Multifandom Oneshot Book

Scene - On The Edge Of Time

He was naught but a whisper on the breeze, a fading photograph, slowly fading memories and lines of video coding on youtube. There had been an accident, Josh had been driving to the airport to travel to England for the first time to go meet a long-time friend and colleague when a large truck had run a red light. 

He remembered blaring horns trying to warn him.

He remembered seeing the flash of sunlight off its grill out of the corner of his eye.

He remembered slamming his foot on the accelerator in an attempt to escape.

He remembered the screeching of the truck's breaks on the tarmac as the driver tried to stop in time.

He remembered the collision.

The rolling of his car.

The feeling of weightlessness.

The pain.

The darkness.

No.

No.

He couldn't go.

This couldn't be what The Lord had intended for him.

No.

He refused.

The flame in his soul burned, bright and hot and defiant.

He had a family, friends, people who relied on him.

He couldn't just leave.

He was Joshua Burner and he was stronger than this.

But he wasn't.

The darkness didn't clear for a good few hours, and when it did he was in a white room; clean, clinical, cold.

A morgue.

He saw his mother and father stood by where his body lay on the tray thing protruding from the morgue draw. Approaching cautiously, he looked down at himself; he looked so peaceful, like he could be sleeping. They'd done the best they could to make his fractured and caved-in skull look less gruesome, had fixed his blood-matted hair, used concealer to hide his bruises and scrapes.

There was still a fragment of his soul that needed to check on Will, he remembered from his dreams how hard they were both hit when the other died, how much it hurt having those lives flash by, never to return. 

Part of him desperately wanted to go to him.

But his family needed him more right now.

Maybe he'd go when they were asleep.

For the first few days, Josh didn't leave their sides, he stuck with his mother the most; he couldn't begin to imagine the pain of having to attend the funeral of your own child, even as she slept, he kept watch in her dreams, keeping away the guilt and the torment with his flame.

The third night, he decided to speak with her; he entered her dreams as she went into REM sleep, seeking her subconscious mind. 

They were in their sitting room, both sitting across from each other. His mother looked at him and gasped in shock, immediately springing from her seat and throwing herself on him in a hug, a gasp of his name torn from her lips.

Josh embraced her back, rubbing her back and smiling softly. "Yeah, that's right mom, it's me."

"Josh I... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, my son."

Josh chuckled lightly, "It's fine, honest; it wasn't your fault. Even if you'd been there you wouldn't have been able to change anything; you couldn't have stopped that jerk from running that light, you couldn't have saved me by alerting me earlier; I noticed it at the first opportunity. The only difference you being there would have made would've been you dying too." The flame his soul possessed flickered into life and he could feel his mother's shaking sobs get weaker and it warmed her.

She gave a weak hiccough, squeezing him tighter. "I just...I can't believe I'll never get to see you again, to hug you again."

"No, that's not the case. I'll always be here, watching over you, watching over you all; spirits can't rest if they have unfinished business, and my unfinished business is taking care of the ones I love."

His mother looked up at him, her eyes teary but her face showing pride. This was her son, her precious boy, so steadfast, so selfless. "Josh..."

"I gotta go, I'm still getting the hang of the travelling to people's dreams thing and I don't think either of us want me to be stuck here." His form phased away, materialising a few feet away, and he smiled at her as she turned to face him. "Remember, mom, I'm always watching over you."

As he left his mother's dream, he visited each person in turn; his father, his brothers and his sister. He looked out at the night sky, he should tell Will he wasn't suffering, but his family needed him more right now. 

"I'm sorry Will, but I'll be here to greet you when your time comes." 

"I'll be waiting for you, waiting on the edge of time."