“So what are we doing here?” Linh asked.

  Her and Grim were standing on a rooftop down at the docks, staring at a warehouse. Grim hadn't explained anything, simply telling her to meet him here.

  “Are we watching for smugglers or something?” she continued when Grim didn't immediately answer.

  He whirled on her, eyes wide, “How did you know?” he asked, incredulously.

  “Umm, we’re at the docks in the middle of the night?” Linh said, “What else would we be doing?”

  “You're good at this,” Grim replied.

  …This was going to go poorly, Linh could tell. She honestly wasn't sure if Grim was genuinely so odd, or if he was just fucking with her. It wouldn't surprise her either way.

  “There's a gang moving some dangerous drugs into the city,” Grim explained, “We need to know who they’re selling them to.”

  Linh nodded. Right, drugs. She totally knew all about that.

  “So…” she began, “You need me to watch the back door while you sneak in to find out?” she guessed.

  Grimm looked at her, confused, “No? Why would we do that? No gang worth their salt keeps a client list.”

  “Then what are we doing here?” Linh asked.

  “There's a deal happening tonight. I need you to burst in and fight them all. Let one of the buyers escape so I can follow them,” Grim said.

  “You… you want me to fight an entire warehouse full of gangsters on my own, while letting one specific person escape?” Linh asked, incredulous.

  “Yes.”

  “...Are any of them supers?” She asked.

  Grim shook his head.

  “Alright, when are we doing this?”

  Damien stood behind the boss, doing his best to look tough. This was his first time being here for a deal, his first time being trusted with anything more than just shaking down an addict. It was a sign that he was going places.

  Or it would be, if the world worked like that. No, he was just here because the actually important people had better things to do. It didn't take a genius to stand there holding a gun, it only took a Damien.

  The smell of piss and cheap durries filled the air as Damien shifted on his feet. The deal, as far as Damien could tell, was going well. The other guys were loading the product into their van, while the bosses chatted. It was a good relationship between their groups, which Damien was grateful for. He was here more as a formality than an actual guard, but you never knew what could happen.

  A tickling filled his nose, and his eyes watered as he fought the urge to sneeze. He failed, only succeeding in making the noise even louder. He sheepishly wiped his hands on his pants as the boss glared at him. Which meant both of them missed the arrival of the superhero.

  One of the windows shattered as a small form in green crashed through it. They landed and spun, long silken sleeves reaching out to sweep the guys around them off their feet. Damien snatched his gun out of his pants, and froze.

  Were those… rabbit ears?

  “Surrender, or be restrained with strictly regulation levels of necessary force!” the hero declared, settling into a heroic pose.

  Everyone paused, staring. There was silence, you could hear a pin drop.

  “What the fuck?” someone said.

  Then the gunfire started.

  “Well that didn't work,” Linh thought, flipping through the air as the bullets flew. Fortunately, most of these guys were armed with handguns, and even a trained professional would struggle to hit a fast moving, small target in a dark room. These guys were definitely not professionals. She saw at least one guy drop his gun while trying to fire it sideways, and another who was struggling to cock his. She was pretty sure most of them had never fired a weapon before. Not that it made them any less dangerous. Especially to each other. That dude got hit in the shoulder. Really, you’d think they’d realise that shooting at someone that was standing in the middle of their group was a shit idea. They’ll learn.

  Linh flipped and teleported, landing behind a goon.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Your safety’s on,” she told him. He checked his gun.

  “Thanks,” he said, flicking it off.

  “You’re welcome.” She slapped it out of his hand, sweeping his legs out from underneath him. He fell.

  She hopped, making contact with another guy, sending him crashing into a crate.

  The warehouse was chaos. Guys were everywhere, people were yelling. A couple of them were on the ground. Linh was immensely grateful that she had remembered to bring ear plugs. This place was loud. Bullets, screaming, falling pipes as guys tripped over themselves.

  A sound from behind, Linh spun, sweeping out with her sleeves, catching a man who was rushing at her with a pipe. She left him struggling against his bonds and teleported across the room to land behind a trio that were taking cover behind a van. She wrapped a sleeve around all three of them, their heads smacking together. She ignored them, reaching in through the Van’s open door to pinch the keys.

  A few bullets smacked into the panel beside her, so she backflipped, spun in the air and snagged a rafter with her sleeves. She swung Tarzan style across the room, detaching to land in a roll.

  “You know,” Linh said, disarming the man next to her before slapping him into a wall with a palm strike, “this would hurt less if you just gave up.”

  “It would probably be less embarrassing too,” she added.

  She teleported again, grabbed a guy by the belt and threw him at another dude who was attempting to flee out the fire door. They both crashed to the ground, and she followed, wrapping them both up. She spotted the guy she needed to let get away hiding nearby. She pretended not to see them, instead surveying the room

  Most of the gangsters were down, just a handful were left.

  Movement, a guy drawing a bead on her. Linh leapt, bouncing off a stack of crates, landing on the guy to force him into the ground. One of the crates burst open, spilling its contents.

  “Really?” Linh asked, incredulously, “Who smuggles drugs in baby toys?”

  The guy didn't respond, so Linh wrapped him up and moved on. She was almost done. Just two more that she could see, with the fire door banging shut behind her target. Excellent, hopefully Grim was paying attention. Though Linh had a suspicion that might not be a sure thing.

