Another story for one of my favorite fandoms. This will be a three part one, the introduction followed up by a Henry chapter then a Jo chapter.

Enjoy.

Part of being immortal was how it changed the way you viewed things. Such as emotions, diseases, injuries, they all became completely trivial. Even the most lethal sickness meant nothing. No injury could be permanent, emotions had different meanings.

Fear was one such emotion.

Fear was not something Henry had truly felt in a very long time. Yes, he still occasionally felt it. Such as when Abigail had been nearing her eventual death or when the thought of losing Abe to the drug Aterna.

That soul crushing fear that came from the terror of losing one's own life was an impossibility.

Somehow that did not stop Henry from having that same kind of fear for Jo.

Henry was immortal, he could survive anything.

Jo was mortal, she could not survive anything.

This was the main reason why Henry was on the ground with a bullet wound in his side bleeding all over the concrete and the reason Jo was kneeling beside him with a second bullet wound in her shoulder.

Jo was pressing both her hands into Henry's side in an attempt to stop the bleeding, her own bleeding shoulder completely ignored.

Henry barely registered that she was screaming into the radio for an ambulance. His mind was already running through a diagnosis for both of them. Near as he could tell both wounds were through and through shots. Jo's arm and the sleeve of her blouse were probably soaked in blood but if the detective noticed she did not let it show. Her wound at least was a nonfatal one, it might hurt but she would be fine.

Henry's on the other hand... might be a problem. It was bleeding heavily but that was not Henry's concern, he was more worried about dying in front of his partner. He would physically be fine of course but he had no idea how to explain it to Jo. Neither was he sure she would even accept it without a potential freak out.

What mattered though, was that Jo would be fine. If Henry had acted a second too late or soon she would be dead.

They were on the lead of another suspect in their current case when they found this old house being used as an occasional haunt by their suspect. They had all the evidence they needed but lacked the man in question. Upon their arrival the building was completely empty, at least they thought it was. Henry had went to check the upstairs while Jo covered the base level.

When he came back down he found Jo kneeling in the old living room to check something on the floor. That was when Henry saw the glint of metal in a nearby doorway. He had moved without thinking. Henry dove in front of Jo a split second before the bullet was fired.

The bullet tore into his side mid-air. If he had not moved in front of the bullet then it would instead have hit Jo in either the side of the head or the neck. Both would have been fatal for the detective.

The moment Henry was hit Jo had her gun up, she moved in the nick of time so instead of a bullet to the chest she took one to the shoulder. After being knocked on her back by the hit, she lifted her own gun and fired. Their attacker was hit in the stomach and stumbled back dropping his weapon.

"Henry!" Jo was rushing over to her partners side. Their suspect had already fled despite the bullet wound in his abdomen. It was doubtful he would get far anyway.

"Just hold on Henry," Jo's voice was uncharacteristically nervous and shaky. She sounded genuinely frightened. The normally cool headed detective in such a state was more than a little scary to Henry.

She had pulled off her jacket and was using it to try and slow Henry's bleeding but the garment was quickly soaked through with the warm and sticky blood.

Henry only groaned softly. It was not the first time, and likely not the last, he had a gunshot wound. A bullet injury was not something he was used to per se but it was not unfamiliar.

Henry coughed softly once then again a little heavier. He could taste blood on his lips, that was not good. Internal bleeding was very swiftly becoming a problem.

"Henry?" The immortals eyes slowly began to droop closed.

Jo's own went as wide as saucers.

"Henry! Stay with me!" Jo was screaming now. Part of Henry wanted to tell her just to be quiet and let him die. He would just wake up in the river perfectly fine.

In reality he was more concerned with her shoulder. She was completely ignoring her own bleeding. If he could speak, he would have been scolding her to put pressure on it with at least one hand or something.

That thought quickly disappeared when a bloody hand smacked him hard across the face.

"You don't get to die on me!" Jo sniffled very quietly. "Stay with me... please." Jo's voice sounded almost begging.

Were those tears welling up in her eyes?

Henry would have forced out the words right then and there to just let him die so he could get it over with, consequences be damned, if the sirens had not appeared outside.

