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Warnings: language, mentions of death and car crash, hints of PTSD

"I'm sorry that we didn't get there in time, Daniel."

"It's fine," the boy in the hospital bed replied weakly. "You did all that you could, Eric."

"Well, obviously, it wasn't enough! I've save people from car crashes, fires, drowning, everything in the book, but when my best friend needed me most, I was no where to be found!"

"ERIC!" Daniel Corrigan snapped and Eric Johnson looked up in suprise. Daniel had gotten irritated, defensive, and experienced several other emotions, but never had he sounded so angry. "You are the greatest hero alive, and you're only fourteen. You are a fantastic friend, a wonderful role model, and you stand up to what you know is wrong. How can you say that what you're doing isn't enough? It's more than enough, Eric. Look, I fully knew what I was getting myself into when I ran into that burning house. I'm not trying to play hero; I was not copying what you do. All I knew was that Theo and his family needed help and I wasn't about to let them die."

Eric opened his mouth and no words came out. He gaped like a fish for a few more moments before giving in and collapsing into a chair beside the bed. "I know that you weren't playing hero, Daniel. You weren't playing hero on any of those nights with the Shroud and you weren't playing hero when you ran into that mansion. You're just a hero in general."

"Thanks, Eric." Daniel hesitated. "Hey... um... how are the Plunketts and Mr. Madison?"

Eric went silent and he wouldn't meet Daniel's eyes. Taking a deep breath, he responded, "Mrs. Plunkett is alright, but she'll be on an oxygen machine for awhile. Bernard actually came out just fine. The towel on his head saved his life from the smoke. Theo... he'll be on an oxygen machine for a few more weeks and he was burned pretty badly. He'll be scarred for life, but he's alive and he should live a long, healthy life."

"What about Mr. Madison?"

"Severe blisters and some lung damage." Eric wouldn't meet his friend's eyes.

"Is he gonna make it?" Daniel asked, but he wasn't sure if he wanted an answer.

"I'm not sure, Daniel," Eric whispered.

"Eric Matthew Johnson, don't you dare blame yourself for this. Mr. Madison was hurt long before Rohan heard the fire trucks. It. is. Not. Your. Fault."

Eric paused. "It's not your's either, Daniel."

"I know," Daniel said, but the lie was so obvious, even to his own ears.

"It's the truth, Daniel." Eric leaned closer to Daniel and grabbed his hand. He laughed at the perplexed and awkward look on his best friend's face. "Daniel, if you hadn't gone in there when you did... all of them would be dead. I guess this is one thing we can thank Herman Plunkett for."

Daniel suddenly bolted up into a sitting position, apparently too fast. The boy gasped and his face crumpled in pain as he slowly laid back down, his breathing choppy and uneven.

"Daniel?" Eric's voice was filled with fear. He lightly shook Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel? Nurse? NURSE!"

A woman in a white uniform raced in just as Daniel passed out in the bed, swimming into the sea of unconsciousness. Other nurses ushered Eric out of the room and he sat in a chair beside Rohan in the waiting room.

"How is he?" Rohan wondered.

"He passed out just before I left."

"Is he blaming himself?"

Eric nodded. "He won't admit it, but he is."

Rohan chuckled to his suprise. "Typical Daniel. Taking all the blame when in reality, if it weren't for him, those people would be dead."

"Why is he like that?" Eric rolled his eyes.

"Honestly," Rohan began, "I think he's carrying around a burden bigger than this."

Eric thought about it. "What do you mean?"

"We've known Daniel for two years and he's been like this that entire time. I think something happened in Daniel's past that he won't tell us about- something that makes him feel guilty. And I'm gonna find out what it is."

"No offense, Rohan," Eric chuckled, "but Daniel's not one to talk."

"Well," Rohan said, "I'm gonna make him."

He got up and walked away from the perplexed boy sitting in the waiting room.

It seemed like years before Daniel woke up, but Rohan was at his side the entire time. And he cried.

Daniel looked horrible. His face was horribly burned and covered in angry, red blisters with bruises marring his cheeks and forehead. A bandage already stained with a few droplets of blood was wrapped around his head and Daniel was hooked up to more machines than Rohan could count. Tubes were attached to every part of his body; more bandages and casts were on his body than all of the original Supers had had in their lifetime combined. An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose.

When Daniel started coughing, Rohan straightened and leaned over him so that Daniel would have something worth waking up to. According to Rohan's theory, if Daniel saw an empty room, it'd be easier just to go back to sleep, but if he saw his friend, he'd know that he'd be in for an ear full when he woke back up.

"Hey, Daniel," Rohan mumbled as his friend's greenish gray eyes fluttered open. "You feeling okay?"

"Hey, Rohan," Daniel murmured, his breath fogging up the oxygen mask.

"Why do you do this?"

"D-Do what?" Daniel stuttered. He sounded like there was cotton in his throat.

"You risk your life. I'm glad that you saved Theo and his family, but Daniel, why do you do it? What's the real reason that you do it?"

"What... you mean?"

"Daniel, I know that you blame yourself, but you did nothing wrong. If anything, you did everything right. I know that you have to be blaming yourself for something else."

"Chris- Christina." With that last word, Daniel passed out cold.

Sighing, Rohan walked outside of the room and towards Daniel's worried parents.

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan, could I ask you a question?"

Mrs. Corrigan looked up, tears filling her crystal blue eyes. "What is it, Rohan?"

"Daniel woke up, briefly, and he mentioned a Christina. If you don't mind, I was wondering who that was."

Mr. Corrigan looked down and, with a deep breath, began his tale. "Elizabeth," he gestured to Mrs. Corrigan, "had a sister. She was Daniel's birth mother and died when he was four, maybe five. At the time, Lizzy and I had been living in California and didn't even know that her sister had a son. He was passed around foster care for years. At his last foster home, when he was ten, his foster parents crashed their car. The parents died on impact; his foster sister, Christina, who was three at the time, died in his arms; and Daniel spent months in a hospital. Social services tracked us down and Daniel came to live with us once he got out of the hospital."

"Oh, um, sorry I never knew."

"It's alright, Rohan, you didn't know," Mrs. Corrigan choked before rushing towards her son's room.

Mr. Corrigan picked up Georgie, who was pulling his sleeve, and headed towards the restrooms while Rohan returned to Eric's side.

No wonder Daniel always blamed himself. His baby sister had died in his arms and all Daniel could do was watch.

If anyone would like to give me ideas for the story to come, please do so. It would be very beneficial to me. Thank you! Read and Review!