"So are we really going to tell Taro our secret?" Aaron asked Dave, once they were alone in their hotel room.

"He deserves to know, don't you think?" Dave asked his friend instead. "We know he's a very honorable man and that he will never reveal what he is told. We probably should have told him at least five or six years ago."

Aaron knew this was true so nodded.

"I know he is, but we've only told very few people our secrets before," Aaron said, looking pensive.

"I don't believe Taro will misbelieve us," Dave said. "We've known each other for too long. Plus there're plenty of legends about immortals, from many cultures, including Japan, though I admit they are usually gods of some sort."

"I know," Aaron said. "And no, I don't think our friend will disbelieve us. I just worry about putting more pressure on him. Someone just tried to kill him after all."

"I know, but he's been curious about why we still look the same for a long time now, he's just too polite to really inquire," Dave said and Aaron nodded. "He's bound to have guessed that we're not completely human, though his mind might not go in the direction of us being immortal, just really long lived. He knows there's got to be some reason that we look exactly the same as we did 20 years ago when we first met. He's an honorable man and we know he won't reveal what he's told, even to his wife if we request he does not."

"Yes, he'll keep our secret," Aaron agreed, soberly. "That's really not what I'm worried about at all."

"You're worried about his health when he learns what we are," Dave said knowing exactly what his friend was thinking.

"It's just concealing such an enormous secret would put a strain on anybody, and Taro is no longer a young man," Aaron explained what he was thinking.

"I don't think it will be as hard as you think, Aaron," Dave said. "Taro knows we're honorable men, so concealing our secret will be much easier on him then you believe. If he did not know us so well it might be as much of a strain on him as you believe, but I think it will be less of a strain to know, than to let his curiosity eat him alive."

"Maybe," Aaron conceded.

"What's wrong?" Dave asked when Aaron still looked rather worried

"Nothing really," Aaron sighed. "It's just sometimes I miss my children. I know it's been many centuries now, but sometimes I can't help but think about them."

"I know, they died way before their time," Dave said gravely. "I'm sure I'd be dead too if I hadn't been immortal. There was no cure for many of the diseases back then that there is nowadays. So many things can be cured now that likely would've killed you back when both of us were born. Only the strong survived back so long ago."

"I know," Aaron said. "I just want to find someone to settle down with. Someone to love, have a few more children with. I know we would have to move around, especially if I turned her immortal, but it would be worth it, just to have someone to come home to. I'm not going to do that just for any woman though, it would have to be someone really special. Someone that I know I would love for the rest of my centuries, not someone I would get tired of eventually."

"I don't blame you for wanting someone to come home to," Dave said. "I've often thought about finding a mate of my own, but as you said, it would have to be someone really special, that would accept the supernatural is real."

"And people of that caliber aren't exactly thick on the ground, at least not beautiful women, ones that aren't going to drive either of us crazy eventually," Aaron said.

"Well, I hope both of us find someone someday. We've had our share of woman over the centuries that's true, but none of them would've done well living forever."

"Most of them would've driven me batty in no time," Aaron snorted. "They might've been good for a short tumble, but not on a permanent basis."

"Well, you've changed your opinion," Dave chuckled. "It used to be that you were horrified at the very thought of having sex outside of marriage."

"Things change," Aaron said simply. "I was only horrified, because it was a strange concept to have sex with a female I wasn't married too. Things like that just weren't done back so long ago, unless you were very, very discreet."

"I know, I'm only teasing," Dave admitted.

"I realized however, that you were right. I was basically going to live forever and I couldn't go without sex for hundreds of years," Aaron added shrugging.

"Well, you could, but it certainly wouldn't be my choice," Dave admitted.

"Mine either," Aaron said with the reluctant smile.

"I think it's time we get some sleep," Dave suggested. "We're going to have to give Taro that explanation within the next 48 hours. We need to be prepared, as I'm sure he'll have a ton of questions."

"You're right," Aaron acknowledged. "You can have the bathroom first if you like. I'll turn down the beds while you're brushing your teeth."

