An idea that occured to me late at night.
Warning: death fic
Time
New York, 2055
Owen's eyes flew open, a sudden sensation pulling him from deep slumber. It was similar to the feeling he got whenever one of the Xanatoses was in danger, thanks to the spell he'd cast on the family. But this time the urgency that normally accompanied the feeling was missing.
Then it occurred to him. "So it's time?" he asked, looking out of the window at the moon, so similar and yet different from the view on Avalon.
He slowly put on his normal suit, then left his room in the direction of the infirmary and its sole patient.
David Xanatos was sleeping in one of the beds, having caught a nasty case of pneumonia shortly after his 100th birthday. The doctors had suggested that he stay in the infirmary until he'd recovered in order to avoid him catching anything else. In a way, it was an advantage that the surprisingly steady stream of visitors was mostly non-human and therefore their visits didn't pose a risk of infection.
Owen sat down in a chair beside the bed, then reached out to take his friend's hand. He waited.
It took David Xanatos a while to wake but then he slowly opened his eyes, blinking a bit to try and get them to focus. "Owen?" he asked quietly. "Is something the matter?"
Owen allowed himself to smile. "It's time," he simply said.
David's still quick mind allowed him to understand at once. "Ah. And will you keep me company until I leave?"
"And longer."
"What?" David tried to push himself up on his elbows but found himself too weak.
"Shh." Owen gently urged him to lay down again. "It is something I arranged decades ago, back when I swore to be by your side until you died. The moment your heart stops, 'Owen Burnett' will cease to exist."
He was touched how closely his best friend had tied their lives to each other, touched that a free spirit like the Puck had chosen to keep playing the same role until he drew his last breath before taking on another. Except... "You're not changing, are you?" The look in those blue eyes he knew so well was answer enough. "What about Alexander?"
"I have trained his assistant myself, just as you have trained your son. He will take of all business matters for as long as Alexander will need. And I already know that Coyote will keep him safe, both as a favor to me and because Alexander married his youngest protégée," Owen replied. They had both been quite amused (although only David openly) by the look on Goliath's face when Hope Maza had told her father just who it was she was dating.
David smiled. Good old Owen. "Once again you've already prepared everything."
"Of course, sir."
David's smile dimmed slightly as he remembered something. "Owen, I always wanted to ask: did you ever regret...getting involved."
"Never."
Their hands tightened, holding onto one another.
Alexander had decided to visit the infirmary briefly to see how his father was doing on his way back from talking to the clan. He was surprised to find the door open and his teacher sitting in a chair beside the bed, his back to the door. He wanted to call out to him but the words caught in his throat when he noticed the changed atmosphere. "Dad?" he finally asked in a strangled voice. "Owen?" He took a few steps closer, then stopped again, unable to take the final steps necessary to tell for sure that...
He jumped when a soothing hand was placed on his shoulder. Whirling around, he found his mother standing behind him, a sad smile on her lips. "They've left, haven't they?"
He swallowed, then simply nodded.
"I wondered why I felt so restless tonight," Fox whispered, half to herself. She looked at the two men, then made a sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "So once again they're having me join them later."
At that, Alexander finally found his voice. "Mom?"
She smiled at him. "Not yet, Alex." She glanced at her husband and their friend. But soon. "Come, we will need the rest for the days to come," she said to her son, steering him away from the room.
They stopped short after only a few steps when they suddenly found themselves facing Oberon and Titania.
"What do you want?" Alexander demanded to know, not in the right frame of mind to deal with the rulers of Avalon.
Titania stepped forward. "I felt him die. I couldn't stay away and leave you alone in your grief." She stopped in front of her dearly beloved estranged daughter. "Not when I know what it means to lose a beloved husband," she whispered, tears in her eyes.
For the first time since the birth of her son, Fox hugged her mother, finally letting the tears flow.
"We are also here to offer the Puck the possibility of visiting Avalon for short periods of time," Oberon said.
"You are too late for that," someone said before Alexander could reply. Anubis stepped out of the shadows beside one of the windows. "He has chosen his place." He looked in the direction of the infirmary, the moonlight glittering in a single teardrop.
The end