AHHHH! My first late posting ever! I'm sorry, even though it's only one day late. I had a hard time writing this chapter, and only a week to do it, which also happened to be my first week of school. And I work in the school bookstore. Fun...

My beta, Kay Valo87, has seen the first half, so any mistakes in the second half are my fault.

Also, I exercise my right as author to change perspectives part way through a couple of times.

Henry's life flashed before his eyes…again. There was no way that he would forget his long life since he was reminded every time he died. He broke the surface of the water gasping, shivering in the chilly waters of the East River at night. Another floundering splash reminded him that an unfortunate side effect of dying was appearing naked in the water.

"What the hell just happened?" Meredith spluttered, treading water a few meters away.

"Perhaps we should get to shore before I explain." Henry avoided looking at the young woman, well aware of the fact that there was not a stitch on her either.

He almost turned back when he heard her emit a high pitched shriek.

"Don't look!" She wailed hysterically. "Where are my clothes? And what about yours?"

"You need to calm down. We both need to get to shore before we develop hypothermia." He resisted the urge to turn and try to calm her down himself. At this point, any action toward her on his part might cause the situation to devolve into an actual arrest, not merely a reprimand for public nudity.

He started swimming in the direction of the shore instead, pausing long enough to verify that she was following him. Once he reached an area where his feet could touch the bottom, he waited in the shoulder deep water for her.

"Now what?" The water lapped at her throat, something he should have expected considering the fact that he was taller than her. Water that was shoulder deep for him would be deeper measured against someone smaller than he was.

"Ideally, we find something to cover ourselves with before any police officers happen by. Then we get to a phone and call Abraham. He can bring some clothes and get us somewhere safe."

Henry couldn't help but notice the look she sent his way. "That's it? We wander around the park stark naked, hoping to find something to cover ourselves will before we get caught, killed, or sexually assaulted? How often does this plan actually work."

The immortal medical examiner was about to respond when he saw a figure appear on the shore. At first, he thought it was Abraham, having heard of his apparent demise from the police. Instead...

"Well, Henry. We always meet in the strangest of circumstances."

The cold, emotionally detached voice made the East River in mid-autumn seem warm. Henry moved to put himself between Adam and Meredith. "What are you doing here?"

"That's no way to thank someone who came to save you after your most recent death." Adam smiled. "I come bearing clothes for the both of you."

"So you knew this was going to happen." Henry prided himself on reserving judgment, but around Adam, accusation bled through his voice.

"Of course I knew it was going to happen. I make a point of knowing if something like this is going to happen. What do you think I have done for fun these past few centuries? Besides, if I had played the part of the paladin that you wanted me to play, I would not have been able to meet Miss Keegan, who is currently cowering behind you."

"Hey!" The young woman's voice rang out behind him. "I am NAKED! Don't you think I might want to preserve my modesty?"

"In our situation, modesty is the least of our problems. However, the minor issue of your nudity can be solved before you draw the decadent mortals within earshot with your overreaction."

With a strangled squeak, she waded as quickly as she could through the water and snatched a towel and a set of clothing from Adam's outstretched hand. "Don't look," she hissed, rather belatedly Henry thought. Though the medical examiner had turned away for the sake of propriety, Adam must have gotten a full frontal view of the woman as she made her way out of the river.

"Henry," he heard Adam call. "You'll never get home to explain all this to Abraham if you stay in the water."

It was a fair point, but Henry hated it when the older immortal brought his son into the conversation. While Adam had promised never to harm Abe, there was more than enough evidence that Adam could not be trusted. This was not how he wanted any of this to happen.

At least Miss Keegan is developing a healthy dislike of Adam and his methods.

"Let me get this straight," she seethed. "You knew that someone was going to try to kill us before we actually got killed. Then you just sat on this until we died so you could meet me? What if I actually stayed dead?"

"Then you wouldn't have been a very interesting person to meet."

"You make the worst first impression I have ever had the displeasure of being a part of."

Adam smiled. "If any of those terrible television sitcoms are to be believed, this is the start of an enduring friendship."

Henry was surprised that Meredith moved to stand beside him muttering unspeakable things under her breath. Then she turned to him.

"You promised that once we got to the shore you would explain." She glowered over her shoulder at Adam. "I'm assuming that he comes into this, somewhere."

"Could we perhaps relocate before we begin that conversation?"

"Certainly, Henry." The tone in Adam's voice was mocking. "I believe there's a quiet secluded space with a Peter Pan statue somewhere around here. Will that work? Only four paths converge there."

"That'll work." When Dr. Morgan turned to look at Meredith, she was striding along the pathways in the direction of the little garden. Then she stopped. Apparently she remembered who had suggested the location. "As long as there aren't any traps or ambushes waiting there."

"Don't be ridiculous. What would be the point of all the effort I put into providing you with clothes if I was just going to kill you again?" Adam flashed her a tight smile. "Besides, I want to see how Henry manages the explanation this time."

Henry didn't like the implication in Adam's tone, that he had mismanaged the explanation of immortality at some point. The time spent at Bedlam screamed in his head, reminding him that he had failed at least once, perhaps when it had been most important. Nora…

But this isn't like that at all, he mused. It doesn't require proof outside of her own experiences and she's probably intelligent enough to consider the possibility.

It wasn't that he thought his first wife Nora was not an intelligent person; the era was simply not conducive to the inexplicable. But perhaps Meredith would be open-minded…

"Don't forget to stay close to the river," Henry called to the other two immortals. "Abraham will probably be along soon to pick us up."

Detective Jo Martinez stared at the remains of the safe house. When she first arrived, she thought she had already passed the house. When Lieutenant Reese said that there had been another attempt, apparently successful, she had expected the house to still be standing. She expected that they would have left Henry alone. She should have known better; after all, they were trying to kill Meredith, and she had merely witnessed another murder.

