Writing Contest: Hero

    My world crumbled around me when I saw Ace lying there in the midst of the carnage. The mission, the enemies, even the allies still relying on me, it all faded in an instant. I dropped my gun, running to his side with only one thought.
    Not again.
    His uniform, so symbolic back home, had been torn by battle and darkened by blood. Beneath the blood, his skin was pale... too pale.
    Why again?!
    My own heart thumping in my chest, I checked for any sign of life, even while knowing it was too late.
    I had lost another.
    My blood turned to ice.
    They always said I couldn't have a family because the villains I fight would come after them. They said I could never marry, for the same reason. I was a weapon, but I had my powers and my partner. That was all I had, and it was enough.
    So why did I keep letting my partners die?
    James, the original Pale Shadow, killed at the beginning of the Third War. Daniel, the replacement they hired to keep people from panicking, shot down when we jumped over Canada. Shaw, because I was no longer capable of working alone, tortured to death by the Red Hand for information...
    Ace, James' grandson, abandoned by his partner, this so-called hero, and caught in an ambush alone. Died alone.
    What's the point of immortality if I keep losing the people I should be protecting?!
    A voice shouted in my ear, ordering, as politely as they were capable of, for me to get back into the fight. I tried to obey, but something inside of me had just... broken. I stumbled back, tearing off my gloves. His blood was burning through them, biting into my skin like acid.
    This is it, I thought, closing my eyes. I really am losing it this time.
    My fingers trembled as I removed the clip from my ear, shutting out the voices. I felt a wall behind me, sank to the ground. I was done fighting.
    "Lieutenant?"
    I was through being their weapon. I had given them enough lifetimes. I'd certainly earned the right to give up, just once.
    "Hey, get up, Blacklight." A cold hand touched mine. "They still need us."
    I opened my eyes.
    Ace crouched next to me, still pale and bloody, wiping the acid of his blood off my fingers. He gave me a quick smile when our eyes met.
    "You should keep tabs on modern medicine, gran'pa," he teased, rubbing blood away from his regenerating skin. "What kind of a friend would I be if I let you fight without your shadow?"