JOHN DOE

Last night I thought of Momma. I see see saw sawed her face, clear as ... cl cl ... blue sky. Clear as the blue skies over the farm. 

I member the farm an later the s'tustion ... no hopp ital, hoSS Pih Tal. Where they tooked me when I ... when I hurt my head.

'...white male, aged 59.'

'Jeez, he looks about 70.'

'Had a tough life according to the file.'

They ta talkin abough ... bout me?

'So John Doe's got a name?'

'Yeah, Mark Andrews. Poor old bastard's been in the system since 1962. Says here educationally subnormal after suffering a blow to the head at age 15.'

Momma. Papa wh wh was ... he hurt Momma. Trie trie .. stop him. Hurr hurr me. Bastard! Th thas wha he call me whe whe ... hurt Momma.

'Some idiot messed up, put poor Mark here on a list for release. Three hours later he steps out in front of traffic an that's it. Game over.'

'Damn, how long ...'

'Anytime they said. Could be hours, a day, two at most.'

'He got any family?'

'Says here his mother died a few years back ...'

Momma!

'They got ahold of his half sister ... lucky she moved closer to look after their mother, still lives in the house in Albany. Anyhow I spoke to her myself, got the whole story. The father ... a real bastard by all accounts, resented baby Mark, took out all kindsa stuff on him an his mom Peggy. After the step dad was arrested for the assault she couldn't cope ... Mark ended up in permanent care and eventually they just sorta got on with their lives and forgot about him. Says his last visitor was early 90's.'

'So will the sister even want to come?'

'She said she was on her way. Apparently the old lady didn't talk about him, even to her daughter and the pair were estranged since sis went to college. They hadn't seen each other in thirty years until the daughter got a call from a hospital after the mother had a fall. She moved in to take care of the mom after that.'

'Hey ... look at his eyes! Do you think he knows what we're saying?'

The other nurse shrugged. 'Who knows.'

***

Been slee ... sleep. Feel ... thir thir. Need water.

'Do you want something to drink honey?'

M'i dr dream ... Sis! Old now, like m me, but her ... My s s sis ta!

'Shhh, don't try to speak... oh Marky ... you know me don't you? They say you don't understand but I can see it ... in your eyes.' She cradles him in her arms and kisses the balding head, brushing the wisp of white hair from above his eyes.

His sister has been crying. She's sad. He wants to tell her not to be. It's a happy day. They're together again. She shouldn't cry. But he can't. His voice is disused and he hasn't had a clear thought since he was fifteen ... he blinks, painful recall. The belt, the fists, the boots and the crack his head made as Papa ... He shuts his eyes. He can feel the pain still, and feel the blood pool around his young head.

His sister holds a straw to his lips. Feebly he sips, barely able to draw the liquid up into his parched mouth.

She sits with him for hours. Tears are rolling down her face. He finds it harder to breath - he tries to fill his lungs with air; that at least is an instinct that 44 years of blurring thought hasn't taken from him, like so many other things.

He tries to speak, to tell his sister he loves her, but all he can is wheeze and gasp. She sobs uncontrollably and his eyes begin to flicker. So hard to stay awake. He thinks he might sleep a while. She's holding his frail shoulders gently, her forehead against his.

Through her sobs he hears her whisper. 'I love you Marky Mark. Sleep now darling. Go with the angels.'

He sleeps.

***

'... time of death 7.18pm. Mrs Andrews, I am so sorry. Can I call anyone for you?'

'N no ... thank you, I only had him, only Marky. And it ... it's Miss Andrews. I never married. Never ... can I sit with him a while?'

'Of course. Please, let us know when you're ready and we'll ... well there's some paperwork, but it can wait.'

'I understand. Thank you. You you've been so k k ... oh god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.'

'It's perfectly alright. Take as much time as you need.'

The door closes.

***

'Nurse! NURSE!!!'

'Miss Andrews are you alright ... what's ... ohmigod!!!'

'It's a miracle ... it ... it's true. Everything my mother said ...'

'What's happening! Doctor ... DOCTOR!!!'

'Marky! Marky!'

Is that ... Mary ...she looks ... my head ... the blurring, it's gone. I can ... make sense of it all. But ... what's happening to me ... are those my hands! They look ... wait, the chest pains, the aches. They're gone.

