I

As Thomas had told Walt, as soon as morning came and the offices opened up, he had made his appointment and started the process of fostering the girl. Though, he found out that the process was a lot longer and more complicated than he had realized, and was nothing like television or his own memories from childhood made it out to be.

Once the social worker had arrived to meet him, she wasn't swayed in the slightest by Herakles' presence, or by his many titles and feats. No, when they met, she didn't see the crowd-favorite hero, what she saw was a middle-aged single man wanting to take in a child. A child, she added, who would likely need special care, either in the form of her physical disability, or from possible trauma. And she wasn't going easy on him because he was a hero.

Emma Bullock, his assigned agent, laid out all the requirements for a prospective parent before him. There would be background checks, a detailed application to be filled out, references, police records, employment recommendations, orientations, home checks, training, and so on. And even then, it wasn't a guarantee for approval.

When Thomas spoke to the woman, she told him that they weren't going to put her in foster care immediately, in hopes that they could still get in touch with her family. After all, the best case scenario was that they'd be able to find her family and she could reunite with them and go home. And even after she was put into foster care, it would still be a few months of investigation before they'd consider her for adoption. Adoption hadn't necessarily been something that Thomas had considered, but, well, he wouldn't be entirely opposed to it. Right now, though, he just wanted to be approved as a foster father for her.

Though it felt like a mountain of work, Thomas was undeterred through the process. He had faced behemoth sized monsters and terrifying villains, this wasn't going to scare him. When he got the paperwork, he went through each sheet with the speed of Hermes and with the precision of Athena.

His home was well above their minimum standard, it was a cozy two-floor two-bedroom abode in a quiet little neighborhood. There weren't many children as most of his neighbors were of the older generation, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. His neighbors were nice people who valued privacy and peace enough that they kept his residence there a secret, as they would loathe to have the quiet disturbed by hordes of reporters day in and day out.

Though the second bedroom was currently being used as a study, he had informed them that he intended to have it renovated into a child's room immediately and that it would be ready for her by the time she was released from the hospital.

Income was plentiful, Thomas wasn't having any sort of financial issues burdening him nor any kind of debt to pay off, and his employer recommendations were top tier. There was not a single blotch on his perfect record, and his personal references were all from upstanding people.

Thomas had made sure that all the forms were done in triplicate and had been given to the correct offices within hours of completion. He attended all the required training sessions and orientations for new foster parents, and had even gone to as many option ones as his schedule allowed. And, if he used to his advantage of being a hero to bypass the waitlist for some, well, who could say?

Now, the paperwork wasn't a problem, and while he was still going through interviews with Emma and had more orientations to attend before anything was approved and finalized, those weren't difficult either.

No, the hardest part proved to be the girl herself.

She had woken up two days after being admitted into the hospital, and while that might have seemed like a lot, and the duration had certainly worried Thomas, the doctors had assured him the drug-induced sleep was perfectly safe and had been for her protection and the safety of the staff. But, he had been in the room with her when she had finally woken up, having been informed that they were taking her off the drip that had been keeping her asleep for those days.

He had still been in his hero regalia, having not stopped by his own home first to change into more casual clothes, and so when she had first woken up, it must have been quite a sight. A massive man with his face hidden by a lion's cowl—well…

She screamed.

Thomas, of course, had panicked and had called all the doctors he could into the room to have her checked over, thinking she was hurt, in pain.

Needless to say, it was overwhelming for a small child. She had hunched in, tried to make herself as small as she could while keeping her hand close to her chest. Her shadows had bubbled up behind her, tendrils coming out to swat away anyone who got too close while holding onto her, latched on tightly.

It was a miracle that it didn't become a blood bath with how agitated she clearly was. Thomas had been ready to jump in, try and wrestle down any shadows that came lunging at the doctors if worse came to worse, but luckily it didn't, though the shadows did make sure to keep the doctors and nurses as far as they could.

Thankfully, Thomas had caught onto the real source of distress rather quickly, a problem that he may have been the cause of in the beginning.

