"Good morning Nurse Smith." The powerful man with the sad eyes nodded to the nurse at the desk.

"Steve, oh." She stood up, then hesitated. "LeRoy. He, left us last night."

"Was there much pain?" Steve shook his head.

She glanced down at the book he twisted in his wringing hands. "No. I guess he, just went. Betty said he sighed, smiled and, was, gone."

"Good. I hate it when they're in pain." His wide shoulders slumped in release.

"The funeral will be on Thursday and the wake is on Wednesday. I'll let you know where."

"Thank you. I'd still like to read to someone though. Is there anyone you think would enjoy that?"

"Sure. Tommy Jones. LeRoy's roommate in 564. With LeRoy passing and the Luke he could really use the distraction. I'll walk you down there."

"Thank you Nurse Smith."

She grabbed her clipboard and walked beside him. "You don't have to be so formal Steve. We usually go by first names here." She smiled and reached for his arm, but he subtly avoided her touch.

"Well. Tommy has Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. We don't have drugs strong enough to keep him comfortable anymore."

When they got to the door she knocked gently as she took a step inside. "Tommy? It's Phyllis. Is it alright if I bring a visitor in?"

The soft positive moan meant that it was. Tommy was curled up on the bed with a grimace on his freckled face. All around his bed were posters, news clippings and drawings of Captain Chicago.

"Hey did you hear about Captain Chicago saving all those people from that firebomb last night?"

The boy groaned. Phyllis shrugged and tried again. "Tommy, this is Steve. He used to read for LeRoy. Do you remember Steve?"

Tommy nodded and opened his eyes slightly.

"You and LeRoy both like Captain Chicago, right?" Steve said leaning over and looking into Tommy's eyes.

Another nod. He looked at the book. "Is that the Cap?"

"Well, no. It's Tarzan. He's pretty exciting too."

"I'll leave you two now. I'll be back in an hour Tommy, okay?"

"LeRoy said that you told him about the Cap."

Phyllis left. Steve sat in the chair next to the bed.

"I don't have any books on Captain Chicago. I have Tarzan."

Tommy wrestled himself to a more upright position. "Why not? You told LeRoy about the Cap, why not me?"

"I didn't read any books about Captain Chicago to LeRoy."

"He said that you told him about the Cap. He said that you were a really cool guy and you told him all about the Cap. He said that you told him that he was your best friend in the world. What was so special about LeRoy that you could tell him and you can't tell me? What's wrong with me, huh?"

Steve's massive chest heaved as he took a breath. He held it for a moment and then leaned forward to Tommy's face. "Tommy, I know all about Captain Chicago. If you think you can handle it, I'll tell you."

"Tell me what?"

When Phyllis got back to the desk, Jane was sitting there.

"Steve's here. I just brought him over to read to Tommy."

"He's dreamy, don't you think?"

"There's something strange about him. Something he's hiding."

"We could listen in." She pointed to the board where Tommy's name was written in grease pencil. Phyllis nodded and Jane pushed the button.

"…that I'm Captain Chicago."

"No! Really? Prove it."

"I can't. You'll have to trust me."

"Why don't you just do something super?"

"I can't. Believe me I am him, but I can't do anything super right now. It has to be a really good reason for me to do anything super."

"Why?"

"Being super has a price. A very high price, so I can't just do it for fun. There has to be a really important reason for me to do it…"

"I don't believe you. You're just faking it. You're not the Cap and you weren't LeRoy's friend. You're a liar and I don't want you as a friend either."

His groan was nearly a scream as he tried to roll over in the bed away from the huge man.

"Please. Tommy, I don't want to cause you any more pain. I do want to be your friend. I want to be your friend like I was LeRoy's friend. I want to take away your pain."

"How can you do that? You can't even do anything super."

"Tommy, LeRoy was a very special friend and he helped me so I helped him."

"I don't understand."

"Tommy, my super powers have a very high price. I took them on before I knew what that price was. I learned the hard way. I tried to give them up when I found out what it was, but that wasn't right either. There is a lot of evil in the world Tommy."

"The world needs the Cap."

"That's right, and I need special friends. You see, Tommy, when I started using my powers I lost my wife, then my kids. That was when I realized the price I had to pay. Whenever I use my super powers someone close to me dies. In order to be super my closest friend has to die."

Silence.

"That's why I don't have any friends anymore."

"LeRoy was your friend."

"Yes. He was my best friend in the whole world."

Silence, then a low groan of pain from Tommy.

"I want to be your friend. I want to help you fight those bad guys."

"And I promise, I'll make all your pain go away."