This story takes place after episode 11 "Skinny Dipper"
The house was finally quiet and empty as Abe made one last go around making sure all the doors were locked and the lights were off. It was late, much later than he normally would be up and Abe's body ached with the overexertion of the day. After hours of noise and activity Abe and Henry finally had the house back to themselves. He was glad for all of it to be over and to finally have some peace.
Henry was asleep already but Abe stopped by his room on the way to his own. He'd sent Henry to bed a while ago, ordered him actually, telling him he would finish tying everything up. Henry had resisted of course. He had said he'd had things to do but Abe knew the truth. Henry was frightened. He hadn't been sleeping well all week and when he did sleep it had not been the restful sleep he'd hoped for, but fitful frightening sleep. Henry had been under so much stress and danger it made sense that his sleep would be affected by it. With everything he'd been through today, tonight would have surely been the worst of all.
But it didn't take an expert to see that Henry was dead tired. He was running past empty and needed sleep whether he wanted to or not. So, Abe had strongly, although a little bit nicer than usual, encouraged Henry to take something and go to sleep. It both relieved Abe and worried him when Henry had agreed. He was glad that Henry was going to get some sleep but it worried him that Henry had relented to sleeping medicine to do it. Henry hated taking sleeping medicine because it sometimes it made the nightmares worse. The fact that he was willing to take that chance, meant things were really bad, so bad even Henry couldn't deny it.
Abe was worried about Henry and wanted to see how he was sleeping. When Abe pushed Henry's door open and looked over at Henry he wasn't surprised to find the state Henry was in. Henry was passed out on his bed. The sheets were pulled back but he wasn't under them. His shoes were off but the he was still fully clothed. His vest hung opened unbuttoned, almost like he had been too tired to finish undressing. Henry didn't stir and seemed to be in deep sleep. Abe hoped that was the case. Deep dreamless sleep; that was what he wanted for Henry.
Abe worried what affect this night was going to have on Henry. Henry took everything to heart and Abe knew that this trauma was really going to be a strong blow. Henry would no doubt blame himself relentlessly for what had happened tonight. It wouldn't matter that Henry had only been defending himself. It wouldn't matter that he had been coerced into it by Adam. It wouldn't matter that he acted to protect Abe. He would blame himself without taking those facts into consideration. It would be bad enough for any normal person to do that to themselves. But it was especially dangerous for the man that might have to live with it quite literally forever.
He walked in the room and closer to Henry. Abe looked down at him, his face the very same as it had looked every day of Abe's life. He knew that was strange, an experience no one else was able to have. But to him it was just his life; it was his normal. It made him very familiar with Henry's expressions, the ones that showed and also the ones that he tried to hide. Right now, even though Henry was asleep his face was tight with worry. It showed more of the pain and fear than he normally let show around Abe. In sleep, Henry's expression was out of his control and it displayed what he usually hid from Abe. Abe knew that Henry did his best to be strong, to not worry or burden him. Though Abe was more than old enough to take care of himself, he would always be Henry's son and Henry would never stop being a father to him no matter how old he became.
Abe managed to get down to his knees, knelling next to Henry's bed. He pulled the covers up and tucked them around Henry before leaning on his elbows close to him. He reached out a hand and brushed Henry's hair gently back now that he was sure Henry was deep in sleep. Right now, worried sick about Henry and everything that had happened tonight and the past week, Abe just wanted to be near Henry, to reassure himself that he was alright. Though he probably should have outgrown it long ago sometimes just being around Henry made Abe feel that things really would be alright. Henry always found a way to make him feel better.
Abe tried to pretend that he was different than Henry, that he didn't get as emotional or affectionate. But the truth was, deep down, he was his father's son. He was better at hiding it than Henry was but he still was that person inside. He wasn't sure why he was so intent on hiding it, why it was only in these moments when Henry couldn't see it that Abe allowed it to show. He was actually a little angry at himself for not allowing himself to show affection more often. He knew how much Henry would enjoy a bit more reciprocation.
Maybe part of the reason he held back was that he didn't want to worry Henry. He knew that Henry did his best to shelter him from the weight he carried on his own shoulders and Abe didn't want to show that he didn't always succeed in doing that. Despite Henry's best intentions, Abe still worried about his dad. It wasn't easy being Henry's son. Though he was spared the fear of losing Henry there were many other fears to replace it. There were centuries of wounds and baggage to help Henry deal with. Abe had been doing it nearly all of his life back as far as he could remember, even before he knew Henry's secret really.
