Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Daniel walked through the palace, thinking about Fiddler's Green's words, but at the same time he couldn't help himself. He felt he had to at least try to bring Morpheus back. He owed it to him, if he refused, at least Daniel would know what he was getting into, like with Fiddler's Green.

Daniel squeezed the stone and imagined Morpheus before him, as he remembered him, even though they had only met briefly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Daniel opened his eyes and Morpheus stood before him.

"I'm giving you back your life."

"And why do you think I want it?!" Morpheus asked. "I sacrificed myself for my son, for Dreaming? So I ask again, why do you think I want it?"

"Because I owe you if it weren't for Daniel's mother," Daniel replied.

"Then it would be someone else. And no, you don't owe me anything! It's a closed matter."

"You could live differently, without the obligations you had as an Endless. That's what I was going to offer you."Morpheus seemed to be thinking about it. "You can always say no. But give it time, say a month. You could stay here."

"That's something I wouldn't want," Morpheus replied. "I'm not sure I'm welcome."

"You're wrong about that," Daniel shook his head. "Everyone here misses you. So how about I give you a month to think about it?"

"Month?"

"Month," Daniel nodded.

"So you promise to send me back in a month?"

"I promise."

***

They entered the palace together. Matthew, Lucienne, Mervyn, and Nuala stared at them with disbelieving eyes.

"That's not possible," Lucienne whispered.

“Boss?” Matthew asked.

"No, not anymore." Morpheus replied.

"What happened?" Lucienne asked, looking at them both.

"He brought me back, temporarily."

"When I started bringing everyone back after the attack. I felt like I owed it to Morpheus a little bit, so I gave it a try."

"You were blackmailing me," Morpheus rolled his eyes. "I'm supposed to sit here for a month and do what?"

"Whatever you want, you're not Dream anymore."

"So I can call Death to come get me?" Morpheus sneered.

"You promised me something." Daniel fixed his eyes on him.

"Oh yeah, fine," Morpheus groaned.

“Promised what?” Matthew asked.

"I gave Morpheus a month to think about what he wanted." Daniel replied.

"I agreed to it, but nothing he tries will convince me otherwise. I died, I died for the love of my son, for the love of you."

"I might not, but someone else might." Daniel shrugged.

“What are you talking about?” Matthew asked.

"I might know someone who could convince Morpheus here that life is worth living."

"He didn't succeed in 650 years, what makes you think he'll succeed now?" Morpheus asked sarcastically.

"Because you didn't give him a chance, now you might."

"I knew I should never have agreed."

Chapter Text

Daniel and Morpheus arrived in the Waking World. Morpheus wasn't at all thrilled with Daniel's plan, why wouldn't they just leave him alone? He deserved his fate. He killed his son!

"The White Horse?" Morpheus asked, as they stopped. "I thought..."

"Hob told me about this place,"Daniel answered him.

"So you hang out more often?"

"No," Daniel shook his head. "We met in a dream and he told me about this place. Otherwise, we continue our 100-year meetings."

"Now you're making an exception," Morpheus sneered.

"Yes,"Daniel replied. "Because I think you deserve a second chance. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I've done enough," Morpheus replied.

"I know,"Daniel nodded. "Are you forgetting that I have your memories?" Morpheus shook his head. "I mean, you did a lot of wrong things, but you learned your lesson and wanted to make things right. So why not give yourself a second chance?"

"I killed my son."

"Orpheus asked you to do this."

***

Hob was sitting at the table, marking tests, which brought back memories for Morpheus of how they had met after he had run away from Burgess.

"Hello Hob,"Daniel greeted with a smile.

"Hey, isn't it early? Isn't it 2089 yet or am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong,"Daniel shook his head. "I have a request for you. I know we don't know each other that well, but I still need something."

"Ask for anything, my friend." Daniel turned and Hob followed his gaze, his eyes meeting Morpheus's. "Wh...What...What does that mean?"

"That means His Highness thinks I deserve a second chance. How about I just call our sister to take me away from here? Because I absolutely do not support this idea."

