Thank you all for your reviews. I'm glad this story brings so much attention. I hope you'll be pleased with the outcome because it's not exactly a whole focus on Jo dealing with his pictures. As I said, it's kind of a drama soap opera-like, lol.

And to the guest who left a review: I'm French but I've written more stories in English than my native language, except for my biggest stories :)

References to the following episodes: New Yorks kids, The Ecstasy of Agony, Skinny Dipping, the Wolves of Deep Brooklyn, Diamonds are forever, The King of Columbus circle, Social engineering, The Last Death of Henry Morgan

When Henry walked the stairs which led to the apartment, he slammed the door so abruptly that Abe tore off his newspaper in half.

When his old man stepped into the living room, he saw that look of anger he had when he figured out what happened to Abigail. It wasn't as bad, but still. Abe internally rolled his eyes. What happened this time?

Henry crashed his body on the couch and still looked as upset as he was when he left Jo. He still hadn't said one word and Abe kept staring at him, waiting for him to say something. He carefully tried, hopefully, his old dad wouldn't send him on fire.

- Henry? What's going on? You look pretty much upset!

Henry pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh of frustration

- What happened again?

Abe was so used to hearing about his father doing all stupid things behind everyone's back, he wouldn't be surprised something alike had happened and he probably has been scolded by one of his co-workers.

Henry brutally stood up and started pacing. Abe quickly blinked. Here they were again.

- You know, I've gone through so many things in my life that I can't believe I can still feel something when everything is going down.

Abe frowned

- What? What are you even talking about?

Henry's body was now tensed again

- I'm talking about Jo

His voice wasn't sweet as it was when he was talking about the detective. Abe knew his father and could hear the irritation in his voice.

- Don't tell me you died in front of her?

- Perhaps I should have? – Henry replied dryly

Abe stood up as well and walked closer to his father

- Why? What do you mean?

Henry turned his back to his son, staring at the window where the rain was still pouring

- All this time I've been working with Jo, all this time I've been trying to tell her what I was… For a year, we grew closer…When I saw her face back in September, I thought she would accept me as I am, she had that face Abigail had back in the days and I thought everything would be all right… But it turns out I was completely wrong.

Abe was lost in his father's charade. He didn't seem to believe any words he was saying. Once again, he was letting rage cloud his judgement, whatever happened today.

- Henry! Care to tell me what happened or am I going to guess? Did you tell Jo without me?

- No, I didn't!

- Then why are you acting like a baby?

Henry glared at his son. The last time Abe saw that kind of look; was when he "borrowed" one of his medicine tools to bring it at school and brag about it.

- No! It's even worse!

Abe didn't know something could be worse than telling someone his big secret but whatever

- Jo has been investigating me for a year. Her house is full of pictures of me, questioning herself, there's an entire wall dedicated to me. And most of her pictures and questions were after a case where I died in one way or another.

Abe stared at him for a couple of seconds, not saying a word and wondered if this was worth shooting a bullet in his old immortal brain.

He sighed

- So, to you, Jo investigating behind your back is worse than her finding you in agony? Or telling her the truth and having her not to believe you…. I would like to be enlightened because I don't see your point.

Henry looked at his son and didn't bother

- I don't expect you to understand. If somebody you trusted and…

- And loved! You can say it, I'm not dumb!

Henry kept pacing

- Would do that to you, I don't think you would enjoy it.

Abe could put himself in Jo's shoes. Henry has been too secretive and he was lucky enough, the whole NYPD never ran a search about him.

- Well… Maybe it was a bit clumsy from her.

- Clumsy? She's been running that search on me from day one. If she wanted information, she could have asked me.

Abe scoffed

- Would you have given them to her though? Jo knows you and I know you. From the moment, she would start questioning too much, you would have run away.

Henry opened his mouth but closed it. He knew his son was right. But this changed nothing.

- It doesn't matter now! I don't know what I'm going to do, probably going to look for another morgue in the city, to apply.

Abe couldn't believe his ears

- Hold on! Just because the kid has been investigating on you, means you can just quit like this. Are you stupid or what? Knowing Jo, she's probably feeling guilty about this now. Why don't you give her a chance? Because she gave you plenty.

Henry folded his arms

- Yes! Only because she needed more information. I felt so much betrayed that for a second I went back to…

Abe cut him off

- You better not say it, Henry! Stop with it now! It's been over 200 years, it's about time to move on. Why would you even compare the two situations? You didn't even tell Jo your secret and you can't even tell how she would react, so stop being an ass.