Dave simply nodded and headed for the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind him or take any clothes with him, because it wasn't like Aaron hadn't seen him naked hundreds of times over the years. Besides, they were both the same sex, so why did it really matter anyway?

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

Taro was finally released from the hospital a couple of days later and as promised Dave and Aaron showed up.

"So how are you feeling?" Dave asked his friend.

"Much better," Taro said. "Especially now that I know poor Hiroto is going to be okay. That in itself is a miracle. He'll be a long time in recovering, but at least he's going to live."

"That's good," Aaron said.

"Yes, it is. It's too bad about poor Daiki though," Taro agreed.

"Yes, it is, but sometimes things happen," Dave offered. "I hope you have at least informed his family."

"I have and they were devastated," Taro said. "I don't blame them."

"No, neither do I," Aaron said, as he and Dave escorted their friend out of the hospital in a wheelchair, since it was hospital policy. Aaron thought about his own family that had died due to the dreaded influenza, what was today, commonly known, as the flu, so long ago. He had been the only survivor, as his wife and his six children were simply gone. There had been no cure back then and only the very strong survived. There wasn't as much known about sanitation and other things that kept a person healthy back so long ago either.

Once they reached the entrance to the hospital, Taro got to his feet and then the nurse that had followed them took the wheelchair back inside.

"Our car is this way," Dave said, as he led the way to where he and Aaron had parked.

"So about your secret and your promise to tell me," Taro said once they were all safely inside the car.

"I think it can wait until we get back to our hotel," Dave said simply. "I made sure we got a room at a hotel that had nice thick walls, not thin where people can hear you if you talk too loudly.

"I'm surprised you waited this long to ask us that," Aaron said chuckling quietly. "Your curiosity must be eating you alive."

"I've wondered over the last five or six years at least what exactly you were," Taro said simply. "Every time we see each other you always look exactly the same. I have my own theories of course, but whether or not I'm anywhere close I have no idea."

"Aaron and I figured that," Dave said, even as he drove. "You're an intelligent and observant man and you've known us for a long time. However, this is not a secret you tell someone, while you're driving a moving vehicle. Some serious explanations are going to be required and I'm sure you're going to have at least 1000 questions."

Taro nodded and simply relaxed back in his seat in the rear of the vehicle.

"At first I assumed you were lovers," Taro added. "You were so close that at first, that was the only explanation I could come up with that made sense. As I got to know you though, I realized that you were just as close as brothers."

Aaron couldn't help himself he burst out laughing and even Dave's lips twitched in clear amusement.

"People have assumed that before," Dave explained the reason for their amusement. "They don't listen when we tell them that no we are not lovers and never have been."

"Neither one of us swing that way," Aaron added his lip still twitching.

"No, we don't," Dave confirmed. "A lot of people seem to assume that we are, just because we are so close. Of course, their assumptions are wrong, but they don't particularly care that they are."

"Being perceived that way hasn't happened in awhile, but it doesn't mean it can't," Aaron added.

Taro was glad he had offended them, but then he knew that they did not offend easily and both had good senses of humor, which was why he had said what he had. A lot of people would have been offended by his assumptions but not these two.

"Here we are," Dave said finally pulling into the parking lot of a grand hotel. The Belmont was nearly 300 years old and had thick walls. They hadn't built places like this in a long time, as people took as many shortcuts as possible to broaden their own bottom-line in this century.

The three men entered the hotel and got into the elevator, but once they were in the room all of them sat down in a little seating area that was off to one side.

"Don't ask us any questions until we're done," Dave asked. "We'll never get through our explanation if you keep interrupting."

"Afterwards, we know you'll have many questions and you're welcome to ask as many as you want to," Aaron added.

"Alright," Taro agreed, thinking it was very reasonable.
Dave and Aaron looked at each other and finally Dave began.

Taro was taken into the world of Immortals and he didn't look as disbelieving as Dave and Aaron had figured he would, but then, there we're many legends and myths about immortal beings, especially in places like Japan.

Finally, Aaron explained how he and Dave had met.

