Jackie laid on her couch staring into nothingness when she heard the blast that shook London. She halfheartedly wondered about it then chose to ignore it. She would've been content never knowing what was coming for her; however, she never got that option. A man came running through the hallway banging on the door of every flat until its inhabitants left. When he knocked on her door, Jackie realized she didn't want to run. She wanted to be left alone, with the terror and grief that haunted her soul being echoed throughout the city. In the haze of painkillers and wine she heard the door being broken down and saw him run in. She saw him as if she were out of her own body. The man was shaking some other poor girl and throwing him over his shoulder. He grabbed someone else's screaming toddler by the arm and rushed her out. Jackie didn't argue, she didn't have the energy. She closed her eyes and fell asleep to the motion of his running, and didn't wake for what felt like a lifetime. When she did regain consciousness, she was laying on a cold metal grate with a jacket under her head and the strange man looking over her, almost like an angel. One lone tear trailed down his face when her eyes fluttered open.
"There now", he said "what's happened to you then? It's as if you wanted to die in that building back there".
"I did," she said as she weakly sat up and looked around her at the interior of what seemed to be some machine. "I do…" she whispered.
He was quiet a moment and the wrapped his arm around her which she found strangely comforting. He used his free hand to push back a stray lock of her wispy, blonde hair and murmured in her ear, "Stay strong. If not for yourself, then for her". He nodded towards the little blonde girl sitting by her mum.
Jackie pushed herself up then and slapped him right across the face.
"Who are you then? You don't know what I've been through!"
The little girl started crying at her raised voice and Jackie turned to her and picked her up.
"I lost my husband. I'm raising her by myself and I can barely afford the broken down flat we live in. She'd have a good life with a proper home and mum and dad if it weren't for me!"
The man grabbed her hand and said urgently, "Jackie Tyler, you are the bravest woman I've ever met and one of the best mothers. If you can overcome this, think of what you could do for her. She could grow up to save the world. Keep fighting. Never stop fighting. And when it comes to her, fight twice as hard".
She looked at him, surprise written all over her face, and slowly nodded her understanding.
"Good", he said "now if you do something for me, I'll do something for you".
At this she took a step back and raised her eyebrows quizzically. Jackie was an attractive woman and there were simply some phrases that reminded her.
He rolled his eyes. "Not like that. If you keep going and make a proper life for you two ladies, I will personally buy you a nicer flat".
She looked at him in shock before saying fiercely "That's not a nice joke".
"Serious!" he said. "I promise if you promise."
She eyed him dubiously.
"Okay… I don't even know who you are."
"No you don't, but you will."
And with that, he ushered them out of the strange little machine and escorted them to the real estate offices of the Powell estate, leaving Jackie Tyler to wonder who this miraculous man was, and how he knew her name.