"And yet, you kept me around." Nick very purposefully didn't disagree that she had been able to take down anyone dumb enough to pick a fight with her for a long time. He had been proud of her when she excelled in training, but he was protective and still felt better if he saw her get home safe. If anything it had gotten worse since he went meta, started going on missions both official and non. Nick had seen the worst of what both worlds had to offer, had seen it in his nightmares coming after the only three people he loved. He even kept her on the inside of the sidewalk as they walked like he did with Emily and Liv.
He took another long drag off of his milkshake, nodding through it, "You could. Because I wouldn't defend myself." On a more realistic note, Anye could take him out from a distance before he even knew he was being hunted, he had a lot of respect for her skill with a rifle, but hand to hand? Even now he would probably win, just because he didn't care about his body or the state it was in when the fight was done. You don't leave anything for the swim back.
But it didn't matter, because he wouldn't raise hands to her.