"I really have to leave in the next five minutes or I'm going to be late to the meeting- so I've already asked security to clear the route back so you don't have to hurry to leave, but please go straight back to the hotel and make sure to avoid any reporters if you see them, but remember to be nice if any fans stop you, and all your gifts have already been checked so they're safe if you want to look through them yourself, ok?"
"Got it."
"Oh, and you might want to take some time to go over your speech for the gala just to make sure you have it memorized too, and I know you've already got it down but practice never hurts-"
"We can talk about that later; you should really get going."
"Right! Make sure to let security know if you have any safety concerns, and the hotel has dining options on the second floor if you get hungry-"
"Lillian."
"I know, I'm going! Make sure to call me if you need anything! I'll let you know how it goes!" And with one last wave, the woman hurriedly ducked into the waiting car before it hurriedly zipped away down the street, surely at Lillian's insistence that they must not be late.
Doublecross sighed, turning to step back into the building behind her. A security guard dressed in a rather stereotypical black suit turned as he heard her enter.
"Ma'am, everything's in order; we're ready to leave when you are."
"Thanks, and don't call me that."
"It's just procedure, ma'am."
"We can go now. And cut it out or you're fired."
"With all due respect, we work for the Federation, not you. You can't fire us."
"Not technically, but I'm sure you wouldn't want to bet on that."
"Certainly not, ma'am."
"Are you doing that just to spite me?"
"I wouldn't dare, ma'am."
"You're on thin ice, you know that?"
"The car is ready for you now," he stated dismissively, brushing past her, "We should get going."
"I know you heard me," she huffed in mock indignation as she followed him out of the building, slipping into the backseat of the idling car and shooting him a dramatic frown as he shut the door behind her, a light thud jostling them momentarily. After a moment, he slid into the passenger's seat, exchanging a brief few words with the driver before the car began rolling out of the private parking lot. "So how do you like Japan so far?"
"It's pleasant."
"That sounds awfully disingenuous."
"I haven't exactly had time to explore."
"Ah, because you've been working, right? You should take the rest of the day off- go and see the city or something. And bring the others too."
"Need I remind you we're not here on vacation, ma'am?"
"Don't take everything so seriously. Would it kill you to relax a little? Besides, your kid likes keeping up with your travels, right? You should take some pictures for him."
"I didn't realize you remembered that."
"Oh please- he and your wife come to pick you up in that bright orange minivan every day: it's kind of hard to forget. That, and he still call me 'Bubblecross' every time he sees me."
"He's a funny kid."
"Definitely gets it from his mom. You should really call her more, you know."
"Since when were you two so familiar?"
"Since I found out she was a fan. Hey, at least one of you has good taste."
"..."
"What? No more disinterested comments?"
"Out of concern for my job, I'm not going to answer that."
"Oh, so you do think I can fire you?"
"Let's stop talking for a while, ma'am."
"Aw, where's the fun in that?"
And so the rest of the way back was by no means dull, as if it were even possible, considering Doublecross' uncannily extensive knowledge of her subordinates' personal lives. Office gossip was an industry in itself.
As they rolled past the hotel parking lot and pulled into a reserved section beneath the building, Doublecross stepped out of the car, moving towards the rear just as the driver opened the trunk.
"Don't," a hand blocked hers before she could pick up any of the items, "I'll take these. You just go up."
"I can help."
"This is what we're paid for," he motioned to the car pulling in behind them, two more security guards stepping out. "Just go."
"This is what I mean when I say you take your job too seriously," she sighed, turning towards the building with an exaggerated wave, "You'd better hurry up then. I'll be waiting."
One of the guards from the second car followed closely behind as she stepped through the revolving entryway and into the elevator. After a few short moments, the glossy doors chimed open, leading them into the grand lobby. The reception area was hardly crowded, though there were a number of guests and staff alike going about their business. As they crossed towards the main elevator that would take them up to their rooms, Doublecross noticed something in her peripheral that compelled her to pause mid-step. It took a second to realize what it had been: merely some glimpse of color, yet it struck her as somehow... familiar.
