"Are you trying to kill me woman!?" Tom roared after me. "If I so much as see a scratch on my face...I'M SUING!"

He holds an ice pack to his head as I push passed him and climbed up the stair.

"Injuring me is right up there with defaming of public property" he continues, "My gorgeousness is a national treasure! I am and have one of the 3 wonders of the world!"

I walk down the hall and enter the last room on the right, Tom still in hot pursuit, "Those wonders being my face, my butt and my dick. The biceps are considered the forth, depending on which gender is looking-"

"Will you shut the fuck up?!" I toss my torn dress smack in his face. I look down to examine the damage, besides the knife wound on my thigh there wasn't anything else extreme but already coloring bruises.

I turn around for Tom to see my back, "You see anything back there?" I ask him.

He pouts at me with the ice pack still on his head, then lowers his eyes down to examine me. "Nothing but faint scratches" he says in a bored tone.

I proceed to take off my bra and slide out of my underwear. "Hope you have enough hot water left" I say as I turn away from him and walk into the bathroom stark naked.

"Why is one of your nipples a different color?" I hear his voice asked.

"I'll tell you later," my voice echo's in the white titled bathroom that had an aqua hue. "What were you making?" I asked as to the bowl of ingredients I remembered him mixing.

"I don't know, just threw ingredients in the bowl as the crack pot cooking instructor said" he follows me into the bathroom.

"I told you to stop watching those late night cooking shows" I scolded him as I turned on the shower and adjusted the water temperature to that sweet spot in the middle. "They basically have you cook intercontinental poison"

I jumped in the shower when the water was just right.

"I only tried to cook puffer fish that one time" he whines, he goes to a cabinet and pulls out shampoo, hands it over to me. "The woman won't let me live it down"

I squeeze out his shampoo into my hair, "Careful with the wound" Tom reminded me just a second too late"

"Ow, ow, ooooow!!" I cry and hop around.

"Try not to get it infected," Tom says sardonically and walks out the bathroom.

I try to rinse out the blade wound on my thigh without exhausting my current list of curse words.

After a really, really, REALLY long time in the shower I finally decided to get out. Hot puffs of steam escape out the bathroom in a mad dash and I'm hit with fresh glorious air. I am a firm believer of the fact that if you don't nearly suffocate in the bathroom from lack of air then you didn't have a good shower.

I see fresh clean pairs of clothes laid on Tom's bed, I pad over, wrapped in his thick towels and lift up the brown T-shirt that was obviously waaaay too big for me.

"Tomaaaass!" I called as I make my way to the door.

I nearly crash into him as he Houdini's himself in the doorway. Tom just glances down at his shirt in my hand and replies, "We took all your clothes back to your place last weekend, remember?"

"Oh right" I just turn and tug on the shirt over my head, I do the same with the cotton pants over my legs.

"Not gonna wear underwear?" Tom points at my undies on the floor in front of his bathroom.

"Nah, feel like going commando" I beam at him, reveling in my free feeling of freedom.

"Suit yourself, it's a free country" he picks them up and tosses them in his laundry basket.

************************************************************************************

"C'mon, you know we have to" Tom chides me.

"Yeah we have to, but I don't want to" I whine as I plop down on the wide couch in the living room.

Tomass had a first aid kit sitting between us and a stern look on his face. I blew raspberries at him.

"Real mature" he rolled his eyes at me and grabbed hold of my leg.

"Look who's talking" I say ironically with a grin.

I roll up the cotton pants and expose the wound. Tom dabbed that devil liquid fire that was disguised and cleverly call antiseptics onto a cotton ball and swipes at the wound.

I feel the electrifying shock of pain spread out through me around that area and I grit my teeth. Just because I was used to the feeling does not mean it doesn't hurt like Hades' backside.

"The worst it over" Tom soothes as he wraps gauze around the meat of the thigh. "Done!" he says triumphantly three minutes later. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" he teases and puckers his lips

"Thanks" I say, slapping the palm of my hand in his face and angling his head away from me.

I settle in more comfortably into the couch and rest my head on Tom's shoulder. He rearranges himself and soon we were both facing the TV. I was extremely tired, my bones felt numb and my skin was on fire.

"Nachos?"

I smell the food before I see it. Tom held up the mixing bowl he had earlier under my face. I was so happy I could cry.

"I love you so much right now," I spread my hand into the bowl and pack and push as much as I can into my mouth.

"I know."

I continue to pig out as the absolute extent of my hunger rages. Tonight was a full night, an eventful night...a deadly one.

"I almost died tonight," I say through enormous mouthfuls.

"Uhm hmm..." Tom replies absently, concentrating on the TV. "What else is new?"

"Almost got raped too."

"I told you that bastard was a creep," he continues in the same tone.

