The consequences of taking King Saber down take shape. Suri fights through trauma and takes out her frustration on a hospital. Alpha is okay but totally not okay at the same time. Suri gets some news she doesn't like.

King Saber was in custody.

The mission was over and done with now that he'd been taken down. The mission, through all of the hiccups and hurdles, was a success.

So why didn't Suri feel like it had been something worth celebrating?

A brutal criminal wanted in multiple countries for charges filling a rap sheet the size of a CVS receipt and an enforcing general in All For One's army was off the streets. Finally after more than two decades of chasing the weretiger, her dad had finally taken his arch nemesis in. And with Kenji Mutekabe in custody they were sure that his empire, the remains of All For One's strongholds and networks would all come crumbling down with him. The boogeyman of the underworld and all of his power and control that had a stranglehold over villains and would be villains across the world would finally disappear into the night.

So why wasn't Suri happy?

Because she had too many fucking things to do and none of them were things she wanted to do in the first place.

There were dozens of her co-workers in the hospital right now. The most important of all was Jomogoro Kumokami, her friend and mentor better known as DreamWeaver, and Natsukage Ketsuiki, her friend and upperclassmen, Rook. And of course, her dad. She'd heard from Yumei and Polarity that Alexie and Alester were running around the hospital like madmen trying to check in on everyone and finish all of the legal proceedings to help close all of the cases King Saber's capture opened up. Yumei said that Masato had come in as well, calling off retirement to look after Jomo and help his friends with everything he could. If that wasn't enough, Alexie's wives were doing the same, the two of them going room to room to check in on all of the pro heroes that the Outsiders Agency employed.

It was utter fucking chaos.

Chaos that Suri would be stepping into soon enough because she needed to go check on her friends and her old man. Chaos that was going to drive her up a wall and set her nerves on fire.

That said…

She'd take chaos over this.

Sure her nerves would be on fire surrounded by that many people with a range of emotions, all of which were high strung and would be making her senses going haywire. But that fire could be extinguished once she saw those three and knew they were okay.

The three in front of her however…

Suri's leg was bouncing nervously, her heart was racing, and she could feel her head and chest tightening like a vice. She felt like she was going to be suffocated by her own fear, panic, and anguish. And why not? She was a hero, she was supposed to save people, and now, right in front of her, were three people she'd failed miserably. At least the fifth person in the room with her knew the emotions going through her right now and was as patient as anyone could possibly be. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Suri gave a small, nervous look to the medical examiner who was waiting at the first body laid out on the cold aluminum tables. With a small nod, she confirmed that she was as ready as she was ever going to be and with that, he pulled back the first sheet.

Suri closed her eyes just as the sheet sharted to move and took in a long deep breath. She held it for a long moment before she let it out shakily and slowly opened her eyes. When her eyes opened, her heart lurched and her breath hitched. She had really hoped that JJ had been bluffing, that he had been playing her for the fool like he'd been doing for years.

It hadn't been a bluff.

The body on the first table was one she recognized.

Suri bit the inside of her lip to keep her composure and tasting blood helped to steel her at least a tiny bit as she looked over the girl's body. Pale olive skin and a soft figure that wasn't dainty by any means but wasn't quite as curvy as Suri. She'd had some muscle definition but, again, she was nowhere nearly as toned or chiseled as Suri, her former girlfriend. And as Suri looked over the body, even among the new gashes made from werewolf claws, she was still able to spot five dark freckles between her shoulder and the top of her right breast. Those five freckles had been drawn on a thousand times, most of which had been Suri connecting them into a star. She resisted the urge to reach out and do it again one last time with her finger. And below the new lacerations - the same spot where Suri had just recently erased her 'X' shaped scar courtesy of Gemini - was a small dark patch of skin above her navel. The shape had four rounded edges that met in the center which Suri had gone back and forth on if it looked more like a four leaf clover or a butterfly.

