It was midnight and in front of him was the place he was about to disturb with his magnificent presence.
He jumped from the building across the street and landed as silently as possible on the emergency stairs of the third floor, then began descending to the floor that corresponded to Colleen Wing's apartment.
He looked at the lock on the window and sighed at how easily it could be defeated.
It was the kind of lock that could be opened with a paperclip or a card, almost exactly like the movies.
He entered carefully, making sure not to catch the drawer positioned directly beneath the window.
Once inside, he took a closer look at the space, since he had not paid it much attention during the series.
Burnt air freshener sticks in the corner.
Worn-out equipment.
Walls beginning to show damp patches where the paint was compromised, several already clearly visible.
Carpet worn through in the high-traffic areas.
Security that was a polite way of saying almost nothing.
Poor lighting.
Heating that would not last another winter.
Punching bags with visible repair stitching in several places.
He was mid-inventory when his foot found the one creaking board in the floor.
He knew Colleen was a light sleeper.
He had seen what that meant in the series.
He moved fast, stashed his backpack in what turned out to be the drawer under the window, and went to the ceiling the same way Danny Rand had done it in the show.
He could hear footsteps approaching from the direction he estimated her room was in. Soft and slow, the kind that would have been completely inaudible to anyone without enhanced senses.
He did not see her emerge but heard the door slide open. He tracked her movement through sound as she walked the room. She passed beneath him, stopped for a few seconds, and then stepped backward.
He knew what that meant.
"Come out," Colleen said, drawing her weapon. "I know you are there. Do not hide. If you do not come out, I will make you come out."
'Damn, her senses must be highly trained to detect me,' he thought, then released his grip and dropped, landing like Thor in the second film, drawing both weapons in the same motion and pointing them at her. She immediately moved into a defensive stance with her katana, fast and completely composed.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Who sent you? Why are you...."
"Wow, wow, wow, slow down, speedster," he said, through the voice modulator that converted everything to the persona's register.
"That is a lot of questions in a very short time. I will answer all of them, but calm down.
I am here to offer you a deal. Nobody sent me. I work alone most of the time.
I am only part of a group when situations specifically require it. I am not here to hurt or kill you, in case that was your next question."
"Yes, of course," Colleen said. "The people who said that to me previously ended up trying to hurt me anyway. And if you are not here to kill or hurt me, why are you pointing a gun at me? You also have not answered who you are."
"I am sorry, but I am not lowering my weapons. You are pointing a katana at me. I will not put mine down unless you put yours down first."
'Damn. She is significantly more striking in person than on television. Is this a pattern with me, or do I simply have a weakness for dangerous women?'
"I apologize," Colleen said, with sarcasm that converted itself into seriousness and caution inside the same sentence, "but I have no plans to do that, especially when someone breaks into my home late at night."
She stayed in position. He produced a false cough to ease the atmosphere slightly.
"You are right," he said. "I sincerely apologize for entering your home and waking you up.
Here is what we will do. I will put my weapons on the floor and slide them toward you so you can see I am not here with bad intentions.
You can keep one as protection. You, in exchange, will sheath your katana."
'I genuinely hope nothing stabs me. This suit was built for bullets, not blades.'
He did exactly as he had described, placing both weapons on the floor and sliding them toward her.
Colleen picked one up, sheathed her katana and rested it against the wooden pillar, then picked up the second weapon and placed it on a nearby piece of furniture, never taking her eyes off him.
"Here. You will want to use this if you do not want to wake your neighbors."
He threw her a silencer. She caught it with her free hand and attached it to the weapon without breaking eye contact.
"You still have not told me who you are."
"I want to get my backpack from your drawer first. If you allow that, and if we establish some ground rules, I will answer as truthfully as I can."
He indicated the drawer.
She glanced at it quickly and nodded, signaling him to open it.
He opened the drawer.
Inside was his limited-edition Hello Kitty backpack, which had MBFF written on it in pink letters.
A gift from Wade.
He used it only for specific purposes and had no intention of ever throwing it away, partly because it was a gift from one of his favorite antiheroes and partly because Wade had a matching one and they called themselves backpack brothers.
When he pulled it out, he heard a small, quickly suppressed sound from Colleen's direction.
"Wow," she said, with a small smile and one raised eyebrow. "I did not expect a backpack like that on someone like you."
"It was a gift from a friend. Just by looking at it you will know who I am talking about."
He held it up briefly and then set it on the table. "Now. I would like to continue this conversation sitting down with some tea. What do you think? And yes, I will answer your questions."
Colleen was quiet for a few seconds.
"The second and fourth principles of Bushido," she said finally. "Courage and courtesy. From the moment you entered, you chose to talk rather than fight. Things would have been different if you had chosen otherwise."
She moved, keeping the weapon on him. "But even so, I am keeping this until we finish. Understood?"
"No problem with that," he said, and followed her to the room that combined kitchen, living room, and dining area, with a door leading to the bathroom.