He'd only been here since the start of this latest school year but he'd seen Alec start enough fights for less, and that had him a little worried. It wasn't that he couldn't hold his own in a fight, you didn't grow up with Kate Bishop as a mom and not learn a few moves, it was just that Cliff was incredibly non-confrontational. Somehow the in-your-face daring of both his parents hadn't been passed onto him. To top it all off he didn't really know how Alec's powers worked. He'd heard that Alec could copy powers but the guy had never copied his so he didn't understand how it worked.
Still, having a rather unpredictable at times guy with his arm around you suddenly go 'ah, fuck me' with glowing eyes while you'd just been about to try and escape didn't exactly make you feel safe. So Cliff blinked and for a moment was a blur as he took a quick step back and away, eyes darting between Alec and the rest of the hallway and assessing the best way he might manage getting out of here.