[IC] To be or not to be (Heroes)

[StarBoi]

The scene was gruesome. Blood, and a lot of it from his former 'comrade'. He wanted the kill but as long as the threat was gone what did it matter? I guess in that way he was a hero, he was trying to stop the tortured souls from doing what they were made to do, destroy and kill. Anyhow. Now she was looking at him again. 9's blood on her hands. She had seen what he had not wanted her to see and she was changed. Although he had wanted to kill her, no one deserved to go through what him and the others had gone through. Black Jack stared back at her unsure of what to do now. All urge to kill this young woman had diminished. The man stood very still, contemplating his next move.

If she could do that to 9 just think of what she could do to him. Despite this he felt no fear. He was far more skilled than this young girl and was rather durable. In any case, he could not regrow limbs but most of the time felt no need for all of them. He could fight with one leg it he needed too. It wasn't very often that Black Jack stopped to think, he was usually brash and reckless. Not thinking before doing but doing and succeeding regardless. His unusual, joking personality seemed to falter at this time.

As all the others stared in fear, Black Jack looked at her with pity in his eyes, though he was glad she could not see it. Some would be consumed by anger that she had witnessed such a thing but he felt nothing but pity. And at last he spoke, "I get it. What we went trough wasn't something normal humans could handle... Er... I mean. It's not to be taken lightly. The last person he used that on killed themselves almost instantaneously. And, I'm sorry you had to endure our pain. Trick. If you're going to be a killer. You may have to die."

Black Jack may have seemed like a heartless killer. But he was controlled as far as killing went. He only killed those that deserved it. He hated cops but had never killed one, he could just care less about their safety was all. But Trick, who knew what she was capable of, what she would do with this newfound pain and suffering that she had experienced. "I'm not going to do anything. You did what I came to do. More brutally than I would have cared for but, that's besides the point. Get out of here. Before they decide to turn on you." He was referring to the cops and citizens that were around them.

The police force and other authorities had no love for him and his kind which was understandable. But Trick was a hero. There was no reason she should be hated too. Jack sighed and shook his head. Although it often didn't seem like it with how much he joked around, he was capable of being wise beyond his years. "I said go!!" He lifted his arm and pointed to an alley way. She could teleport she should have been out of there already.

[c3p-0h]

Trick was still as a statue, not daring to move, barely daring to breathe, as Black Jack spoke. There was no sarcasm in his voice, no boisterousness or bloodlust. No, for the first time since she'd encountered the criminal, there was almost something like gentleness to him. Trick felt herself cracking like the glass she'd bashed 9's head into, fractures dancing along her skin, threatening to tear her apart. She tried to swallow again. Still couldn't. 

Black Jack shouted at her and she was gone almost before he could finish his sentence. Trick was on a rooftop. Then another and another, her pace never slowing until she was tumbling inside the bookstore's back office.

Her breath was coming out in frantic, shallow gasps, her hands shaking as she tore and pulled at her scarf and hoodie, desperate to get them off. She heard something rip as she finally managed to yank them away from her body, tossing them in a pile on the floor. Lexa slowed, but didn't calm. She was a heap of shaking limbs and panicked breath on the ground as she tried to get a hold of herself. Her hand flashed out, grabbing whatever was closest to her – an old black dustpan – and she flung it against the lockers lining the far wall. It hit and fell with a clatter. It wasn't enough. 

Shoving herself to her feet, Lexa stormed over and grabbed the dustpan. She slammed it against the side of the locker, breaking the handle clean off. Throwing it aside she curled her hands into fists and punched the metal panel of a locker. The shock of the impact reverberated down her arm, fire pooling in her knuckles. She hit it again. And again. Her fists came harder and harder, flecks of red staining the dented metal. 

She didn't hear the others enter the back until large hands were trying to catch her wrists, an arm like banded steel curling around her middle and dragging her back. She kicked and let out a feral, angry sound but wasn't released. 

"Hey enough!" A familiar voice cut through her desperate haze. "Lex you're hurting yourself!" She didn't care. He'd managed to catch her arms and pin them to her body. She was trapped she was hurting she was angry– 

"Lex!"