I finished eating and I proceed to lick my fingers, the bowl vanishes and a canned drink appears in its place. I grab it and chug for my life. I finish it in 0.5 seconds and I let out a loud burp.

I let out a satisfied sigh and I dig deeper into Tom's shoulder.

"Oblivion here I come" I sigh as I feel the cold beautiful hands of sleep capture me.

"BREAKING NEWS!!!"

The television screeched, practically shaking me out of the couch.

"I guess sleeping's gonna have to wait," Tom says and increases the volume as he takes a sip of his drink.

"...We are reporting live at the premier of the now deceased Rohilieo Antonio-"

Tom spite back into his drink in surprise, "You killed him!??" he says to me, eyes wide. "Ow babe! I know I said never trust guys with short dicks but you didn't have to murder the man just because he wasn't good!"

I fight my blinding urge to hit him and continue looking at the TV.

"...It turns out that Rohilieo Antonio's attack was staged in parts, aided by the Southern Italian's in protest to their segregation 5 years ago..."

I sat up alittle straighter.

"...On the scene was town darling and vigilante, Jinx..." the female reporter said.

"That's you Em!" Tom boast proudfully.

I grin, 'town darling' and 'vigilante' are two words that don't belong together in the same sentence.

"...she was actually Rohilieo Antonio's date for the evening and many speculate she had something to do with the attack ..."

"Uuuuuurgh" I slap my hands over my face, "Oh no...."

"Of course they'd think that" Tom says darkly.

"...Although several people who attended the event insist that Jinx was indeed unaware of the conspiracy going on and did everything in her power to help..." The reporter lifted her hand to her ear and pauses for a moment. "...We know have new information regarding tonight's event, security footage has now been released to the public by the police department. Roll the clip please..."

On the screen we see a wonky footage being played from a security camera in the hall. I see the series of events I'd just experienced from a different angle. I see my head move around in suspicion as I remember seeing some movement, then refusing to eat.

I must admit, it all did look a bit too suspicious.

Next, people's heads started falling on their tables and I and Antonio run away from our desk as the ninja's advanced.

Then it can clearly be seen when Antonio holds my knife up to my neck. I watch intently and I internally beat myself up cause I spotted a thousand things I could've done differently to tip the scales in my favorite tonight.

"Waw," Tom said, his eyes locked on the TV screen. I didn't hear what he said next due to the TV reporter coming back on screen.

"...Several people have speculated that Jinx's performance was just for the cameras, although more shocking footage was captured..." The scene cuts back to the security footage and then I saw what I'd originally missed.

The elevator doors shut close as Antonio dragged me away. Afew seconds passed as the ninjas continue to make their rounds, then a black figure appears at the outer most edge of the screen, blades drawn and body lowered. How he'd gotten in, only God and his angel would know, but he moved swiftly and discreetly. He glided across the rail and avoided being sighted till it was too late.

He dived down and landed behind four unaware ninja's. Two blades were assigned two necks. He didn't wait a beat and moved on to the next, and the next, till only five remained. They came at him from all angles, but he does a twirl and slices through their guts, he sliced off the leg of one who still was able to advance on him through the brutality, and then he beheaded them all promptly.

He stands there for a moment, surveyed his surroundings, and vanished as swiftly as he appeared. Only the dripping trails of blood ever indicating he was there at all to begin with.

"Whoa..." Tom whispered quietly.

I had no idea when I'd left the couch and was seated on the floor with my face almost plastered on the screen. The scene switched back to the female reported who had the most terrified expression on earth, she was so shaken she couldn't even continue to speak.

Even in the room now, me and Tom couldn't do anything to break through the heavy mood, what we'd seen was just...cold...

I turn and see on Tom's face what was probably on mine...fear.

He lifts the remote and switches off the screen as the reporter tried to regain her composure.

I couldn't get the image of the black clad stranger out of my head, "Who are you?" I whisper to myself.

"Just what we need," I am distracted from my thoughts as I hear Tom groan, "Another freak of nature flying through the night delivering their own form of twisted justice"

I grin to myself. Tom has been trying all night to brighten me up, and I'd been acting out of character since, it's nice to have a friend.

I get up on my feet and stand in his face, "One, I am not a freak of nature, have you seen me? I'm fucking gorgeous!" I strike a sultry pose.

Tom chuckles deeply and slaps his thigh, "There's my girl-"

"SECOND!" I hold up two fingers to his face, "I don't deliver my own form of justice. I beat the bad guy up and hand him over to the cops"

"Some would call that obstruction of justice-"

"Those idiots are dumb" I pout in his face and fold my arms stubbornly.

"And what is he?" Tom becomes solemn and tips a finger at the TV screen.

I look at the blank screen for a second, contemplate, and then train my eyes back on Tom's cold grey eyes.

"A very, very cool problem"