It was supposed to be a week after the incident that Kayla had said to contact her. Maybe she needed that much time to get things set up.

Waiting that long was torture for the heroes.

Mirko would have been glad to get anything to do. Ibara going missing bothered her. The Originals had made a move again and slipped right under her nose. It was unsettling. It was starting to seem like no one she met anywhere could be trusted.

The few days after that late night argument went by at a snail's pace. The lack of sleep didn't help anything.

Mirko's temper flared when Ren contacted her to ask for updates...and to hint she shouldn't be there. She hung up on him.

She moved through her daily hero work in a haze. The Meta take down had decreased a lot of crime, so things were slow...but even a small amount was draining on her when she was this exhausted.

She thought the problem would recover itself, but even when she was asleep from sheer exhaustion, she was sure to wake up at some point, clutching her throat or shivering...

She'd never had PTSD before, at least knowingly, and she was not liking it.

Shigaraki ignored the whole argument, which pissed her off further because it showed how little he really cared for any scrutiny... Why that pissed her off was a mystery.

She was too tired to really need a reason to be pissed off. Everything was annoying her.

Medea said she was acting like a b----, but Medea was also perceptive enough to notice she didn't look well.

Shigaraki didn't either, but he always looked bad, so while Compress remarked on it, he didn't think much of it.

Shigaraki did go out one day though...at least, they thought he did.

"You know what it was?" Twice finally told them, "I think the doctor called him... Maybe he has news on our project."

"Ew..." Toga said. Even she didn't like the doctor... Not a great sign.

"Don't tell Mirko that," Medea remarked, "I don't think she liked that creep."

But Mirko had heard him. She was just in the next room.

She dropped the water bottle she was holding.

It was too much to deal with right now. She sank to the floor and covered her head. She knew it was the lack of sleep talking, partly, but it felt like a really big problem, the doctor making any kind of move at all...

"I hope he's not doing treatments again," Spinner said, "because, between the three of us, I don't think the boss is recovered enough from that fight for that."

"Since when does that doctor care?" Toga said, "He's creepy."

"I don't think he even likes Shigaraki," Medea observed, "I felt like...they were just...hostile--but in a quiet way."

"Shigaraki doesn't like anyone," Spinner said, "but the doc is scary... Better not to poke into it, kid."

Medea shivered.

Mirko grimly went into the sitting area and sat down on the chair Compress always packed...

She ended up dozing off there, only to be startled awake by Medea coming n.

"Oh, sorry," Medea said, "Why don't you take a nap in your space?"

Mirko rubbed her eyes. "That was just an accident."

"You look washed out. You should," Medea said, "I swear, you've been so pissy... Is it that time of the month?"

"Oh, piss off," Mirko said.

Medea didn't care for her temper. "Whatever... Oh, is that boss-man now?"

There was a sort of whooshing sound that usually meant the warping quirk.

Medea went to the adjoining room.

Mirko followed slowly, curious.

"Boss?" Spinner was saying, "Where have you been?"

Shigaraki didn't really answer.

"Was it the doctor?" Twice asked, "or was it something else? No, don't tell me--I can't guess!"

"Not helping, Twice," Spinner said.

Shigaraki coughed. Blood came out.

"Ew!" Medea stepped back, scared.

"Oh, look..." Toga began, but the two men cut her off.

"Are you okay?" Spinner said.

"What happened?" Twice demanded.

Shigaraki didn't answer. Instead he fell over.

Mirko's ears went back. The doctor...she was sure of it.

"Ah! Is he dead?" Medea almost had a conniption. Mirko grabbed her and held her back from running, before she burst into flames and set the whole place on fire.

As it was, fire flickered over her hair.

Compress and Silk came in at the yelping.

"What happened to him?" Silk said.

"I think it was the egghead," Spinner said, "Maybe he did the thing again."

"That thing he never tells us about but he always seems really tired after...?" Compress said.

"No, Compress, the other thing that seems great!" Spinner snapped sarcastically.

Silk examined Shigaraki. "He's still breathing. I'd say he's just exhausted...or hurt, maybe... Do you know what kind of thing doctor does to him?"

They shook their heads.

"It can't be good," Silk said.

"To get power..." Spinner said, "that's all he'll say about it."

Medea covered her mouth. "I don't feel so good."

"Medea is too young for this," Silk said, "Get her out of here." With a dirty look at Mirko, as it if it was her fault the kid was still here.

Mirko took Medea and led her out of the room.