'Nurse, what's going ... who's this boy ... oh god! oh god! Nurse, take my phone. We need ... just start recording ... Mr Andrews, is that you? Are you ... tell me how it feels?'

'How ... wh what feels?'

'Marky, you're talking!'

'This is remarkable ... Mr Andrews, you're gaining muscle mass. You're ... your hair is literally turning black in front of our ... nurse keep recording. Subject now appears to be a man of no more than twenty years old ... his hair is thickening, gained muscle mass...'

'Doctor, I don't understand what's happening to me, but my head .. it's clear. It's clear again!'

'This is amazing ... this ... this regeneration of tissues, a sort of rapid cellular healing ... nurse, the phone ... subject appears to also be experiencing increased cognition. Possibly the tissues of his brain have been knitting together in the same way his ... but memories and personality have been retained too.'

'Your father Marky, your father!'

'Our father was ...'

'No Marky, your real father. Mom told me all about it. She was pregnant with you before she left her first husband. He never knew ... my dad resented ... oh Marky!'

'Mary, you ... I ... call me Mark for crissake. What do you mean? Who was my father?'

'He was a man with abilities ... a a ...'

'Your father Herr Andrews, vas a super soldier. His name vas Lawrence Scott.'

'Excuse me! Excuse me sir, this is a private ... no ... NO!!!'

'You killed them, you killed the nurse and the doc ...'

'MARY!!!'

'Calm yourself Herr Andrews. The woman vas not your sister ... she vas a federal agent sent to spy on you and ...'

'You son of a bitch!!'

'Ah sehr gut ... you haff his strength and his spirit.'

'Arrggghh. Your ...'

'This is so. I too haff enhanced strength and you are still weak from your rebirth.'

'You're, you're crushing my hand ...'

'You vill heal Herr Andrews. Smith ... has your team secured the area?'

'All witnesses eliminated Sir. Clean up crew is already dealing with the mess.'

'Let go of my ... arrrgggh.'

'Ah nostalgia. Once I had your father forced to his knees in just such a grip. Herr Smith, call disposal for these three but first sedate our young friend.'

Mark Andrews fell back as the German's black leather gloved hand released his right fist.

The man he had called Smith knelt by his side. 'Take it easy kid. We're gonna take ya somewhere safe an this ... this'll just seem like a bad dream.'

'Wh who are you?'

The man grinned. 'A family friend. They call me Sharpshot.' He plunged a syringe into Mark's arm.

'Looks like the gamble payed off Doc. The kid did have his dad's ability ... wonder why his sister didn't. I guess maybe him being born two years after Time was enhanced an Staci, twenty something years later ... damn, I still miss her.'

'Spare me your maudlin musings of the past Herr Smith and remember why you entered my employ. In ze blood of zis young man, lies immortality ... we both have a limited slow aging factor but now ... now the long quest for true immortality will finally bear fruit! For both of us ... unless you haff regrets mein freund.'

Sharpshot shook his head. 'Nah, I'm way past that. My last regret went to her grave eleven years ago.'

'Sehr gut. And vun more thing Herr Smith.'

'What's that Doc?'

'You vill do well to remember that Doktor Entropy does not rely on luck, but planning. Ve haff observed Mark Andrews all these years with a 50% certainty that the required outcome vould be achieved und his powers made manifest. Now we proceed to phase two.'

'You sure you wanna emerge from the rabbit hole and stick yer head in the lion's mouth? Larry's gonna kill us both on sight and it'll take the hounds a hell ta stop him.'

'It shall not be my head Herr Smith. Now we have our own Father Time. A new age of heroes has begun ... ze time is perfect, with the four who call themselves fantastic, the man of iron, the green beast, the giant and other costumes ... even ze accursed American captain from ze war has returned. Ven we are finished twisting our young 'hero's mind, ve shall give him his costume and zen, he vill draw out his father and ze old vill fall before ze new!'

'Ya know, it strikes me if junior here had the power, then his old man probably does too. Even if we kill Larry, don't we just make him younger?'

'Trust in me Herr Smith. My plan is flawless und all possibilities have been anticipated. Now, shall we depart?'