- Because I'm the one to blame on this? – Henry yelled louder than he meant to

Abe wasn't impressed at all with the tone his father was using with him. He was always looking to blame someone else. He couldn't imagine how Jo was feeling at the time.

- You're angry! I can understand this! You should just take a couple of days to yourself so you can think clearly. If Jo wanted to betray you, she would have told anybody what she was doing. I'm pretty sure she's looking out for you and she worries and that's why she did it. But it's all up to you to make your judgements, just not too tonight.

Henry knew he was upset, he knew he wasn't thinking rationally but he was so hurt, he couldn't contemplate the idea of working ever again with Jo.

A few days later

Jo was a mess. A total mess. Hanson didn't remember seeing her that down even after Sean's death. He tried to talk to her out of it, but she kept saying she was fine.

And to make the matter worse, they had absolutely no cases for a couple of days, so they were stuck doing paperwork.

She knew Henry needed time but he wasn't even walking in the bullpen… Well, didn't help there was still no cases but she heard the whispers, he didn't come to work except that same morning because the lieutenant was tired of seeing him taking extended leaves without warning her.

She couldn't focus on these stupid reports and was trying to think about ways to make amends with Henry. She hated the distance between them, and it was all on her. She was spending her evenings, crying over him. She was giving him time but she wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him and apologize all over again for what she has done.

Losing him would be her downfall, she knew she wouldn't handle it, not this time.

Reece finally walked in with some news about a body so they had to head up to the OCME. Before Jo could say anything, Hanson was dragging her downstairs.

Henry already practiced the autopsy and wrote his reports, and all of this in such an awkward silence that even Lucas didn't want to try and make a joke.

When he saw the two detectives walking in, he greeted them with his usual good mood

- Hey, you two! Glad to see you here! Henry already did everything that needed to be done.

Jo was slowly walking behind Hanson and when Henry spotted her, their eyes crossed but he just ignored her and handed the files to Hanson

- I estimated her death around 4 a.m this morning, blunt force trauma to the head. She was probably pushed against something sharp and here she is. It's murder so we'll have to look for her killer.

Hanson carefully read the files and handed them to Jo who barely took a look at them. She handed them back and tried so hard to remove the lump in her throat.

- Well… We should start our investigation then!

Hanson nodded! He didn't seem to have noticed the tension between Jo and Henry, but Lucas did.

- All right, let's go!

He walked back. Jo tried to make eye contact with Henry but he made sure the body was more interesting. She blinked to hold her tears as Lucas stared at them in confusion.

When Hanson noticed, Jo was behind him but not Henry, he frowned. He called him before they reached the elevator.

- Doc! You're not coming?

Henry finally raised his eyes and politely smiled

- No! Not today Hanson! I'll be more helpful here! Good luck!

Hanson shared a look with Lucas who nodded at him. He looked at Jo who looked like crap, and he seemed to understand. There was a love drama in the air. The last thing he wanted to see between them.

When the two detectives left, Lucas stared at Henry, long enough to embarrass him so he would have to look at him.

- What do you want Lucas?

Lucas leaned on the examination table

- Henry, it's probably none of my business and you're going to slam at me for this, but what's going on with you and Jo? You two barely looked at each other today… Not even talking about the fact I haven't seen you here for the last couple of days if this wasn't for Reece to force your hand.

Lucas was the last one Henry wanted to talk about his issues with Jo. He had enough on his plate for now.

- It's nothing Lucas! You said it yourself, none of your business.

Lucas knew how Henry hated talking about his life, but it seemed like whatever has happened wasn't doing any good to any of them.

- Nothing! Both of you seem pretty down for nothing!

Henry glared at him

- It's only between Jo and me. So, do me a favour and work on the body. I am not in the mood for this!

Lucas sighed! Henry could be an ass when he wanted to. Four years working with the guy and sometimes he was still a stranger to him.

On their way to their first suspect's house, Jo was giving Hanson the same silence treatment, Henry was giving to Lucas, and everyone else for that matter.

Hanson knew his partner always been quiet but this was unlikely her and this time, he did notice something was wrong with her and the doc.

- Jo, what is it with Henry?

She chose to remain silent and looked outside the window. She knew if she was saying any more words regarding what happened, she would break down and wouldn't be able to get up… And she would ruin her day and she didn't need this.

- Fine, if you don't want to talk! But this isn't doing any good to any of you, and the rest of the team.

