A dying man is given a second chance. This story is a fan fiction that takes place in the Whateley Universe.

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When I woke up, I was instantly wide awake and full of energy. There was no need for my usual half pot of coffee, which was proof positive that this entire situation was completely and totally unnatural.

The bed was huge, easily large enough for me to stretch out and still feel like I wasn’t close to taking up all the space. The truth was, this was just a normal hospital bed, one I would normally consider to be too small.

I sat up and put my legs over the edge, but my feet didn’t even touch the floor. I dropped down the rest of the way, then looked around the hospital room which seemed to have grown larger to my perspective. I let out a sigh and tried not to think about that as I made my way to the bathroom.

The mirror above the bathroom sink was just a little too high, so I grabbed the small footstool that was sitting on the side so I’d have something to stand on. That finally gave me a good look into the mirror, and the girl who stared back at me.

The girl in the mirror looked to be about ten years old and was very pretty, with long silvery white hair and violet eyes. I imagined that in ten years, she’d be a total knockout. I thought I even noticed some resemblance to what Melanie and Rachael had looked like at that age, but that might just have been my imagination.

After splashing some cold water on my face, and noticing that someone had repaired the faucet handle, I took another look in the mirror. It was hard to believe that this pretty little girl was really me, or that I’d have to get used to seeing this face looking back.

I got off the stool and then reached between my legs, finding just what I’d expect of a little girl. Last night when I’d gone to bed, my balls had already pulled up into my body and vanished and my dick had barely been there. I’d known then that by the time I woke up, my changes would either be finished or pretty damn close.

“I think it’s done,” I mused aloud. I looked about the same age that I had when I’d gone to bed, and I felt pretty sure that my body had finished changing. I felt a sense of resignation as I simply said, “I’m a girl.”

I sat down on the crapper to take a piss, finding the sensation familiar yet strange at the same time. Since I’d raised two girls, I already had a pretty good idea of how to treat my new parts. After all, I’d overheard Meg giving them both ‘the talk’, though I’d tried not to pay much attention to it at the time. However, now those words of years ago came back to me with a shocking clarity.

After I was done in the bathroom, I went and grabbed some of the clothes that had been left in the room for me last night. There were several different sets of various sizes, just so I’d have something to wear no matter how small I got during the night. I was just thankful I didn’t have to use the smallest size, because that would have left me as little more than a toddler.

There were a couple books sitting next to the clothes, ones I’d read last night. I’d never been much for reading, having always found other ways to spend my free time. However, I’d been able to read through these books in almost no time at all, and I could remember absolutely everything in them. I’d done more reading last night than I had in the last five years combined.

I let out a sigh and shook my head, only to have my long hair get in my face. Since it went halfway down my back, I had a feeling that it would be getting in the way quite a bit. With that, I used the ribbon that Kimberly had given me to tie my hair back into a pony tail. I chuckled faintly, never having imagined that I’d ever actually use the thing.

When I left the room a minute later, I ran into one of the nurses. “Doctor Franklin isn’t in yet,” she told me pleasantly. “Why don’t you get breakfast. She’ll want to check you out once she’s in.”

I was hungry, so I didn’t need more of an invitation than that. I went to the cafeteria and found an empty table, then sat back and watched the other people who were eating. There were only a few others, with one of them wearing a costume. Since he looked pretty banged up and had his leg in a cast, I assumed he was a patient at the Clinic.

A waitress came over and gave me a pleasant though slightly patronizing smile and said, “Hey sweetie. Are your parents around?”

“Oh no,” I responded with a forced smile. “My Mom died over thirty years ago, and it’s been even longer for my Dad.”

The waitress gave me a look of surprise, though she quickly covered it up. Working here, with both the Clinic and the Freelancers, she’d probably encountered stranger things than me.

“Can I take your order?” she asked politely, no longer being patronizing.

“Coffee,” I told her, glancing over the menu. “And the chef’s special…”

Normally, I wasn’t into fancy foods like eggs benedict, but Asset said the chef was one of the best in the world, so I should at least try his special. And besides, if there was ever a time to start trying new things, this was definitely it.

Once breakfast arrived, I quickly decided that I’d made the right decision. Normally, eggs were just eggs, but this stuff was unbelievable. In fact, they were the best damn eggs I’d ever had in my life. I would definitely have to try more fancy food, especially if that guy was cooking it.

