Hijack's arm around her middle felt sturdy but the shrinking ground halved any comfort she might have felt from it. Of all the times for the red of his suit to be a warning, this was it. Electricity continued to arc back and forth across the street below. That at least was becoming less and less of a concern. Hannah gripped his forearm tightly and risked a look back over her shoulder.

Nearly every inch of his face was covered. Occasionally she could see a brief glimpse of skin but that wouldn't do much to narrow down the pool of suspects. His flight pattern dipped and an involuntary shriek left her lips. "Why would you do that?"

A distorted man's voice answered her. "I didn't do it on purpose, it's windy up here," Hijack told her. He'd evened out and slid a second arm around her waist. "Now, where can I drop you off, fair maiden? Preferably far away from the fun you wandered yourself into."

Hannah took a deep breath and pointed out the tall hospital building several blocks away. "That's fine, just don't drop me," she shouted over her shoulder. Her stomach leapt into her throat as he dropped down and tilted them in the direction of Merifield Memorial.

"Now that, I did on purpose," he laughed. Their feet hit the gravel rooftop together and he let her go immediately. Behind the mask, his lips tightened into a razor thin line. Thankfully the voice modulator hid his anger and fear as well as his identity. "What were you doing over there anyway? Dangerous places like that are no place for a young lady such as yourself."

It had only taken seconds for Hannah to sprint across the roof to put a fair amount of distance between them. Her hair had come out of its bun completely and looked like a cat had gotten into a bag of yarn and glued it to her head. "I was just out for a walk, not that it's any of your business."

Hijack shuffled to lean against the door that would let her out into the rest of the hospital. A thought was slowly forming in his mind, one that twisted his stomach into knots. "Why the hospital?"

Hannah shrugged and checked her pockets for her phone and keys. The last thing she wanted was to run through the streets searching for the smashed bits of them. "I'm a nurse. I figured someone would see me here and I could get away from you faster," she finally said. That had been the plan, until he decided to use the door as his personal lean-to. Maybe she could blame adrenaline and flip him over her shoulder and dart past him.

The line of his shoulders stiffened. "A nurse, hm? When can I stop by for a checkup?" It almost made him laugh when her cheeks blazed red. They had been friends before they'd ever started dating and he'd never had a chance to flirt with her as if they were total strangers.

"I don't admit criminals to the hospital," she quipped.

"What about heroes? I could change if that's what you wanted." Hijack suddenly clapped his hands and jerked a thumb over his shoulder pointed to where they'd come from. "Is that why you were over there?" The way she jumped made his heart stop.

"Why does being a nurse mean I would go to help? It's not like I can fight off crime with my beeper or something," Hannah said quickly. She'd started inching towards the door again. It opened outwards but maybe she could still slide in as it opened and close it behind her before he could follow after.

Gravel crunched under his boots as he shifted to face her more directly. "I never said you were going to fight, but that's an interesting idea," he explained. "Maybe I could even recruit you to my side. Us criminals get hurt too, you know."

That seemed to catch her attention. "What are you doing to get hurt so much?" she asked.

"Oh the usual, stealing priceless artifacts and selling them on the black market, Just the other day I heard Harbinger was making plans to snag a set of paintings on loan to the museum," Hijack told her. He pushed away from the doorframe suddenly and stretched his arms over his head. "Speaking of, I should get back to work. Those computer systems won't crash themselves. Stay out of trouble." He gave his final warning and kicked his heels against the roof. His boots ignited and he was out of sight before she had even fully opened the door.

Surge had finished up her business by the time he was back in the area. All he found was an agitated Solar Flare who thankfully did not see him. He dropped into a back alley and shimmied out of the red jumpsuit, folding it into a neat bundle that he kept tucked under his arm on the way to his car. Any minute now, Hannah would call him and let him know all about her terrifying rescue and the flirty scoundrel. As a dutiful boyfriend, he was required to come home with comfort food.

An hour later, she still hadn't called. Jake refreshed his messages every two seconds in case it was just being slow. She had once texted him to let him know she'd stubbed her toe. It had been so bad she was afraid she'd somehow kicked the toe off and was afraid to look to confirm the reality. That had required a video chat on top of it all.

How could she not call him after what had just happened? It was getting ridiculous. Outside the Merifield Local's office windows, the setting sun had drenched the city in a warm golden light that didn't do anything to dispel the chill in the air. Jake shivered the entire way to his car. By the time he was home, the sun had set completely and only a slight glow remained, backlighting the buildings he passed.

Hannah was curled up on the couch, pillow tucked under her knees. She smiled widely at him and held open her arms. "You're home. I missed you," she called out. Her fingers wiggled at him in an attempt to hurry him over to her. "Stop just standing there and come kiss me."

"You look happy," he mumbled, kissing her quickly. "Good day off?"

"Yeah, got some stuff done that I'd been meaning to look into," she said. The wood floor creaked under her feet until she reached the kitchen. "I even picked up food for dinner."

Jake followed and leaned against the entryway into the kitchen, glancing over the stack of dishes in the sink. "You cooked? Like with the stove?" This was something he'd always teased her about since they'd first become friends. Not only had Hannah worked at a restaurant surrounded by freshly cooked food, but she was also a nurse and was insistent on patients under her care should eat healthy meals. Hannah on the other hand, had a habit of ordering takeout for most of her meals.

Pizza was her worst offender. It wasn't that she couldn't cook, he'd seen her make small things for breakfast and occasionally she'd make an easy dinner for her long night shifts. The amount of dishes he was looking at was more than a little dinner.

"Yes, I cooked. Why do you sound so surprised?" she scoffed, trying to look offended. One look at his slowly forming grin ruined any sort of attempt to look angry. She chuckled and pointed him towards the silverware drawer. "Forks and knives please."

"How was your run with Seb?" Jake asked with his back to her while he rifled through the drawer.

"It was great, I seriously love those park trails," Hannah answered. She moved past him with full plates of food.

"Did you go downtown for the bread?" He pointed towards the brown bag from a bakery he'd shown her years ago. It was only a few blocks away from where he'd picked her up earlier that day.

Hannah's hands stayed steady on the plates as she set them down but he could hear the sharp inhale before she spoke. "Oh, yeah. I know you like that place so I thought I'd grab you a little treat. I grabbed some pastries too." She turned back and her smile almost faltered seeing him leaning against the doorframe again. The light from the kitchen was causing a slight reflection off of his brown leather jacket that made it look almost red. He shifted and it stopped.

"Are you okay? There was an attack down there earlier," he said, setting the silverware down to hold her shoulders. "I'm so glad nothing happened to you."

"I must have been there before it all happened. Sebastian had to leave early from our run to deal with a patient." She leaned into him with her arms wrapping around his middle. "Guess I got lucky."

Jake nodded with his head tucked into her neck. "Super lucky."