Eli didn't see the man for a while after that and maybe it was a good thing. He was angry enough about the violation to his personal space to attempt something stupid, like trying to punch the guy. Unfortunately, he had to limit himself to scoffing at the man's so-called heroic acts. Sometimes Vigilante went off the grid for a while and when he was feeling particularly spiteful, he'd tell Michael the masked man was probably in some ditch.

"Harsh," the other man would say, an eyebrow arched at his co-worker. "You'd think you'd have nicer things to say about the guy who saves your bacon on a regular basis."

"I would if the guy wasn't a jerk," Eli muttered.

"He doesn't sound that bad." That comment came from Matthew, who was sitting in his usual spot, looking as shabby as always.

"That's because you haven't talked to him. He's surprisingly irritating," Eli said plainly.

"Well I'm glad he's helped you," Matthew went on. "I wouldn't want to lose my favorite barista."

"You could always go somewhere else," Eli pointed out, setting a plate of cookies on Matthew's table.

"But you make the best coffee," he said with a laugh, and Eli rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He stopped smiling as soon as he heard the words the man muttered a moment later.

Eli told himself that he shouldn't be so freaked out, after all, plenty of people had a thing for redheads. It was just that not many of them would say that in regards to him.

He'd tried to brush off Matthew's comment, especially since he was probably not meant to have heard it. The man had said it pretty quietly after all, and if the shop had been full Eli would have missed it. Of course, if he hadn't heard that exact same phrase from a so-called hero just days earlier, he wouldn’t have cared as much. But he had heard it from the Vigilante. That was enough to send Eli into a paranoid panic in which he refused to admit that he suspected Matthew—the mess of a man that regularly dragged his half-asleep ass to the coffee shop for coffee, cookies, and gossip—of being the masked Vigilante who regularly beat the crap out of petty criminals as night.  

In the days following the incident at the shop, Eli found himself observing Matthew a lot more closely. He'd never noticed how fit the man was beneath the sweaters and hoodies he usually wore or how sharp his eyes were, even when it looked like he was just relaxing with a cup of coffee. Another thing he'd apparently missed about his regular customer was how tall he was because he was pretty sure he was taller than Michael. But of course, it was hard to notice with the way Matthew slouched, shoulders drooping and posture absolutely screaming don’t notice me.

"How tall are you?" he'd asked one day, as Matthew stood on the other side of the counter, ready to order his drink. He'd looked taken aback for a moment before smiling in a way that didn't make his eyes look any less sharp. Eli had never noticed how sharp his blue-gray eyes could be.

"Why do you want to know?" he'd asked, and Eli was almost sure he was suspicious about Eli himself.

"Just wondering, I don't get to meet many giants apart from Michael," he answered easily, and apparently the jab was enough to dissuade any suspicions because he chuckled and told Eli that he was 6'3. Definitely taller than Michael. Matthew took his coffee to go that day.

By the time two weeks passed since Eli had last seen Vigilante, he was feeling pretty paranoid. He was also, however, feeling fairly certain that he knew who the supposed Vigilante was and was ready to confront him, if only to get back at him for the kiss he'd stolen from him.

The problem was, the guy was nowhere to be seen, which kind of took away any paranoid ideas about the guy stalking him. He was walking home after a late class one night, thinking about what was keeping the guy from showing up again, when he saw a small group of guys loitering outside a convenience store. And then he knew what was going on.

Vigilante had always shown up to save him—always—even though Eli had no idea how the guy knew he needed help. He still suspected he was being stalked, but it wasn't like he could prove it. The guy was irritatingly stealthy. But now that he thought about it, he hadn't been mugged, picked on, or nearly run over since he'd last seen Vigilante which gave him an idea. Maybe, the reason he didn't see him was because he didn't need him. Maybe if he were in danger, Vigilante would show up.

It was, as he would later come to realize, an astoundingly stupid idea.

There were so many things that could go wrong with the plan that was forming in his head that it was a wonder he'd actually gone through with it. At the moment, however, it was the only thing he could think of that would make the guy show up. And so—in what would go down in history as the worst idea Eli ever had—he crossed the street and made sure to stare at the guys standing in the parking lot as he walked by. He was starting to think that they'd just ignore him and that maybe he'd misjudged them and they were actually stand up citizens out for an evening walk. Of course, that was when he spotted one of the guys that tried to mug him back when he'd first run into Vigilante. It was only a moment later that he was hurrying down the street with a whole gang following him and he was starting to question his plan because there was no one else around.

Of course he'd be somewhere else when I actually decide to get into trouble, Eli thought grimly.

He was just about to make a run for it, hoping to make it to the next block where it was usually more crowded before the guys caught him when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder, spinning him around to face the guy that had gotten a face-full of Vigilante's boot the last time he'd seen him. In the moments that followed, Eli wasn't aware of about half the things that went on. One moment he was being jostled around and shoved against a wall—at least this time his head didn't bounce off of it—and the next he was watching as some dark figure dropped down from the freaking roof of the building behind him and onto one of the guys in front of him.

The events that followed were so quick that Eli could just barely register fists flying around and noses being smashed as he tried to stay out of the way. He was actually pretty surprised when Vigilante turned to him after what had been about five minutes of brawling, not the least bit out of breath and having just successfully knocked out five guys, two of which had knives.

"You alright?" he asked as soon as he looked at Eli. Eli could only nod.

"Did you just jump down from the roof?" he asked incredulously once he’d regained use of his voice. Even beneath the mask, he could tell Vigilante was rolling his eyes.

"It's not even two stories and I landed on someone," he said, pulling Eli closer to look him over. He seemed satisfied after being sure that Eli wasn't hurt. "I can't believe you got in trouble again," he sighed. "You were doing so well too, nearly a month without getting nearly killed."

Eli couldn't help but glare, even if it was his fault this time.

"And I can't believe you were actually around. What, do you actually follow me around, waiting for me to get into trouble?"

"Only on slow nights," the other man joked. "So, are you going to pay me this time too?" he teased, and if it weren't for the next part of his plan, Eli would have punched him.

"Fine," he said, feeling his cheeks grow warm.

Vigilante looked taken aback, probably having expected Eli to decline or just straight out punch him, but after a moment he grinned and began to lean closer to Eli. He was just an inch away when Eli reached up and tore his mask off of him, making the other man jump back with a curse.

"Son of a bitch!" he swore, a hand flying up to his face. "What the hell, Eli!? That hurt!" he complained.

"I knew it!" Eli said triumphantly, mask still in hand and an expression of absolute glee on his face. "I knew it was you!" Because only Matthew could be tall and strong enough to do the things Vigilante did just like only Matthew would know his name and— apparently—have a thing for redheads. He didn't get to enjoy his victory for too long though, because a moment later he was being pulled aside to some dark corner between the back of an apartment building and a barbershop and Matthew was glaring at him.

"Mask, now," he said, hand extended in front of him and Eli didn't even argue, just placed the mask on his hand and watched him stuff it in a pocket and pull up the hood of his top. He looked pretty intimidating with his face shadowed and a frown on his face and Eli had to wonder about the wisdom of his plan.