Subject Details:

Name: Annalisa E. Snow

Gender: F

Height: 5'6"

Status: Unknown

Living Relatives: None

Affiliations: Unknown

Threat Level: Low

General Description: Subject appears to be at twenty years of age and is usually seen in informal attire. If aggravated, subject is capable of advanced bioweapon attacks. Ability details unknown.

Last Seen: New York, NY

As life had a beginning, life has an end.

But sometimes I wished it doesn't. Perhaps it was selfish, but when one life ends, another sorrows. This is why I hate this cycle, that all I know will eventually pass on, to wherever dead people go, and leave the rest of us unfortunate souls to guard the world for them.

Yeah, I'm definitely selfish.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but the children has asked for some alone time."

"Of course," I dipped my head politely at the nurse, who strode away, ever so apathetically. A life of dead or dying people will do that to you.

I stood from where I sat, on the edge of the deathbed. Within was a hero, is a hero. When I look upon him, not just pride, but also love, humanly love, and care and affection, swell like balloons. Is this how normal people feel?

My life has been as normal as I could possibly make it since the war. At the beginning, the question, "'What will you do now?'" rung through my head. So I decided that once and for all I cannot let him go.

A year after the destruction, I was back in New York. I found him, a retired Leo Vinson, sitting like a stupid head, sipping on a cup of coffee hot enough to scorch his lips. Of course, he didn't recognize me. It wasn't until a long time he finally did, that I was back to haunt him. Somehow I managed to convince him not to arrest me on sight. What a scene it would have made at the wedding.

"Ma'am, the children are anxious to see their father."

"I'll be right out."

Oh yes, the children. I was so proud of them. They were human, human just like a life I had granted them, human made from my own DNA, not the infected monster Mercer created, or the thousands I had consumed, but mine.

They would not recognize me now, for they think their mother dead, dead over fifteen years ago. Oh, he knew different, the man here. He knew I was always watching, a faint shadow over their roof, a stranger tailing them through the city. He never once openly acknowledged me, but all the same left little gifts, like a box of chocolate on Valentine's day, left on his front door, or a little candle, burning on his window on New Year's Eve. But the children would not. They think I am a distant cousin, coming to visit an old friend.

His empty eyes seem to latch onto my back as I exit the room.

I sat up in bed.

There was something here. It made the barest of noises, a faint scratch here and there, a clink in the darkness. Without making a sound, I changed myself into jeans and a t-shirt. After all, facing any intruder in nightclothes didn't seem right.

There was no light outside, save for the bright moon that shone like death itself, always watching. I found nothing as I scanned the interior of the living room. The sofas were unoccupied, the desks unmoved, the carpet smooth. I opened the porch door and stepped outside, wondering if perhaps a bird had hit the windows. None had. I was left wondering. Perhaps I was hallucinating?

"Annalisa Snow."

I still recognized the voice, even after so many years. Yet there was no malice, only a weariness that weighed down time itself. I turned around.

Alex Mercer sat in my favorite couch, a glass in his hand, a sort of red liquid flowing. He took a sip from it, then grimaced, as though he was drinking liquid fire.

"Forgive me if I hadn't expected this visit." I kept my voice neutral, stepping inside and closing the door behind me, shutting the night air out. After all, Alex Mercer didn't visit just anybody, especially in their own homes.

He waved it off. "No worries. I just dropped by for a quick call." He didn't say anything after that.

I frowned. "Well…?"

"Well, I'm here to" *cough "um… apologize," he said reluctantly.

"Apologize? For what?"

Now he just sighed, as though he had waited for the question, but could not bring himself to answer. "The war. All of it. Every single death, every bit of the destruction, every minute of the fighting." His eyes glazed over, remembering something unpleasant. "I suspect Peterson told you this before he died, but yes, you, all of you, were influenced, by me, to do exactly your part in the war."

"What?"

He growled in frustration. "Why is that so hard to believe?! Who do you think sent Ethan Purcell, curse that boy, your way? Who do you think let the Order find you in your prison? I devised every single detail of the war, the ultimate plan!"

To do what?

"Anna? Is there someone here?" said a groggy voice, from far away. I didn't answer, lost in my head. Mercer looked horrified for a second, then slumped back into his seat, head bowed.

"Alex, it's time to leave."

A woman stepped from the shadows. At my first glance, I almost had a heart attack. Mother looked so normal, so fit in, with her blue eyes. But her voice was soft, not evil, so I managed to stay in my seat and not throw a tantrum. She came to stand beside Alex Mercer and put a hand, almost affectionately, on his shoulder. When she looked up, into my face, I tensed.

"Hello," she said, instead of leaping forward with claws, "I don't think we've met. My name is Dana Mercer." She held out a hand.

I shook it, mouth numb.

Finally, Alex Mercer looked up with a tight smile on his face, though in his eyes danced the joys of a million lifetimes. "To free her from Mother."

The children had left an hour earlier, always so busy, always finding an excuse to be somewhere else. I felt sad for them, that they will never what it is like to lose a friend of the soul. But alas, I am also willing to let them live their oblivious lives. Ignorance is bliss, as people say.

When I sit beside him, I am forced to reconsider the promise I had given him, since before the children.

"Promise me you won't."

"I– I promise."

"Thank you."

He said he couldn't bear it, that hunger, but I cannot bear this, the death. So I did the only thing I could to defy it, the grim reaper. After all, he was already dead, and the dead cannot keep promises.

This is the most haunting thing I have done in a long time, but not just from love, but necessity. The world is too greedy on its own, too selfish, so that's why we need every hero we can get. And I'd be a fool to throw him away so quickly.

His dead fingers stirred. I smiled.

"Welcome to the living, Captain Vinson."

A/N

Hello, all.

This concludes the end of the story. It feels like it's been so long since I've started! Thank you all for bearing with me, as this is my first fanfic. If you have any questions for suggestions for future stories, please PM me!

Happy Holidays and an early New Years to you all! Don't forget to go outside once in a while and enjoy the holiday spirits! :D

BTW just out of curiosity, did anyone understand the title after reading the entire story?