After a few minutes, the room had only one female pediatrician checking the girl over while Thomas stood awkwardly by the wall. The shadows had backed off to the corners by the bed, staying away, but keeping ready to lash out as needed. The girl wasn't about to fall into a panic attack anymore, but she was still anxious, hunched over and flinching away whenever the doctor touched her. Her hand would also come up and start scratching at the bandages over her neck whenever she had the chance, and Thomas suspected it was some kind of nervous tic.

"It looks like you're healing up rather nicely," the doctor noted as she withdrew her stethoscope and smiled at the girl. "Now is the hard part. I'm going to have to ask you some questions, could you answer them for me?"

The girl hesitated, looking up at the doctor and then glancing over at Thomas. Slowly, she nodded her head. The doctor smiled again. "Thank you. Now, do you remember your name?"

Looking down at her lap, the girl started picking at her bandages once again, her hand trembling, and she looked as if she was hesitant to answer. After a few tense moments, the child swallowed, "Alice," she said in a soft mumble.

The doctor nodded, "Alice? It's a lovely name. Can you tell us if you remember anything before coming here?" she asked and looked at her clipboard, and then over to Thomas, who gave her a nod. "Do the names Kita or Gregory sound familiar to you at all?"

Alice didn't answer, instead she stared at the bandages on her fingers. She shivered, the shadows began to rise, tendrils wrapping around her shoulder in a way that Thomas couldn't tell if it was to be comforting or threatening. "I… dunno who Gregory is… but… Kazuma-kun…" she began and her voice hitched to a stop. "I'm not supposed to talk about Kazuma-kun. It's a… it's a rule."

He wasn't entirely sure what she meant by it being arule, but he had ideas and he didn't like the implications of it. It meant that she knew who Kazuma Kita was. It meant there was a possibility she might be involved with the Yamazaki clan.

Things just had to get more complicated, didn't they?

"It's okay, you can tell us anything," the doctor tried, reaching out towards her with one hand, and then nodded her head over to where Thomas stood. "You can trust us. After all, we have a hero here."

Alice looked from her to Thomas, her face scrunched up in confusion, as though she were trying to place where she had seen him before. "Hero…?" she asked, though there wasn't the usual excitement that most children had when meeting him, or any hero. Instead, she seemed uncomfortable with it. "You're… the guy from the alley."

"That I am," Thomas said, slowly approaching her. "I'm Herakles. I'm here to make sure that you're safe, so you don't have to worry about anything, okay?"

Alice stared at him for a little longer and then shook her head, looking at her lap once more. "Papa doesn't like heroes," she said, as if that was the only answer she needed to give and wrapped her one arm around herself. "He might get mad if I talk to you, a-and I don't want him to be mad."

Papa? Well, that confirmed that she had family somewhere. That was a good start, and though her father not liking heroes wasn't something he was to happy with, even Thomas knew that not everyone liked heroes. "Well, we'd like to reunite you with your family if at all possible. Is there anything you can tell us about your father?" he asked, taking another step towards her, trying to seem harmless.

At his question she perked up, looking as if she wanted to talk about him. There was an excited light in her eyes, though she tried to hide it, the kind that kids had when talking about heroes—perhaps her father was the only hero she needed. "He's really nice, a little scary, but he's good—and he saved me when I was really hurt," Alice said, starting to talk in a ramble. "He's strong, and—he—Kazuma-kun works for him, a lot of people work for him, they all really respect him. Hayashi-san says it's because papa is the best there is, and that the others recognize it. He's really smart, and he, he,"

Before Alice could continue, the shadows wrapped around her face, dark tendrils covering her mouth to stop her from saying anything else. Her body flinched, her eyes went wide with surprise. The shadows let her go and Alice began shaking, holding onto herself and looking only at her lap as she fought back a whimper.

"Are you okay?" the pediatrician was quick to ask, reaching to check her over but stopping when the shadows lashed out in warning.

Thomas was worried for her, of course he was, but more importantly; his mind was focused on what she had said. It didn't take a genius to start putting the pieces together when they were all right there. "Is this man you're talking about," Thomas began, carefully eying the shadows. "Is he Chihiro Yamazaki?"

