I don't really know where the idea for this story came from, but I'm glad it did because I've been thinking about this for weeks and it's annoyed me to no end that i haven't known what to write down. Then, suddenly - this appeared. Hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter One

Though friendship is

not quick to burn,

it is explosive stuff

May Sarton

And to think, he'd complained about doing patrol tonight.

Scouring the rooftops had never been his favorite activity - his heart was in the stars, not on the concrete ground. Even before the star-twisted helmet had found it's way into his hands, his head had been permanently in the clouds, so it was miracle that with his feet dangling over the lip of the world of New York and the glare of his phone in his hands, he'd looked up long enough to find the scrambling form of Batroc. The leaping thief's agile body leaped out of the staircase doorway to the roof, his laugh mingling with the background alarms to his escape.

A smile tugged at his lips and his fingers pocketed the phone carefully away in his suit, standing and stretching with a self-satisfied smirk on his mouth. He lingered where he was, his eyes momentarily searching the stars - Batroc was easy prey, easy enough for the last of the Nova corps to apprehend. "Time to go to work."

The blur of power from his helmet bled down and encased his entire body in a blue glow, his feet making a scraping noise on the rooftop as he was lifted into the air. Elation flooded his body, the sensation of flying was something he treasured dearly. So he set off, arms thrown outwards after the thief that jumped rooftops like it was child's play.

But Batroc disappeared suddenly, veering off of his course sharply and violently when he saw the glowing Nova tailing him, body twisting almost violently in shock at the appearance of the vigilante. Nova felt his lip turn down, a rumble of annoyance fitting itself into his throat as he sped up, in order to catch up to him.

But as he turned to follow Batroc the way he came, Nova felt pain bloom in his chin and he dropped, heart and body falling from it's perch in the stars and smacking into the concrete. A stinging sensation in his upper lip stole focus from the vague recognition of Batroc's brittle laughter. His hand pressed to his mouth and pulled away - blood coated his fingers.

The acrobatic leaper took the chance of the disorientated Nova, bouncing away down the rooftops as he collected himself, brows turning down in anger. Never had Batroc laid a finger on him - he was usually bouncing away, effortlessly slipping out of their fingers and out of jail, back on the streets by the next few days. So he felt his blood boil when the usually useless thief had gotten the jump on him.

"Alright, leapin' loser," he muttered angrily as he watched the retreating form of the yellow-and-purple clad villain, "enjoy the night in a jail cell."

The vigilante teenager reared upwards, much like a bull seeing red and shot through the air towards the escaping criminal. But as Batroc dropped downwards to a lower level of a building and disappeared from sight, Nova suddenly heard a sickening crack - bones being broken and a yelp of pain. In surprise, he pulled back, hovering in mid-air with a perplexed expression and cautiously hovered over towards where Batroc had disappeared, touching the ground and looking downwards.

Below him, Batroc wasn't alone. Below him, a figure clad in blue stood over the unconscious form of the thief, winding a coil of rope around him swiftly. Nova felt his top lip curl - Batroc was his to take out, not this...whoever this was!

"Hey!" he hollered, jumping upwards and onto the lower level of the building, stalking over to the figure that jumped in shock, bouncing away from the unconscious figure of Batroc who groaned in pain. Nova vaguely noticed a marring of bruises across the criminal's cheek. "What the heck do you think you're doing!? I had him!"

The figure turned, and Nova felt his anger melt slightly at the terrified expression on the stranger's face - on the girl's face. He hadn't seen the long tendrils of dark hair down her back in the smear of the night, hadn't noticed the soft and shorter body with telltale signs of a female and felt slightly guilty at the fear in her dark eyes, wrapped with a thin, blue mask. Now, he noticed, that she wasn't just a random civilian who had gotten scared and attacked - she was dressed in a light blue, high-neck open-shoulder shirt that continued down to her elbows, seeing to end in a down pointed triangle at the front and back, over loose fitting navy pants, tucked into combat boots. On her forearms, seemed to be light blue arm guards, as if she had been bred to fight. Another vigilante, maybe?

He was tugged from his analysis of her when her body suddenly relaxed, her tight shoulders relaxing and an easy smile pulling at her mouth, though distrust still bristled in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, hi," she answered, stepping forwards and finishing the knot over Batroc's slumped form between them, "you were probably the guy that was chasing this one, right?"

Her accent...English? Australian? "Yeah, I was - and I had him. So who're you, jumping in on confidential business, kid?" Nova crossed his arms across his chest securely, slipping into the authoritative tone of Director Fury, spearing his eyes at the olive-skinned girl that hardly seemed to mind his sharp tone. His mouth turned downwards, as her hands swiped up the bag of stolen items from beside Batroc's head.

She jokingly swung the bag with the glee of a child, taunting him with the goods he'd failed to apprehend. "Relax, dude, I just gave you a helping hand, that's all. Don't worry about it," she answered, tossing the bag at the brooding hero, who caught it sloppily, looking to the full bag and back up to - she was walking away. "Just forget about this, alright? Do with him what you will, I'm done for the night."

His jaw clenched like stone as she walked away to the parapet of the building, and as he tucked the bag away, he cupped his mouth. "Hey, get back here, kid! J-Just for the record, I didn't need your help!"

Nova could have sworn, her shoulders lifted with constrained laughter as she looked over the mouth of the stone-polished world. "Alright Sparky, whatever you say," she called back, and jumped into the gullet of New York. Nova felt annoyance crawl up his lungs and as he threw Batroc over his shoulder, he cast a glance over his shoulder - she didn't look back up.