The amount of food that I had on my plate was about normal, but because of my smaller size, it almost felt like they put a full platter in front of me. The cup of coffee was the same way, feeling like it was an extra large cup instead of a normal sized mug. However, in spite of my smaller size, I didn’t have any trouble eating the entire thing.

I was nearly finished with my meal when the spoon bent between my fingers like cheap tin. I’d already done the same thing with the fork a little earlier, so I muttered some profanities and bent the spoon back, hoping that the waitress hadn’t seen that.

I picked up my coffee, but someone almost right behind me burst out laughing. I nearly jumped in my chair and the ceramic mug shattered in my hand. I snapped around to glare at whoever had jumped me and saw that it was a large and muscular man, who looked bigger than any bodybuilder I’d ever seen. He was wearing jeans and a T shirt rather than any costume, but he was also walking with a limp and had nasty looking bruises on his exposed skin.

“Sorry for startling you,” the man said in a deep voice.

“I just manifested,” I said defensively, to explain why I’d been breaking everything I touched.

He gave a knowing nod at that and simply said, “Eggs.”

“Eggs?” I asked blankly.

“Get some fresh eggs and practice picking them up and holding them,” he explained. “It’ll help you get used to handling things with your new strength.”

“Thanks,” I said, grateful for the advice. With as many things as I kept breaking by accident, I was definitely going to have to do that.

I finished up a few minutes later and went back to the Clinic where Dr. Franklin had just come in. She immediately took me to an examination room and began giving me some tests, the same ones that she’d been giving me over the last couple days.

“All I need now is another blood sample,” she told me, holding up something that looked similar to the thing Rachael had used to inject me with the cure. She put it against my arm, then pulled it back before popping out a small cylinder filled with blood. “Simple and easy, even for people with extra tough skin.”

“So it’s all done?” I asked her, though I already knew the answer.

Dr. Franklin nodded at that, then told me, “Your changes appear to be finished, but I’ll run some tests on your blood to verify there are no more issues. But as it stands, you are now physically a healthy little girl. But more specifically, you are also a regenerator and appear to be a high level exemplar…”

I nodded that, then said, “I guess that means I’m going to stay healthy.”

“Very healthy,” Dr. Franklin agreed. “This means that you’ll effectively be immune to most illness, have an increased resistance to injury, and have the ability to heal very rapidly if you are injured.”

I let out a sigh, feeling a little overwhelmed as I considered what that meant. “I guess I’m gonna need to get some power testing,” I thought aloud, remembering about all the things we’d needed to go through after Rachael had first manifested. “And get an MID.”

“I can make an appointment for you at the local MCO testing facility,” Dr. Franklin assured me. “They’ll be able to help you determine the exact nature and level of your new abilities as well as issue your MID.”

Then she paused to stare at me with a guarded look, the same one that told me she had some more bad news for me. I braced myself for whatever it was going to be, wondering what kind of bomb she was going to drop on me this time.

“A lot of higher level exemplars have a slower than normal aging process,” Dr. Franklin carefully told me. “As do higher level regenerators.”

That suddenly caught my full attention as I realized exactly what she was getting at. I had a sinking feeling as I realized that as weird as it was being ten years old again, I might have a long time to get used to it.

“For some, their aging doesn’t slow until their bodies are fully developed,” Dr. Franklin explained with a sympathetic look. “But for others, this effect becomes active as soon as their powers manifest. To be honest, I’m not certain yet which category you fall into, but I have a strong suspicion that you’ll experience at least some slowing.”

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, silently reminding myself, “You’re still alive. You’re free of cancer. You’ve got a chance to start your life all over again.” And of course, “I can handle this.”

“Well,” I said, joking about this because the alternative was to cry, and there was no way I was gonna do that. “I guess that means I get even more time to get used to the idea of having periods.”

Dr. Franklin and I talked about my situation for a few more minutes, then she went to a computer and did something before printing out a sheet for me. I looked at it and seemed to be an appointment slip for my MCO testing, listing ‘exemplar ?, regeneration ?, and manifestor ?’

“Keep this with you until you get your MID,” Dr. Franklin told me. “As long as you show that you do have an appointment for testing and getting your MID, you should be fine. When you go, you should probably try to show up with several possible codenames in mind.”

“Should I be worried about them?” I asked, remembering Rich’s paranoia about the MCO and his claims that they’re constantly harassing mutants and making them disappear. I’d always thought that was a bunch of conspiracy theory nonsense, but now that I was a mutant myself, I couldn’t help but feeling a little more cautious.

