(no subject)

[sat-by-the-fire.insanejournal.com]

Who: Perseus and Lena Rainmayr
What: She ain't no damsel in distress
When: 2:30am, Sunday Morning
Where:
Warnings: Some cliché and really badly written semi-violence since I am terrible at action. No one gets too hurt.



Most people who had lived in the city their entire lives knew which streets and alleyways to avoid if they wanted to remain unmugged. Unfortunately some of those same alleyways were the fastest route between Lena's work at Lugosi's Theatre Restaurant and her warehouse loft.

Lena's boots tapped a firm and steady rhythm as she wended her way home. Despite knowing she was in an area that wasn't the safest, Lena was still surprised when someone dressed far too warmly for the weather stepped out in front of her from a hidden doorway, blocking her path. The person said nothing but Lena froze where she was, quickly glancing behind her to find yet another person dressed all in black blocking her escape.

No one who knew Lena would call her a woman in need of rescue. She learned kickboxing and she knew martial arts. She narrowed her eyes and the thug in front of her and then, before they had a chance to flick open the knife she could see they were carrying, Lena aimed a kick straight at the thug's chest, knocking them backwards.

"Fuck you!" Lena yelled as the first thug folded in on himself. She turned to face the other thug who had already pulled a knife and was brandishing it in front of him. Instead of trying to attack someone wielding a knife, Lena did the only thing she could think to do to catch him off guard. She barked at him. She barked and yipped and bared her teeth and the thug stared back at her, the knife lowering slightly.

Sensing a women who needed his help was like second-nature to Perseus. He had been walking the streets to clear his head, trying anything he could to keep his mind off the apple sitting in an up-state hotel room, waiting for him to go back and claim it.

He didn't hear a scream, but he could feel it like cold hands on the back of his neck. Someone needed him. That someone could very well be Andromeda. She had a bad case of damsel in distress syndrome and Perseus had had to rescue his wife more times than he could even count. He couldn't risk not helping now and missing her. Even if it wasn't Andromeda, Perseus couldn't help but play the hero.

He sprinted towards the feeling, the cold on his neck growing icier as he drew closer. He could hear strange sounds emanating from a nearby alley and then the sounds stopped.

Perseus rounded the corner and he saw a woman with pink hair staring down a hooded figure who looked like he was covering his mouth as if he had just been hit there. As Perseus ran forward, the hooded figure turned and ran right past him. Perseus drew to a stop and the woman whirled to face him.

"What the fuck are you looking at!?" she hissed at him, looking slightly unhinged.

Perseus raised his hands in the air and he shook his head. "I just thought you might need help! That's all!"

Lena, who had kicked the second thug in the hand, sending his knife skittering away from him on the pavement before she landed a blow to his face, was feeling just a little distrustful of anyone who happened to dash up to her, spouting heroism.

"They ran off," Lena said, pushing her hair behind her ears as she tried to catch her breath. "The first one gave up easy. The second one was harder. But I didn't have to fight to hard." Barking at them had been off-beat enough to send them fleeing. They hadn't intended on jumping a a crazy woman with martial arts skills. "So thanks and everything, but I'm okay."

"You shouldn't be walking the streets alone at night," Perseus said, as if he was speaking to a child. "It's dangerous."

"Hey, fuck you, buddy!" Lena hissed at him. "I have been 'walking the unsafe streets' alone for years." She wasn't discounting the fact that someone could jump her with a gun and then all the martial arts in the world wouldn't really help. And some day she might screw up and someone might overpower her, but Lena didn't want to live a life of fear.

"I was just-" Perseus shook his head. "They could come back with help. Would you like me to walk you home?"

"So you can know where I live?" Lena crossed her arms and she arched an eyebrow at him. "Do I look fucking stupid to you?"

The man shook his head and he held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just here to help."

"Who the fuck are you, Goody-Two-Shoes Man? The T-Shirted Avenger?" Lena sighed at him. "I can get there on my own."

Perseus could see that Lena was feeling uneasy and she was lashing out at him because of it. He didn't mind. Being a verbal punching back wasn't as painful as being a literal punching bag, even if it wasn't as fun either.

