This chapter has been remastered
Simon crouched down quickly and examined Dick thoroughly, checking for signs of life, finding none in the bloody, battered and bruised, broken body. Simon sighed in disappointment, he had honestly hoped the child would grow to old age and lead a happy, healthy life.
Not only that, Dick apparently was a reaper to be. If he had only found out sooner, he could have made an ally in him and maybe even rekindled an old friendship.
So much for wishful thinking, Simon thought bitterly as he stared at the fresh corpse. Well, rules are rules, so Dick's soul had to go… In the sense of being relocated to a new host body, at at least.
As Simon reached over, taking the scythe that hung by his belt, raising it above his head before slamming the sharp end of it into the young man's body. Simon shifted in slight annoyance as blood splattered a bit onto his suit. Bloody nuisance it is to have to stab a body to remove the soul, Simon thought as he flicked off the specs of blood. No matter, blood can be washed off…
Simon moved the scythe around, opening up a fleshy and bloody hole in Dick's chest, looking around for the soul. When he did find it however, he didn't make a move to grab it, Simon just watched it with utter shock as his only reaction to it.
Instead of the soul being dull and dead as it should have been, it shone brightly, albeit a bit too bright with sparks flying out of it.
That has never happened before.
Quickly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out an old time watch.
3:49 A.M. would be how a normal person would read it, but a grim reaper would say this person had died on the wrong day, meaning it wasn't his time yet.
A small and relieved grin spread on the reapers face; Dick could be revived. Not all was lost.
However, Simon paused to think over his next course of action.
Revival was an extremely rare thing to occur to a human being, mostly because it was never necessary. If a normal person died too early, their soul would still be collected and the only side effect in their early reassignment would be that the could recall glimpses of their former life, but nothing too concerning or explicit.
This wasn't a normal person however.
Simon carefully thought of what to do next for a revival as it could lead to disastrous consequences if done incorrectly. He knew a revival itself was also dangerous as the person undergoing it would experience age regression, memory loss of their life as a living organism, gain of supernatural powers, just to name a few.
He would need some help if he wanted to carry on with this, but it would be worth it if another grim reaper is raised to help maintain order in this crazy and chaotic world.
Simon swiftly grabbed onto the neck piece of Dick's suit and tore it open down the middle, exposing the bullet ridden chest. The soul burned even brighter at being exposed to the night sky, but Simon soon engulfed it into the comfort of his gloved hand. Once again Simon focused and maintained his attention single-pointedly on the life in his literal hands, entering the mind of the soul.
Once in the mindscape of the other, Simon reviewed any and all past lives Dick has had before. As a grim reaper, he already knew what Dick's number of lifespans was and the various names he undertook with them. But what layed in the experience of those lives? What memories came with them?
That's when Simon delved deeper into the plane.
As images began to flash around him in a fast pace, Simon could only sigh and cross his arms, waiting for the memories to fly by. The stoic man just allowed the memories to drain out, not much care for them did he show. But why should he?
The memories of the young man were heartbreaking and infuriating to watch.
With each memory zipping through, Simon felt all the emotions and thoughts that Dick grayson had in them. Each one held similar themes of pain, discomfort, depression, anger. The reaper could only flinch at each of the fleeting feelings, at least that was until he kneeled over in absolute pain.
He gritted his teeth and spat out curses under constrained breath. A new feeling arose. Longing.
Longing for acceptance he should have,
longing for forgiveness for the guilt he shouldn't be feeling,
longing for the family that should be there for him,
longing for a piece of love when he should have all of it,
longing for feeling human.
Simon's lip curled as the feeling persisted and got stronger and stronger, making him bare his teeth and let a few silent tears slip through his eyes. He looked past the rim of his glasses while holding his chest in pain, watching the memories flip faster and faster.
Then as if he had a heart attack, the slowly zipping memory of the explosion happened.
It all went silent for a few seconds as the memories cleared, only allowing Dick's final and most important images appear.
Simon from his position on the barren floor, panting to clear the pain, watched the images of the boy's parents deaths, the adoption, Bruce wayne firing him for disobeying, the 'replacements', the teams and friends he had turning their backs on him.
All the people who molded him into the person he is today, and left him in shambles when their perfect image of the perfect Dick grayson was shattered.
