A Unique Gift for Henry, a forever fanfic

Chapter 1

Lucas Wahl was excited. His boss (drumroll), the great and powerful and immortal Dr. Henry Morgan, has agreed to watch classic movies with him at his humble abode. Well, his tiny apartment. Tiny. Cramped. Apartment. Studio, actually. But! What the hey? It's gonna be awesome. Buds kickin' back together, kickin' it, chewin' the fat, downin' shots, bonding hombre a hombre... 'Hmm, hard to imagine that guy even knowing how to really kick back and relax.' Even though Henry has joined the group after work more than once at McSorley's bar around the corner, he invariably wet his whistle with nothing less than the finest, most expensive cognac. 'Definitely not a beer and pretzels guy. But this is my home turf so no pheasant under glass or coq au vin or extended pinkies tonight!'

They've worked together in the New York City Medical Examiner's Office for nearly four years and Henry has only recently begun to open up a bit and share some information about himself. The change was almost unavoidable after Lucas witnessed Henry's death after he was accidentally exposed to bodily fluids from the corpse of a person who had died from a new flare-up of the Ebola virus. He had neither wanted to suffer through the terrible disease, nor to infect anyone else. So in a mild panic and after a quick cleanup of the spill, he had alerted Abe from a phone booth near the precinct on a thankfully near-deserted street. Then he had slipped into a nearby alley to slit his throat with a letter opener. However, he was surprised by Lucas who was returning from his lunch break and had rounded the corner at the same time that Henry had ducked into the alley. Lucas had jogged in behind him out of curiosity, and just as Henry was finishing the bloody task, their eyes met and Henry had vanished. Just like that. Poof! Into thin air.

Lucas had stood frozen in one spot for what seemed like hours but in actuality was only a few minutes. His mind in a haze, he had walked zombie-like back into the morgue and stood at the doorway of Henry's office, staring at his empty desk. He was trying to grasp what had happened when his cell phone rang. The caller ID had displayed "Abe's Antiques"; and he had slowly answered as if in a trance. It was Henry; his voice quiet, strained, apologetic. He had promised that he would explain everything but had sworn Lucas to secrecy. Of course, he had agreed. Who would have believed him anyway? Long story short, Henry eventually revealed his secret of immortality to Lucas who had eagerly embraced the unfathomable new reality, allaying any fears Henry may have had about Lucas being repulsed about his condition. The next biggest revelations were that his septuagenarian roommate, Abe, was also his son and Abe's deceased mother, Sylvia Blake, had also been Henry's wife, Abigail. Huh. Who would have ever figured that?

Sully, in the mailroom, argues that the enigmatic M.E., and his elderly roommate must secretly be lovers or even married; why else would they freely hug and kiss each other and show such caring and devotion towards each other? Lucas would like nothing better than to tell the arrogant Sully why he's wrong, but in order to protect Henry's secret, he has sworn never to utter a word to anyone else about it.

Lucas had long ago joined the Jenry hookup pool, confident that he will win the 'Begin Dating' part. His confidence extended to his being the winner in a separate pool for when Henry might attend the annual Halloween party dressed as any member of King Arthur's court. Last year the handsome, British M.E. broke a lot of hearts (male and female) when he came dressed in a tux (he'd insisted it was just a tux but everyone swore he was dressed as Bond - James Bond). What Lucas wouldn't give to have a tenth of Henry's panache. 'If I had worn a tuxedo, they probably would have thought I was a butler. Worse yet, a tall penguin.'

He admired his antique clock on the end table (no room for two end tables). The clock was a thank-you gift from Abe for having aided him in his search for his missing mother several weeks ago...Henry's wife. Huh. Still felt strange to say that...to know that.

When there's a knock at the door, he went and peered through the peephole and saw Henry's unmistakable profile and - Jo? Lucas gleefully believed he'd won the 'Begin Dating' pool. 'Yes!' He made a fist with his right hand and jerked his elbow downward a couple of times. He quickly regained his composure and opened the door to let them in. "Welcome, welcome," he said with great formality, "come right in." He bowed slightly and extended his arm inward to the apartment, then took their outer garments and hung them up as best he could on his already piled-on coat hanger.

