It was early afternoon, and Aidan was in the alley running around in the jammies trying out a new suit power when she heard a crash down the block. She ran in the direction of noise, only to see a car crashed into a building. She peered inside the car and to her shock, found Ralph and Pam slumped over inside, pinioned in their seats when the front crumpled from the impact. Reaching in, Aidan placed her hand on the two's carotid arteries and, finding their skin cool to the touch and no pulse, tried to use the suit to get them out of the car and revive them. To her horror, the suit turned gray and she couldn't rip off the doors to free the two out of the car.
Struggling and trying to find some other way to free them, Aidan smelled the strong odor of gasoline and heard a sizzle when the engine caught fire. Sensing the urgency of the situation, she tried to jimmie the car door open with a metal bar and just about pulled it open when the car exploded. Aidan was thrown in the air and back 100 feet, crashing roughly into a construction pile of bricks. Her head struck the ground sharply, stunning her briefly. Shaking her head, she remembered the explosion, and just barely covered her head as the blazing inferno rolled over her, the scorching heat burning into her skin. Sitting up, she turned to see the car totally engulfed in flames, with Ralph and Pam still inside, and something coming toward her...
Ralph, who had fallen asleep, bolted upright on the couch when he heard Aidan shriek. Entering Aidan's room, he saw her sitting up in bed with one knee pulled up to rest her forehead on and her arms wrapped around her head. "Aidan..." he started, kneeling by her side, only to have to duck Aidan's suited up arm when she swung out. He frowned, realizing she was still dreaming.
"They're dead, Ralph and Pam are dead. Why didn't you let me save them? Give me this suit and I can't save them... You sons of ..."
After struggling a little to avoid being decked, Ralph managed to grab Aidan by the shoulders and shook them. "Aidan wake up you're having a nightmare." She wasn't listening so he tried harder. "Aidan Micah Hinkley wake up... we're all right, you're safe, we're all safe."
Hearing her full name, Aidan snapped out of her dream and blinking, turned to see Ralph sitting there, holding her by the shoulders. "Ralph?" she said confused, only to start shaking as the adrenaline rush faded. "I-Is that y-you? R-Really you?"
"Yeah, Ade, it's me, see," The blonde-haired man chuckled softly and gave her a warm hug. "I'm alive, and so's Pam, but I think I'm going have trouble hearing for a couple of days. I forgot you had a scream that could wake the whole city of Los Angeles from a coma. You all right?"
"Yeah...I'm fine..." she said firmly, but her shaky voice belied it. "No... Huh... 27 and I'm acting like a scared little kid again. Sorry..."
"Don't be, Ade, judging from your reaction, you had a nasty dream. Even at my age, I get them too." There was a knock on the door and Pam entered. "Hi Pam, sorry to wake you," said Aidan, embarrassed.
"That's all right sweetheart, we had a feeling this might happen, given what happened today," she said. "Ralph's been sitting in the living room just in case you needed to talk and to check on you now and then. I mean, you were shot and nearly died, that'd scare anyone, even our resident 'tough guys' Bill and Tony. Now, what happened in your dream?"
Aidan shivered from the memory, and the other two sat on the bed. "Well, it was the afternoon and I was trying out something in the suit where I heard a car crash. Running over, I found the two of you inside the wreck with no pulse. Tried to get you out, but the suit turned gray and the car exploded, and I was thrown into a pile of bricks. Last thing I saw was the car engulfed in flames with you still in it and something coming at me."
Taking a slightly shaky breath, she continued. "It was so real though. I didn't feel your pulses, I smelled the gasoline, my head throbbed from when it struck the ground and I could've sworn I felt the fireball blaze over me and burning my skin..."
Pam and Ralph looked at each other and nodded, realizing where the basis of the dream came from originally. Though she didn't know it, from Aidan's description, it almost fit perfectly. Ralph wanted to be sure though, just in case she started asking questions. "What were you doing before you fell asleep?" he asked.
"Well, I was looking at a picture before I fell asleep," she said, pointing at her nightstand, which was a little cluttered with art and other items.