Right now it was definitely a butterfly because out of the two, that's what Robbie liked the most.

Robbie was a country girl who loved butterflies, cows - especially Highlanders - and classic country music. She'd been the one that introduced it to Suri and why Suri had come to enjoy the genre just as much as everything else in her library. She'd been the reason Suri discovered she had a thing for deep voices because listening to Josh Turner together… Well that had started quite a few fun nights together. It was also why she'd always belt out Reba or Dolly at the top of her lungs every chance she got. Even now.

Suri was sure her class was absolutely sick of hearing Survivor or Fancy.

If seeing her body wasn't enough, Suri felt anger flicker inside her because sitting at the head of the table was just that. Laid flat, with about an inch of space between the rest of her body, was the rest of her former girlfriend. Thankfully her eyelids were closed because Suri wasn't sure if she could stay standing if she'd been able to see those bright lavender eyes hiding behind them. What flared Suri's anger more was the fact that her bright sunny blonde hair was mangled and disheveled from the lack of care it had been treated with.

She suspected it was JJ's doing.

Just like how there was a small chunk of flesh crudely taken out of the left bicep. It was the same thing Gemini had done to Katsuki and Himiko Toga. The same thing King Saber had done to Karin Hotohori and countless others. It looked like a rancher's symbol that you'd brand cattle with to make it known they were yours. And this? This was of two cursive Js stacked on top of each other.

"Robbie McPherson. That's her," Suri said with a low growl, turning her head and quickly folding her arms across her breasts tightly. Her body was screaming to run out the room and say fuck it for the rest of the day.

But she couldn't.

Instead she nodded to the next table and walked around Robbie to in between the two tables. She wasn't surprised this time when the sheet was pulled down.

He'd bulked up since the last time she'd seen him, probably because he had started training harder to play football. But even with the added muscle mass, there was no mistaking the chiseled form of her and Robbie's boyfriend.

"Alex Lin," Suri confirmed, her fists clenching tightly to the point her claws pinched into the undersides of her palms. The anger was beginning to rise to the point of seething rage.

Lin had wanted nothing more than to play football. He'd made junior varsity, had a practically guaranteed spot on the high school team as one of the starting wide receivers. As far as running went he'd been just as fast as Suri when it came to sprinting outright. And he was on track to take early college classes in business and finances. Because beneath the muscular form and wide shoulders that could easily pick Suri and Robbie up and run was the quiet humble young man. One that had dreams of using the money he was going to make in the NFL to take his grandparent's Chinese restaurant nationwide.

Remembering his heart was what broke Suri. She knew he was a hell of a fighter and that he was fast so the claw marks across his chest, arms, stomach, and face were expected. She knew that he and JJ probably went at it like complete monsters because there was no way he'd gotten the fresh wounds lightly and probably gave JJ just as many. No. What hurt Suri and made her storm out of the room was seeing the hole right through Lin's chest. Right where his kind, loving heart should have been.

"Miss Kuroyashi, I-"

"Fuck this!"

Suri hit the door hard, nearly busting the heavy metal door off its hinges before it swung back closed after she'd passed through. Her feet smacked against the floor as she stormed down the hallway towards the elevator. She had one goal. Get the fuck onto the elevator, go see her dad, and Jomo, and Natsu, and then get the fuck out of this wretched place. The rage and anger was so loud when she hit the door that she heard nothing but the thrum of wrath pulsing through her head. And then, to make everything worse, when she hit the button to the elevator, the doors didn't open which meant she was stuck in the hell for even longer.

"Fuck!"

"Suri!"

She snapped, ready to scream her lungs out at the medical examiner, ready to give him a piece of her mind. Her rage and anger had her so ready to beat the little bowtie off him that when she turned around, fist raised, her world came to a screeching halt. It hadn't been the lanky man in a lab coat she'd expected to see who had called her name and grabbed her shoulder, instead she looked up to see Yumei.

And seeing the snake girl broke Suri.

