Author note:

disclaimer, i do not psych

It didn't take too long for Henry to explain the situation to both Buzz and Allison. She seemed confused but was seemed greatful for the protection. They collected some clothes for her and took her out to a late lunch. Upon arriving at the house, Buzz immediately started checking all the rooms, windows and all the points of entry. Henry escorted Allison up to the spare bedroom and pushed open the door.

It had been a while since he had been up here.

"Wow" she exclaimed.

Henry shrugged sheepish, "This used to be my son's room" he explained.

Allison froze, "Spencer...oh my god. You're Shawn's dad."

Henry nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I'm so sorry...I read what happened to him in the paper" she explained gently, her voice shaking still with nerves.

Henry gave her a tight smile, "it's fine, honestly"

Henry remained silent for a moment before excusing himself, leaving Allison to get settled.

Something had been playing on his mind, the stupid photo. He could only wait for Karen to get back to him about the photographs authenticity but if he had taken that photo at some point...he should have a copy. He started with the photo album. It has been sat in his study for as long as he could remember. It had been used a lot in the early years of his marriage but since his biological son's death it hadn't been touched, now it was covered in a layer of dust. In a way, Shawn was the cause of Henry's divorce. Madeline had never improved of Shawn wanting to follow in Henry's footsteps, helping the CIA. Madeline never really could accept that her son most likely had high functioning autism.. Madeline had wanted Shawn to focus on making friends and developing his social aspect thinking that if he could learn to be social it would magically 'fix' him...but Shawn was very antisocial. He spent all of his time studying computer code, the books of which Henry never managed to throw away. They were still in his room. Henry smiled to himself...

"Call me Shade"

Henry could almost hear him say it. 5H4D3. His hacker name. He had been ill for a long time, Henry home schooled him during his treatments and made sure he kept his brain active. Henry and Madeline kept fighting, she insisted that Shawn should be living the remaining time he had outside of the confines of his room but Henry knew that Shade wanted to use the remaining time he had to make a difference. His skills were good and he could help the CIA...make a legacy. The youngest employed hacker for the Central Intelligence Agency. Henry supported him and stood up for him when Madeline would make him cry. Madeline did love her son but had always focused on his flaws rather than focused on him as a whole. Shade had never been very social, he was so smart he had tended to alienate other children. Madeline had jumped to the worst conclusions as a psychologist, giving scientific names to all of his shortcomings and trying to enforce 'treatment plans'. She just had to label everything. But Shade was not something to be labelled.

She left him, but Henry was glad that she did. If she hadn't, Henry knew he would have left her. She was not the person that Henry married.

Henry could still remember the phone call they had when Shade wasn't going to last much longer. There had been a horrible storm and the planes had been cancelled and Madeline had never got to say goodbye. Henry had held the phone to his son's face and listened quietly as he told her that he didn't have any regrets. They had all been in tears. Shade insisted that he had lived a good life and knows that he did good work for the CIA. That he may have had a short life but that it was an important one. The work he did was important. He had made a difference.

Shade had died shortly after.

Henry let out a shaky breath, blowing the top layer of dust of the albums. He took it through to the living room, sat on the sofa and began flicking through the pages. Buzz appeared moments later, a nod of acknowledgment and wondered into the kitchen. Seconds later, Henry heard the sounds of the kettle flicking on.

Buzz returned minuted later with coffee which Henry accepted great fully.

"I've just checked on Allison" Buzz told him, "she's fast asleep. I think the exhaustion just caught up with her"

Henry nodded,"Sounds about right"

"What you up to?" Buzz asked curiously.

Henry patted the album with his free hand. It's a photo album for when Shawn was little.

Buzz gave a sad smile, "I can't imagine what Shawn was like as a child" he responded thoughtfully.

Henry paused and gave Buzz a questioning look before continuing.

"My son was...sick for most of his childhood" Henry admitted, "I don't have many pictures of him healthy and happy"

"But he got better" Buzz assured him.

Henry froze, Buzz was trustworthy and reliable and Henry suspected he knew quite a lot of the pieces.

"No he didn't" Henry said curtly.

Buzz frowned confused but remained silent.

"He died when he was 14" Henry mumbled quietly, opening the album to the last photo he had of his son. He has connected to different machines and looked deathly pale. Buzz's mouth dropped when he saw the picture.

"I'm so sorry" Buzz apologised.

"Shawn worked for the CIA Buzz"

Buzz kept quiet, absorbing the information.

"Don't ask me for his real name cuz I don't know. I let the CIA recycle his identity and then Shawn came into my life. I know he was never... mine but I was a father to him. I loved him"

Buzz almost felt inclined to hug the man but even when emotional, Henry was rather...threatening.