"Is that doctor going to do that to all of us?" Medea said nervously, "I don't like him. I don't like him!"

"Calm down." Mirko was not good at this... She wasn't calm herself. "Chill, the old coot hasn't asked for you at all."

"Or maybe he has," Medea said, "Maybe Shigaraki is keeping him at bay, like before, but what if he takes us all off guard?" She grabbed Mirko suddenly in a sort of desperate hug. "I don't want to be zombified..."

Mirko wasn't sure how to react to this... She patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"I wouldn't let that happen."

"I don't think you can stop it..." Medea sniffed, "We're stuck here...both of us... Listen," She looked up suddenly, eyes burning purple, "we have to defeat the Originals. We have to...so we can get out of here...if we need to... I mean...I like the League fine, but I wouldn't pick them over being able to be my own person..."

"Yeah...we have to defeat them," Mirko agreed, frowning darkly.

* * *

The League put Shigaraki on the couch and discussed what happened, but they didn't have any real ideas about it.

He came around not too long later but seemed totally drained...possibly in pain. He never said.

The League was too afraid to ask him.

Mirko was afraid to ask too. She didn't know if she wanted to know the answer.

* * *

As usual for her, Shine checked in, and she chose to call later that same day. Mirko was sipping coffee and was a little less out of it. She picked up.

After the usual questions about how it was going, Shine noticed something wasn't right.

"What's going on?"

Mirko listened. No one was around--she would have heard them moving.

She told Shine what happened. Both incidents.

Shine was as horrified as they were to hear about the doctor...and not surprised about the rest.

"And you still think this is a good idea?" Mirko said.

"I still think it's your decision," Shine said.

"I meant for you," Mirko said, "Your campaign to do stuff...you think it's going to work... This is pretty deep s---."

Shine hesitated. "I feel I could help if I just knew the truth. I only know part of it...but we have what we need when we need it. Maybe it's just not my time yet. At least you're learning a little about what's going on there."

Mirko snorted. "I'm learning that no one has a clue."

"Better than nothing...but I do have some insight on Shigaraki, if you care to hear it."

"By all means, anything to make this easier," Mirko said.

"Well, it won't make it easier, but from what you're saying, I can see where the trouble is. I wouldn't take it personally. People with deep trauma shut down. They don't know how to talk about it or themselves or what they want. All they know is pain. But insults and criticism aren't going to work on him. They work on people with an ounce of self respect...and Shigaraki doesn't have that. All I've seen of him myself says to me he's not really fully...present, I guess is the word to use. You've noticed by now--it's like talking to someone who's only half there."

"Yeah." Mirko nibbled on a carrot. "What is up with that? Is it the experiments? Like the nomu."

"Possibly, but I don't think it's like that... I'm not sure. If I knew how AFO and that Doctor brainwashed him, I'd know the answer. All it would take is hearing what they said or did." Shine sounded frustrated. "Then it would all click, but he's not going to tell me. I doubt he'd tell anyone at all, so it's guesswork, mostly. You might be smarter not to probe too much. I'd... Honestly, if I were you, I'd just try to be nicer."

"Nicer?" Mirko repeated, "What would that do? It wouldn't matter anyway. You're nice, and you don't know any more than I do."

"It's not about getting something out of it, Rumi," Shine chided her, "It's about what's right. Why make the problem worse? That's all I'm saying. It hurts all of us in the long run if he's angry and not thinking clearly. That bit about the Metas is classic though... What an enigma... Must say, I like all of the LOV except Toga, but Shigaraki is the most interesting--so hard to figure out, even for me. Normally I read people so easily."

"Glad someone is enjoying this, because it feels like The Twilight Zone around here," Mirko said.

"Impressed you knew that show," Shine said, "but yeah, I get it...trust me. I spent a lot of time at a villain lair when I was on a mission once. What got the oldest was the monologuing and the explosions...so if you've got none of that, I'd call it nicer, except you have a Toga...and that doctor, so I'd still not trade."

"How is it you've experienced so many different things, and you're younger than me?" Mirko was annoyed.

"Time flows differently in different dimensions," Shine said, "I've lived out whole extra years worth of time outside my dimension, but I age in my world."

"Wait...you don't age? I mean, here...?"

"No, I don't. I mean, I get tired, hungry, and stuff, so I pass through time, but my body doesn't get noticeably older. That's great, really. Wally would be in his early 30s by now if it worked that way, but because of that little trick we get to absorb all this extra experience, without the side effects of getting older and more worn out by them." Shine seemed to be smiling very smugly. "Why do you think I'm so smart?"

