The first night out is always the hardest [Wilson] Pain was nothing new. In fact, it was old, familiar. Physical pain for doing something she believed in, even if only partially so. This was something she could hold on to. Pain didn't just leave. She rolled her eyes at herself as she was certainly turning into one of those annoying women who defined herself by her man. She had had enough of that.
The night before, the first night she'd decided to go out to patrol, the first night she'd donned a suit without the ridiculous cowl and ears - what the hell had Bruce been thinking with that mess? Her suit? Simple, clean, it had the kevlar, the extras that the Batsuit had, but it fit her - very nicely. She wore a mask to keep her identity secret, along with a voice scrambler - it looked like some highly proficient and highly science fiction gas mask. Sure, they could tell she was a rather tall built woman, but they didn't know which tall built woman she could be.
She didn't like hiding behind a mask, but she was protecting the ones she cared about, the ones Mal would want looked after: Kaylee, Inara, River, Book, and yes, even Simon whether the men admitted it or not. She didn't like working in the dark or keeping secrets either, but she was protecting them...and herself. Kaylee would probably see it as some sort of mutiny; Inara would understand perhaps. Simon and River - well, they really weren't ones to comment on secrets. Everyone had some. And, Book? Book she might confide in soon enough; she'd need to tell someone. Wasn't Wash always talking about the way superheros confided in the clergy? Or maybe she was simply wishful thinking, something she'd certainly have to curb.
So, it was the night before that she went out and tested her meddle and her suit on the criminals of the City. It had gone well enough, she supposed, but one had gotten closer than she had expected. The mask's blind spots needed to be fixed, as well as a point of security, a chink in the suit so to speak. The blade had gone in to her suit between two pieces of protective paneling, for lack of better word, and it cut into her hip. Thankfully it didn't go too deeply, but she was going to need stitches that Alfred, for all his great work, didn't feel he was capable of doing. She didn't want to go into the hospital, so she asked that Alfred have someone come to her. To use the money to get her someone to fix her. Simon was out of the question; she wanted someone unconnected.
Now the question became "would someone come if the money was right?"