Henry and Jo seated themselves on the futon and readied themselves for the evening's entertainment. "Thank you, Lucas." Henry said, looking around. "I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience that I brought Jo along?"

"Oh, no, that's fine," Lucas cheerfully replied. "Your - date," he emphasized the word, "is totally, totally, absolutely welcome. Soooo, popcorn and pretzels are on the table, beer and wine in the fridge, pizza's on the way. Since you left the movie choice up to me, I decided on 'Mask' starring Cher and Erik Stoltz. It's an 80's classic. Figured I'd bring you along slowly at first and leave the 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Mad Max' action movies for later."

Jo smiled widely. "My favorite movie of hers. 'Suspect' is good, too." She looked over at Henry who stared blankly at her, then at Lucas. She closed her eyes and smiled as she shook her head. "OK, Mr. Clueless, you're gonna like it. Trust me."

Henry frowned and shrugged. He did remember when Cher sang with her ex-husband, Sonny Bono, in the 60's. Never saw any of her movies, though. "Well, then," he said. "Let the show begin. Or, rather the lesson," he abruptly corrected himself, "since this is part of a learning experience to bring me up to speed on popular culture." With broad smiles, both he and Jo settled back and nestled against each other, ignoring Lucas' fangirling.

The two-hour drama from 1985, about a young boy (Eric Stoltz) with an incurable disease that disfigured his face, and his fiercely protective, loving mother (Cher), did tug at Henry's heart strings. He's surprised that he identifies with the characters on more than one level: as a parent; as a person with an incurable condition; as someone who just wants to live a normal life but cannot; as someone who's bravely endured and ignored the cruel taunts of others. Both he and Abigail experienced such tauntings when their public displays of affection were deemed offensive to others who thought it improper for an apparent older woman to be romantically involved with an apparent younger man. He and Abe had also experienced the same strange looks and whispers once Abe entered adulthood and it no longer appeared plausible (to the world) that he and Abe could be viewed as being father and son. 'People can be so ignorant sometimes, so cruel.' Henry grimaced at the bitter memories.

The movie had come to the scene where the young boy's face was distorted, in a good way, in the House of Mirrors and he saw how he would probably look disease-free. Henry was dumbfounded. He realized that this young boy had seen his normal reflection for the first time in his life. He totally understood and he struggled to breathe normally. There was suddenly such a heavy weight of sorrow and longing on his chest. He turned his head away from the screen and swallowed a few times and willed himself to work past it.

'What brought this on?' he wondered. Then he realized that his own reflection had not changed for the past 200 years because of his inability to age. How he wished that he could age or just see how he would look as he matured past the age of his 70-year-old son, Abe. It didn't help his mood any that the young boy eventually died at the end of the movie. He felt Jo eyeing him sympathetically. He knew that she understood and that helped pull him back from his emotional abyss. This remarkable, strong, beautiful, intelligent, perceptive woman had totally captured his heart. He turned towards her and they got lost in each other's eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek and for several magic moments he wordlessly communicated his pain to her and she silently soothed it. Eventually, though, they both became aware that Lucas was standing by the TV set, staring at them, enraptured from the view.

"You guys are AWE-some!" Lucas yowled out. "My most favorite couple ever!"

Henry and Jo smiled broadly, rolled their eyes, and enjoyed the 'Lucas Show' for a while.

Later on that same evening...

Jo pulled up outside the antique shop. She and Henry enjoyed a lingering kiss before he exited the vehicle. He watched her as she drove off and gave a final quick wave before entering the shop. Even though it was well after midnight, he found Abe still up but fighting sleep on the couch in the sitting room. 'Just like when he was a toddler,' Henry fondly observed. He walked over and gently shook Abe's shoulder to wake him so he could have a proper night's rest in his own bed.

"Wha-? Who? Oh. Oh, hi Pops. How'd your evening of enlightenment go?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes and fought his way to full awakeness.

"Fine, fine." Henry quietly replied with a faraway look in his eyes.

"OK, OK, tell me what's wrong. What happened?" Abe urged.

"What makes you think that something happened?" Henry replied with a slight frown.

"After all these years, I KNOW that look in your eyes, Henry." He patted the cushion next to him and folded his arms across his chest. "Sit down and tell me what's on your mind."