"Very humble," Mirko said. 

"I don't think you should talk."

"What about...what the High Father did? Did you have any other side effects?" Mirko changed the subject.

"I felt a little strange for a few days," Shine said, "but I prayed after the whole thing, and I didn't have any nightmares, thankfully. I feel the effects have faded now. It never affected me as badly anyway, but I was worried about you and Shigaraki."

"It's...been...kind of weird," Mirko said hesitantly.

"I take it he wouldn't own up to it, but will you?" Shine guessed.

"I can't sleep," Mirko admitted. She was too tired and at her limit with it to bother denying it.

"At all?"

"Only for a short time. I wake up really fast...and I can feel those wires..."

"The nervous system can carry memory of trauma for years," Shine said, which wasn't comforting, "It causes all kinds of problems. I had some when I was going through therapy... Nasty stuff. Nervous habits can be a sign of it--so can clawing yourself. I've heard that one a lot...and jumping at certain things, sounds, etc. That too. Any of this sound familiar?"

"No, I'm not doing that," Mirko said, "I don't think it's trauma... It's just the traces of that quirk."

"That would be trauma, sweetie," Shine said dryly, "Trauma doesn't have to be emotional. You know it's a medical term too, right? And besides, it's not like it's unusual. Everyone usually has some kind of trauma. It's just something that affects us long term. A hurt can pass away in an hour, if it's not that deep. Trauma stays with you. It can go away, though. What I'm saying is, if it's lasted this many days, it could be shock, but trauma is likely too. You should stop being afraid of that word."

"I don't want to talk about that," Mirko said.

"Which is why you can't get away from it," Shine said.

That was too much honesty for Mirko. It made her mad. "Why don't you mind your own business! What kind of messed up thing is that to say anyway?"

"I'm sorry if I'm not helping," Shine said.

"Just forget about it," Mirko sniffed.

"Want to hear something nicer?" Shine said.

Mirko calmed down a little. "Is it about that girl?"

"No, that's...not till the day after tomorrow... I know, I'm worried too. But something good did happen this week..."

Shine told her about getting engaged.

Mirko thought West had weird timing.

She didn't really care about people's love lives, but Shine seemed happy, so she didn't rain on her parade. 

"At least West didn't beat around the bush forever. I hate guys like that," she commented.

"They are the worst," Shine agreed, "but Wally is not one to take a long time, as you can guess, so yeah, I've been on cloud 9...except when I remember Ibara... Life is so funny, a mix of bad and good."

"More bad than good for a while," Mirko said.

"C. S. Lewis observed that when things go bad, they go bad for a while. And when things go good, they go good for a while. I've always thought it's more of a mixed bag, but I think when things happen in succession, there's a common root cause. So I'd be looking for that," Shine said, "When it all turns around and goes right again, it'll be fun to see what led up to that."

"You're so weird." Mirko smiled wryly.

"I know," Shine said, "So...see you in a couple days... I mean, you're not passing this up, right?"

"No way. I don't think Medea will either."

"I don't really want her...but I won't stop her. We all have to make our own choices. She just really doesn't deserve this," Shine said.

"So who does?" Mirko said, "We're all gonna be in danger if they get away with this, so we should all do whatever we can to stop it."

"True. Anyone in the League interested?"

"Since it's a hero kid, I doubt they will be," Mirko said.

"Well, we're gonna call her and hope for the best... I was hoping Ren and Intelli would help us. They could help us not be traced, so..."

"Yeah, I'll ask," Mirko said, "I hate needing to ask for help here."

"But you are handling it like a Pro," Shine joked.

"Oh, shut up," Mirko said.

"I'll see you then." Shine hung up.

* * *

"Yeah, I'm coming," Medea said, when Mirko brought up it the following day.

"You do realize this is going to be dangerous, probably more than the Metas. They didn't know we were coming," Mirko said, "and the Originals are deadly."

"Hello, I worked with them," Medea said.

She bit her lip. "The only thing I'm worried about it Lethe...if he's still with them. I don't know whether I want to meet him, or I don't want to. Or if he could be dead."

Mirko couldn't answer that for her.

"But I feel like I should help," Medea said, "I owe Monama for last time, and it's his classmate. I feel like it's partly our fault that happened to her."

Mirko didn't see how it was, but she shrugged. "Right, well, Likstar said you could come."

"No one else will want to, though," Medea said, "but I guess I should let them know."

Which she did.

Compress and Silk both thought it was a bad idea, and Spinner did too, but he was less vocal about it.