There was a hole where the house used to be, a hole filled with the rubble of a house that had been completely destroyed.

How very neat, removes all the evidence, makes sure that the people inside can't survive. Certainly not for very long, anyway. She sighed. Henry could find something to pin on the murderer…

She kicked idly at one of the larger pieces of debris that might have been a support beam or a rafter when the house was still a house.

"Someone has to tell Abe," Jo muttered. She dreaded him hearing about Henry's demise from someone who didn't know the old man or the medical examiner, someone who could offer no comfort to Abe for his loss.

She didn't hear Hanson behind her until he spoke. "I can't believe he's really gone. I mean, Henry did a lot of things more dangerous than staying with a witness: jumping in front of cars, climbing over the guardrail of a bridge, confronting that kid that killed the professor. It was like he couldn't die."

Jo looked at her partner, not really seeing him. "I need to call Abe. Can you take care of things?"

"Sure."

She turned away, taking out her phone and dialing the number of the antiques shop. It rang twice before Abe picked up the phone. Must be a slow day.

"Hello, Abe's Antiques. Abe speaking."

Oh god, he doesn't know. He doesn't suspect anything. "Abe, this is Jo. I—there's been an accident."

"What? Is Henry there?"

"N-no. I'm afraid—I mean, we think he might—might be…dead." Not again. Not another person I care about…

"What? Are you sure? Is there a body?"

"I want to believe that he's alive, too, but the house he was in collapsed." Jo was beginning to wonder why she had decided to make this call. It was harder than she thought it would be. "Fire and Rescue crews are sifting through the rubble, but there's not a lot of hope."

"I have to go," Abe said suddenly. "I—I need time to process things."

The haggard NYPD detective sighed. "If you need me, you know how to get in touch with me."

The line disconnected and Jo looked back at the remains of the house. I still can't believe that Henry's just…gone.

Abe hung up the phone and began gathering things as quickly as he could.

Two sets of clothing, in case Henry was right about Meredith being immortal. I don't have time to go up and find some of Mom's old clothes.

A sudden realization made Abe stop in his tracks.

"Henry might have to leave because of this. We might have to run again."

It wouldn't actually be that hard. Henry was always prepared to leave at a moment's notice in case anything untoward happened and his secret was revealed. This kind of situation wasn't exactly something that could be solved by fighting back.

And if someone picked Henry up at the river, naked, when he was supposedly dead in the remains of a safe house, it would raise some awkward questions that Henry wouldn't be able to answer very easily.

It was now very important for Abe to get to the river before Henry got caught.

"So this is going to happen every time I die?" Meredith asked after Henry explained the nature of immortality. "Well, that's…inconvenient."

The medical examiner smiled. "Yes, it's caused more than a few awkward situations on my part. And a few jokes at my expense."

"It didn't use to be a problem," Adam put in. "Suddenly mortals have some idea of propriety and returning to life becomes indecent. In the days of the Roman Empire, nakedness was expected in the rivers. That's where the common people went to bathe."

"Yes, thank you for the history lesson. How old are you, exactly?"

"Old enough to stop caring about the banal existence of mortals and their concerns."

Henry was proud of the way Meredith sighed and said, "May I never become as jaded as you."

In the distance, he could hear a familiar voice.

"Henry? Come on, I'm not too late, am I?"

Abe was hurrying down the main path, past the Peter Pan Garden.

"Abraham," Henry called. "We're over here."

He glanced back at Meredith and Adam. Not exactly the company I normally keep after coming back from the dead.

"I think it's time for me to go. See you again soon, Henry." Adam disappeared down one of the paths as Abe turned back in Henry's direction.

Before Abe had gotten close enough to hear her, Meredith whispered, "How much does Abe know? About you, I mean."

"Everything. Abraham is my son. He's known for quite a while now."

"Oh. Hi, Abe." Henry saw as she shifted uncomfortably, moving her arms unconsciously to cover herself.

"Oh, good. I was hoping to find you before the police. Wait, why do you have clothes?"

Henry ran his fingers through his damp hair. "Adam was here. He brought clothes for Meredith and I."

"Ah. Have you put any thought into what you're going to tell Jo. She called me and told me that you were dead, buried under a couple stories of rubble. You'll need something pretty god to convince her that you didn't just die and come back. No matter how truthful that may be."

As soon as they got home, Henry called Jo and she arrived at the antique shop, pale faced and wild hair. She strode across the shop and embraced the immortal man.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you were dead and you call me now?" Her voice was gradually going up in pitch. "Don't do this to me. How the hell did you survive?"

"It was my fault," Meredith put in. "I saw the bombs and I ran. We weren't even in the house when it blew up."

"Yes." This was the story they had discussed in the car on the way home. "I went after her. I only caught up with Miss Keegan a little while ago and I called Abraham to bring us here. Then I called you."

"I've been under the impression that you died under the wreckage of the safe house. For four hours! You didn't think that I might need to know that you—BOTH OF YOU—were still alive."

"If it makes you feel any better, Detective Martinez, we know who the mole is now." Meredith crossed her arms and sat down in one of the antique chairs. "It's Agent Derick Forester. He came by to gloat."

"Why wouldn't you call me?"

Henry stepped in. "It seems that neither of us have a cell phone."

"Top of my to-do list. Especially after all this." Meredith grabbed a jacket from the coat rack. "Right after I testify."

"Okay, fine, whatever. But you can't stay here, just in case. You're going back into protective custody until the trial tomorrow." Jo ran a hand over her hair, smoothing the wild strands down again. "Abe, Henry, I'll probably see you tomorrow."

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