The news came over my intercom: she was standing out on the ledge. I knew it was coming, but I’d been trying to help her avoid this outcome. She didn’t know it was me down here, but that was beside the point.

Or was it?

“Thank goodness you’ve arrived, Commander Phoenix,” said a bystander. “The woman up there needs you’re help.”

Upon second glance, I saw that the man was Janet’s boss. Even after all this time, it still surprised me that a simple mask and costume made me unrecognizable to people who knew me so well.

“Don’t worry, sir,” I replied. “I’ll have her down in no time.”

With a final handshake to seal my promise, I spread my winged arms and flew to my damsel in distress. I smirked to myself, thinking how much she would hate if I called her that to her face.

I approached slowly so as not to startle her. “Looks like you’ve got yourself in a little pickle here, ma’am.” I hovered in front of her, keeping my distance for the time being.

She wouldn’t look at me but kept her eyes shut tight as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I don’t want any help. I just want to die. Please leave me be.”

I flew in closer so that my nose was practically touching hers. “Well, I don’t want you to die, Janet.”

She opened her eyes then, startled to find me so close to her.

“I’m going to stand next to you now, okay?” She didn’t move or speak, but I kept a close eye on her as I alighted onto the ledge in case she tried to jump.

“Did they tell you my name down there?” I gently took her hand, and she let me. “Oh God, I made a big mess, didn’t I? They’re all waiting down there for me, and they’ll be traumatized for the rest of their lives when they see me splattered across the parking lot.”

“So come inside with me, then.”

A fresh wave of tears spilled on her cheeks. “If I do that, they’re going to look at me like a three-legged puppy for the rest of my life. I couldn’t bear that.”

It tore me apart to see her so tormented. She never believed me when I told her how special she was, how beautiful and kind and funny. I had been trying since the minute I met her to explain why the world needed her gentleness and compassion. But she never believed me.

Now here we were: standing on a ledge together facing her death, and she had no idea it was me holding her hand. I had never revealed my true identity to anyone before, but here, now, the person and the circumstance justified it.

“Janet.” I squeezed her hand three times which was our signal for ‘I love you.’ She snapped her head in my direction, confusion swimming in her tear-filled eyes. “I told you that I don’t want you I die. And I meant it.” With my free hand, I pulled the mask from my eyes so she could see my face.

Her confusion turned to shock, and I readied myself to catch her in case she fainted. “Michael?! But...I don’t...what...?”

“It’s a lot to take in, I know, and I promise I’ll explain everything. But we need to do that inside where it’s safe. Will you come with me?”

She searched my face, the wheels of her mind churning with questions. “This changes things,” she finally said.

I tightened my grip on her arm, afraid of what that meant. “Does it change the fact that you want to die?” Just asking the question twisted the knife in my heart. If Commander Phoenix couldn’t help her and plain Michael Wilson couldn’t help her, then who could?

“I don’t know,” she whispered tentatively.

I grabbed that lifeline with both hands. “Do you want me to help you, Janet?”

She sighed, caressing my cheek with her thumb. “Which you?”

“Michael,” I replied unwaveringly. “Do you want me, Michael, to help you?”

She looked up at me with a sad smile, the wind whipping her dark hair across her face. “Only if you promise that you’ll always be Just Michael to me. I need to be able to count on one truthful thing, okay?”

I kissed her forehead. “No more secrets from me,” I whispered. “You will always have Just Michael. Forever.”

She nodded. “Let’s go inside.”