“The local MCO shouldn’t give you much trouble,” Dr. Franklin told me with a faint smile. “Honestly, they’re pretty lazy and tend to overlook things that might give them extra paperwork. So as long as you don’t come off as dangerous or do anything too blatant for them to overlook, they’ll probably leave you alone.”

Once I was done with Dr. Franklin, I signed out of the Clinic and then went to lobby to wait for Melanie. I killed time by flipping through another book that I’d found on the shelf, deciding that maybe I should take advantage of this whole speed reading and memory thing to read something educational. A short time later, I’d read and memorized a book about the Civil War.

Before I could start on another book, Melanie arrived with two kids in tow. I stood up, staring at Kaylie and Kimberly, suddenly realizing that I was now younger and smaller than one of my own granddaughters. At least I was still older than Kimberly.

“Dad,” Melanie said awkwardly when she saw me.

I looked up at her and nodded self-consciously. “Well,” I joked, “I guess I can’t use that old line about not being as young as I used to be anymore…”

“Grandpa?” Kaylie blurted out, staring at me with a look of shock.

“Hey kiddo,” I greeted her, annoyed by the fact that she was bigger than me. It really made me feel even smaller than before. However, I was pleased to note that she had the ribbon I’d made for her wrapped around her wrist. “I bet this is quite a surprise…”

“You can say that again,” Kaylie said, still staring at me.

“You’re not my Grandpa,” Kimberly protested, looking at me suspiciously. “You’re a girl…”

I looked down at myself, then gasped in mock surprise. “Well, what do you know? I am.” Kimberly giggled at that.

“I’m afraid she really is your Grandpa,” Melanie said with a forced smile. “Your Aunt Rachael made him all better, but it turned him into a girl too…”

“Yup,” I agreed, looking Kimberly over and noticing that she had the ribbon I’d made for her tied into her hair. I reached up for my own hair and the ribbon that I had tying it into a pony tail. “I’m all better now because this good luck ribbon you gave me really worked.”

“Really?” Kimberly asked in wide-eyed wonder. “Wow…” Melanie was smiling at that while Kaylie shook her head.

“I wasn’t expecting you to get this small,” Melanie told me awkwardly. “I mean, you look like a little girl...”

“Yeah,” I responded with a sigh. “But we’ll have plenty of time to get used to it.” I thought about Dr. Franklin’s warning about my aging more slowly than normal. “A lot of time.”

As we went out to the parking lot, Melanie told me, “We’ve fixed the spare bedroom up for you…”

I just nodded at that, knowing I couldn’t go back to my own house. After I’d found out that I had terminal cancer, I’d sold both it and my garage in order to take care of the medical and funeral bills. There was no way in hell that I wanted to leave my kids with a pile of bills once I was gone.

Once I climbed into the car and strapped myself in with a seatbelt, I tried not to think about the fact that the entire car seemed enormous to me. Then again, from my new size, absolutely everything seemed huge to me. The entire world had grown larger, and it was a perspective that I was going to have to get used to.

“Are you really a girl?” Kaylie asked while we drove him. “I mean, are you really a real girl?”

“I’m afraid so,” I told her with a sigh. “I’ve got all the parts and everything…”

Kaylie nodded thoughtfully at that, then admitted, “I don’t know whether to think that’s cool or really scary…”

I chuckled in response, then responded, “I’d say a bit of both.”

Kimberly and Kaylie both pestered me with non-stop questions on the drive, so finally I just decided to distract them by doing a brief magic show. I made a few ribbons appear, getting some nice ‘oooohs and aaaahs’ from them.

When we arrived at the house, I went to check out the spare bedroom which had been set up for me, or at least it had some of my old stuff moved in there. I looked at the bed, which would have been too small and cramped for me before, but which now looked quite roomy.

I waited until the girls were occupied, then asked Melanie, “What does Mark think about this?” Somehow, I couldn’t imagine that he’d be happy with me moving in on them like this.

Melanie was hesitant to answer at first, then she finally responded, “Honestly, I don’t think he knows what to think about this. He’s pretty shocked about what’s happened, and since he hasn’t even seen you yet, I don’t think it’s really even sunk in.” Then she quickly exclaimed, “But don’t worry Dad. We’re happy to have you here.”

And though Melanie didn’t say it out loud, there was the silent, “And where else could you go?”