"I met him shortly before the influenza hit," Aaron explained in a monotone. "We had only known each other for a few weeks when my family started dying due to the disease. There was no cure back then and only the strong survived. Dave knowing what kind of desperate straits I was in offered to pay for the doctor, but out of pride I refused. It was unlikely the doctor would've been able to do anything anyway, as the influenza virus hit young and old, weak and strong. Only those with very strong immune systems survived. My wife went first, as her immune system was weak, then my son, who was only a toddler, then my other children. I was the only survivor."

Taro looked sympathetic for to lose your whole family to a virus that did not have any cure at the time was horrible and would have broken lesser men.

"We buried them together and I offered to turn Aaron immortal, because he was an honorable man and I had seen this for myself over the few months we had known each other," Dave continued.

"I didn't accept at first, but we did travel together for about a decade and Dave never once censored me for a grieving for my family, like most other men of the time would have. I knew very well that most men would've called me weak for grieving for my family, as men aren't supposed to show their emotions, positive or negative, but especially the negative ones. I finally agreed to be turned immortal after that 10 years and we've been together ever since. I simply had nothing left for me in my home with my family dead, so there was no point of staying around and perhaps, drinking myself to death. In the end, I realized Dave's offer was a godsend, as I had gotten over my grief by that point, though I would always miss my family. The pain had dulled considerably, by the time, I agreed to let Dave turn me immortal," Aaron said.

"Life became much better with a companion, someone who shared many of the same opinions and ethics. I taught him how to read and write, which wasn't as hard as I expected, as he already knew how to read a little," Dave said.

"Learning to write was harder," Aaron admitted. "There were hours and hours of lessons whenever we stopped somewhere for awhile and I knew just enough simple math to not be cheated whenever I bought supplies at the market, though that was usually Berenice's responsibility. When you have so many children though, you have to be willing to help out, as someone had to stay home with them and unlike some wealthy folks we didn't have servants."

"Reading and writing was mostly for the priesthood or the high class and Aaron and I definitely weren't, but since I was immortal, I was taught these things. My family was in no way rich, but we always had enough to get by. We usually bartered for what we needed, as money wasn't used as much back then."

"In many ways, those were simpler times, but there were also many diseases that killed people off by the dozens," Aaron said looking reminiscent. "I much prefer my life now, because while it can get boring I always have Dave to talk too and just having someone I can discuss anything with, a companion, made those boring times better. I know that had I lived in the time after the invention of so many cures for diseases, that at least most of my family would have lived, but it was simply not to be. The flu, for the most part, is no more dangerous today then the common cold, not like it was back then. I know people still die from it, but that's usually only because they don't go to the doctor and think they can get over it on their own."

"While this is mostly true, there are some forms of the flu that are very dangerous, particularly to older people," said Dave.

"So how did you turn Aaron immortal?" Taro asked with pure curiosity on his face.

"There's only one way to do so that was appropriate for the situation and that was to give him as much of my blood as necessary. Back then, nobody knew about the different types A, B and O," Dave shrugged. "Oh, I know that's a fairly gross way to do it, but really, the only way and Aaron trusted me enough by then, that he just drank whatever I gave him without complaint."

"It took several doses," Aaron admitted making a face, remembering the taste of Dave's blood in his mouth and the back of his throat. "There were barely needles back then, except sewing ones and no syringes, transfusions weren't invented yet. Dave could only give me a certain amount at one time or he would've been incredibly weak. It wouldn't have killed him, but it would've taken him awhile to recover and plenty of hearty meals."

"I think if I ever do anything like that again that a transfusion would be the way to go, as injecting blood directly into a vein is bound to be faster and likely won't require as much blood," Dave mused.

"I know more about the body than I used to that when I was originally born and I know that Dave's blood started replicating itself in my body, just like normal blood does, except much faster. Within days I started to feel better, stronger. My health had always been excellent, especially for the time in which I was born, I never really got sick, like so many people do throughout their lives. I always got over colds quickly, not that I had many of those, but you understand what I mean I'm sure," Aaron said.

"So finally we gave him the acid test, as it's called nowadays," Dave grinned reminiscently.

