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Izuku isn’t exactly sure where he is when he wakes up. Everything's a blur and comes to him in flashes. He tries to breathe, tries to sit up but his abdomen sears and he collapses back, panting. This isn't right. He has to keep helping people.
It was a simple mission.
Uraraka, Momo, and Shouto would go against the villain. She had an earth quirk. She holed herself inside the school for a week because it had a basement that was all mud; it was perfect for her. She kept the children and adults separated in dark closets and her control of the earth made it easy to know who was coming and going. Uraraka had gotten impressive at her quirk as her and Izuku could float through the halls while fighting. Tenya was getting them out with his speed and was back at the window before Izuku was with more people.
But he had fell out of the air; Uraraka’s quirk was released. It didn’t feel like a good thing. He didn’t stop looking through the rooms though, going as fast as possible before his time ran out. His radio was crackling and he was trying to get it to work as he looked. Uraraka was gone and, through the radio, he heard Tenya talking and soon Momo too but it was faint and hard to make out.
Before he could get it any clearer, the building started to shake and everything crumbled. Izuku sprinted through the hall to the end where he knew there was an outer wall he could get through with his quirk. Before he could activate anything, he heard terrified shrieks a floor above him.
Horrified, he shot through the ceiling, feeling his abdomen sear. Rebar was enforcing the floor and scratched his torso. He didn’t notice it though as he tore through the halls. He checked every door until he found two five year old kids huddled together. One screamed shrilly while the other was heaving with tears.
“I’m here!” Izuku said, panting and through his teeth but still with a blinding smile.
The kids took a second to calm down before they realized who was there. Izuku held out his arms and the ran to him, barrelling into his chest. He scooped the two up effortlessly and sprinted back down the hall. He slid along the floor quickly so he could avoid the falling debris but he felt small rocks hitting his shoulders where he was covering the kids.
He felt the floor disappear and his back slammed into another piece of rebar as they fell through the floor. He tucked the kid's under his arm to protect them as he fell. He activated One For All so his legs could take his fall and he got ready so he could shoot through the outer wall.
Before he could, his footing shifted and he was thrown against the wall adjacent him. He slipped down to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He let go of the kids and dazedly pushed them out into the stairwell.
“Stay in the corner. Get-Get in a ball and…stay in the corner!” Izuku panted.
The kids scrambled to comply and huddled together in a ball. Izuku stumbled, trying to join them so they wouldn't get hurt but he couldn't find his footing. The building shifted and broke wherever he tried to stand and soon, the entire building was rocking. Izuku felt himself slide through another hole and he scrambled to find anything to hold onto but he kept sliding and sliding before he hit his head. That's what he remembers last before he woke up again.
He must’ve gotten knocked out. He tries to move again. This time he gets more luck as rubble shifts off of his chest. He pants with the effort, using One For All to just see through the darkness. There wasn't much to see but how badly hurt he was. His arm was stuck onto rebar and his hero costume was torn and hanging limply from his limbs.
He isn’t sure how much air he has left and the place is engulfed in smoke. Izuku hopes it was just from the collapse and not a fire. He hoped it was just the remains of Shouto fighting.
He feels his phone vibrate somewhere under him and he shifts, trying to shimmy it around so he can find it. His screen is too bright and he fumbles as he reads that Tenya, Shouto, Momo, and Uraraka were all messaging him frantically. They're asking where he is. He blearily stabs at the screen and calls the first name he sees.
Immediately there's a frantic, “Where are you!” from Tenya.
“Not too...sure, babe." Izuku says. The phone drops from his hand and he's glad he put it on speaker beforehand. Near...a stairwell...There are kids in one of the stairwells...Second-no! Ground floor. It's on the-the ground floor.”
“We have a first responder unit looking but if you can direct us-”
“I was...with the kids…but I fell through...I might be in the basement. I can’t-can’t see very well. But that might just be...because of the rubble. Is everybody okay?”
“We’re fine”, Tenya sighs but there's a hint of fondness in it.
Izuku nods and he's so tired he let's his head fall back. His side pulses and squeezes in pain and he thinks he might've let out a sound but he can't be sure, really. He can hear Tenya saying something but he feels too heavy to even open his eyes again.
