I drew in a deep breath as I stepped outside the small cafe Sicarius had dragged everyone to moments after going on patrol. After seeing Bravura pull us out of her makeshift office, I thought they'd be eager to go on whatever mission the woman was working so hard on, but that wasn't the case. Instead, I followed Bravura, Sicarius, and Lento Lure as they all went on patrol, not stopping once to tell me what the big mission was about.

Not knowing what was going to happen was unnerving to say the least. If this was an important mission, then why weren't we doing that first? I wanted to complain and ask, but I didn't know the right words to say it or if I had a place to even speak out.

At least having Sicarius drag us here for a break allowed me to call someone that would help distract me, even if a distraction was the last thing we needed.

My phone didn't even ring once before I could hear her voice on the other end. I let out a sigh of relief, even though there was no way Tami was in danger. The very moment I dialed her number, I imagined her standing in the kitchen with her blonde hair pulled back into some messy updo. Her hands were probably a mess from the cookie batter she was pulling together before putting it in the oven. Tami would've enjoyed that as it was all she needed to push her stress away. Or maybe she was with her cousin walking down the streets of town. I wasn't sure how those two were still close, even if it was years ago that she had last seen her cousin. That wasn't my concern. Not now. If she was with her cousin, going on a walk, at least she'd be getting some fresh air.

Regardless, I knew she was safe wherever she was. Hearing her soft voice on the other end solidified that fact.

"Raiden, hi! Is everything going alright?" Tami's voice rang from the other end.

My lips twitched into a smile, hearing her voice return to my native language, making it easier to understand. I turned to see if any of the others were watching. They weren't. They didn't even look like they were talking about this important mission we were supposed to be on as I saw Sicarius throw her head back, laughing. Lento Lure shook their head, fiddling with the drawstrings of their sweatshirt. It was so easy to mistake them for regular civilians when they all had changed out of their uniform to come here. It didn't make sense.

But, if we were going to be on a break, I might as well make it count.

"Yeah, everything is fine," I reassured.

"Thank goodness! I mean, I should've known, but then you didn't call during lunch. It's fine! I know hero work is unpredictable at times, but I—"

"Worry?" I guessed, closing my eyes and turning away from the window. "I know. That was what, three hours ago I was supposed to call? Things just got busy at work."

"I bet," Tami said. "Anyways, I was thinking, maybe we could go out tonight and have Mexican for dinner? Just you and me. You know, to celebrate your first day and everything."

The smile that was on my face fell to a frown. I opened my eyes, watching the cars pass by. It seemed strange not walking around to ensure everyone was safe, but heroes had different roles to play. I just wish I could do my part and actually help out rather than do the mundane hero tasks one does on a typical parol. There was a mission I needed to know about, and yet here I was, standing outside some coffee shop, feeling as if I have done nothing as a hero.

What was it they were up to?

I shook my head, trying to keep my mind focused on one thing, one person: Tami.

"As much as I'd love that, I'm not sure when I'll be getting back," I told her, thinking about that mission we were supposed to be on, whenever that'd be. I couldn't tell Tami about the mission. Not because it'd worry her, but because I legally couldn't tell her a thing about it until it was done for liability reasons. So, I chose to tell her something different to ease her mind. "I didn't check my hours when agreeing to this, but I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"No no! It's fine, it's fine. I just...I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You know, with it being your first day and all," Tami stuttered on the other end.

I drew in a deep breath, finally realizing how much her anxiety was eating her alive this very moment. "Everything is going fine. I promise. Now, I'm not sure how late Bravura will keep me with...everything I need to learn and do, but I'll give you a text when I'm on my way. Tomorrow, I promise, we'll do something together, whatever you want to do. In the meantime, try not to worry too much."

"Okay," Tami's voice came quietly from the other end. "Just be safe."

"Always," I promised before I pulled the phone from my ear and hung up.

There was so much more I wish I could have done to calm her down. I looked down at my phone, checking the time before tucking it back in my pocket. It was about the time I had told her I would be getting off work. No wonder she was getting worried. When I had told Tami that, I didn't know I was going to be thrown into some mission, one that would most likely drag into the late hours of the night if we were still going through with it. Part of me wished I could tell her what was really going on with work. Even if I could, I knew she wouldn't be able to sleep because of it, especially remembering how bad her nightmares were last night.

