((No worries ^^))

"What's the origin on the name?"

Niké looked at the other man in silence for a few seconds, a bit taken aback by the question. It wasn't a weird question per se but he just hadn't expected it.

Niké pushed a few strands of hair out of one of his eyes before opening his mouth to answer, “It's Greek. My mom used to love Greek mythology and shit… She wasn't Greek herself though. She’d always say that my dad was but I doubt it, I mean look at me,” he said, shaking his head slightly.

“Anyway… My older brother had a Greek name and when she was pregnant with me, she made up her mind that she wanted to name me Niké, even before she knew my gender. Niké was the winged goddess of victory, or something like that,” he shrugged “Guess she was hoping for a daughter but she got me and still named me Niké,” he explained.

He didn't mind talking about his family too much, did he miss both his mom and Dion? Yes, he definitely did, a lot. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to talk about them at all. His mom was dead, probably his brother too and he never knew who his dad was. There was nothing he could do about it now so why cry about it?

Taking a bit of a closer look at Theo’s face now that he was up close with him, he noticed what a nice color the man’s eyes had, beautiful even, they were a nice contrast to the rest of the man's face that was more rough-looking.

“And yeah, I can probably guess what you're thinking, it wouldn't be the first time I hear it, I’m a short, feminine looking guy with a feminine name, I know, I know,” he said with a sigh, “I could still kick yours and many others ass though, and I don't say that as a threat or to be cocky, I’m saying that as a fact,” he told the man in front if him. He’d gotten comments about that a lot and he was tired of it so this time he wanted to say something before the other even got a chance to hint at it. “I know how I look but I hope you’ll judge me based on what I can do, not on how I look,” he said shortly as he looked at Theo.

Niké watched the man turn towards him. He had knowingly sat down on the man's blind side, the only reason being that it was the side that he could hear the best on. The grey-haired man shot a quick glance at the bartender who’d been flirting with Theodore, he couldn't blame her, the man had that “bad boy” look that most girls fell for. What he didn't understand was how Theo didn't show any signs of interest, there was nothing wrong with the bartender’s looks after all. Maybe he just didn't like women? Niké didn't think too hard about it, it's not as if it mattered to him, Theo was a criminal and not really his type anyway so why waste time speculating?

Turning his pale gaze back towards Theodore, he listened in silence, the liquor the man was sipping on seemed to start having an effect on him, making his words slightly slurred. He wanted him to steal the bartender’s tips? That’s it?

“Alright,” Niké said, shrugging a little as he watched Theo get up and leave. Stealing some tips from a bartender was nothing hard, it was nothing he hadn't done before but he didn't like it this time. He’d made a promise to himself to keep his hands as clean as possible during this undercover mission. He was a cop now after all, it was wrong but it felt even more wrong this time.

With a sigh, Niké looked around the bar, this time studying the people in it a bit, none of them looked as if they were interested in much else that was going on around them, most just sipping on their drinks and chatting with each other. Jasper had found a couple of guys to chat with but Niké knew that he was still keeping an eye on him. There was only the one bartender currently working so this was going to be extremely easy. All he needed to do was to make sure that she was distracted and he’d be able to pretty much grab the tip jar and walk right out.

Looking over at the bartender, he smiled softly at her, a fake smile but realistic enough for her to not notice. “Hey could I get a drink sweetheart?” He asked, getting her attention. He could see her eyes searching a little for Theo, the man had left without paying after all.

They started chatting a bit, Niké flirting a bit with the woman to get her mind off Theo and the other people in the bar. He could tell that she wasn't super into him but she, just like most people liked receiving compliments. After a little while, he was present with a drink and he thanked the bartender before taking a small sip. Niké wasn't much of a drinker, he had been more when he was younger, before he ended up with tinnitus, the buzzing only getting worse when he got drunk.

He worked on finishing the drink while continuing to talk with the bartender, pausing when she had to go and help other people.

After a while, Niké got up and put his hand in his pocket to grab some money, he was at least going to pay for his own drink even if he were stealing the tips. “Well I really should go now but here you g-” as he pulled his hand out of his pocket to place the money on the counter, he did so quickly, having his hand connect with the glass he’d been drinking out of and sending it flying behind the bar counter, shattering into a million pieces. To others, it looked accidental but it definitely wasn't.

“I am so sorry, shit.. I didn't mean to do that..!” He started apologizing to the bartender who’s mood he’d seemed to ruin as she looked down tiredly at the glass pieces. Niké looked around the bar quickly, a few people had looked up but they were losing interest quickly and going back to what they'd previously been doing.