Ralph picked up one picture. "This one of the five of us together at the family reunion back in '87?" he said softly, knowing it was one she looked at a lot - it was the last time they all were together before that night.
"Yeah, and I started thinking about how I could've saved them if I had the suit then and ... do you think the suit might have something to do with my nightmare?"
Ralph nodded. "Maybe, would also explain why you felt as though everything was real."
"Yeah, Ade, and if the suit made the nightmare stronger, you should change into a pair of pajamas before you fall asleep again. Besides, you'll also be more comfortable," said Pam gently.
Aidan nodded and went to the closet to get a set of pajamas. Ralph left the room for a few minutes to let Aidan change and talk to Pam. When Aidan said she was ready, he came back in and found she was sitting up but under the covers now with Pam sitting on the edge of the bed. He joined Pam and sat down on the other side. After a couple of moments, Aidan spoke up. "Ralph, why didn't you try to save Mom and Dad? I mean, you had the suit..."
"Aidan..." he said as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, given Mr. Maxwell said 'all these years,' you had to have had the suit, which means you had it that night and y-you could've saved them like..." she said shrugging off his hand, a deep hurt laced in the comments.
Ralph ran his hand through his hair and sighed, knowing this would not be easy. Her not remembering everything about that night wasn't going to help his case either. The night of the accident, when he told Aidan her parents died, she passed out and struck her head on the desk before Ralph could catch her. Later, when they found out she didn't remember the finer details of the wreck the officer had told them, Pam and Ralph decided to keep them from her until she was older.
She never asked again, so they never told her but after tonight, Ralph realized it was time. "Ade... There was nothing I could've done, even with the suit. I never told you all the details of the wreck after you passed out that night, but I think it's time you knew. Your parents were killed instantly in the crash and from the officer's description, the scene itself was pretty ... horrendous. When they found your parents' bodies ... well, I won't go into exact details, but there was a good reason why you didn't get to see them before they were cremated," he said gently. "What the suit did today to save your life wouldn't have worked, they were already gone."
"Well, what about..."
"As far as today, my guess is that while your heart stopped, you still had a chance and the suit helped save you," he said. "I'll admit, today when I was giving you CPR, I was afraid I'd lose you and have to tell Pam there was nothing I could do, even with the suit. After you came back, when we were heading to Palmdale, I started to remember that night."
Even under the down comforter, Aidan shivered, causing both Pam and Ralph to put an arm around her shoulders. Ralph noticed she didn't shrug them off this time. Pam continued. "It was tough for all of us. You naturally took it the hardest. But we did make it through that, and you'll make it through this."
"Still, I'm not sure I can handle wearing the suit forever, and not just because of the nightmares," she said doubtfully.
Ralph and Pam both frowned, noting she was still wary of her new responsibility. "Aidan, it will take time, but Pam and I are going to help you learn how to use the suit. It'll just be like taking a lot of small school lessons again."
Though skeptical, Aidan nodded and yawned, leaning back into the pillows. "Yeah, I just hope one of those lessons doesn't give me another dream like that, especially the fire," she said as her eyes started to droop. "Bad enough I get fire dreams sometimes because I have to deal with students who want to be pyromaniacs. Always saying 'Don't touch the acetylene torches or you're failing.'"
The other two chuckled. "True," said Ralph. "Listen, Pam and I will stay in here until you fall asleep again and if you need either of us, you can get us... Just don't do it at 180 decibels again."
Aidan smiled softly and closed her eyes. Ralph got up and sat down on the papasan chair in Aidan's room and leaned back while Pam propped her feet up on the bed and sat next to Aidan. In a couple of minutes, Ralph and Pam had fallen asleep.
Aidan, however, stayed up for a little while longer, thinking about the suit. "Ralph couldn't save my parents even though he had the suit. That could happen to me. Maybe I shouldn't take on this role," she thought. "I have to give it a couple of days before I say yea or nay, got to give it a shot. But what if that dream becomes real... what have I gotten myself into?" Ultimately, she finally fell asleep again, and while she had some bizarre dreams, she was able to sleep the rest of the night.