Henry hesitated then sighed deeply and sat down. He explained about the movie and the scene that had particularly affected him. He ended with, "I wonder just how would I look if I could age?" Once again his eyes held that faraway look.

Abe studied his father in the silence that followed. The wheels began to turn in his head but he chose to keep his thoughts to himself...for now. The two men embraced and departed to their individual bedrooms for the night.

Henry's pent up emotions from the evening, from the movie scene, finally caught up with him. He cried softly for several minutes, not wanting to alarm his son, and slowly dropped off to sleep. Zzzzzzz

Abe also lay awake for several minutes as he cried his own silent tears for his father. His heart burst for his father who, for the past 200 years, had never been able to see, and probably never would see, how time would weather his appearance. But the wheels were turning even more and he dried his tears and finally fell off to sleep with a smile on his face. 'In the morning,' he thought. 'I'll get on it in the morning.' Zzzzzzz

Chapter 2

Abe happily watched his father enjoy the full English breakfast he had prepared for him. He, himself had always enjoyed the bacon, scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, buttered toast, and sausages, but not the baked beans - at least, not for breakfast. As a kid, he had somehow always managed to leave them for last and scrape them into the garbage pail behind his parents' backs.

Henry wiped his mouth with his napkin, downed the last of his coffee and wiped again. He placed the napkin next to his plate and sighed as he leaned back, patting his stomach. "Ahhhh, thank you, Abraham, that was delicious. Let's see, not my birthday or any holiday," he squinted and rolled his eyes around, "so why have you prepared this early morning feast for me?" He sharply tilted his head towards Abe and surveyed him from under furrowed brows.

Abe threw him a look of feigned innocence, shrugged and looked down at his own plate. "No reason," he answered, shaking his head. "Look, breakfast is breakfast. No big deal. Did you enjoy it or not?" He demanded as he leaned across his plate and looked Henry squarely in the eye.

"Yes, I did," Henry smiled back. "And I noticed that you still didn't eat the baked beans." He lifted an eyebrow towards Abe and grinned as he watched the slow realization creep across Abe's face.

"You knew," Abe drew out. Henry gave a loud belly laugh. "You and Mom - you guys, you knew all along I was dumping the beans!" He watched as Henry laughed louder and rose from the table. Abe folded his arms across his chest and pretend to pout.

"Yes, well," Henry managed to squeak out as he struggled to control his laughter. "I know that we should have been upset that you were intentionally wasting perfectly good food while -"

"- children were starving in Africa." They said the last part in unison. After a couple of beats they both broke out into laughter.

The shop's bell tinkled, announcing the arrival of Det. Jo Martinez, here to pick Henry up to go directly to a crime scene. "That you, Jo?" Henry yelled down the stairs.

"Yeah, good morning, we got a body." She said in a rush. She stopped halfway up the stairs and smiled at both the men. "Hey, Abe."

"Hey, Jo." Abe greeted her back.

"Um, Jo, I left some notes in my laboratory." Henry said as he hurriedly brushed past her on the stairs to go and retrieve them. Abe silently mouthed "his dungeon" to Jo and pointed downward. Jo did her best to stifle her laughter.

"I won't be a moment." Henry called over his shoulder.

Abe suddenly caught Jo's eye and quickly motioned her over to him with both hands. Jo ran up the rest of the stairs and scooted over to Abe. He had phoned her earlier while his father was in the shower and explained how he wanted to surprise him. Jo eagerly came on board and suggested that Lucas would be of great help, too. Abe had agreed and now the two of them were working out the details of the covert operation and when they could hook up with Lucas.

"I think it's so sweet of you, Abe. What an imaginative gift: age progressing Henry's photo so he'll know what he might look like if he could age. A fittingly strange and unique gift for Henry, a strange and unique man." Jo planted a small kiss on Abe's cheek and smiled at him. She certainly understood why Henry doted on his son so. Even though Abe was old enough to be her own father, she knew that if she were to become Abe's stepmother, she would be a proud and loving one. "Lucas and I will work with the photo you emailed to me." she whispered. "When everything's finished, we'll call you."

"No, no, I wanna be there, I wanna watch." Abe protested.

"OK." She thought a moment. "Henry has to give testimony in a court case tomorrow. You and I -"

"Court is open on a Saturday?" Abe asked.