Abe remembered back to the first time he had seen Henry after one of his deaths. It was one of the first memories Abe could remember. Of course, at the time Abe hadn't known that was what was going on. He was much too young to know Henry's secret then. He couldn't have been more than four or five at the time and he remembered hardly anything back that far. But this memory was still quite vivid.
Abe had been asleep for the night when something woke him. From his bed he could hear Mom and Dad talking down the hall in the living room. It was normal for Abe to hear the murmur of their voices as he drifted off to sleep or if he woke up soon after falling asleep before they went to bed. Abe liked to hear it; the sound of their voices often calmed him, reminding him that they were there and helped him fall back to sleep quickly again. But something was different this time. Something was wrong. Though he could not hear what they were saying he could tell that the tone didn't sound right. Their voices sounded upset.
Abe got out of his bed and quietly walked to his door, pressing his ear to it and hoping he could hear what they were saying. He still couldn't hear what Mom and Dad were saying but he was now certain that they were upset about something. Worry tugged at Abe's stomach as he wondered what it could be. Whatever it was had to be serious if they were upset by it; Mom and Dad were always brave.
Normally, Abe would stay in his room like he was supposed to. He wasn't supposed to leave his bedroom after he'd been put to bed unless something was wrong. Even though nothing was wrong with him right now he was thinking about leaving his room because something must be wrong. He was scared; he worried about what terrible thing had happened that made Mom and Dad sad.
But even though he was afraid he was going to be brave and make himself go back to bed like he knew he should. He was still summoning the courage until he was sure he heard Dad…crying? At first he was certain he had heard wrong because Dad never cried. But as he waited a few more minutes he realized he hadn't heard wrong; Dad was crying. Abe couldn't resist any longer. If Dad was crying then nothing was right. He opened the door and made his way quietly down the hall.
He carefully peeked around the corner at the end of the hall looking into the living room. He saw Dad sitting in his chair and Mom was sitting on the arm of the chair with her arms around his shoulders. Dad had his head on Mom's shoulder and he was crying as she stroked his hair with one hand. "Darling, I'm so sorry," she whispered to him.
Abe tried to be quiet but everything was wrong if Dad was crying. Abe didn't even know how to make sense of it. He couldn't make sense of it. He started to cry himself but he hadn't realized he wasn't being quiet enough until Mom turned around to face him. "Abraham? What are you doing up?"
Abe ducked back behind the corner and held his breath hoping to disappear. He was sure he was going to be in trouble for leaving his room when he wasn't supposed to. But then he heard Dad's voice call out for him.
"Abraham. Is everything alright?" Dad was always a little more lenient than Mom and he didn't sound angry, so maybe he wasn't going to get in trouble. Abe peeked cautiously around the corner. It was still obvious that Dad had been crying and there was a strange look on his face. Abe would come to know this look well in the future and would see it so many times over the course of his life. When he was much older he would come to recognize it as the look of death, that look that would hang on Henry's face for a little while even after death had passed. But at that moment he knew none of that.
Dad smiled at him, despite it all. "It's alright," he encouraged, reaching out a hand and waving Abe towards him. Mom also smiled at him and he wiped his face and started to walk nervously towards them.
"What's got you so upset now?" Dad asked reaching out and taking one of Abe's hands once he was within reach.
Abe looked up at him. "You were crying."
Dad sighed a little but he still smiled. "Yes, I was," he admitted.
"Why? What's wrong?" Abe asked, feeling scared again.
"Well, Abe, I was feeling sad."
"Why?" Abe asked, feeling sad himself.
"It's nothing you need to worry about," Dad reassured, giving his hands a squeeze and Mom reached out to brush his hair gently.
That didn't make Abe feel any better. He wanted to know what thing had made Dad sad and make it go away. But he could tell it was something that Dad was not going to discuss. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?" Abe asked instead.
Dad thought about it for a moment "You know what, I think a hug would go a long way in making better."
"Really?" Abe asked hopefully.
"Really," Dad said opening his arms. Abe jumped into them and gave Dad the tightest hug he could manage. Dad scooped him up in his lap and held him close. Abe felt better. Dad seemed happier and he felt strong. Abe didn't feel as sad or scared anymore.
