Savior Complex

[Rabbit]

SAVIOR COMPLEX

Alex Townsend

Grey Damaris

ALEX TOWNSEND

Wandering the empty and slightly run-down streets o the Detroit suburbs was routine for Alex Townsend. Every morning and every evening they'd walk the ten-to-fifteen-minute walk from the bus stop to their little apartment, sneakers dragging a little over the gravel on the ground, music blasting through the headphones that were placed comfortably atop the beanie that they had put on the moment they walked out of the office, covering a bit of their short brown hair. Though it would have been more convenient if the bus stop was closer to their home, they always found the little walk kind of relaxing. A moment where they didn't really have to do anything productive, or anything at all but listening to music and quietly hum along to it.

Their workday today had been on the longer side. A whole lot of meetings on their boss' part meant more things to keep track on for them. It wasn't even like their job was incredibly demanding or anything, definitely not physically at least. The most time on their feet was spent fetching coffee orders more suited for a 'basic white girl' than the middle-aged man she was working for. Other than that, her job as an assistant for one of the top CEOs in the city mostly just entailed sitting around, answering phone calls, scheduling, and checking social media. Still, most days they came home fairly tired and ready to collapse in the couch to watch some show they liked.

They were about halfway home when they realized someone was walking behind them. They didn't think that much of it. Occasionally people who lived in the same direction as them would be on the same bus as them. But it still had them a little on edge and their humming quieted down to nothing. Maybe it was the fact that it was getting dark, the light emitting from the street lights creating long shadows and not emitting enough light to be truly comforting. They lowered the volume in their headphones a little and sped up their pace. They weren't sure if the footsteps behind them quickened too, but now that they could hear better it sounded like more than one person. Rather than to just bolt it, they kept walking, figuring it was nothing. They walked the streets every single day and nothing bad had ever happened. why would it now?

It wasn't until they reached the tunnel over the road above them the people behind them made their presence known. "Excuse me." Came a man's voice, it wasn't so much requesting as demanding their attention. Lex stopped in their tracks almost automatically and when they turned and found themselves face to face with two men, or maybe rather face to chest seeing as Lex definitely wasn't the tallest person in the world. Both had the hoods of their jackets up, masking their faces ever so slightly in the dark. Lex just kind of stared, wide-eyed, confused and admittedly scared.

"Could I borrow your phone?" One of the men asked. There was nothing really polite about his question, he was sounding more demanding and nonchalant than anything. Maybe even amused at Lex's scared expression.
"Uh—No?" Lex tried, voice coming out a little shriller than they would have liked. The question was innocent enough. Had they not been approached in a dark tunnel after being followed for five minutes they would have gladly let anyone make a phone call.
The man let out a laugh in the shape of a quick breath out the nose, "What do you mean no?" the amusement was left but the demand was replaced by a smugness as he turned his gaze towards his friend's hand. Lex let their gaze be directed to the same place. Fuck. A knife.

Despite definitely knowing what was happening and having realized the danger since they were stopped it took them a moment to really understand what was going on. This kind of thing just didn't happen. Sure, you read the articles in the paper talking about rising crime rates, about innocent people getting attacked or coming under crossfire when just minding their own business. It didn't happen to you. But there they were, heart thumping in their chest with not a clue of what to do. They could run? But to where? They could yell but who would hear? They at least knew for certain that their life was more important than their phone, so they reached into the pocket of their jacket for their phone, handing it to the man closest to them with shaky hands, hoping that meant they would just leave. It didn't and instead, they were asked for their passcode, the man with the knife stepping a little closer to convey the message that they had no real choice but to comply.

 

[barnes]

GREY DAMARIS

It was dark again, and that meant Grey Damaris was out on the streets this night, like every other night.

Dressed in her standard hoodie and jogging pants, the hood pulled close around her face, she cut an intimidating figure, stalking through Detroit. Not that anyone could appreciate it, being that Grey was sticking to the alleys of a more suburban area that night. Besides - the point was that she was not seen. The DPD had put up with reports of a vigilante stalking their streets because it did their job, and had released only a scant statement saying that they did not think "this vigilante, whoever he is," a threat, mainly because it eased their workload a little, partially because they had bigger fish to fry.

That was fine with Grey. Even the fact that most people thought she was a man was helpful, although unappreciated. Every mistake made was a little longer she got to keep her identity.

This night was a little more uneventful than most. She'd been out for almost two hours and had come across nothing - maybe the crooks were taking heed of the warning dealt to their fellows and were staying indoors. It should have been a small victory on Grey's part, but she was surprised to find a hint of dissatisfaction at that thought. There was something she rather liked, she thought, defending her people from trouble.

