(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Courtney Time!

-x-X-x-

Standing off to the side, holding her breath using her new and improved lung capacity, Courtney watches Izuku Midoriya with narrowed eyes. She didn’t trust it. She didn’t trust him. He was… too good to be true.

Or maybe she was just projecting. Fuck this was hard. Not the hero work… honestly, that was whatever. It was fun to be out and doing stuff on the side of angels for once. Foiling that robbery alongside their resident Aussie Demon instead of being part of said robbery had been kind of exhilarating, for instance.

And yet… and yet, at the same time, Courtney knew she couldn’t let herself get comfortable. After all, everyone else was here because they actually wanted a second chance. They were all here for a real shot at redemption. Courtney… wasn’t.

She was here to be Shroud’s eyes and ears in the Phoenix Program. And if she tried to renege on that deal… she was afraid of what might happen. At the same time though, it absolutely sucked to be betraying Mandy like this. Her roommate was so damn happy and excited about everything. It was all seemingly working out just like she wanted it to.

… If Mandy found out that her best friend was a villain plant sent to report back on everything that happened in her dream project, then she would be crushed. And sure, there was every chance that Mandy wouldn’t find out. So long as Shroud didn’t ask Courtney to do anything aside from spy, it would probably be fine.

However, Courtney knew better than that. She wasn’t born fucking yesterday. It was spying today and sabotaging tomorrow. No matter what Shroud said, he would eventually demand more from her… and if she didn’t want to go back to being an asthmatic waste of space with a Quirk that was slowly killing her off, she would have to do whatever he said.

Maybe that was why she needed Izuku Midoriya to be too good to be true. Their Dispatcher was scarily competent… it would be nice if he had some sort of skeleton in his closet to show he wasn’t any better than the rest of them. Any better than her.

Impulsively, Courtney pushes off the wall and strides on over to where Izuku is sitting by himself eating his lunch. She slams her hands down on the table at the same time she reappears in front of him, aiming for maximum surprise as she adopts a crooked grin.

“SO! What’s your deal anyways?”

To her consternation… Midoriya barely reacts. He doesn’t jump in response to her sudden appearance. He doesn’t shout in surprise or shock. In fact, he doesn’t even jolt as she slams the table in front of him. Instead, he simply finishes chewing on his current bite and swallows, before gracing her with a slight smile.

“Invisigal. Good work on that robbery earlier. Your skill with your Quirk and the length of time you can use it far outstrips what was in your file.”

Courtney stiffens at that. Shit, she’d already fucked up hadn’t she? If the Dispatcher noticed, it was only a matter of time before Mandy did… she shouldn’t be capable of holding her breath as long as she could. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Of course, even as she’s panicking internally, Courtney keeps an outward ‘devil may care’ attitude.

“Yeah… no biggie. You know, second chances and all… figured I’d put my best foot forward.”

Izuku mms at that, nodding along as he takes another bite, chews, and swallows. Fuck he was a cool customer… she hated that!

“You’ve certainly done that. Anyways, ‘my deal’ as you put it… well, I’m Quirkless for one.”

Courtney blinks at that. Wait seriously? He didn’t have a Quirk? Eh… she supposed it kind of made sense… she hadn’t seen him do anything Quirk-related so far. But still, wasn’t it pretty rare to be Quirkless these days?

“I’m grateful that PDN took this chance on me anyways. I might not be suited for hero work, but I should think I’m more than capable of being your team’s Dispatcher.”

Hm… that seemed like a crack in the armor.

“I mean; I guess you were alright… but wouldn’t we be better off having a Dispatcher with a specialized Quirk? Like something based around enhanced senses or being able to interface with the tech or whatever?”

She’s hoping he’ll get defensive. People who get defensive tend to lose some of the façade, revealing the truth hidden underneath in half a dozen tiny ways. The more prickly they get, the more honest they become, at least in Courtney’s experience. It’s all about finding the right way to needle them.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes obvious that this is not the way to needle Izuku Midoriya… if such a way exists at all. Far from getting defensive over his Quirkless status and whether he’s really the best man for the job… he just shrugs at her.

