Cops couldn't get involved in the mess that was your apartment. They'd be asking questions and it'd lead to problems without a doubt. Luckily, the area you lived in was rundown and sketchy enough that things like this happened often, maybe not to your complex in particular, but definitely the area. People around here didn't call for problems like this often and even if they did, well, not much would happen.

Delilah considered calling the cops but she was afraid of getting caught doing it by the men that came. You couldn't blame her, having her hurt would have been so much worse than what already happened. She was able to tell you that there were multiple men that came but besides that, she knew nothing.

It was decided by both her and Killer that you shouldn't stay at your place, not like you could anyway. The apartment was beyond destroyed. You were going to have to pay for damages on top of getting your rent money back. Not to mention all your furniture and dishes would have to be replaced.

Your head was full of thoughts on how you could fix things as Killer took you over to his place to stay the night. All you could salvage was your bag and a few clothes and that's all you brought with you. Your entire life fit in one small bag. It was pitiful.

Your mind was in a fog until a door closed behind you and suddenly you were standing in a totally different apartment. You didn't even remember getting off the bike and getting in here, or even arriving for that matter. Killer could tell you were in a daze as he gave you a minute to take in your new surroundings.

The place was nice, pristine. It had a modern look with a single wall completely made of brick and slick hardwood floors everywhere. The furniture was all leather with a thick, almost shag rug in the center of the living room. The kitchen was done in gunmetal appliances and concrete countertops. The windows in the living room were large and had the curtains drawn back, showing the twinkling lights of the city buildings. You could tell the apartment was up on a pretty high floor and if you looked out far enough, you could see where your own complex should roughly be.

"You can stay here as long as you need." Killer said, breaking the silence. "My room is down the hall, you can use it."

"What about you?" You turned to him with a frown.

He pointed to the couch. "I'll be fine there. You need the bed more than I do."

"I can't– It's your place I can't intrude like that."

"You aren't intruding, c'mon, I'll show you around."

Killer nudged you along and ignored your protests. He showed you his room and the bathroom, making sure you knew where everything he figured you'd need was. When he was sure you were good, he grabbed his keys and got ready to head back out.

"Where are you going?" You asked, following him to the door like a lost puppy.

"I'm going to see if I can find any leads on who did this. I'll be a while so take a shower and get some sleep, I'll be back eventually."

"You don't have to–"

"Someone who gets their kicks stealing from and trashing places like that needs to learn a lesson. I won't be gone all night." He left quickly and it took you a moment to realize he was angry. You never thought someone would ever feel something like that on your account.

After standing there for a short while, letting it sink in, you decided to do as he suggested and take a shower. Not like you could do much else anyway. The apartment was almost right in the middle of the city and you couldn't transform and fly around to find the culprits. Someone would see you. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. All you could do was stay put and hope he found something.

You were still clutching your bag so you took it to the room to drop it off and find something clean to wear. His room was the messiest part of place and it was still nice. The bed was tousled, sheets splayed out and wrinkled like he got up that morning and never made it. There were a few dirty clothes laying near a laundry bin. He must have tossed them over to it but missed. A small pile of neatly folded clean clothes sat on top of his dresser, waiting to be put away.

His closet was partially open, one mirrored sliding door pushed behind the other. You actually liked the slight mess. It made the place feel more lived in. But you didn't like how you looked when you stared at yourself in the mirror. Your hair was a mess from the motorcycle ride here, your eyes about as sullen as Heat's, lips turned down into a slight frown. You looked tired and just done with everything. It accurately showed how you felt.

You shook it off and dug a shirt and shorts out of your bag before tossing it to the floor and heading to the bathroom. It was huge, easily more than three times the size of your own, but you didn't spend much time in there, even if it was downright luxurious.

After that you fell into his bed and slowly fell asleep, cuddling one of the many pillows covering the plush surface.

----

Killer had a pretty good idea who did this. Only your apartment was targeted and there were few people who knew where you lived. You were too careful about dealing with clients for it to be one of them. Ivankov wouldn't let such important information slip. But he knew where she lived along with the higher up members of the gang. It was one of his friends and he was more than pissed about it.

There was a common area on the first floor of the apartment complex and he didn't doubt those he needed to deal with were there now. He marched down with clenched fists and grit teeth. That was everything you owned. There was nothing salvageable at your home and that made him angrier than he'd been in a long time.

As soon as his feet hit the entrance to the common area, he let out a loud whistle, earning everyone's attention in the room. Heads snapped in his direction, immediately ignoring TVs and pool games. Some people tensed up out of fear when they saw the fury written all over his face.

"Who decided it was a good idea to get involved with my job?" His voice rang out clear, the only other sound contesting with it was the couple TVs still playing in the background.

A few trembling hands raised in the air, afraid of how much worse things would be for them if they didn't admit to what they did.

"Everyone else can leave."