I just hoped those nightmares were a one time thing. What could I do if they were getting worse here?

Besides, talking about any of my missions to anyone outside the Bravura Agency would be a privacy violation all heroes had to follow. Since Tami wasn't involved, she couldn't know.

Except, she could. She did take a couple months worth of hero classes back in high school, one of which taught us the importance of who could know about certain things and who couldn't to help protect the integrity of a mission. I wasn't sure how much she listened to those lessons being that she never wanted to be a hero. If she was listening, then she probably would have had that small voice gnawing at her, suggesting I wasn't telling her the full truth.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I walked back towards the coffee shop. As I did, I would have ran into a little kid had it not been for one of her parents grabbing the girl by the shoulder to swerve her out of the way. The streets were so empty that I looked back to see what the whole fuss was about. Apparently, that entire time, I was standing next to a statue of what looked like a white potato with eyes, a smile that looked too big to be true, and a pair of giant pink shoes. In one hand, it was holding a donut, which the little girl put her hand on as her parents took a picture of her.

Why would a donut's shop mascot be a potato? Was I missing something here?

Shaking my head, I walked back into the shop where I saw Sicarius leaning back in her chair. When she saw me, she waved, keeping both pairs of eyes fixated on me as she did.

With Bravura sitting across from me, it felt as if he was sitting at the head of the table, despite it only fitting four chairs around it. No one said a word, so I figured he was going to get into the details of this mission they had hinted about.

That was until Sicarius opened her mouth.

"So, who was that? Was that your girlfriend?" she purred, giving a small smirk before she took a sip from her cardboard coffee cup.

"Yes," I answered.

The drink spewed from her mouth the moment the word was in the air. I glanced over to the ashy-blond hero sitting across from her. Sadly, their face was dripping with what I assumed was coffee, and onto their faded gray sweatshirt.

"You know, I didn't need a wake up call quite yet," Lento Lure plainly stated. Bravura handed them some napkins to clean it up.

"Who cares about that? I want to know more about your girlfriend! You do realize all the girls are going to go nuts when they find out you're taken, right? Hell, the barista over there is still totally checking you out," Sicarius explained. "So, who is the lucky girl? Is it someone from home, trying to make the whole distant-relationship work, or is it some American girl that caught your eyes the second you came here?"

My eyes would have rolled had it not been for our boss sitting across from me. I was surprised to see him relaxed with the whole scene that was unfolding. The way Sicarius was acting was very unprofessional. Even Sakura and Kaito wouldn't have had the nerve to act this way in front of their colleagues. Yet, there Bravura was, chuckling at her antics while he helped Lento Lure get cleaned up.

"I don't see how that is so important to the mission," I answered. "She's a girl I went to high school with. American, yes. Long-distant, no. I am staying at her family's house."

"That is so nice!" Sicarius beamed. "Okay, one of these days, we'll have to meet her. It could be a double date or something!"

Double date? I glanced over at Bravura who was way too old for her to be dating. Not to mention, he was our boss, so there had to have been some rule against that, even here in America. My eyes trailed over to Lento Lure, who shook their head.

"It wouldn't be a double date if the two of us aren't dating," Lento Lure pointed out. "Or are you dating someone and haven't told anyone yet?"

Instead of focusing on Sicarius—who was claiming how she was going to take a year off of dating anyone to focus on more important things, things I didn't care to listen to—I found myself looking back at Bravura. Our boss's eyes twinkled as they flicked back and forth from Quinn and Sicarius, not once interrupting them. All he did was smile, listening to the conversation as if this was a normal occurrence.

How was he not stopping all of this? Were we really taking a coffee break when there were other people out there that needed our help? All morning, no one even thought to discuss what Sicarius's big plan was. I had no idea. Instead, they just showed me around town, stopping minor crimes like a man from stealing some woman or stopping a dog from running away from its owner. It wasn't anything major, but it was still things we needed to help out with as heroes. I didn't mind.

Until now, where we were just sitting in some coffee shop, outside of uniform, doing absolutely nothing. I get it was a slow day, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything nefarious going on. For all we know, something horrible could've been happening, and we'd miss it all because a so-called "coffee-break" was needed. Or maybe that plan Sicarius had would be better executed if we'd gone through with it sooner.

