"I want to do an underground hero mission." I said as I closed the door.

Grim looked confused. "Isn't your whole thing about being a symbol? You don't get publicity down there. It'd hamper your goal."

"If things are as bad as I've heard, I want to see it. Crime rates are supposed to be dropped, but apparently they're just hiding better."

Grim let out a soft curse. "Fuck. She told you about that?"

I had no idea what he could be referencing. I decided to hedge for more information. "Which part?"

John looked into my eyes and read the fears behind my grin. He knew I didn't want to send Teiko alone again. I envisioned her coming home with a bigger cast, worse, leaving and never coming back. My employer took his hands off his laptop and frowned severely at me. "Damn it, All Might. Why'd you go and get so attached. Romance and hero work never work out."

I wanted him to move her to normal status, but knew to do so would invoke her wrath. "Just one," I pressed.

Grim stared at me and measured my resolve. I saw him weigh the pros and cons, but he relented. "Just one," he agreed. "When does the doctor say she'll be ready for combat?"

"In a month, but if we see Recovery Girl, it could be as soon as tomorrow."

Grim looked down at his monitor. "Give me three days." He muttered, his hand moving to his mouse. "I don't know what she told you, All Might, but I'll keep her and Navy apart."

Was I supposed to know who that was? "Thanks." I felt dishonest, but figured it was better than admitting ignorance and looking like a total fool. My first guess was that she and Navy had some sort of altercation. If Grim had to manage them, he must be another underground hero. I turned and excused myself, all the while wondering what could have happened.

I roamed the halls and looked at faces. If there was someone that I didn't know, I asked them. "Have you seen Navy?" Most had no clue, but one high school aged boy with frizzy black hair was able to help.

"He's down in the tech department," the boy answered. The statement must have tired him, for he yawned immediately afterwards.

"Thank you," I said at once. I spun on my heel and headed back to the stairs. The elevator was too slow. Now that I knew my search was near its end. I ran. My quirk allowed me to navigate with ease, even as I flew by quickly enough to make a tornado of debris in my wake. Within seconds I was at the Technology Department. I punched in my code and was admitted at once.

One of the technicians was busy with a dark haired, slender man in the back of the room, but the other was available. "Hey, All Might," she greeted. She had wild pink hair that stood out at every angle and some sort of battery quirk.

I waved and flashed her a rather cheery grin. "Hello, Samara. I need to have a word with Navy." The dark haired man in the back stopped talking and looked up at me. I lifted my hand and beckoned for him to join me. "Could we have the room for a minute?" I couldn't imagine what had happened between Teiko and another hero, but I felt like it shouldn't be broadcasted to our support team.

"Sure, All Might. Take all the time you need," Samara agreed at once. She nodded to her underling and both cleared the room.

I waited until we were alone. I beamed at Navy and looked him over. "I hear you were a part of Sandspark's team," I began. Quick as a flash, his face slipped from curiosity to anger. "Do you want to talk about it?" I had my suspicions, but wanted him to confirm them.

"I don't care what you heard. She came onto me. She's a slut, just like every other female hero." I might have considered believing him, but his blanket statement and instinct to lump all heroines together severely diminished his credibility. Even if I didn't know Teiko as well as I'd have liked, I trusted her more than that.

"Why don't you start from the top?" I suggested. If I wanted to know his twisted point of view, I had to pretend to sound sympathetic.

He readily launched into his tale. "We were stationed to find a kidnapper and murderer. We made sure to get the proper intel, but it can get boring. I started to notice that every time I'd look at her she'd blush and look away. We shared a room and she teased me by going in the bathroom every time she wanted to get changed. I know she did it on purpose. Just to put thoughts in my head. I told her I could only take so much. She came in close, then the bitch kneed me in the jewels for no goddamn reason."

"So you broke her arm?" I guessed. I wanted nothing more than to punch this guy until his face broke.

"No. That happened after she brought back the rapist and kidnapper."

"The…" I found I couldn't pretend to know. "What?"

"She got abducted. There was no trail to follow, so I ordered the team back to bed. We were sound asleep when she stumbled to our door with our initial target and a man that looked like a bear. She was favoring her arm then, but Eraserhead and Rapport didn't see it. The two of them took the guys into custody and the bitch went to bed. She stopped breathing, so I was trying to give her CPR. Eraserhead and Rapport came in and shoved me away for trying to save her worthless life." He sounded infuriated and defensive.

"Your comrade went missing, so you decided to go sleep?" I asked in a quiet voice. I could feel myself losing my cool. The grin almost slipped from my face.

"There was nothing for us to do. The Shadowsnail took her. She was gone for hours, but she found her way back. No harm was done."

"Did you even try?"

"Why bother? She didn't help make any plans. All she did was sit quietly and lead me on. Now I have to be babysat for the next three months because of her lies."

I was seething. My face felt ready to split at the seams. "Thank you for telling me." I made myself leave. It took every ounce of my self-restraint not to deck him. Everything he described were things I needed to hear from her point of view.

I went out into the world without an assignment. I hoped that today I'd be lucky enough to find an idiotic criminal in need of a good pummeling.

