"He knows where we live."
Her own words kept running through her head, as if on repeat. He knows where I live, where Henry is right now. JJ sat in silence as Rossi raced towards her house. He looked over at her, noting her silence. He knew what she was thinking; he wasn't a profiler for nothing. So, he tried to talk to her.
"Stop." JJ looked over at Rossi. "What?"
"Stop thinking. You'll destroy yourself, drown in guilt. Whatever's going through you head right now, stop thinking it. This isn't your fault.
JJ understood what Rossi was saying, but he was wrong, so wrong. "You don't get it Rossi. This is entirely my fault. Look, Will and I promised each other when we first had Henry that he would never be alone without at least one of us with him. I should have never left him alone today. I broke our promise, and now Henry's in the path of a psychotic serial killer." JJ tried to explain herself as best she could to Rossi.
He, however, wasn't having it. "You're an FBI agent, JJ. This is your job. JJ shook her head. "I'm a mom first."
Just then Rossi pulled up to the curb outside her house. JJ saw Kate in the yard next store playing with another child. JJ pulled out her phone and called Kate, dismayed when she didn't answer. "She doesn't have her cell." JJ said, putting her phone away. "Kate would never take her eyes off Henry like this. They must have him." JJ grabbed the door handle so that she could get out of the car but Rossi grabbed her arm before she could open her door. "Wait." He said. "We need a distraction."
JJ stealthily moved around her house, carefully ducking under her windows so as not to be seen. Once she made it to her back door, she tested the handle. It was unlocked. She cracked it open, glad that it was a new door and didn't squeak. Slowly, she made her way into her house, closing the door quietly behind her.
She moved into the hallway. JJ heard the squeak of the gate outside at Kate's house. Satisfied that Rossi's distraction was in place, JJ peaked around the corner. She saw Izzy, the unsub, looking out the window. JJ took this opportunity to slowly inch her way forward until she was directly next to Izzy.
She clicked the safety off her gun. The noise drew Izzy's attention away from the window, and to her. "Turn around." JJ said in a menacing voice. Izzy slowly put her hands up and turned.
Before she was fully facing away, Izzy swung back around and knocked JJ's gun to the floor, catching her off guard. She recovered quickly, grabbing Izzy's shoulders and shoving into the wall. Izzy pushed JJ back into the opposite wall, next to a table.
JJ grabbed the vase on the table next to her and smashed it over Izzy's head. Izzy fell to the floor, only stunned for a second, before getting up and running to dining table where her bag and gun was. She made a grab for it, but knocked it to the floor under the chair.
JJ gave chase and used Izzy's handbag handle to wrap around her neck. JJ pulled her back and slammed her into a wall, smashing a painting. Izzy reared back, slamming JJ into the wall behind her. Since JJ was still choking her, Izzy forcefully elbowed JJ in the stomach.
However, the attempt was futile as JJ was not affected. She threw Izzy to the floor in the next hallway, and slammed her fist into her face. Izzy fell to the floor, momentarily stunned.
JJ took this moment to look up and saw Henry standing at the end of the hallway. "Henry!" she yelled. He turned and ran towards the closet. Izzy took advantage of the distraction, reared back, and slammed her fist into JJ's face, knocking her back.
While JJ was getting up, Izzy went for the gun on the ground a few feet in front of her. She got her hands on it, swung around, and pointed it at JJ. However, JJ was ready for her. She grabbed Izzy's wrist with one hand and discharged the gun with the other.
Izzy kicked JJ in the stomach, forcing her back while she made a run for Henry at the end of the hall. Behind her, JJ quickly gained her footing and ran after Izzy.
Izzy ran as fast she could towards the closet where Henry was hiding. She got her hands around the boy's neck and twisted just as JJ grabbed her shoulders and threw her back into a wall. JJ finished Izzy off with a roundhouse kick to the face, knocking her down once again, this time for good.
JJ looked up and saw Rossi coming towards her, gun drawn. He came up beside Izzy and handcuffed her. JJ turned away from him and ran towards the closet where her son was. She opened the door which had been pushed closed during the scuffle.
