Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Henry

Eighteen year old Henry Jareau stood in front of his mother's grave. He didn't have any of his own memories of the woman who gave him life, since she died when he was a year old, but her memory had been kept alive by his father and godparents.

His father had moved him back to New Orleans soon after his mother's funeral, but he visited Penelope at least once a year and she made sure to talk about his mom at every opportunity. Spencer usually showed up during his visits and he too made sure to reminisce about what a wonderful woman his mother had been. Pen had scrapbooks filled with pictures of his mom and articles that mentioned her, along with the article chronicling her heroic death. Spencer usually relied on stories, and since the man had an eidetic memory, Henry usually put more stock in the accuracy of his stories rather than Penelope's, since she had a tendency to exaggerate.

His father also made sure he knew who his mother had been. While his dad had remarried over ten years ago, and his wife had formally adopted him, Will wanted Henry to know what a good and kind woman his biological mother had been. Henry had always admired that about his parents, they never felt threatened by his mother's memory. He knew most parents would let him forget about his birth mother, since he didn't have any real memories of her, but his dad had always fully answered all of his questions throughout the years.

Spencer and Penelope frequently talked about various old co-workers that his mother had worked with as well. There was Emily, who had left the FBI and joined the Peace Corps shortly after his mother had died, and there was Dave, who took a second retirement and had moved to Oregon only days after his mother's funeral. They reminisced about Hotch, who had retired and written several books about his experiences in the FBI, and Derek, who was still with the Bureau and had risen quickly through the ranks. Henry had heard Penelope tell Spencer that Derek was on the short list for Deputy Director of the FBI. Even his godparents were no longer agents. Penelope had quit a few years ago and was making a killing in the private sector, developing software for large corporations and Spencer was a professor at Georgetown. When he heard about these people, Henry usually smiled and nodded politely, but he didn't really know any of them so he wasn't too interested in hearing what they were up to.

He sighed as he set the flowers down in front of the tombstone. He didn't dread his yearly visits to her grave, but he never knew what to do once he got there. He stood awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi mom," he said to the gravestone. "Um, it's me, Henry." He felt like an idiot, of course she knew who he was. If she had been watching over him like his parents always told him, then she knew everything about him. Still, he had to say something, didn't he?

"So I just finished moving into the dorms at American University," he told her. "Mom and dad didn't like the thought of me moving so far away from them, but I've always liked Washington and I've always had a lot of fun here when I've visited Spence and Pen. Speaking of Pen, she was beyond thrilled when I chose computer science as my major; I guess all of the time I spent with her when I was a baby combined with my annual visits put computer hacking in my blood." Henry paused and smiled when he thought of all of the trouble he'd gotten into over the years for hacking into his school's computer system. Everyone thought it was to change his grades, but he never needed to since he usually got A's and B's. No, he hacked in so he could pull pranks, like posting his principal's 'before' picture…as in before she got her nose job. That stunt had gotten him both suspended and grounded, but it had been totally worth it.

"Pen already told me she'll help me with any projects and Spence said he would help me with the math classes I need, since math is not one of my strong subjects." He paused again, still not knowing exactly what to say. "Well, I guess that's about it…since I'll be living here, I'll try to come visit more often." He was pissed that there were weeds sprouting up around her tombstone, and he quickly yanked them away. "Um, I should be going, dad's waiting to take me to dinner before he and mom fly back home."

Walking away from his mother's grave, Henry quickly met up with his father. "Hey, wait for me by the car, okay? I want a minute alone." Henry nodded and walked back towards the car and then watched as his dad approached his mom's grave.

"Well Jayje, our boy graduated from high school and is about to start college," he said to the ground. "You'd be real proud of him, he's smarter than anyone I know and he's kind to everyone. Sure, he can be a troublemaker, but he's not mean about it." He stopped and cleared his throat. "I see you in him every day. He has your smile and your sense of humor and most importantly, he has your sense of compassion. Sure, his mother and I helped develop all of that, but we both know he was born with it. Like I said, you'd be real proud JJ."

Will spent another minute in silence, just staring at the tombstone. Finally, he turned and walked back towards the car and met up with his son. "Ready to go?" He asked.

Henry nodded, "I'm ready," he said, looking back at his mother's grave. He didn't feel bad leaving since he knew it wouldn't be another year before he visited her again. He knew he was starting a new chapter in his life, and he was glad he was doing it in the city where he and his mother had lived.

The End