SURPRISE! I BET YALL WEREN'T EXPECTING ANOTHER CHAPTER SO SOON, HUH? ;) AS ALWAYS, I HOPE YOU ENJOY!
"A mother?" Morgan questioned.
"That would actually make sense," Reid replied, "If the mother lost a child somehow and she thought Henry looked like him she would have this delusion that Henry is the child that she lost."
"But where does Charles Howard know her from?" Prentiss asked.
"He could be a brother or a husband." Rossi replied.
"Garcia, see if Howard has a wife or sister who recently lost a son." Hotch said and Garcia immediately opened her laptop that sat on the table.
"You got it, sir," After a moment Garcia spoke up again, "Ok, Diane Howard, wife of Charles Howard Jr., they had a four year old son named Jackson Howard and- oh God.."
"What is it Mama?" Derrick asked the tech who had her hand slightly over her mouth.
"One year ago today Jackson Howard and his mom were in a car accident, a drunk driver slammed into the side of the vehicle going eighty miles per hour. Jackson died on impact."
"The one year anniversary of his death was the stressor." Prentiss said quietly.
"Garcia. Can you pull up a picture of Jackson on the monitor?" Hotch asked and she wordlessly pressed a few keys on her laptop and a picture of Jackson Howard, along with his mother Diane, came up on the television.
JJ couldn't suppress the gasp that escaped her lips when she saw how much alike he and Henry looked.
"Seeing Henry somewhere must have triggered something," Rossi said, "Do you have an address?"
"Already sent it to your phones." Garcia replied quickly as their phones dinged.
"Alright, let's go get Henry." Hotch said and they all, minus Garcia, filed out the door.
When they arrived at the Diane Howards house they got out the SUV's and started strapping on their bulletproof vests.
"Ok, Rossi, you, Prentiss and Will go around back. Me, JJ, Reid and Morgan will go through the front. She will most likely be with Henry so if anyone finds them be careful not to make any sudden moves, she will probably try to kill Henry and herself." When Hotch had finished telling everyone the plan they walked up to the house, Rossi, Prentiss and Will moving around back while Hotch, JJ, Reid and Morgan stood by the front door with their guns drawn waiting for Rossi to tell them they were in position through the earpiece.
When he did Hotch nodded at Morgan, who kicked the door down and went into the house high.
They all shouted clear as they went from room to room. When they had cleared all the rooms but one, they all gathered behind the closed door. Hotch turned the doorknob slowly and pushed it open.
When they got in the room they saw it was for a little boy, the walls were painted a light blue and there was a fire truck theme to the room.
They focused their attention to the middle of the room where they saw Diane Howard sitting on a rocking chair with Henry on her lap reading him "A Case of the Stripes" by David Shannon.
"Diane Howards, put the book down and give Henry to us." Hotch said, his gun aimed at her head.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Henry said when he saw his parents. He went to get out of Diane's arms but she held onto him tighter, making him squirm, trying to go to his parents.
"Wait till the story is over then you can get down, Jackson." Diane said. The team realized when she called him Jackson that, in her mind, she actually thought that Henry was her son, not a boy that looked like him.
"My name isn't Jackson. It's Henry!" Henry said, still squirming in the deranged woman's arms.
"Diane," JJ said stepping forward, "He is not your son. He is my son, his name is Henry."
"No! This is Jackson." She stated matter-of-factly.
"No, Jackson died in a car crash last year. Remember?" JJ said gently, lowering her gun a little.
Diane paused for a moment before looking up at JJ, "I tried to save him, but he was dead."
"I know you did, and I am so sorry. No mother should have their child die like that." She said truthfully, rephrasing her words from earlier slightly.
"You don't know what it's like. None of you do!" Diane said with tears in her eyes.
"Actually, I do," JJ replied, "I do know what it's like to lose a child, but I didn't get to spend any time with my baby. You just have to go through every day cherishing the moments you got to spend with your son."
She could see that Diane was starting to falter; so she continued, "Please, let me be able to watch my son grow up."
Finally, Diane closed the book and let Henry off her lap. JJ quickly holstered her gun and bent down as he ran to her and wrapped his arms around her neck.
JJ squeezed him tightly as Reid went over to Diane and cuffed her hands behind her back, reading her rights to her as they went out the door.
Will bent down beside a now sobbing JJ and wrapped the two in a hug. The team stood at the door smiling at the sight.
'Thank you, God.' JJ prayed as she continued to hold Henry in her arms.
They had him back unharmed; and that was all she could ever ask for.
SO, THIS IS THE END! I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO STUCK WITH THIS STORY AND REVIEWED! I HAVE ANOTHER STORY I AM STARTING AND I WILL HOPEFULLY HAVE IT UP BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK! GOD BLESS!