"One week to show you life is worth living. One week to show you that it isn't all bad. One week to show you that people do care. One week to show you that you can find happiness"
When the man of steel finds himself catching a young boy who just j...
(Y/n) (l/n) stared down at the city below. He was countless stories high, absolutely high enough to end it all.
(Y/n) had never once in his life been happy for longer than an hour or so at a time, even then those times were few and far between. This world wasn't the place for him, and it never would be.
The boy was stood on the edge of the roof. He had to do it now. The longer he waited the higher the chance he was saved. This was Metropolis after all.
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"Look! Up in the Sky!" Those words weren't unfamiliar to the man of steel. In fact after a long day of stopping crime Superman would often enjoy waving to the people looking up at him from down below.
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"Oh my god!" Another yelled. Superman was about to look down at the people below when suddenly his super hearing picked up the sound of something falling above him.
It turned out he had looked up just in time. He quickly reached out his arms before using his super speed to blow at the boy with his super breath, causing him to slow down and land gently in Superman's arms.
The boy slowly opened his eyes as Superman looked down at him with a gentle and caring smile. "Giving up never helped anyone, sir. Trust me on that"
Tears began to fall down the boys face as he looked away from Superman. "You should have let me fall" Superman's smile was quick to turn to a frown. "But this is Metropolis. I knew the risks of trying this here"
Superman slowly flew them up towards the roof of the building he had deduced the boy had jumped from. It would do neither of them any good to take him to the ground where people would be watching. The boy was silent the whole way there.
Once at the top of the building Superman helped the boy out of his arms and back onto his feet. He sat down on the edge of the roof. "Before you try anything more I thought we might talk for a bit"
"It won't change anything" the boy replied as he sat down beside the man of steel.
"I'm-"
"Superman. I know" the boy replied as he laughed dryly.
"Kal-El" Superman replied. "My name is Kal-El"
The boy was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I'm (y/n)"
"Nice to meet you (y/n)" Kal replied as he turned his head to look at the boy. "What's going on son?"
"Nothing that hasn't been going on my entire life" (y/n) replied as he wiped his tears away with his sleeve. "I just decided to stop putting up with it"
Superman nodded, he understood. "I'm sorry" of course he knew those words wouldn't help but he said them anyways. "What made you come to this decision?"
"My dad died. Nobody left that I care about enough to keep myself alive for"
Superman once again nodded in understanding. "There could be. One day"
The boy once again let out a dry, almost tearful, laugh. "Look at me. Nobody could ever care for me that way"
Superman shook his head. "Of course someone could, you're a handsome young man. And even if you weren't attractive, not everyone cares about looks"
"You give humans to much credit" (y/n) scowled. "I have no doubt you really seem to care but nobody else will. Even if I had succeeded I would just have been another annoying article in the paper on the way to the comics, if even that. Just some student who couldn't take it"
Kal shook his head once more. "What are you studying?"
"Doesn't matter now does it?" (Y/n) asked as he teared up more. "I never wanted to study anything"
Kal gave the boy a look of understanding once more. It was starting to annoy the boy. "A friend of mine took her own life years ago. She was terminally ill, decided she'd never be happy again. I didn't approve, still don't, but I understand it" (y/n) had never imagined Superman being sad before but that's as exactly what he was seeing. "I couldn't help her. But I'd like to try and help you"
(Y/n) was quick to shake his head. "Please don't. I'm sorry about your friend, I really am. But the only help I would accept from anyone would be a bullet to the head"
Superman stared at the boy for a moment before standing up. "One week"
"Pardon?"
"Give me one week to show you life is worth living. One week to show you that it isn't all bad. One week to show you that people do care. One week to show you that you can find happiness" Superman watched as the boys tears fell faster. He held out his hand to the boy. "If you honestly believe that you'll never be happy again I won't stop you. But if there's a chance, no matter how small, that you may just have one happy day... take my hand"
(Y/n) stared at the man of steels hand through his tears. He couldn't bring himself to look him in the eyes. "Damn you're really good at this" the boy sniffled as he slowly took Superman's hand. "If after one week you haven't proven to me that life is worth living... I will end it. Please don't stop me" the boy once again wiped his tears away.
Superman nodded as he held the boys hand tightly. "You have my word" he wrapped his arms around the boy who quickly leaned into him and let his tears out. Kal rubbed the boys back as he made his plans for how to help the boy. "Do you have a place to stay?"
He could feel the boy shake his head. "I don't want to go home. To many memories"
Kal understood. He had lost his father as well, both of them. He still felt the absence of his human father whenever he went home, however those first few months had been the worst. "You can stay with me"