It was the fear in his voice that brought her back. She stopped fighting, but didn't relax. Her chest heaved as she gasped in air. She looked down to see Tyrell's tattooed arms holding her still. He didn't loosen his grip.  Breath rattled through her chest. 

 "Ty. Let me go." Her voice was flat and soft. He hesitated. 

 "You good?" Lexa didn't respond. After a long moment she shoved herself away from him and he let her go. 

She looked over her shoulder to take in his worried face. He was a tall, broad man, likely in his late 20s. A regular at the little bookstore, he was friendly without being obnoxious and was dangerously close to being something like a friend to her. 

Lexa looked past him to see the other customers crowded in the doorway, too afraid to step in. Some were just curious. Others were concerned. But most looked at her with the same wide-eyed fear that the people in the street had. Lexa looked down. Heat pricked behind her eyes and her heart pounded in her throat. 

 "Store's closed. Everybody out." Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. 

"Lex–"

 "Out!"

She saw customers jump at the outburst. And then slowly, too slowly, they left one by one. Ty was the last. She could feel him standing over her, questions making the air thick. 

Then with a sigh, he left, too. 

Lexa didn't know how long she stood there, trembling and trying to calm her breath. But eventually she forced herself into motion, like rusted gears grinding back to life. She walked to the two pieces of the broken dustpan and picked them up. She collected the shreds of her ruined disguise next. Lexa tossed them in the trash. She'd pay for the damages later. 

The dented lockers, splattered with red caught her eye. A defeated sigh escaped her. That'd be harder to pay for.

Lexa raised a hand to look at her busted knuckles. The open air bit at her split skin. She couldn't tell what was her blood and what was his. Lexa didn't know if she was relieved or sickened. 

She dropped her hand to her side and walked out the door of the office. That stupid movie was still playing in the darkened store. Lexa walked to her counter where she'd left the remote and jammed down the off button. Letting the remote fall back to the floor, she dropped herself into the chair and placed her elbow on the counter. 

Her bloody hands caught her head, fingers tangling in crimson hair. Lexa let out a rasping breath as the hot tears finally blurred her vision. 

[StarBoi]

He looked around at the frightened and confused faces of the crowd that was developing around him. "Hey! Nothing to see here, folks!" Black Jack gave a small bow at the waist and back flipped away, over the crowd and onto a rooftop. "Disperse already, will ya?!" The somewhat flustered man shouted down to them. His words fell upon deaf ears. They ignored him and continued to gather round. "Ughhh" He groaned and disappeared onto another rooftop and then another until he was to where he had left his clothes. "Welp, this was an interesting time wasn't it?" Chuckling to himself he stripped himself of his leather jumpsuit and replaced his black clothes on his person. "Now, where was I?... Oh, heh." Jack reached up and removed his helmet mask thing that he loved so much and put it in the duffle bag with the other things. Should I try to find that girl? Hah what am I thinking?

Jack felt strange. Almost caring. Very much unlike himself. "Bahhhh" Groaning, Jack climbed down from the building and headed back toward the book store where he had come. That one girl had a light and he needed another cigarette. When he arrived a bunch of people were piling out of the shop. "Huh?" There was no way the movie could have been over already. With a slightly tilted head and hands in his pockets he was about to walk in when a dark guy larger then himself stopped him. "Store's closed..." He seemed a little upset, concerned in some way.

"Wait, why? What happened? Is it because of the trouble across town?"

"Huh? What trouble?" The other asked confused.

"You know the sirens, the murder? Er... nothing." Jack rolled his eyes and removed his hand from his pocket to gesture as he spoke. "Look man, I just came to see that bookstore girl with the lighter so I could use it. Unless you have one?"

[c3p-0h]

The man stared at Jack for a long time, considering him. He glanced over his shoulder at the closed door and sighed. Turning back to Jack, he ran his hand through his hair. He seemed to come to a conclusion.

"In there," he said nodding towards the door. He stepped past Jack but stopped again, turning back to him. "Careful." And with that vague warning, he turned down the street, walking away with heavy steps.