"Yes, even on Sundays, sometimes. Anway, you and I can get together with Lucas then. It won't take long to do what we plan to do. I'll drop Henry off at court and then swing by to get you. He can take a cab back here to the shop and - we'll have enough time."

"Gotcha." He pointed to Jo and smiled. "Lucas. I like that little guy more and more."

Henry called up from below that he'd found his notes and was ready to leave when she was. She bid Abe good-bye and she and Henry left for the crime scene that turned out to be an accidental death with several witnesses. A small group of bicyclists had collided with each other causing many to tumble down onto a concrete passageway shared with both walkers and joggers. At least three cyclists suffered minor injuries. A fourth, a white male in his late 60's, was the lone fatality because he had been on the bottom of the pile. 'Crushed windpipe, broken ribs, punctured lung. COD massive internal bleeding and asphyxiation. No murder here. Accidental death,' Henry thought to himself. An autopsy would be performed to confirm, but for all intents and purposes: case closed. He fought back the need to stare at the victim's face. He couldn't help but wonder again how he would look at that age - if he could.

Jo watched Henry as he studied the victim. She cringed as she saw that same look of longing crease over his face again; the same one she had seen on him while at Lucas' place. 'It's going to be hard to keep this surprise under wraps.' She knelt down on the other side of the victim in order to face Henry. The man she loved. Deeply loved. "Hey, we finished here?" She tilted her head to catch his eye. He looked up at her and smiled. He nodded and they both stood up and left for the precinct.

Chapter 3

The events of the day unfolded routinely from there and at the end of his shift, Lucas made a quick exit to head home and start cooking up their secret project. He wanted to get a head start because he planned to add a little gravy to the gander. Jo's text message earlier indicated that both she and Abe would be at his place tomorrow afternoon. 'Plenty of time,' he thought, snickering and rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist, 'and not just Henry will be surprised.' He made his way into his apartment, threw off his jacket and threw some leftover pizza from the previous night into the microwave. After a quick logon to his laptop, he excitedly opened Jo's email and downloaded Henry's photo. "Here we go," he announced to the empty room. 'An all-nighter, but worth it,' he reassured himself as he retrieved the pizza from the microwave.

The following afternoon...

Lucas was awakened by rapid knocking at his door. From the sound of it, the person on the other side had grown impatient and was now pounding with their fist. He quickly jumped up and yanked it open without knowing who it could be, but suspected it was Jo and Abe. He was right. When he yanked the door open it had caught Jo just before she began another round of pounding. They exchanged awkward greetings and entered his apartment.

"Sorry," he said as he wiped his hand over his face and then ran it through his hair. "Come on in," he yawned out. "Oh, can I get either of you anything? Coffee? Tea? Leftover Pizza?" They both politely declined. They were here for something more important.

"I was up all night, but the deed - is - done." He grinned proudly as he led them over to his laptop and turned it on and sat down. Eager to see the results, they both pulled up a chair and sat on either side of him. Both Abe and Jo simultaneously gasped and clamped a hand over their mouths at the first renderings of Lucas' handiwork. They oo-ed and aw-ed for several more minutes as the images unfolded on the screen. Invariably, they both patted Lucas on the back at the same poignant intervals. Lucas rose from his chair and Jo promptly slid into it in order to be closer to the screen. Abe scooted his chair closer and Lucas watched them both as they stared at the screen then back at each other. He smiled as they murmured about how Henry was really going to like this and Abe's occasional, "Hey, Pops," and Jo's, "Ohhh, Henry." They then both stood up and faced Lucas, who also stood up. The three laughed heartily as they exchanged warm, congratulatory hugs.

"What say we move this party to the shop?" Abe suggested, clapping his hands together and bending slightly forward.

"Yes." Jo nodded. "Henry should be out of court or even at the shop by now." Her luxurious, brown tresses bounced as she looked from one to the other.

Lucas opted for a quick shower and change of clothes first. Jo and Abe viewed the images again while they waited.

Back at the shop...

