Alternatively

Hear No Evil (i.)

    It was a little awkward.

She hadn't spoken a word since he crashed through her window, simply bringing a kitchen knife and a first aide kit back to her room.

To be fair, he didn't help the situation either. He didn't speak and he didn't really meet her eyes, staring at the clock on her nightstand as she picked glass from his arm. It blinked 1:42 am and he could see a little alarm symbol lit up in the corner.

Sirens echoed somewhere in the city and he knew Grace was darting around to find him.

"Hold this."

He accepted the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, glancing at the girl. "I'll pay for your window."

"Don't bother."

"Windows are expensive."

A small curl fell from her messy bun as she tilted her head. "My insurance covers idiots."

Valid, he thought, lips twitching under his mask.

"Tainted money can be tracked, anyway."

"Tainted," he snorted.

She gave him a strange loom, the desk lamp glinting in her eyes. "You're not exactly an upstanding citizen."

"Doesn't mean I don't have some honest money?"

"Villains don't tend to know honesty."

He recoiled. "Villain? I don't think-"

"A-List heroes are on your ass, aren't they?" she retorted, ripping open a new bandage. "You ruin our city, don't you? By comic book standards, you're the villain."

Percy frowned; it was never in the forefront of his mind when he worked out his plans or acted on his missions. He just did what he needed to. He never thought himself a hero, didn't delude himself into being the good guy, but a villain?

"If I'm the bad guy, why are you helping me right now? Askew moral compass?"

"You make my job easier," she shrugged. "Can't really complain."

He supposed that was fair.

"Besides, you don't think I didn't call the cops when I was in the kitchen, do you?"

Now that she had said it, the sirens did seem a lot closer than before. He let her apply the bandage before standing up, grabbing the short circuiting hoverboard from where it had slid across the room when he crashed. It had knocked a few pictures from the wall and left a good sized dent, but it hadn't set anything on fire, which was an improvement.

"You don't want to tell me your name by any chance, do you?"

He looked to the girl with raised eyebrows. "And ruin any future investigating? I think I'll pass."

She stood with crossed arms, trailing behind as he walked to the broken window. "Avoid my building next time you rob a bank, okay?"

"It was a jewelry store," he corrected, finding his balance on the board. "And I'll do my best."

He caught her staring after him as he vanished into the night, illuminated by the reds and blues of police cars in the street below. It wasn't how other people seemed to gawk at him when he was fighting or when they caught sight of him sauntering down the street. She was calculating and inquisitive and it made him smirk, even back in the warehouse. Obviously, she wasn't fond of him or what he did, but she hadn't been afraid.

"Oh, good, you're back."

"Oh, good," he rolled his eyes, slamming the door behind him and tugging the mask away from his mouth.