"Nich...olas? Nickie? You hear? You awake?"

Something poked his cheek and he groaned, swiping weakly at the offending finger and hearing the giggle of laughter as small feet scrambled away from him and disappeared around a bend. A dog barked and Nicholas grunted something he didn't even understand as his senses began to return and he felt the firm mattress underneath him.

"Owww," he grunted, heaving himself up onto his elbows and slowly glancing around, recognizing his own room and the anxious eyes watching him from the doorway. "I...am now. What is it, Nino?"

Said boy peeked back around the corner at him. "Yous been asleep!" came the hasty response. "Yous missed dinner and Dover is hungy!"

"Oh," Nicholas said, trying to sit up all the way. His head spun and his arms felt like jelly. As Nino cautiously crept back into the room, Nicholas fell back against a mountain of pillows with a deep grunt. "Dover is hungry? Are you sure about that?" There was no reply from the child and Nicholas knew what that meant. Besides, something was far too quiet to be normal. "Where are mom and dad?" he inquired, heaving himself up once again and forcing back nausea as Nino stood hopefully by his bedside, holding a bag of snacks in his hands.

"Downstair," Nino sang, scrambling up onto the bed, holding out the bag of cheese puffs happily. "Yous still sleepy?" he chirped. "Chip?" He shoved the snack into Nicholas's face.

"No, that's okay. I'm good," Nicholas said quickly, pushing the Cheeto away and running a hand through his hair, wincing as his muscles felt like lead and he leaned back against the bed frame with a long sigh. "What time is it?"

"Dinner time!" Nino repeated urgently, tugging at the quilt impatiently.

Well, that was no help. With a moan, Nicholas heaved himself over to peer irritably at his flashing alarm clock which read 7:48 p.m. Ugh. It's so late. But why is it so quiet? Shouldn't the house be full of noise and dad's screaming over his football game or something? He didn't like the silence. Silence often meant trouble. Or danger. His family was not silent. Something was wrong.

"Where are ab and al'umu?" he repeated shortly, sitting up and ignoring Nino's wince of hurt as he was forcibly knocked from the bed. "Why am I not at school? Why aren't you?"

"School done! I draw big truck! " Nino answered proudly, picking up his spilled bag of chips, scowling as the shepard came diving into the room to lick up the crumbs. "Ew, Dozer!" he complained, receiving a sloppy kiss in reply. "No! Yuckie!" He pushed the dog away, wiping his face of slobber. "Nickie! Dozer licked me again!"

"I saw," Nicholas muttered, head still pounding as he swung himself from the mattress and started to stand. "Mom and Dad?"

"Downstair," Nino repeated, trying to shove Dozer's face away from his. "Tree. Playing with presents. Wanna play too!"

"Maybe later, Akhi." Nicholas knew his parent's codes. "Wrapping presents" was actually a misnomer for "having a serious discussion that does not involve two children who should not be worrying about anything besides getting a good education and making a name for themselves". They almost always held them after the brothers had gone to bed and they were always related to Nicholas; either about his studies or his music, neither of which impressed them. "Why don't you go play with your blocks?" he suggested, gesturing abstractly to the pile of scattered legos covering the far half of the room.

"Don't want to," Nino sniffed, scooting closer. "Mommy said...stay with...with you. Said...said you was sick." He sat up straight and slapped a hand to Nicholas's forehead like his parents had done to him the last time he'd been feverish. "Don't feel hot," he commented.

"I'm fine, Nino," Nicholas grunted, pulling his small fingers away. "I'm not sick."

"Said you was!" Nino argued indignantly, snuggling closer, much to Nicholas' annoyance. I need to get up! I need to know what happened today! Is that little girl okay? Who was that guy with the mask? "Staying here."

"Akhi," Nicholas sighed. 'You can't stay here. I have to get up! I've got chores to do! You do too!"

"Uh, uh! Not moving!"

"You can be highly annoying when you want to be, can't you?"

Nino just beamed in his typical, "I know very well that you are insulting me but I am going to be ornery and pretend that I am just a typical little kid who doesn't know and doesn't care what you have to say while silently judging your every move" grin and peered up at him with hopeful eyes.

Nicholas frowned even more deeply, but his younger sibling was not deterred. "Fine," he said, seeing as the boy was set in his ways. "Would you at least let me get up and go to the bathroom? Or are you so determined to be an overbearing bodyguard that you won't let the poor injured man up?"

Alarm flashed through Nino's features as the child quickly began searching Nicholas for said injuries. "Yous hurt!" he echoed, and he, to Nicholas's pure agony, clung even tighter around his waist.

"Ergh...Nino...come on...I'm okay, really. It was...just an expression."

