Magnus thinks that he hasn't been sleeping enough when he hears that voice. He wipes his eyes, fatigued. He hasn't had any work in the last couple of nights, and needs a confrontation. But he gets a nagging sensation that it's her. And his instincts lead him faithfully. There she is, a second time. Wrestling unsuccessfully with a large thug, pinned against the brick wall behind her.
Magnus reacts as Tena sends him a sideways glance. The large attacker seizes her distraction as a chance for dominance. She hisses in pain as he twists one of her slim wrists behind her back. Magnus punches the malevolent being, chucking his huge, deadly weapon aside. He needs to feel the satisfaction of bone beneath his bare fist, as horrendous as his actions may be. She presses herself against the stone wall, as far from the action as she can get. Magnus registers the horror in her wide eyes, as he sends the disgusting creature on its way.
Tena's bag had been emptied on the concrete below them. Magnus is breathing heavily, his eyes dark and furious.
"Are you okay?" He asks gruffly.
Tena winces as she reveals her scraped hand. The bone is oddly angled, and thin rivulets of dark red trickle down her white skin. It could have been worse. She was just quite fragile.
"Yes, I'm okay." She says with a soft voice. She seems scared. He can't blame her.
"No." Magnus sighs. He carries bandages in his belt for situations like this, so he removes one from his stash. He rarely needs them. The cotton seems stale, if that's possible.
"You don't need to." Tena tells him selflessly. Magnus ignores her, carefully wrapping her wrist as tightly as possible without touching her skin with his own calloused hands.
"That'll need medical attention." Magnus advises her firmly.
She nods meekly. "Thank you so much."
Tena isn't as dishevelled as she had been after her first ordeal. Her hair is slightly tousled in its intricate updo, and her clothes are crumpled. But he can still see her as a prosperous businesswoman.
"It's nothing." Magnus dismisses her thanks. "That bandage won't really do much, but I don't have anything else that could help."
She smiles delicately. "It's more than enough. Thank you."
His heart is thumping loudly. He worries that she can hear the noise through his armour.
She turns away. "You remember what I told you last time? About being careful? I think that it's really important. Who knows what might happen?"
Magnus chuckles outloud. It doesn't sound like a mirthful noise. "Seriously, you're telling me to be careful… again?"
She laughs a little too, slowly losing her nervous expression. "I know. This is the second time I've been the damsel in distress."
Tena looks back, into his eyes. He could get lost in her vibrant, emerald eyes. But he doesn't.
"Please Magnus. I can't truly explain now, but please trust me. Please, please give up this vigilante business, at least for now."
Magnus is taken aback. "I can't. I won't."
She looks sad. But as if she understands.
He takes a deep breath. "You have to be careful too. Please." The plea feels unfamiliar on his tongue. "I don't want you to get hurt. Hurt more. If there's a third incident, I can't promise I'll be there to help."
"But I trust that you will be there." She says faithfully. "Besides, I hope that there won't be another 'incident'."
A smirk flickers at Magnus's taut mouth. "Let's hope."
Tena smooths down her skirt, and shoulders her bag. "I'd better leave. I'm so late already."
Late for what?
"Remember to have a doctor check out your arm." Magnus repeats.
She smiles. "I will."
His heart does some involuntary acrobatics as she walks away. She stops at the end of the alley, and looks back at him. He realises that he's been staring, and feels his cheeks warm considerably.
"I mean it." She reiterates. "Be careful. Please."
And she vanishes again, off to some mysterious destination.
"I will." Magnus promises to the empty air.
0~o~0~o~0
Pit frets before he evens wakes up that morning. He flops out of his bed, with a sense of urgency, and makes his way to his mobile. Forgetting where he left it, he settles for the home phone. He dials the number by heart, and waits. The call is left unanswered. He groans, and calls twice more, to no avail. He drops the home phone on the table, and hurriedly searches the kitchen for his mobile.
He finds it inside the fridge, and punches in the numbers.
"Tena, Tena, Tena." He mutters. And the line opens with a click.
"Tena! Where are you? I've called you, like, a million times."
"Sorry Pit, I had left my phone in the car."
"Where are you going? Wait, doesn't matter. Where were you last night?"
"I-"
"You said that you were due to get here at half two, and I waited up till six, calling you. You didn't pick up. I was worried sick, Tena. Where are you?"
