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It's a clear night, and if it's a little cold, well, her thick wool coat and her spiked coffee will help that. She's leaning against the wide chimney, sipping from her still heated mug, as she lets her eyes idly search the skies. She doesn't actually expect to see Angel coming in for a landing, but one never knows, does one? Blonde hair is back in a slightly loose braid post-work, her makeup not yet cold-cream'd off. Fingernails tap against the side of her mug, as she lets her mind wander.
It was supposed to be an easy bust. Nightwing should have known better. The arrival of Clayface had caught him off guard. And while Nightwing had been able to drive off the massive monstrosity of dirt, it cost him dearly. He took several hard hits to his side and he can taste the blood in his mouth as he tries to make it back to his sanctuary. However, as he swings over the building that Thea is standing on, he can't go much further and his grip on the line slips as he hits the rooftop with a thud and grunt as he tumbles end over end a few times before ending up in a heap next to the water tower.
There's a gasp, her eyes shifting to find the body on her roof without erring despite the lack of any strong light here on the roof. Her mug is set aside, as she crosses over the roof. "Oh gosh. Well, you've had a rough go of it. I hope the other guy looks worse." She certainly has a sense of humor, her hand up to run over his hair. "Any chance you can get to your feet and down some stairs? Then I can heal you in the comfort of a nice, warm, anonymous apartment."
Rising to his feet, Nightwing's right arm hangs loosely to his side, but he's grabbing a wing-ding with his left hand, preparing to throw it at the woman before she approaches and the weapon drops to his side as he coughs. "Didn't mean.. to interupt your coffee break." he manages in a pained cough before feeling the hand in his hair that calms him slightly and he nods follow her down the stairs.
"I shouldn't be drinking coffee this late, anyhow." Thea's voice is full of warmth and teasing as she hovers to make sure he doesn't need a hand. She'll grab her mug and hold the heavy door to the stairwell down open for him. The light bulb at the top of the stairs might reveal a face he wouldn't expect in Hell's Kitchen after seeing her in a designer gown and jewels. Her head tips slightly, and some of that pain in his shoulder will ebb, under a warm tingling.
"…slumming it tonight?" Nightwing asks, the touch to his shoulder surprising and warming as he feels it spread through his shoulder and one side of his domino mask raises in mild confusion at her.
"No more than you are." Comes the calm, slightly cooler voice, her eyebrows. "But no, despite my parents, I live in this part of the city by choice. It's closer to work." That's right, she works. She will move to pull the door closed behind him, before she will move down the stairs alongside him in case he needs to learn. "Lucky you I do. I'm also a nurse."
"I was at work." Nightwing responds, leaning slightly on Thea as she leads him down to her room and coughs weakly, the wheeze in his voice the suggestion of a punctured lung.
"And my mother complains about my choice of career." Out comes the humor again, a shake of her head. "Gone and done yourself in, haven't you? Lucky you, I can help with all that."
"Lucky me, indeed." Nightwing responds, leaning a little more on Thea as they make the way to her apartment and part of him just wants to flop bonelessly onto the couch before he chuckles ruefully.
"If only you knew. You're not the first…hero to end up battered on my furniture." Thea will get him settled onto that comfortoable couch before she will shut and lock her front door. Even as she's moving into the closet to pull out her large bag of medical supplies, his side will heat up in a sudden flare of warmth and tingling. "Fuck." The pretty, well dressed debutante of the other evening doesn't sound much like she did the other evening. "Think you punctured a lung there, handsome. This might hurt."
"On a first date? I dunno." Nightwing offers with a small chuckle, pained as it may be as he hisses, even with the warmth she offers, his hand touching his side. "…so.. that's your power, huh? Guess I finally found the right roof to crash down on."
