Third person pov

They were at the location, and Harper was not here. She wasn't here. She wasn't here, she wasn't here, she wasn't here. 

"Calm down, Hanta Sero." Kurogiri's cool voice cut through the tape-user's panic, effectively instilling him back into reality. He looked up, his fingers twitching and his eyes wide in a crazed sort of way that would have the cops locking him up in seconds if they saw it. Kirishima looked unnerved to see him this way. Though he obviously knew of the betrayal Sero carried out, he hadn't interacted with him firsthand since then. His last impression of the other teen was the one he'd built during their first weeks of school-- when Sero was acting in order to blend in effectively with the rest of Class 1-A.

Sero felt like he was starting to lose his mind all over again. He understood exactly why the villains had taken Harper. If he put himself in that mentality, he was sure he would've agreed with their decision back before he was incarcerated. She was a genuine threat to them and their organization. Already she'd taken out one of their main players, and before that she'd unearthed him-- their mole. She was digging through a hoard of shit that she didn't need to get stuck in. It was starting to catch up to her. The consequences came faster than she could work through it all, and now here they all were. Freaking the fuck out and wondering whether or not she was still breathing.

Kirishima could feel himself on the cusp of panic as well. They all had gathered in an alley and taken to the streets on foot for lack of any other options. The idea of perhaps trying to disguise themselves came up, but none of them felt like there was time. Honestly, they didn't care enough to try. Kurogiri didn't have any emotions aside from anger that seemed to fluctuate and flicker out at any given moment, Sero was probably going to get thrown into Tartarus for this, and for Stain, well, he was already in Tartarus to begin with. What was there to lose? He owed Harper Rye quite a bit for all she'd done for him despite his criminal position, and his son would be proud to see him out on the news going after her in hopes of aiding instead of killing those society deemed to be innocent. 

This was not where Harper was being held. There were, however, several different types of Nomu being manufactured at this desolate facility. The brunette was nowhere to be seen. The League clearly wasn't on the grounds either. Kirishima felt sick. Where was she? Where was Bakugo? And what about her cousin, Kota? He wanted them desperately to be okay. There was a persistent ache in his chest that was going to suffocate him at this rate. If she wasn't here, where else could they possibly be holding her? This had been their only lead! Kurogiri had checked all the other places he used to frequent, but they'd naturally moved everything around after he'd defected. They had nothing! No idea where she was or how to get to her.

Dabi was oddly quiet throughout this. You could see the tension and absolute stress painted across his face. You wouldn't assume it at first glance, but he cared about Harper more than he'd ever let on. She had stopped him from going down a path that probably wouldn't have ended in anything good. He'd been lost and struggling, and she'd taken time out of her night to reach out to him and give him the help he'd desperately needed at the time. She bantered with him and had given him friends and some new form of a family. He'd reconnected with his younger brother and gained a warm, bright home to come back to. He had people he could count on and laugh with. She was one of those people, and she'd just been taken away. She was in mortal danger, and he felt completely powerless against it.

"How are you going to tell me to calm down when she's somewhere out there, possibly dead?!" Sero barked it out with deadly amounts of venom in his tone. Dabi's gaze snapped to him, rage sparking in his eyes at the insinuation that she could be gone for good. Kirishima looked squeamish. "You know what these people are capable of! You were one of them, just like me."

"Your panic will hinder our operation and prove to be a detriment to the situation. I never implied we should take this any less seriously." Kurogiri's voice held some amount of snap to it, his mist flaring slightly. Kirishima squirmed a little. Hearing his voice so cold reminded him of the Kurogiri from the USJ. The one he and his classmates had experienced nightmares about for weeks on end-- who had once scattered them all with intention of harming them. He was different now. Kirishima knew that, and there wasn't a day he doubted that fact. But right now, he was just... impersonal. He felt so distant and held this blank sort of rage he hadn't ever expressed in his time with Harper.

