Greetings, my lovelies! The final chapter has finally arrived! Now, I must say, I did struggle a tad with this chapter, particularly how to wrap it up. I debated between adding an epilogue instead of the one I went with, but I honestly had no idea what would be in it. I think I came up with the best possible ending though. Please, enjoy!

Abe had found who he was looking for, but it had left him with even more questions than he had initially had. Why did Adam have to talk in riddles like some sort of super villain in an old TV show? It was frustrating beyond belief. He just wanted closure. Maybe he'd never get closure, not when he had never expected this death to ever actually happen.

The antique dealer sighed, getting up from where he sat in his living room and making his way to the basement stairs. He made his way down them and sat at one of the tables in Henry's dungeon of death. Every single thing in this room held a piece of his father. Henry kept everything for a reason. Perhaps that would help him cope.

But something Adam had said continued to jump back into Abe's mind. 'That's because he's immature.' 'He's immature'? He 'is' immature? Adam continued to refer to the medical examiner in the present. Why would he do that?

The telephone suddenly ringing practically made Abe jump out of his skin. He went to reach for the receiver but hesitated. Was he going to to be the new victim of Adam's continuous cryptic messages from now on? No, that couldn't be it. He didn't have anything that Adam could want.

He picked up the phone, waiting for the other side to speak first.

"Abe?"

"Jo?" he replied, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, hey, are you sitting down?" she questioned.

Abe raised an eyebrow, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Why?"

"I have something to tell you but, you might want to sit down."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Abe responded. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I guess I should just come out and tell you," Jo paused, seemingly to collect herself, "You see, Henry is alive."

The first thing Abe wanted to ask was 'Did you actually see his body disappear?', but thought better of it. He was silent for quite some time while trying to think of what to say. "Um, what? How?" That would cover everything, right?

"Apparently Henry was poisoned with a neurotoxin that causes complete paralysis," she explained. "You'll have to ask Lucas for all the details. But he found out that Henry's body was still healing his wounds."

"Wait, so..." Abe tried to wrap his mind around what he was hearing, "He was never really dead?"

"No!" Jo said happily. "He's basically in a coma. It's not unheard of it to happen where people are mistaken for dead."

Abe pressed his hand to his forehead, backing up to sit in a chair. "He's not dead?"

"Abe, he's not only alive, but he's probably going to be fine."

I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. My secret is safe. I won't have to leave.

I take it back, Lucas. This is the greatest thing you have ever done, and I can't wait to tell you. I can't wait to hold Jo's hand and thank her for leading him in the right direction. I can't wait to hug Abe and apologize for everything I've put him through.

I'm so thankful that I will have that opportunity now.

Jo is in my hospital room now, on the phone with Abraham, telling him that I am very much alive.

"Of course, I'll see you here in a few minutes," she says before hanging up the phone. I feel her hand slip into mine and I am glad I don't need to squeeze it back to let her know I'm here. "The doctors said there is a pretty good chance that you are completely aware right now, Henry," she whispers close to my ear.

I am, Jo.

"So, if you are, I just want you to know I'm sorry it took me so long to realize you were in trouble."

It wasn't your fault, don't blame yourself. There was no way you could have known what was happening.

"I just can't tell you how happy I am you are okay. And when you can talk, I'll actually have a chance at figuring out who did this to you."

About that...

"Hey, Detective!" Lucas calls as he enters the room, and steps toward my bedside, putting a hand on my shoulder. "How's he doing?"

"The doctors said his vitals are 'faint but stable', which is good," Jo explains. "But it might take a few days for the toxin to wear off."

"Well, a few days is better than never," Lucas pointed out.

Quite true, quite true.

1903, England

Henry Morgan bit down hard against the rags in his mouth, tears of pain streaming from the corners of his eyes. The men around him, however, talked as if this were completely average procedure, recounting what they saw or giving orders to supply him with more blood to keep the doctor alive.

The dissection edged on but all remained shockingly level- that is, all but one. The young man still stood to the side, face drained of color as he watched what transpired before him. Occasionally he would complete a barked order and hand a tool to a "doctor", but other than that he felt frozen. He wished he could do something to help the only real doctor in this room, but he was terrified; simply petrified.

"Boy!" the head man, the one who had ordered Henry stay awake, shouted. The young man started, confused. "I said hand me the forceps!"

As ordered, he grabbed up the medical pincers but hesitated. The man stood on the other side of the doctor's body and the boy dreaded the idea of having to lean over it and see the open chest.

"I said now!"

The boy stepped forward, starting to hand the forceps to the man but froze, looking at the exposed organs of Dr. Morgan, then to his face, contorted in pain and exhaustion. The boy pulled the the tool back from the angry scientist and instead plunged it deep into Henry's heart.