In a moment of curiosity, she glanced over her shoulder and was quickly met with something familiar indeed.
Across the lobby, just in front of the main revolving door, stood an unexpected blip from her past: one Uraraka Ochako. And if the expression on her face was anything to go by, she was just as surprised to see Doublecross as Doublecross was to see her.
"...I'll be right back," the abruptly-puzzled hero muttered to the guard behind her.
Uraraka seemed to blink back into reality upon meeting her eyes, practically jolting in panic as she realized the other girl was coming her way. In her silent scramble to decide what to do, she hardly noticed how close Doublecross had gotten until she stood right in front of her.
"Are you ok?"
"Uh- I- I didn't- I don't mean to- I swear I didn't mean to follow you!"
"..."
"Uh, I should- I'll just go now!"
"Were you looking for me?"
Uraraka flinched, eyes shifting away as she lowered her head sheepishly. Her face flushed red with embarrassment, and mustering what little courage remained in her, she managed to gather some semblance of a voice. "I- uh- I saw your car, and I sort of, you know, thought it maybe looked like the one from the videos of your fanmeet, and I... I just... I don't know, I wasn't thinking! I swear I didn't mean to follow you like that!"
"Oh, it's ok. Were you just passing by?"
"Oh- uh- y-yea, sort of. I'm really sorry, this must be weird, I swear I didn't mean to be creepy-"
"It's fine, honestly," she smiled with faint amusement, "It's not like you meant any harm, right?"
"No! Of course not!"
"Then no worries."
"Oh, r-right! Uh, thanks! And sorry... about that."
She gave another bemused smile as silence lapsed over the pair, immediately distressing the other girl once more.
"I-I like your costume," Uraraka managed softly after a moment, desperate to shake the uncomfortable quiet despite the embarrassment still racing hot through her veins.
"Oh, thank you," she smiled, glancing down at herself. Her costume had just been modified not long ago- minor adjustments to incorporate some new technologies- and to be quite honest, she was rather pleased with it. The upper half was reminiscent of a general's uniform: a double-breasted neckline dipping to the center of her sternum with intricate silver buttons trailing down the closure, parallel to an identical few along the opposite side. A thin ring of silver metal encircled her stomach, hovering freely, just an inch wider than the well-tailored waistline, and sloped downward to form a slight point at the front. A long black strap looped around each hip, clasped to the metal ring and floating loosely. A smaller metal band hovered around her upper arm on one side; both sleeves were thinly cuffed with the same rich silver of the bands. Below, the costume trailed into a skirt, high slits on both sides reaching near the top of her hips, splitting the front and back, each gradually tapering before cutting off above the ankles. She also wore what appeared to be some kind of gadget around the back of her head: a simple arc of the same metallic silver contrasting starkly against her hair. "I think I was supposed to change before leaving the event, but I figured I'd just wait until I got back. Speaking of which, how did you know about the fanmeet?"
"Aha, yea... well, you know, it was pretty big news back when it was first announced. And lots of people were posting about it today, so..."
"Ah, I see. Are you coming from work?" she motioned to the other girl's costume, the bright pink having been what caught her eye in the first place. It was mostly reminiscent of the one she had back in the day, she noted, though it clearly sported some newer modifications.
"Y-yea! I had some last-minute errands to run for the gala tomorrow, so they let a few of us off early."
"Oh, are you in a hurry? I don't mean to keep you."
"No! Not at all! It's nothing important, really."
"That's good to hear. In that case, do you want to talk upstairs? I think we're drawing some attention."
Uraraka blinked questioningly for a moment before noticing the other girl's eyes were cast slightly behind her. Following her gaze, she turned around, face flushing pink as she quickly understood the cause of her concern. Beyond the large windows, a crowd had begun to gather, a dozen sets of curious eyes peeking in, whispering to each other, cameras pointing directly at the pair.
"Oh-" she quickly turned away, hoping they hadn't noticed the sheer mortification on her face, "Yea, you're right, let's go. I-if you don't mind, that is!"
