Unlocked (Ida x female reader)

Chapter 25

At some point, I fall asleep, clutching Mitch's letter to my chest. I'm still exhausted when Tenya scoops me up and lays me on the bed.

I shift, clinging onto him in the hopes that he doesn't leave me. I just want to hold onto him.

"What is the matter, angel" he swipes the left over wetness from under my eyes and quickly removes his hero costume to lay on top of the covers with me. "It pains me to see you so distraught. I am sorry I left the way I did."

I wordlessly pass the letter that I was still clutching in one of my hands to him so he can read it. It takes him much less time to read through it than it took me.

"Oh sweetheart" he pulls me to his chest as a new wave of tears come, the note crinkles against my back. "Where was this?"

"In my locket" I sniffle, trying to get myself under control. I feel like there shouldn't be any tears left.

"You opened it?" I've told him before what it means to me, so his surprise is understandable. I nod against his chest and he holds me tighter, rubbing my back soothingly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shake my head, trying to push down the guilt I feel as I raise my face to look at him. "What was decided about the shipping container?"

"We have a plan in place to capture all villains that show up. Forgive me if I spare you the details. I would like to tell you, but Tensei brought up the point that the masterminds behind the plan may try to contact you and we do not know if any of them have a truth quirk and you need plausible deniability."

"So you don't want me to have specifics just in case" I fill in.

"I am sorry"

I shake my head again, leaning in to kiss him quickly "I get it." I don't really want to know the plan anyway. Not with what I feel like I need to do. "What about Chris? Can you tell me about him?"

"We already have a group out searching for him. There are a few promising leads and we hope to secure him before anything goes down."

"And if you don't?" I question.

"He will be safe. I will make sure of it" Part of me wants to believe him, even though I know deep down that it's a promise that's out of his control. "I must express this very clearly. You can not be there. In any regard. Not even by the command station. Not standing by Tensei. And certainly not near me."

"Wouldn't it be less suspicious if I was there? If I don't show, it could alert Fergus to something going down. Especially if Martac isn't there."

"If you are there, you will be arrested. Your paperwork for a consultant has not finished processing and will most likely take another week before either of us can rest easy knowing you are protected by my agency for your past crimes and any outstanding that have not been traced to you yet." He takes a breath and swallows hard before moving to hold both sides of my face and forcing me to meet his eyes. "And for personal reasons, I need you to stay out of it. I can not let someone breaking the law walk away again. The last time almost killed me to let you go and to this very moment, I question whether or not I should maintain my hero license for those actions."

"Robocop..." I start, but don't know how to finish that sentence. I search his expression and find nothing but honesty there. It solidifies the choice I need to make.

His lips twitch in a smile "I am getting used to that nickname. It has begun to grow on me"

"Has it now" my smile creeps across my face, slowly easing the tension from our conversation. Our problems are outside this room. It's just the two of us being together inside our bedroom.