Henry walked out of the courthouse and again wished that he didn't have to take a cab home. But for some reason neither Jo nor Abe were free that afternoon. So, a cab it is. He sighed as he recalled being on the witness stand, his testimony now a matter of public record. But it was for the greater good, he reminded himself. The Stevens family could now have the body of their loved one exhumed and a new autopsy performed (by him), because of his testimony. He felt gratified by that.

The cab pulled up to the shop; he paid his fare and exited the cab. He walked up to the door only to find it locked and the sign turned to Closed. As he fished his key out of his pocket, he noticed the reflection of Jo's car in the shop's window. He frowned and turned around to make sure it was hers - and it was - and turned back around to the door, now suspicious. As he let himself in and closed the door, he heard the gentle rise and fall of familiar voices coming from the second level. The shop's bell had sounded as he entered and Abe called from the top of the stairs for him to join them. 'Them?' He deduced he'd heard no more than three adult voices: Abe's, a female's (Jo, by the lingering fragrance of her Cloud Mist perfume) and Lucas' by the heavy scent of his Man Cave cologne. He felt a strong compunction to introduce him to a cologne with a crisper manly scent. 'One day.' He took another whiff. 'Soon!'

"Coming, Abraham!" He ran up the stairs and found the three of them crowded around a laptop that wasn't Abe's. They made room and motioned for him to sit on the couch, which he did, next to Jo. Lucas pushed the laptop closer to him and started punching the keyboard. Confused, Henry looked up at Abe and Lucas and over to Jo. Lucas finally straightened up and looked over at Abe.

Henry clasped his hands together and waited for someone - anyone - to explain what they were all up to.

"Uh, Dad," Abe haltingly began, "the other night when you mentioned that you wished you could see a different reflection as the years went by, well, it got me to thinking and, and..."

Jo hit a key on the laptop to start the program. "Here, Henry; look."

Henry saw two 3-D images of his face on the screen. The one on the far left remained unchanged. 'Nothing unusual about that.' he thought wryly. But to his amazement, the image on the right gradually changed. No - aged - in intervals of ten years each and showed what he might look like if he could, in fact, age. He sucked in his breath and let it out in short gasps as he marveled at the would-be transformation on the tiny screen in front of him. Tears were welled up in his eyes as they grew wider and wider as his screen image aged at each new level of progression. He was speechless as he viewed his probable reflection at age 45. Not much different. More grey in his hair and beard, a few more lines on his face. Hairline receded a bit.

His clinical observation ceased when the screen displayed his image aged to 55 years old, he shakily pointed to it and blurted out, "My Uncle Dennis!" He gave a short laugh and repeated, "My Uncle Dennis! He was my mother's youngest brother. That's what he looked like the last time I ever saw him." He pointed vigorously at the screen and looked around to each of them. A look of pure child-like glee on his face.

When the image aged to 65 years old, he was reminded of his father, who died of consumption at age 62 in 1814, only a few short weeks before his own first death. His father still had a full head of mingly grey hair when he died. The hair on his aged screen image was greatly thinned out on top with the hairline recession more pronounced. 'Hmm, male pattern balding. At least my eyebrows are still dark brown.'

He also thought of his late wife, Abigail, who also had died in her early 60's in the 1980's. He grew quiet and fought to keep the flood of tears at bay. Even though he now held a deep love for the woman sitting next to him, he couldn't help but realize that if he had been able to age with Abigail, they would have spent the rest of their lives together. She would have stayed. He swallowed several times and felt he was going to lose that battle of holding back his tears. Then the image aged to 70 years old, the same age of his beloved son, Abe. He looked at the screen and up at Abe who silently acknowledged the unspoken observation. The silent exchange's meaning was not lost on Jo or Lucas, either. The image showed more hair loss and much more grey than dark brown, even in the eyebrows. For some reason the image now sported a mingly grey moustache and a completely white beard of medium length.

"How far does this age me, Lucas?" Henry asked as he quickly glanced up at Lucas then back to the screen, wanting to miss as little as possible of this wondrous process. Oh, he loved technology right now!

Lucas cleared his throat and pushed down his own emotion. "Up to age 103. Teenage years for you, Henry." They all chuckled.

The screen now displayed Henry's face aged to 80 years old. "My grandfather," he barely whispered. He blinked a few times at the face with the top half of its head bald and short, white hair along the sides and back; the eyebrows, beard and moustache now completely white. "My mother's father, Michael Henry Longworth." His voice was still breathless. How he had loved his grandfather! 'So I would probably look like Grandpapa Michael.'