"Oh, of course not," Doublecross waved, seemingly unfazed by the gawkers and cameras trained on them. "Come on, this way."
She motioned for Uraraka to follow as she turned and headed for the elevator, the security guard rejoining them and trailing behind the pair as they passed. The elevator chimed open a few moments after she pressed the call button, and with a tap of a keycard, soon delivered them to the top floor.
"We'll be fine from here," she said to the guard, thanking him before turning towards the door. She swiped the room key and stepped forward, pushing it open.
"Oh, wow," Uraraka's eyes grew wide as she followed her in. It wasn't so much a room as it was a suite, apparently, and quite a nice one at that, judging by the floor-to-ceiling windows making up half the wall space and the clean white theming of the expensive-looking decor. She noticed two large boxes sitting near the door, filled to the brim with flowers, gift bags, plushies, and other miscellaneous odds and ends. Those must have been from the fanmeet, she thought, marveling at the sheer number of little gifts gathered in the corner.
"Over here."
Her attention snapped back up just in time to see Doublecross stepping into the next room. She quickly moved to follow, eyes wandering further as she crossed into what seemed to be the living room. She trailed over to the plush seating area, turning her gaze out towards the large windows overlooking the city. Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since she'd been able to see her city like this, or perhaps it had just been a while since she'd taken the time to notice. Behind her, the muted clink of a setting glass sounded. She turned to see two cups of water atop the table and Doublecross taking a seat on the plush couch, catching her gaze and motioning for her to sit as well.
"So how have things been?" she asked, leaning back with a faint smile, "How's the hero life treating you?"
"Good, actually! A lot has happened since you were last here, but it's been good."
"That's good to hear. It must be exciting to live out your dream, I imagine?"
"Yea, it really is! It's been... almost two years since we graduated, I think? Everyone's doing well too. Actually, Deku and some of the others have gotten really popular recently! They're even getting close to the Top 10! Isn't that amazing?"
"It sure is. You're doing pretty well yourself, right? I saw some posters of you around the shopping district earlier."
"O-oh, really? Haha, I didn't know that. I guess I must be doing ok then! It's a lot of work, honestly, but it's a lot of fun too! It gives me a chance to make a difference, and I've met so many amazing people. I wouldn't change it for the world, you know?" she grinned. "What about you? How have things been in America?"
"Pretty good, I'd say. The bigwigs at the agency can be a pain sometimes, but it's good work. The people are nice too, though some of the heroes can be rather eccentric. You know how it is."
"Yea, there are some people like that at my agency too. Ah, if you don't mind me asking, I was... kind of wondering how you ended up, you know, becoming a hero in the first place? And I don't mean anything by it, of course! I was just curious about how it happened."
"No, no, I get it. They made some deal with the government here, apparently, basically offering to take me off their hands. They said they could give me a new life if I came to work for them, so I did; I mean, it wasn't like I had much else going on at the time. Once I was over there, they gave me a new identity, documents, IDs, things like that. I went through some training for a year or so after, then they put me to work, and that's pretty much it. Apparently it's pretty common for them; I know a few of the other heroes have similar stories- getting recruited from bad places and more or less being built up by the Federation. I don't really know why they do it like that- seems a bit risky considering the kinds of things they give us access to- but hey, if it works, it works."
"Wow... that's so cool! I didn't know it was like that! It must be amazing to work with such interesting people!"
"Well, we don't work together much, actually. The way it's set up, everyone kind of specializes in different fields and there's not too much overlap most of the time, but I still see them around the building often enough to at least be familiar. Most of them do have rather peculiar backgrounds, but at least it's never dull at the office, right?"
"That's so interesting! Oh, by the way, how do hero agencies work over there? I've heard you only handle really big cases, right?"
"Well, the Federation is a little... different in how they have us work. We get assigned cases from above; they'll come with different conditions and rules, you know, but they always deal with some kind of sensitive information the bosses don't want getting out for one reason or another. I don't know exactly how they choose what cases come to us- it's just one of those things no one asks about since we never really get an answer anyway. We don't really deal with things outside of our cases- we don't do patrol or anything- but other than that, I think it's pretty much run the same as any other agency, at least from what I can tell."
