you scoped out the area below from your position on a rooftop that you frequented. it had the best view of the city, made it good spot for picking out bad guys. you'd found some of your best bad guys up here. on this particular night you were waiting on a certain vigilante that had been pissing a lot of people off in your neighbourhood recently. you'd been tipped off on his whereabouts, but so far it seemed that your intel was a load of crap. you'd been squatting for well over an hour now, your legs were getting tired and so were your eyes, and still no sign of him.
you pulled out your phone to check the time, 1:37am, with a sigh of defeat, you slipped the knife in your hand back into it's holder against your thigh and with a grunt you pushed yourself back up onto your feet. "i'm getting too old for this shit," you mumbled to yourself, stretching your arms over your head to undo the ache you'd developed from sitting so long in such an uncomfortable position.
you pulled open your messages in your phone and sent a quick text to matt, relaying that your stake out had been a bust and that you were heading home for the night. you were sure he was still out at this time of night, he usually was, he never knew when to quit. tucking your phone in your back pocket, you took one last glance over the ledge-- nothing out of the ordinary. you turned to climb back down fire escape, your breath catching in your throat when you felt the cool metal touch your forehead. you flinched when the gun was pressed harder against your head, eyebrows tightening into a frown as you faltered and took a step backwards.
you tried to discreetly reach for the knife strapped to your thigh but the sound of the gun cocking caused you to freeze. "ah--ah," his voice was gruff and dismissive. "don't try that shit-- hands where i can see 'em," you followed his instruction, your frown deepening when you lifted your arms, hands in his sightline. "better," he mumbled the praise. "now, you wanna' tell me why you're looking for me?"
"who said i was looking for you?" you should probably have less of an attitude towards the man holding a gun to your head. "maybe i just like stalking on rooftops like a creep?"
he let out a disgruntled scoff at your sarcasm. sensing no threat from you, he lowered the gun from your forehead, letting you get a full glimpse of his face. sharp jawline, jagged features and a few cuts and bruises littering his skin. his eyes, however, were soft and gentle, the last thing you had expected. after a brief hesitation, you lunged yourself at the man, your hand successfully grabbing your knife and swinging it at him as he fell back, only just missing the blade.
"shoulda' never let that gun slip, punisher," you grumbled, jabbing your blade at him in every direction but every time he managed to slip out of the way, or block your attack. he caught your wrist as you went for the throat, his eyebrow quirking as he glanced down at your pink cheeks and angered stare. the knife barely touched the skin of his throat, his grip on your arm stopping you from causing any real harm to him.
"won't underestimate you again, sorry," he quipped. you grunted, trying to remove your wrist from his hold but he had you in a strong grip and he wasn't budging. "the pretty face threw me off," the corner of his lip turned up slightly when your frown deepened, using all of your strength to yank your arm out of his grip with a groan of annoyance.
your breathing was heavy, you still held the knife in a tight grip in your palm, you didn't dare let your guard down. not after the stories you'd heard about him. you blew a stray piece of hair out of your face, quirking an eyebrow at him. "you think i'm pretty?"
you locked with his eyes, two could play at this game.
he held your stare for long enough before he broke it, shaking his head. "go home, sweetheart."
"why? 'cause that's where a woman belongs?" you tilted your head to the side, egging him on.
he shook his head, jaw tightened as he pulled his eyes away from you and tucked his gun back under his arm. "if you wanna stay here and get your ass beat, i'd be more than happy to give it to you," he teased. "feminism and all, right?"
