Forever

Loooove Birds!

((((((((((((Flashback)))))))))))))

"What?" Henry scoffed lightly. "Yes, I do have those charges-"

"And it's not just a few." Joanna cut him off, much to his irritation and dread. "It says here that you're been arrested 36 times."

"But-"

"In the state of New York alone."

He rolled his eyes. "Can we please move on? This, as I recall, is not what I am here for. And if you'd like to critisize my.... record, I'm leaving." He stood up and looked pointedly at the door. But, his heroics were for no reason other than to grandly tick her off. Joanna glared at him and he cowered under her gaze.

"Uh, you aren't going anywhere. Park it, Mister."

Henry didn't know what she was referring to by 'park it', but when she got angrier over his not sitting down, logic kicked in and he sat in the chair.

"Now... I don't think you have personal connections with this skeleton, because no one's immortal, that much is damn obvious. But this guy sounded right serious, Morgan. Explain what you think he means."

Henry pressed his lips into a thin line and rolled his eyes to the side before redirecting them back to the Lieutinent. "Fine. I don't know who it was. We don't have a name yet, either. And you won't as long as I'm-"

"The connection. Not your excuse."

"Maybe it was a relative of mine."

"Dressed in clothes from the 1700s, tied to a rock in the bottom of a river, and you think it's a relative?"

Henry's shifted from !!!!!! to ?????. "Why... wouldn't I?"

Joanna stared. "Get out of my office. I need time to think about this. You may even end up in the loony bin. And the next time you get a public nudity charge, I'll be sure this 'accidently' gets in the hands of Lucas."

It suddenly occurred to Henry that the younger ME didn't know anything about his past. Let alone the.....

"You wouldn't dare."

"Would I?"

He left, head hanging and shoulders up as high around his neck as he could make them without pulling a muscle. His scarf didn't feel like protection enough from the laughs of people who'd put their ears to the door and listened to the conversation.

He whispered to Jo the possibility of his being discovered and left before she could ask anything else.

((((((((((((((((End Flashback))))))))))))))))

"Henry?"

Somehow she caught up to him. He paused with his hands on the handlebars of his bike, analyzing his misty breath in the cold winter night air. Henry felt a hand on his back and looked at her sullenly through the corner of his eye.

"What?"

"Did she find out?"

"No." He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. "But she may as well have. She told me I could be thrown in a loony bin, whatever that is."

"A loony bin is a place for mentally ill people nowadays."

"Well, that clearly helps."

"Why'd you leave? It's not even the end of your shift."

"I can't take it in there anymore."

He could see her face turn from concerned to worried. "What?"

"Not... That I'm leaving for good. Just tonight. I'll be back tomorrow, but I'm not handling the skeleton case."

"Why not?"

"I lied about knowing the name."

"Yeah, Lucas said it was Harris Pines. Born in-"

"Jo, I want to go home now." He said softly, and pulled his bike from the each. Jo stared after him as he rode away, not sure whether to follow him or just admit defeat and go back inside.

Jo didn't choose defeat.

---

"Whacha reading?" Abraham asked. Henry showed him the old, worn book of Robinson Crusoe, the one Abigail had so lovingly mentioned in the note. He missed her terribly, and Nora, and some part of him, some part not awknowledged as a rational thought, therefore pushed away, he longed for Iona. Despite the fact that the woman was a total mental case, beating on men... for sex purposes, he had liked being liked, one could say. In a larger, better part of his mind, Jo was all over his thoughts, questions as to why she and he had both kissed and where he was going with her. Did she....

His thoughts were interrupted as someone splashed cold water on his face.

"Abraham!" He yelped, tossing his book out of harm's way. His son caught it with an amused expression on his face, still holding the cup of water.

"Aw, come on. It's not wet. And I couldn't resist. You weren't listening when I called your name at least four times, so....." He gestured with the cup, spilling more liquid from it onto Henry's knees.

"Now I'm all wet!"

"Well, thank you, Cap'n Obvious." Abraham laughed, setting the book down on the table beside him. Henry stood up and wiped his face with his arm. Even though he was irritated with his son's actions, he understood them. He had heard his name, just refused to-

"D'ya miss you girlfriend?" Abe said, with a mocking, good humored grin. Henry chuckled slightly.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yeah, y'know, it's classic for two partners on a case-"

"I'm-"

"At least you can see that she's into you." Henry swiped a hand through his now-wet hair and looked at Abraham.

"Come now, that's not the case."

The doorbell rang through the house.

"Oh, ho!" His son said, standing up to meet his dad's gaze. "That her?"

Henry shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No, probably-"

"It's me, Jo, Henry. I need to talk to you."

Abraham chuckled. "He's coming!"

*****************POV Swap: Jo*********************

Jo shifted her feet anxiously. Maybe he was angry at the fact that he'd almost been exposed. But he'd been acting strange since the discovery of the skeleton. Maybe Henry had a connection to whoever it had been. Or maybe-

She couldn't take it anymore and rang the doorbell. "It's me, Jo, Henry. I need to talk to you."

Now she'd done it. Henry would laugh or make a remark about her concern. Her thoughts were jarred when Abe's voice answered sweetly;

"He's coming!"

Jo had been fully prepared to meet a sad, quiet fellow at the door. But instead of scolding him for riding away on his bike like that, Jo couldn't stop herself from grinning at him as he pulled open the door to their apartment in the shop. His hair was plastered to his face, and water ran down his chin and forehead. It soaked his shirt and he made a show of wiping it off as if he was thoroughly exasperated.

So instead of asking him what was wrong, as was intended, Jo was so amused she merely asked:

"Why are you all wet?"