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“Get first responders to enter the stairwell and get the children. They'll pick their way through the rubble with Uraraka. You’ll have to help make everything float before you step anywhere. Momo, you’ll need to help make solid footing.” Tenya directs. They're all hunched over a map of the building and Tenya points out a smooth path to the basement.
Momo gives a weary nod. She's bruised and her hero costume was shredded. It was given a significant overhaul in design. It looked closer to Uraraka’s jumpsuit with slots along her limbs and stomach for her to make things fast. She's barely standing but the others weren’t too easy off either. Uraraka lays on the ground, a cold pack to her head and a bucket next to her. She'd already gotten sick once and is now just waiting for a medication to kick in. Shouto was sporting a quickly swelling wrist and three broken fingers. He's consoling kids getting medical treatment for dehydration or malnourishment as his hand is being splinted.
Tenya leaves his spot to go over to where Shouto is. He updates Shouto on the plan.
When he's done, Shout asks, “What will you do?”
“I will stay out here, of course. My speed won’t do much in the debris on the ground as I could fall through a hidden hole or shift the wrong patch a concrete.” Tenya sits on the ground next to Shouto.
“He’ll be fine,” Shouto mutters to the air.
“Izuku is always the one to get hurt the worst.” Tenya sighs, taking off his glasses.
“I hate it.”
Tenya nods. Having to watch Izuku in a hospital room, waiting anxiously for the hours to pass faster whenever he was put in a medical coma or on oxygen, jaded the two and makes them nauseous at the thought of doing it again. The hospital stays were less frequent as Izuku gained experience but it's still hard.
The firefighters were starting to line up near the west entrance. It had a bright playset and the door led into a stairwell. Momo was helping Uraraka stand up and Shouto gingerly heaved himself to his feet, with the help of Tenya.
“Don’t overdo it”, Tenya says softly. "You hit your head exceptionally hard."
Shouto smiles, squeezing Tenya's hand. They walk over, wishing the two luck. They have to give statements to the police about what happened along with getting the paperwork to fill out.
Uraraka picks a path through the rubble cluttering the stairs inside the school. Momo leads the way through, running ahead to fill any holes with quick-dry cement. There are three other firefighters following along.
They encounter the kids first. They shiver and sniff loudly at the banging the group makes. When Uraraka comes into view though, they all but scream in relief. She visits the school and the kids all knew her. They ran right into her legs and she pats their heads wearily.
“Did you two see where Deku went?” Uraraka asks softly.
“There!” One of them says, pointing to the stairwell door. It's cracked open and looks like the entire floor had given way.
Momo and Uraraka shoot a fearful look to each other but Uraraka smiles down at the kids.
“We’ll get you out of here and back to your parents. The officer over here will take you down, okay?”
When the kids were out of sight, Momo manages to break the door open more so they could get a better look at the ground. It isn’t good. The rubble made it so dark it was hard to even see two feet down, let alone how far until the bottom.
“Deku!” Uraraka calls, desperate as she leaned over to try and see something of her friend. “Are you awake! Can you hear us?”
There's no response. Uraraka blinks back tears before looking over at Momo.
“We should get a flood light and have somebody go down with a rope and gurney. Iida said he was groaning before he fell unconscious again so who knows what injuries he has.” Momo chews her lip anxiously. She turns to the remaining two officers behind them that are surveying the building. “Would one of you be able to get that relatively quick?”
“Think so,” one says. “Got a flood light in my truck and one of the paramedics has a shock blanket and gurney we can get you. The rope, I don’t know if we have one long enough.”
“I’ll take care of that.” Momo dismisses with a wave of her hand. The officer nods, leaving to gather everything.
“I’ll update Iida and Todoroki while we wait,” Uraraka mutters, pressing her earpiece on.
It's a long wait. It could’ve been fifteen minutes or fifty. Both knew it is too long though as they sit in the doorway, waiting for the supplies. The rush to tie the rope to the gurney was the only reprieve from the intense worry the two felt for Izuku.
Uraraka is the one going down with the gurney so she could make anything lighter if needed to get Izuku out. She feels her stomach twist and she isn’t sure if it was from overusing her quirk or out of her pure fear. She lands with a hollow sound, her footsteps echoing through the crevice. She pushes anything and everything out of her way, the floodlight making it easier to see what she's doing. It follows her wherever she steps and soon she's stepping on top of a mask.
