Title: A Storm on the Bridge
Description: Adam wants to help Henry, but a sacrifice has to be made.
Word Count: 1,602
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plots on abc's Forever. Everything goes to its rightful owners.
The Queensboro Bridge at midnight came with a particularly brisk wind and heavy rain that caused Henry to pull his scarf even tighter and walk with a quicker pace. Henry did not want to be here, but he'd had enough of Adam's constant threats and phone calls. The unmistakable husky voice at the end of the line would always pull out some riddle to confuse and manipulate Henry further. He'd come to his wits end; so when Adam, in no uncertain terms, requested that Henry pay him a visit on the Bridge that overlooked the East River, Henry practically jumped at the chance. He wanted to find a solution to his problem. Neither men could be killed; but surely two men who had lived for so long could come to some agreement. The problem was that unlike Henry, Adam seemed to have no civilised blood coursing through his body. Whatever horrors this man had seen, or committed himself, seemed to have turned his soul as black as the current night sky.
As Henry neared the centre of the bridge he saw the person he was looking for. Adam was wearing his signature flat cap, his face unmistakable in the dull light of the bridge. It was exactly how Henry had pictured this meeting, except for one small detail. Adam was gripping onto the arm of someone, holding them tight. It was only at second glance that Henry saw the gun that Adam had in his left hand, the barrel of which was pressed against the back of his captive. Upon seeing Henry, Adam swung his captive round to face the immortal as he approached. The sight was enough to make Henry stop in his tracks.
"Jo."
Her dark hair was being blown over her face, but it was undoubtedly her. The rain seemed to have gotten heavier and Henry struggled to take in the scene, his mind was working in overtime, trying to figure out what was going on. How did Adam get to Jo? Henry had been so careful to keep Jo out of this. He'd told her nothing, never mentioned Adam's name to Jo or mentioned Jo's name to Adam; and yet here she was on the bridge with a gun pointed at her. A wave of guilt washed over Henry as he saw the terror lurking over Jo's features. As much as she wouldn't admit it, Henry knew how vulnerable she was. Henry knew he was to blame for her being on this bridge in the middle of the night; he was the one who put her in this danger. He should have known that despite his efforts to keep her out of harm's way, Adam would always find something to hurt Henry. He should have never allowed himself to get so close, if not for his own sanity but also to protect those around him; nothing good ever came from him getting close to people.
Adam shoved Jo forward slightly, the gun still pressed into her back. He urged her to keep moving forward, telling her he wasn't afraid to make a scene if he had to. Henry, wary of Adam's short temper, started to tentatively move towards them. Adam was the first to speak;
"Ah, Henry you made it." There was slight hint of mockery lacing his voice.
"Why have you bought me here? Why is Jo here?" Henry asked.
"You're here to watch. She's here because she has to be. I'm going to help you Henry, help you more than you could ever have imagined." Adam said, as he spoke the rain got heavier and the sounds of thunder filled the air.
"How are you helping me by hurting my friends?"
"Do you remember the night you were first killed, Henry?" Adam asked. Henry noticed confusion fall over Jo's face but she remained as still as possible, her eyes resting on Henry's, attempting to cover up her fear and show that she wasn't afraid of the man with the gun; she most certainly wasn't fooling Henry and that meant she wasn't fooling Adam either.
"No more riddles Adam. Tell me the truth. You can manipulate me all you want; you can threaten my life as much as possible, but under no circumstances are you allowed to threaten the lives of those I care about. Why is she here?" Henry said, his anger rising.
"I'll answer your questions, after you answer mine. Do you remember your first death?"
"Yes I do." Henry stated, an exasperated look residing over his face.
"Exactly how much do you remember?" Adam continued his line of questions.
"Everything about it; the pain, the smell, the sounds. I could tell you everything about that night if I had to."
"What was the weather like?" Henry was taken aback by the rather mundane question. The weather was usually a topic brought up in small conversation, an effort to break the ice. Henry couldn't understand the significance. Such an important event, the end of his mortal life and the only thing that interested Adam was the weather on that day.