The beast girl lunged forward, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pulled her tight. It took the younger girl by surprise and honestly scared her. It scared Yumei to see Suri who she'd always known to be this strong, confident, heroic young woman that she admired more than anything. She'd seen Suri mad and pissed off. Yumei could handle that. What made the snake girl freeze and begin to break down herself was feeling Suri shaking in her arms, crumbling to her knees and soaking her shoulder and chest in tears. Suri was crying, bawling her eyes out and finding it hard to breathe through all of the pain and anguish that came with those tears. The walls of pure iron were reduced to ash as Suri collapsed and Yumei came down with her.

All the snake girl could do was hold Suri close, softly whispering into her ear that she was there and that everything was okay. Even if she knew it really wasn't.

It was what Suri needed to hear.

For a long couple minutes, Suri was held tight by Yumei as she cried and sobbed into the girl's shoulder, periodically squeezing and gripping at Yumei's shirt. The gripping was hard enough that it was threatening to tear holes into the black blouse. The ding of the elevator is what finally gave Suri a reminder where she was and she pulled back, quickly retrieving her arms to scrub and wipe at her eyes and cheeks as she tried to collect herself. It was a shoddy job, Suri knew it and Yumei didn't have the courage to say anything other than let the beast girl try to regain her confidence and attitude.

It took a long time, enough that the elevator doors closed and went back up to whatever floor they'd been called to. When the elevator seemed to stop at another floor, Yumei hit the call button to bring it back down to the basement where they were. It would be another long moment of waiting, but neither girl truly minded the wait as long as they had each other.

"Are you sure about this," Suri finally asked after a long silent moment as they waited for the elevator together. She used her right hand to motion at herself while still holding Yumei with her left. "Are you sure about wanting me?"

"Suri, I don't understand," Yumei furrowed her brow, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she looked down at the beast girl. She didn't like seeing Suri so unsure of herself or in this much pain. It hurt. A lot.

"I'm scared Yumei," Suri blurted out, taking another shaky breath as she rested her forehead against Yumei's chest. "What… What if it was you, or Izuku, or Tooru, or Mina? What if it was Aiko, or Tadashi, or Mai, or Ryuko?"

"But it wasn't us," Yumei tried to reassure Suri but walked into a trap she didn't even know was there to begin with.

"No, it was just my fucking exes," Suri scoffed bitterly, still not looking up at the snake girl.

"Suri…"

"Why? Why can't my past just leave me alone?"

"Because our past will always be there. We just have to learn how to let it make us stronger and better people," Yumei encouraged, her own expression slipping into a dark expression. "You're not alone, Suri. Like," Yumei choked bitterly, her eyes rolling as she recounted various encounters she'd had over the past year. "Do you know how many times I've been bullied since we met? The people who pushed me into trying to become a villain, neighbors, friends… I get it. I really do."

"Yeah well-"

"Don't you dare," Yumei hissed, her expression becoming dangerous which forced Suri to finally look up at her and meet the girl's eyes. "Don't. No more of this fucking martyr complex you've got going, your highness."

Suri's eyes went wide and she froze. Yumei getting mad made her take the time to really look at the girl, refocus on her and remember something important; Yumei was one of her best friends, her work wife, a member of her pack, and most of all, one of her shared girlfriends. It occurred to Suri that she had been inches from firing back a statement about how Yumei didn't know her but in actuality; Yumei knew her inside and out. Quite intimately and literally.

"I know you're mourning and, like, it's really tough on you right now. I know that you want to jump back into old habits of blaming yourself for everything. But," Yumei paused as she cupped Suri's cheeks and gently leaned to to kiss the other girl's forehead. "Please don't. Just… stop trying to do everything by yourself."

The elevator dinged again.

"You're right, YuYu," Suri sighed and leaned forward against the snake girl's chest before rocking her hips to stand upwards again. The warmth she got from Yumei, not just from the skin to skin contact, but her words of encouragement and will to help Suri was enough to help push down the darker thoughts and feelings. "Thank you and I owe you a date for this."

