planning this for years," J.J. realized, glancing at Spencer who looked positively disturbed. "He found out about Professor Lennox's daughter and that was when he came to Virginia, to better keep track of her. His grabbing her had never been opportunistic- he had only been waiting for the perfect moment."

"All correct, of course, as he was sacked from his job not long after the seminar," Penelope confirmed.

"Garcia, check for any stolen item reports from the museum," Hotch instructed. "This must be an item Markus got away with- if so, there has to be a missing item report filed in the system."

"Correctamundo," Penelope confirmed as she typed away. "That mask went missing only a few days after Markus was fired. He was obviously suspected, but no one could trace him. I can also pull up here the autopsy photos, they just came in..."

The lifeless body appeared on screen, and Spencer froze as he saw the tattoo. Rosemary had been right.

"Zoom in on the tattoo," Hotch requested, and Garcia complied. It indeed had the wings Rosemary had remember... but they were attached to the intricate image of a young man, a hint of a sun etched above.

"It all makes sense now," Spencer said quietly. "The tattoo, the mask... He was Icarus. Or, at least, he pictured himself as Icarus."

All eyes were trained on Spencer now as he stated his conclusions.

"In the video he said his father never saw him as capable enough, but he was wrong. Icarus was warned by his father not to fly to close to the sun or his wax wings would melt- Icarus didn't listen, and fell to his untimely death in the water below. Maybe the unsub knew it would eventually lead to his downfall to disobey and reach too high... but it didn't matter to him. Not in the end, because he wouldn't be forgotten. His story would remain."

A few eyes then moved towards the mask, which Spencer noticed.

"The Minotaur was the result of the consummation of the Cretan bill and King Minos' wife, Pasiphae," he further explained, staring at the golden antique. "King Minos disrespected Poseidon, and as a result, the Minotaur was conceived. Poseidon then filled the half-man, half-bull with all of his rage and it was a curse upon the land as it brought destruction everywhere it went. But the King had Daedalus build the Labyrinth to contain the Minotaur once and for all."

"And if he simultaneously saw his father as Daedalus, that would symbolize the way his father boxed him in and trapped him in a metaphorical labyrinth," Blake finished for him, a grim look on her features.

"The more I read into his background, the more the evidence suggests that his father was abusive, though no one would have ever guessed it from the outside," Penelope added solemnly from behind her screen.

There was a moment of silence as everything sunk in- it was finished, but the case had taken its toll on many people. Spencer was suddenly reminded of one of those people being Rosemary, who was probably alone in a hospital room again- guilt crossed his features.

"We can take it from here if you need to check on Rosemary," Hotch suddenly spoke up. "Everyone else, we're done in here."

Spencer's eyes flicked over to his leader and portrayed a silent gratefulness. Hotch nodded once, his eyes conveying some softness- after all Spencer had been through, he figured the young agent deserved a little bit of peace. The team got up from their seats to leave, though as Spencer attempted to slip out quickly, he was stopped by Derek.

"Hey, man... I just wanted to apologize for everything," he shook his head, deep brown eyes trained sincerely on Reid's face. "I pushed it too far and I doubted you- and Rosemary- more than I should have. All of this could have been avoided if I had just believed you in the first place."

Spencer raised his eyes to meet Morgan's, offering a slight, forgiving smile.

"It's okay, really," he told the other man, who was just as much his friend as his colleague. "You were doing the job I should have been doing. I really let my emotions get the best of me and we needed someone to stay alert and not let anything get by."

"Funny how love can do that to you, huh?" Derek asked, now able to smile knowingly as he looked at Spencer.

"Love?" Spencer repeated very suddenly, a little thrown off by the word. While it was not entirely foreign to him, it had been a long time since it had truly kept his company.

"Yeah, Reid," Derek confirmed, patting him on the shoulder with a twinkle in his eyes. "Love. Now, get out of here and go visit Rosemary. Tell her I said I'm sorry for what happened, and that I hope she knows I still think she's a great lady."

Spencer bowed his head in confirmation before the other agent walked off, and his puzzled look soon returned as he grabbed his belongings and made his way to the elevator.

Rosemary was seconds away from breaking out of the hospital. She was bored out of her mind and simply stared at the walls enclosing her, running her eyes along the repetitive pattern of the wallpaper. A knock sounded from the other side of the door.

"Come in!" she called, though her voice faltered as she clutched at her torso in discomfort. The effort had brought some pain as she continued to recover from her near death experience.

The door clicked as it was pushed open and she leaned forward in her bed, ignoring the strain it brought on her body as she desperately looked to see who had come to visit. Her eyes lit up as soon as they landed on Spencer, who approached with a book in his hands and an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner, but we had to close up details on the case," he informed her gently, stopping beside her. "I brought this as a form of my sincerest apology."

He held out the book to her, and Rosemary accepted it, though her eyes never left him. She set the book in her lap before tentatively reaching out to tug on his arm, and he immediately got the message, leaning into to envelop her in his tender hold. Rosemary tried to breathe in his familiar scent deeply, despite the tubes in her nose, her body aching as she held on tight to the person she never wanted to leave her side again.