Heaving himself to the edge of the bed, Nicholas held his brother close, painfully aware of the shooting pain in his wrist and burning ache in his lungs. He supposed the former had been from the main blast and the latter from the daring rescue, which caused his mind to once again circle back to the events of that afternoon. What had happened that could have caused the building to go up in flames in the first place? Was the little girl all right? Was she with her parents right now somewhere warm, eating a warm dinner?

And had he actually seen a man dressed up like a dragon swoop in and save his family?

Okay, no, that was not his main concern right now. His focus was on getting downstairs and making sure his parents were all right. There was so much he didn't know-and couldn't remember. What had happened after he passed out? Had everyone gotten out safely? Had his class worried about him when he didn't return from lunch?

No, probably not. They never paid much attention to him anyway. Ms. Bustier might have noticed, but that would only have been because she'd just spoken to him and would be wondering where he could have gone in such a short period of time.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and, securing Nino in one arm, he quickly pulled up the lock-screen, scanning a message from his principal; something about being tardy and being required to make up the work later. He could deal with that afterward. Right now, he had bigger things to concern himself with.

"Nickie," Nino sniffled. "Where going?"

"Just hold on," Nicholas assured him. "I just need to talk to Mom and Dad. Then I'll get you a snack or something."

"Can't," Nino protested. "Not here."

Nicholas paused. "What?"

"Not here," Nino repeated, his voice trembling. "Gone."

Panic shot through Nicholas as he gaped at his brother. "But you said they were here! Where are they?"

"Gone," Nino echoed. "Asleep. Dark. Can't...can't see..."

Nicholas could hear footsteps downstairs. "Nino, you're imagining things again, Akhi! Mom and Dad are in the kitchen! I can hear them! Now, come on! Let's go see what they are up to, yeah?"

Hazel eyes blinked up tearfully but Nino nodded uncertainly, swinging his arms around Nicholas's neck and resting his head on his elder brother's shoulder to peer tiredly at something behind them. Nicholas didn't know what his sibling was seeing whenever he went into this moony-eyed glazed stare, only that he'd been doing it a lot these past few weeks. He wondered if they were waking nightmares and if he should be a little more concerned about Nino's wellbeing than he currently was. He'd have to remember to add that to his list of questions to rattle off at their next doctor's appointment.

Trudging carefully down the stairs with his brother firmly in his arms, Nicholas peeked around the corner to the kitchen, finding his parents settled around the island; his father pouring a cup of coffee and his mother quietly sitting on a bench, sipping something that Nicholas suspected would turn out to be herbal tea.

Both glanced up without a word as Nicholas entered, relief and regret simultaneously flashing through their features.

"Boys." Their father spoke first and Nicholas trained his eyes on him. He had a few cuts and bruises and a cast on his arm, but other than that, he seemed all right. Perhaps a little shaken, but that was to be expected given the circumstances. "You're awake." He seemed surprised by this. "Nikolas, are you feeling better?"

"A little," Nicholas admitted, coming a little closer, wary and not yet ready to sit down. "Are you..." He swallowed, his throat dry and the words he wanted to say getting stuck. "Are you both...all right?"

His parents shared a quick glance and his mother smiled faintly.

"We are all right, Nikolas," Ali promised. "A little shell-shocked, but I think we'll be okay."

"Shell?" Nino echoed, wrinkling his nose at the unfamiliar word. "Turtle shell! Turtle at school! Tiny talking turtle!" He giggled at his own tongue twister. Nicholas had no idea what he was going on about, but then again, it was Nino and that wasn't unexpected. The six-year-old had a very vivid imagination.

"Are you sure?" Nicholas questioned. "You...aren't hurt?"

"Just our pride," Layla told him.

"And my arm might be a little stingy for a short time," Ali added. "But we'll get along, right? Nothing to be concerned about!"

Nicholas frowned. "So...no news then?" he inquired, trying to change the subject to something a little less uncomfortable. "Everything is...is okay?"

"No sister?" Nino butted in, looking disappointed at the lack of another sibling as he scanned the spotless kitchen.

Layla chuckled. "No news," she confirmed. "Everything is fine. And I'm sorry, Nino, but no little sister for you yet." She glanced up at Nicholas and winked. "And no little brother either."

It's a boy.

Triumph sparked through Nicholas's head and he couldn't wipe the victorious grin from his face.

Nino frowned. "Why you happy?" he grumbled, prodding Nicholas in the shoulder. "No sister!"

Nicholas chuckled. "Well, you got that right, Nino. No sister."

A brother.

Ha, I win.

"But enough about us," Ali interjected, sitting down next to his wife and gesturing for his children to do the same. "You did a very brave deed today, Nicholas. And you were hurt doing so. The police told us all they could, but we'd like to hear what happened from you."