She gasps, dropping down and scooping up the metal smile that was part of Izuku’s mask. He didn’t want to change it as his mother had made it for him originally.
Uraraka presses her hand to her ear, yelling into it, “Iida! Iida! Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can, what is it? Do you need anything else to-”
“I have Deku’s mask!” Uraraka announces, cutting across Tenya. “I need you to call his phone. It must still be working and have power.”
“Of-Of course”, Tenya exclaims. “Give me a moment.”
Soon, the pleasant chime of a default ringtone tore through the quiet space. It's coming from near the wall, where there is a pile of rubble that seems bigger than the rest. Uraraka touches her boots, hopping over the rubble. She clutches the gurney so tight her knuckles hurt. She twists through the air, blind to all around her before she saw a flash of green.
“Deku!” She exclaims as she releases her quirk and drops next to him on the ground. She holds back her own fear, seeing how much paler he looks and how ragged he's breathing.
He stirred, his eyes fluttering at his name. He looks over and gives a pained smile. “S-Sorry about this, Ochako.”
“Idiot, it’s fine. You should be saying that to Iida and Todoroki. They looked like they were as nauseous as I am.”
“A-Ah, I fell asleep on Tenya. That was rude.”
Uraraka rolls her eyes. “We have to get you on this gurney so you can get treated. You’re bleeding too much.”
“My arm”, Izuku mutters. “Can’t move it.”
Uraraka looks and quickly looks away again. It's stuck on rebar and the fabric of his suit is dyed from the amount of blood lost. She took hold of his arm above the elbow before she gently starts poking around. Izuku whines, gnawing on his lip but is able to flex his fingers and toes when Ochako asks. She lightens the block the steel as she went. She didn’t want to remove anything out of Izuku’s arm yet. He could bleed out faster with no be a way for her to staunch it.
“Momo”, Uraraka says through the earpiece, “Is there a way to stop bleeding faster? Deku has a piece of metal embedded in his arm, about a centimetre in, and taking it out could mean him bleeding more.”
“There should be a first aid kit pack that has some supplies. Look for a package that says, ‘clotting sponge’ and has any mention of Zeolite.”
“What does Zeolite do?”
“Stops bleeding faster”, Izuku mutters before Momo could. “Basic first aid. Paramedics do it sometimes.”
Uraraka chewed on her lip and nodded, pulling the first aid kit out from it’s strapped in place and digging through it. It was a paramedic first aid kit so there were clotting sponges. Uraraka looked at Izuku fretfully.
“This is going to hurt.” She says with a frown.
“It’s okay," Izuku says. He nods to himself and sucks in a small breath. "I’ll be okay. We all have to get home sometime.”
Izuku said that while trying to put on a brave face. In the end, though, it didn’t help. He couldn’t stop his scream as Uraraka took the rebar out in one swift movement. He shivers and barely feels himself go weightless. Uraraka frantically wrapped bandages around his arm when he's placed on the gurney. When she's sure his head is secured, she straps him down, covering him with the shock blanket. Finally, she sprints off, dragging the floating gurney with her.
She tugs at the rope twice when both were secured, Uraraka in the rope’s harness and Izuku to a separate rope. Momo looks almost translucent as she pulls the two over the lip of the drop and into the stairwell. They run out of the school and don't stop until they're in front of paramedics. Uraraka releases her quirk, collapsing onto the ground.
Tenya and Shouto are sitting at a cramped picnic table when they came out. They abandon their work the minute the door opens and meet the group with paramedics.
“The kids…” Izuku mutters as paramedics start working. “Where are they?”
“They're fine, Deku”, Momo says shakily. “We’re worried about you now.”
“What about….Shouto and-and Tenya. Where...Where are they?”
“Here," Tenya says and Momo steps aside.
They come closer and Izuku gives them a smile. It turns into a grimace when there's more prodding on his scratches. He's gripping Tenya's hand a little tighter than normal and his eyes can't stay open through this.
“Don’t sleep yet, kid.” One of the paramedics says sternly. “You have a concussion. Could do more damage that way. It’ll hurt but,” he shrugs.
Izuku groans in response.