The room cleared fast, leaving the few men responsible and the top ranks. Kid was sitting in a couch, head leaned over the back to watching his friend. Wire and Heat were standing at one of the pool tables but their game had been abandoned the second Killer stepped in the room.

"So what are you going to do Killer?" Kid asked casually, gesturing to the men with his prosthetic arm.

"Who put them up to it?" He already knew the answer but Kid's aggressive smile made it all the more obvious.

"I need the dragon and she needed a push Killer. Now she's tucked away safe and sound in your bed I presume, all you have to do is get the truth out of her and make her want to stay. Be her knight in shining armor."

"We agreed this was my job. I've been getting close to her and I'd appreciate it if you left her alone."

"Hold on." Kid got up and waltzed up to his friend, smile widening. "You're real bent out of shape about this. You like her, don't you?"

"That's not important here Kid." Killer crossed his arms and stood his ground. "Let me deal with her."

"Fine. I'll stay out of it." Kid pulled a small wad of bills out from a pants pocket and slapped it into Killer's hand. "Go be her knight, giver her back her pocket change."

Kid brushed past to leave only to stop after a short distance. "You've got two weeks. If she's still playing hard to get by then, I'm taking over and neither of you will like it."

It'd be a replay of the factory, except much worse. Kid was polite then, for his standards. He'd be downright brutal if he didn't get what what he wanted by the end of that time limit and Killer wouldn't be able to stop him.

"I'll have her by then." Killer growled.

"That's what I like to hear." The redhead left, heading upstairs to his own apartment.

Heat looked at the small group of terrified underlings and back at Killer. "They didn't have a choice you know. Kid made them do it."

"Doesn't matter. I need it to look like I got in a fight and they still did it. There was no need to go that far." He didn't mention him wanting to blow off some steam too but everyone in the room could see that was the case.

"If you say so." Heat said forlornly.

He and Wire moved past him, not wanting to witness what was about to happen. They had no problem fighting and killing whenever they deemed necessary but seeing Killer let loose out of anger was not something anyone wanted to see. It could be downright terrifying, which was something the unfortunate men tasked with wrecking your place were about to find out.

----

A door opened and closed softly, waking you up. You weren't used to staying with someone else and the sounds of life woke you easily. You checked your phone for the time and found that only a couple hours had passed. Killer was either very fast or he gave up quickly. He walked by the open door of the bedroom, pausing to look in and see you half awake.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now." He said softly, leaning into the doorway.

"I was." You murmured into the sheets. You were still hugging a pillow tightly. "I'm a light sleeper."

"Sorry about that. Give me a minute and we can talk, I gotta clean up."

"M'kay." You were too tired to question what he was cleaning up.

He went off to the bathroom for a few minutes and you listened to the sound of water running in the sink. When he came back, you could see the slight glisten of dampness on his arms in the dark. There were discolored splatters covering his shirt now that you looked him over.

"Is that blood?" You sat up slowly and cuddled the pillow to your chest.

"I guess I should've taken that off when I got in." He grimaced and pulled the shirt up and over his head in one fluid motion, tossing it into the laundry bin.

As tantalizing as his chiseled torso was, you were too tired to be ogling him. "What'd you do?"

"Found the guys responsible." Killer pulled your money out of a pocket and set it on top of the dresser. "That should be all of it."

"Thank you. This means a lot to me, you have no idea."

"I'm just glad I could help. Get back to sleep, we can figure out how to fix up your place tomorrow."

"Okay."

"I'll see you in the morning."

He left and you laid back down, listening to his shuffling in the living room. Eventually he settled down and the soft, muffled sound of the TV starting up filled the air. It was quiet background noise. Just loud enough he could hear it without it bothering you. You still couldn't get back to sleep though. It was all too easy a short while ago but now, you couldn't settle your mind.

You tossed and turned, sighing each time you thought you'd gotten comfortable only to find yourself itching to readjust again. The sheets were thick with Killer's smell. You were sure he used some kind of very masculine scented cologne and it was the only thing you could use to calm your mind and focus on. The only part of it you could really identify was sandalwood, it was the strongest part of it all. Suddenly, the bed wasn't enough.

You got up and shuffled out of the room and over to where Killer was. His eyes flicked to you as you came into view. He was sitting upright on one side of the couch, an arm thrown over the back.

"Not able to get to sleep?" He asked as you sat by him.

"No."

"Me either."

"I can't stop thinking."

He swung his head around lazily to look at you with a small growing smile. "Me either."

You giggled. "Is that all you can say?"

"Nah. Just have a lot on my mind."

You don't know why you did it but you slid down until your head bumped into his chest and curled your legs up, letting them rest against his. It felt right, much more so than laying on his bed alone. It only felt better when Killer tentatively let his arm fall to your side. The two of you sat in silence like that, curled up together with the tv going and after a while, you finally started to doze off, feeling warm and much more at ease.

When you were completely out, Killer watched your sleeping form. He felt pretty confident he could have you on his side in two weeks. How hard could it be?