Henry's eyes flew open and he sucked in one last painful breath of air, vaguely aware of the rage-filled voices around him that were quickly drowned out by images of his life flying through his mind.

Recovering from his poisoning was very unusual for Henry. He was so used to appearing suddenly in water, head bursting above the surface and sucking in a lungful of fresh air. Compared to the rush, the roar, of coming back to life from the dead, 'waking up' from this was a whimper.

Though, in this case, he much preferred the whimper.

He had recovered gradually, each stage celebrated by his friends and his son. First he had been able to open and move his eyes, a welcome reprieve from the constant darkness, then move his head, neck, and mouth so he was actually able acknowledge his visitors. He couldn't have been happier, though, when he was finally able to sit up and speak. By then, nearly four days had passed in predominantly one-sided conversations, and Henry Morgan had much he wanted to say.

He had a modest crowd once everyone had been informed, including Abe, Jo, and Lucas, and even Hanson and Reece had stopped by briefly.

When the initial excitement over his progress was over, he had reached out a hand and Lucas had taken it in a bit of surprise. He shook it with a smile that his assistant quickly returned. "Thank you, Lucas. I don't know how I can ever repay you for, well, saving my life."

"Could you answer a question for me?" he offered.

"Of course."

"If you're Batman, does that make me Robin?"

Henry glanced at Abe for help, who just laughed, then to Jo who rolled her eyes and mouthed, 'Say yes'.

"Um, yes, it would seem that way," Henry offered, a bit unsure.

Lucas beamed, so Henry turned to Jo. His partner leaned in and they pulled each other into a mutual embrace. "Don't blame yourself for any of this, Jo," he whispered into her ear and she just squeezed him tighter in acknowledgement. After a long moment the partners pulled apart and Henry looked to both her and Lucas. "May I have a moment alone with Abe?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Jo nodded with a smile. "Let's go get some coffee, Lucas."

Lucas jumped up from his seat to follow her. "Is this becoming, like, a regular thing?" Jo rolled her eyes yet again, exiting the room with the man behind her.

"Henry, you terrified me!" was the first thing Abe said, even as Henry took his hand to pull him in closer for a hug. "I'm sorry I didn't realize that you weren't... I feel like a moron."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Abraham," Henry told him, holding his shoulders. "I could hear all of it. I know how hard you tried to see if I was alive. I'm just sorry for all the pain I put you through," he said, guilt in his voice.

"That's hardly your fault," Abe brushed it off. "You didn't ask Adam to poison you."

Henry just placed a hand on the back of his son's head with a grateful smile, pulling him in a bit to place a kiss on his forehead. "Abe, I'm not going anywhere. I promised you I'll always be here for you and I intend to keep that promise. I'll always be here."

Abe squeezed his shoulder. "I know, Henry. I just hope you don't get angry when you find out what I did."

"Abraham," Henry said slowly, a suspicious look crossing his face. He knew that guilty look all-too-well. "What did you do?"

When Dr. Henry Morgan returned to work, he was practically no worse for wear. He went about his day predictably, ending up outdoors yet again assisting his partner is a murder investigation- an actual murder this time. Quite unfortunately, the good doctor was unable to provide any further clues as to who attacked him. 'Just a man he had noticed following him that morning, he never got a good look at him'. His secret was infinitely more precious to him than catching the man who had poisoned him, of course.

He investigated the scene as he often did, easily picked out from the officers he assisted in his usual coat and vest and tie and shirt, strung together by his most constant companion, a scarf. This was the reason why the medical examiner still was the way he was. Dr. Morgan refused to change. He refused to carry a cellphone, refused to enter social media, refused to use a microwave. He refused to change and instead let the world change around him. He would never progress if he continued to live how he did.

But my latest attempt to teach him had backfired. I hadn't expected the mortals to be able to see past an illusion of death. How unfortunate.

No matter. I have all the time in the world to change you, Henry.

And there it is, thank you all for putting up with my scheduled posting and cliffhangers and vaguely gory themes! All your support has been sooooo amazing that I have already planned out another multichapter story for you all. I don't want to give too much away, but I will tell you this much: It will be much more crime-solvey and involved, and longer (I planned out 10 chapters). While Henry will, of course, still be the focus, the plot itself will actually revolve more around a certain someone else you might not see coming! (And, just a heads up, the plot will be a tad triggery I suppose. Not horrible, but a little dark.) So, the more supportive reviews I get, the quicker I will get it all written out so I can post on a regular schedule like Illusion! Have at ye!