[StarBoi]

He stared at him, for quite a while and it was a bit concerning. "In there." He told him. "Careful." The man said over his shoulder. Then he was gone. Jack tilted his head once again and headed to the into the shop. "Heyo! Red, are you in here? I'm here to bug you again. Er...I mean. Could I borrow your lighter again real quick for a smoke. Then I'll get outta your hair..." Jack saw her there, she seemed to be crying at the counter. His eyes grew wide for he did not know what to do. The only time he had seen or heard women crying was... Oh gods. It was a few years ago when the women were begging for the to stop hurting them. No, no, no. It's not the same. It's not the same.

"HEY ARE YOU OKAY?" He blurted out. "PLEASE TELL ME OKAY CUZ I CAN'T STAND TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS NOT OKAY." That felt like a lie, maybe it was a half-truth. "Well. You at least. I seem to have taken a strange liking to you. Maybe it's because you are a pretty lady and you are in distress. What can I do to help??" Jack moved to place his hands on the counter and stared at her. Something terrible must have happened. He noticed the bit of blood on her hands but assumed she had just hurt herself.

There was a moment of silence then finally he asked calmly. "You okay?"

[c3p-0h]

Lexa grit her teeth when she heard a bell ring and the door creak open. She'd told them to leave. It was probably Ty again. Concerned bastard didn't know when to quit. Lexa parted her lips to kick him out when a different voice broke the silence.

It was the obnoxious guy from that morning. The smoker. Lexa wanted to be annoyed. She couldn't muster the energy.

She was so tired.

Lexa closed her eyes and winced when his talking turned into worried shouting. This really wasn't what she needed right now. She opened her mouth again to tell him to get lost when something changed in his voice. He turned soft, almost delicate with his words. And just like that she threatened to come undone all over again.

Lexa pressed her lips tightly together before letting out a long, rattling breath. She shoved it all down.

"I've had worse days." Lexa moved her hands down to wipe at her cheeks with the heels of her palms. She finally looked up at the man. The whites of her eyes were red and smeared tear tracks glistened on her cheeks. Her face was blank save for a slight furrow at her eyebrows. Lexa stared at him for a long moment. Then–

"How about that drink?"

[StarBoi]

At first he expected her to be vile towards him because of the somewhat rude and up front way he had spoken to her earlier. He wasn't good with people, not girls in particular, especially girls he thought were good looking. When she said she had had worse days he smiled at her a little as she looked up at him. She looked awful. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was red as well and tear-stained. He could only imagine how badly her head must of ached from crying so hard. "How about that drink?" She offered.

Seeing her like that brought back memories of when he was young. When he used to cry like that. When he used to cry for mercy from the villains who would do terrible and painful experiments on him. A pounding in his head caused his hand to go up to it. "Ugh..."

However, his face lit up and he looked into her eyes, hand still on his head. "Yes of course. I know a place that would let youngsters like ourselves drink without consequences. Well unless you plan on getting drunk. Which, doesn't sound to bad right now... Alright then!" The young man stepped away from the counter and held out his bent arm towards her like an escort. "M'lady?"

[c3p-0h]

Lexa's eyes flicked down to his proffered arm, and then back up to him with a raised eyebrow. But there was no venom in her stare. Pushing herself up from her seat, she walked past him towards the door. Her hand reached into her pocket to pull out a set of jangling keys with an odd little purple puff ball attached by a chain to the keyring. Walking out the door, she waited until Jack was out before closing it and locking up.

Slipping her keys back in her pocket, Lexa brought her free hand to try and wipe at her eyes again. God, she hated crying. She hated the way her eyes stung and her nose tingled. Most of all, she hated how others looked at her. Like she was pitiable. Something to be cared for and handled delicately. Like she would break.

Like she was already broken.

Her mind flashed back to the images the… the man (the one she'd maimed, the one she'd possibly killed) had shown her, the horrible aching pain that had stabbed at her. A quiet intake of breath was the only hint at what was going on in her mind as she stared hard at the ground. Lexa flashed back to the present, clenching her fists in frustration. The open wounds on her knuckles stung at the movement, pain flaring in her hands. She'd likely fractured something. It'd be healed within a day or so.

Pressing her lips together, Lexa forced her attention up. She looked up at Jack expectantly, waiting for him to lead the way. He seemed… ok. A little overbearing maybe, but not the worst person she'd ever met. She'd taken him up on his offer of alcohol on a whim (because lord knew she needed some right about now) and wasn't yet sure if she was going to regret this.

