“Hero”

Character(s): Nosedive, Wildwing, Klegghorn

Word Count: 196 (Yea! My first under two hundred!)

Warning: Death ficlet

His brother said he was going for comic books.

He said he would be home by six.

Wildwing finally checked for Nosedive’s comm. homing device at six-oh-three. By six-oh-three and twenty-seven seconds, Klegghorn had called, and his voice was grim, sorrowful, and his voice broke, full of tears.

Wildwing raced to the crime scene, the convenience store next to Captain Comics. Kids had been present, all under the age of ten. It happened so fast, witnesses said. The gun, the shots. Nosedive had been the only one to act, and it happened so fast he couldn’t even hit his battle gear. The robber aimed at a boy who thought he could play hero, and Nosedive interceded, becoming one.

This was not what he wanted for his brother. This was not the life Wildwing had wanted, not the life he would have chosen, for only one whom he shared a name

Wildwing sunk to his knees, the crimson life force staining his jeans. He gathered the cold body in his arms and rested his forehead on the peach feathers and bedraggled, blonde hair. He stared into the closed eyelids that would never be blue with life again.

And wept.