A/N: I am very sorry for the short chapter and the long hiatus, but I have rewritten Chapters 18 and 19 completely so please go reread those first! Uploads should be on a semi-normal schedule now! Thank you for your support on this!

Yuri's heart pounded in her chest. Even though it wasn't the first time he had called her that. It was different. Had he remembered more or was it simply natural for him to call someone that? Yuri shook her head. Having such thoughts would do nothing but send her in a spiral! She had meant what she said to Phoenix. She needed to be happy with what she had, but Hawks made it all too tempting to want more; to hope for more.

"Ms. Hireno, glad you could make it." The president was a piranha. Yuri was convinced. She would say shark but then her mouth would have had to smile a little wider. "We have come to a rather interesting decision regarding your…employment."

"Am I being reassigned?" Yuri asked quietly.

"No, no!" The president placated. "Hawks has been doing extraordinarily well with his mission. Even got a rather special task from that fire user. You have… done your due diligence."

"Thank you, ma'am!"

"With that in mind," the president ground out. "It has been decided that you should return to active duty."

"Are you serious?" Yuri couldn't believe her ears.

"With the way the villains have been moving, we have decided you are more useful in the field," The president droned.

"Does that mean?" Her fingers lightly touched the metal collar around her neck.

"Yes, it will be taken off for training and any fieldwork. However," The president smirked. "It also means you will have to go through training to get you up to speed."

"Yes, Ma'am." Yuri nodded. "I look forward to it."

"I'm sure you do." The president handed her a box. "This should be tailored to fit you once more, but I will also expect you to be handling your secretary duties on top of it."

"You want me to stay with Hawks during this?"

"Yes, his mission is of the utmost importance."

"Of course." The president's smile curled into a sharp grin. "Hikari will be overseeing your training. It will begin tomorrow at midnight."

Yuri's body froze at the name. The president dismissed her with a crude chuckle and Yuri walked out of the office in a daze. Hikari. She hadn't heard that name in so long. She kept her fingers crossed that she would survive this.

The first week was hard.

The second was torture.

The third was routine.

Yuri panted as her legs gave out from under her.

"Come on, angel, I know you have more in you,' Hikari sneered, balls of light floating around him. "Physical training is always where you excelled. You Vikings always had a sense of strength that you like to use to suppress people. Think of this as a way of atoning for your roots."

"You know nothing of our history," Yuri spat, forcing herself up. "Again!"

"With pleasure."

The routine continued and Yuri was sure Hikari was trying to kill her more than train her.

"Yuri," Aiko started, "You have more bruises."

"Oh, yeah, I started taking a self defense class," Yuri explained. "We've been sparing the last couple of weeks."

"Those are some nasty bruises for just sparing," Mockingbird stated. "And if you wanted to learn how to defend yourself, you could've asked any of us to teach you."

"Thank you for the offer, Mockingbird, honestly, but this is something I needed to do on my own."

"I can understand that, but know we are here for you."

"Thank you," Yuri tried to say it as warmly as she possibly could, but warmth required energy and she really didn't have that.

"Of course! Do you have today's patrol routes ready? I want to dispatch as soon as possible."

"Yes, we will begin with the southernmost border." Yuri fell into her work routine with ease. Telling sidekicks where to go, and responding to any requests the agency received. One email in particular peaked her interest. It would seem UA was abiding by the Hero Commissions outcry for more seasoned students. She had no doubt Tokoyami would like to keep studying under Hawks and with the Liberation Army giving him the murder investigation, it would be a great learning opportunity. Yuri's eyes flickered behind her, catching a glimpse of red as Hawks paced. Maybe it would be a better distraction.