If he tried anything she could handle it. If she couldn't stand him she'd leave. Either way, Lexa figured her day couldn't get any worse.

[StarBoi]

She denied his escort. And waited for him to leave before locking up. He kept a smile on his face regardless. He was happy that he was going to get to go out with her. Honestly at this point he wasn't expecting to get some because she seemed like the type who was totally uninterested in that stuff anyways. Shit, how old was she anyways? Not old enough to drink but old enough to sleep with if it happened right? He'd for sure ask her when they got there but right now she seemed rather upset he'd just keep his mouth shut for the time being, if that was even possible. Jack never really was the quiet type, he always joked around and even after all the torture they never broke his spirit, maybe his psyche a little bit, but what did that matter?

As he walked he continued to look to see if she was beside or behind him. Making sure she wasn't going to change her mind. This was really something he needed after what had happened earlier. It didn't bother him much but he did kinda feel bad for Trick. The girl reminded him of Trick but not as bold. She had the same eyes too but he still didn't believe it was the same girl, there was no damn way that the young girl who worked in the book store was the same raven haired crime fighter.

When they arrived at the dive bar called Luca's, he opened the door for her and entered in behind her. "Don't worry, the guys here know me and are really cool, a little hard-headed and dumb, but otherwise cool." He said from behind. "Hey guys!!" Jack came out from behind the young woman who he still didn't know the name of and waved. "Hi guys!!"

"Ey Jack!" A few of them greeted including the bar tender. "Seems like you've got yourself another pretty young thing." The bar tender continued.

"Ehhh not quite. she's just an acquaintance who needed some good drinks, so I brought her here to the best." He grinned at the bartender who was also the owner, Luca, a short mixed race guy with a bald head and tattoos all over.

"No need to flatter me, Jackaboy." Luca replied.

The place was a bit trashy but kept rather clean as was the rules to own a business. It was just rather run down with crumby looking wooden chairs and tables it and concert posters on the wall it looked almost like a pirates tavern only a bit more modern than one. The men inside were biker looking dudes in black leather vests and jackets, most of them rather muscled.

"I don't even know your name..." He looked back at the girl and his brows raised. "I told you before, I'm Jack. You are? Oh and how old are you too?

[c3p-0h]

At first Lexa was grateful that Jack read the mood well enough to keep quiet. She walked alongside him, hands in her pockets. The blood was starting to dry, rusty flakes crusting on her skin. Foreign blood splattering onto her hands, the wide eyes of a doomed man staring back at her. Shards of pain splintering her bones, the way the glass splintered as cracks spun out from where she smashed his skull into it, his wide eyes, their wide eyes, petrified at the sight they'd seen, blood on her hands, metal forcing more blood on her hands as pain consumed her like an inferno and she punched at the locker because there was no one else, no one left to hurt her she was hurting she was crying she was dying–

Jack stopped in front of a door and Lexa blinked herself back to reality. She was freezing. There was a slight, almost unnoticeable tremble in her still-dirty hands. Her breath was silent, but a little quicker, a little shallowing. Lexa forced herself to swallow, trying to calm herself as she stepped into the bar.

It was a typical bar, not as well-kept as it could've been, not as disgusting as it could've been. A few of the bikers' eyes lingered on her, but most paid her no mind after the initial once-over. Lexa walked up to the bar where the barkeep, Luca, was already placing two clean glasses and readying a drink for each of them. She sat in a stool beside Jack and Luca slid a full glass of amber liquid towards her. She didn't look up as Jack asked his questions. It seemed he was back to rambling.

"Old enough to know what that question actually means. You're not getting lucky." Lexa regretted the words, the ice in her voice, almost immediately. Sighing, she closed her eyes and took a sip from her drink. It burned in her throat, the unmistakable aroma of alcohol drifting up to her nose. "Sorry," she said, her voice softer. She opened her eyes to look back down at her hands wrapped around the glass. A smattering of pale scars lined the skin memories of fights, accidents, life woven into each. Lexa couldn't even remember all of them, there were so many. A side effect of her advanced healing, she supposed. She knew the cuts on her knuckles were already beginning to knit themselves back together.

"Lexa. My name's Lexa." A voice above her head caught her attention and she looked up to see a surprisingly nice TV playing the local news.

