Amy Dallon

Brockton General Hospital

"Do I have permission to heal you?"

It was a phrase she uttered at least a hundred times a day, because one hundred was around the average number of patients she treated everyday. She even had a record of it, though she didn't know why.

She was just tir-.

Poof.

Her back straightened and the bags underneath her eyes disappeared, but instead of happiness, Amy only felt annoyance. "Smiles!" she hissed as she whirled around.

Just as she expected, the cape that had come to be known in Brockton Bay as "Smiles" was there, and his hand hovered where her shoulder had been just a moment ago.

Wearing a horribly classic phantom of the opera mask but a Catholic bishop outfit, Smiles was a cape also known for his walking contradiction. He was a healer like Amy, but never respected the rules outlined by the medical community; if he believed that something must be fixed, then he was going to fix it. His power, "Refresh," was extremely good for that.

He also professed that he was a Hindu, which made his costume neither appropriate nor correct, and claimed to hate the Phantom of the Opera, both of which added to his list of contradictions and broken social norms.

"Hallo, Amy!" the ever happy cape chuckled as he waved at her, despite being right in front of her. "How're ya doing today? Not good, I assume, if the bags underneath yer eyes says anything, right?"

She just frowned at him. "You didn't ask for permission to heal. Again."

Smiles shrugged but didn't respond.

"You have to ask."

He just smiled.

She sighed. "Why do you annoy me like this? Everyday?" she asked. No longer burdened by physical tiredness, she had been given a unique brand of fatigue known as Smiles.

"Because you don't smile."

"You don't get to decide for me, Smiles. No one gets to decide for others," she glared at him.

"The government begs to differ."

"This again!?" she finally shouted.

Smiles waved at a pair of children holding the hands of a patient, most likely their mother. He hopped over, and without asking for permission, refreshed the trio with his power.

"Thanks, Smiles!" the twins giggled and skipped away while the mother smiled and nodded. Smiles curtsied, which looked very odd in his bishop outfit, and hopped back to her, which also looked very odd.

"Permission, Smiles."

"Yes, mum."

-

It's been four hours since Smiles showed up at the hospital, and the sun had set over the horizon a few minutes ago.

Panacea took one of her rare breaks and headed to the rooftop.

Smiles followed her there.

Once they were alone on the rooftop, she glared at him. "Leave me alone," she grumbled.

"No can do, Amy!" Smiles replied cheerfully. "Can't have you doing harmful things without me there to freshen you up, eh?"

She just let out a tired sigh and dug into her pocket. She pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. "You're not going to stop me?"

Smiles stopped smiling.

"If you feel the need to, then who am I to stop you?"

She scoffed. "The man who keeps ignoring me." Even as she said this, she was extremely perturbed by the sudden change in Smiles' expression. She had seen his facial expression change so abruptly once or twice before,

He smiled again. "Bah, the need to say needless stuff like that stem from the demands of a few. I'd rather not waste time giving treatment to people who obviously would want it if they knew about it," he replied.

"It doesn't make it right, Smiles," she chided.

"I'd rather be in the wrong and have saved one more life, Amy," he replied.

She sighed. "Whatever," she muttered. "I don't know how to deal with you." She pushed the cigarette between her lips and lit it. She drew in a deep breath, altering the "symbiotic" bacteria living within her lungs so that they could process the ash and other undesired -.

Smiles' hand was on her shoulder, and with anotherPoof, she was perfectly fine.

She pulled the cigarette from her mouth and threw it at him. Smiles dodged the throw with a simple flick of his waist, all the while he laughed in obnoxiously.

"Hoi hoi hoi hoi!"

Who the hell laughs like that?

She gave up. She just walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down, leaning on the railing separating her from a twenty story drop.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" she asked again, futilely.

"Because leaving you alone means the same as condemning you," he replied, walking over and sitting in front of her.

"I never asked for you."

"Those who need help but refuse to acknowledge that fact seldom ask for help."

"Don't get philosophical on me."

"Alright."

So for the next thirty minutes, they just sat their on the rooftop, feeling each other's presence and enjoying the winds of New England.

Her phone beeped. It was time for her to get back to work.

-

When she got home that night, Amy felt … good.

Grammatically, "good" didn't fit into that sentence structure, but it was how she was.

Her body felt light. Her mind felt refreshed.

She grimaced.

And it was all because Smiles refused to not refresh her throughout the entire day.

She had come home in the last month feeling all of this because Smiles had come into her life. She didn't want to go back to the endless tiredness where she … she wondered if she was doing good. She knew that she was doing good now, because Smiles said he wouldn't help a bad person. He was direct like that.

But Smiles' way of approaching her and communicating left her feeling better everyday than she had ever felt. Even Vicky didn't make her feel better like this.

It was …

It wasn't love, she knew that. Not love like how Vicky always talked about with Dean and herself.

It was relief.

Smiles didn't tell her she did good like most people as they were passing by. He didn't ask for autograph or demand healing. He didn't ask for permission, anddidn't listen to her demand to ask for permission.

Yet, he was refreshing in her life.

Perhaps it was because of what people have been saying about her that she realized how much better she felt.

'Oh, you look so much happier today!'

'You don't have any bags underneath your eyes. You definitely look better without them.'

'Hey Amy, you look fabulous right now. Let's go shopping!' That was Vicky.

…

And all of this began because Smiles refused to leave her be, and always told her that she was a good person. A constant presence who reminded her that she did good, does good, and will do good.

It was … a validation she wanted, but no one could give because they didn't understand; they weren't in her position with her responsibilities and her perspective.

Smiles was the closest thing she had as a peer in her healing cape career, and hearing from him, despite the numerous disagreements they had, made her feel…

Better?