I had my answer at once. "Shit, it's All Might," one of them proclaimed rather loudly as they thundered past in a cherry red corvette. The trio of idiots had ATM in the back seat. No cover, no trunk. It just sat in the back. I couldn't imagine how they'd gotten it from the wall, but figured it was moot point. I may have thought it a trap, but I'd seen such fools before. The driver, an incredibly skinny man that looked to be in his thirties, slammed on the gas pedal and rolled more swiftly away. The acrid tang of burning rubber burned my nostrils. Smoke lifted in their wake. They zoomed off into traffic, uncaring of the pedestrians or other cars. I leaped into action. I couldn't just case them. I had to take the time to pull a teen with earbuds out of the way and carefully relocate a woman. It was only when the path was clear that I could focus on the crimson getaway car.

I jumped in front of them and dug my hands onto the hood. I had to be careful not to put too much weight on my feet, or else it'd rip apart the bottom of my shoes or damage the asphalt. Once able to secure my balance, I shoved a fist straight into the engine – just enough for the wind to take over and rather explosively finish the job. The blonde haired woman in the back seat screamed and only now snapped her seatbelt into place. Of all the things to forget….

Even as I turned them over to the police, the skinny man, blonde woman, and quickless teen hacker insisted to me that I was making a mistake. "You don't get it All Might. We're the good guys. I'm Lock Pick," he spoke as if I should know of him. I found his ego grating, but kept smiling heroically.

"And why would good guys need to take an ATM?" I asked. "Theft doesn't seem particularly heroic."

"Matrix found a message in a chat that said if the public didn't deliver money to Honey Badger that we'd face backed up sewer lines, internet outages, and city wide chaos." That's all it took huh? No internet access and backed up toilets?

"I thank you for your efforts," where the hell did they come up with these names? "But let the pros take it from here."

I kept the information in the back of my mind, but didn't think to do anything about Honey Badger, whoever that might be, right at that time. I wanted to get home.

Teiko seemed incapable of sitting still. I unlocked the door and had only gotten one step in the apartment when she called, "wet floor!" I automatically looked down to see just how bad the damage was. I only saw a thin sheen of swiftly drying droplets.

"Did a pipe burst?" I smelled the cleaning chemicals. "Oh." Her only answer was a silent smirk. I put my shoes by the welcome mat and jumped to the couch across the room. Once I had landed, I turned and dropped into a crouch. If she was anything like Nana, a footprint on a newly cleaned floor was a sin punishable by death. The place looked nice. All of my hoarded crumbs had vanished, as had the thick blankets of dust. It had looked the part of a proper bachelor pad, until I'd let a woman move in. Now it was tidy, organized, and an improper home for a single man.

"I spoke with Navy." I said, my eyes watching her for any sort of reaction.

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't for her to act so indifferent. "How's he doing?" She asked casually. From the details I assumed, shouldn't his name make her outraged or scared? She seemed perfectly at ease.

"He said you came onto him."

"I bet he did," she agreed with a laugh. She was on her hand and knees, and used a rag to get into every corner of my messy abode. I was relieved that her right arm was properly tucked in its sling. Her words were distracted, as if our chat didn't warrant her full attention. I sought to amend that.

"Teiko," I spoke sharper than I meant to. I let some of my anger add fuel to my voice. She slowly folded the wad of cloth and turned to face me. I had no idea what she was thinking, but hoped to right my ignorance sooner rather than later. "Did you come onto him?"

"No," she answered firmly. I was glad she was taking this seriously.

"Will you please tell me about your mission?"

Her vibrant gaze left mine. I was sure she wouldn't tell me. I didn't know what I'd do if she kept quiet. "Please," I encouraged. I had to coax this out of her. She looked back, a new resolve on her face.

"We had a kid quirk eraser, a sympathist, and water user – Navy. We made sure to have a good idea of Shadowsnail's actions before we attacked. His habits were set in stone, so we set up a simple plan. We put the eraser behind him and me in front as the bait. Shadowsnail rushed me, as we predicted, and Navy and I attacked. We used too much power, and I guess the steam must have broken our eraser's concentration. Shadowsnail got me and took me to his master. I convinced them both that cooperation would be in their best interest. We went back. I went to my bed and passed out."

"What about Navy?" I encouraged. This time, it took her longer. I couldn't comprehend how she had talked people into custody, but trusted her enough to believe her.
"During the course of the two weeks, Navy was our leader. He wanted me, but I made it perfectly clear that I didn't want him. He let me get taken and didn't try to track me down afterwards. When I got back to the motel I was dead on my feet had two options. Pass out on the floor or on my bed, so I picked the latter. Navy claimed I stopped breathing and that he needed to give me CPR. The others seemed to think it was unnecessary, because they felt inclined to push him away and put him in cuffs."

Even with what she had told me, I didn't feel satisfied. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't tell anyone but Grim anything. If I was wrong and really had stopped breathing, then he saved my life. If not and he was going for something more, he didn't get it and I don't have a shred of evidence."

I wasn't grinning. I felt the severity of my frown burning my face. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"I'm not used to asking for help," she admitted. I had already deduced as much. "In this case, I didn't realize there was anything to help with. I told my story to Grim, Eraserhead and Rapport did the same, and Navy's on suspension."

"He should be in prison."

"If you really want that, then set a trap. Put a camera on a beautiful woman and send them his way. I'm certain he won't come at me again."

"He broke your arm." She hadn't confirmed it, but I felt like I knew.

"He took the cowardly way out and waited until I was unable to do anything about it." She begun to lose her seriousness and was interjecting humor again. Though I wasn't done, I was glad for what sincerity I was given. "I gave it some thought today, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to go public."