Sero's nostrils flared. Kirishima took a small step back, glancing between the two. They didn't have time for this. But what else were they supposed to do? With nothing to go off of, all they could really do was stand here and hope something happened. This was clearly a base of the League's. It just wasn't the one Harper had been taken to. This seemed like more of a laboratory-- a place to create and do heinous experiments, not to meet up and hold hostages. Was there someone inside who knew something? It was possible, but Kirishima felt incredibly tense when he thought about trying to break in. If any of those Nomu woke up, they'd be practically screwed. Unless Kurogiri could teleport them away in time, that is...

"We'll find her." Dabi's voice sounded hoarse. He cleared his throat a little, looking tired and unlike himself. There was a dull look in his eyes. It was as though he'd detached himself from his emotions. It had to be a defense mechanism. As Kirishima stood there struggling not to start crying like a baby, he did have to wish he had that ability too. It would sure make his life a whole lot easier. He felt out of depth compared to everyone here. Even Sero seemed more collected than he did despite his panic.

"Not if we continue to stand around like idiots we won't." Stain's voice was low but sharp. Kirishima flinched, glancing at him. The man glowered down at the redhead as though he'd personally offended him. Kirishima swallowed. It was easy to forget you were standing right next to a serial killer when they were working on your side. Did Harper really banter and casually insult this guy? He was more terrifying than Kirishima remembered. "We either need to go in or look somewhere else. Somehow I don't doubt the authorities have noticed we've all gone missing and have connected the dots."

He was right. With Stain being in Tartarus, his absence would be noticed immediately. His connection with Harper Rye was a dead giveaway. Dabi gave Stain a challenging look, but he didn't refute what he said by any means. He was right. If they got caught, they were sort of fucked. Maybe not super fucked, but somewhat fucked. Kurogiri was their get out of jail free card. Without his emotions, however, he was a bit unpredictable. That wasn't great. 

Before Kurogiri could say a word, there was an odd sound. A cracking noise from inside the building they were loitering around the side of. Sero's tape immediately shot out so he could boost himself back up to the window. The shoes he'd borrowed from Kirishima dug hard into the brick as he hoisted himself up, his eyes narrowed critically and his mouth downturned a notable amount. The expression twisted almost immediately, and Kirishima knew right away that their shit was probably about to get fucked.

"Some of the Nomu are disappearing." He announced. Stain hopped up next to him immediately. With how tall he was, it wasn't hard for him to dig a knife into the space where the window ledge met the the brick and hold himself there. His eyes scanned the scene sharply. Kirishima held his breath. He wondered what Harper was thinking right now. What was she hearing? Was she okay? He... He doubted it. How could she possibly be okay at a time like this? He wished he knew where she was exactly. He'd be there in a heartbeat to get her back no matter what it took. She was selfless and always helping those around her, no matter how pessimistic she acted about it. She should get saved for a change.

There was some sort of black goo warping the Nomu away. The villains had vanished using that shit at the summer camp, right? That's what Kirishima had said. Sero didn't fucking know. They had to be careful about this. If they got fucked up by Nomu, they'd be far less capable of going to get Harper when they finally located her. What if the heroes actually had found her, Bakugo, and Kota though? These creatures could be heading that way. It would make sense. All the big leagues would be there, and that definitely called for reinforcements on the villains' part. Sero dropped back down from the window, teeth grinding. Stain remained, eyes still searching.

"Well isn't that just fucking spectacular! What the hell do we do now?" Dabi whirled towards Kurogiri. The man stared back indifferently. "Do you know where they're going? Harper's quirk isn't going to do shit to one of those freaks, and I don't want to rely on blasty boy to get her out of a tight fix."

"I don't." Kurogiri said coolly. Predictable, but Dabi still threw his head back to groan. Kirishima sputtered out some damage control. Dabi was getting tenser and tenser the longer Kurogiri remained like this. Which yeah, the redheaded teen was too, but it's not like he was the Warp Gate user's bodyguard. Dabi was with Kurogiri all day, every day. This vanishing act his entire personality had just performed had to be putting the scarred man through the ringer.

"It'll be okay! We're going to find her. And if we don't, the heroes will." Kirishima said surely, clenching his fists. "Getting them to safety is their first priority. I think we can count on that and trust that they're looking as hard as they can for them!"