Twice argued both sides.

Toga didn't care.

Shigaraki, though, said Medea should not be going alone.

"I'm not. Mirko is coming with me." Medea grabbed Mirko's arm, like she was a stuffed animal she was going to lug around.

Mirko gave her an annoyed look.

"Oh, that's comforting," Compress said, "The most reckless hero in the world will be in charge of you. She couldn't even keep an eye on you in that one Meta city."

"And you almost got killed," Silk said.

"Hey!" Mirko glared at them.

"That wasn't her fault. It was Ren's idea to split up," Medea defended her, "and I agreed to it. And her being there wouldn't have changed a dang thing, I think."

"That's also not comforting," Compress said.

"Unless you're volunteering, Dad, I think you should lay off," Medea sassed him.

"You're such a brat," Compress said.

"Well, if Medea is going, someone else should go," Shigaraki agreed, "You'll probably need a way to get transported around."

"Well, we'll have the DJs," Medea said.

"Who can't use their abilities around the Originals' bases," Shigaraki said.

Medea hesitated. "So are you volunteering for it?"

"Well, who else has the power to?" Shigaraki said.

Mirko raised an eyebrow. "And you really think you can handle it?"

"Shut up," Shigaraki said.

"Wait, she might be right," Silk began, "You're not in the best shape--" She broke off. 

Shigaraki was glaring at her murderously, like he was daring her to finish that.

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Spinner said, "I mean, you're all so visible."

"Real problem will be if we have to fight out in the open," Medea said.

"The ninja won't fight out in the open," Mirko sniffed.

"I guess that's that, then," Medea shrugged.

* * *

That night, Mirko couldn't sleep yet again and got up again, not even surprised to find Shigaraki in the same spot as before.

She wondered how much longer this was going to affect her...

She checked her phone messages... Hawks had texted her that he was still crashing at the "safe house", by which she was pretty sure he meant the Todorokis' house.

It was surprising they were letting him, really. Endeavor was still in the hospital. He'd woken up finally, though. 

Why Hawks bothered letting her know at all, she wasn't sure. Did he think she'd be worried? She was still mad at him.

Granted...it did seem pointless to keep holding that grudge. It was over now. But could she ever really trust him? Even in the small amount she had before? It was disappointing...

She moved while still checking her phone and ran right into the door frame.

Oh, for the love of--she rubbed her head. Her perception was really getting dull if she couldn't notice a wall in front of her.

Of course Shigaraki heard her... Awkward...

This time he got up, as if to just really show how mad he was, and came that direction.

Mirko pretended to just be looking at her phone still.

"You again!" Shigaraki was mad now.

"I can get up if I want," Mirko shot back, "Why are you always down here anyway?"

"Why are you?"

"I...couldn't sleep..." No energy to really lie this time.... It was getting old.

Shigaraki didn't ask any further.

"Whatever." He turned around and ran into the same wall.

Mirko choked back a laugh.

But Shigaraki had run into it because his limbs were not really cooperating fully still after the day before, and he just kind of tripped and fell onto the floor painfully.

That was not funny.

"Are you okay?" Mirko looked down, a bit puzzled.

No response. He just pulled himself up silently... The disconnected way he handled this was really what made it the most unsettling... It was sort of like Kurogiri...but not just the same.

Mirko would have preferred not witnessing this alone, she thought.

Not that she felt unsafe--it was just...eerie.

"That Doctor really messed you up, huh?" she commented, pocketing her phone.

"No more than usual," Shigaraki said flatly, still not like it really mattered at all.

Mirko sighed. "Do you need help?"

"What?" Completely blankly.

"Between the passing out and coughing up blood, most people wouldn't be surprised at that question, moron."

"I don't need help!" Shigaraki snapped.

"Fine." Mirko moved past indignantly. Stupid idiot...

Shigaraki started to move on his own again, just to show he was fine, and instead his feet didn't cooperate. They'd been getting kind of numb or stinging by turns since the High Father... The doctor had just made it worse.

So instead he found himself plunging forward and hitting Mirko in the process, so both of them fell over.

"Hey!" Mirko was all on edge.

Shigaraki was going to say something dismissive again, but the impact made him start coughing again.

Mirko hated medical drama... She pulled her feet up.

"Yeah...fine..." she muttered.

Shigaraki began to feel sick... His head was spinning...splitting.

Mirko sighed and grabbed him and yanked him up. Not very gently.

At this point he was too out of it to put up a fight or even really know what was happening.