She flinched. Bingo.

Well, this certainly made things even worse. If she had just been a civilian caught in the crosshairs, that was one thing. If she was the child of a crime lord, well… it was likely that Chihiro was going to want her back. Kita was probably escorting her somewhere on his orders, and they had the unlucky fate of running into Gregory.

But, it also meant that the Yamazaki clan was starting to take territory here in his city. If they were expanding, that was a separate problem.

Even worse, it meant that there was a target on Alice's back. There was no way they could put her in a civilian's care while this got sorted out, not when there was a high chance she had criminals and villains looking for her. Boy, this was just becoming a bigger mess. But, it made Thomas even more determined to take her in under his protection.

"It's okay, you're going to be safe," Thomas said when it looked like Alice was about to start crying. "Let's move onto something else, okay? What can you tell us about that night in the alley? Anything you're comfortable with telling us, it's okay. We just want to know so we can better get you home."

Alice looked at him, scared and wary, but nodded her head. "I… it was late. Papa had brought me with him to work, he does that a sometimes. But, he said he was going to be there for a little longer, so, he had Kazuma-kun to take me home while he stayed behind," she said, scratching at her beck, her shadows gripping onto her so tight that it looked painful. She looked to the shadows for assurance, they must have given her it because she continued talking.

"We went through the alley, Kazuma-kun said it'd be a shortcut, but then someone started coming towards us from the other end. He was swaying, like he was sick, and started yelling at us," she trembled at the memory, sinking closer to the wall as the shadows held her. "Kazuma-kun tried to pass him, to ignore him, but then he took out a knife and… and…"

Cutting herself off, Alice jerked back, closing her eyes shut tight and rocking back and forth on the bed. Her breathing was ragged, her body shaking. The shadows roared to life and had Thomas pulled the pediatrician back a moment later, she would have been cut in half with how violent the reaction was.

Okay, the doctor was safe, and she was talking to others through a com on her badge, looking pale and shaken. Turning his attention to the child, Thomas carefully adjusted his lion cowl and started towards her. "It's okay, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you," Thomas said, taking another step towards her, fully aware that she was hyperventilating. The shadows lunged towards him, as if trying to remind him of what they could. He ignored the shallow cuts they gave. "It's okay, I'm here."

He didn't dare touch her, but he kept assuring her that she was safe, that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. It felt like eternity, but slowly Alice began to calm down, her shadows withdrawing into the corners of the room once more. Her breathing hitched, she gave a hoarse sob, but, there wasn't any immediate threat anymore. From the corner of his eye, Thomas just barely noticed a bird flutter away from the window.

It was better to not ask any more questions of her, at least not until she's had more time to calm down. Thomas did what he could to offer her comfort, making sure that there wasn't another flood of doctors as a few more came in to make sure that Alice was okay after her panic attack.

When things had settled back down, his small cuts bandaged and her original doctor left to give them some space, Thomas lifted his lion cowl from his head to free his face for her to see it clearly.

"Well, I think that I should properly introduce myself to you now that it's just the two of us," He said with a gentle smile, using one hand to pat himself on the chest. "As I said, I'm Herakles, though you can call me Thomas. Thomas Hendrickson."

She watched him with wide, innocent eyes as Thomas thought of how to go about the next bit. "There is some… ah… complications at the moment, and we won't be able to send you back to your, um, father right way, it's not safe to right now. But, in the meantime, I'm working to try and have you placed in my care until everything is sorted out. Would that be okay with you?"

Alice stared at him, and Thomas could tell that she didn't quite understand. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't understand that Chihiro was a villain, she probably didn't understand that she wasn't going back to him at all if they could help it. He hated this, hated tearing families apart, but, now was probably not the right time to try and explain to her why she wasn't going back to her family, why her 'papa' was a bad person.

Seeing Alice's hesitation, Thomas gave her a warm smile. "My, oh my, I almost forgot. Could you wait here a moment," he hadn't forgotten, but this was as good an opportunity as any. He was out of the hospital room in no time, making his way to where he'd left the small box in the meeting room he had borrowed, and making his way back to Alice in such short time that he might as well have had a speed quirk.

