Some Jenry moments but not what you think (get your minds out of the gutter LOL). Henry tells his long story to Mike.

Chapter Text

Jo pulled Henry by the hand past the small but happy throng, intentionally jabbing the uni crowing "There you go, there you go!" in the ribs, only briefly satisfied at his painful response. She then hooked her arm around Henry's elbow and guided him over to the elevator. Once there, she banged the side of her fist on the down button and waited impatiently for the car to arrive. When it did and the doors opened, she roughly guided Henry inside and pushed the L button for the lobby.

"Those idiots!" she rasped through clenched teeth. "Their minds full of lust!"

"Although I quite agree, Detective," Henry started, "I still must ask where - " He abruptly stopped, swallowing his words as Jo nearly shoved him out of elevator once it reached the lobby and the doors opened. "Where are we going?" he asked as she released his arm and he followed her out of the building.

"Just get in the car, Henry," she firmly told him.

They got in and buckled up. While she drove like a woman on a mission, Henry could see that she was greatly annoyed and maybe a bit embarrassed at their attempt at a kiss having been witnessed by a handful of lascivious unis.

"Bet those knuckleheads are collecting their winnings from that stupid pool," Jo rasped again, her teeth still clenched. "Makes me so mad!"

"Well, at least I don't believe that they heard any of our discussion," Henry said in an attempt to allay any fears she might be having about that. The car slowed and Jo parked. Frowning, he looked up at the building they were parked in front of and asked, "Is this a new crime scene?" he asked.

Without a word, Jo got out of the car and he did likewise. Still frowning and confused, he followed her up the stairs and watched her put in an entry code.

"Whose place - ?" He abruptly swallowed the rest of his words again when she opened the door and snatched him inside. Once inside, he allowed himself a smile as she dragged him into the living room of this unknown dwelling.

She quickly turned to him and threw her arms around his neck, finally relaxing against him. "This is my sister's, Maria's, house," she breathily explained. "She and her husband, Tony, took their kids to Disney World. We shouldn't be interrupted here."

"What a delightful change of pace that would be," he said, grinning, his voice deep and low. Their eyelids fluttered close and they both tightened their embrace as their lips fully met and the long, overdue kiss deepened.

vvvv

Abe's Antiques, later that same evening …

A confounded but grateful Mike Hanson sat across from Henry at the small table in their small kitchen. Confounded because he'd never in his life heard anything like what Henry had just related to him. Grateful because he now realized just how hard it must have been to open up to him or anyone else, for that matter. After his sixth or seventh "Wow", the big man shook his head full of thick, dark hair and blinked his green eyes at this immortal man in front of him. A living, real live immortal man! His eyes traveled from Henry and over to a smiling Abe, who raised his eyebrows a bit as their eyes met. Another "Wow" left Mike and he chuckled nervously, washing his hand over his mouth.

"Dad didn't mention that you were the strong, silent type," Abe joked, trying to lighten the mood after his father's mostly depressing tale. "That all you have to say is Wow?"

"Da-ad," Mike said, breaking up the word with another nervous chuckle. "The two of you." He raised his eyebrows and grinned, shaking his head. "Wow." Realizing that the two men - and Jo, for that matter - were anxiously awaiting more of a response from him, he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. And then deflated. "I mean … geez, I just don't know what to say."

Henry, Jo, and Abe all shared a look and released a collective sigh as they leaned back in their chairs.

"Okay, okay, uh … " He looked at Henry and said, "Thanks, Doc - for letting me in." He raised a finger and smiled, adding, "But I knew from the first time we met that there was something … " He stopped himself from saying 'weird'. "Uh, different about you. I mean a gravedigger and a medical doctor? No way."

His three dinner companions laughed softly and he continued. "But it all falls into place now. The reason ya have so much knowledge packed into ya about things nobody else knows or even thinks about anymore. That Jack the Ripper stuff and Black Dahlia murder stuff. And that pancakey-syrupy smell on that guy's cap that turned out to be from his perspiration because of untreated diabetes. Stuff like that."

Henry smiled and nodded, remembering the Aaron Brown murder case involving the records of Jo's deceased husband, Sean Moore. He caught her eye to see how it affected her to be reminded and was gratified to see her return a strong, un-sad smile.

"Then, there was the Hans Koehler case," he said, rubbing his chin between his thumb and fingers. "You went up on the roof of Grand Central with Jo but never came back down." He frowned at the memory and continued. "I was so intent upon getting help for Jo after finding her unconscious and shot, that it didn't occur to me that one of those gunshots I'd heard had connected with you. You … died up there and, and vanished, didn't you? Jo just didn't remember it or see it because she had lost consciousness," he speculated.