"Never on a first date. Though some of them asked me out after I healed them up." Thea offers him a smirk as she pulls over the coffee table to perch on. "Super Nurse. That's me." Thea jokes, laying her hand on his side. That heat increases, burning hotter than just warmth, even as her other hand pulls things out of that oversized bag. "I never would have thought the handsome guy who looked like he'd never worked a day in his life.. well, I guess that goes to show I'm opinionated about the people my parents expect me to socialize with." Brown eyes lift to meet blue. "Sorry if I thought you were one of them."
"Hey, we all have our secrets. I mean, you're a beautiful blonde healing random heroes in Hell's Kitchen, who am I to complain?" Nightwing asks, arching a brow beneath his mask. "Though I think you might have me confused for someone else." It's a good thing she's keeping him warm at the moment, otherwise, he'd done passed out on her couch.
"You're about to complain." She moves him to sit in a different angle, which probably hurts. "But thanks for the compliment, anyhow. I tend to not feel pretty when I heal. I get too focused to care." There's a quick grin. " No offense, but your mask can't help you. I saw your biosigns at the charity event, and I see them now. Doesn't matter if I can see you face or not. The way my powers read a person.. it's a little like a fingerprint. Unless you're just an identical twin."
"Maybe that was my evil twin?" Nightwing offers as he moves and there's a grunt of pain, but it's quickly swallowed. Apparently he has a high threshold. "Would it be easier if I removed the armor?" he asks her with a small grimace of discontent.
"Did I mention people's biology have tells when they lie? True fact." Thea teases him, before she leans back. "Will it help you get more comfortable?" She asks him. "I can heal better when I can touch skin on skin, but it's not necessary for me. I can heal from across the room. Just faster this way.
"Skin on skin's fine." After sitting up, Nightwing peels away the armor and shirt beneath. He's taken a beating. The entire side is bruised and clawed up and what looks like serated teeth marks are along his ribs and around his back. Something massive got a hold of him. "What makes you think I'm lying?" Thea may notice, his bio signs don't seem to fluctuate at all, even in a lie - as if he's been trained to keep them subdubed.
"Because you don't have an evil twin. Because the guy I met might have looked me over when his date wasn't looking, but he's not evil. I've seen evil." There's a smile, as fingers gently probe his side. "Jesus, did something BITE YOU? Those are not dog bite marks." Her hand curves over his side, and there's that tingling warmth, but bruises will start to fade a bit, those teeth marks closing over.
"Yeah. Killer Croc." Nightwing may have appreciated the touch, but he knows the pain that comes with it. "…well, you were definetly worth a second glance." he admits with a small chuckle.
There is pain, and it's something Thea is pretty familiar with. "You're sweet." She murmurs when he says she was worth the glance. Her eyes are a little unfocused, looking him over in a detached sort of way. "Killer Croc, huh?"
"You're not like.. coopting this onto you, are you? I mean, it'd suck if you have to take off your shirt and have unwanted bite marks." Nightwing admits with a lift of his brows as he finally pulls off the domino mask to confirm her words. "Yeah. Know all those rumors about what happens when you flush your pets down the toilet?"
"Coopting?" The voice is a little slower, and Dick might feel like tracking what he's saying is secondary. That warm tingle will travel from her touch to all the places of injury. "I'm not going to have bite marks." It will just burn her energy out like a gasoline fire.
"Just making sure.." Dick sighs slightly and crumples a bit, a lean against her, even if accidental as she treats the injuries. "Didn't mean to give you this much trouble tonight."
"Would it really matter?" Those brown eyes are faintly dazed and dreamy as they look up at his face. "I'd be doing it of my own free will. I could just slather you in antiseptic and bandages and give you some pills and have you sleep it off on the couch.
"Well, you definetly know how to treat a date." Dick offers with a snort, before reaching up to brush his fingers against her blonde locks. "This is taking a toll on you, though. Maybe we should stop for now so you can get some rest. You've done plenty.. and I can try to get the rest taken care of.."
