Chapter Text
Izuku sat quietly in the bedroom that he shared with Shouto, on the edge of their bed. In his hands was a picture in a simple frame, their graduating class surrounding his father’s normal form, taken the day of graduation. Before they had all scattered to the winds to start their lives and careers as heroes.
It was a simpler, gentler time then, Izuku thought. When they could all stand together and smile for the camera - smiling and proud and full of hope. They believed they were ready to take on the world.
Some of them were still around. For example, Kacchan and Kirishima worked together often and their agency was in the area. The two were finally getting married this spring - Izuku was happy for them.
Mina had moved south, and he hadn’t heard from her recently. Eventually Izuku thought he would have to fix that. In his head he could go through all of them, and he knew at least mostly where they were and how they’d been doing.
He knew who had been injured last, and if they were dating someone. Shouto joked, sometimes, that it was creepy how much he kept on perfect recall. His class mates, he cared for all of them. They were his friends, his rivals, and more than anything they were the reason he kept moving forward. Izuku cared about them all, and that tended to mean that he kept track of them. He meant well, really.
It was time.
Pro Heroes Deku and Duality had finally made progress on the case they had been working since they were twenty three. It was time to bring the killer of so many people to justice. Izuku thought it would feel good, to finally be able to put this case behind them. Maybe… maybe it would be enough to let them move forward and heal a little from everything that had happened.
Izuku heard the door open, and close. Reflexively Izuku tucked the picture away in the nightstand, rising to greet his husband in the hall.
The threads were finally in place, and those they had lost would find justice. But for now… for now Izuku wrapped his arms around Shouto and buried his face in his shoulder and breathed for what felt like the first time since Shouto had left that afternoon.
“I’m surprised you’re still awake.” Shouto murmured half into his hair. “You had an early morning.”
“Detective Tsukauchi called.”
“Oh.” Shouto released a slow breath, seeming to take in the seriousness of that moment. “So do the leads check out? Or did they go cold again?”
“They checked out. We start assembling our teams and briefing them in the morning.”
“Good.” Shouto’s voice was quiet, but Izuku could hear the barely restrained tension in it. Yes, it was good. Finally making progress on this case would make them both feel that much better. But after four years of hunting, it was strange to think that maybe it would be coming to an end soon.
“Since I’m up, I’ll make you something to eat while you shower.” Izuku murmured.
Shouto frowned slightly, “You don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to.” The green haired man offered a certain smile as he stepped away from his husband and moved towards the kitchen.
Besides, he still had far too much on his mind to sleep. It would be easier when he could lay down with Shouto later.
“You ready?” Deku glanced at Duality beside him, who nodded fractionally.
“Ready when everyone’s in position.” The familiar voice came from beside him, calm and steady. Sometimes, Shouto was the only thing anchoring Deku to stability, these days.
That thought lingered in his mind as Izuku took one final slow, deep breath to center himself properly. And then he raised one hand and activated the comm system connected to the small ear piece each member of every team wore. “Team B, are you in position?”
“We are!” Uravity’s voice came across the earpiece almost instantly.
“Team C?”
“Why the hell are we team C anyway!?” Ground Zero’s voice came across in a growl.
“Ground Zero, is your team in position?”
“Yes. Now, answer the damn question Deku!”
“Your team is team C due to the location you are entering the building from. Location C in the schematics.” He answered calmly. It was easier to answer than let Bakugo keep the bit between his teeth.
“Thysaer are you in position?”
“Yes. No one’s coming through this way without trouble.”
“Eraserhead?”
“In place and waiting for you to get on with it.”
“You’d better not be putting too much on your own damn team Deku.”
“Each team plays an important part. Remember the specific orders you were given. Follow them to the letter. Let no one escape from this building, that’s the most important part of this mission.” Duality’s voice came in, derailing Ground Zero’s objections without engaging with them directly.
“And remember, when the target is sighted to alert the other teams over the comm system and send in your designated member to engage and keep the target cornered.” Deku added in an even tone. “Eraserhead will move to your location when the target is found.”
In the meantime, it was for the best that Eraser would remain outside to help Thysaer and her team deal with anything that slipped out of the building. After all, if they made even a single mistake, then all their planning may turn out to be for nothing.