"Deal," Yumei chirped happily.

She also owed Yumei because this time, before the doors could close without them again, the snake girl pushed Suri backwards into the elevator. It ensured that this time, the two of them would be making the trip up to the higher floors. It also ensured that Suri was taken away from the hallway leading to the morgue, somewhere she never wanted to see again.

Ever.

"Seriously, thank you," Suri smiled as she leaned back into the corner of the elevator, zoning out as she stared into the ceiling in the opposite corner. "I could so kiss you right now. Wait! No, I could totally use a hot makeout sesh right now but…"

Suri pointed to the ceiling corner directly in front of her. It caused Yumei, who had begun to turn pink from blushing, to follow the direction of said finger right to a little red light. The red light meant they were being watched and not by anyone they knew. So there would be no show for an audience that they weren't privy to. It was for the best.

"We're still on duty anyway, sweetie," Yumei giggled in response, giving the camera a small wave as she went back to staring forward. Staring at the metal door in front of her helped to regain some composure, because at least one of them needed to be the serious professional one. "Our first stop needs to be Jomo and Natsu, I want to check on them."

"I'm cool with that," Suri nodded.

Not a moment later, the elevator slowed to a halt and the doors opened. The snake girl led Suri through a couple winding hallways, past several desks before finally coming to the recovery wing. They'd gotten lucky because, even though Jomogoro needed surgery on two of her arms and an emergency abdominal procedure, she was in a room a couple doors down from Natsukage. Thank the gods that this hospital had some doctors on call who had healing Quirks just as useful as Recovery Girl's. It meant that she was already on a fast track to recovery and wouldn't be spending more than a few nights in the hospital.

It also meant one more thing.

"Well there you two are."

"You come to see our comrades, yes?"

Alexie and Alester had just exited a room that had a clipboard reading DreamWeaver's name on it sitting in the little tray next to the door. The clipboard had all of Jomo's charts and paperwork on it so that whenever the attending nurse or doctor came by, they could read through her file and get a solid evaluation on her. The clipboard was retrieved by said doctor who quickly added another sheet to the file and made some last second notes before she closed the door and turned to find a new set of visitors in front of her.

"Ah, I must apologize but Miss Kumokami is currently asleep and I'm afraid she's not going to be able to have any more visitors for the night. Especially with my Quirk currently in use," the doctor explained.

She motioned for Yumei and Suri to peek into the small window in the door where the two girls had to do a double take. The usually bland and sterile hospital room had been transformed into a greenhouse with various plants and vines spreading across and occupying the room. It was then they noticed the soft mists emanating from a couple of very large, very odd looking bright yellow blooms. Another large bloom that looked like an oversized lily had vines working their way into the IV drip where it was secreting an oil of some kind into the bag that made the normally clear liquid become bioluminescent with a soft blue glow.

"Wow," Suri breathed after a long moment, completely mesmerized by the doctor's Quirk in action. "You could give Shiozaki a run for her money and I think Izuku would have an absolute field day with you."

"I appreciate the compliment," the doctor nodded before tapping at the girls and moving them away from the window. "Now, let's give our patient some time to relax and let the lovelies do their job. Those bulbs will be providing essential oils and nutrients to her but if they get disturbed it could lead to some unforeseen circumstances. Please be careful and quiet around them."

The girls nodded, bowed to give their thanks to the doctor, and turned away from the door, finding their two mentors now sitting in a couple chairs across the hall from the door. They looked completely exhausted and were due for some sleep. Lots of it.

"I'm guessing we won't be able to see Natsu either, right?" Yumei asked cautiously, looking down a couple doors to where she spotted a clipboard with his name on it.

She found it interesting that attached to his clipboard was a red sticker and her brow furrowed from seeing it. It made her want to take a closer look and make sure she didn't seriously see what she saw. Suri noticed the red label as well and let her eyes narrow into something very unkind and judgemental.