End ... for now.

NOTES:

Though Father Time debuted as a costumed vigilante in 1941, joining the army and first seeing action in 1942 (as mentioned in a story he told in Story 3: The Field of Battle (1968)) it was not until 1944 that he was part of a top secret US Army experiment that bestowed the genetically modified abilities of three dead superhumans on him - Story 5: A Slight Delay (1944). NB: One of those dead superhumans got up off the autopsy table and disappeared - Sgt Larry Scott described him as a short hairy Canadian soldier, and fifty years later when they met again as 'the guy with the claws.' 

The least viable of these abilities was the projected ability to regenerate when faced with a mortal wound, to literally be reborn in a younger state. Time was still uncertain he could do this until he died in 2017 during Story 1: From the Ashes.

Father Time met his implacable arch enemy Freidrich Stefan Von Tarlehim in 1943. Von Taleheim, a scientific wunderkind had already risen to prominence in the Nazi Party by the age of 21. He experimented upon himself and developed a superhuman death touch and enhanced physical attributes, becoming known as Doktor Entropy as detailed in Story 6: Tomorrow Belongs to Me (2017) where it was revealed that the enmity between the old foes was still unresolved nearly 75 years later.

Entropy and Time have crossed paths over the years. Significant encounters include 1955 behind the Iron Curtain. By that time Entropy was working for the Soviets and Time almost messed up a CIA operation to curtail Russian activity centered around the ex Nazi. During this - Story 15: Angels (1955) Time met his future wife, a young undercover agent Emilia Van Dyne.

By 1992 Doktor Entropy had coopted the services of Time's old Vietnam war buddy Johnny Smith aka Sharpshot. Sharpshot had been resisting a relationship offered to him by the much younger Staci Scott, Father Time's daughter, despite deep feelings on both sides - it can be speculated that Sharpshot's quest to curtail his aging to be with Staci, may have left him vulnerable to being turned. Story 12: House of Pain (1992) and it's follow up 12.1: The Cage (1992)

Sharpshot himself has appeared in several of the stories including 3: Field of Battle (1968), 16: The Fall of Saigon (1975), 13: Love and Battle fields (1983) where it's revealed he is the trainer to 17 year old Staci. After she tells him she loves him, he points out the 20 year age difference and tells her he's rejoining the army, leaving her heartbroken. By Story 7: Cherry Bomb (1987) Sharpshot has been in military prison but had his release negotiated by Father Time so he could join an offbooks mercenary mission. At that time he and Staci have an edgy banter going on.

The story of Time's short lived first marriage was told in flashback from Story 4: Manana (1948) which covers the time he was mustered out of the army in the spring of 1946 to the late forties. 

Marrying his wartime sweetheart Peggy, Larry Scott was unable to adjust to peacetime and thereby resumed his career as a masked vigilante, often returning home bloody and battered. In January 1947 the marriage came to an end when Peggy walked out on him - both were unaware that she was pregnant with his son. Delivering Mark in the summer of 1947, Peggy made the decision to not tell her ex husband about his son.

Unlike Staci, Mark inherited his father's powers which were activated upon his death - during his first lifetime he had no enhanced abilities but was super charged when he died in 2005.

This was hinted at in Story 10: Legacy (2120) when a 200 year old Larry Scott, who had rejuvenated for the third time was facing adaptoids programmed to kill their foes and absorb their powers and appearance. An adaptoid took on the name and aspect of a younger version of Time, incuding a black leather version of his costume that he hadn't worn in decades.

Father Time wore versions of his initial costume from 1941 to 1950 and thereafter he retained his mask and hourglass/reaper sigil (mostly on the back of a black leather biker jacket) but wore civilian clothing, usually jeans, t-shirt, shirt, leather jacket and leather boots. The black leather costume with hood, cloak and scythe was one he wore on and off for a relatively short span of time after his first rebirth in 2017.

In 2120 when faced with the costumed imposter, Larry Scott referred to a time when a 'long lost son' had challenged him for the mantle. This would logically refer to the events of 2005 when a brainwashed Mark was pitted against him - the first occasion he became aware he had any offspring other than Staci, who had passed away in 1994.