When he was in front of her once more, he placed the box on the side of the bed beside her, opening it up carefully.

"I may have taken some liberties to bring you some things to keep you entertained while you stay here. I figured that the hospital would get boring rather quickly, and that you might enjoy these," he explained, reaching in to rummage about. "Let's see, I've got some children's books, here's a couple of little toys, and, oh!" his smile grew after he placed the small stack of books and mini arcade toy onto the stand next to the bed.

When he pulled out the white teddy bear, Alice's eyes widened.

"That's for me?" she asked tentatively as he held the stuffed toy to her. Thomas smiled and said nothing as he handed it to her, and she hugged it to herself, smiling with stars in her eyes. By her response, one might have thought she'd never been given a stuffed animal before in her life.

A few moments passed before Alice withdrew from the toy, looking up at Thomas shyly, but smiling behind the head of the bear. "Thank you, Mr. Thomas."

The hero laughed loudly, a sound that reverberated around the room. He'd have to work on getting her to drop the 'Mr.' part, but he was glad that she was happy. Taking out a few more things from the box, he was happy that she seemed pleased with his choices, marveling at all the little toys and books, though it was clear that her favorite was the bear.

Content that Alice was happy enough with his gifts to her, Thomas watched as she began playing and sank down into the chair next to the bed.

CRACK

Alice's head whipped around just in time to see Thomas' chair break hundreds of pieces, the cheap wood and plastic unable to support his weight as he hit the floor, his own head tilted up and eyes wide in surprise.

Silence fell over the room. Thomas just sat there among the plastic shards, unmoving and stunned while Alice watched him from her bed.

"…I'll hide the evidence. We tell no one."

The awkward wall between them finally crumbled at that. Alice smiled and laughed, bending over and burying her face into the teddy bear as if to stifle the giggles and to hide the smile she wore.

Thomas sat on the floor, smiling like an idiot as she watched her laugh, feeling—no, knowing that he was doing the right thing.

II

Screams filled the room, though no one would hear through the walls, all four, ceiling and floor three feet thick with concrete. No one was going to come down in this basement to disturb them, not without his permission.

It was cold and damp, no source of heat, the only source of light the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Blood coated the floors. Bloodied tools sat on a table by the wall; pliers, knives, and screws, to name a few. Each recently used and coated generously in the red substance. Frayed ropes, saws, and canisters of gasoline were also on the table, ready to be used when all was done. A cage sat on the floor to one side, several rats squirming about inside, squeaking and scratching, waiting to get out.

Chihiro hummed as he circled the man he currently had tied to the cold, bloodied throne in the center of the basement. He twirled a knife in one hand, the other was morphed into sharp talons and dark feathers. He was wearing his usual suit, though his jacket was hanging on a hanger by the door and he had a long, bloodstained apron to cover his front to protect his outfit.

Face white and blistering, eyelids swollen almost completely shut, and hair, damp with sweat, sticking to his face, the victim tried to scream and cry, but the noise was muffled by the cloth gag Chihiro forced into his mouth. Even with his mask, Chihiro could smell the stench of piss and shit that clung to him.

He continued to hum an old tune as he placed his talons on the mans bare shoulder, digging the sharp claws into his bruised flesh and easily tearing through it. The man screamed, desperate, feral, tried to reel away, but he couldn't get anywhere as he struggled uselessly against his bindings, only making the wounds worse.

This kind of bloodied work wasn't something Chihiro let himself delve into too often. He had people to do this in his stead, and it was almost always done to gain information or to prove a point. This right here was for neither of those reasons, no. The poor drunk hadn't done anything wrong besides be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This right here was stress relief. This was him releasing the anger he felt over his belongings being stolen.

"I'll say this about your country," Chihiro said, his accent heavy over the English words, "it's much easier to pick up degenerates such as yourself without others noticing." He dug his talons deep into the mans shoulder, tearing slowly through the flesh as his fingers curled, wrenching them free and leaving deep, bloody gouges in the flesh. They would not heal properly, and the shoulder would not be as mobile anymore. "No one cares about you, not really." He dug his knife in on the other shoulder.

