Chapter four; About bloody time.
Onto the awesome surprise!
Hanson had left about two hours after explanations and stories saying that he only believes it because Jo believes this crazy whatever it was. He also said that he'll explain everything to Lieutenant Reece as to why they lost the suspect. They didn't know how he was going to explain to her that Henry and Jo didn't need to give a report, but they trusted him. As for Henry he went down to his 'dungeon' as Abe calls it and has remained there for the last two hours after Hanson had left. Abe was getting frustrated with his father's antics, because Jo has been in Abe's company for the past few hours. He didn't mind her presence, but he knew she wanted Henry's company as well. Abe tried to enter the laboratory about an hour ago, but discovered his father locked himself inside again. Abe stood up from the couch one more time in an attempt to pull his father out of the hole he placed himself in once again.
"Don't worry Abe. It's alright. Henry needs some time to himself." Jo tried to re-ensure him, but was doubting her own words.
"He had enough time to himself. If we don't pull him out of his funk now he'll stay down there for the next two weeks. He won't eat, he won't sleep and he most definitely won't go to work." Abe said with an irritated huff.
"Whoa, whoa. I can't handle two weeks with doctor Washington and I sure as hell know that Lucas will attempt suicide." Jo said as she quickly stood up and followed Abe.
"My point exactly." Abe said as they both left the rooftop and headed for Henry's laboratory.
Henry hadn't moved from his spot at the desk in two hours. He didn't even do anything. He just simply sat at the desk with his head in his palms and prayed that this entire incident was a very sick and twisted dream, or rather a horrifying nightmare. He couldn't go through this entire thing again. He lost Jo's trust the first time. He couldn't bare to actually lose her or Abraham in this affair with another immortal. They were the only things keeping him sane and attached to this world or rather modern times. He knew he would possibly lose them some day in the future, may it be far or near, but he would enjoy the time he had with them now. As that thought struck him he immediately jumped up with an amazing realisation. 'I would enjoy their presence right here ,right now.' He thought as a smile crept onto his lips. 'It is settled,' He thought. 'I will ask Jo on a romantic evening for just the two of us. I will sweep her off of her feet and deal with this new enemy in dew time.' His heart skipped a beat. For the first time in years he felt the feeling of love and he will do anything in his power to protect her for as long as he could. Hell, he would even jump in front of on coming bullets for her. His smile grew as he headed up the stairs to join his son and the lovely detective. He would most certainly ask her out on that romantic evening tomorrow and it was just his luck that it was an off day for him. He would have cancelled and rescheduled it for the sake of the case, but since there is no longer a case he could plan all day after he asked Jo at work. As he opened the door he came face to face with a very confused Abe and Jo.
"Damn, I didn't think you'd leave on your own terms, Pops."
"Yeah Henry. What were you doing in there all this time?" Jo asked as she tried to stifle a laugh.
"I was wallowing in my sorrows of not being the only man with my condition and prayed that this was a nightmare or some sick twisted reality between life and death." Henry said with his famous grin. "Now if you will follow me upstairs, I will prepare a delicious dinner which will put Abe's cooking to shame." Henry said as he quickly moved pass them and made his way up the stair to the kitchen. Abe and Jo both gave each other a questionable look before they followed Henry up the stairs.
Jo was beyond worried now. Henry had started acting weird the night before, but she hadn't really paid much attention to it. Then he left early in the morning saying he needed to run some errands, which aroused her detective instincts even more, but still she ignored it. Now Henry was nowhere to be found. Not at the morgue or back at the antique shop. She picked up her phone for the fifth time that day and phoned Abe.
"He's not here ,detective. I believe I told you that about five minutes ago." Abe said with a flat tone. She sighed drastically.
"He really didn't tell you where he went?" Jo questioned with a worried tone enveloping her voice.
"Jo, do me a favour. Calm down and go back to work. Henry is a grown man and he had told me that it is his off day today."
"Yeah I know I'm just worried about him."
"I know Jo, but my Pops will be fine. Now get back to work and I will call you if he comes home." And with that Abe hung up the phone. She was walking out of the elevator for the fifth time that day now. She had gone down to the morgue a few times to see if Henry showed up, but alas there was no such luck. As she made her way back to her desk she stopped in her tracks. Beautiful roses in a rather expensive vase was displayed on her desk. She walked towards it and touch the delicate pedals carefully.
"I thought you and Isaac broke it off a few weeks back, Martinez?" Hanson asked as he walked up in front of her raising an eyebrow. He was handling Henry's secret rather well from the looks of it and he promised he wouldn't tell a soul.
"We did." Jo said as she eyed the flowers cautiously. She carefully pulled out the note that was placed in between the roses. As she opened it her heart skipped a few beats.
'Dear Jo, I wish to ask you on a rather romantic evening out. I would most certainly enjoy every second of your presence so I could learn every spectacular detail about you. I do hope you agree to my invitation. All my love, Henry.'
A warm smile crept onto Jo's lips and a rather mischievous one on Hanson's.
"It's from Henry isn't it?" Hanson questioned eying her every action. She squirmed under his gaze and instinctively avoided his eyes. His smile grew wider when she looked everywhere but him. "I think you should go for it. Henry is a good man."
"I know, but someday I'll be long gone while Henry will still be alive. I don't want him to be even more broken than he already is." Henry said with a deep sigh.
