Disclaimer: I, sadly, do no own Criminal Minds or its characters.

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One week later...

Reid walked slowly over to the gathered group of people, limping slightly as he went. He wasn't entirely sure why he was even here after all that had happened. Part of him wanted to run far, far away from this, and the other part, the more compassionate part, of him needed to be here.

He knew being here was the only way he could even start to move past what had happened. It was going to be a long time before he would, but with the help of his team, he knew he would eventually be able to. They had already been a great help to him. They took turns sitting with him in the hospital and talked with him, and it helped Reid realize what family really means.

Just because you share the same blood, doesn't mean you are family. And just because you don't share the same blood, doesn't mean you can't become one.

Every one of his team members had offered to come with him if he wanted them to, but he told everyone no. He needed to do this alone.

He finally reached the group and stayed near the back the entire time, trying to stay unnoticed as much as possible. As people began to disperse a while later, he stayed standing where he was. When the crowd was nearly all gone, he slowly made his way up to what everyone had been gathered around.

He just stared at it for a couple of minutes, unsure of exactly what to think. How do you say goodbye to someone who you wish had been everything they were not?

A tear slid down his cheek, but Reid wasn't sure why. It could have been for what had happened to him, for what had come so very close to happening to him. It could have been for his mother, for everything she has had to suffer through in her mind. It could have been for himself, for all that he has had to suffer through, even before this.

Or it could have even been for his father, for the amount of pain he must have had to have felt to make him believe he had to do this.

"Goodbye, dad," Reid finally said softly. After a moment, he turned around and began walking slowly away from his father's gravesite.

The End! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know your thoughts!