"I thought it would be something like that" Buzz spoke quietly.

Henry looked surprised.

"I mean, I never would have guessed he was CIA. I was under the assumption he was some sort of spy and above my level of clearance. I'm sure Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara know"

Henry gave a small smile, "You'll be a detective yet"

Buzz nodded, still looking grave.

There was silence between them for a few minutes. Neither gentlemen wanting to break the silence and they both drank their coffee quietly. The house was eerily silent, they could almost forget that there was someone else upstairs.

It was then Buzz realised something,

"So, the photo with Yang... is that your..." he wondered how to word it, "...biological son?"

Henry nodded, "Shade? Yeah...he looks around 11"

There was silence and Buzz made to apologise again, "I'm so sorry Henry"

Henry grumbled slightly, shifting in his seat. He didn't want pity. "It's fine, there are several more albums on the table, grab one and start looking"

Buzz nodded, he had seen her photo so he knew what to look for. Both men searched silently for the next couple of hours, Buzz checking on Allison at regular intervals. She had been sleep deprived and was finally sleeping soundly after her ordeal.

In the midst of the search the house phone rang and Henry rushed to answer as to not disturb his house guest.

"Henry Spencer speaking"

"Yes I know it's you! What the hell were you thinking sending me that?

"Maddie?"

"Yes of course it's me" the woman snapped on the other end of the phone. "Now explain yourself!"

"Explain what? What's going on?"

"You think that it's ok to just send me a picture of our dead son out of nowhere? No text. No explanation? What the hell is this Henry? And why is he stood next to Santa Barbra's famous serial killer?! If This is some sort of joke it's not funny"

"...Henry?"

"I never sent you anything Maddie" Henry stated, worried.

"It's from your email account Henry"

"... I spoke to Karen earlier. There have been lots of people claiming to have been kidnapped by Yin...the latest claimed to have taken that photo before they escaped"

"..."

"They are testing the photo at the moment, I'm gonna search through all the photos I have just in case but I don't remember taking that photo, and I certainly didn't send you it"

"I don't remember taking it either...so it could be a forgery?"

"I hope so"

"... I'll be on a flight first thing. I need to be there... I need to know"

Henry almost dropped the phone, "It's fine, you don't need to"

"He was my son Henry. You might have been able to replace him quickly but I didn't.I'll be there in the morning"

She hung up.

Henry put the phone down in shock.

Buzz simply waited,

For Henry to explain.

"It seems... by ex-wife will be arriving tomorrow"

Buzz opened his mouth as if to say something and then thought better of it.

Henry was confused, his email? What was she on about?

"I need to check something" Henry muttered to himself, "I'll be back"

Buzz nodded, having your ex wife suddenly come back into the picture would be enough to shock anyone. He would give him his space.

Henry's mind was racing and he walked quickly into his study. He began examining the room like a crime scene, it didn't look like the room had been disturbed. He made his way over to his computer, it was what he used for all official things. It was old but it was given to him by the CIA all those years ago. It was safe, it was protected and secure. He switched it on which took a few seconds, the fan jumped into life and he was soon met with the password screen. He entered his details and quickly accessed his secure email account. True enough, there was an email there sent from his email, a digital copy of the photo sent to Madeline Spencer. Henry felt his heart pounding in his chest. It was with indifference he noticed he had forgotten to change his ex-wife name in his contacts, she hadn't been a Spencer for years now. It wasn't even the photo that was bothering him, it was the fact that he hadn't sent this email. No one had access to this account. It was secure. CIA secure. He had been informed reliably that it couldn't be hacked. His son had even confirmed it. Something to do with it being an old machine that it was impossible to hack remotely. They would have needed to connect directly into the machine and even that would have taken time. Henry would have known if there had been someone in his house. Henry realised quickly that meant that someone must have entered the correct details. He had never told any one the security questions to his account before and it wasn't the type of thing that a stranger could guess or even someone who knew him. Henry sighed, unsure of what to do. If his computer had been compromised...

Henry's eyes suddenly snapped right open, a strange sense of hope filling him. There was only one person who would might have been able to guess his passwords...who knew about the account to begin he had seen that one person splattered on the pavement below the clock tower seven months prior. He began to run though possible scenarios in his head. Was he deluding himself, could his son still be alive? Was this meant to be some sort of clue? Henry pushed his palm into his head, he was beginning to get a headache. This didn't make sense, he had seen him... laying on the pavement. He remembered seeing the officer stand up after checking his pulse with a deflated expression and a sad shake of the head. Agent Matthews had passed away in the line of duty, his body confiscated and presumably returned to his family. Henry couldn't shake the feeling though, Shawn was clever and saw things no one else did. What if he had a plan? What if his statement to him in the truck wasn't a blanket statement about saving Juliet but a preemptive warning?

