Break Time!

John could only stand there and blink at Grace for the split second of time that the bruise on her neck was visible. He wasn't able to see it for very long. She reacted almost instantly when John stopped her. Her arms pulled tight to her form, her shirt shifted to cover her wounds, and she seemed to almost try and shrink into the confines of her own top.

He even actually had to chase after Grace when she chose to run outside to get away from him rather than deal with the sudden confrontation. He understood the need to do that, after all, he had done it himself. It was just... stunning to see the way she physically retreated from John... A part of his heart sunk at the sight of it. A part of him knew right away that she didn't move out of fear of him. It had just been something instinctive. Something that anyone would have done if they had been in her position, but it still hurt to see it.

She might have even gotten away from him, too, if she hadn't stopped after few dozen feet so she could unlock the doors to her car. It was all the time John needed to catch up to her and step in the way enough to try and **** her to talk to him.

"Grace-" he started, and the look on her face helped her to interrupt him.

"What?!" she cried, her hands wringing the bundle of keys in her grasp; "What do you want from me, John?" her words were strained when they came out, high-pitched and ****, as if she was already on the verge of crying.

At first, John didn't even try saying anything. He didn't try telling her that what was happening was wrong or that he could help. A part of him felt certain of the idea that he was already going to help her deal with the scumbag who did this to her. He just reached out for her. She shied away from him at first, her whole body flinching at the prospect of being touched again, but she had nowhere to go. With the slightest of brushes, John smeared the makeup covering Grace's face and confirmed his suspicions. Over her left eye, darkened in the markings of a gut-wrenching purple color, was another large, fist-sized bruise.

"Not that..." he muttered under a soft breath. He could already feel his anger churning in his stomach, twisting and roiling like a mass waiting to get out, but he didn't speak with it. He didn't show it. He couldn't bring himself to do that in front of her, and his powers helped to hide it. The moment he touched her felt similar to a dam of emotion breaking against his fingers. The slightest sign of physical affection, and the tears hidden in Grace's eyes came out. The feelings and thoughts she had been hiding throughout the day bubbled to the trembling surface.

Her next breath came out in an explosive sob. Her whole body shifted for a moment, to pull away from him again, as if she could still somehow get away with hiding this before John moved in. He embraced her slowly in case she still felt the need to push him away, but she didn't. Her fortitude continued to crack, and eventually, she just fell against him for support.

Her face nestled in to hide in the center of his chest, and after a couple seconds of standing there... she just resolved to cry against him.

His boss never came to get John, neither did Michel or anyone else from the gym. They didn't go anywhere after that, really. They just dropped to sit against the side of her car and talk. It was already getting dark by the time that John started trying to actually involve himself in this problem. Grace didn't exactly take to his involvement. The moment he started trying to come up with a solution, he could already see her start to shy away from him again as he spoke.

In a way, her actions gave off the feeling that she didn't trust John. It was minor in the face of the urge to go and find the guy who had been hurting her though. It took everything he had to not jump up and attempt to create some ability to cause unimaginable pain to the guy.

He tried talking with her for a while and did manage to learn that the two of them didn't live together. He had a key to her apartment but, after the first time it had happened, she had planned to change the locks on him... she just hadn't done it. He could see the worry growing on her features as she spoke with him about this, so he tried to reassure her. He tried to tell her how he would be there if she needed him, and he gave her his phone number, but it didn't alleviate her obvious concerns.

Eventually... she just changed the subject and refused to go back to it. She got into talking about his workout and how strange it was that it seemed to already be working for him. She gave him tips about what he could do to improve it, and with what seemed like no hope to return to the previous topic of helping her, John asked if she would start running with him in the mornings when he had to get to school.

He wasn't sure if she saw what he was trying to do when he asked or if she realized how much closer it could have put him to finding the man who was hurting her, but she did agree to start running with him before Grace eventually left for the night. Naturally, he only let her go after a few dozen reminders that she could call him if anything went wrong again and then was finally **** to go back in to finish his shift.

Now he just had to figure out how to win a fight against the mystery that was Grace's boyfriend, on top of everything else.