Work Text:
Izuku thought that drowning may have been the single most painful experience of his life. The sheer helplessness and awareness of fighting for your life and losing was harrowing. No accidental burns or scrapes could compare to the pain and terror he felt.
The only saving grace was All Might appearing to save him. Waking from the drowning to the number one hero saving his life had almost made it worth it. Who was he kidding, it was worth it to meet his hero and get his autograph!
If only his autograph could keep away the nightmares. The very real feeling of sludge suffocating him in his nightmares. His voice was lost and unheard as he fought for his life, only for his mother to pull him from his restless slumber as his voice, stolen from his dream and ripping into reality, waking her and filling her with worry.
“Izuku, it’s okay. It’s all alright. It’s just a dream,” Inko soothed. Red rimmed eyes from lack of sleep but a spark of worry electrified her body, sitting comfortingly next to Izuku. “Do you… do you want to talk about it?”
“I- I was- It was just a bad dream mom. You don’t have to worry.”
He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. His mom’s expression said otherwise.
“I won’t make you talk, but I think it might help. You sounded very scared. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
Guilt pulled at his heartstrings. The last thing he wanted was to harm his mom, even if it was just scaring her from his nightmare.
“I was drowning,” he admitted. “I try and try to fight back. I just wanted to breathe ,” he explained, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, ready to cascade down in typical Midoriya fashion. His mom’s hand landed gently on his back, giving a warm comfort, encouraging him to continue. “I tried to call for help, but it only made it worse.”
“That sounds scary. But you’re safe now,” Inko comforted, “It was just a nightmare.”
“It felt so real. I could still taste the sludge,” Izuku muttered, not realizing he was still speaking.
“Taste? Izuku? Did something happen?”
Izuku instinctively tried to swallow, his throat painful, no doubt from the screams. But with the vivid images of his nightmare, he could only think of the attempt to drown him.
“A villain,” he said softly. “I was saved. And I’m fine now!” he squeaked. “I’m- I’m fine mom. I promise.”
He looked to her with pleading eyes, begging her to drop it. Warm arms wrapped around him. He lowered his head into her shoulder.
“Oh Izuku. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t- I didn’t want you to worry,” he sobbed, sounding muffled in her shoulder.
“I’m your mother. I’ll always worry.”
It wasn’t condescending. It wasn’t cruel. It was reassuring and felt safe. They stayed like this for a few minutes, Izuku sobbing into her shoulder, and Inko letting out a few of her own tears as concern for her son made itself known. But as strong as the Midoriya tears were, exhaustion from the late night creeped in, taking its toll and leaving them unable to cry for long.
“Thanks mom.”
“Always Izuku.”
“Do you want to watch some television? A bit of distraction?”
“No. You have work tomorrow. I’ll be fine, mom. Promise.”
She let go of the embrace.
“Sleep well Izuku.”
“I’ll try mom.”
With that, Inko left the room to let Izuku rest. But despite her own exhaustion, she couldn’t bring herself to sleep. If she didn’t talk to someone, she knew she would have nightmares plaguing her. Nightmares of Izuku drowning before her eyes. Of a police man arriving at her door, telling her that he was found dead in some horrible place.
She grabbed her cell phone and walked into her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed and dialed a familiar number. It only rang twice before a familiar voice answered.
“ Inko? Is everything alright? ”
“Hisashi, is this a bad time?”
“ For you? Never. You sound worried. And it’s so late where you are. What’s going on? ”
“I’m worried about Izuku. Something happened and I just found out- am I a bad mother?”
“ Inko, what happened to Izuku? ”
“He almost died ,” she choked out, barely louder than a whisper. “He’s having nightmares of drowning because someone tried to kill him.”
The line grew quiet. A jolt of fear danced down Inko’s spine, mingling with anticipation pricking at her skin.
“No. I won’t lose any more of my family.”
Inko jumped. That voice didn’t come from the phone-
Her vision dimmed, images growing blurry and twisting around in a strange sense of vertigo had her close her eyes.
“Rest now. Things will be better.”
“H’sashi?” she slurred. She tried to open her eyes, but she could hardly make out what was in front of her. And in the battle to remain conscious, she found herself admitting defeat.
+.+
It was never All for One’s intent to bring his wife and child to his base of operations. Even more so when taking into account a certain lack of… recognizable facial features.
But with Izuku’s life at risk from just being a child, well… he knew better than to tempt fate twice. Izuku would thank him for this. He always did have such a fascination with quirks. The collection of quirks were ones he had gotten in hopes of repairing the damage that brutish All Might had caused. Unable to fix what he had already damaged, but together they would be perfect in preventing any harm.
He placed his palm on his son, still so small compared to him, and slipped the first quirk in. One to heal wounds by accelerating his metabolism. Green eyes snapped open as his son gasped for air. No doubt awoken by the nightmare Inko had mentioned to him over the phone.
“Calm down Izuku. You’re alright. You’re safe.”
The ethereal forest green eyes darted around for a moment, unseeing as labored breath fought for every ounce of oxygen he could gather. He could feel Izuku tense under his hand.
“Who- Who are you?” Izuku asked through labored breaths. “Whe-”
“Sh… It’s alright Izuku,” All for One spoke over him. “Papa’s here.”
“Y-You’re face…” Izuku whimpered. He felt his lips peel back into a smile at his son’s concern.
“Horrid isn’t it? Something I would never wish upon you. That’s why you’re here.”
“Here? Where?” The breathing was still labored. No doubt from his near drowning incident. If only Inko told him more information- no. He would find out soon enough. Inko didn’t need to worry about the details of what happened once he ensured Izuku was safe.
"Just relax."
Another quirk slipped from his fingers, joining the first inside Izuku.
Izuku seized. His hand latched onto his wrist in the best vice he could manage. It was rather cute.
"Wha- Da-" he wheezed even harder. He hummed to himself. There was one more quirk he had to give his son at least. It seemed his breathing was effected by the incident far more than he anticipated. It was one that he had been given freely, the owner having no imagination for its use, but for his son, it was perfect. Simply called breath, it allowed the user to potentially breathe anything. Such as, water or whatever else may cause one to drown.
He nestled it in alongside the other two, holding Izuku down as limbs tensed and spasmed, making way for the safety net he was gifting him.
"You're doing well ducky. I almost forgot how easy it is to gift a quirk to one who doesn't have one."
Izuku didn't respond. He didn't know what his dad did. But his chest was on fire. His lungs were burning from a pressure he could unfortunately have memories of.
He was drowning.
"Hel- Da-!" he choked. Tears streamed down his face as he begged with his eyes. For help? For relief? For answers? His voice was lost in his struggle to breath.
"You don't have to worry anymore son. You're safe now."