Title: Decrepit

Rating: PG

Summary: 50 years after D and Leon part ways, a familiar young man comes to Leon’s bedside. Is he really who he appears to be?

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The old man lay in the hospital, hooked up to countless machines. He knew he was dying. He wasn’t that senile yet. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, his life would be over. And what did he have to show for it? Nothing. He had never married, never had kids. His entire life had been his job, and he had stayed on the police force until they made him retire. He had been 55, and still almost as spry as he had been when he was 24. But then, old age started to take a toll on his body, and now here he was, 74 and on his death bed. All he could do was lay here and wait to die. He sighed feebly, his breath fogging up the oxygen mask that covered his nose and mouth. Even though he had saved hundreds of lives, had brought countless criminals to justice, the retired homicide detective felt like his life had been a big, fat waste, like it had gone by too fast, and all he had been able to do was hang on for the ride. It was certainly slow enough now. The doctors had tried to convince him to try an experimental drug that supposedly made humans immortal, and he had almost agreed, but a thought, no, a memory, had come to him that made him decline the offer. Four simple words.

Moths to a flame.

Now he was glad he had declined: his roommate had taken it, and hours later was pronounced brain dead. His body lived on, and his mind was trapped within it. The guy had just wanted to go home, live forever with his wife, and watch the great-grandchildren grow up. Now he couldn’t. Not here, not wherever people go when they die, because the poor man would never die. Every part of his body was alive, except for his brain. But he was only brain dead. Until the rest of his body ceased to function, he’d be trapped inside his own body, like something from a cheesy horror movie.

“Guess I owe you one, Count.” The old man laughed dryly. “Without all your ‘moths to a flame’ bs, I’d be like old Bill over there.” The room was silent except for the beeping and humming of machines. But then again, what did he expect? Count D to step out of the shadows and go “Boo?”

“Boo.” A smiling man stepped out of the shadows. The new arrival, dressed in a black cheongsam with a rainbow dragon on it, crossed to the old man’s bedside and sat down.

“Good evening, Detective Orcot.” He smiled, his raven colored hair hiding his right eye partially.

“Cut the crap. I retired 19 years ago.” The visitor put a finger to his lips in thought.

“Oh yes, it has been quite a long time since we’ve seen each other. Time goes by so fast.” He smiled. “It is good to see you again, Detective.”

“You came to watch me die, didn’t you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I thought you’d appreciate a visitor.”

“Right, and there’s a new ski resort in Hell.” The old man said sarcastically.

“I also have a gift for you, Detective.”

“Tetsu wants to put me out of my misery?” The visitor laughed.

“Oh no, nothing like that, Detective. Remember when I told you that humans had not yet earned the right to sail on the ship of dreams?”

“Yeah, what of it?” The visitor pulled his hair away from his right eye, and the ex-detective felt renewed, like he was 24 again. The visitor took his hand.

“Come, Leon, and let us fly together.” The Chinese man smiled.

“I thought only Chinese people could fly.”

“That is true. But you are not a person anymore, Detective. You are the noblest of all creatures, the first...and last of your kind.”

“What are you saying? Are you saying I’m some sort of animal?”

“Not quite. Animals are born the way they are, much like you were born a human.”

“Then what the hell am I?”

“It isn’t what you are, Detective. It’s what you have gained.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Detective,” The Chinese man led the ex-detective to the window and opened it. “You have earned your right to sail on the ship of dreams, without care for the boundaries that humans have set. Now come,” He leapt up onto the windowsill, and together the two jumped and flew to their ship in the sky.

“Leon!” A little girl in a poofy dress with adorable curls hugged the ex-detective’s leg. “Are you going to stay with us forever?”

“I think so. Right, Count?” Leon asked. The count smiled.

“Of course, Detective Orcot.” He said. “You have finally earned your right to board this ship.”