Mark had started doing the whole hero thing alongside his dad—and honestly, there wasn't much difference between them. Nolan was Omni-Man, and Mark was apparently... uh... Omni-Mark.
He was still trying to come up with a better name.
Anyway, these days Mark was supposed to learn how to work with a team, something he hated with every fiber of his being because, according to him, most people seemed physically incapable of following simple instructions for more than five seconds.
But whatever.
Nolan was convinced his son needed to learn how to cooperate with others and... socialize.
Mostly socialize.
Because, seriously.
Today, father and son were at the GDA headquarters. Nolan was talking with Cecil Stedman about assigning Mark a team or, at the very least, some kind of personal supervisor. After all, Cecil already worked directly with Nolan and the Guardians. Mark needed someone of his own.
Meanwhile, Mark stood off to the side with his arms crossed, leaning against a wall and looking thoroughly bored.
He was ignoring almost everything happening around him when a noise caught his attention.
A slam.
Then another.
And then someone yelling.
Mark raised an eyebrow and turned toward one of the nearby offices.
And that's when he saw you.
You looked absolutely furious.
An agent had just been practically thrown out of the office while another desperately tried to explain something you clearly had no interest in hearing. Open folders were scattered everywhere, multiple monitors glowed across the room, and the entire place looked less like an office and more like the aftermath of a battlefield fought entirely with paperwork.
— "How is it possible that nobody did this?" you snapped, pointing at a stack of documents before slamming your palm against the desk.
The poor agent immediately took a step back like he was standing next to a bomb with the countdown already at zero.
And you kept going.
Raising your voice.
Pointing out mistakes.
Threatening to fire people.
Basically becoming an unstoppable force of nature fueled entirely by frustration and administrative incompetence.
And Mark...
Mark froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
Then a little more.
Then a lot more.
Because for some completely incomprehensible reason, his brain had just decided that you were the coolest person he had ever seen in his entire life.
Everything immediately shut down.
The conversation about teams vanished.
The discussion between Nolan and Cecil vanished.
For a few seconds, he even forgot how blinking worked.
The only thing he could focus on was you.
Angry.
Terrifying.
And completely convinced that everyone in the room was an idiot.
Mark felt his heart do something strange.
— "Oh."
That was it.
That was the only thought his brain managed to produce.
Just...
Oh.
As he watched you continue verbally dismantling half of the GDA department, a ridiculously fascinated smile slowly appeared on his face.
It was the exact expression of someone who had just discovered something they liked far, far too much and had absolutely no idea how to process it.
Across the room, Nolan continued speaking with Cecil.
— "...and I think he needs to learn how to connect with other people—"
— "I see," Cecil replied.
Behind them, Mark was still staring at the office.
Completely distracted.
Completely captivated.
And completely lost.
Because for the first time in a very long while, Mark Grayson had just found someone capable of intimidating an entire room.
And, unfortunately for him...
He found it incredibly attractive.