Notes: Indulging my love of Superhero AUs once again!
No Capes
(Prompt: Not A Date + Accidentally Saving The Day. Title from The Incredibles. Rated K+)
The new guy is late.
Caroline had been pretty sure she's going to hate him – she'd been guilt tripped into patrolling his assigned territory for weeks while the Bureau sifted through candidates and she isn't great at letting go – but his lateness has sealed the deal.
She got better things to do than wait around. A pack of medium competent bad guys is set to meet up at a warehouse smack dab in the center of her grid and she'd planned to eavesdrop, see just how far along their plans had come in the last week.
She's in a narrow alley, just on the edge of his patrol route. She's not hiding and she assumes anyone smart enough to pass the Super Certification tests wouldn't have trouble figuring out the coordinates she'd texted. Caroline checks the time, shifts her weight, leaning against the brick wall behind her. She'll let him have two more minutes and then she'd leave.
She straightens hastily when a whoosh of air blows up the alley, bringing her bionic arm up defensively when a body drops next to her.
Ugh. The new guy could fly? Strike two. Male supers with flight are the worst a solid nine times out of ten.
Caroline crosses her arms and studies him, not bothering with a friendly vibe. His costume is black, outlining his lean frame. He wears no hood though his mask covers most of his face. The leather is cut in such a way that it emphasizes just how nice his lips are.
Said lips curl at the corner and damn it, he must have noticed where her eyes are focused. She snaps her gaze to his face, nodding curtly. "Hurricane Hybrid? Nice of you to show up."
His expression twitches to annoyance, "I've never been fond of my assigned code name. You can call me Klaus."
Caroline gets that, has no love for 'Beauty Machine' but she's not about to offer her actual name. Not to a Super she's just met who she probably doesn't like.
"I doubt I'll have much cause to call you anything," she tells him coolly. She pulls out her phone, angles it so he can see the screen. "I'm sure you've already studied the map but we'll go through it quick." He doesn't seem offended by her brusqueness, if anything he's grown amused. He edges closer to her, seemingly unafraid of her metal limb.
Which is odd. Most people shy away.
Friction between those who'd been born with abilities and those who'd been given them via the magic of science is common. Caroline has an ability, a finicky one, but typically people assume she got her gig because of her enhanced limbs. They're not always nice about it.
Caroline's costume is designed as a douchebag litmus test – her metal limbs would be easy to hide. She awards Hurricane Hybrid a point for passing.
Caroline turns away from him, gesturing towards the mouth of the alley. "Here's the Cliff Notes version, because I've got places to be. Your patrol area begins one block north. That's where it bleeds in to mine. There's a set of fairly skeezy clubs along the border between us so I'll holler on the off chance I need an assist. You can do the same. You'll have to patrol south until you get to the river. Don't go in it unless you've asked permission and offered something sparkly or you will get eaten."
"Noted."
"I've never met the guy who works the streets east of us. At least as far and I know. He does something wonky with time but I've never had much trouble come from that way so he must be good."
To Klaus' credit he seems to be listening, eyes trained on the map, his fingers zooming and scrolling as she speaks. "And to the west?"
"Stiletto Siren. I do not recommend pissing her off."
"Mmm, her I've met."
Under the mask he must be as pretty as his lips promise. Katherine has high standards. Caroline huffs, exasperated. "Seriously? Then why am I doing the orientation? Or can you not keep it in your pants in her presence?"
Kat's powers involve sending out heavy doses of pheromones and her special training had made her deadly accurate with blades. She could make anyone stupid with lust if she tried. Even when she's not sending out hormone bombs plenty of people fall all over themselves in hopes of kissing her very expensive boots. Kat's relationships often end bloodily.
"I didn't say our association was cordial," Klaus says.
Huh. There's no way Caroline will be able to leave that statement alone. She makes a mental note to grill Kat when they get brunch on Sunday. Casually, of course. No need to have Kat thinking she had anything more than a professional interest.
He reaches out, his hand cupping hers, tipping the phone towards him a bit more. "My grid meets Katerina's here?" he asks, pointing to the map. The censors in her hand note his temperature, that he's warmer than average. Caroline wonders if she should warn him to stock up on soup, just in case he was about to come down with something.
