Tony did his best to smile at Nikita even more broadly. He followed close on her heels, glad enough to be away from the front of the restaurant. The last thing he needed was a photo of him bleeding in front of the counter to make its way into the news or social media. Bad for him, probably worse for Nikita which was again, bad for him.

"Tried to stop a mugging. Brought a repulsor to a knife fight. As it turns out, I'm bad at knifey-knifey."

The office was tiny, and Tony quickly found a chair and dragged himself into it. He was putting up a good front, but the pain was bad, and he was exhausted.

"Just ... hospital would have asked too many questions."