Abe did notice that Dad held on longer than he usually did but Abe didn't squirm or move. If this made Dad better then he would do it as long as he needed to. "Did I help make it better?" he asked, still held against Dad's chest.
"Abe, you always make it better.
Abe smiled as he remembered the long ago memory. He wished that it could have always been so simple. He wished that that right now he could remove Henry's burden as easily as he had when he was a child. Though a lot had changed since that distant night Abe still tried his best. Abe had always tried to make it better, as much as he could for Henry. He knew how hard life was for Henry and he had never lost that desire to lighten the load as much as he could. It wasn't easy but Abe would never say it hadn't always been worth it. He didn't know what lay ahead of Henry as he dealt with events of this night but he did know that he would be there for Henry along the way.
But what troubled Abe the most was knowing that he couldn't make it better forever. For much of his life, Abe really did believe that he had helped Henry as he dealt with the things that had happened in his immortal life. But one day, against the wills of them both, that would no longer be a possibility. Most of the time he didn't dwell on such thoughts because they really did very little good. But on nights like tonight as he watched Henry make his way through another trial Abe couldn't help but think of how Henry would handle such troubles when he was no longer there. Hard as they were with him here, what would they do to Henry when he wasn't?
Abe knew that Henry had come to rely on him a great deal over the years. How could he not? They were family, dear friends, and currently the only two people who safeguarded Henry's secret. It was something that Abe had never thought about, let alone worry about. Until recently that is. It wasn't until Henry had come home a few years and their lives had become tighter than they had in decades possibly closer than they had ever been. It wasn't until Abe woke up each morning with more aches and pains and discoveries of more wrinkles. It wasn't until the thoughts of impending death became more and more persistent that Abe worried about these things.
"I know you think I'm kind of hard on you sometimes," Abe whispered to Henry as slept, "but it's only because I worry about you so much." His voice caught in his throat, uncharacteristically emotional. He had to take a few breaths before he continued his solitary monologue. "I want you to be able to take care of yourself. I want you to know how to survive all of this after...after I'm gone. Dad, I'm going to...to die someday. You have no idea how much it scares me when I think about what will happen to you when that happens. I want you to be strong enough for that. It doesn't mean I don't care."
Abe laid his head down on the bed. He hoped Henry really did know how much he cared. Abe loved him more than anyone else in the world and he'd never respected another person more in his whole life. He joked with Henry and gave him a hard time sometimes because Henry needed those things. But it didn't take away from the fact that Abe still thought he had the best father in the world.
Abe laid there for a while, trying to get the strength he needed to pull himself off the floor. He'd been so tired when he got down here and he hadn't thought it through enough to realize how he was going to get up again. Before he could get up he felt the bed move under his head and when he looked up he saw Henry's eyes were open a little looking at him. Abe felt embarrassed to be caught and wondered how he was going to be explain himself. Abe didn't usually get like this because he didn't like it when Henry made a big deal of things. It made Abe emotional and he didn't like that. But he was surprised that Henry didn't say much.
"Abraham?" Henry asked drowsily.
"Hey," he said quietly.
There was a haze in Henry's eyes and Abe wondered if he was even really awake. Abe was sure he was at least partly still out of it. He might not even remember this tomorrow.
"Are you alright?" Henry asked. He reached a lazy hand out to Abe and held his face for a moment, his eyes already closing again, falling back to less consciousness.
Abe smiled and for once leaned into the touch. "Yeah, Pops. I'm fine. Better now."
Henry was already asleep again and Abe laid Henry's hand gently down and smiled, feeling better. Whether Henry was truly aware of Abe's presence here or not, Abe wasn't sure. But his face was now relaxed, his sleep more peaceful. Maybe Abe still had that power to make it better as Henry had told him he did when he was a child.
Abe was always telling Henry not to live in the past. The same could be true of Abe and the future. He couldn't spend all of his time in the future, worrying about what could be. They had enough trouble for today to keep them occupied. Abe might not always be able to make things better for Henry in the future. But today, in this trial, and in the weeks to come as he dealt with it Abe could help and Abe was determined to be content with that.
He pushed himself up into a standing position with a groan and walked to the door. But before he left he stopped and turned around and smiled at Henry once more before he left. He did feel better even Henry was unaware that he had helped make him feel that way. He whispered those words that mirrored Henry's from long ago.
"You always make it better."