This was not how things were supposed to have gone. There were villains waiting for them in a large room on the second floor. 8 of them. It was a room without windows, which was a positive in the sense that it would be easy to keep them cornered here. But… Deku couldn’t help but feel concerned by the fact that they were clearly being waited for.
There was something wrong about this situation, and it left an uncomfortable feeling in the pro hero’s stomach. Green eyes cut slightly towards his partner, but Duality’s expression was utterly calm.
“Target not certain, but we found villains.” Deku informed the comm System. “8 on floor two. We’ve got them cornered. Stay on point but work your way down this way.”
“Got it.” Uravity’s voice came across. “It’s clear so far up here.”
“Don’t rush it just because it looks clear.” Deku replied, though the words were partially cut off with a grunt as he engaged with the first of the villains to move.
Duality managed to freeze a number of them, Izuku bound two others.
That left only a handful loose, and he honestly started to think that maybe he’d overreacted with his anxiety as they came across the villains to begin with. And yet this seemed too easy.
Deku was grappling with a third when it happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the villains left, the white haired one that had been cowering in the corner all this time strike out at Duality. Deku had nearly dismissed her as a threat. It was a rookie mistake, and he should have known better. Despite that, nothing could have prepared him for what happened.
“What…!”
“What the hell, Deku?” It was, perhaps surprisingly Bakugo who spoke up.
“SHOUTO!?”
But there was nothing there. Only Duality’s costume hit the ground after the light cleared, there was no blood. There was no body.
Deku’s blood ran cold.
“Deku what happened?” Uravity asked.
“Target is not present.” Deku’s voice shook slightly, wavering in a way that indicated he was barely maintaining a semblance of calm. “Eraserhead we need you up here. Stairs from entrance A to floor two, go down the east passage. Last door with a scorch mark in front of it.”
“Target?”
“White hair, female, wearing mostly dark colors.”
The woman didn’t give him a choice but to engage with her in combat. He did well avoiding her strikes at first. Deku was light and fast, and green lightning remained around him as he kept One for All active to supplement his movement. It kept him almost too busy to think about what had just happened.
And then he didn’t have a choice, he couldn’t evade her any longer. Deku drove inward unleashing a smash with One for All - it worked, the white haired woman was sent flying backwards, but Deku was engulfed in white light and he knew nothing more.
Ground Zero entered the space with Kirishima on his heels. The villains had known, somehow. They’d been ready - their actual target was long gone, and this must have been some kind of trap.
Stupid fucking Deku putting too much on his own damn shoulders again. Stupid of Ground Zero to allow it, and he knew it. Deku had driven himself into the ground more than once during this investigation. Katsuki had still hoped that icyhot would have kept his head about him better than this.
His step faltered as he caught sight of the woman being thrown towards the wall, and Deku just hanging in mid-air, wrapped in white light, before he dropped to the ground. No. Just his costume dropped to the ground. He was gone.
Eraserhead was there, right behind the pair of them. He didn’t need to activate his quirk, the woman was already unconscious from Deku’s suicidal blow.
But they were too damn late to save either of them, Ground Zero realized dimly as he spotted Shouto’s costume on the ground in the same state as Deku’s.
“Get bindings on the villains that are restrained by ice alone.” Eraserhead took charge in that moment of hesitation.
Red Riot and Ground Zero obeyed while the erasure hero stepped closer to the unconscious woman, prepared to take away her quirk at the slightest hint of movement. She didn’t move. He could tell she was still breathing, that was enough to warrant him binding her carefully.
A repeat of whatever had happened to Duality and Deku was … unacceptable.
“Eight Villains captured, but our target isn’t among them.”
“Mission failure.” Ground Zero growled.
“Objectively, yes.”
“What did you do to them?” Ground Zero was still in costume, glaring at the woman who was on a heavy duty quirk suppressant.
The white haired woman merely laughed, sounding more than half hysterical. “The same thing I do to them all.” She was still giggling, it set him on edge, sparks crackled threateningly in his palm. “I sent them away~ away~ and they’re never coming back. They never do.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?