"Heroes aren't shit." Stain hopped down from the window, literally ruining everything. Sero snorted in agreement.

There was a massive boom that cut Kirishima's rebuttal off. And then another one. A third. A forth. They all whipped around just in time to see Mount Lady sprint past the alley mouth and pretty much throw herself on top of the Nomu building. Gang Orca ran past as well. Kurogiri's quirk spiked a bit, ready to warp them away if they were spotted. It didn't appear to be an issue. Best Jeanist and one of the Wild Wild Pussycats-- Tiger-- ran by without so much as a side glance down their shady little alleyway. They all stayed silent just in case. Sero boosted himself back up to try and get a glance at what was happening.

The remaining Nomu flooded out of the building, which Mount Lady had caved the front of in with a single belly flop. The beasts all scattered like shrieking rats, rushing forward with reckless abandon and little to no regard for themselves. The heroes met them head on with cool confidence. They handled it like you'd expect a group of Pros to. These Nomu were luckily not as powerful as the one who'd been at the USJ. It was easier to mow these ones down. Kirishima's throat felt tight when he imagined all the quirks stuffed inside of them. All the lives lost to create... these.

"They've got someone." Sero noted without looking away. "Lady with green hair, maybe blue or some shit. Tutu guy's got her."

"Ragdoll! I'm so glad they found her!" Kirishima gasped out with relief. Dabi gave him a scolding look for his volume, but didn't say anything more. The redhead cringed a little apologetically. 

