Jessica could have handled the situation herself.
The jackass was fairly well built to be sure, but he was nowhere near as strong as her and despite the fact she had been sneaking sips from a flask all day, before arriving at the bar where she was knocking back doubles, he was still twice as drunk, the stench of cheap beer rolling off him in waves. Honestly he was nothing more than a minor nuisance to the private detective as he leaned in closer and closer, trying and failing to get her attention with a series of increasingly vulgar comments and requests.
She was about to tell him to piss off for the third time, not even bothered enough at this stage to physically push him away, when a new voice piped up behind them.
"Look buddy the lady isn't interested so why don't you step away? Maybe even think about taking yourself home for the night ok?"
Jessica snorted lightly at being called a lady and shifted her gaze to look at her 'rescuer'.
He wasn't as big as the guy harassing her but at a glance she could tell he knew how to handle himself and on top of that he appeared sober so she was fairly confident he would win if a fight were to start, and by the look of drunk guys face it would.
She wouldn't even need to stand up.
Some people who were aware of Jessica's abilities and her temperament might think that her decision to stay out of this fight was due simply to laziness or apathy. Others who didn't know her as well might be surprised at the decision, expecting her instead to be offended that she was being treated like a damsel in distress when in fact she could take out this nuisance far more easily than the guy who had stepped in ever could.
Both would in fact be wrong.
Jessica was staying out of the fight because, and this would surprise everyone who had ever met her, she was genuinely grateful that the stranger had come to her defence.
She didn't need it of course, but he couldn't know that, all he saw was a young woman being hassled and had decided to help her out.
Jessica had seen so much crap in this world. So many assholes thinking they could do whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. Thinking that no one would ever stand up to them.
That's why there were so many vigilantes running about. Picking up the slack where the police and other authorities just couldn't cut it.
But vigilantes could only do so much. And in the end even they only introduced their own problems into the mix.
What the world really needed was this; not would be heroes seeking trouble, running about in masks taking down crime lords in the dead of night, just ordinary people who were willing to step up and help others when the occasion called for it.
Sure she could have handled they guy on her own. Could have stood up and told this new guy to take a hike and not treat her like a helpless little girl when she was anything but. But what would be the point?
He was doing a good thing.
And although Jessica could handle herself the next young woman this man saw being harassed might not be so lucky. Might really need help.
What would be the sense in discouraging him? Criticising him for doing the right thing?
So Jessica sat back and let the two guys fight it out. As she had known he would, the guy who had stepped in won easily, calmly deflecting the other mans attacks and returning his own with the minimum required force before leading the drunk outside and sending him on his way.
When he returned to where Jess was still sat by the bar the man was kind enough to check again that she was alright and ever offered to pay for her cab home if she needed one.
Although exhausted and in a less than cheerful mood thanks to the mess that had become her life recently, Jessica managed to summon her brightest smile, beaming up at him with all the sincerity she could muster. "No thanks, but thank you for your help, I really appreciated it"
A few more pleasantries were exchanged and another reassurance from Jessica that she had a safe means of getting home before the man moved away and the young PI returned to her drink, this time in peace and feeling a whole lot better than she had earlier.
Superheroes were great when they were needed, she thought to herself, but it was the everyday heroes that truly made a difference.