A/N: I hope this is good enough lol. My fiance liked it, but he might have just been saying that to make me feel better lol. Anyway, if you are enjoying this story, a few kind words would be nice.

/

Cole peered around the edge of the building, taking stock of the situation. It was still dark, the only light came from the street light illuminating the group of red coated freaks. Maybe he could sneak up on them, take them out before they noticed him... Not for the first time, he wished he could use a gun. But the last time he'd held onto one for more than a minute, it had exploded in his hand. He was lucky he still had all his fingers.

I can't let you hurt her. In fact, I'll make sure you won't.

Cole sneaked up around the park bench, close enough to the street light. He reached out a hand. Power flowed from the light and into him, welling up inside him. The light flickered and went out, throwing the area into almost complete darkness.

Cole stood up, letting jagged bolts of power form around him. He hadn't wanted to use this power anymore... Trish had rejected him because of it... but Trish was dead. Cole couldn't allow his new friend to meet the same fate.

He let the power go. Blue lightning rushed forward, taking out most of the group with a single shot. Only a couple managed to even fire a few rounds. The man felt a bullet hit his leg. His muscles shook but he didn't back down.

Cole groaned even as the last body hit the ground. That one shot had hit his shin, tearing a hole in his pants and shearing off a good chunk of skin. Blood was soaking his left sock. Grasping his leg, he let what was left of his power pulse through his skin. Drawing power from the street lamp, he was able to heal it. That's when he heard the shouting.

"You're a fucking idiot!"

Startled, Cole looked up. A small figure was leaning out of the only lit window high above him. The moonlight glinted off her silver blonde hair, giving away who it was.

"Did you think I wasn't going to hear fucking gunshots outside my window?" Shane yelled down at him.

"Sorry! I'll try and be quieter next time!" Cole shouted back sarcastically, getting to his feet. He grabbed the nearest body and hauled it over to the others, stacking the corpses in a pile. The police would hopefully pick up the bodies when the sun was up. The guns he quickly tossed down the storm drain. He could sense Shane watching him.

"I still think you're crazy, but thank you!"

"No problem! I owed you one!" Cole shouted up at her. He hesitated, but he had to say it now. Shane was ducking her head back inside. "Can I come visit you!?"

"What?"

"Is it okay if I come see you sometime?" Cole repeated. Cole obviously couldn't see Shane's face, but he wished he could have.

"Okay!" he heard her respond after a few seconds. "See you around!"

Shane pulled her head back in the window and shut it. Cole breathed a sigh of relief.

Okay, he was starting to become a believer. The voice had told him to come here, that there was somebody who could help him here... and there she was. Shane had saved his life, and offered him a chance to see her again.

Cole felt a spark of hope in his chest, something he hadn't felt in so long he almost didn't recognize it. Maybe he wasn't doomed. Maybe he still had a chance to change his future into something better... Shane had lit a fire in his heart again. Just that one display of kindness was enough to bring him back from the brink.

Cole still felt like he owed her for that... He had to clear this area of Reapers. There were way too many of them here... if Shane ever went outside again, she could get killed by these freaks. Cole pulled more power from the street light, letting it bounce between his limbs until he felt like he'd taken in all he could handle.

Cole looked back up at Shane's window, where he could see a little bit of light from her living room.

I'll figure out a way to end this. I'll change the future. Then... then I'll leave this hell hole behind me. Don't worry Shane, hopefully you won't have to live this way for long.

Something rustled in the grass next to him. Were there more reapers here already? Cole turned his head slightly and caught something moving out the corner of his eye. He lit up his hands once again, aiming at the figure standing off to his side.

A pair of startled blue eyes stared at him from a pale face. Shane leaped backwards from him, a hand over her heart like she was having a heart attack.

"Shit!" Cole shouted, clenching his fists to try and disperse the energy. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "How the hell did you get down here so fast?!"

Shane looked like a deer in headlights, completely stunned. Her eyes darted from tree to tree, now looking anywhere but at his face.

"I was worried about you," Shane said breathlessly, gesturing to his blood soaked sneaker. "You okay?"

That doesn't exactly answer my question, Cole thought, but okay...

"I'm fine," Cole said, raising an eyebrow at her. He saw her quickly take in the pile of corpses.

"Oh, good!" Shane said a little too enthusiastically, now staring at his waistline. She slammed her hands into her hoodie, still with that deer in headlights look on her face. "Great! I'll see you later!"

And with that said, she brushed past him, practically sprinting across the street.

"What... Hey!" Cole said bemusedly. But Shane had already disappeared into the tiny alleyway.

What the hell was that about? Cole jogged across the street, peering in the the darkness of the alley, but there was no girl in sight... Now where did she go?

"I told you that you'd find help here," the voice whispered in his ear.

Cole jumped, flattening himself against the side of the building. Wind whipped around him, cutting straight through his clothes, chilling him to the bone.

"Fuck," he whispered to the air. "You're gonna fucking kill me if you keep scaring the shit out of me like that."

"The idea was actually to keep you from getting killed," the voice said, sounding amused. "And it worked, didn't it?"

Cole took a deep breath. He'd had just about all the scares he could handle for the night.

"I guess," he admitted once his pulse had lowered back down to normal. "Do you know her or something? Shane?"

"Sort of," the voice murmured in his ear. "She could help you, if you let her."

Cole snorted, slumping down against the side of an overturned dumpster. He looked up at the sky, watching as a plane flew across the moon.

"I've already got an imaginary friend for help," he reminded her sardonically. "And I won't get her killed. That'd be a dick move on my part."

"That's nice of you," the voice said sincerely. "You're a good guy."