"Tell me that's not what I think it is," Suri scoffed, barely able to hide the bitter growl in her voice.

"Oh don't worry, darlin', mine had one on it too,'' Alester chuckled. It wasn't one of his joyful, mischievous kind that had an undertone of warm laughter. He was tired, exhausted, and truly just didn't give a shit about anything at this point. "So did your pops and a couple of the others."

"Fucking bigots," Suri snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me, young lady, we will not tolerate that sort of language in this hospital," the doctor from before furrowed her brow and turned to face Suri. Apparently she'd just been at a nearby desk finishing her notes on another patient when she'd heard Suri. "And in what way are my staff and I such a thing?"

Suri walked over to Natsu's room, grabbing the clipboard and bringing it back to her. She gave it more than a gentle shove into the doctor's chest before pointing at the red label. The one that read 'Warning: Proceed Patient With Extreme Caution' and basically flagged Natsukage and anyone else with the label as a threat to the staff.

"That," Suri growled, pressing a claw tight against the sticker. "Him, Hellfire, Alpha, they all helped to take down a super villain, they deserve to be treated with respect and this? This is a slap in the face to them. Especially since it's only put on the files of people you, I dunno, deem less than human."

"I assure you, it's not to be taken as an insult," the doctor scoffed, she was taking offense to the accusation.

"It may not, but these are the same labels you use on charts for villains, right?" Yumei asked pointedly, her eyes never wavering. She asked a question that she had prior knowledge of, knew she had the evidence, and so did everyone else.

The doctor flinched.

"That's what I thought." Yumei shook her head, sighing as the doctor finally seemed to grasp the implication of their little labeling system.

"Miss, I assure you-"

"I had the same label put on my chart last spring," Yumei interrupted, the news that she'd gotten the label seemed to shock the doctor. And if that hadn't. "I was with the villains that attacked the USJ at UA last year. Yeah," the snake girl choked out a bitter laugh as she watched the doctor's face contort in disgust, disbelief, and then dismay. "Yeah, I was a villain. And that little label hurt. Like really hurt."

"A lot of villains do what they do because they enjoy it, sure. They enjoy hurting people and it brings them joy but," Suri spoke sternly, crossing her arms tightly as she stared the doctor down. "A good majority of them are doing it because they feel like they have no other choice. People like her? They're literally just needing someone to tell them that everything is okay and that life gets better. Some of them are just needing us heroes to do our job better so that maybe, just maybe, one shitty day doesn't turn their entire life into a dumpster fire."

"And just because they are what they are," Yumei added, waving her finger back and forth between the chart in the doctor's hand, Suri, and Hellfire. "Doesn't mean they should be treated differently than your other patients, Doc."

"I-I…"

The doctor took a long moment to process what the two girls were saying and had said. She'd never once considered that she might be getting a lecture from two teenage heroes on the nuances of compassion and humanity. She had to take a long hard look in the mirror and remember why she'd gone into medicine in the first place.

"I will go about reevaluating our methods. I apologize for any insult and offense our facility and my methods may have caused," she spoke softly, bowing herself in remorse. "We do need a method to identify those like yourselves who carry lycanthropy, vampirism, or have arcane blood types. It's precautionary mind you, not specifically to belittle your kinds, I assure you."

Suri and Hellfire nodded.

That was a fair judgment.

"We do need precautions when we are treating villains as well but I do apologize for any resentment that may have caused, young lady. Please accept my apology on behalf of my colleagues."

Yumei nodded and gave a small smile in return.

"I could be open to hearing any suggestions you heroes may have. If you have any?"

Suri took a long moment to think about the prospect. As she zoned out in thought her eyes trained onto the clipboard that the doctor was holding and something dawned on her. It was subt;e but probably feasible right?

