5 years ago…

Her vision was blurry and her breathing heavy. Her hands trembled as reality set in. On the ground lie a lifeless body swimming in a pool of blood, a knife protruding from it.

Present day…

Lunatic stumbled in the downpour. He never expected to get injured when he went after a leader of a publicly known crime syndicate. It was getting darker and he was growing weaker. He didn't have any energy to fly home either. He feared that he would pass out dressed as the vigilante and risk exposing his identity to the world. But he had no choice. He made his way into a dark secluded alleyway and collapsed.

Alixia was used to strange things by now but never in her life did she expect to find the most famous vigilante of Sternbild City in the back entrance of her shop. It was still pouring when she discovered the passed-out anti-hero. She moved him into her office and laid him across the small couch she had. She struggled to figure out how his helmet opened. When she finally figured out the contraption she carefully removed it. She gasped.

She sat with a stupefied look as she was face to face with an unconscious Yuri Petrov, Sternbild City's chief of justice. After she snapped back to reality she felt his temperature and gasped again. He was ice cold! 'How long had he been outside in the rain' she thought. Alixia apologized to the unresponsive figure and quickly but gently worked at removing his soaked clothes. In the process of removing his clothing she noticed that there was bleeding on his left shoulder and he had dark bruising around his abdomen. When she finally finished removing his clothes she went to work with treating his wounds.

Yuri woke with a start. He saw the unfamiliar ceiling and quickly looked at his surroundings. It looked like a small office space with the basics. It had a single desk with a computer, a small fridge, and a couch he laid on with a small table and lamp next to it. He noticed that he wore regular a simple t-shirt and sweat pants and not his "hero" suit. He began to panic and he rushed to stand. He lost his balance and collided into the end table to steady himself. But as a result, he knocked off the lamp which landed with a loud noise. He then noticed that his recent wounds were gone. Like they never existed. Confusion set in as he made his way toward the closed door at the other end of the room. Suddenly the door opened and in its place, was a woman. She stood about 5' 4" with dark chestnut hair that fell past her shoulders. Her silver eyes inspected him as he stood there dumbfounded. She gasped as she entered the room. She quickly ran over to Yuri.

"Oh my gosh! You shouldn't be up and moving right now. You might hurt youself Mr. Petrov." She said in a panic.

The color drained from Yuri's face and his eyes widened. She knew who he was. Well to be honest, who wouldn't know who he was? He was one of the officials of the city who frequently made public appearances. But the only thought that made his blood run cold was the fact that there was now someone who knew the identity of his alter ego.

"You need to sit back down. I'll be right back." She said as she gently eased him back on the couch.

Alixia ran out the room. Yuri sat in turmoil. What was going to happen now? Was he going to be involved in a scandal and exposed of his actions of carrying out his idea of true justice? No. He wasn't going to allow it to happen. He was going to have to do something about this woman. But it wasn't in his code to hurt innocents, especially since this one he owed his life to. Alixia returned holding two mugs and tenderly offered one to him.

Yuri took the mug and noticed that it was hot chocolate. He carefully inspected it. Alixia chuckled. Yuri's eyes slightly narrowed at her.

"Don't worry. It's not poisoned or anything. I can trade if it'd make you comfortable." She said with a reassuring smile on her face.

"No need." Yuri roughly responded before he took a sip.

Yuri was taken aback as he drank the hot chocolate. It was better than anything he had ever tasted. He would have drunk the whole thing in one gulp if he could, but it was still scalding.

"Do you like it? It's my own recipe."

Yuri hesitated before responding.

"It's good."

"Hehe. I bet you would have liked to just drink it all in one go, wouldn't you?" She said with a grin.

Yuri flushed at her response and simply went back to attempting to drink the chocolate. They sat in silence. Yuri quietly scanned the room again to figure out where his suit was located. Alixia noticed his movement.

"Ah. You don't have to worry about your um- outfit. I had to kinda destroy it when I was getting it off you. So I had to go out and buy you new ones. D-don't worry though. I properly disposed of it so you don't have to worry."

More silence.

"A-also um, you don't have to worry about the press or anything. It's not my place to reveal anyone's secrets they have. When you get your strength back you're more than welcome to leave. You won't hear from me again. Promise."

When Yuri still didn't respond Alixia started to silently panic.

"Did you heal my wounds?"

At Yuri's question Alixia jumped. Alixia hesitated before she nodded.