013: Lost in Life
Story 5: Lost in Life
Wars came and went but the fact of the matter was that they remained unchanged. After 50 years, David knew he'd be timeless, living well beyond most of his high school friends. He was a bit taller, blond darker and he even managed to get light scruff around his face. He looked 23, almost Ellis' age when he was experimented on. He went by the surname Harris-Renato since he served the Ultimecia, the entity the Ellmist had released the young man for, a heaping helping of destruction with his family. That was his purpose: to save the world after Nick and El sacrificed themselves into the pit. He remembered when the angels of Rebirth and Eudaimonia, their true forms, slashed through the devourer and took away its immortality.
Now David had retired from all that action, at least he wasn't looking around for it anyways. He had a nice and stable routine that he incorporated into his long life. Every day would start with him waking up and tending to the enclosures that held his father and his brother, along with the rest of his family. He noticed that Nick's hair was starting to get some gray in him and it made him smile, “Vain bastard's gonna have a heart attack when he sees that.” During their joint waking periods, all three along with Miss Cordy and Keith had seen the world, traveling all over and enjoying new things. That was twenty-two years ago and the memory was still so fresh, the smells still crisp. Ellis looked much more mature now and yet still the same, he and Keith needed a haircut after this. They all stayed awake for their mother-figure, as hard as it became once they hit the ten years without sleep.
The next part of his day had the transgenic run errands for himself, getting food in his stomach and new stuff for the home they'd share. During his first hibernation, it was actually fucking terrifying to think that he'd be sleeping for a whole year but Ellis assured him that he'd be fine. Half the time he slept, the other half he dreamed; he dreamed about everything. He found out that he'd have his waking days and even weeks but a year passed and he got the hang of it. It saddened him considerably whenever Nick or El didn't come with but he had Keith to keep company.
This day, however, David was going to do something different and headed onwards to the elderly home and brought along a fake pass. As expected, he had been groomed into being the perfect little killer (though he wasn't little at all) and recon agent by the time he was twenty-one so he just lied his way inside. Even after half a century, the smell remained the same, if a bit worn by time and David found his target. Sitting in a wheelchair and staring outside was a portly old man, gray hairline receding after years of full hair, wearing a frankly kick-ass bomber jacket. But the most striking feature, the one the animorph recognized the easiest was the intent look in his eyes. “Hello, fearless leader.”
Jake only turned his gaze and glared, “No one's called me that in years...” Then came the recognition and the old man searched for a gun. “WOW, lucky asshole. You still look like this after all these years?!” David shook his head and knelt on Jake's lap, lightly grabbing a knee. “That's what happens when you mess with genetics.” The terrified look on his former rival made the Chimera smile and assure him, “I'm not here to kill you, Jake. I'm really here just to make sure you're taken care of.” The surprise made David chuckle, “Who do you think set up the charity account for this place?”
Almost instantly, a lot of things in Jake's old age made sense; how he'd never seen who paid for every little medical expense, especially those that came with being a golden-age Animorph. This was one of the best homes to be in and, even though the government would've done a bang-up job, David insisted to Nick to let him do this. A few high-priced kills and winnings amounted to plenty of cash for the Renato-Faulkner household. “You did all this...for me?” the words came out choking. “And Cassie too.” The pain in David's voice spoke volumes about his true intentions with the charities and even his present visit.
When lunchtime arrived, the ani-traitor let it slip, “Please forgive me.” In that moment, they weren't 68 and 69 but back in their teens, when the bad blood started. Jake tried to figure out David but he had a perfect poker face. So many people died and suffered in their decisions' wake that the act of forgiving was almost too heavy to bear. Because of David, Rachel died; that was nigh unforgivable for the leader. “Why?” “Because.” That pedant side still remained in the deceivingly young man. In one year, he'd have to return to the soft bed and he knew that at this rate, David would never have a chance to do this. His powers, now borderline heavenly, could only go so far. As hard as he tried, he couldn't do the impossible. How could he, a scorned man with barely a redeeming trait, outlive Earth's hero?
“Don't tell me you had an epiphany and now you're trying to atone for your sins,” Berenson hissed and refused to eat now that he knew his food was paid by Harris. “Ding, winner. Actually no, my epiphany came when I discovered that Corvettes could have suicide doors,” David rolled his eyes and sat on the bed, “Do you have any idea how long I'm going to live? Give or take a couple of centuries. I'm doing this mostly for you.” That was a blatant enough lie that Jake caught it. It dawned on to him that neither the conman or the mechanic was with him. “Did your family-”
“They're alive, we just haven't quite had matching waking periods. Mostly, I have Keith and my aunt Rochelle with her kid Francheska,” David answered while pulling back his hair; the omission like a klaxon. “Dude, I didn't envy you then, and I certainly don't envy you now.” The term of affection reminded the former hero of his own weight: although his body wasn't eternal like Harris, his soul carried the same woes as the Chimera's did. In a sense, they were back on the same level and time humbled them to the extent that Jake asked, “Would you forgive me even after all that I did to you?”
David had pondered that question the minute he had been able to shed that rat body; he had been granted the little blessing of being banned from that form by Eudaimonia. Before meeting his eventual guardians, David would've said “no way” and schemed a way to kill Jake. The blue box had long since become a distant memory for him. But, that present day, the Chimera nodded slowly. “Yeah, I would. Wartime's a bitch, y'know?” Then an idea came to mind. “C'mon.”
When David conned his way into letting Jake out, he morphed into a lion and quietly egged his former rival to don his tiger form. he promised and turned around to let the old man shed his human skin for an aging tiger, still majestic after all these years. They stayed under a tree, just sitting there until the two-hour limit Berenson had. It felt right; they felt like they were really long-lost friends instead of bitter rivals. What could've been...
At the end of the visiting hours, David was packing up to leave and pay the officials when Jake rolled out and said, “I forgive you.” It took balls of steel for the ani-traitor not to break down but he didn't. Instead, he got on his knees and embraced him tight while whispering, “I forgive you.” He left the home and hopped on the Ducati bike Ellis had given him on his 25th birthday, finally at peace with himself. A voice in the back of his head told him that he'd see Jake again, as he really was but not for a while. Instead, he drove back home...
To find the shared bed empty. “Hey kiddo.”