It was sheer luck that Percy was even patrolling that night.

She'd been staying out late the last few days, familiarizing herself with the parts of Bludhaven that she had never visited as a civilian. During those times, she had encountered many petty criminals, but surprisingly, never Nightwing. She had deduced that he must've been out of the city. A first, she had taken that as a blessing, but if she was being honest, now she was itching to meet him.

Annabeth had convinced her to take a break and visit her for dinner, and Percy had gotten all the way to Brenda's Café for the portal when her best friend informed her that she'd be working late. With her plans cleared up, Percy had just decided to just don her costume for a quick run around the city before calling it a night.

It was cold out, and Percy vaulted herself over buildings for a few blocks to warm up her muscles. She reached the top of a particularly tall one and stopped to admire the skyline. Bludhaven may not have been New York, but with every passing day, it felt more and more like home. She closed her eyes to breathe in the air, and the wind on her face was pleasantly chill.

Her ears picked up on a few soft thuds in the distance, and the sound made her snap her eyes open. The moon was just bright enough for her to see a small dark figure several buildings over. As it flipped impressively in the air to land on the next rooftop, Percy caught a brief flash of blue, and she felt her pulse quicken. It was only a matter of time, she mused, turning around and leaping off the ledge. When she reached the next building over, she quietly settled herself into the fire escape. Looking down, Percy watched her suit darken slowly and she reminded herself to thank Lou.

A much closer thud indicated that Nightwing had reached the building she was just on. She watched him come into view, his eyes peering over the ledge. Percy held her breath, but her suit did its job perfectly, and Nightwing moved on, looking out farther into the city. He brought his body up to stand on the ledge, before letting out a soft sigh and sitting down, feet dangling over the edge.

Unsure what to do next, Percy observed him for a moment. The hero looked focused, but his body language was casual and relaxed. The wind changed directions, gently blowing his hair forward, and Nightwing turned his head to the side to get it out of his mask. When he did, the moonlight cast across his face and Percy couldn't help but stare at his profile.

A flash of movement underneath her grabbed her attention away from him, and she looked down to see a boy in the street, hands deep in his pockets. She glanced up again and saw that Nightwing was watching as well. She turned her gaze back down, and when she had, another older man had joined.

"Are you Bigsby?" the boy asked, in a hushed tone.

The older man snorted. "Yeah, kid. My payment?"

The teen pulled out something from his pocket and the man snatched it, wetting his fingers to ruffle through the stack of bills.

"Are you sure this is safe?" the boy asked, "What if Nightwing shows up? Or that new one?"

Percy widened her eyes. If Nightwing didn't know about her before, he did now. She glanced up at him again and saw that he had tensed, pulling his feet up to crouch on the ledge. He was leaning forward to the conversation.

"Doubt it," Bigsby muttered, "I don't think a couple of g's is worth their attention."

After confirming the amount of cash, Bigsby reached into his jacket and produced a small plastic bag with white powder. He held it out to the boy, but he didn't take it yet.

"Do you think Nightwing got turned into a girl?" the teen asked, still whispering, "I mean, there's been no word on him since Monday and then she showed up."

Percy almost laughed out loud, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself. She wanted to cover her mouth, but she didn't want to make any sudden movements and alert Nightwing to her location. She'll admit, her suit was somewhat similar to his. Although there were far from identical, she could see how in the darkness, they could be mistaken for different versions of each other.

"No, kid," he sighed, thrusting the plastic out further, "Just take it and go. I'm pretty sure Nightwing never had a sword."

Percy subconsciously shifted her shoulders to feel the weight of Soteria. She had been apprehensive about it at first, but after training with it, it felt natural. Perhaps not as much as Riptide, but she didn't imagine any other weapon could come close to touching the sword she'd been using since she was twelve.

Another glance upwards revealed Nightwing gaping. His mouth had dropped a little, and Percy grimaced. What if he immediately hated her and sent her home packing? It's not like she'd quit being a hero, but it would definitely suck.

Suddenly, Nightwing dropped down from his place on the ledge. Percy followed the movement down and saw that the boy had finally taken the drugs from the dealer. When Nightwing landed, he quickly swept his leg under Bigsby and the man went sprawling. The hero then snatched the bag from the boy, saying something and pointing his finger towards the main street. The teen followed directions, scurrying away.

Nightwing then turned to the dealer, picked him up, and pushed his back against the building wall. Percy chewed her lip, trying to figure out the best time to reveal herself but then the hero started asking Bigsby questions.