My own home had been sold when I’d gone to into the hospital to stay, so there was no going back there. Looking the way I now did, I couldn’t go back to work in my garage, even if I hadn’t already sold it. And who would even consider hiring a mechanic who looked like a cute little girl? I didn’t have any way of supporting myself anymore, which meant that for the time being, I’d have to stay with one of my kids.

Rich was a young bachelor with a single bedroom apartment, and even if he did have the room for me, he wouldn’t need me cramping his style. And besides, the two of us would probably be at each other’s throats within a week.

Out of all my kids, Rachael would be the most understanding of my situation, but I certainly couldn’t live with her, for obvious reasons. I might be looking at life through mutant and female eyes now, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still a wanted criminal, not to mention extremely unstable. It wasn’t really her fault, but she was dangerous to be around.

“Thank you for taking me in,” I told Melanie, looking up and giving her a gentle smile. “I know it’s an inconvenience…”

“Don’t think that,” Melanie told me, looking as though she was starting to tear up. “This is a bit strange, but we’ll get used to it. I’d much rather have you living here with us than being in the hospital…or what would have happened. And if Mark even thinks otherwise, well, he can sleep on the porch.”

I chuckled at that, definitely seeing a lot of her mother in her. I just wished that Meg was still around to see how Melanie was doing, and to meet Kimberly. She’d never had the chance to meet our youngest granddaughter.

Just then, Kimberly came rushing into the room, holding a doll in one arm and a stuffed rabbit in the other. She had a manic look of excitement in her eyes that suddenly made me nervous.

“Grandpa,” Kimberly exclaimed, nearly bouncing with excitement. “Wanna play tea party with me?”

I was about to protest that I was too old to play tea party, but one glance down at myself reminded me that was no longer a good excuse. Nor was pointing out that boys didn’t play tea party. I looked up to Melanie for help, and she was fighting just to keep from laughing.

“Why don’t you go play with her?” Melanie suggested with a broad grin. “You can get to know Kimberly a little better…”

“You know, I’m gonna get you for this,” I joked, though I’m pretty sure I didn’t exactly look or sound nearly as threatening as I would have in my old body. Melanie didn’t even bother trying to hide her laughter this time. Then I looked to Kimberly and shrugged. It seemed that life was making me try new things, whether I wanted to or not, so it wouldn’t hurt to try this. “Sure,” I finally said, “I’ll give it a go…”

I let Kimberly drag me back towards her bedroom where we ran into Kaylie in the hallway. Kimberly immediately asked her, “You wanna play too?”

“I’m too old to play with dolls,” Kaylie protested with a snort of disdain.

“Try another excuse,” I told her with an evil grin. “If I’m stuck with this, then so are you…”

Kaylie looked like she was about to protest again, then she stared at me and had an evil grin of her own. I had a bad feeling that I’d just invited a lot of trouble on myself, because she obviously liked the idea of putting her poor old grandfather through the whole little girl routine.

I spent the next couple hours playing with the girls, doing the tea party thing for awhile and then summoning ribbons so they could tie ribbons in each other’s hair…and in mine. It was silly and girly, but I tried to relax and have fun with it. If nothing else, I was getting to spend time with the girls and getting to know them in a way that I’d never been able to before.

Eventually, Mark got home from work so I went and greeted him politely. “Thanks for letting me stay here,” I told him, feeling a little self-conscious since the last time I’d talked to him, I’d mentioned something about kicking his ass.

“It’s no problem…Al,” he said, obviously having a difficult time with my name. He kept starting at me, just as clearly being shocked by my appearance. “I’m just glad you’re healthy again.” He looked to Melanie, then added, “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”

When dinner came, I was embarrassed about being the second smallest person at the table, especially when Mark put food on my plate for me, the same way he had for Kimberly. He also gave me the same kind of smaller portion, but I didn’t complain. However, when I finished eating what he’d put on my plate, I helped myself to seconds. In spite of my smaller body, I didn’t seem to need any less food than before.

“I guess you’re a growing girl,” Kaylie said with a giggle.

I winced slightly at that, then gave a faint smile as I answered, “No, I’m not.” I was silent for several seconds, then explained, “It seems that I’m probably not going to age normally… Let’s just say, it’s possible that it might be twenty or even thirty years before I look like I’m old enough to drive again.”

“Oh my God,” Melanie exclaimed, giving me a look of horror. Even Mark winced and gave me a sympathetic look.

“I don’t know for sure,” I admitted. “They said I might age normally until I hit puberty again…or even until I stop developing, but probably not. Doctor Franklin figures that since I’m an active exemplar and regenerator, I’ll see at least some slowing.”