She cut him dryly

- What happened between Henry and me is our business, now give me a break!

He heard his voice. She had a lump on it and she wasn't looking at him on purpose. He slowed down the engine. Jo hated how he always played big brother with her.

- What happened? You seem completely broken. What he has done to you? I swear if he hurt you in any way physically…

Jo turned her head and shot him a dirty look

- What? Where does that come from?

- Well, I don't know Jo, you both didn't even look at each other, he's a man, so we don't know what goes into someone's mind sometimes if he has done something inappropriate, even though it's hard to believe something like this coming from him.

Jo rolled her eyes

- You're too bad at this, Mike! Henry has done nothing to me, he would never! No! It's kind of my fault, but that's it!

Hanson frowned. He wasn't going to let this one go. Jo looked at her friend. She wasn't going to talk to him about it. She turned her head once more but this time, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

She tried to get a hold of herself but Hanson heard her voice breaking by each word she was saying

- Let's say I've done something wrong to him and I have – she inhaled – no idea how I'm going to fix this situation. I'm on the verge of losing him forever…. And I don't want this.

She couldn't talk, furthermore, so she just sniffled. Hanson knew something was going on between them. He was kind of late to the party but he knew it, and everybody did for that matter. Jo was a very devoted woman when it came to love, and once she was in, she was deep. He just had no idea she…

- Jo…

- What? – she choked

- I… I'm sure everything is going to be settled… I had no idea your feelings for the Doc were so strong… The last time I saw you like that was when…

Jo was looking at her fingers, her hair covered her face but Hanson could see her tears rolling down on her pants.

He was going to speak but Jo dried her tears or tried to, but she was still a mess.

- Let's go! We can't waste any more time. I need some distraction!

###

- Jo, you're going to give me a headache, stop pacing!

The spoken voice was Clara, Jo's big sister, and she was sitting in Jo's living room as she watched her lose her mind over Henry.

The last time Clara had seen Jo being so broken over a man was after her husband's death. And for someone who lived in the past 32 years with her little sister, she knew her probably better than anyone aside from their mom.

Jo did none of what her sister asked and kept walking back and forth in her living room. She was on the nerves and Clara was wondering how she hadn't passed out yet. Ever since she got Jo's call, she didn't see her put anything in her stomach and she looked exhausted.

- I messed up, Cla! I messed up, big time! And it's like, I have absolutely no way to fix this. He won't even look at me, I don't know what more I can do to prove him, how sorry I am.

Clara sighed and finally joined her sister, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, as best she could since Jo had become way taller than she was in her teen years.

- Look, Jo, I know you're upset but you need to take a breath and stop blaming yourself. I mean, it's your job to investigate and you never told anyone about this, am I right?

Jo nodded

- So, what's the matter? You always had an instinct. I mean, you knew dad was doing business with the wrong people when you were six… Girl, I was nine and I saw absolutely nothing.

Jo cringed

- I'm not sure where you're heading! I caught him doing the wrong business, not sure this can be counted as instinctive.

Clara rolled her eyes, the same way Jo was doing it

- Maybe! But you still knew something was up with him. You were always asking too many questions that I could provide an answer to. So, I guess, you only followed your guts after you met Henry, not that I can blame you. You had the right to be on your guards. But you told me, he's not a bad guy.

- No, he's not, absolutely not! He has such a big heart… I wasn't looking at him to see if he had killed thousands of people before working with me… It's just…

Clara titled her head to the side while rubbing her sister's shoulders

- I got it, don't worry! But he sure doesn't look like a bad guy, with the few pics you shared on Facebook. I may be naïve, but he's too cute, to be a psycho.

She managed to put a smile on Jo's face.

- I didn't mean any harm… - Jo exhaled

- I know you didn't. Just give him time, Jo! He seems like he cares a lot about you. I have a radar for this. Look doesn't betray one's true feelings. He'll come back - she stopped and seemed to consider her next answer – but if he doesn't… Send him to me and I'll talk to him.

She raised one obvious eyebrow, speaking volume about what her Hispanic blood would be doing in that "conversation".

Jo groaned

- You need to stop being so much like mom.

Clara shrugged as she grabbed her purse

- Can't help it. I'm a mom myself.

Jo didn't want to worry her mom with her broken heart. Besides, if she was telling her about Henry, she could just walk to the shop on her own and kick his ass and this was far from how Jo wanted to introduce her mom to Henry.

