He woke up with light streaming onto him from an open window, the calm breeze tickling his face. His head hurt in more ways than just the usual superpower-induced one. It was like someone had rung his bell…
Someone had! It took a bit of waking up, but Felix started to remember the fight he'd had with Tank. It hadn't ended well for him, had it? Going by the crisp white colors of the room her found himself in – and the very medical smell – he was in a hospital. Maybe Ivan had brought him here?
Felix found a small note on the small table next to him. It read, simply, "Give me a call when you wake up. – Ivan."
Felix smiled despite the whole-body pain he was experiencing, reaching for his cell phone. He was almost there when the door to his room opened, admitting a surprised-looking Kyle. "There is no universe in which you should be awake already," he said, rushing towards Felix.
"Are you upset with my recovery?" Felix pouted, hiding his interest in somehow ending up at Kyle's hospital again. It's not like there was only a single hospital in this entire city or anything like that.
"You know that's not what I meant," Kyle placed his hands on his hips, staring disapprovingly at Felix. Then, his gaze softened. "I'd ask you what you were doing that got you this badly injured, but I can guess. Something went wrong while you were out and about doing your thing?"
Felix considered Kyle for a moment. There were few people more trustworthy than Kyle – which would come as a shock to anyone who didn't know the man – but The Ring was a secret that was more dangerous than anything Felix could hope to tell anyone. The last thing Felix wanted was to invite more trouble from the city's dark underbelly to Kyle's apartment. Kyle had already had a bad run-in with the underworld once already; if anyone recognized him, he'd be in even more of a bind.
"Yeah," Felix said softly, hating the lie. "I don't really want to talk about it."
"I understand," Kyle nodded. "If you recover at this speed, you should be up and ready to go by tomorrow. You suffered a concussion, and there's bruises that won't go away for weeks, but you got by without long-term damage, thankfully. Nothing's broken."
Felix felt relief flood his system. He'd been worried that he might have been hit in the head worse than he had previously thought. It was to his great fortune that he wasn't more badly affected.
A knock came at the door. Kyle smiled, waving quickly and ducking back out the way he came. Christina replaced him, wearing a mask of worry as she rushed to his side. "I heard that you were in the hospital again, Felix…"
Her words came barely as a whisper. Her hands trembled as they took his own, even as she squeezed them with as much force as she could muster. His shame at having done this to his sister was only magnified by his knowledge that he'd need to lie to her as well.
"I got caught up in a little fight on the street. It really isn't –"
"Were you trying to play hero again, Felix? I know you saved that one man, but you can't just go out doing this! You aren't one of those lunatics flying around and putting down gangs in a single night. You're a nerdy dude who's only just recently – through a miracle or something – got into working out. Leave the heroism for someone else, little brother," she cried, tears lining her face.
"I can't," Felix said, his voice infused with iron. This was no lie; he wouldn't be moved on this. He'd always looked up to those who could help others without a thought to their own safety. And now he could be one of those people.
"I-"
Christina was interrupted as the revolving door of people let someone in again. Felix was moderately surprised to see that it wasn't Harper, but Johnathan that walked into the room. His grey hair looked closer to white in the sunlight, and he regarded the scene unfolding in front of him with curiosity. He approached Christina, smiling.
"I'm sorry, but we've never met. I'm Johnathan, a good friend of Felix's. I gather you're his sister?" he asked.
"That's right. I'm Christina; it's nice to meet you," Christina recovered from her crying and put up a small attempt at a smile herself.
"I'm sorry that we had to meet in such a circumstance," Johnathan began. "If you'd be willing, I have something important to discuss with Felix. I promise he's all yours again in five minutes."
Christina looked back and forth between Felix and Johnathan. At Felix's subtle nod, Christina backed away. "Five minutes," she said, her eyes narrowing to slits in suspicion. Then, as she left, Johnathan sighed.
"I know you weren't doing any hero work, Felix," Johnathan stated simply, his calm blue eyes piercing straight into Felix's soul.
"…how?"
"You were brought here by someone. If you had collapsed out on the streets, odds are you wouldn't be waking up, much less in a hospital. I'm not sure what you were doing, but you don't strike me as the sort of person to get into a fight for no reason."
At the awkward pause that followed – Felix couldn't find the right words to say – Johnathan prompted him. "So, what's the reason?"
Felix had been lying all morning. Or afternoon? Whatever the time of day, he'd been tricking people into believing half-truths since he'd woken up. He decided to finally tell the truth.
"I don't want to get left behind, Johnathan. You and Harper are both so much more incredible than I am. I can't even beat Harper in a fight anymore, and she's never touched martial arts in her life. With my abilities – or rather, the lack thereof – I needed to find a way to improve."
Johnathan buried his face in his hands. In a few moments, though, he lifted his head again to talk to Felix. "There are times when you'll beat us too, Felix. I'm sorry if you've felt sidelined recently; that's my fault," Johnathan placed the blame squarely on his shoulders.
"I don't think I will, Johnathan. Not now, not ever," Felix's shoulders slumped. His plan of trying to instinctively learn how to use his power better – or activate a new aspect of it – had failed. The only improvements he could make were in better integrating his fighting with the occasional rewind. He'd be fighting thugs for the rest of his life while Johnathan and Harper were off saving cities from collapsing buildings or preventing wildfires or whatever else.
"Listen, Felix. Maybe you're right. Maybe you'll never beat us in a fight. But fighting isn't what being a superhero is about, at the end of the day, is it?" Johnathan asked.
"That's still the same. I'm like a walking, talking half-minute advance warning system."
Johnathan sat down next to him, putting his hand on Felix's shoulder. "You're far more than that, Felix. One day, you'll learn how to make use of what you have, which is a lot more than the average person. Still, it's not the superpower that makes the superhero. It's the superhero that makes the superpower. You can rise above yourself, but only if you believe in your ability to do so. Just do so in a way that doesn't leave you wrapped in bandages and attached to an IV."
With that, Johnathan stood up and grinned. "I better get out of here before your sister changes her mind on the five minutes." Before he could leave, though, he turned around one last time. "If you ever need to talk, just give me a call. I hate that we got off to a rocky start, and maybe I've been less than the perfect friend. But I'll be there when you need me."
Christina sprinted back into the room right as Johnathan disappeared. Oh, he'd have company until he was out of the hospital for sure. Felix's body hurt just a little less for it. Catching up with Christina would be nice. Next time, they'd have to do this again… just not in a hospital.
And then his heart skipped a beat. He'd entirely forgotten about something. He was supposed to be taking an exam today. Felix cursed.