"Those clipboards come in all sorts of colors, right?" Suri asked, before continuing and making sure to get her thought out completely before any interruptions could occur. "I mean it would still be labeling patients but you could take it a step further and classify everyone with a Quirk or ability. You wouldn't be sticking a giant target on certain patients but you could possibly help patients better."

"I'm not sure that I follow-"

"So in the States we have different alerts when you're out driving, right? Amber, silver, purple, and so on. Amber tells you to be on the lookout for an abducted child, silver tells you to look for a missing elderly person, purple is an alert for a missing person with special needs. You get the point," Suri waved, stopping herself from going on too long. "Patients that have fire based Quirks for example, their charts could go on an orange clipboard. It's subtle, doesn't call them out as dangerous or anything like that, but you could use it to help you be more effective. Like orange clipboard patients can be assigned doctors and nurses with fire and water based Quirks so that, on one hand, there's someone there who knows the kind of Quirk associated with the patient. And the other could… help put out fires basically."

"But what about the villains that come in and need to be treated," the doctor asked again, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Suri hummed for a second in thought but paused with a small smile. Because for some reason Twice and Toga popped into her head and she had a thought that maybe she should check on them as well. When it came to them, she specifically remembered the first time she met them face to face just less than a week ago.

"You've gotta get to know your patients, Doc. You can't just assume that all villains are inherently bad people. Remember what Yumei here said? Hell, you'd classify me as a villain if you knew my entire past," Suri snorted and shook her head. She let her smile slip as she stopped zoning out and staring elsewhere as she talked and let her eyes train directly on the woman in front of her.

"Jin Bubaigawara, you know him as Twice from the League of Villains, right?"

The doctor nodded and gave Suri an incredulous look like Suri thought she was stupid or something. Truthfully, Suri didn't think that at all.

"The first time I met him. We didn't square off, fuck, I haven't fought the guy at all. But you know what I did do? I talked him down from a panic attack," Suri explained and those last two words made the doctor's expression freeze. "I'm more than just a hero that beats the shit out of people, and trust me, I'm pretty good at that. Dudes like him? They don't need a beat down, they need a fuckin' friend. Hell, if he has that much mental trauma to cause the kind breakdown I saw the other night, he needs help."

"So what are you saying, hero-"

"Wild Eyes."

"R-Right- Wild Eyes… are you saying we need to ignore people who are villains as such?"

Suri grumbled and gripped the bridge of her nose tight in frustration. She then took her hero license out of her suit's pocket, the one behind the logo on her chest and flashed it for the doctor to see.

"Tonight I punched two different guys, in two separate buildings, so hard that I sent them through a roof. The second one got kicked right after that so hard that his chest would be caved in if he didn't have lycanthropy running through his veins. I have beaten the ever living hell out of dozens of people so far. And the one reason, the only reason I don't have a rap sheet a mile long full of assault and battery charges is because of this little thing here," Suri shoved her card against the doctor's chest and stepped back, crossing her arms even tighter. She gave the doctor a cold, defiant look before choking a bitter laugh back. "Now, I'm just another villain, just like them."

"Without her, I'd still be in a gang. I'd still be running around trying to find any sort of validation that I was worth anyone's time," Yumei spoke up, turning the doctor's attention to her. "I got into a gang and started being a petty villain all because of bullying. From people not giving me a chance and not wanting to be my friend. It's so easy to slip into that lifestyle and just say fuck it."

"But, these two girls didn't do that once someone gave them a glimpse of hope," Alester spoke up, coming to stand behind Suri and Yumei and wrap an arm over each of their shoulders. "Ya see, that's what happened to me too. If it wasn't for a sweet ol lady back in Orleans, I'd still be just another son of a devil."

"What girls are saying, comrade, is that you need to remember why you are doctor," Alexie grinned as he came to stand with the three of them. "You are hero to every one in this hospital. Even the ones who may be on wrong path. Your Quirk is not the only thing that you could use to help people here you know."

