"See you tomorrow!" Izuku called over his shoulder as he walked out of the small bookshop he worked in. The only other employee, his best friend Uraraka, waved after him with a broad smile on her face.

He walked down the street back to his apartment with a bounce in his step. He absolutely loved his life. He had a good-paying, low-stress job, he had a nice place to live and friends. What more could he possibly want?

The adrenaline rush of flicking a knife from your hand and watching it stay true to its course.

No, no, definitely not that. Anything but that.

A frown had made its way onto Izuku's face at the thought. He hadn't handled a knife in years, and he liked it that way. He wasn't an adrenaline junky, never had been.

Or was he?

Of course not, that was ridiculous! Izuku was as normal and mundane as it came. And he liked it that way.

The pop of a gun made him freeze mid-step, his heart skipping a beat.

"Deep breath in, out, then pull the trigger."

He shook his head violently, pulling himself from the memories he'd been pushing away for years. The pops sounded again, drawing Izuku's attention to a few young teenagers lighting off firecrackers in a yard.

Not a gun.

No guns. He liked it that way.

Izuku finally made it back to his apartment, shivering as he entered. He was having an off day, that was all. It was only natural, seeing as their birthday was coming up. He always got fidgety and anxious around this time, like he was expecting something.

"What's there to expect? They're gone," He muttered to himself. He was happy with his life and the current course he was charting, one that held no room for his long-forgotten ghosts. 

Izuku continued mumbling to himself as he picked the mail up from the ground, having landed there after being pushed through the mail slot. He didn't bother to look through it right away, just tossed it onto the table. He began to pull out various ingredients and a pan. His eyes drifted passed anything necessary for soba, saving it for the twentieth, just like he did every year. It was pathetic really.

While waiting for his water to boil on the stove, he meandered back to the small pile of mail on his table. He flipped through a few envelopes, creating two stacks: one for bills and one for trash. His eyes skimmed over the return addresses, checking each sender. All his movements stilled as he caught sight of the familiar, elegant scroll.  His breath caught in his throat as he read over it, over and over again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Written where his first and last name would normally go was the name 'Deku', crossed off and replaced with 'Green Bean'. There wasn't a return address, but where one was supposed to go said 'Your Kacchan and Shochan'.

With shaking hands, he tried his best to gently open the thick envelope. He ended up tearing the corner, cussing to himself. He pulled out the perfectly folded piece of paper, no doubt it was the work of Shoto. Unfolding it, he held his breath as something fell from it. 

Laid out on his kitchen table, were two computer chips that couldn't have been bigger than a matchbox. His eyes darted back to the letter, which said only two words. 

"Deliver us? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Izuku scoffed to no one but himself. He looked over the enter paper, flipping it around as if they would have added more directions to the back. "I'm not delivering shit." 

Izuku was pissed off, but not stupid. Whatever the hell that letter was supposed to be, he knew it couldn't be good. All he wanted to do was snap the flimsy pieces of plastic and metal and torch the letter, but he knew better. 

With a resigned sigh, he gathered up the letter and the chips into his hands and moved to his bedroom. He grabbed a small safe from under his bed, needing to drag it out due to the weight of it. After spinning the dial forward, back, and forward again, the lock clicked open. He deliberately avoided looking at any of the other contents of the small safe, just shoved the two new items and snapped it shut again. 

"If they want them so bad, they can come get them," he grumbled, pushing himself back to his feet. 

His water had to be boiling by then, his sock-clad feet making soft thuds as he walked back out to the kitchen. With a newfound sense of determination, he pushed all thoughts of his past from his mind for the rest of the night. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So these two guys just called you up after years to ask for your help?" Uraraka asked with a confused look as she restocked a shelf up front. Of course, Izuku told her as soon as he got to work the following morning, she was his best friend after all. He told her everything because even if he didn't, she'd know something was up in a second. He couldn't tell her everything about this particular situation, but he told her just enough. 

"They didn't even call, they wrote me a letter. I can't even be sure it's them!" He complained, handing her another book with an irritated huff. 

Uraraka nodded understanding as she took in the sight of her frustrated best friend. "That's fucked."

Izuku just hummed in agreement. He could have gone the rest of his life without hearing from those two, but they just couldn't let that happen. When had things ever been easy with them? 

He should have seen it coming. He should have known they wouldn't have gone to him if he wasn't a last resort. They wouldn't have involved him unless it was urgent and he was the last person they could trust.

One second he was stocking shelves with Uraraka, the next the windows were shattering, the sound of gunshots ringing out, screams coming from the streets and his best friend.

Izuku wasn't sure how, but it was like his brain went on autopilot. Everything they had ever taught him came rushing back, no matter how sure he was he banished all the memories from his mind.