  *bang*

  A searing pain in her waist. Linh looked down.

  “Oww.”

  She was shot!

  That fucking hurt.

  Linh turned to glare at the guy behind her.

  “Really?” she demanded. He paled.

  “Uhh, sorry?” He said.

  Linh backhanded him into a crate. She winced, probing the injury. Not too bad, she’d had worse. She gritted her teeth. Hurt like a bitch though.

  A movement. The last guy was attempting to sneak out.

  “Hey!” Linh called, glaring at him. He paused.

  “Don't make me come over there,” she threatened. He dropped his weapon and laid down.

  “Good man,” she said.

  Linh quickly bound and gathered all her captives, placing them in a big pile, weapons all tossed into a box. She wrapped her bullet wound, which was already beginning to heal, and checked on the guys who had been hit by friendly fire. Everyone would live. Excellent.

  Then she settled down on a crate to wait for the cops.

  She winced as the wound in her side throbbed.

  Doc was not going to be happy that she was hurt again.

  “What part of ‘Don’t let me see you for a week?’ did you not understand?” Doc said, grabbing a pair of long tweezer looking things from the counter.

  Linh was seated on the exam table in the medbay, being lectured by Doc.

  “It's just a bullet wound.” Linh said, “I literally had worse the other day.”

  “That… that does not make it better, you realise that?” Doc said, shaking her head, “What if you were hit in the head?”

  Linh shrugged, “I probably would have died, what's the big deal?”

  Doc stared.

  “What?” Linh asked, looking at her.

  Doc put her tweezers down.

  “Linh…” she said, “Do you need someone to talk to?”

  Linh frowned. Why was she…

  Oh!

  “No, no. It's not like that!” Linh said hurriedly, shaking her head, “I’m not suicidal!”

  Doc examined her carefully, “If you are having thoughts of self harm,” she began, but Linh cut her off.

  “No!” Linh said, “Seriously. I’m not.”

  Doc didn't believe her, she could tell.

  “Linh, you’ve been throwing yourself into danger. You just dismissed the idea of dying like it doesn't matter.”

  Linh shrugged, “Because… it kind of doesn’t?” she said.

  Then she quickly explained before Doc could respond, “Seriously. I regenerate. A bullet to the head is nothing. Well, not nothing. It would hurt like a bitch, but I’d be fine.”

  Doc stared. “You are telling me that you can be shot in the head with no consequences," she said flatly.

  “I’m pretty sure I’d lose a few hours of memories, but pretty much,” Linh replied.

  “Not that I have ever tried it,” she added.

  “Well keep it that way,” Doc said, rubbing her eyes, “I would very much prefer to not test that particular theory.”

  “So would I,” Linh agreed, “But yeah, getting injured sucks, but it's only temporary.”

  Doc shook her head, “No, no it's not. It still has an effect on you, even if you haven't realised. I need you to promise me Linh, you will avoid getting injured, and you will talk to me if you are having dark thoughts.”

  “I promise,” Linh agreed, warmed by the woman’s care.

  “Now,” Doc said, grabbing her tweezers again. “You may not be dying, but that bullet still needs to come out. This will hurt.”

  She wasn't lying. It hurt, even with the local anaesthetic. Linh honestly felt that being shot was better than having the bullet dug out of her.

  Still, it didn't take long, and soon Doc was cleaning up, and Linh was getting ready to head home. She was tired, and eager to get to bed.

  She was shouldering her bag when someone tapped her on the back. She leapt, almost bashing her head on the roof, whirling to see Grim.

  “Don't do that!” she said, heart in her throat. The man was completely silent when he moved, it was unnerving.

  “The mission went well,” he told her, “I identified the buyer.”

  “That's good,” Linh said, “But next time knock like a normal person!”

  Grim tilted his head, “But I didn't use the door?” he said, puzzled.

  “Then use the door!” Linh told him.

  “I will try to remember,” he replied.

  “So,” Linh asked, “You found what you needed?”

  “Indeed, thank you for your help,” he said, then he reached into his coat. Linh blinked, she hadn't realised he was wearing one. Was he wearing one a moment ago?

  “I got you a present,” he finished, pulling out… was that a pigeon?

  “Is that a pigeon?” Linh asked. It looked at her. Grimstep held it out.

  “Umm, thanks?” she said, taking it. He nodded.

  “I look forward to our next collaboration,” he said. Then he sank into the floor, leaving Linh holding a rather confused bird.

  “What the hell am I going to do with this?” Linh muttered.

  Linh carried the pigeon under one arm, the bird gently cooing as she headed towards the elevator. She said goodbye to the doctor, making a promise that she wouldn't get hurt again tomorrow. One she was reasonably confident she could keep. She emerged into the cool night air, the moon large and bright. She set the pigeon on the ground, and it fluttered away.

  She had about four hours until she needed to get ready for school. It was a weird thought. She had just been fighting half a gang on her own, and now she had to go learn algebra. She wondered if she would ever get used to it.

  Still, despite the weirdness and the slight pain in her side from the rapidly healing bullet hole, she had a lot of fun tonight. She looked forward to seeing what would happen next.