The doctor took a long moment, she seemed stunned and at a loss for words. And maybe she was because as smart as she was and how much work she'd put into becoming a great doctor, maybe she'd forgotten something along the way. She was truly remembering why she wanted to go into practicing medicine. Again. She wanted to help people. All people. Her breath finally caught up with her and she took a deep one, holding it a second or so, and then let it out slowly. She cleared her throat and quickly, albeit nervously, handed Suri her license back and shuffled as she tried to put on a professional demeanor again.

"You've given me a lot to think about," the doctor replied finally, clearing her throat and turning her wrist so that he could see the time on the watch on the back of her wrist. Her brow quickly furrowed, meaning she'd spent a little longer than she'd meant to be standing here. "If you'll excuse me, my shift is about to end and I still have several patients to attend to. Please have a good rest of your evening, heroes."

"Thank you," Suri and Yumei responded together.

Alester got a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Say, ma'am, you doing anything after your shift tonight?" Hellfire asked, turning on the full southern charm and rouge bravado. "Maybe I could walk you home, if it's not too much trouble. If the lady would like the company that is. You could… bounce… some ideas off of me."

It helped that Suri and Yumie had taken a step back to allow him to move forward. The doctor didn't notice the girls rolling their eyes at him, no, her eyes became locked on the devil and sized him up. The grin growing across his lips meant that he knew she liked what she saw of him and if that hadn't sealed the deal then what happened next sure did.

"Alester Cromwell LaVey, at your service, mon cherie," he grinned wide as he gingerly took the woman's free hand and raised it to kiss the back of her hand. And if his cajun accent and the way the French word rolled off his tongue didn't do her in, then it was most definitely the look in those ethereal green eyes of his as he rolled them up to look at her.

"I-I uh… I," the doctor shuffled again nervously before quickly regaining her composure again for the millionth time and cleared her throat. "Y-Yes, I wouldn't mind you… Y-Your company!"

With that Suri chuckled and shook her head as she and Yumie followed Alexie who had already agreed to accompany the two of them to Alpha's room. They surely didn't need to see any more of Hellfire's award winning flirting. Gods knew they'd most definitely hear it from him or Alexandria the next time they were in the office. Not that the two of them weren't able to join in on the whole kiss and tell game that their co-workers had going. But, given Alester was over a hundred years old, he had more stories and conquests than anyone could hope to match. Not that it was a competition. Certainly not.

Following the old werebear through a few more twists and turns to another elevator, the three of them passed another hallway. One that was flooded with police and a couple pro heroes guarding two rooms. It didn't take much guessing who was in those rooms. The amount of cops surrounding the doors made Suri's brow furrow and her stomach tightened like she was in pain. Not her own pain, but the pain of sympathy and frustration. Turning to look at Yumei, Suri found a similar look in the snake girl's eyes but it came from the position of someone who'd been in that exact situation before. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

The elevator doors closed, giving some privacy for the ride up two more floors. It meant Suri and Yumei could ask the burning questions.

"That detail was for Toga and Bubawaigara, right?"

"Dah. Indeed."

"Would it be too much trouble for us to, like, see them later?"

"I think I can make some arrangements, yes," Alexie smiled and nodded happily. "I think it would be good for them to see you. Have them know they were not forgotten, yes?"

"Exactly," Suri answered proudly.

It made the werebear grin wide, his eyes beaming with joy and pride. Pride of the two young heroes he was in the presence of, two that he helped shape and mentor. It was very much a mentor's pride that was akin to fatherly pride because the two of them may have well been like another pair of daughters to him. He was proud of how far they'd come, especially Yumei. And most of all, the bear loved the hell out of them.

Those smiles and beams of pride and confidence lasted all the way up to Alpha's room where they died once they stepped inside. The werewolf was pacing back and forth near his bed, his face a mask of anger and frustration as he barked into the phone. Masato was in a chair in the corner of the room watching the whole ordeal and he looked like was just done and spent. He was exhausted, frustrated, and hated the situation happening - whatever it was - just as much as his friend. Suri was about to ask what was going on when she heard her dad answer the person on the other line and everything quickly fell into place.