“Well, you know what they say. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Instead of Midoriya getting defensive, Courtney finds her own hackles raising! Her eyes narrow and she crosses her arms over her chest while arching a brow at the seated man.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Looking rather nonplused, Izuku Midoriya shrugs again as he takes another bite, chews, and swallows before answering her.

“… Simple really. PDN is already taking a big risk with the Phoenix Program. Are there people out there with Quirks as well as the skill set to do my job better than me? Probably. But are they going to be willing to take a risk on something like the Phoenix Program for far less pay than they could get working for others? Doubt it.”

That was… this was Mandy’s dream! It wasn’t a ‘big risk’ or whatever he was saying! Fuck, if it was really such an unimportant thing, then Shroud wouldn’t have recruited her to spy on it in the first place! This shit was clearly important and here Midoriya was acting like it was just no big deal!

Courtney steps forward to loom over Izuku, a growl building in her throat… however, before she can unleash it as well as read this little asshole the riot act on why he needed to start taking this a LOT more seriously… a different growl emits instead. Namely, from her abdomen.

Freezing, Courtney glances down at her bared midriff, heat rising to her cheeks as Izuku does the same. After a long, drawn out moment of silence, he arches a brow at her.

“You should go and get some lunch before the next shift, Invisigal. You did a lot of physical work today… and that Quirk of yours is probably an energy hog as well now that I think about it.”

Courtney sputters. What the hell does he know about her Quirk, huh? That’s ridiculous! Then again, she HAS found herself eating more ever since Shroud gave her that boost. She’s been putting away way more calories on the daily and without gaining a single pound at that.

Still, that doesn’t mean she’s just going to roll over and-!

“If you need me to get Blazer to make it an order… I can.”

His idle tone belies the danger inherent in his words. Courtney tenses up, mouth open but no words coming out as she considers how Mandy will react if she finds out Courtney was here belittling and bothering Midoriya instead of eating.

Then, she scowls and disappears, stomping off in a huff before the Phoenix Program’s sole Dispatcher can get any further under her skin. He might be right, she might be better served going and getting some food instead of wasting her time talking to him… but damn it, she wasn’t going to tell HIM that!

Izuku Midoriya… there was definitely something off about that guy! Her bullshit meter was off the charts with him. She needed to find out what the hell was going on there… and luckily, Courtney knew exactly who to talk to about it!

-x-X-x-

Hours later, after a quick lunch followed by her second shift as a newly minted Pro Hero, Courtney finds herself visiting yet another abandoned warehouse under the cover of darkness. Once she sends off a text saying she’s arrived, it’s only a few minutes wait until a ripple opens up in the air and Shroud and his right hand woman Lady Nagant step on through.

“Invisigal. What could possibly have happened on your first day to make you ask to meet this early?”

Straightening up, Courtney licks her lips. This might be a hard sell, but she’d spent the past several hours thinking it through and coming up with the right pitch so… time to make her play.

“It’s the team’s dispatcher. I’m sure you know how PDN does things… a dispatcher for every Hero Team. Well, ours is a Quirkless guy named Izuku Midoriya… and he’s fishy.”

There’s a pause at that, one just long enough for Courtney to flush a little and dance from foot to foot. Finally, Shroud speaks.

“… Fishy.”

Huffing, Courtney nods and crosses her arms over her chest.

“There’s something up with him, boss. I mean, I’m assuming he’s not one of yours, right?”

Admittedly, that was a thought that had crossed Courtney’s mind as she’d been mulling over her interaction with the guy throughout her second shift. What if she wasn’t the only plant in the Phoenix Program? What if Midoriya was also working for Shroud?

Ultimately though, she’d decided that was ridiculous. What would be the point of recruiting two plants for something like the Phoenix Program. What, so they could check each other’s work or something? Nah, she was definitely the only spy Shroud had slipped into Mandy’s dream project. Anything more would be overkill for something like this. Still… she had to make sure.