"You brought him back without his consent?" Hob asked Daniel. "And what do you want from me?"

"You could say that. I wanted to ask you to show him that life is worth living. Neither I nor the people of Dreaming have been able to do that."

"I repeat the question, Hob failed in 650 years, what do you think has changed?" Morpheus rolled his eyes.

"Give it a chance."

"And I naively thought you would understand me," Morpheus said through gritted teeth. Daniel turned back to Hob.

"Good luck. And don't forget, you have two weeks to negotiate."

"Two weeks of suffering," Morpheus groaned.

"What did he mean I have two weeks?" Hob asked. 

"He's been trying to talk me out of it for two weeks in the Dreaming, and not just him," Morpheus replied. "And he thinks you have a chance to talk me out of it."

“What if he’s right?” Hob asked. “What if I succeed?” Hob smiled defiantly.

"You don´t," Morpheus rolled his eyes.

"So how about we start? Maybe at my apartment."

"Do I have a choice?" Morpheus groaned, rolling his eyes.

"You can handle two weeks. It'll go by like water."

Chapter Text

The next morning, Hob found Morpheus sitting in a chair with a book.

"Is it good? I bought it recently, I was intrigued by the contents." Hob began. Morpheus looked up.

"Lucienne was right, I have reservations about the portrayal of the king. But she's actually right, so I can't be mad at her."

"What?!" Hob didn't understand.

"Rose is my niece...Or rather, Dream´s. I am no longer Dream. I am nothing and now I have to stand here and wait for my sister to come and took me."

"You're  Dream..You're my Dream. That doesn't change anything," Hob protested.

"Any plans for today?" Morpheus asked.

"If we really only have two weeks, we have so much to do. Any special requests?"

"Can we...uhm go...feed the pigeons?"

"It's your two weeks, your wish is my command."

***

"I have tickets to the theater. They're playing Shakespeare, you might like that," Hob said to Morpheus. Morpheus nodded. The evening's performance was great, and they both ended up enjoying it. The days passed and time was running out. Hob couldn't be sure what he was up to. Morpheus put on an impenetrable mask and didn't show anything. Daniel wasn't much help either, he didn't say anything to Hob.

***

Hob and Morpheus were sitting in The New Inn, chatting, when one of the staff called out to Hob.

"Excuse me," Hob smiled at Morpheus.

"Sure," Morpheus nodded. While waiting for Hob, he stared into his glass and didn't pay much attention to the events in the pub.

"I had no idea Robert had such a handsome friend." A man sat down next to Morpheus. "Where was he hiding you?"

"I'm here for a short time with Ho..Robert and I have known each other for a long time."

"So you're visiting an old friend?"

"You could say that," Morpheus nodded.

"It doesn't look like Robert will be coming back to you anytime soon, there seems to be some problem. So how about we go somewhere else?"

"I'm not interested," Morpheus replied.

"Are you always so uptight? Can you relax a little?"

"I'll relax when this is over," Morpheus grinned. "Finally," he added quietly.

"And where are you from?"

"It doesn't matter," Morpheus replied.

"So you're not the one who's sociable. And will you at least tell me your name?"

"I have...I had many names."

"And mysterious. I like that." The man moved closer. "You can call me Kevin. At least I hope I can order you a drink."

"You can't." Morpheus replied and pulled away. He definitely didn't intend to spend much time in Kevin's company.

"And you don't want to go out, it's stuffy here."

"Excuse me." Morpheus got up from his chair and went to the toilet. When he had calmed down a bit, he returned to the bar.

"Olivia," he addressed the barmaid.

"Yes?"

"Tell Hob I went for a walk. Oh, and that guy over there was bothering me."

"Sure, I'll deal with him. And I'll tell Brad to take the guy out."

"Thank you."

***

“Are you spying on me?” Morpheus smiled and looked into the tree branches. “Dream told me to keep an eye on you, boss.” Matthew sat down on the bench next to Morpheus.

"I'm not your boss anymore, Matthew."