"So how do you test something like that?" Taro asked curiously.

"It's really very simple," Aaron grinned, as he remembered. "People always carried eating knives in those days, as the cutlery often couldn't be trusted if you happened to stop at a farm or an inn. Many carried a cudgel with them or at least the men did, as there were many dangers on the road, even in town, some even carried swords, if they could afford them."

"You could easily be set up on by man who wanted to rob you and then kill you, so you couldn't identify them," Dave said. "Basically, all I did was slash the palm of his hand and if it healed immediately then he was immortal. Immortals always heal fast from physical injuries, though it of course, depends on the severity, as to how long it takes. Still, we are nearly never deliberated more than a few hours at most and that is only for the most severe of injuries, as usually recovery time is much less."

"So you were shot, but the bullet likely only passed through your flesh and whatever wounds you got healed immediately," Taro realized.

"It was only a flesh wound," Aaron shrugged. "And I got it saving your life, so it was well worth it. I knew I wouldn't permanently die from it and I've been shot before, so really, it was nothing. I only lost just a little blood, hardly any at all really, as it healed in just a minute. Any pain there was, was gone by the time I realized I had been shot. It was only after I saw the hole in the side of my shirt that I realized what had happened."

"That is an amazing story," Taro said thoughtfully.

"I'm surprised that you are asking for a demonstration?" Dave said looking at his old friend thoughtfully.

"That's not necessary," Taro said shaking his head. "For one thing you know I'm very good at detecting lies, I have to be in my business. For another, we've known each other for over two decades now and you have never aged in all that time as you look exactly the same as when we first met. Also, as far as I'm aware, you have not ever lied to me. Besides, there are many legends of immortals in my homeland, though they're usually gods of some sort. You're forgetting that Japan is filled with such myths and legends, though I never expected to meet a pair of immortals. I won't claim I actually believed the legends until now, but if you can exist then what does that say about other immortals beings?"

"He does have a point," Aaron told Dave and Dave nodded.

"Yes, he does," Dave agreed.

"So where do we go from here, gentleman?" Taro asked.

"Well, you know our secret now and I know you realize that it must remain that way," said Dave. "I won't insult your intelligence or your loyalty by telling you to keep it a secret."

"We never would've told you in the first place if we didn't trust you," Aaron added.

"I know and I will keep your secret," Taro promised solemnly. "I will tell no one, not even my wife."

"She would probably never believe it anyway," Dave said, smiling slightly. "She doesn't know us as well as you do, so she probably will not notice that we haven't aged at all."

Both he and Aaron had met Taro's wife on several occasions and found her an intelligent, charming, kind lady, one with a pleasant personality that Taro clearly adored.

Now, if only they could find a couple of women for themselves, that would be a dream come true for both of them. Aaron at least had been married before, though Dave never had been.

"This is true," Taro said reflectively. "Why don't you join me at my home in New York for a vacation or something. While I assured Aiya I was fine, she will worry until she sees me for herself."

"That might be good, for a few days anyway," Dave said.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you like," Taro said firmly. "You could stay for the next year and you would not wear out your welcome, I promise you."

"We will not stay that long," Aaron said his lips twitching in amusement.

"A few weeks is a possibility," Dave said. "It might be good to get away from Chicago for awhile. I know you're still determined to see your project go through, but it can wait until your wife knows you are okay."

"I promised her I would be home as soon as the hospital released me. I'm sure I can get a flight out tomorrow," Taro said.

"We'll try to get seats on the same flight," Aaron said.

"If we can't, because it's full, we can just follow after you on the next available flight," Dave agreed. "I know it's unlikely that the flight will be full, especially first class, but you never know."

Taro nodded knowing this was true. The three of them talked for a while longer and then Taro headed back to his hotel, though both Dave and Aaron warned him to be careful, as whoever was after him was still free.

Taro took the warning too heart, as he knew his friends were just concerned for him and unlike themselves he was not immortal, so could die.

Taro bid his friends farewell and went out the door of the room to the lobby to catch a cab.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

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