Zero's punishment was 5 days solitary.

It had been a quiet ride back to the base following the trip to the city and it was even quieter now that he was stuck in a holding cell 24 hours a day. Midnight Squad resided on the 2nd sub level, and there were holding cells on the 3rd level for special offenders that they kept on base before transferring out. None of them were told what was on the remaining 2 sub levels.

The cell had no windows or openings of any kind. It was just a single bed, a small sink, a toilet, and that was it. The military had no interest in providing its prisoners something to pass the time with. Part of the punishment was also the mental torture of it all.

Zero was finally on his last day and he wasn't honestly sure how he made it even this long. All he had were his thoughts. He reflected on his time in the city, its people, the Vice-President, and of course Nora. Even if he had to take another beating by Haji, he would gladly save her all over again.

He thought back on his time as Azrael. He spent years in that body and never knew what it was truly capable of. He hadn't even guessed that the whole time he was a time user. Looking back at some of the feats it pulled off made him wonder what more this power of his was capable of.

There was no chance of testing that out in the past 5 days though - the room was made out of a special material that suppressed his abilities. It even made him feel a bit light headed and lackadaisical. He also wasn't given any personal care items so he was starting to really smell himself by this point.

*CLICK*

The door to his cell slid open and two armed guards came in with his rifle at the ready.

Zero seemed unfazed. They did this anytime they had to open the door to bring him food. A gun pointed at him was just a part of his day now.

Haji walked in after them.

"Well, you can head back up now."

After 5 days that's all he has to say to me, thought Zero. He pushed himself up off the bed and walked past Haji to the door.

"And please go take a shower when you get there."

Zero took the elevator up to the 2nd sub level where Midnight squad resided.

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The floor had 10 living quarters, a full kitchen, a common space, a decked out gym, and of course the training room.

Zero went down the hallway from the elevator and started to head towards the bedrooms which were down the hall once you turned the corner.

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

He became distracted by a loud sound that was vibrating through even the walls. He headed in the direction of the noise and found himself outside the gym. The gym had any weight machine you could think of and more. There was a full size track that went around the whole room and a Jr. Olympic size pool past a door further in the room. There were also 2 steam rooms inside the showers.

Zero found the source of the noise. Three was working out and had her music on blast - the heavy bass could be felt throughout the whole floor. He went for the door, but stopped as he looked back at Three. She was squatting with a bar that had several hundred pounds on each side. Sweat was pouring down every part of her body and her muscles were bulging from the strain. She wasn't using her ability but simply natural strength at this point.

He didn't want to break her focus so Zero decided to leave her be.

Going to the gym had taken him in the opposite direction of the bedrooms. However the entire floor went in a circle so he just had to swing around from the other direction. As he roamed through the halls, he noticed that no one else seemed to be around.

I guess everyone is sleeping or something, he thought. He had no idea what time it was and of course there were no windows to see if the sun was out or not. Being in isolation took away his sense of time.

He had finally made his way to the bedroom hall. The rooms were in order by rank, but his room was beside Five's since there wasn't a Zero rank when the squad was first envisioned. There were more rooms than squad members because the military wasn't sure how large the squad was going to be in the beginning. So there were several empty rooms at this end of the hall that he hadn't checked out due to having to come around from the other direction.

Zero passed by each room on the way to his own when he noticed a door that had dried glue where a name plate once was on the door.

He was about to keep walking until his curiosity started to get the better of him. "Did someone else use this room before? I wonder…"

Zero looked both ways to ensure no one was around. There was a keypad by each door that they scanned to get in. Everyone's key could open the others' room. He removed his blue key card and pressed it against the scanner.

*BEEEEEEEP*

*CLICK*

The door slid open. Zero quickly ducked inside and he pressed the button on the other side of the wall to close it back.

He found the light switch next to the door button and clicked it. The light came on and illuminated the room's contents. There were several boxes lying around filled with belongings. The bed had been stripped down and everything taken off the walls.

Zero walked over to one of the boxes and started sifting through it. A few books, some type of game, figurines, and…a journal.

He took out the journal that was closed shut by an elastic band that went around it lengthwise. Pulling off the band, he opened up the journal to the very front. He felt dirty for snooping but he had already gone this far.

His eyes instantly widened and his heart sank at what was written on the inside part of the cover.

'Property of Zero'.