Mischief's Sparrow

Chapter 3

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure she lost Rogers and Stark, Nyx pushed herself harder to get further away. Flowing with the fast paced foot traffic she made it another two blocks before taking a sharp turn to then go one block over and then quickly doubled back. Sparing the time to hop into a cab Nyx rushed out her address to the cabbie as she ducked down and pulled out her cell phone. Groaning with despair she thought to herself that she possibly had half an hour to an hour before Loki showed up at her door. She wouldn't put it past him to have Evie or Stark look up her address since she was pretty sure they would tell him their connection to her. She'd been avoiding telling him that little tid bit because it would be just another of his 'they were fated to meet' colloquialisms. And  up until Rogers and the Stark's popped her delusional bubble Nyx had started to believe Loki. Or at least she had wanted him enough that she'd allowed the thought of them for a moment to ruminate in her mind. Her thought being that with Selene's normal life, she could have him even if it was just as a friend.

It didn't matter. Because at the end of the day she was who she was and so was he. All she knew was she needed to be gone before anyone from SHIELD or the Avengers showed up at her door. As it was she was already going through the mental list of what she needed to do before she and Westley could disappear. Go home, grab out her back up identity papers, passport, burner phone and money that were locked up in the small safe in her closet. Her go-bag was already packed, but she would have to add to it to make sure she had a few extra changes of clothes. Then there was her cat and all of the basics of what he would need. Sighing a little in disappointment. She knew leaving this particular city was going to be a little more complicated with her added companion, but she refused to leave him behind. Adopting Westley might have been an impulsive decision, but it was one she could never regret.

She'd found the little guy one night a year ago meowing in a mangled box stuffed in a dumpster behind her apartment building. Being lonely and not wanting this tiny creature to suffer any more than it already had, she hadn't thought twice about hopping into the dirty bin in her pajamas and digging around until she found him. After getting him cleaned up and fed Nyx had seen for herself that this little guy was a fighter. He might've been on the small side in terms of stature, but that didn't equate to his large personality. What clinched it for her was that Westley had completely stolen her heart when he plaintively meowed as he clawed up her legs to curl up in her arms and promptly went to sleep, purring contentedly. The very next day she'd taken him to the vet to get checked out and to help deal with the fleas he'd been covered in. The next stop after the vet had been to the pet store to buy everything he would need. She'd had to dip into her limited savings to get it all, but the spoiled munchkin kitten with the big attitude deserved every bit of it. In the following days he'd quickly taken over her apartment as if he'd always lived with her and she had no problem sharing her space. If anything, she'd have been absolutely heartbroken to give him up if anyone came looking for him. Thankfully no one had, resulting in her having her first ever pet.

Paying the cab fare Nyx ducked into her building after making sure there was no one following her. Once inside she took the stairs instead of the elevator. She'd much rather get a quick workout in than be trapped in the small metal box and potentially be ambushed when exiting it. Being cautious she climbed up the stairs at a fast clip, looking around each corner. Only seeing the familiar faces of her neighbors Nyx avoided them and kept going. It was fair to say Hell's Kitchen wasn't the best neighborhood, but it was safer than some Nests she'd been forced to stay at under her father's rule. Besides, this particular building was safer than most seeing as they had their own vigilante living on the top floor. Matthew Murdock, a blind lawyer who somehow ninja'd his way through their part of the city every night, had no idea who she was or the danger she could possibly bring.

As a former spy it wasn't hard to suss out his alter ego within the first few days of him moving into the building earlier this year. The man might have fooled everyone around him. But as she lived underneath his apartment it gave her a front row seat to his sometimes very loud conversations with his best friend. Foggy Nelson, another lawyer, who was worried about his blind friend's constant 'clumsiness'. Oh and then there was the time she'd actually caught him dressed as his alter ego. She'd been stargazing up on the roof or as well as one could in the bright city. When out of nowhere a masked man limped over to the stairs that led up to Murdock's apartment, fully dressed up in an all black makeshift uniform and a scarf over his eyes. It clicked in her head that he was the devil of Hell's Kitchen. She had seen on the news and the people in the neighborhood mentioning the masked vigilante over the prior weeks. Other then being mildly curious about the man, Nyx didn't have to worry about him 'seeing' her because she'd been trained to be a ghost. Well that and her powers definitely helped. Being able to control the darkness around her she was able to cloak herself with the surrounding night to go unseen. And seriously, if he felt she was at all dangerous then at any time in the last few months since he moved in she felt like he would have confronted her by now. As it was she doubted he even knew her name or that she lived under him.