Sirens echoed through the night.

This always happens. Miko sat on the curb, watching the police talk to her neighbor. The fat man was sweating and gesturing frantically with his hands as he spoke. Occasionally, he’d look over at her; Miko leveled her level one death glare at him. It was meant for civilians only, and it seemed like enough to make him nervous. Good.

How dare he call the cops on me. she scowled. Curse the internet and googling people…

It’d been the same thing with the last three apartments she’d tried.

Step one: move in.

Step Two: someone would recognize her.

Step Three: call the cops.

She’d explain she was on parole, and they’d let her leave. But it was never the same. Rotting fruit left in front of her door. Loud noises at night keeping her up. Things getting broken. Neighbors hated her.

She always just ended up moving again. It wasn’t worth it to deal with these people.

Society wasn’t kind to ex-villains. It was partly the reason why so many criminals ended up back in their old careers. Nobody wanted to take a chance, nobody wanted to look at the darkness and say, let me help you.

I won’t go back though. Miko glared at the man one more time before standing up—

“So it looks like you’re free to go,” the female officer walked over, reading from her file. “Miko Estone Baudelaire, once known as Kinetic. Powers of thermal manipulation, specifically making things around you warmer…”

The officer’s eyes moved across the words. Miko felt strangely exposed, knowing that all her known crimes were listed on that paper. she couldn't feel regret for what she'd done, not really, but having someone else know felt strange. “Been on parole three months.”

“That’s me.” Miko said quietly.

“You were the perpetrator of the Hiratsuka robbery…impressive that you pulled that off. Especially with your abilities.” the cop flipped the pages down. “Well, that’s all. I'm officer Armster, call if you have any more trouble.”

“Thanks,” Miko said shortly, the words echoing through her mind. Impressive with your abilities...she lifted her hands, small and pale in the streetlight. It was true that thermal manipulation was one of the weaker powers. She couldn’t control probability like Lady Luck, or have super strength like Chikara.

Still…she took a glance over her shoulder before she stepped into her apartment. Still. she had one of the most impressive crime streaks to date.

It was no wonder people recognized her so easily, or wanted her gone so much.

Time to move again. Miko cracked her knuckles, looking at the boxes, at the emptiness of the apartment she hadn’t even had a chance to fill.

By morning, she was gone.