The man squirmed and screamed, muffled by the gag, his cries becoming more animalistic by the second..

Leaving the knife in his shoulder, Chihiro turned to face his workbench, sorting through his many tools, trying to find which one to use. "But, your country is terribly selfish, too. The most selfish one I have ever seen—it's amazing, really. The government itself has designed this nation to be one that preys on it's own people, while fattening the rich up. Remarkable, simply remarkable!" He found a zippo lighter. Good, this would be good.

The man was sobbing, from fear and from pain, squirming and begging to be let go as best as he could.

"Cry all you want, my friend, no one is going to hear you out here," Chihiro brought out a canister of gasoline from the counter and slowly began dousing the man. He cried and reeled back, but couldn't get away, sobbing and screaming, writhing in pain and squeezing his already swollen eyes tightly shut as the gas undoubtedly got in.

Chihiro was tedious and precise as he began to work. Each laceration given surgical precision, carefully placed to cause pain but to not be lethal. Chihiro wanted this man to bleed, but to not die. Not yet, at least. He wanted this to last, wanted to take his time, and he did.

It took two hours before Chihiro grew bored, his fury from what had happened subsiding. When that was done, he simply took the lighter and tossed it to the man's feet while he left. The screams brought forth some satisfaction as the smoke quickly started to rise, filling the room, trapped within as Chihiro closed the door and locked it behind him, sending a text to Hayashi to find someone with a water quirk to come down and douse the fire once the body finished burning. He'd need to send some others along, too, to dispose of the body in such a way that it wouldn't be found, not for a long time, at the very least.

His anger had been dealt with, the fog of rage in his mind had cleared, allowing Chihiro to now think of his next course of action as he continued out of the building to the car that waited for him, each step a limp as pain pulsed through the still injured leg.

Alice had been taken in by heroes. The thought alone brought back echoes of the fury he had just exhausted. Interestingly enough, the top hero of this nation had seemingly taken a special interest in her, or so his crows reported. Perhaps it was due to pity, she was a little child, a cripple with a dangerously untamed quirk. Maybe it was to boost his own image, taking in a child victim of the villains activity to protect and care for, that would give him an increase in ratings for sure.

Whatever Herakles' interest in her was, it was irrelevant. What mattered was that the situation as whole could be rather useful.

Yes, yes, now that he was properly thinking, Chihiro could see certain advantages in this situation. Alice, loyal and obedient Alice was in the perfect position, he couldn't have planned this better himself! She could keep an eye on the heroes, could provide inside information on their movements and weaknesses. A spy. Why, that was exactly what she could be, a spy! A mole in the midst of the heroes!

Chihiro would, of course, need to keep an eye on her. Obviously, he wasn't going to be able to contact her personally, no, too much risk. But, he also couldn't risk keeping her alone, unattended, among the heroes. As loyal as she was to him, she was a child, easily malleable, the heroes could very well turn her to their side if he did not maintain his control and influence over her, did not ensure his presence was still a constant force in her life.

His crows. That was the answer. They would keep an eye on her in his stead, report to him what she says, ensure she knows that he is watching her always. It would serve to keep her from switching sides, as well as letting her know she has not been forgotten or abandoned, which would also aid in maintaining her loyalty to him. The crows could go around without being noticed, they could watch her while hidden, and should the need arise where she needed to be withdrawn from her mission, well, they could tell him and he could have her back with him as soon as possible.

The more that Chihiro considered this plan, the more viable it seemed to become. He smiled beneath his mask as he gazed out the window of the car, not saying a word to his driver. Yes, he write her a message and have the crows deliver it to her immediately, so that she knew what her task would be. Couldn't have her not knowing what her own role would be, not when it was so important.

Of course, Chihiro thought as he spied ABYSSAL graffitied on the wall of a vacant building, his clan wouldn't be strong enough at it's current numbers should a fight inevitably arise. He was going to need to form ties, build bridges. He'd need allies.

Ah, yes, in the end, Chihiro was quite pleased with how this was going.