Henry suddenly felt the need to share his thoughts. "My paternal grandparents had both died before my birth and Grandpapa Michael's wife, my Grandmama Emmaline, had died when I was only three. Grandpapa Michael never remarried and he was the only living grandparent I had as I grew up." He smiled. "What wonderful memories I have of him."

They all were left speechless over the image of Henry's face at age 90 with only tufts of white hair on the head, a white moustache, no beard, layers of wrinkles and a very pronounced turkey neck. The age 100 image invoked a long forgotten memory as Henry pointed to it and declared that it reminded him of one of the many portraits that had hung in his parents' house along the staircase. "Maybe that was my great-great-grandfather Sir Richard Morgan." Henry wasn't sure.

The forward spin of the program began to recycle to the beginning. Henry looked up at all of them with a grateful smile on his face. He had not been so moved by a gift in years. He valued and treasured all gifts but this one...this one...was priceless beyond measure. He stood and Lucas extended his hand, but Henry eagerly embraced him, patting him on the back and thanking him profusely. He did the same with Abe. "Thank you, son. Thank you. I love you." Henry's heart burst with pride. 'What had he done to be blessed with such a wonderful, thoughtful son?'

He sat back down next to Jo and they embraced and kissed. "Thank you, Darling. This was possibly the most precious gift I've ever received." He gave her a quick kiss again and they smiled into each other's eyes. "This is wonderful," he said as he motioned towards the laptop.

"Well," Lucas drew out, "there's just a little bit more." He bent down and tapped the keyboard a couple of times and the screen filled up again with what appeared to be the same two images of Henry's face. However, this time the image on the far right became younger. Since Henry had been born in 1779, his image had only been captured in painting or drawings before Louis Daguerre and Nicephore Niepce invented the daguerrotype process in 1839. He had all but given up hope of ever finding any of those artistic pieces and, therefore, had no way of ever showing anyone how he looked before he turned 35.

But here it was unfolding before his eyes. The image regressed in age to 30 (not much of a change, fewer facial lines, thicker head of longer hair pulled back into a ponytail).

Then 25 (a totally unlined face, the eyes opened up more, hair even thicker in a longer ponytail),

Then 20 (a baby face. He'd thought that he'd cut quite a swath back at that age. Apparently, not, with such a baby face. Hair ever so much thicker in an even longer ponytail with a couple of wild curls adorned each side of his brow).

Then 15 ('What a handful I was for my poor, dear mother, what with all my girlfriends. Better not share that with Jo - or Abraham.' Hair thick and heavy with dark curls only beginning to grow longer).

Then 10 ("You were so cute!" Jo exclaimed. 'I did allright, I suppose.').

Then five (a bunch of "Aw's" from the others. Henry smiled. 'Little Lord Fauntleroy.').

And finally, a small baby with large, bright eyes, rosy cheeks and a full head of soft, dark curls. He was dressed in a long, white Christening gown.

Each regression sparked memories for Henry and filled him with - relief? Comfort. That's what it was. It was as if he had travelled a long, hard journey alone for a long, long time and sanctuary had either repeatedly been denied him or had lasted only a short time. Not long enough to really have given him rest or provided him proper sustenance. But here he was among friends and loved ones and he felt comforted. Happy.

"What can I say, Lucas? Remarkable. Utterly and truly remarkable. I shall treasure this all the rest of my days."

Lucas clickety-clacked on the keyboard and forwarded everything to Abe's email address. "Now you can look at it whenever you like."

"Hey," Abe said as he clapped his hands. "How about we all go out to celebrate. Chinese? Thai? Italian?" He and Lucas walked away together and threw out food choices. Henry and Jo followed with their arms around each other's waists.

"Ahhh, I still can't believe this." He smiled broadly and looked at her and tightened his grip. They stopped and turned to face each other and just as their arms encircled each other and they began to kiss, Abe shouted over his shoulder at them. "C'mon, you two, you can do all that later. I'm starved."

Henry and Jo laughed and fell in step with Abe and Lucas. 'Yes, remarkable. Truly remarkable.'