Henry didn't know what to think. Part of him thought to share his theories with Gus, perhaps he knew something? Henry shook his head, he was probably deluding himself.

When Henry came back into the room suitability rattled with a bottle of whiskey, Buzz knew something was up, it didn't take a detective.

"You ok?" He enquired, eyeing the bottle of whisky.

Henry gave a noncommittal grumble, "Seems Maddie will be here tomorrow late morning"

"You...don't get on then I take it"

Henry laughed and took a gulp of whisky, "No"

Buzz tentatively reached forward and took the whisky bottle from him,

Henry thought about reaching for it back but gave up almost immediately.

"She's not a massive fan of the CIA" he mumbled, "In her eyes, it denied her son the chance of a 'real' childhood, took up too much of my time and then finally replaced her dead son within a month with a new boy and threatened her for her silence"

"What?" He gasped shocked.

"All valid points I suppose" Henry grumbled, giving a slight yawn.

Buzz remained silent, processing the information.

"Why?" Buzz asked curiously, he then clamped his mouth shut remembering his place. "Sorry, it's none of my business. I shouldn't have.."

Henry shot him a look, "Shade was intelligent" he took a breath before continuing. "So much so it crippled him. I suspect he was autistic but I never had him diagnosed. He found it extremely difficult to communicate with other people. He didn't have any friends"

Buzz' eyes filled with sadness as the elder man explained.

"But his intelligence made him happy and the CIA were quick to realise he had potential. Shade may not have had any friends but he had a purpose and he chose to do what made him happy which I supported"

Henry gave Buzz a sad smile.

"He wanted Shawn Spencer to live on... even if it wasn't him. He wanted his life to mean something... to contribute. And his actions brought...Agent Matthews into my life for which I am forever great full"

Something clicked inside Buzz' head, "Matthews..."

"Hmmm" Henry murmured. "Maddie never understood and felt she had been denied the opportunity to publicly mourn her son"

Henry blinked back a tear. "I suppose I can't blame her for that"

Buzz simply nodded. He had discovered a lot tonight. He couldn't blame Henry for being a little loose lipped. His day had been filled with surprise after surprise.

"I suppose it didn't help that after having only known Shawn briefly, she was then kidnapped by Yang because she's 'Shawn's' mother"

Buzz winced, "That... would not have helped, no"

Buzz stood up and returned the bottle of whiskey to the cabinet.

"I'll sleep on the sofa... I've secured of the entrances and exits already. Might be wise to get some sleep"

Henry raised his eyebrows at the young man, was he really trying to tell him to go to bed?

"I suppose you're right" Henry admitted. "We can continue this in the morning"

Buzz nodded in agreement and watched as Henry made his way silently up the stairs to his room.

He felt like he had been bombarded with information but knew he couldn't tell anyone. Henry had told him personal facts about his dead sons and Buzz was no gossip. He would take the knowledge to his grave. Smiling to himself slightly, he was glad Henry trusted him. He knew Henry was a good father, he had a peculiar demeanour that made you crave his approval... or perhaps it was just because Buzz respected him. Henry was one of the few people who believed that one day he would make a good detective instead of just... an officer. He never complained, he knew he had to work his way up the ladder. But he could admit to himself he was often disappointed, he knew that he had more skills than being able to make a decent cup of coffee.

He looked down at the photos and with a sudden burst of wanting to prove himself made his way through the photo albums. There were another three on the table and he steadily worked his way through looking for the matching imagine of Shawn and Yang.

Two hours later he finally closed the last album and allowed himself to pass out on the sofa. It was a well deserved sleep.

In an undisclosed location the man's computer gave off another soft alert. In was barely heard in the room, several other people's computers were constantly making noises and a couple were chatting loudly in the corner with cups of coffee. Things were progressing and moving forwards, not in the way that he had hoped but in the way he had anticipated. He would get home to his family... eventually.

The next step was a little more complicated and he knew he would be caught but that was all part of the plan... He had been forbidden access to his biological families files for years, now it was time to confirm his fears and adhere to the consequences. He entered his grandad's name into the search bar and pressed enter. He knew he wouldn't have long, he checked his current address, occupation...anything he could. His breath caught when he read the address line, he knew that house. It was the neighbouring house to where Henry and Shawn used to live.

He could feel the footsteps approaching behind him and he spun his chair around with a small smirk, revisiting the urge to say something cheesy like 'I've been expecting you'.

"Agent" the other man inclined his head, "our superiors want a word"

He stood up from his chair and tapped a button on the computer to turn the screen blank, the plan would work...it had to work. Shawn Spencer wanted to come back home.

author note: so...what do you think? let me know in the reviews x