"Onlookers were shocked today when the local nighttime vigilante known as Trick not only came out in broad daylight, but took a life."

The rest of the newscaster's words were lost on her as footage taken from a shaky phone played on the screen. Below it the headline, VIGILANTE OR VILLAIN? sat in bold letters. Lexa looked down before she saw a figure in black, standing just outside a glass wall dropped her arms, pulling the man's blood stumps with them. She took another drink, unable to tell if the acrid weight in her throat was alcohol or guilt. So the man was dead.

"Trick's never killed before," she said, almost to herself.

[StarBoi]

She said he wasn't gonna get lucky and well, he didn't care too much. As much as he liked sex he knew no meant no. And so he picked up his glass at his bar stool and took a drink from it. The cool liquid burned in his throat but the feeling felt rather nice. Better than smoking cigarettes for sure. Strangely the girl with him apologized for how harshly she had spoken to him. He looked at her with one brow raised but said nothing. "Lexa. My name's Lexa." The young woman said after a moment. Jack smiled at her. "Alright Lex. thanks."

Jack was too busy looking at her beautiful face to notice the TV speaking in the background. Speaking on the television was the familiar newswoman Cali Marsden whom he himself had tried to sleep with once but was rather rudely rejected. He got his revenge by dropping a water balloon filled with piss on her head before the show one day. It was brilliant. Anyway, that was a while ago, he tried not to think about it. As he was staring at Lexa, he noticed her demeanor change slightly and she took another drink. "Trick's never killed before."

This was devastatingly true. He wondered how much the girl new about the vigilante Trick. He probably knew only as much as she did. But knew what had really happened to make her go off of the deep end. She had seen things no one should see and she snapped. His past was not for the faint of heart. "No, I don't think she has. I wonder what made her do it." Jack spoke softly, he wasn't sure Lexa had wanted him to hear her but he heard her anyways and wanted to reply. He couldn't help but wonder if this innocent bystander, Lexa, was afraid of Trick like the others on the streets had been earlier. "She's a hero..." Luca started, "Something must have made her go off, right? Heroes don't just kill for no reason. Well unless you're talking about that one vigilante, Black Jack"

"Black Jack is no vigilante!! He's a... a something else. I'm not sure what but he's no hero, no villain, he's whatever he wants to be. A free spirit." Jack nodded knowingly. "Sorry I'm a bit defensive about him, I follow his fan blogs and everything. I love that guy." Nice save, ya dickhole. Jack kicked himself internally for blabbering about his second identity like he did. "Anywhooo. Lexa." He took a swig from his drink. "Ya feeling okay, doll?"

[c3p-0h]

Lexa didn't have the energy to scoff when Luca called Trick a hero. But boy did she want to. She did manage to glance up at Jack in curiosity when he defended Black Jack so vehemently. So someone had a crush. She idly wondered if it had to do with their matching names. Then Jack turned his attention back to her and her distraction was gone.

She looked down at her drink. Opened her mouth to say that she was fine. Then promptly closed it because what was the point of a lie that ridiculous? Besides, he'd been decent and patient with her, and surprisingly attentive. She wasn't sure if she appreciated that or not. But he deserved her honesty at least. Lexa took another sip of her drink, the warm burn of alcohol a needed comfort.

"I… used to get these nightmares as a kid," she said after a time, her eyes never leaving her glass. Honestly, she'd forgotten about them until just now. She hadn't had them since she was young, even after her family died. But as she spoke, memories trickled back to her, as vivid as they'd ever been. "Never remembered them. Just… pain. And fear. Sometimes anger. My parents couldn't ever manage to wake me up when they happened. I'd just scream for hours until I woke up on my own. My throat would be bleeding and my voice would be gone, but I'd just keep going. Got us kicked out of a few apartments because of it. 'S why my voice rasps now." It felt like she was talking about someone on a screen, a made up character in some story. It didn't feel like her. Lexa was numb to it. She let out a quiet breath, fingers tracing the faint scratches on her glass. "Today… I felt like I was in a nightmare again. But I was awake for it this time."

