Hope

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Warning kinda spoilers for the Amazing Spider-Man 2.

"Maddie!" Alfred shouted as he watched her fall of the roof of the building. She looked like an angel with her arms spread out falling backward and staring back up at him. "Maddie!" He was going to jump down and save her. He could use his ability to turn to different metals to save her, to break her fall. "Madeline!" He shouted jumping after her. No, no, no. She was falling to fast; he wasn't going to reach her in time. He transformed his skin to lead to make him fall faster, the wind rushing past his face as he fell. He reached out to grab her, to stop her from falling to her impending death. She reached up for him, her face contorted with horror as she realized what her fate was about to be.

He grabbed the front of her shirt just before she hit the ground. But it didn't stop him from hearing the sickening snap, the way her body crumpled, the impact lessening from him grabbing her shirt and slowing her down, but not by much. "Maddie, Maddie." The lead skin prevented his own death from the same way. He shed the armor cradling his friend, his best friend, the love of his life in his arms. "Maddie." He said touching her face, she was still warm, she couldn't be dead, any moment now she was going to open those large indigo eyes of her and smile back at him. "Maddie." His voice came out like a child's unable to understand why she wasn't responding to his calls. She looked so peaceful lying there in his arms like a doll, as if she was asleep.

"No, no," Alfred whispered as he watched the blood begin to drip out of her nose. "No, please." He begged as he clutched her body. "Please, please." He had promised to protect her, to keep her safe, and he had failed, he had failed the one person he could trust, the one person who knew him best, knew all his secrets. "Please." The last plea was almost silent as he pushed strands of her dark blond hair out of her face. "Maddie." All around him are the police and an ambulance, they tried to convince him to let her go, to let them take her, but he wouldn't let them. How was he going to live, how was he going to do this without her, he loved her. The ache in his heart was almost too much to bear, how could he keep going on like this?

"Alfred, Alfred." A hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice snapped him out of his inner turmoil. It was Arthur, the Magician; he was standing over them, sadness in his green eyes as he gazed down upon Madeline's broken body. "Let her go Alfred."

"I can't." He whispered, if he let them take her body it would be over, there would be no hope of her return, and he- he almost couldn't bear the thought of that. What was he going to do without her, how was he going to live without her.

"You have to Alfred; you have to let her go." Arthur whispered, and Alfred let go. He watched helpless as they placed her body in a black bag to be taken away, and the next time he would see it would be when they buried her.

"Maddie! Maddie!" He shouted reaching out for her, they couldn't take her away from him, they couldn't he needed her. How could he be a hero if she wasn't there beside him, to cheer him on from the sidelines, to bandage up his wounds when he went too far, to bring him back to his sanity when the stress and pain of being a superhero got to be too much. Who was going to remind him that he was still human, that he still felt pain and anger and that he couldn't take on the weight of the world by himself? "Madeline!" Arthur held him back, stopped him from reaching her.

"Alfred, stop. You have to stop this." Arthur said and Alfred flung himself into Arthur's chest unable to watch as they lifted her body away.

"I couldn't save her, I couldn't save her." The one person who truly mattered and he had failed at saving her.

"It's okay, Alfred." Arthur soothed.

Alfred didn't remember crying himself into oblivion on Arthur's chest at the bottom of the broken building, or the day after when he smashed his bedroom to pieces, or the day after that when he didn't leave the bar too drunk to walk. He wasn't all that aware of his surroundings till he was standing in front of a grave bearing the name Madeline Williams across it along with her date of birth July 1, 1994 and her date of death three days prior. Arthur and Francis stood beside him, dressed in black suits, eyes cast downwards and away from Alfred as if afraid to look at him. Had he caused this, had he caused her death?

"I'm so sorry, Maddie." He whispered, "So sorry." He looked up at the blue sky above; he could hear the sounds of laughter from children in a park nearby. The world had moved on already, uncaring that Alfred's own world had come crashing down on top of him and he was afraid he would never find his way out of the rubble again.

"We should go." Arthur said, Alfred shook his head, he didn't want to leave, didn't want her to become another grave no one visited. He thought back to other days as he heard Francis and Arthur walk away from him, allowing him some time to himself.

Alfred F. Jones had always wanted to be a hero, like those he saw on TV every day as a child. He would watch news reel after news reel detail the brave and heroic acts that heroes had done that day to keep the world safe. He never thought he'd get the chance to actually be a hero though, he always thought he'd just be on the sidelines watching, maybe having to be rescued if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He might get to meet his favorite superhero that way The Magician; he was a hero who could create things with his mind. Then one day as Alfred walked home from school a car door went flying towards him as one of the villains went on a rampage around the city. His skin changed to metal protecting him from the door that hit him, he had then proceeded to pick up the car door and throw it back at the villain knocking him to the ground from a vehicle that would allow him to fly. And then the metal had disappeared off of his skin and he walked home in a slight daze.

Madeline had been the first person to know his secret and had encouraged him to find out exactly what he could do with his metal skin. She hadn't been scared by this new found revelation and had always supported him from the sidelines as he worked his way up in the super hero world. She took all his faults and his strange work hours and the danger he put himself in and loved him anyway, would stand beside him whenever she could despite not having superpowers herself. She was amazing. And now she was gone. He could no longer save her.

"Alfred," he could hear her voice saying his name. He looked around for the source of the voice, but there was nothing there. She was no longer there.

He went back to Supertower with Arthur and Francis; no one said a word on the ride back. Each seemed to be lost in whatever thoughts they had. Alfred kept repeating over and over again the sequence of her fall in his head wondering if there was anything he could have done to have prevented it. He could see her smile, the kindness she showed everyone. She had wanted to go into psychology, to help people who could not see the good in themselves. She'd had the amazing ability to be able to see the good in everyone and help them see the good in themselves. She had given him hope. Hope for a future. And now he'd lost that hope.

Author's Note (the part of the story where the author comes out and writes a silly note): I know I said the next one wouldn't be so sad. And I feel like this one was kind of rushed, but I had a lot of feelings after seeing the Amazing Spider-Man 2 and I needed to write them out. I'm sorry this is depressing. I cried while writing it, and that's a new thing for me. Thanks for reading.