“No, he’s not one of mine. Though I’m not unaware of him. Izuku Midoriya, Quirkless, born to Inko and Hisashi Midoriya. Before signing on as a Dispatcher for the Phoenix Program, he was an accountant.”

Courtney’s mouth opens and closes as she takes in this new information. That last part though… she latches onto that last part.

“An accountant! Why the hell would a fucking accountant go and become a dispatcher of all things?!”

“Presumably because he wanted a little bit more action in his life. You don’t get much more boring than accounting.”

That’s just what he wanted them to think! Izuku Midoriya was way too mysterious to be a fucking pencil pusher. An accountant would have jumped ten feet in the air when she surprised him like she did earlier today, but Midoriya didn’t even react! The only reasons she could possibly think of for that was either he somehow knew she was there ahead of time… or he was used to dealing with a lot harsher surprises than what she’d done.

Either way, he wasn’t what he said he was!

“I think he’s a plant, boss. Not one of yours, obviously… but someone else’s. I think there’s another player on the board skulking around behind the scenes with plans for the Phoenix Program. So whatever you want with the damn thing, you need to look deeper into this Midoriya guy as soon as possible… before he fucks everything up for you.”

There’s another pause as Shroud seems to mull over her words. Courtney decides to take it as a good sign that he’s not immediately shutting her down or anything. Instead, after a long moment he finally nods.

“Very well. There might be some merit to your suspicions, Invisigal. I will have my people look into Izuku Midoriya deeper to make sure his background isn’t fabricated.”

Brightening, Courtney straightens up.

“I could do it from my end too for you if you wanted! I could maybe follow him, see where he goes after work and if he’s on the up and up!”

“No.”

Courtney blinks, slumping a little as Shroud immediately shuts her down. Unfortunately, his reasoning is pretty good too.

“You have your mission, Invisigal. I told you before, you are not to do anything that might endanger your position in the Phoenix Program. If you are discovered to be stalking your dispatcher and have not gathered sufficient evidence pointing to him being a criminal, then you will only succeed at getting yourself kicked out of the program.”

That was… fair, Courtney supposed. It still rankled something fierce, but she understood all the same.

“… Alright. I get it.”

“Good. Again, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll be sure to pass on anything we learn about Izuku Midoriya the next time you report in. For now… continue to fly under the radar. You should be doing everything in your power to be a useful component of the Phoenix Program. Nothing else.”

Funny how Shroud was basically ordering Courtney to do pretty much nothing but make sure the Phoenix Program succeeded. It was what she wanted to do anyways, especially since it was Mandy’s dream project. And yet, at the same time… she didn’t fully trust Midoriya. Damn it all…

“Yes sir.”

With that, they finish up their meeting and Shroud and Lady Nagant portal away. Meanwhile, Courtney slips out of the warehouse invisible once more, getting as far away as possible before going visible again.

It was frustrating to be told she wasn’t allowed to investigate Midoriya herself though. Super frustrating…

-x-X-x-

Kaina is at least professional enough to hold in her laughter until they’re back in the privacy of the mansion. However, once they ARE in private and Izuku has removed the Shroud mask to give her a long suffering look, she can’t hold it back anymore. She snickers at the look on his face.

“She’s not wrong… there is something suspicious about that Midoriya guy, isn’t there?”

Izuku, meanwhile, just sighs and shakes his head.

“There’s nothing suspicious about my civilian identity. I’ve made sure of that. She’s only doing this because she’s feeling guilty over betraying Blazer. Convincing herself that I’m the enemy is her way of transferring that guilt to an acceptable target.”

Kaina nods along, following his thinking easily enough. Then, she smirks.

“You know she’s almost certainly not going to follow your orders right? I wouldn’t be surprised if she started her own investigation into Izuku Midoriya as early as tomorrow…”

Izuku sighs and nods.

“It does seem rather likely, unfortunately.”

Then, he shrugs and puts back on the Shroud mask.

“We’ll deal with that when it comes. For now… we have a long night ahead of us. After all… it’s time to introduce Japan… to the Red Ring.”

-x-X-x-

A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!