The second time she made an appearance was on another star-studded night, with no criminals or terrified glances as she lay on her back, one leg crossed over the other and her arms under her head, hands clasped. Nova felt a scoff work it's way into the air from his mouth - lounging around in the dark, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

When he coughed, standing over her with hands on his hips - more adult than he'd ever been with someone - he noticed her entire body flinched, eyes snapping open and searching her surroundings with an accuracy that could rival Hawkeye's shooting. When her eyes met his, or rather the white panels of his helmet, she relaxed slightly, but she still curled further in on herself. Broadcasting an image of trust, yet completely unyielding. Why?

"What're you doing?" His voice trilled with boredom, but inside, he was more intrigued than ever. She was strange, and unpredictable - popping up in places she shouldn't be, lounging around as if she owned the place - it annoyed him. She tilted her head upwards, her lips coiling upwards at the intrusion of her space. "Don't smile like that - it's dangerous out here, especially at night. Shouldn't you be at home? Aren't your parents worried?"

Her shoulders shrugged, or as much as they could pressed into the gravel on the rooftop. "Probably. Aren't yours?"

"Mine aren't in New York. Seriously - what are you doing?"

Pulling back the annoyance from his voice, trying not to give her the satisfaction of seeing him bristle, she gestured downwards with a jerk of her body, brow lifting delicately above the fabric of the light blue mask. "What does it look like? I'm lying down, free country and all that," she answered, her eyes catching onto him like a hawk as he moved to stand at her side, looking up at the sky above. "Why don't you lie down with me?"

His eyes, perched in the pollution-riddled sky - New York is nothing like Arizona, Kaelynn would hate it - his head snapped downwards, jaw opening and closing around graveyard words, dying on his tongue. Even if he was known for being the laziest on his team, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. "W-What? No, that's just...just stupid! I'm not gonna lie down on the job."

Her mouth quirks upwards, and a scar by it's corner turns white with the tugged effort. "C'mon, Sparky, you know you want too," then, she tore her gaze from his, eyes finding themselves lost in the sky. "Besides, if you squint, you can kinda see the stars."

It wasn't much, but it prompted Nova to blow out the constricted air in his creaking lungs and drop his weight, lying his head next to hers on the rooftop and staring upwards, eyes narrowing. True to her word, the spark of stars could be seen through the light pollution of the ever-awake city and -

"Are you squinting?"

Nova sighed. "Yes."

"Sorry, Sparky."

"Don't call me Sparky. Seriously, why is that even a nickname for me?"

A soft sound broke the air and her realized it was her laughter, cracking the silence like the glass of a mirror. It was full-hearted and loud, and he found his own lips tugging upwards gently before settling back into the line as he noticed the veil of constellations behind the smudge of light pollution. Maybe Kaelynn would like New York. If she squinted all the time.

When her chest stopped heaving with laughter, she turned her head towards his, the dark brown hues piercing his. "So, you said something about a job. Are you a full-time hero or something, 'cause I can't imagine you get paid for that."

A 'hmm' sound rattled in his throat and he turned to her, watching as even though she looked at him and was physically there, her eyes seemed to be a universe away from this New York city rooftop. "I'm not going to tell you that, I don't even know you."

"Then why are you lying here?"

"I...I don't know! I should be down near Queens by now, not babysitting you," he hissed, turning his head away and glaring upwards, turning the heat from it upwards. He noticed how she moved away slightly, angling her body the other way from him. She didn't seem to like being scolded or shouted at.

Her smile diminished, flattening into a line across her face and turning the crescent scar white once again. "Sorry, dude, I just thought you should relax. By all means, go to Queens, besides," she answered, sitting up onto her elbows, staring somewhere that Nova could never quite reach, no matter how far he flew, "you don't even know me, right?"

Vaguely, he wondered if she was manipulating him into the guilt that pooled into his abdomen like hot lead, burning his insides with the feeling. His mouth opened to push an apology between them when -

"Nova!"

Both jumped at the sudden screech from Nova's stomach, where his hands lay on top of each other. Whilst he groaned, Nova spotted how the dark-haired girl scrambled away like a frightened cat, eyes blown wide with shock as she put distance between the two. Beneath the helmet, he raised a brow at her odd behavior before turning to the annoying spider-themed hero on his wrist.

"Nova, where the heck are you? We've been waiting for you at the rendezvous point for like, twenty minutes!" snarled Spiderman, obviously enjoying the chance to chew Nova out for being late. In the background, he could hear White Tiger complaining about the wait. "Seriously, you need to - "

"Calm down, Webhead, don't pop a web, I'm coming," he answered, standing up as he did so and adjusting his watch, casting a look towards the girl as she brushed off excess dirt from her legs, and bent down to retie her boots. "I just had a run-in with some C-list baddies, no harm no foul. I'll be there before you can say Nova's awesome."

He cut off the growling spider and sighed, rubbing a hand across his chin as he turned towards the shorter of the two, watching as she quirked a brow at the lie he'd told his teammate. She stood opposite him, hands on her hips as he addressed her. "I gotta - "

"You gotta go. No worries," she answered with a wave of her hand, fingers delving into the crazed curls of her hair and throwing it up into a pony tail, the same soft smile on her mouth but somehow, he knew it seemed fake. "Go meet your friends, I'll see you another time, Nova."

She enunciated on his hero name specifically, snickering behind her orange painted fingertips when she turned to walk away as he straightened, noticing that he'd never learnt her name. A choked, shocked noise tore from his throat and before she could make her escape down another fire escape, he threw a hand out. "W-Wait, I never learnt your name."

She didn't even turn as she threw a hand up, waving at him as she disappeared. "I'm no-one you need to remember, that's why," she answered, turning to slide down the ladder, and she peered over the first rig of the twisted metal. "Stay safe, Nova!"

When she disappeared down the ladder, he didn't follow. He shrugged his shoulders and bled the same blue power he always had, shooting into the air and down towards Queens.