Maybe Bruce Wayne was onto something.

Grey continued heading down the street, keeping to the side to stay in the shadows. She kept her bat swinging loosely by her side, careful not to let it catch and reflect the light. No point in letting people know she was coming.

She passed the entrance to a tunnel, casting a cursory look down its length. A couple of people stood around, and they didn't look too shady - until a voice reached Grey's ears.

"What do you mean no?"

Back pressed to the wall at the entrance of the tunnel, Grey chanced a peek around the corner, and this time there was no doubt - one of the taller ones was pointing a knife at the shorter individual. She took a moment to tighten the bandana tied around the lower half of her face, then stepped squarely into the entrance of the tunnel.

"I don't believe that's yours to take," she drawled, beginning to move towards them. She let the bat drag behind her on the ground, the sound of its grinding against the concrete echoing around the tunnel. "Why don't you give her back her phone and call it a day, boys?"

Grey chanced a look at the would-be victim, and almost did a double take. It was a painfully familiar face, and she immediately cursed her choice of pronouns when she took in the cropped hair and dark eyes. It was one thing to bump into your best friend in public - it was entirely another to accidentally come across an attempted mugging on them while doing masked vigilante work.

Trying to regain her focus, Grey turned back to the men. "I won't ask twice."

 

[Rabbit]

ALEX TOWNSEND

Despite the knife Lex had a hard time finding their voice to even attempt to start reciting the passcode for their phone, and knowing the two men probably wouldn't want to wait until Lex's tongue decided to untwist itself they were just becoming increasingly distressed. They opened their mouth to just try to get a word out but instead the echo by a completely different voice filled the tunnel. A voice that was oddly familiar, though it was speaking in a tone Lex didn't think they had really heard anyone use.

Lex's eyes snapped to the additional figure, and so did the two mens' and they all watched the stranger approach them, baseball bat making a distinct and threatening sound that was amplified by the walls of the tunnel. The stranger was masked, face better concealed than the men with the knife. But as the masked person opened their mouth again a wave of relief washed over Lex. The person wasn't there to join the men, they were there to help. Lex was still terrified, stuck to the ground, eyes wide, but suddenly the situation was no longer seeming as hopeless.

There was a moment of hesitation between the two men, as if they were seriously considering whether they should have a go at the masked stranger with a baseball bat. It didn't take them long to come to the conclusion that even if their weapon of choice was sharper anyone who walked the empty streets ready to beat people up with a bat probably wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. Or maybe the knife had just been an empty threat all along. They exchanged a final look, one of the muttering "Whatever man-- not worth it," and with that Lex's phone was suddenly thrown at them and by the time the had fumbled a little to try to catch it the two men had turned, running away down the street, tails between their legs.

Alex couldn't really do much but stare as they tried to figure out what the hell just happened. The men turned around a building and were nowhere to be seen. Lex stayed put and clutched their phone hard over their still hard and fast beating heart. And then after a moment of silence they were suddenly hit by the fact that they weren't alone and their head snapped around to the masked person with the baseball bat, finally taking in beyond 'a dark-clad stranger' Despite the familiarity in the person's voice Lex didn't recognize them, mainly because they really were masked. Other than that all they could about the was that they were taller than them, but only by enough so that they had to be around average height for a woman, and their voice had been pretty feminine. Lex was the first person to tell anyone that that didn't mean much, but in the confusing and terrifying moment the first thing on their mind wasn't really to not make assumptions.

"Who are you?" it just kind of flew out, their voice breaking a little after what had just happened. Lex knew they should have told her thank you, but their mind was blanking save for that question. Who was she, why was she there and did they know her? They were grateful, but they were still scared and still trying to catch up to what had just happened.


.

 

[barnes]

GREY DAMARIS

It didn't take the would-be muggers to toss Lex's phone back and take off in the other direction, which Grey was relieved for; not because she was spared the necessity of getting into a fight, but because she was spared the necessity of doing so in front of Lex. There was hardly any reason to scare them by subjecting them to a potentially violent spectacle.

She took a step back, giving the other some space to process what had just happened. Maybe offer some comfort if necessary, which some of the people she helped required. It was odd, to have to soothe a terrified civilian, but it was part of the job scope, Grey supposed.

She was not expecting the next words out of Lex's mouth. "Who are you?" Grey couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out, tilting her head slightly. "A valid question, but that's kind of the point of the disguise." She reached up, tapping at her face hidden safely under the bandanna. "You, a third of the Detroit police force, and half the muggers in this city would love to know, huh?" She laughed again, turning away slightly. No, there was going to be no Iron Man reveal moment.

