[ WP ] A super-hero/heroine returns home , having failed to save the world . He/She has but a few minutes with his/her family before the world is destroyed .

“ That you Joe? ” Lori called from the kitchen. 
 
 “ Yeah hon. ” The creaking front door that betrayed me every time I came in late was about to be scratched from my to-do list. There ’ s always a silver lining. I didn ’ t bother to shut it, didn ’ t feel the need to draw my shoulders toward my ears as though they would muffle the sound. Instead, I just kept shuffling forward past my couch and past the door to the kitchen, until I reached Mac ’ s room. I turned the knob slowly, lifting up on it as I pulled the door out, careful to open it without making a sound. 
 
 The nightlight on the dresser cast shadows of dinosaurs on the walls. It spun so as to make the great beasts march in a constant parade of extinction. Someday maybe, millions of years in the future on another world, there might be a man shaped shadow cast on the walls of another creature ’ s room. There could be stories told that would frighten yet captivate the children filling them with dreams of a world their brightest could only guess at. 
 
 Mac's breathing was the lone sound and from the cadence it was clear he had been asleep awhile. I didn ’ t need to worry about waking him, though the urge to rouse him pulled at me. A final smile from his innocent face seemed like the best possible image to end on. It wouldn ’ t be a fair trade though. I would take a smile, he would take fear and hysteria and maybe pain. Better to let him sleep. I leaned into his crib and kissed his forehead and then turned and left the room pulling the door closed behind me. 
 
 I paused then in the hallway. Our bedroom to my right, Lori was to my left fixing a late dinner for me. I had called her after to tell her I was on my way. She asked how it went and I said okay and she asked if she could reheat last night ’ s meatloaf and maybe a few veggies and I said that would be fine. Now though, I really wanted to lie down, pull the pillow over my face and feign surprise so that I could share in the collective gasp of the world. 
 
 I turned left and shuffled down the hallway into the kitchen. 
 
 My chin went up, by habit, as soon as I crossed the threshold. The shoulders that graced a million t-shirts went back thrusting my chest forward. Lori looked up at me from the dishes she was scrubbing, pulled a wet hand from where it hid below the bubbles and wiped a lock of hair from her face. She left a trail of soap along her cheek so that it sparkled in the light. The corners of her eyes crinkled and she smiled. I smiled back and stepped up to her, moving behind her, forcing her back to her dishes. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck and she leaned into me and I squeezed a bit tighter and her hands froze. 
 
 “ Everything okay? ” 
 
 “ Hmm? ” 
 
 “ Tonight, did everything go okay? ” Her voice held concern but the tone was optimistic. 
 
 “ Oh yeah, no problems, less to do than I expected actually. ” The truth was there was nothing to do. Futuro was long gone before we got there, his plan put in motion days ago. All the intel we had was old, planted and forged. He wanted us to find the Leviathan at the last possible moment. What better way to punish us then to leave us with the thought that there was nothing we could do to stop it? There was nothing more cruel than giving us these final moments with our families. It was never intended to be a mercy but rather a punishment. He was saying, look how close you were and know that you failed them just as you failed my people when we needed you. 
 
 “ How is Tommy? ” She asked, her attention returned to the plates. 
 
 “ He ’ s good. Sends his love and his apologies for keeping me so late. ” The Engineer, Tommy, died as soon as we stepped into the building. It was all part of the plan. The Engineer was the only one on our team that had even the faintest glimmer of hope at reversing what was happening. There was something about the design of the building and the machine that overwhelmed him as soon as he got near it. His knees buckled, hands bunched into the fists as he fell over. Artemis was at his side in an instant but it was too late. She held him as he convulsed and shook until blood ran from his ears. Then he was gone. 
 
 We left him there. That hallway was as good a tomb as any now. 
 
 “ I ’ ll be sure to give him hell at the next game night. ” She pulled the last cup from the water, rinsed it and put in the drying rack. I let go of her and turned to the fridge, pulled it open and grabbed a beer. 
 
 “ Uh uhh, no way mister. ” She reached to snatch it out of my hand so I turned away twisting the cap. “ Hey! Have you forgotten the rules? It ’ s Tuesday, no beer on weeknights! ” 
 
 “ One isn ’ t going to kill me. ” I protested, turning back around. I could argue that of this I was certain. 
 
 “ It ’ s a slippery slope though, the road to AA is paved with men that drink on Tuesdays. ” She leaned back into the counter, arching her back and rubbing her neck with her hand. 
 
 “ One beer does not an alcoholic make. ” I took a long draw of it then. 
 
 “ I ’ m sure they all say that sooner or later. ” 
 
 “ You ’ re probably right. ” And another swig. 
 
 “ If you think you ’ re going to get drunk and frisky with me you ’ ve got another thing coming. I don ’ t sleep with bad boys that can ’ t follow the rules. ” 
 
 I smirked. 
 
 “ Well, how about sleeping with a good man that only occasionally bends them. ” I put my beer down and pulled her into my arms again. She looked up and our lips met and I squeezed a bit tighter and lifted her off the ground. Her eyes shot open, widened; I could see her surprise at my strength and the ease with which I lifted her. 
 
 She pulled back and said, “ How? ” 
 
 The dishes rattled in the drying rack and I forced our mouths back together. 
 
 
 