"Female Nightwing, huh?" he asked, "Tell me about her."

Maybe letting the first mention of her come from a drug dealer wasn't the best idea, but Percy wanted to know what people thought of her, so she stayed still in her spot.

"I swear, I don't know much. A buddy of mine told me he saw her stop a mugging the other night. Dark suit, like yours, and some green or blue on the chest."

Percy frowned. How boring.

"And the sword?" Nightwing pressed.

"She has one?" Bigsby replied, "He said it was strapped across her back, but she didn't use it. Seriously man, I really don't know anything else."

That was true, she hadn't actually had the need or want to use Soteria yet. It bummed her out a little. She had trained with the sword, but she wanted to use it in an actual fight.

"Did your buddy get a name?" Nightwing asked, and Bigsby shook his head no.

"Listen, since I've been cooperative, do you think you'll let me off easy?" he asked the hero, looking hopeful.

"You were selling cocaine to a sixteen-year-old," Nightwing deadpanned, "Not a chance."

Percy held back a snort.

Beneath her, Bigsby groaned and Nightwing wasted no time in knocking him out and zip-tying his wrists together. Percy silently stood up and climbed over the side of the fire escape, placing her feet on the outside ledge and holding onto the railing behind her.

As Nightwing seemed to consider the information he had just acquired, and Percy panicked a little. This was the time to show herself, but how should she do it? Faced with the pressure of wanting to make a good first impression, she opened her mouth.

"Damn."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Nightwing snapped his head to her inhumanly fast, withdrawing his escrima sticks.

What was that? Percy mentally screeched to herself.

Before she could convince herself otherwise, she let go of the railing and jumped down. After landing in the pose that she had practiced—thank the gods she didn't mess it up—she straightened herself up, shifting her hair to her back.

"Maybe I should've chosen a different city," she finished, and she mentally patted herself on the back for saving the line.

She gave him a small smile, trying to get him to put away his weapons. She didn't know exactly what to do with her hands. Shrug? Way too casual. Cross them? She'd look angry. Place them on her hips? Maybe Diana could pull off that pose but it just made Percy feel awkward. She settled for leaving them at her sides and waited for Nightwing to make the next move.

…

Dick studied the woman in front of him. This was definitely the new hero Bigsby had been talking about. Although the information he gave was the bare minimum, the description matched.

Her costume looked to be of extremely good quality, something on par with the suits Bruce commissioned to be made for the bat family. It didn't look as sturdy as the Batman suit, nor as flexible as his own, but somewhere in the middle. The sword, which Bigsby had been right about, was sheathed and strapped to her back, but he could see the hilt over her shoulder. The intricately designed metal inlay must've been what he saw shine behind her. Across her chest were three blue-green vertical lines, connected at the bottom, and the design vaguely reminded him of something, but he couldn't place what. The lack of sleeves revealed well-muscled arms, the kind that implied years of training and Dick attributed it to sword fighting.

Nothing about her body language suggested she was hostile, so Dick straightened and placed his escrima sticks back onto his suit. Perhaps she was just trying to help, and in that case, it might be interesting to have an ally, but he wouldn't rule anything out. He wasn't Bruce, and never wanted to be, but the man had drilled a healthy amount of suspicion into him. The way she held herself hinted that she was experienced and skilled, even if she didn't outright portray it.

"Who are you?" he finally asked her, hoping that she would be cooperative.

"Perseus," she replied simply, her mouth curling up a little further.

The name sent a soft chill up his arms. It wasn't English, that's for sure, but he couldn't place the language, and she didn't have an accent when she spoke earlier. He resolved to look it up when he got home. She didn't offer any more information but stood still waiting for him to ask.

"Why didn't you?" he asked, referencing her previous statement, "Choose a different city."

The woman cocked her head to the side, then shrugged.

"I live here."

The short, stilted answers were giving him a hard time getting a read on her, but so far, she didn't seem to mind the questions and answered them freely. Dick sighed and decided to just address the biggest issue.

"Listen, I get that you're probably doing this because you want to help people," Dick started to lecture, partly because she needed to hear it and partly because he wanted to see her reaction, "But this vigilante business isn't just fun and games. It's dangerous out there and wearing a costume paints a target on your back that some can't handle. We don't do this for ourselves, we do this for others, and we're willing to put our lives on the line. If you can't say the same, you should just go back home."

