Chapter Text
The city lights shined as police sirens were heard from a distance. Josh stood in the rooftop of "La Casa", the run down apartments on top of his favorite Mexican restaurant. Mrs. Peralta had the best Mexican food he had ever tried. But Josh wasn't thinking about her food tonight, he wasn't even thinking about the cold weather which was freezing and causing his hands to turn blue. He was thinking about the man in black. The man who had saved his life had caused him to not be able to sleep for a year because of all the questions he had. Who was that man? Where is he now? He had asked God these questions many times before, but it seemed like he didn't have an answer as well. All Josh could do was stay up at night, and see if he could spot the man and finally thank him.
"I need to find you" Josh whispered to the wind. He looked at his phone as the clock changed to 1 am and decided that it would do him no good to stay out in the cold any longer so he zipped up his jacket all the way up and started heading home.
Black mask. Black shirt. Black pants and boots. Josh's mind spoke. Not too tall, maybe 5'9, 5'10. Didn't have much facial hair. Or did he? No, no. He didn't. Josh groaned as his mind tried to recreate the image of the man who saved his life. He knew it wasn't healthy to think about someone this much, he also knew how nuts it was but he couldn't help it. Josh was a curious guy and this hero, his hero, was the peak of his curiosity. If he only knew who he was, then Josh would finally find some peace of mind. However as the days passed by, it seemed like he would never find the man. I should just give up. Josh thought constantly, but the hope of seeing the man again was too strong. It was stronger than he was.
Josh kept walking through the quiet streets, his hands now burning from the cold. He used to be afraid of walking through the New York streets at night, but ever since these "superheroes" started emerging and protecting the city, he felt better protected. If he had been saved once, he could be saved again. Josh got closer to his apartment when his heart skipped a beat. He felt nervous. He would usually dismiss this as his anxiety acting up, but this time it was different. He looked around and saw nothing unusual. Breathe Josh. Josh took a step forward when suddenly, he felt a strong pull on shoulder. Out of instinct, Josh quickly turned and punched whoever it was in the direction where their face would be. A grunt escaped the person, who Josh realized was a man, as his body hit the ground with a loud thud. Josh circled the man he had punched as his hands reached down to remove the hoodie from the individual's face.
"I should have known better than to scare you".
Josh sighed as he lifted the man up and carefully inspected his face. "You're an idiot. Did I hurt you badly?"
The man laughed. "No, I knew you would do that so I moved away as fast as I could, you did still manage to slightly hit me though."
"Don't do that again Tyler." Josh scolded his best friend as he looked at the bruise he had given the tired young man. "What are you doing here anyway? It's late."
"I should be asking you the same thing." Tyler said as he put his hoodie back on and walked with Josh to his apartment. "I couldn't sleep and decided to come and see if you were awake."
"You know I don't like when you're by yourself at night Tyler. It's not safe."
"Yet you were doing the exact same thing." Josh stood still. "If anyone should be worried it should be me. I bet you were trying to find that guy weren't you." Tyler's tone changed to a more serious one.
Josh sighed and continued walking. "I need to find him Tyler. He saved my life. I would be dead if it wasn't for him."
"We, we would be dead." Tyler corrected him as he walked by his side. "I know you want to find him, I do too, but you shouldn't be staying up at night and risking your health to find him." Josh remained quiet. "Dude look at me." Josh stopped walking once more and turned to look at the bruised boy. "Stop putting yourself in danger. We'll find him someday. Alright?"
"Yeah yeah. Alright." Josh smiled at Tyler.
Tyler smiled back at Josh and hugged him tightly. The boys hugged each other as the wind got colder until finally breaking apart. "C'mon, I deserve a coffee for that punch you gave me." Josh smiled and nodded. He was right, if Tyler hadn't dodged Josh's fist, Tyler might have been completely knocked out.
The boys continued walking in silence until they reached Josh's apartment. There, they spent an hour drinking coffee till their eyes closed and their bodies were sprawled over the old yet oddly comfy couch.