End Of The Line // Ralph Dibny

Chapter 36 - You Won't Believe This False Hope

Iris stepped out of my apartment and I got to be alone for the first time since the incident- I don't know if that's a good thing. The room was dark and grey and I had to feel around the wall to find the light switch. The lights flickered on and I headed straight to my bedroom, I could already feel the tears begin to fill my eyes. I flopped down onto the bed and like a facet it all came flowing out.

Death is funny that way, once it dawns on you that it's all real everything comes crashing down. She's gone forever. The murder got away with it. And life will never be the same again.

...

2 Weeks Later

The dark and dull apartment was flooded with bright morning light as I opened the blinds for the first time in a while. The last couple of weeks... how do I say this? The last couple of weeks pretty much everything went downhill. It turns out, my mother wasn't the only person who was murdered that night... Clifford Devoe was also on the grim reapers hit list. To make things worse, it was only Devoes body that was demolished, he somehow found a way to transfer his big beautiful brain to another host. Do you all want to know the best part? Barry was framed for the bodies murder.

It seemed that everything was happening so fast outside the safety of the unsuspecting city. The other day we hosted a funeral for Ann Blake, my mother. Everyone came out, well everyone besides Barry, who was convicted for the crime and is currently being held in Iron Heights for murder.

I looked out the window at the working world below me, they were all so unsuspecting of the crimes and villains closing in on them like a pack of lions hunting their prey. I noticed a father and his young daughter prancing along the sidewalk below me, if only it would be that easy to find Steven. I've been searching day and night, I mean what else can you do while wallowing in grief and despair for two weeks?

I jumped as a loud pound on the door rang throughout my ears and knocked me out of my daze of self-reflection. I furrowed my brows and faced the door, who in the world could that be? I stepped slowly towards the door, could it be a member of the team? The last thing I told them was that I needed some time off.

The person on the other side knocked once more and I hesitantly called out, "Who is it?"

There was a pause of silence and I tilted my head. "An old friend," they finally responded and my eyes lit up. With a smile, I opened the door and came once again face to face with Ralph Dibny. For the first time smile in ages, I'm glad it was the cause of him.

"Hi," I greeted simply and supported myself with a hand on the doorframe.

"Hi," he repeated back almost breathless, "I... I um, haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I know... I've just had to work some stuff out you know? I needed time alone," I explained.

A small smile inched onto his face, "How about time alone with me?"

"It defeats the purpose," I retorted.

He stood in the doorway awkwardly and I offered for him to come in, "What brings you here?"

"Well, I have a tinsee-bitsy problem," he began and I rolled my eyes, this was going to take ages, "So you know how Barry isn't around anymore right?"

A sad smile crossed my lips, "yeah."

"Well, lately I- and I alone- have been carrying the whole team for superhero stuff."

"Yeah, I've seen the news, congrats stretchy man," I joked. It was a horrible name.