The woman didn't speak for a moment, thinking about his words. He had originally wanted to say something about her abilities, but after considering the quality of her suit and weapons, her build, and her posture, he didn't feel the need to question whether or not she was capable. Everything about her screamed that she was.

"I can," she finally replied with a clear voice. She spoke with such certainty that Dick immediately knew she was serious. "But you're wrong about one thing."

Dick raised an eyebrow, amused.

"We do this for ourselves just as much as we do this for others," she explained, her voice softening.

The way she spoke implied that she had been doing 'this' for longer than just a couple of nights, and Dick was curious about her story. He didn't think he had ever heard of or met her before, even in a different costume, so what exactly did she mean?

"If you had to drop everything to live a normal, boring life, could you?" she asked him.

Dick knew his answer, but he didn't say it aloud.

"I couldn't," she confessed when it became clear he wasn't going to answer.

So, he deduced, she'd been some sort of active hero, super or not, tried to retire, but realized she'd gotten too used to the lifestyle and decided to make a comeback. But she looked about the same age as him. Dick knew all of the teenage heroes, the ones he grew up with and the ones the league recruited or kept an eye on, and she didn't fit any of those descriptions. He also doubted a young teenager could hold a civilian hero position. Meeting her had only given him more questions to think about, but at least he could somewhat trust her, even if only at a surface level.

"Anyways," she cleared the emotion out of her throat and adopted a more lighthearted tone, "Big fan of your work. See you around!"

She jumped up and grabbed the railing of the first flight of stairs on the fire escape and in a matter of seconds, she had scaled the building and disappeared over the rooftops, leaving Dick alone in the alley with a still unconscious Bigsby.

He tossed the bag of cocaine on the ground a few feet from the man and called in a tip to the police. After also climbing to the roof, he looked around to see if Perseus was still around, but she had disappeared. He could've stopped her from leaving but it didn't seem too important to interrogate her at the moment, and he would probably run into her again soon. For now, he turned and headed home. Between those guns and this new hero, he had lots to research.

Percy dug into a tub of blueberry ice cream while sitting on the sofa. Since she started going out, late-night food had become a favorite activity of hers. As she scooped spoonfuls of the cold treat into her mouth, she stared blankly at the black tv screen in front of her.

"Big fan of your work?" she mocked herself aloud, and then closed her eyes in annoyance.

Okay, she rationalized, honestly, it wasn't that bad.

She had started with as few words as possible to answer Nightwing's questions, so she didn't accidentally give anything away. While she could keep a secret if she needed to, she wasn't the best at lying. Unfortunately, his mini-lecture had shaken some emotions loose and after, she didn't want to hold back her true thoughts.

He had a good point, about the gravity of the job. It wasn't just a hobby, and she knew it. She might not have needed to hear it, but she figured that Nightwing needed to hear her agree.

Overall, Percy thought their interaction went well. She got a little anxious towards the end when he wouldn't say anything, so she took the first chance to bolt, but he also didn't stop her. She took that as a win. Hopefully, in the future, they could work together, or at the very least be friendly with each other.

"Brenda kill me now," a voice groaned, and Dick instinctively looked up from his phone to see the person who had just entered.

It was that woman, from the bank robbery. He hadn't seen her since she came to the police station to pick up her money, but that wasn't really surprising. Bludhaven was a large city, after all. She had avoided giving him her name at the station, and while Dick could've easily looked at the report, he had chosen not to out of respect for her privacy.

The phone he had been loosely holding on to, tipped backward in his grasp and clattered loudly onto the table. The woman tensed and turned at the sound, narrowing her eyes when she caught sight of him.

"You!" she accused, sounding more confused than angry.

Dick smiled sheepishly at her.

"Hey," replied, wiggling his fingers in a hello.

"What did you do this time, Percy?" Brenda Miller replied, sighing as she came out of the back, wiping her hands on a rag and looking up, "You two know each other?"

"Barely," the green-eyed woman said, shrugging, at the same time Dick said, "Yep."

Percy looked at him, startled, and Dick stared back innocently. Brenda rolled her eyes and started to wipe down the espresso machine.

"You want something?" Brenda asked Percy, "Or did you just come here to complain?"

The woman huffed and walked up to the counter. Dick watched as she squinted up at the chalkboard menu before she seemed to give up and asked Brenda directly for the flavor of the day. Dick added possible bad eyesight to the list of observations he had made about her.

"Lavender caramel," Brenda informed.

"Can I get a medium latte with that, extra shot?" Percy decided, handing over her credit card, "And I also came to complain. But maybe later."

