Title- Superman
Author- Victoria
Rating- PG-13
Characters/Pairings- Peter/Emma, Hesam
Summary- All my life, I wanted to make a difference. To save the world, like Superman. For awhile, my chance seemed snatched away. But suddenly, things are looking up. Part One of the Superman Trilogy.

A/N- This is the first part of the Superman Trilogy. They're just oneshots, and not particularly long, but if you like this one, I'd advise you to check out the other two parts, coming soon. This isn't in any particular timeline, other than that it's several months ahead of where Thanksgiving left us.

Another day, another dollar. Or rather, another life saved. Preferably several, if Peter were to have his way.

Today, though, the prospects were looking grim. A horrific accident on the expressway, a twelve-car pileup, resulted in scores of injuries. It was almost as bad as the subway collision- not quite, but close- Peter thought as he and Hesam sped back toward the scene to collect another victim.

"This sucks," he said sourly.

Hesam nodded. "No kidding. My shift ended half an hour ago."

Peter looked sharply at him. "What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

The empath sighed. "All these people, hurt and dying, and even just a second wasted could sign their death certificate. If I'm not strong enough to save them, they're gone. How can this be right?"

Hesam glanced at his partner. "Man, you can't beat yourself up like this. We can only do what we can do. We're only human. It's not like you're Superman or something."

Peter forced a bitter smile to pacify Hesam, then turned to stare out the window as they neared their destination. "I used to be," he whispered, too softly for Hesam to hear him.

* * *

That, of course, was the crux of the problem, Peter mused as he headed toward the lockers after their shift ended (belatedly, as Hesam was quick to point out). If he'd never had that unlimited power, he'd probably consider himself to be lucky. Enabled, not disabled. But the fact was, whenever he had one useful power, a tragedy occurred that needed a different one to resolve, and people died. How could he condone that? How could he allow that?

But there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't like he could jump-start his powers. He would either discover a way to keep several, or he wouldn't. That was that.

At that moment, Peter spotted a familiar blonde head weaving down the hall a little way ahead of him, and he hurried to catch up. Seeing Emma was the highlight of his days lately. She was a constant ray of light in a mostly lonely existence. He loved how her tongue-in-cheek sarcasm never failed to make him laugh, something that even he knew he desperately needed. And she could say more with a look or a gesture than the most eloquent people he knew could in five minutes of talking.

He laid a hand on her shoulder to catch her attention, and she turned around suddenly. The surprise melted quickly off her face to be replaced by the quiet smile she seemed to reserve just for him- the one that never failed to make his heart miss a beat.

"Hi," she said. "I haven't seen you in days! What have you been up to?"

Peter frowned. "I had to take a few days off to deal with some... problems."

"Not... not Sylar again?" she asked worriedly. Sylar had attacked her once, a few months ago, and it had only been sheer luck that had kept her alive long enough for Peter to take on the monster.

"Of course not," he said. "Bennet's got him locked up. No, it was Samuel this time."

Emma nodded, looking concerned. "You handled it?"

"What do you think?" Peter said with a grin. "I can handle that nutcase."

"Yes, but I worry about you," she said. "You're not invincible, Peter."

* * *

No, he wasn't. Not even slightly. Not even his heart was safe from total strangers. He had decided to work a second shift, despite Hesam's attempts at discouraging him. And a girl had died. Car accident. She had been fifteen. Amber Stefenson was her name. And she was dead, because he wasn't invincible. Because he couldn't run through the flames to save her.

Peter sat on the roof of Mercy Heights Hospital, as he had sat on so many other roofs in his lifetime. The rooftop of the Deveaux building, the roof of New York General, even his own apartment building. It was good for thinking, alone with the darkness and the wind and your thoughts.

His thoughts weren't very good company tonight. He kept rehashing the scene in his mind, trying to find a way he could have saved her. So far he hadn't been able to find one, but that didn't stop Peter from going over and over it, searching for something he'd missed. What good it would do without time-travel, he didn't know. But he couldn't stop himself.

The metallic squeal of rusty hinges alerted him that the door on the far side of the roof had been pushed open. He didn't turn around, just waited for whoever it was to approach him, or not.

Emma perched next to him on the vent shaft he was sitting on. For a few minutes she didn't say anything, letting him get used to her presence and the simple comfort of her shoulder leaning lightly against his.

"Rough day?" she said finally.

"You have no idea," he said bitterly.

She gave him a sympathetic look. "Hesam told me about the girl. Amber?" Peter nodded, touched that she had bothered to find out the name. Emma took a breath, and he recognized the concern in her eyes. "Peter," she said, "You can't keep beating yourself up over this. These things happen. We can't save everyone- you taught me that. Sometimes we can't even save the ones who really matter to us. But we do save a lot of people, and that's what matters. It's okay if you can't save some of them. You're not Su--"

"Don't!" Peter exclaimed, leaping off the vent shaft in frustration. "Don't say it! Everyone tells me that. Everyone says that it's okay to just be human, but it's not! If I'm still losing people, I'm not doing something right. And that's just the thing- I was Superman once! I could do anything, everything, and if I were still that person, I could save the people who die on my watch!"

Emma waited patiently for him to finish. When he finally ran out of steam, she rose to her feet. "You do the best you can," she said firmly. "And that's enough. You're feeling like this because you've had a really bad day. Everyone has them. Some days you save them all, and some days you lose a few. Today was one of the second kind. Just don't give up. That's all it really comes down to- whether or not you can accept the bad days and move on with your life. You taught me that, too."

The look in her eyes was so sincere, Peter couldn't help but feel comforted. He smiled, a little sadly. "Thank you, Emma," he said.

"That's what I'm here for," she said. "Damage control."

There it was again, that wry humor that always caught him off-guard. Peter laughed. Then, to his utter surprise, Emma kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, Peter," she said softly. And just like that, she was gone.

Alone, Peter raised a hand to touch the place where her lips had touched him. Amazement and something like adrenaline were shooting through him. He and Emma had a very tactile nature to their friendship but she had never kissed him before, and he found himself wondering if maybe he'd read her wrong all along. Maybe it was just her natural reticence, rather than what he had assumed to be indifference towards him...

Whatever it was, the dejection that had filled him only minutes before was quickly being replaced by swelling happiness. Peter was suddenly elated. He wanted...

He wanted to fly. But that power was lost to him, like so many others. It couldn't hurt to try though, he decided. After a moment's consideration, Peter bent his knees, preparing for what he was sure was going to be a very stupid-looking leap to nowhere. He jumped straight up from the roof's gravel-covered surface, and...

* * *

"I've got my powers back," Peter said casually to Emma the next morning.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Flight, telekinesis, telepathy, all of it. It all came back."

Emma's jaw dropped in amazement, but she was smiling broadly. "When?" she asked.

Peter's grin was huge as he said, "Right after you left me. On the roof? I was..." He trailed away, not really willing to say what had really happened. "I was bored. Decided to try to fly, just for the hell of it, and it worked!"

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed. She threw her arms around him in an elated hug. "Peter, congratulations!"

He put his arms around her in return, and his smile grew even more. "I'm Superman again," he said, knowing she couldn't hear him. "And I owe it all to you."

Keep a look out for Part Two of the trilogy, titled Lois Lane. And remember, I always mega-appreciate reviews!