A tendril of Spencer's hair tickled Rosemary's nose as he pressed warmly against her, his eyes squeezed shut tight. He had wished for this moment after rescuing Maeve, and that moment had never come. But now it was here and Rosemary was very alive and very real. He could feel her and smell her and hear her soft breathing- he was incredibly grateful that, this time, all had turned out well.

The pair finally broke apart as Rosemary uttered a soft "Oh!", the her torso again pulsing in an uncomfortable way from the extended period of strain.

"Sorry, I- are you okay?" Spencer pressed in worry, watching her face contort in pain as he stood back.

"Yeah, f-fine," she assured him through broken breaths. "The doctor said I had ricin injected into my body... which is obviously incredibly lethal. My organs were not far from complete failure so they're having to run all these fluids and activated charcoal in me to flush out the toxin. It's not very pleasant."

Spencer's eyes widened- he had not yet been able to hear the diagnosis, so to know now the full extent of how dangerous the injected substance was made him even more grateful there had been a counter substance to utilize that night.

"It's not a big deal though," Rosemary added hurriedly, not wanting Spencer to stress any more than he already had over her.

"Not a big deal?" he asked, frowning slightly at her with shock in his hazel eyes. "Of course it is! I didn't even know..."

Rosemary felt guilty for dropping something this serious on Spencer right then, when everything had just been so peaceful. She decided to change the subject, quickly speaking up again.

"So what did you find out about... him?"

She couldn't bring herself to come up with any other name, and even unsub felt too impersonal on her tongue after the very personal experiences she'd been forced to go through.

"Well, there was a lot hiding behind that mask. But we figured it out."

Spencer then explained the findings from earlier's session, pained by Rosemary's reactions to all of the heavy information. Now it was she who was feeling overwhelmed.

"I shouldn't have told you all that," Spencer said aloud as he gauged Rosemary's expression, concerned.

"No- I needed to know all this," she said barely above a murmur, breathing in deeply. "It's just surreal to think about. It's over now but... it'll never be completely erased, will it?"

She turned her her to rest her gaze on Spencer's prominent features, a little pale in the face. He was looking out of the window on the adjacent wall, unblinking.

"No- it won't. I still think about all of the terrible things I thought I could just lock away in the back of my mind."

Rosemary's eyes softened in despondency for Spencer, her hands clenching timidly at the thin blankets over her lower body. Spencer finally shifted his eyes to return to the brunette, their kindness and assurance beginning to wash away her anxiety.

"But it helps to have someone to talk to," he added, a tender smile playing at his lips. "I'm pretty awful about letting out my feelings, you know. I try to keep them pent up and then I just- lose it. But I have friends who listen and who try to make me feel better, so it gets easier to just be honest and not let those thoughts eat at my brain. And, well- you make it really easy to say how I feel."

Rosemary couldn't help the tiny, bashful smile that tugged at the corners of her lips as he spoke.

"If it's okay- I'd like to be that person you can say everything you're feeling to," Spencer continued warily, his fingers flying towards the collar of his shirt to tug at it with slight awkwardness. "Because I don't want to lose you again. You can tell me the things about me that bother you, that you hate me, even- as long as I don't lose you."

Rosemary's eyes were large and shiny at Spencer's proclamation, and tears threatened to spill out. The agent glanced at his feet, a moment of silence between them before he added one more thing.

"'There are darknesses in life and there are lights,'" he began, the words filling the air and penetrating Rosemary's heart as the recognition hit her. "'And you are one of the lights- the light of all lights.'"

It was then the tears poured down her cheeks and Rosemary's hands flew to her face to cover herself in embarrassment as she cried. She felt familiar hands wrap around her wrists to gently tug her hands away from her face before Spencer's arms wrapped around her again. Rosemary pulled herself close, her crying silent but the emotions incredibly overwhelming beneath the quiet.

It took a minute before she could regain her composure, and it was only then the pair parted, Spencer seemingly a little anxious though he still held strong concern for her well-being. Rosemary wiped her cheeks once more before a shaky laugh broke past her lips.

"I think my brain is still a bit too overwhelmed to think of a befitting quote to respond with, unfortunately," she told her companion, who couldn't help but grin at her humor. "But I want you to be that person. And I want to be that person for you- I want to be your light. You'll never have to worry about losing me again... because I'll be by your side."

Spencer looked so happy, Rosemary almost laughed in response to that huge grin. He impulsively went in to grasp her in his arms again, and Rosemary let out a soft sound of pleasant surprise. This time, however, she pulled her head back a little to place a careful kiss on Spencer's cheek. His response was to pull back a little himself, his eyes landing in slight surprise on her own shy gaze. However, her gaze lowered just slightly, now on level with Spencer's lips. The brunette leaned in again, this time her lips making contact with his own. It was tender and quick, but it made both of their incredibly intelligent heads spin.

"Morgan- he uh- told me to tell you he was sorry," Spencer murmured after their brief moment of intimacy, clearly trying to regain his composure somewhat. "And that he still thinks you're great."

"It's fine now," she smiled, her eyes twinkling humorously. "I have plenty of time to make him like me even more now, right?"

"True. And now I have twice the brainpower in coming up with pranks to get back at him."

Rosemary laughed and Spencer quickly followed suit, an aura of cheer surrounding the happy pair. No matter what happened once they were to leave that room, they knew that they had someone to truly and fully lean on now- and that was enough to satisfy even these two inquisitive minds.