The way she subtly glanced to the side told Dick he wasn't privy to that conversation.

"You guys are friends?" Dick asked, once Brenda had started making her order, "I didn't know you had that many."

Both girls turned to look at him. Percy looked downright offended, but Brenda just looked indifferent. Dammit, why did he always put his foot in his mouth?

"I was talking about Brenda!" he explained, hurriedly. Percy managed to look even more offended, and he struggled to fix the situation, "No, I didn't mean it like that, I promise. You just mentioned before that you don't talk to many people…"

He trailed off when he noticed Brenda looking amused at his blunder. Percy, noticing it as well, relaxed once she realized her friend wasn't hurt by the statement.

"I don't," Brenda confirmed, "Percy's a rarity."

"And what is he?" Percy asked her friend after smiling at her for the compliment, "Please don't say friend."

Brenda actually laughed, and that was the real rarity.

"Dick's not a friend," she explained, "He's a regular."

"Is it really that different?" Dick asked, pouting a little.

"Yes."

Brenda gave Percy her drink and took the rag into the back of the café, leaving the other woman grinning victoriously at him. Dick gave her a look of pretend hurt, but eventually, he ended up smiling too.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wonder what to say next, because Percy's phone started ringing and she reached into her pocket to pick it up. She began to talk to whoever was calling, and Dick wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but the empty café was quiet, and the sound carried despite them being several feet apart.

"Hey, wise girl. … No, it's totally fine, I'll come over some other day. … Did you finish your project in time? … I had other plans. … Fine, I ate ice cream. … I'm okay, not even a scratch. … You're coming to camp next week, right? Clarisse is visiting family, so I won't have a partner. … Awesome. … Oh, now?"

At the last statement, Percy looked surprised and glanced to the back of the café, but then looked at him. Dick quickly turned his face back to his phone, hoping she didn't catch him.

"I'll be there soon … Tell you later. … Okay, see you soon!"

She hung up the phone as soon as Brenda re-emerged.

"That Annabeth?" the older woman asked.

Percy hummed in confirmation.

"She's finally off work," Percy explained, a smile on her face.

Brenda nodded at her, then turned back to Dick.

"You've been here a while," she observed, "That coffee done?"

"Are you offering a refill?" Dick asked back cheekily, but he knew what she was implying.

Brenda simply stared back pointedly, and Dick raised his hands in surrender.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted," he relented, unoffended.

Dick stood up and tossed his empty cup in the trash. Putting his coat back on over his police uniform, he slipped his phone into his pocket.

"It was nice meeting you again, Percy," he said, putting emphasis on her name.

Percy looked slightly amused, but it was better than annoyed, so Dick concluded that he had made progress.

"You too, Grayson," she responded.

"It's Dick, actually," he corrected, knowing that she had heard Brenda use his name earlier.

"I'm sure you are," Percy quipped and opened the door for him, all but shoving him out.

"Gee, haven't heard that one before," Dick retorted, but he was smiling as he left, "See you around."

He glanced back as the door closed behind him to see Percy smirking before turning around and heading towards the bathroom. He rolled up his jacket sleeve to look at his watch, then cursed and bolted down the street to go to work.

When he saw Perseus again, it was a few nights later. He had patrolled since then, but he hadn't run into her so either she stayed in, or she took up a different area, the latter being more likely.

He was running over the rooftops when he heard the faint sound of glass shatter. He placed his bets on jewelry store robbery and when he got to the scene of the crime, he was right. The only criminal thing about the situation was how cliché thieves were nowadays.

Rolling his eyes, he gingerly stepped over the broken glass and into the ransacked store, but when he did, what he saw surprised him.

Four men in black ski masks were getting their asses handed to them by a figure in grey. Perseus was moving like a whirlwind, taking down the men so easily it seemed like she was holding back. She probably was, Dick mused, as he watched her land two punches in quick succession to one guy's chest and stomach. She had retracted her fist just as she made contact, the tell-tale sign that she wasn't using her full strength. Even then, the guy she hit doubled over in pain. She kicked the side of his head, and he fell over without much resistance.

Another came out, arms swinging, and Perseus brought her forearms to the side of her face to block them. Letting him come close allowed her to get inside his arms and she grabbed his shirt, ready to throw him. In a moment of desperation, the guy tried to reach over her shoulder and grab the hilt of her sword, but she quickly knocked his arm out of the way with her elbow.

"Don't touch things that don't belong to you," she said to him, mockingly, and Dick watched her carry out her original plan. The guy's back slammed into the ground so hard even Dick winced.