She started to turn her head to look back at Jack but stopped herself at the last second. Forced her eyes back down. Lexa didn't want to look at him. She didn't want him to look at her and see some fragile, crumbling thing in her eyes. She was tired of being fragile. Lexa steeled her gaze, frustrated at herself. Her hand brought the glass to her lips to take another sip when–

To hell with nursing it.

Lexa downed the rest of the glass. She let her hand fall back to the bar, the glass hitting it with a dull thud. The alcohol burned down her throat, to her stomach, branching out within her body, warming her. She winced a bit at the sensation, the heady taste skewing her mouth into something close to a grimace. She pulled herself back together and finally looked back up at Jack.

"So you're some big fan of Black Jack's," Lexa forced the subject change, half because she needed to not talk about this but the other half because… she found herself genuinely curious. "What's his deal?" Lexa had no idea what to make of the… well, the only description that seemed to fit at the moment was 'pain in her ass.' He certainly wasn't a hero. She was reluctant to say he wasn't a villain. But perhaps… not as reluctant as she'd been that morning. Before…

Before there'd been something almost human to him. Almost compassionate with her when everyone else only had fear.

Before she'd become a killer like him.

Lexa supposed maybe that just meant they both belonged in jail.

[StarBoi]

Lexa began to confide in him about the nightmares. And when she mentioned feeling like she was in a nightmare again he wondered why. Could it have been because of her fear of Trick? When she chugged the rest of her drink he gave a small chuckle and did the same. The drink was bitter and was not to his liking. He liked the effects of alcohol but hated the taste. The fact that she used to have these nightmares and scream through the night reminded him of himself. Only her pain couldn't have been as bad as the real thing that haunted him to this day. At last she turned her gaze toward him and asked him about Black Jack.

"Uh... Black Jack, huh?" He placed his hand on the back of his head and seemed embarrassed as his cheeks went a little pink. "I haven't met him in person but I think his personal brand of justice is kind of inspirational..."

"I-I don't know what you mean by 'his deal' he's just different. Like me. That's why I like him."

[c3p-0h]

Lexa froze at Jack's answer. Well that was a red flag. He found the creep inspirational? Just like that, Lexa found her mixed feelings about Black Jack melt away in the warmth of her drink. Justice? What the shit kind of justice was Black Jack doling out? Her mind flashed back to last night, to the mockery in his voice when he'd heard the people screaming, the people dying.

I don't care, he'd said.

And this guy was identifying with him. A murderous, self-centered, sociopathic dick, and he was inspirational for not giving a shit about anyone but himself and his own vendetta. Her gaze turned hard at the glass in her hand. Apparently she'd spaced out in her little mental tirade because Luca had managed to fill it again without her noticing. Her expression was cool, something turning icy in her. But her body was still relaxed, her hands unclenched as she sat at the bar. She lifted the glass and took another sip.

"We're all different if you bother to look closely enough," she replied, voice calm, if a bit softer than before. She still didn't look at him. "But I'm genuinely curious. What do you think makes him different from any other hyped up murderer with superpowers?" It wasn't lost on her that as of that afternoon, she also fit that description. There was a bitter taste in her mouth that she wasn't sure was from the alcohol.

[StarBoi]

He could tell by her body language and something in her cool tone that something he had said set her off more than she had already been beforehand. Great. What reason did she NOT have to hate Black Jack. For all she knew he was just a common psychopath with powers that killed whoever he wanted. He couldn't let her find out that he was Black Jack. So how the hell was he supposed to go about this??? "Wh-what do I think makes him different?" He looked up at the ceiling for answers, then back down at his drink that Luca had bothered to fill up for him. "Well. Let's see here... heh." Come on where's your shining personality, dufus?? "Right! Well you are one who follows the news like most in the city, amirite? WELLL THEN. You must know that Black Jack fights and kills those other murderers with super powers. Which is no different than what the FAMOUS Trick did today."

"They're on the same level. Any one can kill if it's for the greater good. Heh well, you know. Even if he does have his own agenda, he must care about us in some way or another right? That's why I like him. I want to believe that deep down he does care about the people. Or maybe I'm completely fucking wrong, I don't know." He took SEVERAL sips from his drink, intending to get totally drunk. "I'm sorry, doll. I don't mean to get your panties in a bunch. I'm just rather opinionated y'know?" Jack put his hands up to block his face. "Please don't punch me!"

