Standing at the edge, looking across his city he felt at peace. He had dedicated his life to be the protector and guide for this unruly city. A city full of people who demanded, who loved, who fought, who argued and most of all who lived. There was no one who could say that this city didn't stand for something. To others it was a child's toy-set made of steel, glass and concrete with canyons that threw shadows slanting across the walls of the asphalt streets in crazy patterns but to him it had always been home.
A home where he had met the woman that taught him how to be alive and how to be a part of the world. A home where he had watched his two children grow up and become a part of the future. A home where he felt accepted and loved knowing that he had made a difference to people's lives.
Standing at the edge he knew it was time to make the decision that would take him away from his home forever. He knew across the country another man was standing at a similar edge thinking about the decision he had to make.
The unimaginable pain he had felt when the question was asked of him was nothing to the pain he knew being felt across the country. The calm questioning face, who had presented the scenario to him, would not have been so calm when facing the anger.
He remembered the anger and the feeling of his impending doom when he had won and the other lost. Even after all these years he wondered how did one win or lose in love? The reason we love or are loved in return is not planned, it is not controlled, it is mindless, chaotic and senseless. Love feelings lift us to heights undreamed but love's bastard twin can smash us down to the depths of anguish.
He had experienced those heights for over 20 years and now, when he knew it had to be completely over, he would look back on those decades and know that he had experienced something unique.
The other had lived a lonely life that had made his selfless actions so much more heroic. To sacrifice so much and yet retain the sense of duty and compassion to others was what made him unique. Nothing he had ever seen could make him feel as awe-struck in knowing the black side had been faced and accepted. From that acceptance had grown a friendship that defied the personal history and on both of them rested the future of the woman they both loved and adored.
Hearing the familiar noise from behind he didn't turn as he heard the deep timbre pitched voice behind him ask, "What have you decided Bruce, what's your decision Bruce to save Lois Lane's life?"