I blinked, hoping to bring the ridiculous request into clear focus because obviously, I heard him wrong. "Um... what now? I think my brain died. Can you say that again?"

"I need you to jump out of the car," Tate said, his eyes back on the road.

"That's what I thought you said..." My heart hammered wildly in my chest, like a hummingbird drunk on sugar water.

Tate let out an uneasy breath. "The breaks are cut. I can't slow the car down. There's a turn about a mile from here that is always bottlenecked. I need to get the car to stop before then or else it could hurt a lot of people."

I stared at the road, thankful that for what felt like the first time in Los Angeles history, there was very light traffic on the road. I pulled off my seatbelt, and opened the door slightly, watching the white line below the car door whiz by, showcasing where our lane ended and the small section where the median began.

I tried not to overthink the fact that I was about to jump out of a moving car. We didn't have time for me to panic even though my hand-eye coordination needed severe improvement. "What about you Tate?"

His jaw tensed, not responding.

"Tate?" I said, my voice going up an octave.

"I want you to jump in ten seconds..." He said ignoring me. "One..."

"Tate... answer the damn question!" I shouted.

"Two..."

"If you aren't jumping, I'm not jumping," I warned.

"Three..."

"Tate! No! Not without you!"

"Four..."

My eyes filled with tears. "Tate! Seriously, you better be jumping!"

"Five..."

"You'll never have to buy me coffee again! I promise!"

"Six..."

I could no longer see, blinded by tears that began to fall down my cheeks. "Tate, no!"

"Seven..."

"Please don't do this. Don't make me go without you."

"Eight..."

"Tate! Let's look at the options!"

He turned to look at me, holding up two fingers, counting down. "I made a promise to Aiden and I intend to keep it." He dropped one finger, telling me we just had a single moment left. One moment that would be burned into my mind for all eternity.

The world slowed down like it would in a dream— no a nightmare. Those nightmares where you run, but no matter how hard you try to go faster, you can't catch the thing you are chasing. "I'll be right behind you Laliana." Then he dropped his final finger and shoved me out the door.

I hit the pavement, shoulder first, and rolled. A moment later I hit the freeway's dividing wall, the wind knocked out of my body. Something in my shoulder snapped and a sharp pain snaked from my shoulder all the way down my fingers. But I didn't care. Instead, I tilted my head all the way back, watching the car continue down the freeway, looking at it upside down. "Come on Tate..." I whispered through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, the car swerved and hit the divider head-on, crashing through it. The momentum caused the car to flip and roll over the rubble and down the grassy hill that sat next to the divider. The car vanished from view. But that didn't stop me from hearing the loud screech of metal ripping apart as the car continued to roll down the hill.

Stumbling to my feet, I ran. "TATE!" I screamed as adrenaline coursed through my veins, pushing me faster. I reached the destroyed wall and gazed down at the car, panic setting in.

A large trail of rubble and metal lay crushed into the grass and dirt, a swirl of nature and machine. The car was crushed in on itself at the bottom of the hill, upsidedown. Tate was nowhere in sight. The car began to smoke, sending warning blooms into the air.

I began to skid down the hill and tripped over a piece of rubble. Falling, I hit the grass on my side, feeling bone crack underneath my skin. It hurt to breathe. I tried to stop myself from rolling but gravity worked against me and I flew down the hill fast, losing sight of ground and sky. Thrown into a blur of chaos.

I stopped twenty feet from the car, covered in mud and blood. "Tate!" I shouted, seeing only blood through the cracked windshield. Heat filled the air around me and I spotted flames licking at the back of the car. "Tate!" I screamed again.

I had to move. To do something. To save him. Everything hurt but it didn't matter. It was my turn to save him. Aiden's words rang through my ears. Don't do anything stupid Summers. You hear me? "Sorry Aiden," I pushed myself up and stumbled towards the car. "It's my turn to be brave."

Reaching Tate's door, I scanned the glass and spotted Tate, his body leaning heavily against his door. Moving towards the passenger's side, I yanked on the door, to find it sealed tight. Pulling off my jacket I wrapped it around my uninjured hand. Then with all the strength, I had in me, I punched the cracked window. More cracks snaked across the glass.

I spotted flames moving towards the center of the car, I moved faster, punching again. The glass shattered as I hit the window again. Climbing inside, I found Tate, lying upsidedown, unconscious, strapped in his seatbelt.

The air sweltered, making it hard to breathe. Moving to sit underneath him, I scrambled to undo his seatbelt. My hands began to sweat, making my fingers slip several times before I finally got a hold of the button. I did my best to cushion his fall and we were suddenly a mess of limbs. Smoke filled the small space. Pulling him by his arms, ignoring the needles of pain that clawed at my left arm, and ribcage, I slowly moved us towards the broken window.

My eyes stung as smoke made it hard to breathe. It grew hotter and hotter as we inched towards the broken glass window. I saw the flames consuming the back seats, motivating me to move faster.

Finally, as flames snaked up the driver's seat, and began to eat their way towards our ankles, we fell out the passenger's window and hit the ground, with a thud. But we weren't safe yet. The fire grew hotter as its greedy fingers wrapped around the car, clenching it in an angry fist.

I managed to drag Tate ten more feet before finally collapsing, unable to move. "Tate!" I shouted over the sound of fire eating metal, forcing his name out before falling into a fit of coughs. Blood coated the left side of his face. Is he breathing?

I tried to check his pulse. But my fingers felt numb, making it hard to get a read. I couldn't tell. And before I could try again, my adrenaline ran out and I fell into darkness.

---

This was a heavy chapter, so let's go with a light question. Marvel or DC and why?