JJ almost threw up at the sight before her. Henry was lying there on the floor, his head bent at an unnatural angle. JJ knelt down beside him, her vision blurry from the tears that were quickly forming. "No. No no no no." JJ reached out and grabbed Henry, cradling his small body against her chest.
I wasn't fast enough. I didn't save him.
That was all JJ could think as she held her no longer living child. Sobs wracked her small frame as she starred at her little boy, her only child. His eyes were still open, and they were starting to glaze over. JJ reached out and softly closed his eyes. That was the last time she ever saw his open eyes. She could feel her heart ripping in half inside her chest. I failed. I couldn't protect him. This is my fault. This is all my fault.
Rossi had led Izzy outside to the squad car that had arrived. He roughly pushed her in and slammed the door. His heart broke for JJ, and for Henry. He was too young, much too young. JJ doesn't deserve this. No one does.
He looked up and saw that the rest of the team had arrived. Hotch looked at him and dropped his head. He could tell that Rossi was devastated, and that could only mean one thing. Henry's gone.
The rest of the team saw Rossi's expression as well, their hearts breaking for JJ and her small boy. Rossi walked over to Hotch gave him a solemn look. "You should call the coroner." Hotch looked pained at this, but nodded and stepped aside to make the call. He knew what it was like to lose a family member, but he was already divorced to Hailey when she died. Sure, he still loved her, but he still had Jack. Hotch didn't know what he would do without his son.
As Hotch finished the call, the rest of the team looked to Rossi. He looked to Emily. "You should go in, be there for her." Emily nodded, and walked into JJ's house that was now tainted with grief and loss.
Emily couldn't imagine how JJ felt, and tears formed in her eyes at the thought that Henry, who was once such a lively boy, now gone.
She made her way slowly through the house and turned into a hallway. At the end of it she could see JJ kneeling on the ground by the closet, cradling Henry's body to her chest. She could hear JJ's heartbreaking sobs from here.
Emily walked over to JJ and knelt down beside her. JJ didn't even acknowledge her presence. She continued to rock her dead child. Cautiously, Emily placed a hand on JJ's shoulder. She turned to look at Emily, her body never stopping the rocking motion. Emily was deeply saddened at the look in JJ's eyes. All she could see was grief and pain. JJ looked back down at her boy, who looked like he was sleeping, apart from the bent neck.
Emily spoke quietly, her voice filled with compassion. "JJ, you should go outside." JJ panicked and held onto Henry tighter. "No. No no no. I can't… I can't leave him here all alone. I have to stay with him." JJ looked pleadingly at Emily, who was quick to reassure her. "Okay. That's okay. I'll wait here with you until they come to take him."
True to her word, Emily sat next to JJ for the next fifteen minutes, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. When the coroner finally came, he gently took Henry's body from JJ and slid in into a small body bag.
Emily was expecting JJ to scream or fight the man who took her son, but she just sat there on the floor, her expression impassive. "JJ?" Emily said, trying to get her attention. JJ didn't move. Emily called her name again, and this time, JJ turned to look at Emily.
Emily's heart broke at the empty stare JJ's eyes held. "Come on, Sweetie. We have to go." Emily helped JJ up and guided her out of her own home. When they made it outside, they found the whole team, minus Garcia, waiting for them. Reid looked like he wanted to rush forward, but Morgan put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
Not saying anything to anyone, Emily brought JJ to one of their SUV's and sat her in the backseat. Emily climbed in next to her, closing the door.
It was then, and only then, that JJ finally broke. "They're gone, Emily. Both my babies are gone." JJ said, tears flowing freely down her face. Emily was confused. "Both, JJ?"
JJ looked up, tear tracks clearly visible. "You already know my transfer was a backstop in 2010. I was shipped to Afghanistan to work on a special task force. We were trying to find bin Laden. While I was there, I just found out I was pregnant. Then there was a bomb and – and I lost the baby." JJ sobbed out.
Emily was shocked at this revelation. She couldn't believe that not one of them noticed anything different about JJ. "I'm so sorry, JJ." Emily didn't know what else to say.
"It hurts so much, Em. Oh god, what am I going to do?" JJ choked out. Emily scooted across the seats and wrapped her arms around JJ. "You and Will will get through this, JJ, one day at a time. And we will be there, every step of the way.