III

As Chihiro had planned, a few crows had flown to the hospital, and though Alice had been asleep at the time, they waited patiently for her to wake up, and when she had seen them, well, the delight had been immeasurable.

Of course, there was little that they could do with glass between them, and so when a nurse came to check on her, Alice had politely asked for a window to be opened. Through that, one of the crows snuck in, and Alice was able to get the small rolled up paper tied to it's leg, reading the kanji written on it.

Chihiro's directives had been simple, sounded easy. She was to stick with Herakles, frequently relay to him anything she learns of him or other heroes. Alice didn't understand why, and her papa hadn't explained. But, he had told her to stay with the hero, and she wasn't going to question it, wasn't going to go against his request. Besides, Thomas had seemed nice, and she wasn't against spending time with him.

That had been three weeks ago. Within those weeks, she was frequently checked on by nurses and doctors, received regular visits from people who said they worked with social services, along with the crows always watching, showing up at the window when she was alone, and Thomas who came by every day to spend time with her.

She like being with Thomas. He was nice, a little awkward, but nice, and he gave her a teddy bear, she liked the toy, it was soft and fluffy, it made her feel safe.

Snowy, the bear, made her feel brave when Emma Bullock the lady from the Child Protective Services who came most frequently needed to interview her. The lady seemed scary, and Alice never knew how to answer her questions, but she frequently asked if Alice liked spending time with Thomas.

Eventually, she was finally allowed to leave the hospital, officially being released into Thomas' custody. Despite how nice the hero was, despite being told to do so by her papa, knowing she would be living with him as her guardian, living in a new home surrounded by new people—it was scary, and Alice found herself wary of leaving the hospital that she had grown so used to.

But, she had swallowed her fears, hugging Snowy with her one arm as a doctor helped to pack up the toys she had been gifted, her eyes constantly going to the window, catching glimpses of the crows flying by.

When Thomas arrived, he wasn't in his hero outfit, but rather a simple suit. Even with it being tailor made, the suit looked as though the buttons might pop or the fabric tear if he moved too suddenly in it.

"Ready to go?" Thomas asked, smiling gently at her, not looking uncomfortable in his clothes.

Alice had hid behind Snowy before giving a nervous nod. "Y-yes," she said, her voice quiet.

Thomas had laughed, picked up her meager bag of toys and offered her his other hand. She didn't take it, unwilling to let go of Snowy, but Thomas didn't seem to mind. He just told her to stay close, and led her out of the room, sparing one last glance to the window to see if the crows saw she was going.

As she walked the halls, Alice gave the nurses and doctors polite goodbyes, earning farewells in return. She had to wait a little bit as Thomas did something at the front desk, but it was only for a few minutes and soon he was leading her out of the hospital building and into the outdoors.

"The car's over here," Thomas said, his voice soft and gentle as he nudged her over to where a car had been parked. It was black, but very big in width and height. As if noticing her staring, Thomas laughed, "I usually walk, but asked the agency to send a rental for today. With how big I am, anything smaller wouldn't have worked."

Ah, that made sense.

When he opened the back seat, Alice climbed in. Thomas helped her with the seatbelt, though his big fingers fumbled a little with the smaller pieces, eventually she was bucked in nice and snug and the hero moved to the front of the car, climbing into the drivers seat.

Alice marveled at the luxurious interior, not even the cars papa got were as nice on the inside—not to say they weren't nice, though. But this one had seats that were made out of a harder, slippery material that made Alice able to slid back and forth with ease, and there was a lot more leg space. Not that Alice had long enough legs to need the space. But, she could easily be on the floor and play and have enough room to move.

As the car started to move, Alice curiously began playing with the window, rolling it up and down. She saw the crows flying through the air, and offered them a smile while the window was down before letting it slide back up. It was good entertainment for a few minutes, but soon enough she let her gaze drift down to her arm.

It was still bandaged up, and there was still an ache when it moved. The doctors had told her that she could remove them in a few days, the shadows told her she should tear them off immediately. She glanced to her other side, where the sleeve of her shirt danged empty at her side.

