Zero still had a few more days left on medical leave before he would have to move back to active duty. Meaning, if he were to disappear for a few hours no one would be looking for him to notice he wasn't at the base.

After reading about the homeless man in the former Zero's journal the night before he hadn't been able to get Nora, the girl from the city, out of his mind. If they would shoot one of his kind point blank for just asking for help, what would they do to someone who was a part of an incident where someone actually got hurt? Nora hadn't touched a soul but Zero had attacked the person who hurt her; and due to his speed, he had gone unseen during the whole thing.

The only one they saw was Nora.

Most of the team was still out on a mission so only One was around. He doubted Haji would decide to pay a random visit. He's too meticulous about keeping on his daily schedule.

Zero decided that he would wait until right after lunch time to make his move. He made sure to pop in to speak to One first just so he wouldn't check in on him anytime soon. One was about to go train anyway he figured.

Once that was out of the way he made a beeline for the elevator. He checked over his shoulder one last time and then slipped inside to head up to the ground floor. While the elevator climbed up to the surface, the nerves started to set in.

"I can do this. I can do this. I HAVE to do this. I'll just pop over to the city really quick and try to find Nora to make sure she's okay. Then I'll come right back. Easy. I think."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Zero quickly got out of the elevator-

*BAM*

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone else was trying to get on the elevator. He ended up running straight into them and knocking them over.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, here-" Zero offered his hand to the fallen person. He had black hair that dipped slightly above his shoulders. His bangs were a bit unkempt and dropped down in front of his right eye, which made only his left one visible. He had on military pants and a jacket similar to his; across his back was an overstuffed backpack that seemed bigger than he was. The boy, who looked in his young to mid teens, had a scrawny frame and a short stature.

"I-it's okay." The boy said, taking Zero's hand. "I should've paid more attention."

He did a quick bow in apology and quickly scooted past Zero into the elevator. Zero was glad that whoever the boy was, it seemed like he wasn't much for conversation. That made it all the easier for Zero.

The boy was in such a hurry to end the interaction that he didn't notice the numbers on the sides of Zero's jacket and Zero didn't notice the boy's because the backpack straps were obscuring the view of it. Zero and Four had just met each other and neither of them realized it.

"Okay, act casual.." Zero whispered to himself as he calmly headed towards the exit. The goal was to seem as routine as possible.

He peeked over at the receptionist desk. This was probably the one and only time he was glad to see that the other receptionist was manning the desk today. The one that always gave him dirty side looks. Usually it gave him a bad taste in his mouth to see her, but today he gladly welcomed it. She wouldn't give two shits about what he was up to.

As he got past the reception area he made it to the next barrier. The bio scanner.

Even with super speed, he would still probably be detected by it. But that was okay. Midnight Squad was allowed to be outside the base as long as they didn't leave the grounds. They can all be tracked so there's not a huge worry about them walking around the grounds.

I can just say I was taking a stroll if anyone brings it up later, he thought to himself.

He calmly passed through the bio scanner and headed straight out the door. This was where he had to be absolutely flawless. Outside the base there was a small building next to it. This was the vehicles depot - where they kept all of the military's vehicle transports. From jeeps, to trucks, to even a single tank.

Zero walked towards the depot, constantly looking out of the corner of his eyes to make sure he wasn't seen by anyone that could cause him problems later. Luckily there wasn't much happening outside the base today.

So far so good, he thought.

He reached the depot with no issues. Instead of going in, he cut around the back corner of the building so that the structure blocked him from the view of anyone around.

"Chronos Trigger." He said softly. Once the time field was established, Zero took off at the highest speed he could currently achieve while speeding himself up within the time field. This clocked him right above Mach 10.

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He didn't run for the gate in fear of running into something and being caught. Instead, he ran for the wall. As he was about to approach the wall running at full speed, he launched himself off the ground; the extreme momentum gave him enough flight to clear the wall and then some.

Yes, it worked! Zero thought to himself, having feared that he might just end up a splat on the wall.

From there he made his way straight back to Capital City.

Once Zero approached the city, he used the same trick as earlier to clear the bio scanner right outside the city. Once inside the city he booked it past the military outpost and into a nearby alleyway before finally coming to a stop.

"Alright….*huff*...*huff*....I made it. That couldn't have taken much time at all. *huff*....Now, time to start asking around."

He made no attempt to conceal who he was or his face as that would only draw more suspicion. So he just walked around as if he was supposed to be there.

He spotted a woman sitting on a bench by herself. Zero noted the hybrid badge around her arm. Zero walked up to her and sat next to her.

"Excuse me, do you have a second? I wanted to ask you something."

