Hero!America x Child!Reader - Superman (Songfic)

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I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive,
I'm just out to find
The better part of me
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"Why do you help other people?" the child known as ______ asks, looking up at the man who had just saved others from a burning building. While others like reporters and news crews try to catch the attention of this hero, he just crouches down to _____ with a small smile.

"I just want to find the better part of me," he replies.

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I'm more than a bird
I'm more than a plane
I'm more than some pretty face beside a train
And it's not easy to be me
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"But aren't you a great person already? You save lives! You can do so much more than I can!" ______ exclaims with a large smile. "I wish I could be like you and help others!" The man's smile fades.

"I may save people, I may help people. I may seem like a great person, but I'm more than what you see. It's not easy to be a hero who everyone depends on. Help people, but don't be like me," he replies. Then with a small smile, he ruffles the child's hair. "You have a good heart." With that said, the hero runs off and out of everyone's sight. The journalists try to catch up, but even they don't know where he went. _____ still stands there, watching the people chase the man. The hero. The one that everyone relies on to save them.

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Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie,
'Bout a home I'll never see
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Exhausted, the man known as Alfred F. Jones collapses to his knees after once again saving the day. Running a hand through his blond hair, he exhales and looks at the sky. A sad smile shows on his face. Oh, if only a person like him could show his weaknesses. If only he could prove that he's just like everyone else. He has a name and a family. He has feelings and pain. No one seems to notice, though. All he can do is keep up this façade that everyone keeps of him. A perfect hero who will always be around to help.

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It might sound absurd,
But don't be naive
Even heroes have to right to bleed
I may be disturbed
But won't you conceive
Even heroes have to right to dream
And it's not easy to be me
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"Um, hello?" _____ asks, snapping Alfred out of his thoughts. He pauses for a moment, then smiles.

"You're the kid from earlier, right?" he asks.

"I'm not a kid!" the child replies, pouting. Alfred laughs at _____'s behavior.

"You remind me of when I was younger," the man says.

"I do?" ______ asks, looking up at the hero. Nodding, Alfred smiles.

"I used to wish I was a hero so I could help others. Some people said that I interfered with them too much, but it couldn't be helped," he replies, looking back up at the sky and reminiscing in his memories. If only he could go back and relive those happy times with his brothers and friends. If only. . .

"What do you dream for now?" _____ asks, curious.

"It doesn't matter. I don't have one," Alfred says, a sad expression on his face.

"But you're human, aren't you?" the child says, "Even though you save other people, aren't you just like us?" Alfred's eyes widen, shocked about the fact that someone had recognized him not as a hero, but rather. . . a person.

"Yeah. . . . Yeah I'm human. I'm a person who can bleed, dream, and feel every thing just like you. I'm different too, though," Alfred says, smiling but fighting tears. "After all, I can't show my fear."

"If you're human, you have a name, don't you? Every one refers to you as 'Freedom', but what's your real name?" _____ asks, looking up with a smile. "Mine is _____ _____!"

"My name is Alfred F. Jones. Nice to meet you," Alfred says smiling at the child.

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Up, up, and away, away from me
But it's alright,
You can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy or anything
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"Don't worry. You can sleep soundly tonight, because even though you can't see me, I'll be watching over this town. It's not like I'm crazy," Alfred says, walking away from ______.

"Wait!" _____ says, running up to him.

"What's up?" Alfred asks. The kid looks down, then pulls out a folded piece of paper.

"Um, well I came here because I wanted to give you something," _____ says, looking up at Alfred, handing him the paper. Alfred's eyes widen, but then soften as a wide smile appears on his face.

"Thank you. This'll be my good luck charm!" the man says, grinning. A bright smile appears on ____'s face, head nodding enthusiastically.

"Where will you go today?" ____ asks.

"Wherever I'm needed," he says, running off once again. _____ watches him go, and even though the man can't see, waves goodbye with a smile.

