#scene ide

“I’ve got this!”

“You’re hungover!”

“Trust me, I can fight through a hangover. And if I can do that, I can do anything!”

It had been a normal night, calm midnight skies above them with a slight breeze. They hadn’t been on the job in days, and it was relaxing to be able to escape to a place as simple as a bar in their civilian clothes. 

Until a barely perceptible sound from the alleyway behind the bar had made them stop. They didn’t know what they had expected. A stray cat, a homeless person perhaps.

Not the Villain, covered in sweat, grime, and God knew what else, slouched against the wall and only half-conscious. 

The Hero froze. 

Some internal part of them screamed, tried to run away. They faced the Villain all the time, and they’d never admit it to anyone, but the Villain scared them. The Villain could scare the shit out of them sometimes. Right then, running would have been the smart thing to do. The rational thing.

Their feet moved them forward, propelling them until they stood above the Villain. They stared at xir for a brief moment, then they uncapped their bottle of water and dumped it over the Villain’s head. 

Villain sputtered, bolting up as xir eyes fluttered open. Xe gazed around wildly before xir eyes landed on the Hero. For a moment, xe seemed a little confused. Xe had never seen the Hero in their civilian cover. Then recognition flared in xir eyes. 

“Well, well,” the Villain rasped, struggling to keep a cool demeanor. “You are the last person I’d expect to see in a dark alley at night.”

“Interesting. I thought the same about you,” the Hero said calmly. They gestured at the Villain’s filthy clothes. “I would at least expect you to be better dressed.”

“Yes, well. Rough night. What can I say?”

The Hero was quiet for a few moments. “Are you ok?” they asked quietly. They didn’t need to say how unnatural it was to find the Villain in a state like this. How unnerving it was to witness.

“I’m fine,” the Villain slurred, grinning up at them. “What about you, gorgeous?” The Hero wrinkled their nose. 

“You’re still drunk.”

“And you’re good-looking. Looking good.”

“Ok, I’m going to help you get out of here,” the Hero said, kneeling down and swinging one of the Villain’s arms over their shoulder. “I’ve got a place we can go.”

“To be alone?” the Villain purred, though the words came out garbled. The Hero ignored the attempts at suaveness.

“To get you feeling a little more yourself. And to get you into better clothes, of course.” At that the Villain froze. The Hero was being serious. There was legitimate concern in their voice. Had the Hero been worried? The Villain tried to ignore the elation building up in xir chest, tried to hide the flush in xir cheeks. 

“Thank you,” the Villain said quietly. The Hero’s mouth quirked up in a smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be back to trying to kill each other in a week,” they said with a laugh. The Villain looked at them, thinking.

I don’t want to try and kill you.