Nicholas nodded, finally lowering Nino to the ground and taking a seat across from his parents. "I'm not sure how much there is to explain," he confessed. "I was worried about you. I was afraid something might have happened. I saw the smoke from school. I came running to help. I couldn't get to you but there was another complex affected by the explosion. That girl needed help and I couldn't leave her there. She was just a kid. Like Nino." He gazed fondly at his brother who had absentmindedly wandered off to play with one of his trucks. "Um..." He turned back to his parents once again. "The girl. Is she...?"

"She's all right too," Layla assured him. "Her parents were there when you pulled her out. They ask me to thank you once you were feeling better. They boarded a plane for America soon after. They should be over the Atlantic by now."

"Tourists?" Nicholas blinked.

"Seasonal residents," Ali corrected. "Here for the summer but getting ready to head back to New York for the winter."

"Sounds cold," Nicholas commented.

"Like me?" Nino chirped.

Nicholas rolled his eyes good-humoredly. "No, Akhi, you're more lukewarm than anything. Your sarcasm is chilling."

"Thank you," the boy laughed, obviously not understanding what his brother had said.

"Anyway," Nicholas went on. "Everyone was safe?"

"Everyone," Layla agreed. "A few broken bones and some bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries. Funny enough, they said the explosion came from the upper floor which wasn't open for the public yet. It was still being constructed. I think they said they had been using it for a storage facility. I wonder what could have caused that kind of reaction though." She glanced up at her husband who shrugged, just as unsure as her.

"It's truly a mystery," Ali agreed. "But the main thing is that you're safe, Nikolas. We were so afraid we would lose you."

Nicholas smiled faintly. They didn't mention the superhero, he realized. Not even once. He found that incredibly odd, since the man was all he could think about now. Was it possible they hadn't seen him? If so, how? He'd been there almost the entire time! There was no possible way-

-unless he was hallucinating and the entire thing had only been in his head.

"And..." he began slowly. "Did you see anything...odd...while you were being rescued?" Any guys dressed in red sporting a tail and sugar-glider under-arm wings? No? Yeah, didn't think so. I must be losing it. Yes, that's it. I've lost it and that's why I am seeing mythical dragon-men everywhere I go now. Wow, I must have hit my head harder than I thought!

Ali and Layla shared a glance. "Not...that I can recall," Ali answered. "But then again, everything happened so fast, it's all a bit of a blur."

Layla nodded. "We didn't really have time to think about it. One minute, we were in the office speaking to the doctors, the next, everything was on fire and we were being rushed off the premises. That's all we know." She frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh." Nicholas blanched, not sure he wanted to tell them everything yet, especially since they didn't already know. Plus, he wasn't even sure what he'd seen. He couldn't rightly say a man dressed up, cosplaying as a dragon, saved his life, could he? "N-no reason. I was just curious, that's all." He immediately took a step backward toward the stairs, and then another as their looks grew even more uncertain. "Um...I'm glad you're all right!" he blurted, his mind already screaming out a billion warnings about mental health and asylums as his heels hit the steps and he turned to bolt, Nino forgotten in the moment. "But...I...uh...I'm not feeling so well suddenly! Dizzy! Yes! I think I'm about to faint!" He dramatically threw himself up the stairs, feeling his parent's confused gazes following him. "Feeling sick. Bed now. Homework. Good night!"

Without waiting to hear their response, he sprinted into his room and slammed the door behind him, falling against the back of it, already inhaling and exhaling sharply as everything in his brain swirled and thumped and refused to fall into their proper positions.

Okay.

Get it together, Nicholas.

You know you weren't imagining things. You don't imagine things. That is Nino's job. Logic. Logic and facts. That is what you know. That's your status quo. Stick with what you know. In and out. Breathe. In and out. In and-

His eyes, which had been scanning the room for something to focus on other than his crippling anxiety, suddenly fell on something small lying at the top of his bed on his pillow.

Something he was sure didn't belong to him.

He frowned, starting over to it, passing his window, the curtain flapping fruitlessly in the wind. Nicholas shivered, unsure why the pane was open, and hastily shifted course to close it before any snow could drift into their home.

And then he turned once more to the weird object waiting for him. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before. It looked like...well, he wasn't sure what it was.

Upon stepping closer he realized what it was.

It was a small box.

Shaped like a hexagon and with a bunch of strange, carved letters on the lid.

And on the top, there was a note, written in a hasty scrawl and taped jerkily onto the wood.

Carefully and suspiciously, Nicholas picked it up and read the inscription;

"To the boy from the hospital today:

Open this when you are alone.

And don't forget the pendant."