America was making less and less sense with every passing hour.

Bravura cleared his throat, causing the two other heroes to stop bickering.  "Maybe we could all go to a baseball game and get to know one another. For right now, time is running out. Elle, you have the file?" Bravura asked.

The dark haired girl nodded as she pulled out her phone. It wasn't exactly a manilla folder filled with papers like I had thought. She tapped through her phone until a picture of a man popped up. Nothing seemed to stick out about him except for the fact that he wore a spiked collar around his thick neck. The spikes matched the ones that trailed down from the top of his head to his spine, making him look like a dinosaur.

I tapped the screen to zoom in, but instead, strange characters popped up on the screen, blocking the image. My eyes blinked as I tried to decipher what it said. Words like name, Quirk, and age were easy to make out, but other than that, I wasn't sure what it said.

"That's our suspect, Tobias Jones," Sicarius whispered. "He's going to be our ticket in."

My fingers wrapped around the drink that was sitting in front of me. Warmth seeped into my hands, surprising me when I felt it. I had forgotten even ordering it earlier when I made that phone call to Tami then had to listen to two of my colleagues' antics.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. "What is this guy getting us into?"

Sicarius's nose scrunched as she answered. "A dog fight."

A dog fight? I almost wanted to ask, but Bravura jumped into the conversation.

"Last night, I was looking over a few security cameras by a local bar for a different project we're working on. That was where I saw Tobias," Bravura explained. "He was having a clear conversation with someone about when the next one was happening: tonight. After looking into some records, it makes sense. He just finished his five year sentence on charges of participation in a local dog fight and robbing a pet store before the incident."

In the corner of my eye, I could see Lento Lure shaking their head. "Some people never learn," they muttered before downing the rest of their drink in one single gulp. Their lips tugged into a frown as they glanced down at it. I had a feeling no amount of coffee was going to be enough for them to be happy.

"Ain't that the truth," Sicarius added. "Swear it can't be a coincidence either."

"A coincidence?" I question, not following what these people were talking about.

Sicarius nodded, but didn't answer. Instead, she popped the white lid off her coffee cup and peered inside. Tilting it around, she swirled the contents inside.

Knowing I wasn't going to get an answer from her, I looked back at Bravura. The man sighed.

"A few months back, there was an animal shelter that was robbed of all its furry friends: rabbits, cats, small puppies, you name it. It was about the time that Tobias had finished his sentence. The security cameras had been wiped clean when the robbery took place; however, it's not so different from the last time we were able to catch Tobias doing something similar. It just shows that this guy is our ticket in."

"In where?" I asked again, clenching my fist. "I get that this is a dog fight, and this guy is involved, but how are we going to shut these people down? Just tell me how we are going to do this thing."

Bravura narrowed his navy colored eyes towards me. "That is where you come in. This whole operation starts with you."

Author's Note:

Oh my gosh! A few notes. First and foremost, this chapter would've been absolute garbage if it wasn't for the help of my amazing friend, FoxyPuff . Words cannot express how much it takes a village to get this book looking the way it does, whether it's from the covers, banners, asking or sharing advice with friends. But this chapter, I'm not joking, wasn't anywhere close to being ready a week ago when I "finished" it. Luckily, Foxy took the time and was very patient with me by helping me edit this chapter, finding the rough patches and giving everything she could to make it look the way that it is. So, thank you so much for dealing with that monstrosity and helping me out.

Secondly, gosh! I wish it didn't take this long to push out a chapter, so to everyone making this far, thank you so much for waiting for it. Not sure when the next chapter is coming out, but I assure you I am working on it. There's just a ton of research going into this arc.

Research like finding strange places in Rhode Island, like the Mr. Potato Head Statue that you can find at a Dunkin Donuts. Apparently, Rhode Island has a ton of statues of the beloved character, and learning about it, brings me to this chapter's question. What are some unique or strange places that you've heard of before?

That's all for now. I hope you all are doing well. Take care!

Character Spotlight: Quinn
Quirk: Lullaby
Likes: Coffee

Song: Chére by The Jazz Hope Cafe