"This is not a date. I expect better dress from a date. And you know.. an actual date." There's a roll of brown eyes. "You don't get to tell the nurse when you're healed. I need to finish closing this hole you put in your lung, mister superhero."
"Worst date ever." Dick comments dryly with a smirk, before shaking his head. "Unless the nurse is putting herself in danger.. and no superhero, just a guy trying to make a difference, Thea. Just like you. You're more the superhero than I am."
"I'm not in danger until I can't see and I pass out." Thea sasses back, and her fingers press just a little more firmly to his side. Her eyes slide shut, and that tingling narrows, getting more focused on the last truly worrying injury. She does look a little paler, and there's a hint of violent under her eyes like she's tired. "I'm not a superhero. That's been made very clear to me."
"I'm not in danger until I can't see and I pass out." Thea sasses back, and her fingers press just a little more firmly to his side. Her eyes slide shut, and that tingling narrows, getting more focused on the last truly worrying injury. She does look a little paler, and there's a hint of violet under her eyes like she's tired. "I'm not a superhero. That's been made very clear to me."
"By who? Someone that don't know what a superhero is, probably." Dick puts his hand on hers, covering it for a moment. "You shouldn't make this a habit though, inviting random heroes into your house." he comments with a smirk before withdrawing his hand, "Now. You need to rest.. and I should probably get ready to head off." He's not going to make any assumptions about spending the night with her.
"By people who think being a mutant is kin to being untrustworthy. By people who say they want me, my powers, and.. then leave me sort twiddling my thumbs. I'm not a hero, Dick." There's a deep breath in, a relaxation sliding through her shoulders as her hand slides down his side. That tingling slowly fades, and her eyes open again, able to focus on his. "I'm not even a regular hero, let alone super." There's a thin, fragile smile. "You shouldn't be going anywhere. I healed that puncture in your lung, but lungs are tricky. You should take off your shoes, and make yourself comfortable." The faint shadows under her eyes, the hint of paleness make the blonde seem a little more fragile, a little less vital, than just moments before on the roof. "Who's going to heal you knuckleheads if I don't? Not like I couldn't defend myself."
"And that selflessness, Thea? That's what makes you the hero that all of us wish we could be." Dick gives the blonde a hug, holding her close for a moment before he pulls back a little. "And I don't want to impose in case one of those other heroes that you take care of comes to you for help." he points out to her gently. "There is much more to you than what meets the eye, but I'm a terrible example of exactly what you described. I tend to work on my own, get myself in trouble, and try to crawl my own way out."
"I'm not selfless. After all, if I don't heal you, and I get in trouble, who's going to save me?" There's a widening of brown eyes in an almost innocent expression, putting on a bit of the blonde bubbleheaded air that most people would expect out of her, meeting the 'other' her first. "I have a strict limit of healing one hero a night. After all, too many heroes, a girl may swoon." There's a smirk at that, before she points back and pokes him in the chest. "Stop arguing with the medical professional, Dick. There's so much more of me you don't know." That smirk lingers as she moves to rise, a kiss dropped to his forehead. "Let me see what I've got to eat in the kitchen. You need food, and sleep, and THEN you can leave."
His hands touch her sides for a moment. "I don't remember you being Doctor Thea." he comments playfully, but she's moving away and he doesn't go chasing after her. However, when she goes into the kitchen, and comes back? He's gone. Blame his mentor and trainer for that one. The curtain flutters in the breeze from the open window, and Nightwing is back out into the night. Not even a thank you, gosh!
Thea gives a faint sigh, but it's hardly the first time. She'll set down the glass of water and pain pills, and move to shut and latch the lock on the window. And then the rest of the windows and the bolt on the door. A hot shower, and then she crawls into bed. She is tired, after healing, after all.
The next morning, there will be a delivery to Thea's apartment. Among the fully stocked medical equipment and gear for a small practice is a boquet of flowers is a small note:
'Thanks, 'Doctor'.
- Dick'