Generations

Chapter 26: A Hero Returns

Chapter 26: A Hero Returns

He surveyed the land; he knew things would be bad, but he had promised himself that he wouldn’t cry, that he was a soldier, that this was a part of war.

And that was all a big piece of bullshit.

But worst of all, he knew that it was his fault he was late, that he was too weak then, that he had to restore his powers fully with the Guardians before joining the fray again. He’d be useless otherwise, dead the next time he had to face a powerful Nightwing. And then, what good would he be? As he stood over her body though, his princess, his little girl, he shed the mask of a soldier, took on the face of a father, and let himself cry. His tears stained what once as her white shirt, and he couldn’t bear to imagine the pain she was in before he finally died. As he walked onto the lawn he saw the scorched grass that could only come from Zack’s lightning, and the residual Nightwing magic could only come from someone as strong as him. Justin wanted to hold out some hope that things weren’t truly this bad, that Cameron was acting out of line, that Justin could still believe his twin wasn’t pure evil.

Though he now saw this wasn’t the case.

“Dad.” He rose from the corpse, wanting to grieve for a millennia for his loss, for everything that had gone wrong when he was away.

“Brandon,” he responded softly, seeing his son standing in the doorway to his daughter’s house. He had missed so much, he knew they would just have to sit and talk for hours probably before they even know half of what happened to each other. But for now, he smiled seeing his son standing, battle worn obviously, but still on his feet, and very much alive. Justin ran at his son, embracing him in a hug, giving him a hearty pat on the back.

“Good to see you Dad, I was afraid they had gotten you too.”

“Nah, your old man wouldn’t let one of those kids take me down,” Justin said, knowing how close he was to death, how if the Guardians hadn’t come for him when they did, he’d be dead now. Still, there were some things he shouldn’t tell his son right now.

“Um Dad,” Brandon said, his tone growing much more somber. “They got Trey, and well, I’m afraid he’s gonna die too.”

“Take me to him,” Justin said, knowing that his healing magic wasn’t the strongest. It had been so long since he had the misfortune of needing it, he might not be strong enough to help, but there was still time for a miracle.

“He’s right in here,” Brandon said, leading them to the couch where the two men sat playing cards last Christmas.

Trey laid on the bed, his shirt removed, and his wounds covered with any type of cloth Brandon could find to try to hold in the blood to give him a chance of surviving even a little while longer. He knew blood loss was the least of his worries though, with everything he had faced, there had to be numerous internal injuries, and Brandon was sure Trey had stopped breathing temporarily a couple times, not to mention his pulse was extremely weak, if even there at times.

“He’s still alive,” Justin said, relieved, and hopeful. He wouldn’t let Brandon see it though, with all the death he had seen, he knew it would be hard to heal through injuries like this with the physical damage, not to mention the magical remnants meant to kill the body’s will to live. Still, Justin leaned over his grandson, letting the power of the elements give way to pure light. Transparent red wings seemed to glow from Justin’s back as his hands glowed white. He bathed Trey in it, letting the light take on its own shape as it formed around him, latching onto his soul to revitalize it. He didn’t know much of how the body worked, and knew he wasn’t fit to be a doctor here, but he could allow Trey to have his power to heal himself. The light began forming through the wound, lighting up the towels and old clothes as it went to work mending flesh, and stabilizing his body.