"I'm in a taxi-"
"What happened to your car?" Pit demands.
"Nothing, I just can't drive because-"
Pit gasps accusatively. "Were you drinking?"
He hears her huff on the other end of the line. "No, I was not drinking. I never drink. You know that."
"Sorry, Tena." Pit apologises sincerely but impatiently.
"I spent most of the night at the hospital. I broke my wrist."
Pit gasps again. "No! How? Tena, how?"
"How do you think?" She responds miserably.
The phone line crackles in the silence that follows.
"Is it badly broken?" Pit asks tenderly.
"No." Tena replies. "It won't take that long to heal, but it means I'll be off the job for a while."
"For a while?" Pit fumes.
She doesn't respond immediately.
"Hang on." Tena requests.
A knocking sound rings through Pit's house, and he runs to the door in nothing but his night trousers.
He flings open the door, and kisses his fiancée thoroughly. She winces into his lips when he accidently crushes her hand in his.
"Sorry, sorry!" Pit apologises profusely. He leads her by the other hand into the kitchen, gingerly, and she accepts his extensive care politely. She sits down on one of his leather sofas as he begins making some tea.
"What time is it?" Pit asks, heating the water, and hunting for the vanilla tea that she likes so much.
"About one o'clock." She says.
While he waits for the tea, Pit surveys the damage done to his fiancée. There's a fresh, white cast on her wrist, that circles her thumb, and runs up to her knuckles.
"How did this happen?" He asks quietly.
"A thug was trying to steal my jewellery. And he was having a bit of 'fun' while doing it."
Pit shudders. He is a pacifist, and the idea of hurting another for amusement doesn't sit well with him. Least of all his fiancée.
"Palutena Viridian Anjele. You have to end this." Pit slipped around his kitchen counter, and sat down next to her. Gently, he took her good hand, and stroked it with his thumb.
"I can't stop now."
Pit grits his teeth. "Yes you can. This was ridiculous to start with, and it's getting worse."
Tena sighs. "I don't want to stop. Look how much this has helped already."
"Not enough to substitute your health and safety." Pit presses. "You're a CEO of a massive corporation. You could go back to your home, and give up this stupid, stupid mission."
Palutena shakes her head stubbornly. "I want to help people."
"Don't you always?"
The teapot sputters, and Pit goes over to pour the beverage into two ceramic mugs. He passes one to her over the kitchen counter, and she sips it slowly.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me, Tena. It's cruel."
She artistically adjusts her blonde bangs, to hide the tears that threaten to fall.
"I love you more than anything, Pit. And I don't want to hurt you. So, I'll take these weeks to decide."
Pit returns to his previous position, next to the lady. "Thank you. You could leave this all behind. Don't you want that?"
He leans over to Tena, hands resting on her waist as lightly as air. She sinks into his embrace.
"Perhaps I want that." She murmurs. She rests her head in the crook of his neck, and he removes one hand, to stroke her white-gold locks. The hair streams down her back, and gathers on the seat behind her. He could stay in that position forever, holding her close and breathing in the sweet scent of vanilla.
"I love you more than I could ever say, Palutena." He whispers.
"Then don't call me that." She giggles, hushed. "Palutena isn't my name anymore. At least not with you."
He kisses the top of her head.
"Love you." She says.
0~o~0~o~0
Magnus has been infatuated with someone before. And those emotions had led him to a part of his life that he'd rather forget. He misses her when she's nowhere to be found. He hates that. How shallow he can be. How after two meetings, and some unintentional stalking, he finds his heart beating wildly at the thought of her. He tells himself that it's her beauty. But he knows that that's not true. That she is the most perfect woman in the world, and that she's already taken. He knows that all too well.
She makes him feel grubby. Uncivillised. He should detest that, but she's almost reverent, and that's something that he loves about her. How she practically shines among mere mortals. Magnus shakes his head, trying to discard his 'blasphemous' thoughts. It's becoming harder and harder to do so.
"Ugh." He groans. He sits down against the side of a house, at the opening of the alley that meets his road. He looks over at his building, and counts up the floors until he reaches his own. It's so high. The windows are black and shiny. The building itself is uniform and smart. The morning sun threatens to tip over the horizon, sending early rays as a warning.
