Chapter 1. In which something temporary becomes more

Henry Morgan was an enigma. His outward appearance was always well-polished. He was very diligent in his work and was among the most requested of the city's Medical Examiners. He had joined the ME's office just three years before but had become one of the most respected members of its staff.

His powers of observation were finely tuned and were like that of the legendary Sherlock Holmes. His understanding of death in its myriad forms was unparalleled. His understanding of the living, ironically, was much less precise. The most puzzling thing was that at his age he should have been a guru on the subject due to his age; he was, after all, over two hundred years old.

"Oh how wrong we were to think immortality meant never dying" - Gerard Way

"Good morning, Detective!"

Detective Jo Martinez smiled at the familiar voice before turning around. "Good morning, Henry. You seem chipper this morning."

"Ah, that's because today is a happy occasion...Abraham's birthday, in fact."

Jo smiled. She and Henry had been working together for several months now and this was the happiest she had seen him. They had become close friends, possibly even best friends in that time. But one thing bugged her and she could no longer hold her tongue. "Henry, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why is it you don't call me Jo all the time?"

Henry's eyes widened. "Because, my dear Detective, it would not be proper without your permission."

"But you have called me Jo a few times."

Henry looked down. "I have, haven't I? I do apologize, madam. It was presumptuous of me."

Jo looked at him and then grinned. "Henry! You rascal!" She lightly punched his arm. "You better call me Jo from now on."

Henry nodded. "Yes, Jo. By the way, is Jo short for something?"

She looked at him and lowered her voice. "Yes...Josefina, if you must know. I hated that name growing up."

He smiled warmly. "Josefina is a beautiful name, and it suits you! It means 'God shall add' and I agree. You are most definitely a Josefina."

She looked down, blushing. "Stop it, Henry! You are going to embarrass me."

He looked concerned. "Jo, please look at me. I would never mean to embarrass you! I apologize."

She shook her head. "No need. Just…I get a few compliments now and then, but no one phrases them like you. So I guess I should just say thank you." She looked up at him and smiled. "Are you coming in?" She motioned towards the door of the precinct.

He nodded. "I have the report for the Rogers case and was taking it to the Lieutenant."

She smiled. "Well, let's go then." He followed her into the building and to the homicide floor to drop off the papers.

***Forever***

Joanna Reece had been in the NYPD for quite a long time. She had spent time in the 9th, 12th and 11th precincts. She had started out on patrol and made detective and finally Lieutenant before being placed in charge of the Homicide team. She had watched Mike Hanson and Jo Martinez make detective while she was one herself. When she joined the team here, Jo had just been named Lead Detective.

The death of Jo's husband in March of the previous year had devastated her. Joanna had watched as she came back to work and noticed that the interactions between Jo and her partner, Mike, had become strained. Mike was happily married and had an eight year old daughter and he had trouble relating to his partner and her loss. Enter one mysterious Medical Examiner with a gift for deduction. Joanna had allowed him to accompany her to a few crime scenes and watched as Jo started responding to him.

Joanna had a soft place in her heart for Jo Martinez, and she saw that the pairing was a positive. She also was a bit of a matchmaker, and had a feeling about the ME and her detective, so she met with the Chief Medical Examiner and explained her thoughts. The two had known each other for a few years so Joanna felt that she could speak freely. The two of them discussed a few options and agreed on one.

It was two weeks after that meeting that Henry Morgan found himself called to the Chief's office and named as a field consultant to the 11th precinct. He would still work autopsy when not actively working with Detective Martinez but cases from that team would take priority. It was termed an 'experiment' to see if fieldwork would help make ME's more efficient.

Joanna looked up as the elevator doors opened to see a smiling Jo and a pensive Henry step out. She looked down and smiled to herself; maybe it would work out. She grabbed a piece of paper and was pretending to read it when the knock came. "Come in!"

She looked up to see the ME standing in front of her. "Here are the results of the Rogers autopsy, Lieutenant. COD was, as we suspected, drowning; accidental, by the look of it. The tox screen shows a high level of alcohol; in fact it was over two times the legal limit. Ms. Rogers apparently had too much to drink and fell into her filled tub, hitting her head and knocking her out face down in the water."

She nodded and took his paperwork. "Good job, Doctor Morgan. The family will have some closure." She looked up at him and smiled. "Could you ask Detective Martinez to join us?" He nodded and went out to get her.

Jo walked into the office followed by Henry. "What's up?"

Joanna motioned for them to close the door and take a seat. "As you both know, your 'partnership' was an experiment when we started. Well, One PP and the mayor's office have reviewed the results and are pleased. We have the second highest closure rate in the city and they are quite happy with that. So it has been decided that you two will be made permanent partners for the foreseeable future and Detective Hanson will get a new partner. The two sets of partners will remain working together as a team. Henry, I've spoken with the chief ME and it's all worked out. Do you have any questions?" She looked at them and had to bite back a smile at the pleased look on their faces.