Henry hesitated before replying, tensing slightly. "Actually, I … ah … was shot soon after Jo was but … " He relaxed significantly when he felt Jo's hand on his forearm. He placed his other hand atop hers and squeezed a thanks to her. "I'd fallen down but managed to get back up to my feet just as he was about to release the poison gas into the ventilation system. I grabbed him and … we both fell off the roof to our deaths. Then my body vanished."

Mike stared at Henry in horror at that revelation. "That would … explain things," he whispered. His features calmed and he said, "Sorry ya felt ya had to keep stuff like that to yourself for so long. Guess that's the way things have always worked for you, huh?"

"Let's just say that the times when my trust has not been betrayed have been few and far between," Henry replied. "But I am very grateful for those few times. It's always good to have friends one can trust," he added.

Mike smiled slightly and nodded. Then his brow knitted and he looked at Jo, then back at Henry. "Wait a minute," he began, "besides Lieu and these two, does Lucas know?"

"Yes," Henry hesitantly replied, smiling. "But he's my assistant and works closely with me," he quickly added. "And because of something he'd done for me once, I felt that I owed the lad an explanation."

"He beat me," Mike stated grumpily. The others chuckled. Mike's eyes narrowed at Henry. "Lad. Guess I'd be a lad, too," he ventured. "I mean based on your more early birth date."

"Me, too," Abe chimed in with a broad smile. "Although to the eyes of the world, I might not look like it."

Mike looked at Abe and said, "Henry raised you." Abe nodded, still smiling. "And you came out okay," he said thoughtfully. He looked at Henry again and said, "Ya gotta help me out with some child-rearing tips. Seriously. My old man kinda half-assed with me and my younger brother. Maybe that's why my two boys are monsters! Seriously!" he repeated, raising his voice above their laughter and claims that he was exaggerating. His cell phone rang and he lifted a hand while he retrieved it from his jacket pocket and answered it.

"Errr, my wife, Karen," he told them, keeping his eyes trained on the phone's screen "Texting me to see when I'll be home." He tapped his reply and pocketed the phone and looked back up at them. "Time for me to go. But before I do … you said that you have no idea how or why you got this immortality."

"Quite correct," he replied. "I only know when. And I have no idea how to stop it. There's nothing more I'd like than to have a normal life. One that would allow me to age and meet a final end like everyone else."

"All this time, you've never met anyone else like you?" Mike asked. He watched Henry's smile fade and he lowered his head a bit, his eyes darting quickly over to Jo and Abe then down at his hands. Sensing he'd hit a nerve, indicating that Henry had met someone else like himself, he also sensed that there was a troubling aspect to the situation. "Story for another time, eh, Doc?" he said, temporarily letting him off the hook with one of Henry's own lines.

"Quite," was all Henry said, relaxing once again and smiling.

Mike thanked them for the hearty meal of spicy, Thai Jungle Soup and tried unsuccessfully to get the recipe from Abe for his wife. He bid goodbye to Jo and Abe and Henry walked him to the door and the two men shook hands.

"I'm serious about those parenting tips, Doc," he told him before leaving. "No joke." Henry laughed and promised he'd offer what he could. "Oh, and, uh, take good care of Jo," he said with a wink after he stepped outside the shop. "Yeah. I know about you two."

Henry exuberantly bounded back up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and returned to the kitchen where he found his son and his lovely lady halfway through the kitchen cleanup.

"Oh, good, Pops, you're back," Abe said, drying his hands on the kitchen towel. "I'll leave the rest of this to you and Jo." He and his father hugged and he retired to his bedroom.

They both smiled as they found themselves once again alone.

"Can I get one of those, too?" Jo asked him.

"Thought you'd never ask," he replied, grinning.

"Finish the kitchen first!" Abe's voice reached them from his bedroom.

Jo's eyes popped open wider and her jaw dropped as she fought to contain her laughter.

"Sometimes he treats me as though he were the parent," Henry leaned down and explained to her in a whisper.

"I heard that!" Abe's voice loudly emanated from the hallway and into the kitchen again.

They laughed and Henry kissed her soundly on the side of her neck before they resumed the kitchen cleanup. As he watched Jo wash the rest of the dishes and he dried and put them away, he listened to her express her happiness at how well things had worked out for him. Yes, he thought to himself, things had worked out rather well. Things were good. Life was good. And with a wonderful son like Abe, friends he could trust, and this lovely woman by his side - his life could only get better.

FINIS

That's it! Finally reached the end of this fic. Oh, and Lt. Reece doing a ride-along next year? Let's just say that she conveniently sprained her ankle, poor thing. Oh, darn! LOL And although Karen Hanson did not meet Henry in this fic, it doesn't mean that she won't meet him in another of my fics. Or maybe I'll tack on a short epilogue to this one. We'll see where my warped brain and typing fingers lead me. Thank you all for your comments, reviews, kudos, and interest.