A/N: I love this pairing. I really do.

"Hello?"

Mindy sat slumped on the bed, waiting for a reply- so she could tell the cocksucker who'd called to fuck off. As she waited she rubbed her eyes, trying to ignore the dull ache building in the back of her head. Today of all days to have to deal with this.

No reply. Pussy. She growled dangerously. No one knew this number. At least, no one she cared about.

"If you don't tell me who you are, I will hunt you down and rip your throat out." Not her greatest insult. But she was tired, and angry and her head hurt.

"Nice to see you haven't lost your stellar social skills."

Mindy sat bolt-upright, her breath catching in her throat as a million thoughts raced around her mind. Could it be? No, how would he find her? Why call?

"Dave?"

"Yeah." The voice on the other end of the line was exactly the same as she remembered, warm and friendly, with just a hint of determined steel. She sat frozen as a thousand emotions twisted and turned inside her. Memories flashed unbidden before her: their meeting, the warehouse showdown, the kiss. A little shudder passed though her at that. It was quick, nothing special really. A first kiss, curious and hopeful. A last kiss, to tell Dave that she'd grown up, taken his advice. So why could she still feel the warmth, the slight roughness of his cracked lips pressing against hers.

"You still there Mindy?"

She jumped slightly as his voice broke through her distracted thoughts.

"Course I am. I'm just surprised." She said.

A soft chuckle crackled through the phone. "Yeah. Hell of a job that. You're slipperier than an eel covered in... something slippery."

Mindy tried to stifle a snort. "Nice to see you've kept your shitty way with words." Suddenly she frowned. "How did you get this number?"

"A lot of digging, and a bit of luck. Some motorbike enthusiast snapped a photo of your bike, and there aren't that many phone retailers in your area." He said.

"Fuck." Mindy sighed. "I knew I should've ditched it earlier."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it. Even with that it still took me nearly a month to find you." His voice was soft, and she knew that if he'd been with her, he'd be holding her hand gently, looking straight into her eyes with his piercing pale-blue gaze. She felt an all-too familiar warmth building in her stomach.

Jesus Christ, it hadn't been that long.

"Why'd you call?" Mindy asked, falling onto her bed proper. As she waited for an answer, her eyes drifted to the chipped paint on her ceiling. What was probably meant to be olive had long since faded into a colour she'd affectionately dubbed 'baby-puke green', and she swore it was peeling as she stared. Still, shitty hotels were the best place to lay low.

Nothing from Dave. Had she scared him off?

From the phone came a long sigh, and Mindy stiffened, tendrils of anxiety twisting in her gut. This was unfair. She could face serial killers and rapists without batting an eyelid, but she panicked when Dave might be uncomfortable. Damage control time.

"You don't have to answer-"

"No, no, it's ok." She sighed with relief as he finally spoke. "It's just- I don't really know why I called." He said. "I mean, I know you're safe and all- you're probably better at staying alive than anyone I know."

"Fuckin' aye I am."

Dave laughed again, and the butterflies in her stomach kicked into overdrive.

"I dunno, there's no particular reason. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. It's a nice voice."

This was getting ridiculous. He couldn't just say things like that, in his adorably earnest voice and not expect her to start blushing. Not that he could see her, but still. There was no way Hit-Girl would ever pine over a guy like that.

Wouldn't she? A little voice in the corner of her mind cackled. She wouldn't grab a certain green-and-yellow clad superhero after cleaning out a crack den, and shove him up against the wall, attacking his mouth with her lips as she pressed herself against him, wanting, needing him insider her. She wouldn't tear open his still-bloodied costume, silencing his protests with her hungry kisses as she began to prove how much better she was than Night-Whore.

If Mindy had been blushing before, she was brick-red now, and the poor butterflies had been transformed into a raging inferno. This needed to stop, now. Trying to bring her breathing back to a normal level, she spoke.

"So. It's been a while." Good. That was neutral. Give her time to think. Time to control herself.

"Five months, nineteen days."He replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "You counted?"

"Yeah." He paused, and when she didn't respond continued, the words stumbling over each other in his haste to explain. "I mean, it was a pretty big day, so I figured I should remember it, and then I just kept remembering it, and..." He sighed. "I guess it's a little creepy."

Damnit. Just when she thought she'd chased away the butterflies for good they came swirling back. Of course he'd counted. And it wasn't creepy, it was adorable. But she didn't say that. What she said was simply.

"Yeah, I guess."

Suddenly she heard a thump from the phone, and Dave's swearing.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I yawned and leaned back. My head was closer to the wall than I thought." He said.

Mindy grinned. She could just imagine him grimacing, running his hand gingerly though those delicious brown curls of his. Curls she wanted to run her hand though as he pressed his lips against her neck, and slowly, agonizingly moved lower, pausing at her collarbone to plant a deep kiss, and maybe even bite-

A small whimper escaped her slightly parted lips before she came crashing back into reality. Hopefully Dave hadn't-

"Mindy?"

Shit. Fucking shit. Mindy's eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for an excuse. They fell on her newly discarded runners, and her brain kicked into gear, a plan already half-formed.

"It's- it's nothing. Just pulled something when I was out training." She cringed as she finished. It was a terrible excuse, but better than nothing. Or the real reason the litlle voice added.

To her surprise, Dave simply said "Okay. But be careful."

She released the breath she'd been holding, then finally processed what he'd said. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "This coming from a guy who injured himself yawning."

"Shut up." He paused. "Look, I have to go. Battery's running out. But we'll talk again soon?" His voice was hopeful, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Of course. Maybe we'll be able to get through a whole conversation without injuring ourselves."

She was rewarded with one final laugh before he finished.

"Bye, I guess. It was nice talking."

"Yeah, it was." She said.

A quick beep, and he was gone. For now, at least. Yet the nervous buzz she'd had during the chat remained, and as she clambered off the bed to change, she caught herself grinning stupidly in the mirror opposite. The grin stayed as she slid back into the lumpy bed, her brightest pink pyjamas a start contrast to the grey walls around her. Though she was in a shitty room, with shitty paint on the roof, in a shitty hotel, in a shitty part of the city, she couldn't bring herself to care. Now she was no longer alone. With Dave she could do anything. They'd proved that.

For the first time in weeks she drifted off to sleep peacefully, with her final thoughts lingering on their conversation, and the warmth burning in her heart.