He has some time. He closes his eyes, and rests there, on the tarmac road. He's too accustomed to the sounds of alleyway battles to feel threatened. He closes his mind up. Sometimes there are too many turbulent emotions, tumbling around in his head. It makes him want to give up his current job, and give normal life another go. But he's certain that he could never do that. Not after Gaol. Besides, the victims of lower London will need him.
Magnus feels himself slip away. He's so tired. He doesn't care about the risk of being sighted. But what if Pit sees him? And discovers that he is the 'superhero' who's been keeping an eye on his fiancée. Magnus gives up. It doesn't matter.
0~o~0~o~0
Magnus wakes at the exceedingly human hour of seven o'clock in the evening. To the sound of a car engine. He looks up drowsily, and peers around the corner of the building. It's a smart, white Audi. How fitting, he thinks fleetingly. Because the driver is the one and only, Tena. She drives on, and parks the car further along the road. He doesn't know whether to chance crossing the road, back to safety. So he freezes, and presses his back into the shadows of the brick wall behind him.
Each of her feminine steps rings in his head as she walks to Pit's front door. And then continues walking. She stops when she reaches him. He looks up at her meekly, from the shadows. She looks concerned. And beautiful. Today, she's wearing a resplendent green summer dress, that matches her eyes again. He hadn't noticed how long her hair was before. The blonde tresses tumble down her front, partially pulled up at the back in that emerald ribbon. His breath catches in his throat. She's so beautiful.
"Are you drunk?" She asks tenderly.
Magnus scoffs. "No. Just tired."
A smile blooms at her lips. "What are you doing here? You can't have forgotten my warning."
"How could I have?"
She grimaces. "How is this cautious? At all? You're sleeping out on the streets, and not even in the alleys. This is the place that is most dangerous to you now."
Magnus clenches his blistered fists. "Why? What in the world is this secret, that puts me in danger? What is this information, that you've been keeping from me since I met you?"
Her face is pained. "I can't-"
"You can!" He presses, hating himself for hurting her.
"No. No I can't. I honestly can't. I wish I could."
He scowls. "Fine. But don't tell me again. Don't tell me to be careful."
She tenses, and looks away. "But I want you to be! To be careful. I won't be able to stand it if you get hurt."
Magnus shakes his heads, lost. She's such an enigma.
The few seconds of brief silence that follow weigh heavily in the air.
"You do have a home, right?" Tena asks quietly.
Magnus hesitates before nodding. "Yes, I do."
"Where do you live?"
"Nearby."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes."
"I come here often."
Magnus agrees silently. She does.
Tena turns to leave, with a small wave.
Magnus reaches out, as if to stop her. "I hope - I… I hope that you're wrist is better."
She flexes her hand gently. "It's much better, thank you. I'll have the cast off next week."
"Good." He says. He doesn't want to be the bad guy, and regrets letting his anger get the better of him.
"Goodbye." She says with a small smile, and she leaves him behind.
Pit wraps her in his secure arms the instant she pushes open the door.
"Morning Pit." She greets him, her voice muffled by his jumper.
"I was so worried about you." He sings, relieved.
"Why?" She laughs. "I came straight from work."
"Maybe. But I still missed you."
She hates seeing him fret and worry over her, because she knows that she caused that anxiety herself. He leads her into the kitchen.
"Do you want me to make supper?" Tena asks.
"No, don't worry." Pit replies enthusiastically. "I ordered a takeaway."
Her smile widens. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something that you're dying to tell me?"
He giggles like a little boy. "I do have something to say."
She bites her lip, happily. "What is it?"
"I booked the venue today. That temple is ours for three months today. Eveything's organised. We're going to Greece, baby!"
Palutena squeals, losing her dignified composure.
"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! When? Oh, Pit!" She practically runs to him, and he envelopes her again. She loves that feeling. The feeling of being wrapped up in somebody who loves her as much as she loves them.
"And when we return, you'll be my lawfully wedded husband." She whispers. "It's impossible, how much I love you."
"Well then, this is an anomaly, because I love you just as much." Pit whispers.
0~o~0~o~0
Author's Notes: Okay, there are going to be four chapters, because the plot needs to develop a bit more before the end.
This has been written in present tense, so if I've made any mistakes, please notify me :)
Oh, and, I love feedback. *hint, hint* ;D