"My name is Peter Campbell. I work for the New York Fire Department." He gave his brigade number as well. He knew the respect FDNY tended to receive and if anything would endear him to this woman, that was it. And he watched as her demeanour changed immediately. She looked less standoffish and slightly ashamed.

"Sorry. Look, I still don't want you to walk me home because I don't feel comfortable with that, but the company wouldn't be so bad for a little while at least."

Perseus nodded, and he waited for her to get herself situated. When she walked, he fell in step beside her.

"So you managed to stop both of them?" Perseus said, sounding impressed. He wasn't unaware of strong women. Artemis and Athena were his half-sisters. He just didn't often give so much credit to mortals.

"I think it helped that they were both kind of lame," Lena said, glancing sideways at him. "I think they were just kids playing at being gangsters. If anyone who knew what they were doing had actually wanted to hurt me, they probably could have, but I would have given them hell while they did it." She noticed him watching her, but it didn't feel uncomfortable. Lena didn't think there was anything sinister behind his gaze. It seemed more like genuine curiosity.

"What, you aren't used to girls who kick ass?"

Perseus shook his head. "No, that's...that's not it." He didn't think saying 'but you mortals are usually so fragile' was going to help him here. "I am not used to pink-haired women wearing miniskirts, kicking ass or no."

Lena snorted at that, relaxing a little bit more. If he had been planning on having a go at mugging her too, he probably would have by now. He was about twice her size, so he would have been more successful than the others as well. She tried not to think about that.

"I forget sometimes that my hair is slightly abnormal. It's been this way for so long and it's so me. My name's Lena, by the way." Telling him her nickname wouldn't hurt, since her legal name was Rosalind and everything was neatly under that name. "And thanks for trying to come to my rescue, even if it was unnecessary. Did you hear me barking at the guy or something? Is that why you ran over?"

Perseus thought nodding was the appropriate answer there. Better than explaining that he had 'damsel in distress' radar. "I knew I was hearing something strange, anyway. I'm sorry if I startled you."

"Well I'm sorry I was a bitch," Lena said with a grin. "And in the future, if you happen upon me getting attacked by shitheads and I look like I can't handle it, feel free to step all up in that shit. I was just rattled and I thought you were coming along to join in the fucking with Lena fun. And you're kind of huge, so if you had come along to fuck with me, I was pretty fucked. ...I swear a lot, sorry."

Perseus chuckled to himself It never occurred to him to be offended by language. There were so many other things in the world to focus on. "It's fine," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets because he felt that was probably less threatening, just in case she was still worried he might feel like attacking her.

"Are you usually nocturnal?"

"I work at Lugosi's," she explained, skipping along a little because now she was full of adrenaline-fuelled energy. "The theatre restaurant? It's a lot of fun. You should come sometime. Bring your...fire buddies. If they think it sounds stupid, just tell them a lot of girls show their tits. That's usually a drawing point!" Lena found herself hoping her would-be rescuer would show up. He was incredibly attractive, now that she happened to look.

Perseus snorted and he chewed on his lip for a moment. "Yes, that...that'd be a deal-maker. I'll let them know. It sounds like an interesting place to work. In my line of work we don't get much opportunity to show our tits."

Lena stopped walking and she yelled, HAH before punching him playfully in the arm. "You're funny, Peter Campbell. If you do come to the show, stick around afterwards and I'll sign your tits, how about that?"

She liked Peter's smile and when he laughed, she rather liked that too. "Sure thing."

"Here's where I leave you. I'm close to home and it's all well-lit now. I'll be okay. Don't follow me, or I'll have to go back to bitching at you."

"I won't follow you," Peter promised her.

Lena smiled widely at him and she stepped away backwards so she didn't have to stop looking quite yet. "Awesome. See you soon then, promise?"

"I promise."

Lena turned away then, and instead of grumbling to herself as she headed home as she would have had Peter not shown up, she was smiling a small smile, pleased tonight hadn't been so terrible after all.