But no, that would be weird.
Checking to see that he's got the right street, Caroline nods. "Yup. Exactly. Think you've got it down?"
"It seems straightforward. Thank you for the introduction the neighborhood, love."
Well, maybe he's better at being polite than the initial lateness had her assuming. She offers him a small smile, "You're welcome. Maybe I'll see you around."
She turns from him, launching herself up and catching a ladder embedded several feet up into the wall. Her left leg's enhanced too, and she might be showing off a little but taking the roofs to the little warehouse plotting session she needs to crash is the most efficient thing to do.
Caroline's nearly on top of the building when his reply drifts up to her, barely a mutter. "I sincerely hope so."
She sees him again a few days later.
It's daytime and some lazy jerk had thought taking an old lady's purse was a smart idea. Caroline had been on her way into the grocery store when she'd heard the shrieking. She'd given chase, taking care to maintain a reasonable speed (using one's abilities in front of humans is generally frowned upon). Her target's moving too fast for her to throw an illusion at him but Caroline's easily gaining on him.
Seriously, if you were going to take up purse snatching wouldn't hitting the gym first be smart?
The purse snatcher takes a corner quickly and she hears a shout, a scuffle, just before she rounds the same bend.
Two men are on the ground, a tangle of furious limbs. The man she'd been chasing is on the bottom, a knife in his hand. The other man has a small cut on his arm, blood staining his grey t-shirt. Caroline darts towards them, gripping the robber's wrist with her bionic hand. He howls as his bones crunch together, going still with the pain.
His eyes land on her, wide and fearful. Caroline smiles sweetly, "We're going to let this nice man stand up and then you're coming with me."
"Bitch," he hisses out.
She takes her first proper look at the Good Samaritan when he speaks, "Now that's a bit uncalled for, isn't it?"
Recognition hits her, the crisp inflection familiar, but Caroline double checks the lips that have shown up in her dreams lately, just to be sure. "Beauty," he greets her warmly. "You're just as lovely out of costume as you are in it."
Caroline scoffs, "Wow, is now really the time for pickup lines?"
His head dips, dimples that she hadn't been able to see last time appearing when he smirks, "I don't suppose my timely assist might earn me your name?"
He reaches out when the creep they'd apprehended starts to struggle anew, his fingertips touching the man's temple. She sees a faint spark and then he's out cold, head lolling on the pavement. Caroline drops the wrist she'd been crushing, "I had him. Didn't actually need your assistance."
Klaus climbs to his feet, brushing dirt off his jeans, "I thought you might say that."
She remembers his bloody arm when he winces, stretching it out and trying to look. The angle isn't great and Caroline steps closer, steering him so she can have a look.
Because it's the right thing to do, not because she's concerned.
She doesn't think it'll need stitches but she can't be sure until the bleeding slows. Caroline fishes a pack of Kleenex out of her bag, rips the plastic away with her teeth and presses it to his wound. "I'm going to squeeze," she warns him. "It'll hurt a bit."
He nods tightly, jaw clenching. "I'm ready."
He grunts slightly when her hand wraps around his bicep and Caroline applies pressure. She rips the rest of his sleeve away, setting her thumb to the pulse at his elbow, takes a second to sift through the info her sensors send her. "Your vitals seem fine. Elevated temperature though."
"It always is."
"Probably a benefit," Caroline jokes, trying to distract him. "Chicago winters are cold. I spend a fortune on fluffy socks."
"I'd gladly offer my services once the temperature drops," he teases.
She throws him an unimpressed look, though she has to make an effort not to smile. "So selfless," she mutters.
"I'm not. At all. I've just been you'd turn up. I could use a little help with something. Bit of an issue down at those skeezy clubs."
She eyes him for a moment, trying to judge his sincerity. He doesn't squirm under her eyes, bears her scrutiny patiently. "I guess I can be neighborly. Tonight?"
He eases a little closer, his boots brushing her toes. "It's a date," he says.
"Not a date," Caroline counters immediately. "But you can call me Caroline."
It's 100% not a date.
She's still going to wear cute underwear under her costume.