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I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive,
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees
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Alfred looks down at the paper, then opens it once far gone. A smile spreads on his face, and a few tears slip. Wiping his eyes, he adjusts his glasses and then looks up at the sky.

"I may be only a man, and I may have my own problems, but as long as I can keep some people safe and happy, that's enough for me. I'm not that naïve, but even so, I know that there is happiness in the world. Somewhere," Alfred whispers to himself, folding the paper and placing it into his pocket, tucked away safely. All of a sudden, he hears a child scream. Cursing to himself, he runs off to where he must go next.

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I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for a special thing inside of me
Inside of me
Inside of me
Yeah, inside of me
Inside of me
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"I'm only a man, nothing more. I'm helping people, because that's my job. Even if people call me stupid. Even if people call me a dreamer. Even if. . . . Even if I die believing this, I know that I'm just trying to find the better part of me. The one that no one can see," Alfred thinks as he speedily runs towards the tall building from which the scream came from. Once going inside, he finds that there are hostages being held high upstairs due to another scream from above. The same from before. He smiles slightly to himself, knowing this is just another job.

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I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
I'm only a man looking for her dream
I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
And it's not easy
Oooo oooo oooo
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As he climbs the stairs, his eyes widen to see the child there. ______.

"Ah, the so called hero 'Freedom' finally arrives, hm?" a man whose name is Al asks, moving his sunglasses up on his dark brown hair to reveal his maroon eyes.

"That's me," Alfred says, glaring at the man who looks similar to himself.

"Well, if you're the hero, I suppose that makes me the villain," Al says, smirking. "Only this time, the villain will win this round."

"Don't count on it. After all, doesn't the hero always win?" Alfred replies, grinning.

"Go Freedom!" _____ exclaims, cheering on Alfred despite being tied up by rope.

"I was hoping to lure you here with this child. Be a shame if something happened to the poor kid, wouldn't it?" Al says, a slightly creepy grin spreading on his face as he grabs his nailed bat from the sidelines. "It ends here."

"I could say the same for you," Alfred says, grabbing a fire extinguisher from the wall beside him as a weapon. The two charge towards each other, and Al makes the first strike, missing just by an inch. Alfred tries to knock Al down with the fire extinguisher, but is too slow and Al hits Alfred's weapon, causing a dent to appear. Al smirks at his opponent.

"You're not as strong as I thought. I was hoping for more of a fight," Al says, raising his bat again. Due to the weight of the bat, however, he isn't as fast as he could be. Alfred sees the opening and charges at Al with all of his strength. In the background, ____ cheers, but then notices that they're both about to crash into the glass window. The child's eyes widen, trying to break free of the binds preventing freedom.

"Alfred! ALFRED!" _____ exclaims, watching Alfred break through the glass with Al. Everything seems to go in slow motion as the hero is going to fall down below to meet his fate. _____'s eyes start to water at the sight of Alfred falling. He, however, just looks at the child with a smile. The last memory _____ would ever have of Alfred the hero would be his smiling face as he sacrificed himself to take down the villain.

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It's not easy
To be
Me
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Colliding with the pavement, Alfred starts to be surrounded by a pool of blood. His blood. After all, even if he was a hero, he was only a man. In his hand is the paper given to him by the child, which he pulled out at the last moment as his last memory. Closing his eyes, a faint smile can be seen on his now peaceful face.

"I'm glad I died with at least one person acknowledging me as someone more than a hero," Alfred thinks, his final wish and dream granted. His hand grows limp, and the paper falls out of his grip, its edge getting stained by the red liquid seeping out of his body. An officer picks it up with a grim expression, opening the folded piece. Inside is a messy drawing with Alfred and the child holding hands with a smile as they fly through the air as superheroes. Underneath that says:

We don't have powers, and we can't fly. Still, I want to help people just like you do. I know that you feel pain like us, but that only makes us the same! You're not just a hero to me any more, you're my idol. I'm going to try my best to be just like you, and then we can be friends!
To: My hero
From: _____ _____