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Red Hood followed the young woman down the street, running across the roofs to keep her in his sights. She was talking animatedly into her phone, waving her free hand in the air at times to illustrate her points.
The man stalking her, steadily getting closer, seemed to have picked her as his victim since she was distracted. When the moonlight glinted off the man's blade, Red Hood decided enough was enough and swung down to intercept the assailant.
A swift blow was enough to knock him out, and Hood set about tying him up and patting him down. He found two wallets in the man's pockets and went through them to find identifying clues.
The woman still hadn't turned around at the muffled thump when the man went down, and with the street quiet now, Hood couldn't help but eavesdrop.
Okay he could maybe have not tuned into her conversation and used his helmet's superior tech to get a clearer audio, but sue him, he was curious why she was so animated and distracted.
“Yes, I conceded to your assessment of Nightwing's ass but I still maintain that Red Hood has a nice everything, Adri-” she finally turned around when Jason choked and started coughing.
“Oh merde, I've got to go. I'll call you back later, chaton.” She hung up and walked back to Hood.
“Are you okay? Should I call Batman...?” she asked hesitantly, as he continued to cough.
He held up his hand. “I'm okay, just breathed funny,” he managed. “But I could call Nightwing if you wanted to do a comparison,” he grinned, though she couldn't see it.
She squeaked and covered her face in embarrassment. “You heard that?”
“Yep, I was right behind you taking care of a would-be mugger. You might want to work on your situational awareness.”
Her gaze drifted to the tied up and knocked out man leaned against a building. “Ah. Thanks.”
“Soooo,” he dragged out the word and she glanced back at him. “You often debate Gotham vigilantes with your acquaintances?”
“Unfortunately. Several friends got quite into other cities' heroes after Paris.”
“Thank you for being on my side then...?” he paused, waiting for an introduction.
“Marinette. Dupain-Cheng. Ehm, it was my pleasure-no, I mean-” she broke off her rambling attempts to explain what she meant as he laughed over her.
“I'm glad to have someone on my side. May I walk my admirer to her destination?” he gallantly held out his arm for her to take.
“If it's not a problem,” she placed her arm through his and motioned in the direction she wanted to go. “Do you not have to patrol?”
“I was almost done, just checking for any pixies like you in distress. I can walk you home.”
“Pixies?”
“Small, mischievous, fairylike creatures.”
“I know what pixies are. You think I'm one?”
“I don't know, you seem to fit the bill pretty well: small, mischievous, and you looks rather fairy-like to me.”
“Just for that, I'm moving to Spoiler's side.”
“Nooo, how could you betray me like this?” Hood dramatically wailed. “Definitely a pixie, you're spiteful and fickle too.”
Marinette huffed and kept quiet.