Distracted by her display of strength, he missed a robber from earlier, that she had already taken out, shakily get to his feet. The guy reached into his clothing and withdrew a small pistol, which he pointed directly at Perseus.

"Fuck you," he snarled, which was his mistake.

Dick stepped towards the guy, but he was too far. However, the guy's voice had alerted Perseus of his presence, and the second before he could pull the trigger, she whipped her arm out towards him, palm facing out.

For a moment, Dick thought she had superpowers, but then his brain registered the piece of metal that streaked through the air, piercing the guy's pistol and knocking it out of his hands, leaving him unscathed but confused.

Dick was impressed at the show of skill.

Perseus turned to him arms crossed.

"Thanks," she called out sarcastically from the other end of the room.

Before the guy who almost shot her could get away, she made her way over to him. He fought back feebly, but in the end, he fell to the ground with a well-placed kick. Perseus leaned over and picked up his gun, pulling her knife free and placing it back into her…armband? He was on the other side of the store so he couldn't quite see where she had stored it.

The abandoned bag of jewelry lay on the ground a few feet away, necklaces spilling out the open zipper, and on his way towards it, Dick leaned down and electrocuted one of the robbers that seemed to be waking up a little.

He picked it up, brushed the loose jewelry back inside, and set it upright on one of the few unbroken glass cases. He looked back to see Perseus dragging the robbers' bodies together and checking their clothing for any more weapons.

"Need some help?" he asked, twirling a pair of handcuffs around his finger.

"Now you offer," she retorted, but walked over and took them from him.

After working together to secure them all to a stand and rendering them unable to leave even if they did wake up, Dick spoke.

"You fight well," he complimented, meaning it.

Actually, she fought more than well, and it was obvious she had trained extensively. The display with the knife even hinted that there was much more of her ability he hadn't seen yet. It gave him a reason to be wary, but for now, he accepted her good intentions without question.

She looked startled at his answer, but then thanked him. Dick hid a smirk when he saw the tips of her ears turn red at the compliment.

"You can stay," he decided, "We'll split up patrol areas. You can take east of the blue line, and I'll take west."

"Really?" she asked, looking hopeful.

Dick nodded but then turned serious again.

"But if I ever catch you doing something you're not supposed to, I'll have to bring you in," he warned, and Perseus easily agreed.

"Okay, but don't think I don't know that you gave me the quieter area," she added, as an afterthought.

"Consider this a trial period," Dick offered.

Perseus didn't seem to mind him putting a few restrictions on her for now, and he was grateful for that. He didn't want to boss her around, but to be fair, as a vigilante, he knew the city better than she did.

He turned to leave, but then faced her again to say one last thing.

"We don't kill, you know that right?" he told her, pointedly looking at her sword.

Perseus did look offended at that statement.

"Of course I know that," she said, heated, "And I named her Soteria for a reason."

Dick committed the name of her sword to memory. He nodded in approval at her statement, before finally taking off, leaving first.

…

After Nightwing left, Percy unsheathed her sword, looking into the dual-colored blade.

This was the second time she had spoken to Nightwing as Perseus and things were already looking up. She already had her own area to patrol, and soon enough she'd be done fighting petty criminals, and instead, she'd be going after more deadly villains. She was determined to gain Nightwing's trust enough for him to let her on more serious cases. At the moment, though, she was quite offended that he thought she would hurt people.

Don't listen to him, she jokingly thought to the weapon, before swinging it around a few times.

She heard a yelp behind her, and she looked to see one of the robbers who had woken up and was staring nervously at the sword, fear apparent in his eyes. She brought the blade closer to his face, but there were still several inches between the two.

"You tried to shoot me," she reminded him, "Don't dish it if you can't take it."

The man gulped.

Rolling her eyes, she sheathed Soteria and, hearing sirens a few streets over, left through the broken window.

A.N. I absolutely do not have the patience to write it, but how funny would a Miraculous Ladybug style love square situation be for these two? Perseus crushes on Nightwing while Dick crushes on Percy. Actually, I might incorporate it a little, but their civilian interactions are mostly for the identity reveal to hold a little more weight.

I'm posting two days early because I'm on vacation until Sunday, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you thought!

Also, I'm not sure if the site alerts you when I've updated the previous chapters, but if it does, please ignore it! I'm just fixing the line breaks because I just now decided how I'm formatting it. Official line breaks for breaks in time and ellipses for changes in pov