The shadows writhed at her feet, slowly crawling up her leg and reaching for the sleeve, tugging at it. Alice frowned, and they tugged again. Slowly, she bent down, and the more shadows reached up, grabbing and wrangling the sleeve until it had been tied into a knot and shoved inside of the shirt. Out of sight, out of the way.

"Thank you," Alice whispered, and felt them scoff and mutter in contempt.

She grabbed Snowy and looked to the window once again, looking to see where they were going, surprised to find Thomas was pulling into the parking lot of a mall. "Mr. Thomas?" she asked.

"I thought we could have you pick some things out to take back home," Thomas explained as the car parked into an empty spot between two trucks. "I already got you a couple of outfits, and had spare bedding, but since the bedroom will be yours, I want you to find things that you want, to make it feel more like it's yours."

Alice didn't say anything, unable to find the words to say anything, as she waited for Thomas to get out of the car and opened her door, unbuckling her seatbelt and helping her out.

She'd never been in a mall before, papa always had others go and buy her things instead. If she wanted something she'd tell him and he'd find her it without her having to go anywhere. This was new, but everything about this was new territory.

Thomas led her through the lot with a large hand on her back guiding her forward, and she was surprised to find Emma waiting at the door along with an unfamiliar man. While the man beside her was dressed in a simple red button-up shirt and jeans, Emma, a pretty and plump little woman had her hair tied in a bun and was dressed in her black and white suit, looking professional as ever.

"Miss Bullock, Walt," Thomas greeted with a smile, nodding his head to them, and then looking down at Alice. "These two are going to accompany us while we're here. Miss Bullock would like to just observe how you're doing, and Walt here is a cop, he's just here to help keep you safe."

Walt snorted, "Took you long enough to get here. What, did you stop to sign autographs or something on the way?" he asked, throwing Thomas a look before glancing down at Alice with a friendly smile. "Hey, kiddo. Hope the big idiot is treating you well."

She held Snowy up as a shield, hiding part of her face behind him, and giggled a little at Walt had said. "Mr. Thomas isn't a big idiot. He's just big," she said, slowly lowering Snowy, just a little. "We got to ride in a really big car to get here." She saw, from the corner of her eye, Emma smiling softly and writing something down on a notebook.

Clearing his throat, Thomas smiled at the girl. "Well, are you ready to go in?"

Alice stared at the shopping center warily, her smile dropping as she hugged Snowy tightly, swallowing hard. She felt tingles and chills running down her spine as the shadow at her feet bubbled to life, her shadows coming to life, ready to respond, reacting to her fear and anxiety. "Y-yeah," she mumbled, taking a step forward.

As they maneuvered the various stores, Thomas had been careful to guide her and to ensure Alice didn't get separated from them. Walt and Emma had stayed in the back, distancing themselves from the two so as to act as observers rather than participants.

They had gone in and out of clothing stores, and at one point, after passing the fifth rack of hero merchandise, had asked why Thomas' face was on so many clothes. To that, Thomas had laughed and told her that children liked heroes, and liked wearing clothes with heroes on them. Alice hadn't really understood, but she accepted the answer.

She had, in the end, gotten a few simple pants and shorts, as well as a small number of shirts and hoodies. By the time they had finished shopping for clothes, there were only a few bags compared to the mountain that Thomas had expected. He had made sure to pick out some warmer clothes as well, it may have still been summer, but he wanted to ensure she had warm clothes for when it rained, or when winter came.

There were a bit more toys picked than clothes—stuffed animals, Legos, coloring books and so on. She had been more excited when it came to picking the toys than the clothes, too. When she'd found a little stuffed black bird, she had known she needed it right away.

Eventually they left the mall, the trip going by quicker than expected, and no one seemed displeased. So, Alice had bid her goodbyes to Walt and Emma as she followed Thomas back to his car while the hero carried the toys and clothes they had picked effortlessly in one arm.

After this, Alice knew she would be going to his house where she would be living for the unforeseen future. Deep down, she felt that even if papa hadn't told her to stay with Thomas, Alice didn't think she'd have been against it.

Authors Note: As Always, let me know what you thought, constructive criticism and feedback is the best way to help a writer to improve.