Mere moments before the gunfire began to ring out, a single black-clad hand reached out from the shadows of a nearby burned out vehicle husk and pulled Malia into cover, saving her from the hail of bullets that immediately followed. "We've got to stop meeting like this." The voice belonged to a face clad in a black armored mask that blended almost seamlessly with the shadows around them, as did the armor that covered the rest of the man. The voice itself, while distorted somewhat by the vocalizer in the mask, was still recognizable as that of the man she had met in the alley only a few short hours ago, though she had never before seen this particular side of him. It was strange for him too, as it was normally this side that he showed to those who knew who he was, rather than the one without armor or weapons or the distinct air of walking death about him. "Oh, and thanks for ruining a perfectly good surprise attack. Have you ever even done something like this before?"

He didn't wait for her answer, instead moving off to flank the approaching gunmen, sticking to the shadows as he moved with a seemingly effortless grace. He did have to admit, albeit grudgingly, that the girl had promise, but promise alone would not be enough to survive in this profession she had apparently chosen. She was going to need help. A lot of it. 

For now, though, he had goons to dispose of. It didn't take him long to reach the vehicles the men had arrived in, keeping to cover and staying just ahead of their peripheral vision whenever he moved, and he sincerely hoped Malia was not trying to emulate him. He'd trained since he was a child to move the way he did, predict his opponent's movements and gaze to avoid detection, it wasn't something you could just...

"Over here! I found her!"

Bloodshot would have facepalmed if it wasn't for the direness of the situation. She just had to try and do it, didn't she? He backpedaled to find her midway between one shadowed cover and the next, caught standing in a flashlight beam with a deer in headlights look. Drawing one of his pistols, he took aim at the guard that had trained the light on her and sent a bullet spiraling through his gas mask, then did the same to the two to either side of him. The suppressor he'd fitted to his pistol would conceal the noise enough that the others wouldn't hear the gunshot, but they would still be here in only a matter of seconds. Catching Malia's attention, he beckoned her to join him and when she did pressed his second pistol into her hand. "Gas masks don't have armor plating." Then he was moving again, though this time the shadows were plentiful enough that he was confident Malia could follow without getting caught.