Henry would have been somewhat fine with dying before Jo's eyes. At least she was his partner and he had a chance to explain it to her. Now that there were other people about to arrive, he felt the panic starting to rise again that his secret could be exposed.

Within moments the EMTs were hauling Henry away to the ambulance. At this point Henry was barely conscious.

Looking over, he saw one of the paramedics with Jo. He was attempting to get her to stay put long enough to check out her still bleeding shoulder. The unfortunate man was having no luck against the stubborn detective.

Henry had to smile at that, Jo was too worried about him to be concerned about her own injury. That was just how Jo was, always looking out for others. Her own problems be damned.

The irony that she was so concerned about an immortal was almost comical.

Henry's last image before passing out was laying on his back in the ambulance. Jo sitting beside him, her bloody hand clutching his tightly.

Henry slowly opened his eyes up with a quiet groan. The first thing he noticed was the soft quiet beeping of the machines at his bedside.

Henry looked over to the side and saw the heart monitor and other equipment.

So he had not died. The immortal let out a soft sigh of relief. They had gotten him to the hospital in time so his secret was still safe.

Henry's thoughts of sitting up lasted for only about a moment, he was still far too sore. Any pain relief they had given him must be quickly wearing off.

How long he out was in debate.

When he looked over to the other side of his bed he was greeted with another sight he had not been expecting. Jo was sitting in one of the waiting chairs fast asleep. She was sitting there with her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms slightly folded, her head was laying foreword. Her chest moved with the slow rhythm of breathing while in slumber.

The next thing Henry's eyes caught was what Jo was wearing. She appeared to be dressed in the exact same clothes she had been wearing when they were both attacked. The only real difference was that her blouse was missing an entire sleeve, a bandage in place on her shoulder where she had been hit.

Henry smiled, if he had to hazard a guess she was waiting for him to wake up. Exactly like he had done for her when she had been shot in their first case together. She intended to return the favor for being there when he awake.

The gesture was of course unnecessary but greatly appreciated. She was after all the only person besides Abe whom would sit at his bedside during a hospital stay.

Henry was contemplating whether he should awaken her when she stirred. His choice was apparently made for him as her head slowly rose.

Jo rubbed the sleep from her eyes for a moment until she saw that Henry's eyes were open. The relief on her face could be seen even without Henry's deductive skills.

A small smile graced the detective's lips. "You're finally awake."

"How long was I out?" Henry tried to sit up slightly but winced in pain. Jo was at his side in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa whoa, easy. You were pretty banged up. You've been out for a bit." As Jo spoke Henry eased back into the bed slowly. "Guess you can cross getting shot in the side off your bucket list eh?" There was another of Jo's warm smiles.

Henry laughed internally. Had he such an item on his so called bucket list, it was crossed off a very long time ago. No need for Jo to know that though.

"So detective, mind telling me why you're still dressed in that?" Henry looked at Jo up and down. At his scrutiny she seemed to both wince and shift in place.

"Henry..." Jo's voice was much quieter now. "You saved my life, I thought you deserved to wake up to a familiar face. The doctors did not know when you would be back up."

"So you were watching over me this whole time?" Henry smiled.

Jo did not speak, she only nodded.

"Thanks Jo." Henry's use of her first name seemed to perk up Jo's spirits a bit. She was once again smiling. "But seriously, you should go change and wash up. I'll be fine."

Jo seemed to disagree with him. She was about to open her mouth to argue when Henry cut her off before she had a chance to speak. "Seriously, I'll be fine."

Jo looked about to ready to argue but she soon gave a quiet sigh. "Alright..."

It was right then that Henry noticed something else in Jo's eyes and demeanor. He was not quite sure what it was but something was off about the detective.

Jo rose moved to leave when she spoke again. "Get well soon Henry."

Henry smiled. "I'm sure I will be up and back to investigating with you quite soon."

That comment did something. Jo winced at his words, not very much but Henry's ability to see nuance caught it instantly. There was definitely something else Jo was not saying.

Whatever it was would have to wait until another day for the detective was already gone.