Just in case, though, she tugged her hood closer around her face. "Can I walk you home?" she offered, back in business mode once more. What the hell, it was a quiet night, and she wouldn't be slacking by seeing Lex home safely. "From a distance, of course. Only if you want me to."

 

[Rabbit]

ALEX TOWNSEND

The chuckle made Lex glad it was dark out, even the soft light provided by the streetlights were obscured by the tunnel, and hopefully that meant the masked stranger wouldn't see that their face flushed. Of course the face cover was there for a reason, and asking for an identity was kind of, well, dumb. But to be completely fair Lex wasn't sure they had even expected a name, and they got some kind of answer to the questions that were actually hanging in the air. What are you doing here? Why are you doing this? This person wasn't a stranger to fighting off muggers, this person wasn't a stranger to the police. The conclusion was that this was a regular occurance, that fighting of muggers with a baseball bat was what she did.

Lex had no idea what to say to that but they were asked if they wanted to be walked home before they had to think of something. It brought Lex back to reality for a second. They had to get home-- they really desperately wanted to get home so they didn't have to be in this dark tunnel any longer. Still, they hesitated. They didn't know who this person was, there was something familiar about her that had made them feel safe initially and theoretically, it should be safe-- she had saved them after all. But they were also wandering the dark streets of the Chicago suburbs masked with a baseball bat and that didn't exactly scream safe and sane.

"Um-- yeah-- Okay." Ultimately Lex would rather be walked home by some lunatic with a baseball bat who seemed to have a goal of some kind of justice than walk back the short five or so minutes knowing that there were people out there running around with a knife and ill intent. "It's not far though," They glanced at the vigilante --because they supposed that was what she was supposed to be-- trying to find something to say, but in the end they just kind of nodded and turned to walk, allowing the other to follow them.

They noticed now that their legs were kind of shaky, that the grip they had on their phone was hard, and their shoulders were tense and eyes open wide yet still terrified to look around. This whole situation was just absurd. And had they not still been so completely in shock they would have probably seen the stupidity in leading this stranger to their home and walked to some other space in the area they knew would be safe, but once they had arrived at their destination they were standing outside of Lex's apartment complex. They looked at the vigilante one more time, taking her in as if that would make the situation make more sense. It didn't. But finally, Lex was able to say the words they should have right when it happened, "thank you-- I um--- Yeah. Thank you."
.

 

[barnes]

GREY DAMARIS

Lex's hesitation was obvious, and Grey shifted their weight from foot to foot, leaning on her bat as she waited for them to make a decision. Never mind that a "no" probably wouldn't be enough to keep Grey at bay; should her offer be declined, she'd already made up her mind to just follow and watch from the rooftops. What Lex didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"It's okay if you really don't want company," Grey almost said eventually, before being interrupted. "Um-- yeah-- Okay." Lex didn't seem to realise that they'd cut Grey off, instead glancing around nervously. "It's not far though."

Grey shrugged. "I'm not concerned about the distance. I'm concerned about you being a target for the people still out at this time of night." She flicked her wrist, spinning the bat in an arc, unable to resist the show of power. "Shall we?"

Instead of an answer, Lex turned away and began walking. Taking it as her cue, Grey began following at a distance, close enough that anyone eyeing Lex as a target would definitely think twice. They didn't pass any real threats, though, as the few people that walked by seemed, like Lex, to be normal people just trying to get home. They walked like this for some distance, ending up at the foot of the apartment complex that Grey - as herself - had visited a number of times. "Don't worry about it," Grey said. "I'm just glad you're safe." It was as good a goodbye as any, and Grey reached out to touch Lex's shoulder, gently, just a brush of her fingertips really. "Take care of yourself." With that, Grey moved quickly - not quite running, but quick enough to hopefully evade notice - into an alley around the corner.

She didn't go away, though. Instead, she scaled the back of the apartment complex through the fire escape, dropping quietly onto the landing right outside Lex's window. She didn't watch for long - she wasn't creepy like that - but she did stay long enough to ensure that Lex had made it upstairs safely, turning the lights on and making themself comfortable at home. Watching Lex move through the motions of settling in, Grey felt a tiny bit more comfortable. This city wasn't safe, and Lex was so vulnerable and trusting that Grey had a hard time putting her heart at ease, especially with recent developments. She knew Lex wouldn't like it if she worried too much, though, so as soon as she thought Lex would be safe for the night she left, striding across rooftops to continue her patrol.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, and in the early hours of the morning Grey let herself back into her apartment, taking a quick shower and then settling into bed. In four hours, when her alarm went off, she'd be Grey Damaris, paralegal, but for now she was so very sleepy, and it wasn't long before she was fast asleep, leaving her worries about her city behind.