"While that may be true you're still here and now. Don't let him miss out on you, Jo." Hanson said as he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before walking back to his desk and continuing his paperwork. Jo sighed as she knew she couldn't say no to him. She really wanted to go out with Henry. She smiled widely as she made up her mind.
Henry eyed Abe carefully as he waited for his reaction. He had just told his son about his evening plans and was rather nervous of what his son would say.
"Well it's about bloody time!" Abe proclaimed as he pulled his father into a bear hug. "Now I'll be able to go on a date for once without feeling bad about leaving your lonely ass at home." Henry gave his son his famous disapproving look.
"I don't really see my 'ass' as lonely, Abraham." Henry proclaimed with a flat tone.
"Well, it is and Jo is making you smile for once in your life again. It's about time you moved on from mom." Abe said with a sad smile. At the mention of Abigail's name a sad smile graced his lips. Of course he still missed her time and again, but for the first time in 30 years he didn't feel guilty. His smile grew as he knew that she would absolutely approve of Jo. All that was making him worry now was Jo's answer on his invitation. "Now I'll be right back. I got to go and call Maureen. She's back in town for a while and asked if I wanted to join her for dinner and I told her I'd think about it."
"She's been in New York quite often considering that she's on a world tour." Henry quirked his eyebrow up questioningly.
"Yeah, she takes time off of the world tour to come home, but I think this is her last time. She has a boyfriend back in Europe." Henry gave his son a disapproving glare. "Oh calm down, Pops. Oh and don't wait up for me." Abe said as he snickered with laughter.
When the landline rang Henry cautiously walked over to the telephone. He still remembered the often phone calls that Adam had made. He took a deep breath before he picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Henry questioned as he held his breath.
"You really should consider getting yourself a cell-phone, Henry."
"Hello, Jo. I do hope you received my rather remarkable gift." Henry said ignoring her comment about getting a cell-phone.
"Yes, Henry I did," Jo replied sarcastically. "and I would love to join you for dinner." Jo answered with sincerity. Henry felt his heart skip a beat.
"I am really happy you agreed, Jo. I will come pick you up at twenty hundred hours." Henry said as his grin grew even wider. Jo giggled at his old fashion antics.
"With Abe's car?" Jo questioned for a second.
"Heavens no, I haven't drove in 35 years. I will come pick you up like all men did in my day and Abe is using the car this evening." Henry smiled.
"Alright, Henry I'll see you at eight." Jo said with a smile before she hung up.
Jo smiled at Henry once she opened the door of her house. He was dressed in his usual attire and looked appropriate for their date, while she was wearing a beautiful red dress that reached her knees. She blushed wildly when she realised that he was now in fact staring.
"Hey, Henry." Jo greeted trying to pull him back to reality.
"Evening, Detective. I have to admit you needn't dress up for me, but you do look rather famishing. Shall we?" He asked as he held his elbow out. She turned an even deeper shade of red before accepting his kind gesture.
"What is Abe doing tonight?" Jo asked as they set out for the evening.
"He has yet another date with his ex-wife." Henry sighed in defeat.
"Are they getting back together again?" Jo questioned surprised.
"No. She has a boyfriend in Europe if I recall correctly. His lack of better judgement is starting to take it's toll on me." Henry said as he stifled a laugh. Jo smiled at him as they continued down the streets of New York.
"So where are we going tonight, Henry?" Jo asked as curiosity got the better of her.
"Well, I feel like I need to redeem myself for last night's incident with dinner, so I decided that we are going to have a meal at my place." Henry answered with a shy smile.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Henry? Seeing how you almost set the house on fire and caused us to eat a take-out dinner." Jo said as uncontrollable laughter escaped her.
"I will admit that I had finer moments in my life and yesterday was not one of them, but I will most definitely prove that I can indeed cook." Henry said with his famous grin.
The rest of the of the evening went rather well, mostly since Henry didn't almost accidently set the kitchen on fire.(Again.) The conversation floated from things that happened to them in the past to people Henry knew and family members.
"No way, Henry. You couldn't possibly have known Gloria Carlyle." Jo laughed as she put a hand over her mouth as she realised something. "We solved her murder a few months ago, Henry."
"Yes I did know her. Well I met her when me and Abigail had snuck into a party that had been thrown by her. She was actually the reason I purposed to Abigail," Henry said with a bright smile. "and I am actually quite thankful that I had the chance to see her one last time. She was quite the lady and a good friend." Henry said as his smile faltered a bit.
"I would think so." Jo said with a sympathetic smile.
"I also don't recall you ever mentioned your siblings before until tonight." Henry said as he directed the conversation from sad memories.
"Oh yeah. They never really come into conversations. My brother, Tony lives in Australia, but my sister, Rosaline lives here in New York. Tony is a year older than me, while Rosaline a year younger." Jo said as she took another bite of her pasta. "Did you have any siblings growing up, Henry?" Jo questioned.
"Yes I had a younger brother, but he died during birth. I was 15 at the time. My parents didn't give him a name since they didn't see it necessary." Henry said with a soft smile.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know." Jo said as she softly placed her hand on top of Henry's.
"No, no it is quite fine. It was a long time ago." Henry said with a genuine smile. Jo smiled sympathetically and continued eating, while Henry continued rambling on about the past.
And done! Next chapter things will get a little interesting. Muwhahahahahahahahahahaha. Oh and reviews are nice.