Christian's voice sounded from across the street and Avery saw him emerge from the alley by the restaurant. How had he gotten there?!

"Avery! There you are. I couldn't find you for a while because this crowd is nuts. I'll never understand why people like goggling at disasters. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" he fretted.

"No, I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine too. I'm really sorry about this…I would completely understand if you wanted to go home and never see me again after this," he said miserably.

There was the Christian she knew. Why did he feel the need to apologize though? Was it for abandoning her in the bathroom? "It's not like this was your fault unless you personally invited Inferno here."

"Of course I didn't!"

"Then we're good. Want to get some ice cream or something? I'm still hungry because I didn't get to finish my food," Avery said.

She also needed sugar after her ordeal. She was conflicted about her run-in with Mercury and had been stressed about her date potentially being hurt. Ice cream would make her feel better.

"You serious?" Christian asked in disbelief.

"Yep. Unless you're too freaked out by what happened and want to go home. Because I'd totally understand if you were."

"I'm not…but I'm a bit surprised you're okay with all of this. People don't run into villains every day."

Oops. Fighting Inferno was the least stressful part of this whole thing because she knew her suit would protect her. A normal girl would probably be more freaked out. She jumped on the first excuse she could think of.

"I guess it's because Mercury was here. Did you see him?"

Christian accepted her answer easily enough to her great relief. "Yeah. Did he get you out?"

She smiled at the memory of being in his arms for the second time even if he had been holding her awkwardly to make room for Lily. "He did. Once I saw him I knew everything was going to be fine. He is a hero, after all."

"Makes sense. Heroes are good at that. I think I saw an ice cream place a few blocks from here on our way in. Do you mind walking there?"

"Not at all."

Avery began walking by his side and since he was quiet on the way there she had time to think. What was he doing in that alley? She had used it earlier because the bathroom windows led out there but the only other exit that led there was from the kitchen. Why would he go in there?

Christian may have been hiding in the other bathroom but wouldn't Mercury have gotten him out then? Why would he climb out the window himself and come out through the alley?

Those windows were pretty high up and not very large. It couldn't have been easy to squeeze through. She barely managed to do it even with her suit on. So why would he do something like that? It didn't make any sense. Unless…

Avery scrutinized the man walking next to her. He had the same general build and coloring as Mercury. His hair was messier than it had been earlier too, as if it had become more windblown.

He wore glasses but that was easy enough to fake. And there were always contacts; that was what she wore most of the time because glasses slipped off her face when she was decorating too easily. That didn't necessarily mean anything.

Their voices were different but wouldn't it make more sense to purposely change his voice if he had an alter ego? That was what her dad did and she had stuck with it.

She hadn't seen them both in the same place at the same time. Christian disappeared before Mercury showed up and appeared again after he supposedly flew away. Theoretically, it was possible he had appeared from the alley because he had done the same sort of costume change she did in there.

Was Avery crazy? Was she trying to twist the facts to fit her theory rather than the other way around? The odds of knowing Mercury in his secret identity were incredibly slim considering how huge this city was.

Plus it was completely insane. If she was right that meant her crush also had a crush on her and neither of them were aware of it!

It wasn't like she could ask him either. She was going to have to keep her wild speculations to herself. She already knew that dating Mercury was impossible because they were on two different sides of the law. He said as much himself tonight, lumping her in with Inferno who was nothing like her.

She was an anti-hero on a mission. She didn't do stupid, petty things that would hurt people in the process. She never hurt anyone unless she had a very good reason to and even then she was sure to make it minor.

Avery knew dating Mercury was impossible…which meant dating Christian was impossible if he truly was Mercury. But what if he wasn't?

She didn't know he was for sure and he would never tell her. If she rationalized this the right way she could have the best of both worlds. Potentially dating who she wanted without him knowing she was Nox. He would never be able to guess who she was because he thought she was a man and the suit left no identifying features aside from her height.

Could she do that morally? She had pined after him for months and he already liked her. The only reason she shouldn't take advantage of the situation was that she would feel bad for lying to him and fighting him. But she already felt bad about those things so what difference would it make?

Since he was most likely a hero he wouldn't notice her absences and be suspicious of them because he would be busy then too. Like tonight when a villain crashed their date and his conscience dictated he get involved the same way hers had.

Hadn't that been her main argument against dating someone period? All things considering, he might be her perfect match.

They both cared about making the world a better place even if they had very different ways of going about it. He was handsome, funny, and easy to talk to. Why shouldn't she go for it?

Avery had no concrete proof he was Mercury, anyway. She could treat this like she would treat anyone else that potentially wanted to date her. Being a villain and being in a relationship weren't mutually exclusive; Jorge and his girlfriend proved that.

"What do you want, Avery?" Christian asked, shaking her out of her reverie. She hadn't realized they had arrived.

She examined the menu before clapping her hands together under her chin. "I'm torn between rocky road and cookies and cream."

"There are these things called double scoops, you know. You don't have to choose."

Ah, he was an angel! She ended up getting one scoop of each on a cake cone while he got two scoops of cookie dough ice cream on a sugar cone. They took their bounty to a two-person table and as she absentmindedly licked her ice cream she scrutinized him further.

Chiseled jaw…hazel eyes…the same color of hair. He totally was Mercury, wasn't he? How had she not seen it before? It must have been because the different voice thing threw her off.

Though it may have also been the fact that he was a patent lawyer of all things. What hero had time for law school? Though he had said he went to Idaho because it was more peaceful. A lack of crime to stop would give him plenty of time to study.

"Uh…Avery? Why are you staring at me?" Christian asked.

Avery couldn't be honest so she smiled and decided to tease him. She had always excelled at teasing him as a hero. "Because you're so handsome."

Based on the look on his face she was fairly certain she broke him. She couldn't muffle her laughter. That was too cute! And here she used to think he was boring. That was about as far from the truth as possible.

"Really?" he squeaked before clearing his throat. "Actually, when I first picked you up I thought you looked beautiful. Light purple is your color. I didn't say anything because I thought it might be weird."

Mercury thought she was beautiful!! Avery was internally screaming but she didn't let it show. "Thanks! That's good to hear because it's my favorite."

Her nails were currently painted the same shade. She rotated through a variety of pastels but she loved this shade of lilac the most. She was running low because of how often she used it and needed to restock soon.

Christian busied himself with his rapidly melting ice cream and she smiled to herself as she got back to her own. He flustered easily, didn't he? That was pretty funny considering how he stared villains down without showing an ounce of fear. Then again, she was much more fearless as Nox than she was as Avery. It must be the confidence of anonymity.