"You up for a walk around the neighborhood sometime tonight?" asked the dark-blonde boy walking beside her. She knew what he meant: code for whether she wanted to patrol with him. She saw no issue with it, having done so on-and-off for over a year by this point.

Slowing her pace somewhat, she looked at him questioningly. "I recall you saying you 'weren't prepared for the big leagues' just recently, Jack."

"Yeah, but that was then, this is now." He said with animated gesticulation, excitement clear on his face. It was almost infectious.

Matilda currently found herself on a sidewalk near the heart of Central, walking next to a friend of hers to who knew where. They'd met up with a couple of other people earlier, some from her hero team, and this was normally where their meetings ended. They rarely spent time alone together out of costume.

"I didn't say it was an issue. The sudden change was simply notable to me. It hasn't even been a week since you said those exact words I just quoted," she reminded him.

"Let's just say something good happened," he answered mysteriously.

"Then I look forward to your awesome displays of greatness. I'm sure it will be no trouble to my boss."

"Wait, which boss? The one in white?" He gave little detail as to whom he was referring to, but she got it all the same.

"The one with an affinity for books," she said.

"Holy shit," Jack whispered under his breath, eyes wide as he stared into the distance. He turned to her. "Really?"

She furrowed her brows. "Yes, really. It's him. What reason do I have to lie?"

"No I mean, he'll really let just anyone come along? As in, I don't work there. Isn't that a bit much, to have me… you know," he explained while gesturing with a hand.

"You've gotta be talking about one of those group sessions then," he concluded.

"No, it would be the three of us. Unless you have other people you wish to bring along?"

His head reared back. "Wow. And uh, yeah I actually wanted to talk to you about—"

"About what?" came a calm voice from behind them.

Abruptly, Matilda jumped back to look at the person who had just spoken. How had they gotten so close? With her warrior-type body, her senses rarely failed her at this range. At the very least, she could be slightly above a baseline human with zero lifetime hearing damage, meaning that she should have heard anyone walking up to her open back.

When she sized up the person in front of her, she thought she was out of the loop somehow. It was a young man, around her age, but his face… it didn't belong to your average guy next door. Briefly, she thought they were interacting with a movie star of some kind, except she dismissed the notion because she didn't recognize him at all. And Jack's facial expression showed personal familiarity.

He was objectively very good-looking, Matilda would acknowledge that much, and yet it was more in a distant way than an opinion she held herself. It reminded her of those times when other girls in her classes would show her some picture of a supermodel, unanimously agree he was very handsome while they swooned, and she would feel left out because she just didn't feel whatever they felt. Many times, it had made Matilda wonder if there was something wrong with her or if she was the crazy one for not having a "natural" response. Not that she ever investigated the thought too deeply, because it reminded her of that night.

Smoothing out her features, suspicious stare falling away, she straightened and tuned into what Jack was saying.

"...to for a long time. My brother from another mother, Finn. Finn, meet Matilda, my other, newer friend who I definitely did not replace you with."

Finn exhaled an amused breath, shaking his head. "It's fine. I understand that life wouldn't stand still without me around."

Life? What was he talking about? Wait… Had Jack just said Finn? "The same one you spoke about, after…" she trailed off, waiting for clarification.

"Yeah, that Finn." Jack was grinning like a kid in a candy shop now, completely living in the moment.

Meanwhile, Matilda just stood there and considered this person in front of her. The one who was supposed to be dead, but wasn't. She had obviously become aware of the news already, though seeing him in person was strange beyond belief. Jack had revealed Shade's civilian name to her, thinking that it didn't matter since the boy was dead, but apparently not. That said, she had not been made aware of his arrival in Central or been shown any pictures. This was certainly not what she had expected.

One difference she could point out, however, was the height. She had met Shade in costume a grand total of two times, and this here was without a doubt an increase in frame compared to those prior occasions. That being said, she was also a bit unsure of what to say, since this person had played a vital role in the most pivotal battle of her life, being one of the main reasons they had managed to fight Viperia until help arrived. The durability enhancement power on that pipe she'd used back then remained a mystery in her mind until this day.

Seeing him with the context of his hero identity in mind, she could say he was one of the people she was most interested in when it came to fellow superhumans. The reasons for that being his impressive displays and the fact that he was in her age group. Granted, so was Calliope, and that girl hadn't grown for the better, to say the least.

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It likely wasn't a good idea to bring it up. Better yet, she wouldn't give any indication that she knew who he was in the first place. Presumably he didn't know who she was either. Except, there was something off about what he said next.

"Good to meet you, Matilda. I've never seen your face before," he stuck out a hand to shake.

The inflection of that last sentence. The emphasis. He couldn't be implying that they had met before, could he? Did he already know she was Damsel? What had given it away? Come to think of it, had she jumped too high for a civilian girl earlier, given any signs of not being normal?

Ah, but this might be a sign of reciprocity. Perhaps he was telling her that he was okay with their respective secrets being known to each other, and was sealing the deal with a peaceable gesture. She should have no issue with shaking his hand, really. He was by all accounts a very respectable hero who had more impressive feats under his belt than she did. Why was she hesitating, then?

