The One-Seven

Chapter 32: Gut Feelings

Percy took a pull from his mug, drawing his coat a little tighter around him. Every time the damn door opened, a draft of cold wind blew into the restaurant. He might have been from New York, but he had spent almost all of his life either on the West Coast, or in the desert. He hated cold weather. He'd hated it in Metropolis and he hated it in Gotham.

He was waiting in the restaurant that Dinah, Montoya and Percy often frequented whenever they got together. Dinah had been quick to answer his call, and had readily agreed to meet up with him.

Another draft of wind blew through the restaurant and Percy looked up in time to catch the eye of Dinah as she shucked off a hefty wool cap and smiled at him. Standing up from the booth, Percy met her at the edge of the booth and embraced her.

"You scared the shit out of me," she said as she wrapped her arms tightly around him,

"Sorry about that," said Percy softly, "Didn't mean to scare you like that,"

She broke the embrace and smiled up at him, "I know that," she pat him on the chest, "Doesn't mean it didn't scare the hell out of me though," She took a step back and shook her jacket off, a dusting of snow falling free from the coat as she tossed the jacket into the corner of the booth. Following her lead, Percy sat back down in the booth.

As he sat down and Dinah perused the drink menu, he noticed that something was a little off about her. She was sitting a little stiffly. Her shoulders were wound tight, and her brow was furrowed. Not in the way she would furrow her brow when she was thinking, but when she was stressed or anxious. She was gripping the menu so tightly that her knuckles were turning white, and her foot tapped an anxious rhythm on the floor.

"Hey," said Percy, "You doing all right?"

"Huh?" Said Dinah, looking up in surprise, her eyes crossed for a moment before refocusing, "Oh, yeah-yeah I'm fine. I'm okay."

"You sure?" Percy asked again, "You just seem a little tense,"

Dinah gave him a shaky smile but nodded, "Yeah, I promise. Just-just a little work-related stress is all. I'm fine, I promise." Then, seemingly realizing something, she reached out and wrapped her hand around his,

"The more important question is how you're doing. I don't know if you're able to talk about what happened, but you know I'm willing to listen if you need me to."

Percy smiled, "I appreciate that, really, but I'm okay. I promise."

"Are you sure?" Asked Dinah,

"I promise," said Percy, "It was bad, yeah, but it was no worse than some of the other situations I've been in."

"If you're sure," said Dinah and retracted her hand from his. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. However, unlike when they normally spent time together, the silence was not comfortable. It was tense, and frigid. Like a heavy weight was sitting over their table.

"Percy," said Dinah softly, "Can-can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," said Percy easily,

"Why...why become a cop? Surely with what you can do-I mean after everything you've done, you'd want to do something a little more peaceful or-or something."

Percy's own brow furrowed in response.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." She bit her lip and fiddled with her hands, "I mean I know you've told me about how things ended in the military...and I know things didn't end well, but after everything that's happened, why continue to live a dangerous life? You're not an inherently violent man, you seem to actually crave peace...so why choose a profession where you continue to use and use violence?"