Disclaimer: Don't own it, so sue me...

Brooklyn, New York

Matilda tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, smearing her forehead with black oil in the process. She followed the blue wire with her finger and yanked it out of its connector, feeling around the floor for a replacement.

"Royal!" Sighing, she got up from her crouching position, leaning against the lime green, Kawasaki Ninja 250R; hoping to get some feeling back into her legs.

"Matt. Out the front!" he boss yelled from his office.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going," she yelled back, "Stupid fat-ass, can't even run his own business." Wiping her hands on the rag in her oversized pocket, she made her way to the front desk where two guys were waiting.

"Hi," she said, digging through a pile of papers to find theirs. "Theee… Orange Z1000, right?" Matilda lifted her head to look at them, trying to remember which one his was.

"Yeah, and the Ninja," the blonde of the pair said.

She wrinkled her nose, "Just finished rewiring that one. Really nice piece." She typed a few numbers onto the computer and waited for the screen to load, "Okay, so for the two that comes to a total of… one-thousand two-hundred." She took his card swiped it and got him to sign the receipt.

"Great," she said, "If you want to just follow me, you can go get your bikes." She walked off back into the garage. By now her co-worker, Geoff, had blasted up the radio. "Here's the 250R, and the Z1000," she looked around, "Should be here somewhere, just hold on."

Jogging over to Geoff, she pulled out the plug for the radio, launching the place into quiet. "Oi, where'd you put the orange Kawasaki?" she asked, rubbing her ear from the noise.

He thought for a moment, "I think Isaac or Brett moved it over there, next to the Aston Martin." He motion towards the car by the back, rolling door, not even turning away from his work.

She called the blonde and his friend over. "And -finally- the Z1000," she said, wincing when Geoff turned the music back on. She rolled her eyes, "Sorry bout him."

The blonde hardly suppressed a smile. "Thanks," he said, slipping on the helmet under his arm and heading out, his silent friend behind him.

Smiling to herself, Matilda glanced up at the clock by one of the windows; 5:58. Deciding that she could probably leave two minutes early, she slipped of her stained overalls and hung them up in her locker, before grabbing her bag and leaving the auto body repair shop.

x.x.x

It was odd that there weren't many people on the streets for a Thursday night. The cool night breeze tickled Matilda's face as she walked towards her apartment block. Strangely enough, even though she was a part-time mechanic who knew almost everything about motorbikes, she didn't even have her own bike, let alone a car.

Spotting a couple of thuggish looking guys up ahead, she briskly crossed the road, not wanting to get into any trouble. She let out a breath when their voices disappeared, but almost screamed when someone grabbed her by the waist, almost.

"Well hello there, little miss girlie," a voice said from behind her. Matilda struggled against her captor but froze when she felt something sharp and hard being pressed against her neck. "That's right, you struggle like the little bitch you are," he breathed into her ear, "James, get her bag."

The other idiot yanked her bag off her shoulder, causing her to yelp again. But this time, it didn't go unnoticed. She could hear footsteps rapidly approaching. "Oi, Harley, someone's coming."

He didn't even get to reply. Matilda's reflexes instantly got her into attack mode from the minute he loosened his grip. She broke free from him then landed a roundhouse kick right to his chest. Hearing the satisfying sound of his breath leaving him, she turned to the other guy. He pulled out a gun and fired a shot. She wasn't even aware that she'd been hit until she felt the unmistakable feeling of a blade slicing through her skin. Her first attacker had somehow had gotten back on his feet and was wielding the knife like a sword.

"Hey, man. Let's get out of here," one of the two said in a panicked voice, and just like that, they were gone. Matilda sank down on the pavement, the sounds of footsteps getting louder, thankful for the darkness so that whoever was coming didn't see her attack her attackers.

"Hey, you okay?" someone knelt down in front of her.

She gave a fake smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." But when she tried to stand up, almost doubled over in pain.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're not okay," the guy said, "Come on, lets get you to a hospital."

Matilda silently shook her head and took in a breath. "Nah, my apartment's right there anyway." She nodded towards the looming building behind them. The guy helped her to her feet, grabbed her bag, and literally carried her to the front door of her apartment. The normally thirty second trip into the building and up four flights of stairs seemed to take forever, in the end, her saviour opted to pick her up and carry her.

"I'm Duo, by the way, Duo Maxwell," he said as she painfully fished out her keys from her bag.

She gave a soft smile, "Matilda Royal," before opening the door. He helped her to the couch where she slowly lay down, somehow clutching her right arm and covering a bleeding gash at the same time.

"Top right drawer by the sink," she said, asking the question he barely even begun to say. He moved towards the kitchenette and came back with a couple of bandages and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in his arms. He set the bottle and bandages down on the coffee table then carefully peeled her shirt away from the slow bleeding gash.

"You weren't shot were you?" he asked, swabbing the cut with the antiseptic, hearing her hiss under her breath from the sting. She shook her head. "Good, 'cause I heard a couple of shots." He continued his task, wrapping a bandage around her lower chest then moving on to the bullet graze on her arm.

"You're positive that you don't wanna go to the hospital and get this checked out, right?"

"Yeah, I'm right," she said, wincing as he put a little too much pressure on her arm, "It's not gunna kill me or anything, aye?"

He let out a chuckle, "Yeah, well. Better safe than sorry." Once done, he stuck his hand in his pocket, pulled out a folded napkin and grabbed a pen of the coffee table. He wrote down something on the napkin and pressed it into Matilda's hand. "In case you need anything," he said, standing up to leave.

"Thanks," she smiled, slowly picking herself off the couch and following him to the door.

"Hey, you know what," he suddenly turned around, "How 'bout I make it up to you."

She raised an eyebrow, "Yeah… but you didn't do anything." Somehow, she suppressed a laugh.

"Well, you know… I mean, I feel really bad for you, so… how about I take you out to dinner sometime this week. Say, Friday, around six?"

Matilda let out a real laugh this time. "I almost get mugged by two complete idiots, saved by some complete stranger and now he's asking me out on a date?" Duo had the look of disappointment already plastered onto his face. "Dinner would be lovely," she grinned. His expression instantly lit up, making her laugh again.

"Okay then, I'll pick you up at six on Friday," he winked, then, in an instant, he had disappeared down the corridor. She smiled to herself. Today would have to be the weirdest day of her entire life.