The Villain Storage Unit was as full as ever. It's not a surprise, all heroes have come back with escaped villains who broke out during a sudden blackout in the VSU.
The room was filled with loud voices, all yelling, talking to one another or insults being thrown at me. I just rolled my eyes at them, maaaaybe threw one or two insults back at them.
I was looking for one specific villain.
Why?
Orders.

....

No seriously, I was ordered to check on this particular villain. Like a status check, given he was deactivated for a moment during his defeat.
Was I the one who defeated him? Yes and no. Yes, because I was fighting him the whole time and eventually beat him. No, because my teammate was the one who gave me the correct strategy to defeat him. What, you thought I was gonna take all the credit like it was some glorious battle? I'm not that stuck up. At least I hope not-

He was sitting in his little cell, back leaned against the wall, behind the laser bars. If I'm being honest, it's kind of a pain in the eyes, the bright bars. I leaned against the cell frame.

"Hey, Phantom."

The villain looked at me and just hummed in response.
God damnit, now all of a sudden he isn't so chatty? The villain who so willingly revealed his evil plans to Zib with that french accent of his?
"How are you?"
The guy stretched with a groan. I am just now noticing that the cell is not big enough for his height. It's not wide enough, not tall enough and not long enough either. Maybe I should report that to the head of the VSU.
He finally said: "Meh, could be worse."
"And physically?" "My back hurts from laying around all day. But hey, I'm able to walk into a handstand, literally."
At least he's being optimistic, I suppose.
We both leaned against the wall in silence for a moment.
"These lasers hurt my eyes."
"Do they, now?" Okay, that came out more rude than I intended to. I shook my head a little. Hey, manners still matter, even for villains. Unless they decide to be rude themselves.
"I can ask the head of this Unit to change your cell to one with a glass panel instead. Don't think it's easier to break though, electricity still runs through it."
He looked up at me. I had to look away and blink a few times with how my visual sensors were overreacting.
"There were options?"
I looked back at him.
"I mean, yeah, we can switch the cells if someone requests it."
We stared at each other for a few seconds, before Black Phantom looked away.
"I'd appreciate it. Are there bigger cells too?"
"I believe so. We don't have many 'titan' sized villains, so I think there's still quite a few left."
Phantom nodded at that.

....

Okay, these moments of silence are getting awkward. I don't really have much to say, he seems fine physically, besides some soreness and the scar across his face, which was caused by the sudden power change to his circuits, I suppose. Doesn't seem like he's in need of therapy either.
"I'm going to go now. Do you need anything before I leave?"
Phantom was silent, but I did notice a small smile twitch at the corner of his mouth. Should I be worried?
He turned to be with a poker face.
"Yeah. Can you give me your number?"
The heat flushed to my face just as abruptly as his question. My number?? Out of all the things he could have asked for, he seriously wants my contacts? Fuck, why am I so embarrassed? It's just a phone number.
...
That does beg the question why he would even want it. To stay in contact?
"Why?" I just bluntly asked. He shrugged. "Why not? Thought we could stay in touch."
"Why would you want to stay in touch with me, a hero, out of all people?"
He stretched again and propped his feet up against the wall opposite him.
"I mean, you're chill. You don't look at me like I'm some pest. And I am kind of impressed at how you managed to fight me. Then again, you had the advantage that I was dangling from some wires, while you had things to step on. I don't know if the results would have been the same if I were on the ground."
I rolled my eyes and finally felt my face cool off. "If you were on the ground, it would have been six against one, I doubt the results would be much different."
He let out what I interpreted as a mock laugh, and put his hands behind his head. "Yeah yeah, whatever ya say."
I rolled my eyes again. "Just because you look good doesn't give you a reason to be cocky."

Silence.

Ah fuck I did not just say that, did I? I do feel my face heating up again.
"Ya think I look good?"
I thought it was rhetorical question, but according to his expression, it's genuine. I just spluttered out some random words without much meaning behind them.
"Yeah, handsome, good-looking, charming, whatever. Don't act like you don't know that."
Awkward silence count: #4
Black Phantom looked away from me.
"Huh.."
"The hell you mean with 'huh'??"
He shrugged. "No one has ever said that to me, so.. hm."
"Seriously?"
No really, I was genuinely surprised by that. Has he worked up his villainy career from a young age, that people viewed him as more scary, or something?
Oh why do I care, it's none of my business after all...
I shook my head and turned away.
"Whatever, I'll be leaving now. Is my number all you wanted?"
Phantom looked at me. "You're actually going to do that?"
I let out a scoff. "I'll consider it when you're out of jail."
I didn't care how rude it seemed, I made sure I got away quickly to not face more questions and worsen the already embarrassing situation.
God damnit, why is he, out of all people's the one who gets me so flustered? The one who makes me embarras myself in front of a bunch of other villains?

Outside of the VSU, I took a deep breath to calm my circuits. My face still felt warm, but at least not burning hot like before. I swear to Makuro, if I keep feeling like this with every future interaction we have, I'm...

...

I don't know what I'm going to do, the hell am I supposed to? I don't even know if this is permanent!
Oh god I need to shut my thoughts up...

...

Right, cell switch, I almost forgot...