Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of CBS and are only used for fan related purposes. Any recognizable dialogue from the series included is used only to further the story.
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Sacrifices
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He slips through the darkness, alert and on guard. Like a hunter stalking his prey, he catches sight of his (adopted) brother and quickly follows behind. J.D. is just as reckless as he anticipated him being—given the opportunity to break out of the holding cells, he's off like a shot, heading straight for the docks.
He's positioned perfectly to go after him. Having already shaken off the others, he's comforted by the weight of the knife in his pocket. He's ready for this; he's claimed this death, urged on by his father to purge himself of any reminders of the lie of a life he's always known.
J.D. Dunn is his to kill.
He manages to sneak up behind him as J.D. is preparing to climb into a boat. So intent on his escape, he doesn't notice he's not alone anymore—or maybe he does, but he knows he has nothing to fear from his older brother.
It only takes another step and a quick slash of Henry's knife for J.D. to understand just how wrong he is.
Like a fish, he's gutted but the strike is not instantly fatal. He stumbles, already feeling weak as the heat of his blood seems to burn him. He begins to fall forward and he waits for the impact that he won't feel in a few seconds.
The impact doesn't come.
Hatred is a remarkable thing. It's overpowering, all consuming and absolutely dangerous in desperate and dangerous man. But, for all its strength, it crumbles against the might of love. And, despite his father's words and his father's determination and his father's training, Henry can't help but react when his kid brother falls.
With the same hands that split him open, he steadies the fading J.D., lying him down along the lengths of the docks. Their eyes meet in that moment, J.D.'s glassy and Henry's glazed over with some kind of moisture; he feels something worm its way through the anger and the hate and is surprised to discover it's remorse.
It's guilt.
Roughly, he pushes the sensation away as he stands up. His knife is still in his hand and, out of some instinct—or maybe some animalistic desire to be the one to survive—he's poised to finish the kill. J.D.'s eyes, straining and struggling as he wheezes and spits, never leave Henry's face.
"Henry?" he whispers, his words mixed with a gurgle and a groan. "Why?"
Henry blinks back the wet, momentarily stunned as his hands stay raised. He would've thought the answer was obvious.
His voice is thick and he hiccups, but still he whispers her name. Caressing each syllable lovingly, Henry tells J.D. why he's going to die:
"Abby. I did this for her."
J.D. says nothing else. He's ready for death, and he's even grateful that it's Henry who's given him his freedom. He won't tell—if there was even anyone to confess it to at all—but, strangely enough, he understands.
The grip on his knife tightens but the blade won't go any further. He blames it on the sweat stinging his eyes—it has to be sweat because it couldn't possibly be tears… could it?—when he can't finish the job before Abby stumbles on the scene.
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It's you, Abby… it's all about you…
Author's Note: Well, I've been meaning to do something like this since last week. With all the poignant deaths that made up the series finale, I thought it might be interesting to explore a handful of character's last moments. This fic is going to be a collection of five or so shorts, each one focusing on another murder at Henry's hands. I don't want to give any other details away but I have almost the entire thing done and updates should be fairly quickly until all of the shorts are up. I hope you enjoy them!