The woman looked at him with a nervous look on her face. "I didn't do anything, I promise. I was just sitting here! What does the military need of someone like me?"

"Wait wait, that's not what this is." He had forgotten to put on his hybrid badge. He pulled it out of his jacket and showed her. "See, I'm one of you."

"Oh…" Her expression seemed to soften a little. "What did you need?"

"Last time I was here I ran into this little girl. A hybrid like us. Her name was Nora - she was with her dad over at the clinic. Would you happen to know her?"

"Hmmm. Doesn't ring a bell. I'm sorry."

"Ah. Well. Thanks anyways." Zero nodded to her and then headed off to ask someone else.

He asked several more hybrids about Nora and her family; but no one knew anything about them. Some of them seemed more tight lipped than they should be, as if they were afraid of saying something they shouldn't.

"This is getting me nowhere and I'm wasting time. Oh! I'll try asking at the clinic. Since all hybrids in the city go there, SOMEONE should know something."

Zero walked to find the clinic which proved to be more difficult this time around without Haji guiding him. He had to ask a few more people for directions along the way before he finally arrived. Just like last time, there was a line out the door of hybrids waiting to be seen.

Though he felt bad about doing it, he decided to use his military perks and bypass the line. He expected to get some angry looks but no one seemed to dare look him in the eyes as he passed. It was more like they were afraid of him than anything.

Why are they so fearful? Zero sadly thought to himself. I'm wearing the same badge as them. There's no reason to think I would do something to them.

Zero walked through the door and went straight up to the counter, cutting in front of the man that was about to go next. There was a lady behind the counter wearing a mask - she was on the bigger side with dark red hair that dropped down in tight curls. She wasn't wearing a badge.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked in a dry tone.

"No. I'm here for an inquiry."

"An inquiry? What are you inquiring about?" She sounded almost skeptical at this point.

"Not long back, there was an incident outside this clinic with a man and a young girl. He was attacking her but she was able to escape before being brought back to her dad here. Um, I was told her name was Nora. Do you happen to know if she made it back to her dad that day?"

"Oh, that. Yea I remember the military coming over asking questions about it. Apparently the guy's arm was broken. But to answer your question - no, I don't know. I was off that day. And even if I did I couldn't tell you. Not without a written authorization."

Damn it, Zero thought. There's no way I'm gonna be able to get permission for this. I'll have to try this another way…

"Ah, I don't think my commanding officer was aware of that. He's all the way back at the outpost. Could you make an exception just this once? It's an urgent matter."

"....is your commanding officer just letting you roam free in the city? Without a handler?"

Zero realized that this conversation was going in a bad direction.

"Well, thanks for your help. I'll go get that authorization and come back later." Zero quickly turned and headed for the exit before she had a chance to tell anyone about him.

"Hey. Hey kid." A voice called out to him.

Zero turned to his left and saw an older man, probably in his 50s motioning him over. He obliged and met with the man as he waited in line.

"What is it?"

"Were you just asking about Oliver's kid?"

"Oliver?"

"Nora. Oliver is her father."

"Yes! Do you know anything about her? Have you seen her lately?" Zero got excited as he was about to get his first lead since arriving here.

The man stayed silent for a moment. Zero couldn't get a read from the man's face, but it seemed like he was a bit torn about something.

"....off of 5th. There's a blue apartment building. They stay in room 21 on the 2nd floor."

"Um, thanks. I don't need to drop in on them or anything. I just wanted to make sure that she made it back ok."

"It's best you go visit her, kid. They'll be glad to see you."

Zero was confused. "Wait, why would they be glad?"

"Well…seeing as you're wearing that badge and a military uniform, I can only take it you're one of those with powers. And if you're asking about Nora you have to be the boy who saved her that day."

"People know I did that??" Zero had bit his tongue after he uttered the words. If they didn't before, they did now.

"Haha it's quite alright. Nora talked about you a lot. She was so happy that someone had protected her. You can imagine that doesn't happen often around here. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone." He said with a soft smile.

"T-thanks. Well I'm glad to hear that she made it back to talk about it then. I was worried." Zero felt a wave of relief wash over him. I guess I was worried for nothing, he happily thought to himself.

The man glanced down off to the side. "Oh, yes. All she wanted to talk about was the 'superhero' who came to her rescue. It was like she wanted us to know about your kindness… before it was too late." He spoke the last few words in a hushed tone.

"Too late? Why would it be too late?" Zero asked, matching his quiet tone.

The man stared back into Zero's eyes. There was a great emotion behind them that made his next words all the more impactful.

"Yes. Not long after they brought her back, she was put to death right outside the clinic. As a lesson for those who disrupt the peace of Capital City."