In cases like this, Clara always had a way with words.

- Thank you, for stepping by Cla… I know you've got the twins and they take a lot of your time, so I appreciate you driving from Sheepshead Bay to meet met…

Clara pulled her sister against her and gave her a very needed hug

- Don't be stupid! I will always be there for you Hermana, and you know this. I know I have my kids but I'm lucky enough to have a great husband so don't worry about them, they're in good hands. They're five, they're not exactly babies anymore, they can survive a few hours without me.

Jo knew she was lucky to have a sister as devoted. People kept telling her she was strong, just because she was a cop, but deep down, Jo knew who her real hero was.

- You're going to be all right for tonight? – Clara asked, with her hand on the doorknob

Jo knew once again she was on the verge of crying, but this time she managed to control her tears better than she did back in the car with Mike.

She also refrained from telling her sister, she's been miserable for days to cry over a man like this.

- I'll be fine! Thanks again, Cla. You're the best! You're right! I need to be patient.

Clara smiled, got on her tiptoes, and dropped a kiss on Jo's forehead

- I'm convinced that when two people love each other, they always find their way back, so I wouldn't worry about this, you two are going to be fine.

The two sisters hugged each other one last time and Jo watched Clara leave and double lock her door. She closed her eyes and took small deep breaths. She slowly walked back to her living room, ready to wrap herself in a blanket until she would fall asleep of exhaustion with the tears, but her eyes drifted to the wall where she's been doing her investigation.

She walked toward it and stared at it for a long while. She had no idea how much time had passed when she decided to remove everything she pinned.

All the pictures, all the newspapers, all fell at her ankles, one after the other. She picked up the mess and threw them in a box and walked toward the fireplace.

She looked at the contents inside the box, everything she's done for a year, her different theories, her ideas… She had put a lot of effort and time on this but, none of this was worth losing Henry forever… She swallowed and threw the whole box into the fireplace and watched all these clues, burn down to flames like a firework.

She sighed

- This won't erase what I've done but at least… You'll see how far my devotion to you goes.

Flash-back

Two months working with him

Jo was standing in front of her board and looked kind of frustrated. Today has been the kind of day where you wished you were sitting at home. So much adrenaline shouldn't be allowed.

She pinned a printed picture of their suspect and wrote a couple of notes

- Today… Henry tried to take a bullet for me… I will die before he does if he keeps raising my blood pressure like that.

She rolled her eyes and pinned the note. She looked at everything she's done ever since she met him and she was afraid she wouldn't have enough place to keep on her investigation. Two months in and she still had more on Henry than the FBI would ever.

She stared at the wall behind the board and decided from now on, this is where she would keep on her investigation. Besides, the board would be a perfect way to hide it.

And she would keep on doing it if she was ever moving from Washington Heights (which happened later).

- I keep wondering if that dude wants to die or something to always put his life on the line like this. I won't always be there to save his ass. He gives me anxiety… But I'll find out what's going on with him, I need to, for both of our sanity.

She felt her heart stirred weirdly. What was this?

- Nobody tried to take a bullet for me ever since I've been working in that job… As much as he's an idiot… This was very brave of him.

She shook her head

- You've got a mission Martinez, focus!

A week later

- I was shot!

These words kept echoing in her mind and never left her all year long. How? Why? When? A week ago, he tried to take a bullet for her, so he knew what it felt like… Tried to take one, while he was already shot… That man was going to turn her hair grey before her time. And now he was casually telling her he has been shot. Of course, Lucas had the worst timing ever, and she didn't ask, furthermore, but… It tricked her mind. She wasn't stupid, nor blind, she was a detective and she had learned a long time ago about fatal wounds… So did he even survive this?

All these questions were part of her investigation. Writing down the date, she pinned a couple of notes near the subtle picture of his scar she took while he was dressing up, at the warehouse. She chewed on her lips until she could feel the blood on it… That day she also realized he was turning her on as nobody had in a while.

When he told her about his stalker, there was something quite strange in this. She had no doubt he has been tormented for months… But a couple of things started to suggest, the dude could have been living… A 100 year already. This never left her mind, she didn't write it because it sounded insane but she put it aside in her brain, as she would carefully watch the upcoming weeks.

He disappeared for three long weeks after he killed a man… This gave her time to focus on her investigation but she didn't know what else to add… She was worried about him, he earned the right to take a break after all of this, but she feared he would end up hurting himself.