She dragged him back to the couch and sat him down.

"It's just stupid to lie on the cold floor..." she muttered.

Where were those other idiots when you actually needed them? Then again, they were kind of useless...Mirko thought. When did they ever actually help?

[Flashback to Compress just standing there when Shigaraki fell on his face because of his broken foot... I mean, for real, dude?]

Mirko sat down on the far end of the couch and pulled out her phone again. 

:Ren

She texted.

:Ready to go after Swamp King's Religious Daughter?

[Vine references!]

Surprisingly, Ren must have been up, because almost at once he answered  

:"Si! Quando?" [Yes, when.]

:"Manana," Mirko replied.
[Tomorrow... Can't get this editing software to put the accent mark over the "n".]

"Bueno," Ren answered, "Buenos Noches [good night]--Go to sleep!"

Easier said that done, Ren.

Mirko sighed. At least that was taken care of. 

She checked her news feed again.

Her vision was getting blurry...

* * *

Shigaraki woke up suddenly. It was morning finally... When had he fallen asleep...? Oh yeah, he'd passed out after tripping kind of. It was all a blur from that point on.

He'd actually fallen asleep...weird...

The video game was still on though... Now it was doing that thing where it asks you if you're still playing.

"Ah, there you are." Silk poked her head in the room. "Is it too much to hope you actually want breakfast? Because I have these eggs that really should be cooked... What on earth?" She suddenly did a double take.

Shigaraki didn't understand that what her problem was.

"What?"

"Why...?" Silk said weirdly, "Well...talk about an all nighter... You know that's not healthy, right?"

"What's your problem?" Shigaraki grumbled.

"Well, I'm just surprised Pro would pull that. So irresponsible," Silk muttered, ducking back out.

Shigaraki didn't get it until suddenly Mirko jumped.

"What the--?" She looked around. "Oh...I actually fell asleep in here? Wow...with the light on too."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Shigaraki nearly jumped out of his skin.

Mirko blinked at him like she wasn't sure why he was there.

"I..." She lifted her phone. "Oh, yeah, I remember, I was checking the news... I can't believe it's morning already, s---." She got up.

"Medea?!" she called.

"She's not up yet," Silk called at her, "and you should really know better than to sleep out here."

"Wasn't planned, Mother Russia," Mirko shot back. 

"What did you just call me?"

"Got a problem with that?" Mirko said.

"You know what? You can just get own breakfast," Silk said.

"I wasn't going to eat it anyway," Mirko said.

This fight was stupid.

"Both of you shut up," Shigaraki grumbled.

"No one asked you," Mirko said.

"Why are you yelling?" Medea came in rubbing her yes. "It's freaking early."

"You need to get ready," Mirko said.

"Like they'll be ready for us..." Medea said.

"The time on that card was mid-morning," Mirko said, "Probably around coffee break time, so we need to be punctual."

"Late, late, to a very important date," Medea drawled, "White Rabbit, White Rabbit!"

Mirko shoved her lightly.

Medea blazed up. "Not before my coffee."

"Aren't you a little young for coffee?" Compress yawned, "Why do you all have to be so loud...?"

"At least we sleep in our areas!" Silk said, "Boss and Rabbit seem to think couch is good place. Waste of electricity too."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Compress said.

Mirko shot Silk a warning look.

"Nevermind," Silk said.

* * *

About an hour later, Medea had pulled on her only jacket, leggings, skirt, and shoes and pinned her hair up.

"I wish I had a costume," she said, "You think a purple body suit would work?"

"Sounds boring," Mirko said, tapping her foot impatiently, "We need to hurry up."

"I'm ready... Is Shigaraki still coming?" Medea said.

"Let's hope not," Mirko said.

"Wow, salty much?" Medea said.

"I don't think he's ready." Mirko tossed her hair. "He's still coughing up blood, for crying out loud."

"Yeah, honestly I kind of agree, but he's not gonna change his mind," Medea said, "It's funny, you know, I thought he was all scary and creepy when I heard about the LOV and we first joined...but now I really don't think so. Toga scares me more."

"Toga scares everyone," Mirko said.

"Dabi was kind of cool," Medea said, "rude, but... You think he'll join us again?"

"I dunno. I don't really care," Mirko said.

Shigaraki finally found them. 

"Back from the dead?" Medea joked.

"No." Flatly.

Silence.

"Can we...you know...not use that goo stuff?" Medea said.

Mirko had her phone ready. "Likstar should be able to take us."

Light flashed a second later.