It’s snowing in the city. The roof tops and alleys are rain slicked and icy from the freeze. Jasper thuough? He’s used to it. It’s always cold in a city like this. The weathers just as bad as the people. Neither are particularly enjoyable.

There’s a scream a few blocks away. The sound echoes off the walls and into the dark sky above. The stars don’t shine through the clouds. But one could pretend if they look at the snow from the right angle.

Jasper slides down the fire escape of an apartment building. There’s a teen lying the floor getting the shit kicked out of them. No surprise there. This is gang territory. He hates it when kids don’t know there place.

Everyone knows not to cross through these alleys. Jasper drops by anyway. (Ha, get it? Puns.)

His boots hit the ground in silence. His breath is muffled by the mask covering his lower face. The guy that’s beating down on the teen doesn’t have a clue that he’s no longer alone.

Which is why Jaspers katanas come down on his neck with a certain type of ease, blood splattering across the walls. He pretends the scream isn’t still echoing in his ears. He pretends he didn’t just take another’s life in cold blood, without hesitation.

The teen stirs slowly, uncurling from the ball they’ve positioned themselves in. Jasper raises an eyebrow. He didn’t quite expect them to get up. The blood spilling from their…everything…isn’t exactly a good sign.

They sit up completely, ginger hair cascading over their eyes. They look dazed. That’s probably a mercy considering the situation. Jasper watches as their gaze shifts to the headless body beside his feet.

Their mouth opens in the start of scream. Jasper is quicker. His palm clamps over their mouth, effectively shutting them up. “Scream,” he whispers, “and every gang in the territory comes running.”

His head tilts, “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Their head shakes desperately. Jasper knows they mean it. The fear in their eyes is obvious. His lips curl into a grin from under the mask. That’s what he likes to see.

He watches their face pale at the sight of the body. They swallow thickly, throat tight. Jasper can’t say he cares.

“I’ve never met anyone like you before…” the ginger pants. Scarlet colors their forehead from the earlier beating.

“You should be grateful for that.” He’s been told he’s not the greatest person to be around. Yet this kid ends up latching onto him like he’s a damn savior.

He’s not. And he never wanted to be.