It was… skin contact with a man. She wasn't comfortable being touched even with a suit of armor in between, let alone by the opposite gender in regular clothing. She realized she was overthinking it and being irrational. This wasn't some great revelation to her, just. Fears weren't rational. Still, she forced herself to do it.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the galaxy didn't melt when their palms clasped.

"Great to meet you too, Finn," she said in a polite tone. "Jack speaks highly of you."

"Is that so?" The boy raised an eyebrow at his friend.

Matilda withdrew her hand as soon as it no longer felt rude to do so, resisting the urge to wipe her palm on her jeans like a nervous teenager, even though that was exactly what she was at the moment. She thankfully hadn't flinched or frozen and was able to keep her face neutral. Despite that, she couldn't stop her mind from analyzing possible angles of attack or restraining maneuvers he could've tried to use on her.

"Hell yeah, I talk you up," Jack declared, slapping a hand on Finn's shoulder like they'd just come out of a high school football huddle. "Some things just need to be specified."

Ironically, Jack didn't specify what he was referring to. Matilda kept that observation to herself.

"By the way, what were you doing all morning?" Jack changed topics. He shot Finn a sideways glance as they started walking again. "You didn't tell me about your plans."

"Mom, is that you?" Finn mocked in a flat voice. "Why do you look like a teenager?"

The freckled boy laughed. "Yeah, yeah, big strong Finn is an independent boss babe who doesn't need people to track his location twenty-four seven. But seriously, where were you?"

"Casey's."

"Oho! I see how it is," Jack said, acting faux-hurt by placing a hand on his chest. "Must you go to her? Am I not enough for you, darling?"

"She was helping me."

"Are you hearing this?" Jack gave Matilda this skeptical look, and she wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't know Finn well enough to judge whether he was truly lying or if Jack was giving him a hard time and expected her to play along.

As if sensing her thoughts, Finn explained, "He is messing with you. Don't believe what he says."

Relieved, she nodded her head. On their walk, Jack kept bantering with them, but it never became too much. It was becoming apparent to her that the small social circle he kept was by choice. He didn't have too many friends, and that seemed to be by design. He was aware of the emotional undertones of this conversation and was, like his friend, gracious enough to smooth them over in his own way. Accommodating, patient.

She could appreciate those qualities.

Before she knew it, they were in front of an apartment building and started heading inside. She hadn't announced that she was leaving, and was now finding herself walking into the elevator without comment.

Maybe it was rude on her part, but she had never actually been to Jack's place. Every interaction they had was strictly either in costume or outside where she could swiftly run away if things went south. Though that had clearly never happened, it remained one of her boundaries.

Strangely, she should be more afraid of going to someone's home with a stranger coming along, but she wasn't. It could have been the idea of no longer being one-on-one with someone that allowed her to push through the fear, or Finn's presence not feeling threatening.

That wasn't to say he wasn't threatening; he simply didn't give off that vibe. Or any vibe for that matter. It was as though if she stopped looking, he would cease to be there. This person had mastered blending into the background. Fitting for his theme, but terrifying on an intellectual level. Should he choose to do so, he could fade from sight and stab her in the back and she wasn't confident in her ability to keep track of him while he did so.

And that was only counting his old capabilities. According to his latest exploits in Florida, he had somehow acquired light control and physical augmentation powers. If he used that, she had no chance.

Somehow, that idea was comforting in the oddest way possible. Because she thought of his abilities as being suited for a trained killer in a strictly professional context. Worst came to worst, he would just kill her and be done with it. He wouldn't do anything else.

Insane thoughts.

But whatever would get her to push through here. She felt like she was standing Jack up every time she refused to do even something so basic as spend… okay perhaps it wasn't so basic after all. Her fears were understandable to herself. They just weren't reasonable.

The elevator didn't chime, instead the number on the display to her left changed and the door opened, allowing her to walk into the hallway. She took the lead, then promptly stopped upon realizing she had no idea where to go.

Jack chuckled, whereas Finn gave no indication that he'd noticed. Dismissing the creeping tingles rising in her body as she neared the apartment door, she stood straight in front of it with the stiffness of a cadet in the military.

She was last to enter, marching in with resolute steps after the taller boy glanced at her.

The moment the door closed, she heard Shade speak. "I noticed that you brought a pair of metal armbands. Are those for emergency power use?"

Matilda froze.

"It's a suboptimal choice. Rings would work better if you're trying to do internal damage to someone's chest with a punch," he said like he was speaking about the weather.

Looking ahead, she noticed Jack wasn't in earshot, doing something in his kitchen and humming the melody of a song she vaguely recognized from cultural osmosis.

Spinning on her heels, she faced the stoic boy. Speaking in a strangled voice, she replied, "Rings carry connotations. That's why I don't wear them. If that is all, I would like this conversation to end here."

"Alright," he responded easily. And although he didn't look at her again when he walked away, she got the impression that he was staring straight at her.

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