Uraraka was screaming, kneeling on the ground next to him. They were both behind a bookshelf, relatively safe for the time being. Izuku knew it wouldn't last long, that whoever was trying to kill them wouldn't stop until they were sure. They would come into the shop without a second thought. 

They needed to get out, and fast.

He grabbed Uraraka's wrist, one finger to his lips in a signal to keep quiet. She was shaking in fear, staring at him with wide, glossy eyes. 

They crawled behind the desk, the gunshots not ceasing. There was an 'Employee Only' door that led to a back room. There wasn't another exit besides the one up front, but there was a decent-sized window.

Izuku went straight to that window, nearly screaming in frustration when he realized didn't open. "God damn it, this is gonna fucking hurt," he grumbled, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around his elbow for extra padding. Then he sent it flying straight through the glass, shattering it on impact. 

Uraraka let out a small whimper, but Izuku held a hand over her mouth. "Ura, I need you to be silent. The window was loud enough and If they know where we are, we're screwed."

A few stray tears escaped her eyes as she nodded. The poor girl had no idea what was happening, but Izuku was keeping a level head. She trusted him more than anything and appeared willing to follow his orders. 

Izuku used the sleeve of his coat to brush off any glass that was left over, motioning for Uraraka to come closer. "Where's your car?" He asked as he helped her out of the window, jumping over it himself right after. 

"Backlot, " she managed to say in a whisper, her voice hoarse from screaming.

He held his hand out to her. "Keys?"

Her eyes widened in realization and horror, glancing back at the window they'd just jumped through. "They're behind the desk."

Izuku shook his head, placing his hands on her shoulders. "That's okay, don't worry. Just take me to your car, okay?" He was trying to be as gentle as possible, knowing how petrified she had to be, but they also didn't have the luxury of time. 

She mutely nodded, leading the way at a run. The gunfire had stopped, so they only had a few minutes before whoever it was realized they were gone.

"It's locked," Uraraka said softly, motioning to her car.

Izuku didn't seem phased, breaking the driver-side window with his elbow again. "Fuck, I'm not used to that." He hissed, a dull throb coming from his surely bruised elbow.

"Get in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uraraka had learned a lot about Izuku in the past five minutes. He had no problem breaking windows with his elbow, he could hot-wire a car, and the man was apparently a professional stunt driver.

"Where did you learn to drive like this?" She managed to ask through her shock and fear.

Izuku nervously chuckled as he weaved through cars, took turns too sharply, and continuously checked the rearview mirror. He was enjoying the thrill of it a little too much. "Remember those two friends I was telling you about? Yeah, well I might have left out a few details."

Uraraka just turned her wide eyes back to the road in front of them. She wasn't sure what to even say now. Instead, she just kept her mouth shut and let Izuku get them away from danger. At least that's what she thought he was doing, until they pulled up to his apartment building, coming to a screeching stop.

"Get out," Izuku instructed, already halfway out of the car.

She followed his lead but voiced her concerns. "If they're after you and they know where you worked, they're going to know where you live! Why'd we come here?"

"It's safest, and I need to grab a few things before we can run." He explained simply.

Uraraka shook her head but jogged after him. They went up the stairs, quickly making their way into Izuku's apartment.

"Okay you asshats, you're more paranoid than me, so I know for damn sure you have my place bugged. You wouldn't drop something as important as this without taking precautions. Help would be greatly appreciated right about now." Izuku said in a sickly sweet voice as he rummaged through his drawers, grabbing out random pieces of clothing and shoving them into a duffle bag. 

He dropped to his knees in front of his bed, fishing out the heavy safe once again. After a brief pause to enter the combination, he emptied all of the contents into the bag. He easily spotted the exact item he was searching for from his duffle, loading a clip into the handgun and pulling the slide back with a satisfying click. 

"Why do you have that?!" Uraraka screeched in disbelief in slight disgust, a hand over her heart as if it would leap straight from her chest.

Izuku just looked at her in faint shock that she still bothered to ask questions. "Because I'm paranoid." He walked past her at a brisk pace, a set of car keys jingling in his hand. 

"You own a car?" She asked. He had always walked or gotten a ride from her, she'd never seen him drive until today.

"Yup."

"We're taking yours?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

Izuku thought back to when he first got the car. It was his sixteenth birthday present for the very men that caused the whole mess. He refused to use it after everything that happened, but could never seem to actually part with it. "With any luck, the boys put extra safety features in it." 

Well, here we are. Rewriting my spy au because I'm a slut for spy movies and actually enjoyed the plot I had set up for this fic. I have no idea how long I'll actually stick with it though, just a warning.