"So you must deal with a lot of important secrets, huh? It's almost like you're in a spy movie!"
"You think so? Honestly, I wish it was that exciting."
"I don't know, maybe you're just too used to it," she laughed, leaning back comfortably in her seat. "So have you done anything fun since you've been back?"
"Well, I don't know about fun, but the event this morning was nice. I haven't really done much else since my handler wants me to stay put so bad. Actually, I think the only other thing I have planned is the gala."
"Ah, so you haven't spoken to any of the others then?"
"You mean from UA? No, but they'll be at the gala tomorrow, right? I think I saw their names on the invite list."
"Yea, I... think so."
Doublecross blinked as Uraraka's tone suddenly wavered, "Is something wrong?"
"Oh, no! It's nothing! I was just thinking about, ah, something else!"
"Ok. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, you know."
"Haha, right, of course! It's nothing really- don't mind me!"
"Mhm," she hummed plainly, eyebrow half raised. She clearly wasn't convinced, but she knew better than to press, opting instead to change the subject. "Oh, I just remembered- you've been to the gala before, right? How was it?"
"Oh, you know about that? It's really nice, actually!" she grinned, quickly recovering from her brief fumble, "There were lots of people there, and not just heroes either: they had higher-ups from different agencies, people from the Hero Commission, and even some big donors too! The Prime Minister was even there last year, and he gave a big speech and everything. And the whole thing is really fancy! They hold it in this big ballroom, everyone's dressed really nice, and there's no press allowed inside, which is always a plus. It's a pretty exclusive thing, I think, since it's mostly top heroes and other important people there. Honestly, I was surprised I was even invited last year! I think it was just lucky timing, really: I was part of a big rescue mission the month before that got a lot of publicity; I'm pretty sure that was the only reason I got in at all. But almost everyone from our old class is invited this year! It's been a while since we've all been together, so I'm really looking forward to it!"
"I'm glad everyone's doing well," she nodded, smiling warmly, "It's nice to know the city is in good hands."
"Of course! Helping people is what we're all about, right?"
"Hm, I suppose so," she tapped her cheek in feign thought, lips curved in a small smile. "Oh right, you said you were on your way to run some errands for the gala, didn't you? Where were you headed?"
"Oh yea! I was going to pick up my dress for tomorrow!"
"...isn't that cutting it a bit close?"
"Yea, I know," she laughed, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly, "I kind of bought it a bit late, then I had some problems with getting it fitted and everything... but it'll be ready in time and that's what matters!"
"Are you on a time limit for when you can pick it up?"
"Well, I was supposed to go around now," she glanced over at the clock, "but I'll just do it tomorrow morning! I'll tell them something came up."
"Are you sure?" Doublecross raised a concerned eyebrow, "You won't feel too rushed or anything? We can always talk later, you know."
"Ah, well..." she glanced down at her hands, seeming a bit embarrassed, "I guess it would be better to go earlier than later."
"Of course, don't mind me, you should go," she waved encouragingly, rising from her seat, "Here, let's swap numbers in case anything comes up."
And within a few moments, the two quickly bid their transient goodbyes with the promise to see each other again tomorrow, together sending an apologetically-embarrassed Uraraka on her way as she hurried off, straining ever so slightly to reach her destination before closing time.
Glancing down at the new entry in her contacts list, Doublecross tilted her head in faint amusement upon noticing the inputted number- one that, apparently, hadn't changed in five years.
Her gaze shifted towards the window, falling over the strikingly elevated view of a peaceful city, the skyline all too familiar, and yet it could not be the same city from her memory. Five years was a long time; how very unfamiliar this place had become. But Uraraka had hardly changed. Perhaps it was merely her flawed perspective that was the source of this discrepancy, she supposed- perhaps things do not so easily change in any fundamental way, yet to the eye, there was never such a thing as a permanent state of being. Doublecross rather doubted she could keep up in this fast-paced world, she never did consider herself much of the innovative kind, but glancing back down at the distantly familiar number, she supposed it was just as they say-
The more things change.