And that's about the time everything went to absolute, total shit. 

~~~~~~~~~

Akiara Rye couldn't stop pacing. Back and forth and back and forth. The air was stale. The floor felt too hard and it was too white. It was too cold in here, but she was too hot. Elijah was sitting slouched over in a chair with his wounds all wrapped. He refused to be in a hospital room, but he'd at least changed into some new clothes. He hadn't moved for twenty minutes, and she wasn't going to make him. This was a feeling they'd experienced before. Like everything was wrong and they just wanted to crumble. Their ability to function simply ceased. Their little girl had been taken. Again. And as positive and optimistic as they were, this wasn't something they could get on the bright side of. There was no bright side. Their Harper was missing, and so was their precious little nephew.

When Harper and her brother had been taken, their world had shattered into a million little pieces. What sort of parents lost not one, but both of their kids? At different times, and to the same person! They were horrible. Irresponsible and incapable of protecting their own babies. It was pathetic. When they'd gotten Harper back and realized what had happened to Eric, it had almost been impossible to recover. Harper was the only reason they did. They didn't use her as a crutch by any means-- they would never put that pressure on her. She was their motivation. The thing that pushed them to try and find whatever 'happy' was again. Because Eric wouldn't want them to be sad, and he certainly wouldn't forgive them if they didn't try their absolute hardest for Harper.

So they had. They'd gotten better, and honestly, they had finally been okay. They all missed Eric everyday. They all still cried about it sometimes, and that was okay. They'd reached a sense of closure that had been ripped away from them when they realized his kidnapper-- the reason he'd died-- was still out there. He'd come after Harper again. Akiara and Elijah knew firsthand just how hard she'd struggled after Atsuhiro. Small spaces and the dark scared had and still did terrify her a times, and she was distrustful towards everyone. Her happy demeanor had fizzed out and hadn't come back. As happy and upbeat as they tried to act to help her heal, it didn't return her to the way she was before.

That was okay. They loved her for who she was and didn't mind. She was Harper, and they wouldn't change her for anything. They'd been scared when she'd said they had to go somewhere. Into some sort of witness protection, or whatever this whole thing was. It wasn't something the couple had argued about, though. Harper was their entire world. She was their everything, and so was Eric, even if he wasn't here anymore. Leaving was something they hated and that hurt, but that they did without hesitation for her protection. It had worked for a while, too.

Things had caught up, and they should've known. They should've done something-- anything-- to stop this. Akiara couldn't handle this. Was Harper okay? Was she hurt? She still had nightmares about Atsuhiro. Akiara was going to gut him with her own two hands as soon as he was caught. She was going to make sure he was really dead this time. Harper was just starting to really, really get better. Through all her struggles with depression and self-hatred, she was improving! She'd moved past that and had a better mentality. She had friends, and went to school, and did things! So even though they couldn't be there to directly witness it, they were okay with it. They got photos and constant updates and phone calls and texts. It was okay.

This... This was not okay. 

At all. 

"We have to go after her." Elijah croaked, finally managing to push himself upright. His eyes were puffy and red from crying. His cheeks were still wet. Akiara knew hers were too. He shifted a little. "We can't... They can't do this to her. We can't let them do this to her."

"I know." Akiara whispered. Her voice barely managed to force itself out. She swallowed heavily. Why couldn't it have been one of them? Or no one at all? Why Harper? She'd been doing so much to help, and it had put a target on her back. All these things and people that had helped Harper heal as much as she had-- was it worth it if she was going to get taken away and thrust into situations like this?

There was a shout from somewhere further in the ER. They were in the waiting room with a fair amount of Harper's peers. It would've been endlessly interesting to see and meet them all under any other circumstance. They'd wanted to at the camp, with Harper's blessing. They couldn't even bring themselves to look around at this point, though. A young man they'd heard about before-- Tenya Iida-- had come up to them with a tear-stained face and shakily offered them water in the most polite way possible. They couldn't bring themselves to say no. Akiara had hugged him for a long time before he rushed off to mother-hen his other classmates. She could tell a few of them were confused by their presence. From what they knew, Harper's dad was a detective they'd all met before. If Harper were here with them, they may've found it funny. 

A few nurses and a doctor rushed in with a gurney. They looked frantic, but there was no visible patient. Was someone one the way? Elijah and Akiara shared a small look. Realistically, they knew it wasn't their daughter. It didn't stop their hearts from racing however. Even the rest of 1-A perked up expectantly. They were hoping it was Harper or Katsuki coming through those doors. Both, realistically, and Kota too. God. Kota. It made Akiara sick to know her nephew was in that. She knew Harper hadn't meant to pull him in. If she could've helped it in the moment, she would have. Akiara didn't doubt she'd done her best.

A rattling boom shook the automatic glass doors of the hospital. The cracking of the asphalt outside told them someone had just landed, and hard too. They all craned their heads to try and see past the puff of dust. The door slid open, and the sound of fast footsteps hit hard. Akiara felt her throat close up entirely at the sight. Blood dribbled onto the floor from what was quite clearly a stump. Bakugo Katsuki's head lolled backwards. He was completely out. The boy who'd been with their daughter, who was still nowhere to be seen. Elijah stared in absolute horror as the blonde was shakily deposited onto the gurney by none other than All Might himself. The man, for once, was not smiling. How could he be when his student was missing a foot.

1-A erupted into shrieks of concern, popping up from seats and trying to rush forward. Tears began to fall in an instant, but the doctors and nurses weren't there to hesitate. They rushed away, shouting things at one another. In a perfect world, All Might would know where there ER entrance was and how to get there. He just didn't have time. He wished he could stay and make sure Young Bakugo was okay, but he had to get back. He was making a move, and there was still a student missing. He couldn't rest until all was settled and Harper Rye was safe. So, he'd landed at the main entrance and dropped Bakugo off with professionals, and Young Kota as well.

"Aunt Aki!" A small voice shrieked. Akiara barely had time to look down before Kota was slamming into her legs. His little arms wrapped around her tight, and Akiara let out a gasp of relief, immediately reaching down to grab him in a desperate frenzy. He was crying, his little body shaking. Elijah sprung up as well, rushing to her side. "H-Harper! Th-They still have her!" 

Akiara looked up and met All Might's eyes only for a small moment. The man looked like he was in pain. His eyes held a promise, though. He nodded to her only briefly, shooting a last look towards Bakugo as the explosive blonde disappeared through the door with his classmates swarming after his gurney. The rate at which All Might took off left little time for the automatic doors to open before he was shooting off again-- presumably back to the scene of the crime. Looking down at Kota, Akiara hugged him close and allowed herself to hope. Because what else could she possibly do?