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Fourth AU Goes to: Superheroes

"Sooo," he drags it out "are you a good guy or a bad guy."

"Well, I'm not a guy at all – as you very well know," she tossed a smirk over her shoulder, and is rewarded for her efforts in flirtation with one in return from the darkly clad man slumped on a bench in her small, well stocked, workshop. "As for good or bad. Well, you see now - I would tell you…."

"Of course," he interrupts her, with a sardonically raised eyebrow.

"…but I haven't decided myself – the day isn't over yet after all," she finishes as if he hadn't said anything. Then, since she has cleared enough space on her work table, she turns to face him, reaching out demandingly. "Now hand over those gauntlets – you dented them in that last skirmish, didn't you? The Hudson Job. And it's the left trigger that's been giving you trouble, right?"

"No, the left," he says as he takes them off and hands them over, and it is in such a deadpan tone that she has to look up and see that look in his eye, through the mask that covers his upper face (which she has never understood the effectiveness of when he has such a distinctive mustache and haircut), to know he is joking with her. She just gives a snort and pulls on her own "mask" - a far more practical thing, than the bit of fabric – her welding goggles.

And this is where her little "gift" is useful: fire ignites instantly to all five fingertips on her right hand but with just the slightest bit of concentration, she adjusts the temperature and narrows the focus until only her index finger has a white-hot thin bit of light as powerful as any welding torch on the market.

With practiced ease, concentration, and steady hands, she gets to work.

Vinny, like a handful of others, like her – is unaffiliated. It's the reason they both have known each other's real names from their first meeting – she doesn't have a "superhero" name and he'll take a new moniker for each new job anyway. And it's also probably why he likes to tease her so much about whether she is "good" or "bad" on any given day, they both find the entire idea of having to choose sides ridiculous.

Neutral some call them, mercenary is the terms others use. But she has seen no reason to tie herself to any one group when she finds them all kind of silly and has found that there is decent money to be had from both sides for discrete, quick and competent work.

But unlike, Vinny – who, with the help of the gauntlets (which fine tune his control of his powers) can agitate particles to make explosions – hers don't work at a distance. The flames, though capable of becoming extremely hot, only project right above her skin. Because of this, she has never gone out on "missions", mostly she fixes things for people.

Audrey doesn't particularly fret this – she's made it work for her. It's been great for delicate mechanical work and being able to get in area's normally difficult for a torch. Plus, in a rather juvenile way, part of her has always found it very cool…because, hey, fire.

It's over half an hour later when she stops for a break. Standing she stretches her arms high above her head, hears her back crack, and lets both hands flare briefly before going out – a satisfied sigh leaving her at the feeling of it.

She still has a ways to go on the trigger but the dents are out and that makes it a good time to take a break in her book. And checking the clock, it's dinner time anyway.

Pulling off her goggles she glances over to the side of the room, frowning when she notices Vin is gone. But then the smell in the air registers to her and she has to fight down a grin.

Opening the door from the garage led to a flight of stairs - and her apartment at the end. She took it at a slight jog, and when Audrey reached the kitchen, her delighted smile would not be suppressed when she saw him humming to the radio and stirring a saucepan.

Walking the last few steps, Audrey wrapped her arms around Vinny from behind (noticing absentmindedly that he didn't startle – even a bit and must have registered her entrance, at least on some level).

She peered over his shoulder before asking, "Whatcha making, Vin?"

"Wasn't much "making" to it," she could feel the chuckle rumble in him. "You already had ravioli in your freezer and sauce in the cabinet."

"Still," she says, in a definitive tone and kisses the side of his neck before breaking her hold on him to walk over to the sink and wash up.

"And here I was afraid you wouldn't remember," she mutters, mostly to herself as she squirts soap onto her hands.

"Of course I remembered, Aude," he says, in an odd tone of voice that makes her turn her head sharply and look at him across the small kitchen. The silly mask was gone now and his eyes were sharp. "It's been a year," he states with none of the blasé attitude normally common in his manner.

And it had. They'd had bad spells, during that time of course (all couples fought – and when powers were connected to emotions that was dangerous and both of them could be incredible stubborn) and their lives were sometimes impossibly chaotic but they had been making it work.

"It has," she says, in solemn agreement, and their eye contact becomes an almost physical thing. But there is something about just saying it, so simply, acknowledging it in this moment - just looking at him with that spoon raised and dripping red splotches on the floor while she stands there, her hands (long since clean) getting cold under running water – that makes her feel almost giddy.

It's a wonderful feeling made doubly so because she can see how it is shared – recognizes that mirrored look in Vinny and therefor has no fear whatsoever being the first one to say, "I love you."

Because she knows, even as she makes that jump that Vinny will be there to catch her. That it isn't really even a jump – nothing so dramatic - just reaching out a hand and having him reach back.

And he does, her declaration sits in the air only long enough for him to register it before he says, "God, Aude – I love you too. You know I do."

And she had.

The water is finally shut off and the burners on the stovetop are as well….but dinner is postponed until a bit later.

Quite a bit later actually – but they've had a year and, with luck on their side, they'll have many more.