He sat atop the building deep in thought. If it weren't for the city lights he'd see the twinkling stars sparkling against the night sky.
For every star he'd look at he would see another and another until he realized just how infinite it truly was. He'd realize how small Earth was in this ever-expanding beautiful cosmos. Perhaps he'd even forget if just for a second, the grief that was consuming him.
But the city lights were too bright. There was no chance he would see those stars. That cosmos above him. No, he was left to his thoughts and the grief that came with it.
His loved ones were gone. Reduced to nothing more than ashes. The explosion had consumed them before his eyes. Engulfing their every detail in bright light. It was as if it had happened in slow motion. How the light slowly crept up behind them. Slithering against their skin and eating up their hair.
And then they were gone. Leaving smolder and rubble in their place.
In the present atop the building, he leaned forward and allowed himself to fall off the building. He closed his eyes and simply allowed himself to bask in the memory of his friends and family. At first, his heart was pumping furiously the blood banging against his head. the adrenaline filled his body and the air rushed past him doing nothing to slow his fall.
He remembered their faces as the light consumed them. Their mouths were covered but he could see their eyes. Their eyes displayed the range of emotions they felt in their final seconds. Panic, fear, worry, and then... pride?
He stopped his descent and floated in the air.
Pride. They were proud of him. The hero that he had become. The strength and compassion he had shown before the explosion. The bravery he had displayed.
Bravery. He opened his eyes and floated upwards. Back to the ledge, he had just jumped off.
They had remembered him as brave. He would not die the coward's way.
He was strong and he was brave. He would be remembered as such. Danny Fenton would rather die as his family remembered him, and that was not a coward.