"There was a storm, much like this one." Henry stated, gesturing to the clouds over head. His eyes fell over Adam's. A smirk had creeping its way up his face, Adam began to move himself and Jo closer to Henry; tantalizingly close. Henry could just reach out and grab Jo, but the look on Adam's face and the knowledge of the gun pressed into Jo's back prevented him from doing so. Adam started laughing, a light, mocking chuckle that broke through the loud sounds of the storm above them. It was then that it dawned on Henry. The storm, the lighting strike that occurred just as he was shot that first time. It was all linked.
"And would you look at that, he's finally figured it out."
"This still doesn't explain why you've brought Jo up here?" Henry asked.
"Like I said, to help you."
"I don't understand? How are you helping me? What do you want?" The tension rising, Henry was becoming more and more nervous.
"Just watch, Henry."
Suddenly, Adam pushed Jo towards the edge of the bridge before pointing the gun directly at her chest. Everything seemed to slow down. All Henry could hear was a gunshot ringing out through the night. All Jo could feel was sudden pain filling her body. Her hands clutched at her chest as the blood poured through her shirt. She looked up at Henry, her eyes filled with pain. Henry could see the life leaving them. He went to surge forward, to hold her in his arms, to try and save her; but Adam stepped in front of him, preventing him from reaching her. Henry was ready to fight; his self-preservation instincts were completely non- existent. His whole body seemed to be roaring with rage; another person he loved was gone.
"You don't want to do that." Adam said as he sauntered towards Jo. Leaning towards her ear he whispered, almost menacingly "Don't worry Jo; it'll all be over soon." Placing his hands on either side of her waist and with what seemed like no difficulty whatsoever he threw her over the edge of the bridge.
Henry screamed out Jo's name. He ran towards the edge of the bridge, staring at the water beneath them. He found himself even more confused than before, more unexpected twists and turns and once again Adam had the upper hand.
"What have you done? You are a monster." Henry shouted at Adam.
"You might want to head down to the bank of the river; they'll be a surprise waiting for you there."
Cold. That was all Jo could feel. She felt cold, through to her core. The heat from the gunshot wound had subsided. Her fear from feeling the floor disappear from beneath her had disappeared now all she felt was cold. She knew she was sinking, she could feel her body going deeper and deeper, but she couldn't move her limbs, couldn't force herself to swim upwards. She could feel the darkness, enclosing her; she knew the end was coming. It was strange, she'd thought about dying so often after her husband had died. She thought that her last thought would be her husband's face, a happy memory; but she saw nothing, felt nothing.
And then it went black.
Fast filtered pictures swam through her mind. Quick snippets of her life; her husband' face, her graduation, Henry's face; and then she broke the surface of the water.
Henry made it to the bank of the river and stared out at the water. It was dark and it was difficult to see anything. He still didn't understand what Adam had meant. A surprise? Part of him hadn't wanted to follow orders. He didn't want to give Adam the satisfaction of doing what he wanted him to do. Henry had been standing on the bank of the river for a mere few minutes when he saw a head bobbing up to the surface, someone gasping for air.
A phone rang. A phone had been placed on a rock nearby. Henry tentatively picked it up and answered the incoming call.
"I told you a surprise would be waiting for you. Us this phone to call Abe. I doubt your poor little detective will want to stay out in the cold for long." And with that he hung up. Henry stared out at the river and saw the body of a woman bobbing up and down.
Jo, she was alive.
This was going to take a lot of explaining.
A/N: I haven't written a fanfiction since 2012 so I'm sorry if I'm rusty, but I suddenly felt like writing one for my new favourite show. I am by no means a particularly talented writer and this isn't the best thing I've ever written. I've left this relatively open ended as I'm not sure if I want to take this any further. I also realise this story went from zero to 100 in about three seconds, but it's been a headcanon of mine for a while now that Jo is also immortal so I thought I'd play around with it a bit more.
I don't live in New York and I literally just googled what bridges go over the East River, so please don't shoot me if Wikipedia lied to me.
All reviews are welcome; please do tell me what you think. I hope you enjoyed it.
Jess xxx