_______________________________________________
"There must be some other way! You can't be late for this gala!"
"It's just traffic, Lillian. What do you want me to do?"
"But why is the traffic so bad?! My analysis said that route is never so backed up at this hour!"
"Hm, I can't really see, but it looks like there's some sort of accident ahead. I hope it's nothing bad."
"Damn it! I knew I should have come with you!"
"What? The accident wouldn't have happened if you were here?"
"That's not what I-!"
"Just relax. We'll get there when we get there. Not like there's much we can do about it anyway."
A frustrated groan echoed through the car speakers, and Doublecross could practically see Lillian pulling her hair out on the other side. "Just- just let me know when you get there, ok?"
"I mean, aren't you watching the broadcast right now?"
"That's not the point! Don't you dare be late!" And with a loud beep, the call disconnected.
"It looks like traffic is starting to move, Miss," the driver spoke just as the red sea of brake lights before them began waning.
"Ah, see?" she mused to herself, "Looks like we'll make it after all."
And indeed, it wasn't long before they arrived at the grand hall where this year's Hero's Gala was already underway. An immense mass of paparazzi crowded the base of the large stone stairway, restricted behind a row of flower-lined banisters as their eyes darted left and right, up and down, eager to catch sight of some beloved hero or some millionaire executive. The car rolled to a stop just as the one in front of it pulled away, and a brief moment later, a well-dressed attendant approached the side. In a single motion, he smoothly extended a gloved hand, stepped back, and opened the rear passenger's door.
The commotion began the moment her heel reached the ground.
Shouts from the gathered audience boomed to life as bright flashes abruptly invaded her vision, a barrage of indistinct voices calling for her to look here! Look here! Look here! Yet none of it seemed to phase her, even as she ascended the red-lined stairway, the noise melding deafeningly all around, she merely took her sweet time- bemused gaze meeting every lense she passed, posing subtly every few steps, winking at a few of the most fortunate onlookers, and all with a sly smile on her lips that made it clear she was having the time of her life. The shouts only grew louder as she made her way up, and upon reaching the top of the stairway, framed underneath the tall archway of the entrance, the light shimmering off the rich material of her golden dress just right, she threw a glance over her shoulder.
The shutterbugs back home were all but used to her antics by now, making it rather bothersome trying to pull any worthwhile reactions from those so regrettably desensitized, but these lenses were fresh and unfamiliar with her well-hidden eccentricities, and if the uproar behind her as she stepped through those imposing doors was anything to go by, she had once more succeeded in ensuring the dedicated their fill.
The interior of the hall, she quickly decided, was indefensibly lavish. A row of crystal chandeliers illuminated the hallway from high above, hanging freely from the neoclassical vaulted ceilings. The cream-tone walls were accented with tan and matte gold, reminiscent of those grandiose scenes from Renaissance-era oil paintings. Ornate vases of white lilac and peonies dotted either side of her, placed atop indented pedestals set into the wall, and beside one of them stood another attendant, well-dressed to match his opulent surroundings, whose graceful flourish invited her to continue ahead. The patterned tile beneath her produced an echoing click with each step she took, melding with the distant commotion from down the hall. The sounds of chatter grew closer and more distinct until, soon, she reached a set of tall ornamental doors. Flanking either side were two more attendants, and just as she came to a stop before them, the pair shifted into motion, stepping back and pushing open the doors.
The ballroom too was as opulent as she had expected, from the stained glass dome overhead to the intricate floral arrangements to the pristine white tablecloths, the organizers must have been simply scouring for ways to empty their budget. And just when she thought this place couldn't get any more obscenely extravagant, a server passed by with a silver tray in hand, offered her a crystal flute of what she could only assume to be champagne, then merely continued onwards into the dispersed crowd.
She would certainly bring back a few pointers for the event organizers back home.
"Here all alone, pretty lady?"
An arm slung around her shoulders- a smudge of color in her peripheral- as the sudden interruption pulled her out of her wandering thoughts.
She turned towards the familiar voice beside her.