Cole felt his ears reddening. Great, now he was getting embarrassed... Did his imaginary friend have a crush on him?

You were there when I was passed out... I heard you. You said... you said... what did you say? I can't remember. But you sang to me, I remember that.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Was he so lonely that he was making up a nice girl to talk to him? God, that was just sad...

"Look, I've got some Reapers to get rid of, so... we'll talk later," Cole said awkwardly, getting up off the ground and stalking back out into the night.

/

The morning news was not good. Channel four showed nothing but images of Empire City, torn apart... and bodies. Guilt boiled in Cole's stomach as he stared at the static filled screen... There was Archer's square, and all the death he'd caused...

You're wrong, my poor, silly hallucination... I am not a good guy. Not at all. I've killed people, innocent people... You may be right that I didn't mean to, but still... I did it.

Cole wrenched his eyes from the TV and wandered towards the park. He had done his best the last few days to rid the area of Reapers so Shane would be safe. Now he was wondering how long the government was planning on keeping the entire city quarantined like this...

He plopped down on a park bench and took a deep breath. He felt himself sliding sideways... maybe he'd just take a short nap. Sleep would be a good place to try and escape from his dark and depressing thoughts... eventually, he slept.

Cole's eyes snapped open, he wasn't sure how much later... Cole was strong, but not strong enough to break through the ropes constricting his neck, chest, arms, and legs.

He'd just been so tired... he'd fallen asleep that park bench, just for a quick nap. Big mistake. Now he was lashed to this bench and surrounded by Reapers.

"Let me go right now!" Cole roared, thrashing furiously. But he was too exhausted to do much else... he had so little power left... his hands sparked weakly.

A tall red coated Reaper approached Cole's face, black gunk dripping from his mouth. Just like those sick people on the street... The reaper pulled a knife from under his coat.

"You will cure us," he gurgled, a black bubble bursting at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't have any cure!" Cole said, his heart about to beat out of his chest. The Reaper raised his knife. Holy shit, he was about to be slaughtered here like a sheep on an altar!

He turned away as the knife fell, slashing through his jacket sleeve and T-shirt, cutting him deeply in the arm. Blood spurted from the wound, dripping onto the pavement.

Cole saw a cup flash in front of his eyes. Even as he tried to heal his wound, he saw the cup go under his arm to catch his blood. The Reaper raised the cup to his mouth.

Fuck, they're drinking my blood! They think my blood is going to cure them. That's what Kessler meant, they'd love to get their hands on me...

"More," another Reaper hissed from under its hood.

Cole's breath caught in his throat as the knife was raised again, stabbing him deeply in the forearm. Great, they were going to stab him full of holes, bleed him dry until he was nothing but a withered husk. More of his blood was caught in the cup.

Of all the ways to die, this wasn't how he thought he would go...

Cole stared at the trees hanging over him. He tried to draw on what power he had left... the cut in his arm healed, but it was quickly reopened by that bloody blade. What could he do? He couldn't keep healing himself, and he didn't want to die like this...

Wait... was the voice here? Could his imaginary friend help him? Maybe... maybe he just had to believe that his invisible friend was real, and she'd help him...

Cold metal widened the hole in his arm, speeding up the flow of his blood. Cole groaned, but then he swallowed his pride. He had to ask now...

"Help," Cole whispered. "Whoever you are... help me."

The knife pierced his leg, tearing a hole in his pants. Cole winced. The cup was passed around, Reapers drinking eagerly from it. His heart would stop beating soon...

"Please, if you're real, help me!" Cole begged.

Nothing, no answer... there was only silence, except for the sounds of his blood being guzzled like soda.

And then the wind picked up. That gory cup was knocked out of the Reaper's bloody hands. The red coated freaks made sounds of outrage as their "cure" rolled away.

The trees shook angrily. Branches cracked and snapped overhead. A massive tree limb fell, crashing into the group of freaks, causing them to scatter. Cole blinked. This was actually happening...

Cole had heard the expression "howling wind," but this wind was actually screaming. He could hear his imaginary friend shrieking in anger as the wind rushed over him, snatching at his clothes.

The Reapers had drawn their weapons. They might be bat shit crazy, but they knew something was happening. Another tree limb plummeted from a nearby tree, clipping a massive Reaper, knocking the figure to the ground. Cole's attackers were moving farther away now, following the sound of the howling wind.

"You're real," Cole whispered to himself. "Holy fuck, you're actually real..."

That was when a tiny blonde figure ran up to him.

"Shane," Cole croaked.

"Shh!" Shane hissed frantically, her fingers swiftly undoing the ropes that held him in place. The ropes fell from his body, and Shane, with more strength than he would have guessed she had, helped him to stand. She then helped him limp over to the nearest street light so Cole could drain it and heal his wounds.

"Better?" Shane breathed, so quietly he could barely hear her.

"Yeah," Cole growled, testing his leg. It seemed to be healed, though he was still feeling light headed, probably from blood loss.

"Then come on!" Shane whispered, pulling on his hand. "Let's go while they're distracted!"

"No," Cole snarled, yanking his hand back. Lightning crawled up his arms. "Those blood drinking freaks are dead!"

He turned back to where the Reapers were still looking for whoever was screaming, even though the noise had since stopped. Now it was just the wind, no angry voices could be heard.

"Fine!" he heard Shane hiss at his back. "Get yourself killed. Idiot!"

Cole growled, attempting to control his emotions. Shane was right, he was still weak... the smart thing would be to run now, fight them later. The voice didn't need protecting anyway, it had no body to protect. He could run and not feel guilty. Cole turned to accompany Shane out of the park, but behind him was nothing but leaves.

What is with you, girl? You're becoming as scarce as my imaginary friend...