Her wall was slowly filling itself up… She had many more clues than a few weeks ago… It felt like Henry was always doing/saying something that would lead her to question herself, not about his sanity, she gave up on this a while ago, but about the depth of his story.

...

As the weeks passed by, they had grown closer and her feelings were dangerously changing like she didn't ask for this but here she was. Reece once stopped her when she was about to leave work.

- Martinez, may I have a word with you?

This was a few weeks after she reopened a case in which Sean has been the lawyer. She has been a mess but Henry was there to comfort her and she was grateful. This time, she has been the one to put her own life in danger… But under Henry's advice, who was guiding her through her earpiece. She had put her life into his hands because she trusted him down to the bones and this had paid off.

That day Reece was off town, so she had no idea what happened… Or so she thought.

She followed her boss into her office

- Yes, lieutenant?

Reece was leaning against her office, with her arms folded. Jo wondered what she has done wrong in the last 72h or the last five months for that matter.

- Is anything wrong, lieu?

- I just wanted to ask you something… I heard some whispers here and there, about a case a few weeks ago when I wasn't around… I heard Henry put your life in jeopardy… In his luck, his plan worked but what can you say about this?

Jo's eyes grew wide. This was the less she needed. She quickly thought about something.

- He… He didn't put my life in jeopardy… He saved me. If Henry didn't guide me on the road, Dunn would have killed me and I would have nowhere to run.

Jo knew, most of the time Reece wasn't buying anything she was making up. She was the boss and she was impressive. She's been covering so much for Henry but at a point, she had the feeling, her boss knew what she was doing. And standing in front of her in that same moment, wasn't an exception.

- So according to you… He didn't endanger you?

Jo shook her head

- No! He didn't lieu! I… I listened to his words to save myself. He found a way to get me out of here. I feel like everybody else was hopeless.

Reece wrote something down and Jo was curious to know what it was. She raised her eyes to look at her detective.

- All right! I'll have to take your word for granted.

- Why did you ask me though?

- Because I needed to think about what I would do if he did put your life in jeopardy. He's not a cop, he's valuable for our cases but if he puts anyone from our team in danger, he's going to stay his butt in his morgue.

Jo gulped. She wouldn't handle not having Henry with her on the cases. She needed him and his expertise. And she was also learning a lot on their way to every crime scene.

- Henry's fine lieu, I promise. He didn't do anything wrong but saved my life, I'm grateful for this.

She hoped the lieutenant wouldn't ask more but she just nodded toward the door. She felt her eyes on her until she left. She knew Reece started to get suspicious about her covering Henry, but she never said a word afterward.

...

Henry went into the Orient Express, this was a very old train and a very expensive one. He kept saying he has been saving a lot through the years, but exactly how many years? Yes, maybe he had practiced medicine as it was before becoming a medical examiner, but still.

Also, he had told her one long life was enough to know everything he knew. She had pinned all those notes near the King's file.

One long life, The Orient-Express, infinite knowledge of history, languages and so many more. Talks about everything like he lived it.

"I guess I enjoy solving puzzles."

"What's to solve, you want to live forever?"

"Not exactly!

"Then what exactly?"

He didn't want to live forever… What if he was already living it? Working with Henry somehow made her as insane as him. She didn't know what to think anymore, she had more questions than she ever found an answer to the whole mystery the guy was.

Then he had that obsession with a 200-year-old ship… Why? This was also part of her notes. Too many questions. And she was lost in her hundred theories.

Until she found that picture at the station. She stared at it for God knew how long down there. She walked back with his watch and made a copy of that picture.

She spent her whole evening looking at it, at every angle. She stared at the watch…

- What are you exactly, Henry?

Author's note: Jo's sister living in Sheepshead bay is just a headcanon of mine, just like her raising twins. As most of you know, Jo's dad wasn't exactly a nice guy so I took some liberty with this in this chapter. (and I mean, according to the producer, Jo has a sister with children but he never specified if they were twins but it's easier that way lol, and we know she has a brother too, with one of the deleted scenes).

And I wasn't supposed to write all of these flashes but I figured since Jo investigating Henry was the main plot, I decided to write a couple of lines of how she came to all of this and her thoughts all year long, since she's getting rid of it.

The next chapter will be the last!

Ps: I keep the timeline following the season run, so each episode I mentioned was the day the episode aired. I never wanted to change it now that I kept it because actually Jo and Henry met in March so when the season ended, they've been working together already for a year but it's just a detail lol.