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“Sprout, catch him!” Falcon ordered.
“On it!”
Julia immediately grew her height by a foot, therefore increasing her leg size and her speed, dashing through the crowd and snatching the criminal by the hoodie.  “You’re done,” she said, cuffing them with one swift movement.
She felt bad when she saw their face.  It was just a kid, for fucks sake, who had been caught stealing food from a bodega.  Now they looked absolutely terrified.
Julia glanced behind her.  Falcon and the others hadn’t caught up yet.  She pulled the kid off to the side, away from the crowd.  “Why were you stealing from Johnny’s shop?” she asked, firmly but gently.
The kid swallowed.  They looked embarrassed.  “We don’t have food right now,” the teen admitted.  “At my house.  And Mom won’t let me eat anything.”
As part of her training, Julia had been taught basic ways to tell if someone was lying, and from the looks of things, this kid was telling the truth.  She sighed.
“Listen to me,” she said firmly.  She reached into her pocket, pulled out a card, and wrote the number on it on the kid’s hand.  “That’s the phone number for a lawyer I know.  She’ll take your case pro-bono.  Call them at the police station.  Understand?”
The teen nodded, clearly surprised.  But Sprout wasn’t done.  “When you get out, I know there are food pantries in town,” she said gently.  “You might have to go there if you want food in the future.  Call the Hero Hotline and ask them to connect to my line.  I’ll give you the information personally if I need to.”
The teen nodded.  By then, Falcon had caught up, and he snapped at Julia, “You could have loaded him in the police cruiser by now, Sprout!  What are you doing?”
“Sorry, sir,” she said, giving the teen a glance.  “Needed to check they were all ready to go.”
Falcon scowled, and grabbed the kid by the arm, dragging them away.  Sprout watched them go, and met eyes with the teen again.  She found a silent, “Thank you,” reflected back.
After work, Julia returned to the Citizens Protection Unit headquarters and changed back into civilian clothing.  Putting her costume back in her bag, she let out a sigh.
Just another day’s work.