And not in a good way.

"What do you mean you're already on your way?!"

"No, that's- What the fuck do you mean my wives are with you?!"

"Don't tell me to calm down! I am calm!"

"No, don't mon ami me and don't sugar pup me either!"

Alpha growled and snarled angrily into his hand as he cupped his face tight. He saw Suri out of the corner of his eye and it made him pause, taking the time to quickly take in a long deep breath. He held it for what seemed like ages. But between that and his daughter's presence, it helped to calm down whatever had him fuming because he did not like the look of worry and fear in Suri's eyes right now. He let out that deep breath slowly and then turned to look outside the window and into the night skyline, not wanting to meet Suri's eyes for what he was about to say next.

"I'm sorry, Sebastien, I just… I don't like this at all. You know how long it's taken for me to finally get him and this…"

"Yeah."

"I know."

"Okay, I'll see you soon, my friend. I'll be on the runway when your party touches down."

"Yes, of course, I'll make the arrangements."

"Yeah, put 'em on."

"Hello my loves. I'm sorry for all of that, I'm just-"

"Yeah. And yeah, she's here too. I'll let her know."

"Love you too and see you soon. Fly safe, my queens."

Alpha hung up the phone and sighed, tossing it back onto his bed before turning around and seeing Suri looking at him with so much fear and anticipation in her eyes. He took another deep breath before he tried his best to give her a warm, confident smile that faltered when the look on her face said that she saw right through the bullshit.

She wanted a straight answer.

"Do you want the good news or bad news first?" Alpha asked, trying to flash a small smile. Suri didn't care to accept it.

"Dad, what's going on?"

There was no getting around this.

"Good news first then; Kenji Mutekabe is still in custody. The bad news is that he's not with the police on his way to Tartarus," Alpha sighed, running his hand through his hair. The stress was going to make him even more grey.

"Who the fuck has him and why the hell is Sebastien and my moms… oh fuck…"

"Yeah," Alpha sighed with a loud grumble. He then shot Alexie and Masato a glance. "Boys, we're gonna need security detail at the Shizuoka Airport to cover several flights being charted in. Yasuke will have all of the details about when they're landing. We're also going to need anyone willing to be a pomme de sang, a dozen or more if we can. Fuck, maybe even two dozen, I'm not sure how many of 'em are coming."

"So it's not just Seb then?" Suri breathed nervously.

"No."

"Oh joy…"

"Here," Alpha grunted as he picked up what was left of his hero costume and fished into the pockets of his utility belt and into a very slim pocket hidden in the back. He took something out and handed it to Suri, not letting her catch her breath. "I'll make a call to Endeavor and Raijin."

Suri looked down at what the big man had handed her and gulped. It was a matte black credit card but not just any card in particular. At the center of the card, there was no name, just a silhouette of a raven printed in a gloss black. This was a credit card that belonged to the Master of Salt Lake, one that was tied to the bank account of one of the most powerful vampires in the Western United States. It was one issued directly from the Court of Ravens and probably had a few billion dollars connected to it.

Billions of dollars that was just shoved into Suri's hands.

That scared the hell out of her.

"He wants to meet them," Alpha said simply.

"You're joking," Suri breathed shakily, looking up at her dad with an immense amount of panic and fear. "This is bullshit, right?"

"I don't think it is," Yumei answered, not knowing why everyone was panicking around her. But she felt like she should be terrified right now.

Suri just stared at the card for another long moment. She hated this. This couldn't be happening right now, but it was because she had the personal credit card of the vampire that was basically her godfather - most definitely in the mafia kind of way. This was something she couldn't refuse and there was no getting out of this. For any of them.

"I. Fucking. Hate. Vampires."