[c3p-0h]

Anger was building dangerously in her stomach, already trying to claw its way up her throat.

"He dropped a building on six people last night and left them for dead," she said flatly. "Two of them did die." She downed the rest of her drink again, feeling the sensation of alcohol rocket through her system. "Being like Trick doesn't make him better. It just makes her worse." She pushed herself up from her stool, her hand rummaging in her back pocket and reappearing with her wallet. Lexa pulled out a few bills, throwing them atop the bar with more force than necessary. Pausing, she finally turned her amber eyes back to look at Jack. She took in the sight of him covering his face, asking her not to hit him. She knew he was being over the top. But it still brought her back to that moment in the street, people scared of what she could do. Of what she had done. Lexa scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning away.

"Thanks for the distraction," she said, walking back towards the door.

[StarBoi]

Shit.

She threw the bills onto the counter and looked back at him with those amber eyes of hers. "Thanks for the distraction."

Now more than ever she had reminded him of Trick. Could it be her? NO WAY. It would explain a lot though. That had to be the true explanation for her behavior. Why she hated Black Jack so much. Her talk about nightmares. It was because she was Trick and she had experienced the horrors that he had gone through in what seemed like a past life by now. There was no way he was going to let her be on her own, not after what she went through. Wait, did he actually care about this chick? NO. He didn't care about any one but himself, and his roommate Bob, but mostly himself. Regardless, he had to know the truth, and hew as going to find out the easy way... or the hard way.

"'Ey. Don't walk out on me like this..." There was one way to tell if she was Trick and it was by a simple trick. Pun not intended. In any case, if she was Trick this would give away his double identity. But he didn't care much. It was pretty obvious he was Black Jack, people just didn't pay enough attention to detail. With a small sigh and a smirk, he walked after her. With his hand cupped over his mouth he said quiet enough so only she and any one rather close would hear him. Only Trick would remember the tone and the voice. "Sorry Doll Face, but I don't quite enjoy when the ladies walk away from me like that."

[c3p-0h]

Lexa froze. His voice, that voice, echoed in her mind. Realization reverberated with it, striking her down to her bones. Her fingers, still beat up and bloody, twitched. Then Lexa spun and punched him in the jaw.

The other bar patrons startled at the sound of impact, a few bikers even pushing themselves out of their seats to stop whatever fight seemed to be breaking out. But Lexa was roughly grabbing Black Jack's shirt and hauling him out the door before they could do anything. She marched around the corner and down an alley, dragging him behind her. Finally she stopped, shoving him forward and away from her, releasing her grip.

"Son of a bitch," she cursed under her breath, "Of course my day would get worse." She looked about ready to deck him again, amber eyes flashing in rage.

[StarBoi]

The pretty girl socked him square in the face, more or less his jaw. "Okay I deserved that, princess" The punch hurt but didn't cause him too much trouble. His buddies in the bar all looked some even stood to stop the fight. Jack raised his hand to let them know it was okay. To his surprise, Lexa dragged him out of the bar by his shirt. "H-hey, where are we going??" Once they were outside and into a dark and gloomy alley way she released him and shoved him away from her.

He heard her curse to herself and speak about things getting worse. It looked as though she was going to punch him again, this time she would not catch him off guard. "Surprise!!" He grinned and opened his arms for a hug. "I knew it, I knew you were her. Those eyes give you away. So, what was with the weird outfit today?" He ignored any serious questions he might of had and continued smiling at her.

The alcohol from before hadn't seemed to affect him. But it may have gotten to her. "Trick. You did something very bad today, didn't you, young lady?" Jack wasn't trying to mock her but it may of seemed like it to her.

[c3p-0h]

On the outside Lexa didn't react to his words save for the slight narrowing of her eyes when he called her Trick. On the inside though, she was broiling. Because if this asshole was about to give her a hard time about the shit she'd done then that was just rich. Her mind flashed back to the things she'd said back at the bar, what she told him, how stupid she'd been. He knew where she worked, what she looked like, her name… but somehow the most upsetting thing of all was that she'd told him about the nightmares. Only her family has ever known about them. And now they were dead.

"One reason," she said, her voice dark and rasping, "give me one reason why I shouldn't put you halfway between a brick wall."