They rush him out to a hospital the minute they did basic first aid on site. Izuku's grip on Tenya's hand has to be pried of and he waves with his good arm and gives another painful grin.
“I’ll be fine,” Izuku says. “Don’t worry too much.”
Shouto looks thunderous at the comment but Tenya wraps his pinky around Shouto’s.
“He's delirious...let him have this before we chew him out.”
“He's always so reckless”, Shouto shook and leans more into Tenya’s shoulder.
“We won't be able to see him for a while. We should finish the paperwork before we go.”
Shouto nods, reluctant, but scowls at the thought of waiting. The three loved each other but couldn't marry. The hospitals always called Izuku’s mother before them because of that. Inko had said she'd much rather have Izuku be with them before her as she cried and stressed him out. She always made him stay a night at home after being released from the hospital.
“I need to take care of my sons”, she would say, pinching Shouto’s cheek and ruffling Tenya’s hair. “You two are as worried as I am. We can fuss over him together.”
It's a nice arrangement.
Inko meets them at the hospital when they finally get there. They called her in advance, saying they were filling things out before trying to see Izuku. She understood and said that All Might had stayed with her for a bit.
“He's fine.” She says hurriedly. She looks breathless and jittery but smiles warmly at the two. “They put him to sleep for a few hours but he should be awake any minute. I'll take you to him, come on.”
“Are you sure that we-”, Tenya starts to say but Inko shook her head.
“You're as much a part of his life as I am. He loves you two and will want to see you. I'll get him some clothes from home for when he leaves. They're keeping him overnight jus-st in case but nothing's wrong, they s-said.”
“We’ll keep him well entertained for the time being!” Tenya says dutifully.
“We're going to yell at him”, Shouto amends.
Inko laughs and says, “I expect nothing less,” as she pushes the two inside.
Izuku is barely awake as he stirs, shifting his head towards the noise, but with his eyes barely open. He settles fast and seems to fall asleep again. Shouto ran a rough hand through his hair as he walks closer, Tenya close behind as he sank into a chair beside the bed. Tenya held his arms open and Shouto climbed into his lap. He almost collapses into Tenya, a familiar scent of smoke and gas and cologne washing over him. Tenya pressed his forehead against Shouto’s shoulder and the two just wait patiently.
Izuku let out a soft sound as he woke up and the two jolt, Shouto jumping off of Tenya’s lap and Tenya leaning closer. His eyes open but close rapidly again in a squint against the harsh fluorescent lights. Tenya went and opens the curtains and shut off the lights.
“Your hand”, Izuku says in a croak. He was moving his good hand towards Shouto’s, his brow creased in worry.
“It's fine...nothing compared to you…” Shouto mutters. “You scared us.”
Izuku looks at the ceiling, not wanting to make eye contact. He felt the mattress sink down where Tenya had sat gently. Both look at him and he felt his hand, still half outstretched, being taken by Shouto's. It took him a moment to gather his voice, feeling a pressing sense of guilt and sadness but also of love and safety.
"I'm sorry...heard the kids crying...I couldn't leave them.”
“Do you need anything?” Tenya asks softly. His face is pinched with worry but he looks at Izuku warmly.
“Just...stay here with me for a bit. ‘M gonna fall asleep again at this rate.”
“You do have a concussion so you can only sleep a maximum of three hours at a time. It's best if you stay awake with us for a bit before going back to bed.”
“Mm, sure, Tenya. You're on….duty I guess.” Izuku frowns and looks pleadingly up at Tenya. “Can you guys cuddle with me?”
“Absolutely not”, Shouto said firmly. “You have injuries on your arm and abdomen. We could hurt you even more if we tried.”
Izuku lets out a childish whine, sinking further into the mattress. “I don't like being in bed without you guys. Feels lonely.”
Tenya leans over and cups Izuku’s chin in his hand, giving his forehead a kiss. He felt Izuku’s face warm slightly when Shouto also leaned over and did the same.
“We cannot risk bed sharing with how you are,” Tenya said, reluctantly leaning back. “But worry not, you'll be healed in no time so we all all share a bed again.”
Izuku scrunchea his nose up but sighs and relents. He feels Shouto’s hand wrap around his good one and Tenya leaning slightly against his leg. They didn’t have anything else to say so they just bask in each other’s presence, knowing they were all safe, that everything was fine now.