“It's fine, I’ll take care of this but maybe you should go home now,” the bartender told him, even if she tried her best to appear friendly, her voice was much more hostile now.

“Yep, definitely, you're right, I'll go now. Once again I'm so sorry,” he said as he got up, placing the money for the drink on the counter as he watched her get down behind the bar to clean up the shattered glass. Niké glanced around the bar quickly once more, people had all gone back to their own drinks and conversations, well, except for Jasper, but he doubted that Jasper of all people would try to stop him. Niké quickly took a few steps towards the tip jar, glancing to make sure the bartender was still busy cleaning, before he reached into the tip jar, quickly grabbing all of the money in it and putting it in a pocket on the inside of his jacket before leaving the bar.

Once out in the rain again, he zipped up his jacket and pulled the hood up as he started walking towards Alley 7. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, opening it and frowning a bit when there was only one left. With a sigh, he put it between his lips and crumbled up the empty pack in his hand before letting it drop to the ground. The grey-haired man then pulled out a lighter, cupping his hand over it to shield it from the wind and rain as he lit the cigarette.

As much as he hated to admit it, he'd enjoyed that. Breaking the law always gave him a kick like nothing else could, there was just something so exciting with running the risk of getting caught. Now it made him feel bad though, he'd made a promise to protect other people from things like this, yet here he was, stealing tips from a woman who’s just trying to make ends meet, most likely just having flirted with Theo in order to get some extra tips, instead she ended up with non.

Niké sighed as he smoked a couple of drags on his way to the meeting place. As long as he didn't have to do much worse things, then it should be fine. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder before he turned into the alley, taking in a last drag of his cigarette, flicking it onto the ground as he breathed out the smoke before looking around a bit for Theodore.

((This got a bit longer than I intended it to... Oops hah))

A loud scream rang through the alley, so loud that not even he could mistake it for anything else. He stood perfectly still as he waited for the source of the sound to appear, ready for whatever was about to come.

When he saw Theo being dragged into view by a shorter woman he raised an eyebrow before quickly looking around himself at the two others before returning his gaze to the woman and listening to her speak.

Niké looked around once more before shaking his head softly, he knew his odds weren't great, Theo had a knife to his throat and he himself had two people surrounding him with their weapons drawn at him, and for all he knew there could be more people hiding in the shadows. Although they seemed to think they had an advantage over him by having Theo, they didn't.

Niké locked eyes with the woman, his gaze darkening ever so slightly, “You want me to believe that? I'm sure you don't even believe it yourself darling,” he taunted while grinning, he wanted to piss her off and make her angry, people became predictable when they were angry, “Why would you hurt him to get me huh? I’m trash on the side of the road compared to him. Not the brightest, are you now?”

“But fine, I guess I'll humor you this one time,” he said as he raised his hands a little while rolling his eyes. The grey-haired male watched out of the corner of his eye as one of the two people surrounding him walked closer but he remained still, glancing at Theo and the two others before he felt a hand roughly grab one of his arms.

Niké quickly turned towards them, raising his free arm and smashing his elbow onto their nose. It was a bit dirty to hit someone on their nose, it was such a sensitive place after all, impossible to not tear up if someone hit you there. He felt the grip on his arm lighten, probably having caught the other by surprise, he pulled his arm free quickly as he grabbed the wrist of the attacker's hand where they had their weapon, he'd prefer to not get stabbed after all, it wasn't exactly pleasant.

The man grinned with excitement as he threw a punch towards the side of the other's face, sure, he was rather small but he knew how to put his full weight into his punches so no matter how pain tolerant someone was, it still hurt them, at least a bit. He wasn't stupid though, he wasn't trying to bring his opponent down, he knew he didn't stand a chance once the rest came at him too but he had a plan and that was to disarm this person quickly while trying not to get killed.

Niké turned his body so that he had his back half turned toward the person as he loosened his grip on their wrist only to try and grab the knife. He didn't look too closely, too busy trying to not get hit, and he just tried to grab it, hoping to get ahold of some part of the handle but instead he felt the blade digging into his hand as he closed his palm around it. Clenching his teeth, he quickly used his elbow once more to hit his opponent in the head, this time getting them to let go of the knife which he himself quickly dropped and kicked in Theo’s direction.