“What does that mean?” Kimberly asked.

Kaylie gave me a sympathetic look, then told her sister, “It means that in a couple years, you might be older than Grandpa…”

“That’s just weird,” Kimberly responded skeptically.

The rest of dinner was quiet, and I kept catching everyone sneaking looks at me. I tried not to pay attention to that though and just focused on the fact that I was sitting at the dinner table with my family, something that I’d never expected to be able to do again. In spite of my situation, I felt pretty damn lucky.

After dinner, I went to the fridge and helped myself to one of Mark’s beers. He always went for those expensive micro-brews instead of normal beer, but I had to admit they were pretty good.

I sat down in the living room and took a long drink of the beer, only to have Melanie stare at me in shock. “Dad… You’re too young to drink…”

“I’m not nearly as young as I look,” I reminded her wryly.

“But what will the girls think?” she demanded, obviously getting upset. “You’re setting a bad example for the girls. I don’t want them to see you drinking and then think that it’s okay for them to do so too…”

I looked Melanie right in the eyes, then pointed out, “And you’d rather set the example that you should treat people based off how they look…”

“What?” she gasped at that, her eyes going wide. She was suddenly caught with a look of confusion and even guilt. “No, that’s not what I meant…”

“I might look like a kid,” I reminded her gently, “but I’m not one. I can’t just forget about the last forty years of my life and pretend that I’m a normal ten year old girl.”

“I know,” she responded with a sigh, sitting down next to me. “It’s just that… You look like a little girl…”

I nodded at that, knowing exactly what she meant. I’d noticed at dinner how Mark had automatically begun to treat me as though I was a girl, and I knew that I’d have to do something about that soon. If I let them, Melanie and Mark would start to treat me like a little girl, probably not even realizing that they were being patronizing. I figured I’d better nip that in the bud before they started giving me an early bedtime and sending me off to elementary school.

“Up here,” I said, tapping my temple, “I’m still the same cantankerous old bastard I’ve always been.”

Melanie laughed at that, then admitted, “You would be quite a handful as a kid…”

“So don’t try to treat me like one too much,” I said. “I know you’ll want to, you won’t be able to help yourself, but you’ll only piss me off.” I paused at that, noticing that Kaylie was standing at the doorway and eavesdropping. “Pardon the French.”

Melanie chuckled again, then admitted, “I see your point. I guess I’d hate it if I suddenly turned into a little girl again and people who knew who I was started to treat me different because of it.” She gave me a wry smile and promised, “I’ll try not to

“That’s all I ask,” I told her, taking a drink of the beer and then letting out a sigh. I stared at the beer, then told her, “Honestly, I probably couldn’t get drunk off this if I wanted.”

“What do you mean?” Melanie asked, only to pause and then nod in understanding. “The whole mutant thing…”

I nodded at that, knowing that from what Dr. Franklin and Pinnacle had said, I’d probably have to down a couple bottles of bourbon one after another, and then I might feel buzzed for a couple minutes before my body took care of it. Apparently, I could expect the same kind of immunity to pain medication and just about any other drugs.

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Melanie offered cautiously. “I mean, you were almost borderline alcoholic.”

“Maybe,” I agreed with a sigh. I frowned thoughtfully, knowing that I was going to have to make a lot of changes to my life, whether I wanted to or not. Maybe I should take the opportunity to make a few good changes to my life while I was at it.

“I don’t know how you’re not freaking out about this,” Melanie admitted, giving me a sympathetic look. “I mean, I know I’d freak out of something like this happened to me.”

I took a slow drink of beer, then pointed out, “It wouldn’t do much good, would it? I mean, crying over spilt milk never got it back in the bottle, and considering where I was at a few days back, I wouldn’t want to go back anyway.” I looked Melanie in the eye and then chuckled. “The truth is, I’m pretty damn lucky and I know it. This sure as hell ain’t what I would have asked for, but at least I get the chance to live with it. Yeah, this is weird as all get out, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it’s a second chance.”

Melanie took the beer from my hand, then took a long drink before handing it back. “I don’t know if I’d be able to be that positive about it,” she told me, giving me a smile and then a hug. “But I’m glad you are.”

“The way I look at it,” I told Melanie with a smile. “Rachael didn’t just save my life, she gave me the chance to have a whole new one. The only problem is, I don’t have a clue what to do with it. At least not yet.”