And that very man was picking up all the pieces of himself what were broken off, chiped, or shaved by other people. Simon sneered, some heroes...
The man suited in the trench coat finally stood up, still watching the images and feeling bitter, cold hatred for the people who caused such pain to the young man. But just when he thought he couldn't feel any worse, a final image came with spoken words adorning the memory.
It was himself and Dick, the final day he spent in the circus, the last time he saw the boy before shit hit the fan. He was smiling at the kid as the young acrobat rushed forward and tackled him in a teary hug, smile bigger than ever.
"The most genuine smile i've ever seen, and the happiest one i've ever had…", were the final words spoken with the image.
Simon dropped to his knees, eyes wide with horror and hands grasping and shaking at his coat.
The man felt absolutely horrible, that out of all of the kid's life, he was the last and final thought. And where was he all those years? He certainly never came back, even less think about the kid. Sure those were some of the most enjoyable moments of his life, but at the time he doubted it mattered much to an energetic, short attention spanned kid.
Now look where he was…
Sitting on his knees, staring up at an empty plane, having watched the kid remember him and feeling horrible to have the kid die happy. No one dies happy, unless they've had come to terms that they have to die or they've had a bitch of a life.
And Simon knew which one took the cake.
The old reaper took a shaky hand and ran it through his head of white hair, his eyes drooped down as he stared at the ground in thought.
Even after all of this, Dick was willing to forgive and love all of those who have wronged him, even me, Simon thought as his hands curled into fists, anger rising like bile. And I fucking forgot him...
Letting his hands fall to his side, he got ready to go and search for the boy in the wide mindscape. He only knew one thing for sure, that he was going to make up for countless years of loneliness to the kid. That he was going to build a bond with the boy and treat him like an actual human being, not a fighting machine or a ward. But like his own son.
With that plan in mind he stood up, ready to traverse the scape...
But he was soon interrupted as a small boy tackled him in a hug, making Simon stiff up completely from shock. He looked down at the kid, noticing he was wearing an acrobat suit with an 'R' on it. Kneeling down on one leg he recognized him to be Richard, despite the tears running down his cheeks and his young age. Simon lifted an eyeridge, he wasn't quite expecting this to be so easy.
"You're leaving, already?", Dick said as he swiped at his eyes.
Simon's eyes widened by a hair. Dick remembers me?, he thought, but sighed immediately after in understanding. I was his last thought, of course he'd recognizes me... His eyes slowly widened from there as he thought more about it. But if that was his last thought, then the entire memory is replaying right here, right now..
Simon understanding where this was heading, began to repeat what he said that day to the boy, just before he left his life forever...
"I will have to", Simon said extending his hand to rest it on the child's shoulder. "But you know what?"
"What?"
"You don't have to be by yourself anymore, I can take you with me"
….But this time….
"Really?"
"Yes, and I promise i'll make it up to you for all the years of pain you have endured."
...He wouldn't leave him all alone...
"You mean it?"
"Of course. "
"Are a grim reaper?"
"Yes"
….in the dark….
"Am I dead?"
"Yes"
"I don't want to be dead"
"I know, no one does, but I can bring you back with me"
"And you won't leave me?"
"No, never on purpose."
"I want to go with you, Simon"
"Then I shall make that happen, I promise. Now give me your hand and hold on tight"
Dick took hold of Simon's hand, squeezing it tight to reassure himself he was no longer alone. Simon returned the gesture before closing his eyes and focusing his mind to bring them back out of the mindscape and into the real world.
Simon opened his eyes again and found himself hugging a small boy, who was wearing the tatters of Nightwing's suit. Age regression.
"Simon!", Dick called out as his eyes shot open. He took deep and quick breaths as he locked eyes with the grim reaper. "You're here!"
"Yes I am", Simon responded as he picked him up, a smile slowly forming on his tired features.
"So it wasn't just a dream?", Dick asked, receiving a 'no' from Simon. "Are you really going to keep your promise?"
"If that's what you want", Simon responded and Dick nodded his head, hugging Simon tighter as he buried his head in his neck.
"Then, let us go home", Simon said walking away with his old friend in his arms, away from the rubble of the warehouse, away from death, away from everything. Both looking forward to the horizon.
….of night.