“I know, old habit,” Matthew replied. “And does your friend know where you are?”

"I left him a message and tell Daniel not to worry about me."

Morpheus was on his way back to The New Inn when a driver pulled into an intersection with a red light. The last thing Morpheus remembered was the horn honking and then darkness.

***

Johanna Constantine saw the accident and got out of the car with her phone in her hand.

"Oh, shit!" She cursed when she saw who the car had hit.

"The ambulance is on its way. Miss, do you know this man?"

"Yes." She replied. „Yes, I do.“ Johanna didn't understand how it was possible that he was back.

Chapter Text

Hob returned to the pub and noticed that Morpheus was not there. "Olivia, you don't know where..."

"Your friend needed some air, he was being harassed by some guy here. But Brad already took care of it."

“Okay, thanks. I’ll go check on Morpheus.” But before he could go outside, his phone rang. He saw Johanna’s name on the screen. “Jo?” He answered the call. “What?! I’m on my way!” He shouted. Olivia and Brad looked at him.

"Did something happen?" They asked at the same time. "I need to go to the hospital. Morpheus got hit by a car."

"We hope he'll be okay."

"Me too," Hob nodded and left The New Inn.

***

Morpheus had only five days left on his deadline. What if… What if I never get the chance to say goodbye again? Hob wondered as he drove to the hospital.

"Johanna," he called to her.

"I didn't know he was back, it was a shock to me."

"Dream brought him back. I was supposed to show Morpheus that life was worth living. It seems I failed."

"Hob, it wasn't his decision. That driver ran a red light." The doctor was walking down the hall toward them.

“Did you come with the man who got hit by a car?” he asked.

"Yes," Johanna nodded. "This is his boyfriend." Hob looked at her significantly and then turned to the doctor.

"Robert Gadling," Hob introduced himself.

"You can go see him. But he hasn't woken up yet."

***

"So." Death sat down next to Morpheus.

"So?" He looked at her.

"It feels like deja vu," she smiled at him.

"Maybe. So I guess you know what Daniel did."

"He told us. And I agree with him, you deserve a second chance."

"That didn't work out a bit," Morpheus sneered.

"You still have five days. So it's still up to you. Either fight or I'll see you soon. Maybe I brought someone with me who could convince you." Morpheus looked at her in confusion and then saw them. Orpheus and Eurydice.

"My sister, but that..."

“I had to promise Hades that I would bring them back,” Death replied. “I am giving you space to talk.

***

"My son, Eurydice."

"Father, I want to thank you for what you did. Even though you knew what it would cost you." Morpheus nodded. "Teleute spoke to us and explained to us what your successor did. I want to tell you that I never blamed you and I don't blame you now."

"I know, I read it in Lady Johanna's diary."

"And if I can finally find happiness after death with my Eurydice, maybe you can too in your second chance."

"What if I don't deserve it? I've done enough."

"Yes, but you tried to fix it, so why can't you accept a second chance?"

"You can always call me," Death added. "But I already know that won't be necessary."

"What do you mean?" Morpheus asked.

"I know you want to stay. That what happened just now was an unfortunate coincidence and that you were ready to tell Hob you were staying."

"Maybe you're right.“ Morpheus nodded.

***

Hob heard footsteps behind him and Daniel sat down next to him.

"You don't know how he is?" Hob asked.

"He is not in my Realm, he is on the threshold of my sister's Realm."

"So he's made up his mind?" Hob asked, concern in his voice.

"I can't tell you that. Plus, the five-day deadline is still in effect."Daniel replied. "What he decides after it's over is up to him."

"I didn't say goodbye the first time because I thought he was just saying it. Because he always came back. And I was partly right, even though he came back differently than I expected. And now I won't get to say goodbye because some idiot ran a red light."

"No one, not even my sister. Not even my brother knows what Morpheus will decide. We have to leave it up to him."

***

"Could you bring Daniel here for me?" Morpheus asked Death.

"Sure. So you've decided?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes," Morpheus nodded.

"I won't ask how. We'll be right back."