Jo listened to what had been said and found herself to be very happy. She loved working with Henry and she thought this would give them the opportunity to explore their friendship. A moment of recall stopped her short, though and she wanted clarification. "So is Henry now on the payroll of the department or is he still part of the OCME?"

Joanna couldn't stop the ends of her lips curling into a smirk, which she quickly forced away. "He will remain with the OCME but be assigned as a liaison to our team. Is there a problem with that, Jo?"

Jo quickly shook her head. "No...I just wondered if he would need to be armed."

Joanna sat back a moment. "That would not be a terrible idea as he will be out in the field quite a bit." She turned to Henry. "What do you think about that?"

Henry had avoided firearms since they had adopted Abe, but he was no stranger to them. He had been a crack shot when he had been a police officer in the early 1900's. "I've fired a weapon before but it has been quite some time. I'm not averse to the idea if it would keep my partner safe." He looked over at Jo then back to Joanna.

"Very well, then. I'll speak to the powers that be and we'll get you a weapon issued. You will need to qualify and be certified, but your partner has some of the best qualifications at the range so she'll help you get acclimated. You will also have to review some procedures and take a short exam to get you qualified. Okay, well, I'm sure you two have some things to do. I'll let you know when I have more details as to the weapon issue." Both Henry and Jo nodded and headed out of the office.

Jo headed towards her desk to log into her computer. She looked up at Henry and grinned. "Guess you're stuck with me, Dr. Morgan."

He winked at her. "How utterly dreadful, Detective! Call me if we get a case. I'm going to go talk to Lucas and let him know the situation." He glanced over at Mike Hanson. "You probably have someone to explain things to as well."

She nodded. "Yeah, I do. Hey...if we don't get called out would you like to grab lunch together? It'll be my treat!"

He pretended to think about it. "I suppose." He grinned. "One o'clock?"

"One o'clock." She watched him smile and walk towards the elevator to head towards the morgue. She looked over to Mike Hanson's desk and caught his eye. "Do you have a minute?"

He nodded. "Sure, Jo. What do you need?"

"Reece just told me that she is making Henry and I permanent partners. She also is bringing in someone to work with you."

"But Jo…I really liked working with you."

She patted his hand. "I did too, Mike. But you know the department…they like to shake things up."

He sighed. "Yeah. So…you and the doc…you okay with that?"

She sat for a moment. "Yeah, I am. It's not like I have a choice anyway. He's gotten better. And you have to admit, our closure rate has improved."

He looked at her. "I don't like that you have an unarmed partner."

She glared at him but chuckled. "Don't go all cave man on me, Hanson. I'm sure I could take care of my self if it were necessary…"

"But…"

"BUT, it isn't. Henry's going to be issued a weapon."

Mike's eyes widened. "They're arming the doc?"

She grinned. "Yeah. Seems he carried at one time, so he just has to qualify and take some procedure training."

"Huh. Who would've thought?"

"Yeah."

***Forever***

Henry entered the autopsy lab and found Lucas sitting at his computer typing up a report. Lucas looked up at him. "Hey there, Henry. You look chipper today."

Henry nodded. "Good morning, Lucas. I am feeling rather chipper this morning." He pointed towards the computer. "Are those the notes on the Selby case?"

"Yeah. I was just reviewing it to make sure I had the information correct. I'll send it to you in a few minutes."

"Good. Once you have it ready come into my office, please." He walked into his office and removed his scarf before heading for his chair. He sat back and thought about this morning's revelation and couldn't help but smile.

He was still smiling when Lucas knocked on the door. "Come in, Lucas. Have a seat." He looked up at Lucas' face and saw the worry there. "Nothing to worry about, just wanted to let you know something that Lieutenant Reece informed Detective Martinez and I about this morning. The folks down at headquarters have decided to make our partnership permanent, so what we were looking at as temporary has now become the status quo."

Lucas grinned. "So now you and the hot detective have no excuses, eh?"

Henry looked scandalized. "Lucas! Jo and I are partners and friends."

"You keep telling yourself that Doc."

They were interrupted by the phone ringing. "Dr. Morgan here."

"We've got a case, Henry. Meet me in ten minutes?'

"Of course. See you then." He hung up the phone and looked at Lucas. "Looks like you had better prep the lab. We have a case."

Lucas nodded and started gathering supplies as Henry left the building to go meet his partner.

AN: This TV show has captured my attention. I am enjoying it and it has inspired me to write for a new fandom. This will be a multi-chapter (as that tends to be all that I can write, lol) and will center on the relationship between Henry and Jo (with plenty of appearances by the other characters). I will try to post at least weekly if I can based on how busy my job gets. I also try to wait to post a chapter until I have at least one more chapter completed and ready for my beta so that I always have a completed chapter waiting. I'm not sure how long this will be but the count I have into chapter three is more than 7500 words.

I do not own any of the characters from the TV show 'Forever'. They are owned by ABC and the respective production companies.

I hope you enjoy the story!