At that moment he stopped struggling as much, resisting but not attempting to hit the other just as much anymore, now it was up to Theo to get loose. The excitement on the man's face was still visible though. Niké wasn't a fan of violence but that didn't mean that he wouldn't resort to it, he most definitely would, and he liked fighting, well, not fighting itself but the thrill that he got from it, it was addicting. But he knew when to quit, he was outnumbered and they had weapons, if he kept going he could get killed. He still could but if he survived now and managed to help Theo get free by getting him the knife, then the gang leader would have no reason to not trust him.

As he was tackled down to the ground, he started spitting curses while kicking and thrashing around but there was no way he'd get the man that had tackled him off. As long as he was on his feet, he was able to put up a good fight but the minute he was pinned down, he knew his chances of winning or even getting away were slim. The man had come out of nowhere and due to his shitty hearing, he hadn't realized that he was coming at him until he was on the ground.

"Look, it's over. You proved yourself,"

The words slowly sunk in as Niké stopped fighting against him. It had been a test? Of course it had been, he was stupid to not have realized that sooner, he'd gotten so caught up in the moment, he hadn't stopped to realize that. After all, how could they just have caught Theodore that easily and why hadn't he been struggling more against the small woman, he should have known that things didn't add up.

When he was finally let go by the man, Niké quickly got up on his feet and took a few quick steps backwards to distance himself slightly, still prepared, just in case. He was panting a little as he looked at Theo and the short chick, who had lost her grip on his hair and was instead hugging him around his shoulders, something the man did not seem to appreciate, however he didn't say anything about it.

"Well done, Niké.”

The grey-haired man gave a soft smirk at the comment before replying, “I told you I could fight,” his tone was rather flat as he spoke, not at all cocky and like he was trying to brag, just a simple I told you so. When he heard someone grumbling, he looked over at the man who’d he'd fought the most with, he then glanced over at the woman who wasn't in much better shape, maybe he'd been a bit too rough, after all, it had just been a test, not that he'd known at the time but still.

As his breathing was returning to normal and the adrenaline was starting to fade away, his body started to ache, the worst was his hand though. Niké looked down at his left hand, frowning as he saw that his palm was coated in crimson red, yet another stupid thing he'd done today, grab a knife blade.

The young man wiped the blood off on his pants to get a better look at the wound, biting the inside of his cheek as he did. He looked at the wound a little before squeezing it together a little with two of his fingers, wincing in pain. He couldn't tell how deep it was but by the looks of it, he'd need stitches, he wasn't about to sit in the E.R for that though, he'd have to figure something out.

Niké glanced up at Theo before pulling out the tips that he'd stolen and holding them out for him to grab, “She wasn't all bad that bartender, studying to become a nurse and everything,” he told him, shrugging his shoulders a bit, still not happy about having stolen the tips, “Hopefully she doesn't depend too much on getting tips.” Yes, he wanted to make the man feel at least a bit guilty, it was one thing to steal from people that didn't need their money, but a young bartender just trying to make a living? He didn't like it.

“Is there anything else you need me to do? Otherwise I'm gonna go now and get this taken care of,” he said, raising his left hand a little. It wasn't that it was bleeding an awful lot, he wasn't worried about blood loss but he had no idea how deep it was and he wanted to avoid an infection but if there was something else that Theo needed, he'd just have to take care of it later.

Niké watched as Theo sent the other gang members away, listening and learning their names. It pleased him that he sent two of them to return the money, he did still feel bad for stealing it in the first place though.

He tensed up a bit when Theo grabbed his hand but he didn't try to pull it away. He stayed quiet, watching as the man looked at his hand.

"I'll have to dock you a point for cutting yourself."

Niké scoffed a little but didn't reply. He knew it had been stupid but then again, it's not like he had time to stop in the middle of a fight and look carefully where he could grab the knife safely.

When he felt the man press a handkerchief against the wound he quickly pulled back while clenching his teeth together and sucked in some air. “Ah fuck!” He exclaimed, glaring up at the man a little. Niké had never been very pain tolerant, he could take it in the middle of a fight while high on adrenaline but afterwards, he'd get much more sensitive and sometimes even a bit whiny, depending on the situation and how badly hurt he’d been.

When Theo offered to stitch it up for him he stayed quiet for a second before sighing and muttering, “Alright…”

Letting Theo do it was better than his two other options after all, being either ignoring it and just putting a bandage over it or going to the E.R and sitting there for hours, plus having to pay a ton for it. He was going to be in bad pain either way so going with Theo would simply be best.

((Kinda on the shorter side, sorry about that heh))