You sat quietly, not drugged into silence but locked in thought. Your pulse refused to subside, hammered against your ribs with painful force. Nothing surfaced in your sight, leaving only miles of white expanse in your vision. That's what it appeared to be at least. You'd lost count of the minutes since you'd been in there. You were just in panic. Alone. Waiting. 

Hours ago, at the least, Ryoko mobilized you for the first time since you'd first woken in this strange prison of her lab. Nonspeaking, she jarred your buckled chair into motion, pushing you along after removing the sedative tubes from your arms. You barely came back to the sanity to see her lock you away in the seamless room. It seemed almost too bright, a quiet, constant noise keeping you from relaxing. Eerie chills crawled on your arms, biting your fingers and whispering your quite desire to rip apart your binds. Trembling overcame you. His name, his cold but burning touch, controlling your every thought. 

"Please, turn it off." You whispered, cracking lips itching over dry words. "Let me go... I won't tell anyone. Let me go back to them. I'll be good, I promise. Turn it off." Your tone was dead, and flat. The plea that shambled from you exuded your desperate expression. "Kacchan... please?" 

"Well, how is this? Are you sure this is the same girl you promised me Ryoko? She seems so... frail." You froze, eyes widening in an instant. Pain ripped through your, as though acid ate through your bones from within you. You came to life suddenly, elements flickering over you in exchange with one another. 

"No... No! NoNO! Let me go! Let me go Let me go Let me go!" You cried. Tears cleaned your cheeks, sobs coming from you. The metal binds groaned against you, but with every attempt to escape it felt as though millions of razors ran course over your body, electricity ripping pain into your flesh over and over again. 

"Oh yes! Now that's much more exciting! Ryoko what have I done to receive such a wonderful gift from you?" 

"Quiet your rambling Tomura. I've collected the data I wanted, now take away this girl before Nezumi decides to keep her." Their voices echoed around you, but you couldn't see  them. You could barely breathe, dark fear crawling into your vision. 

"Please no. Not him please." You cried. 

A singular touch, the cold dry touch traced against the scar that decorated your face, and you fell completely silent. Numb. Terrified. His disturbing, broken grin bearing down on you like a curse. "Hello again,  (Y/N). I can't help but recognize my own handiwork." 

"D-Demon. Get away. L-Leave me al-alone." You begged. You were too quiet. 

Why were you so afraid? 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Izuku didn't speak, his expression solemn and steely as we grew closer and closer to the location where they'd either find or lose their lead. Both clad in their costumes, the uneasy tension between the two wasn't that of two opposing forces, as it had been for many years, it was a looming fear. Unfounded though it was, it only felt natural to fear what they'd find. Heroes couldn't find (Y/N) in the ten days she'd been gone. Though short, villains vary greatly in their talents, and it was more than enough to do long-lasting damage. 

"Kacchan, hold on." Izuku said suddenly. "Look there." 

Bakugou's eyes followed his pointed finger, the sight in the distance however clouded by a thick blanket of greenery. In the distance, a thin black strip marked the road, but that seemed to be the only civilization until they would find the lab they seeked. "I can't see anything." Bakugou muttered. 

"Come around here. I think I see some villains heading deeper into the forest." Izuku reassured. Grabbing Bakugou's arm, he pulled him closer and pointed once more, this time finding three figures, vaguely familiar but too far away to really identify. "One of them looks like they're passed out. Maybe we can follow them back to- wah, Kacchan!" 

Izuku was silenced by a boom of heat, blowing him back as his companion propelled himself face first into the three. Bakugou's face seemed twisted with rage upon seeing them, descending on them with a vulture manner. "Kacchan!!!" 

Izuku tumbled after him, vaulting over bushes and fallen logs to attempt to keep up with Bakugou. Bakugou was upon them in mere seconds, crashing down on one of them with crushing force, wrapping a fist around their collar and posing his fist for another blow. The villain shrieked weakly, to Bakugou's surprise throwing his hands over his face. "Wait no! Please we won't tell anyone! we won't interfere again just let us go!" He cried in a cowardly plea.

"What?" Kacchan asked, loosening just slightly. The man, large with long blue hair and mismatched eyes looked up at him. Familiar by the two occasions before. His eyes widened in an instant. 

"It's you! That fire brat!" He said in an awestruck tone. "What kind of luck is this?!" 

Izuku tumbled forward, accidentally knocking into the other burly man of the three, unshaven but still rippling with muscle, his violet eyes dull with inaction. "Kacchan! What are you doing?" He gasped, still catching his breath. "Do you know these people?" 

"These are the same villains that have attacked me and (Y/N) twice before. What the hell are you three doing in the middle of the forest. And why is that leader of yours out cold?" 

The two conscious men moved their gazes to the body they were dragging along with them. "We ain't gotta tell you anything." Purple muttered, crossing his arms. 

"Just tell him the truth you idiot. I don't want to fight this kid a third time. Especially not with our toughest guy already out." The man with blue hair put his hands up, sending a firm look towards his friend as though to solidify his statement. "We were attacked. We left our employers place a few days back and were gonna head into the city, but this crazy rat lady ambushed us on the way out! It was hell, like being suffocated with moving fur walls. Stuck boss with a needle and ran away. He hasn't been able to wake up since. We've been camping out since." 

"A rat lady?!" Bakugou gripped him more aggressively, bringing his face close. "Where is your employer located?" 

"No way! We are not walking back!" Purple snapped, shaking his head. "I don't plan on getting killed by those crazies. The league was showing up and there's no way I'm dealing with them. I have no death wish thank you very much." 

Bakugou released blue, looking to him with a growing irritation. "Take us there now! We have someone who needs us there!" 

"Kacchan calm down-" Izuku tried in vain to quell Bakugou, his red eyes almost seeming to be filled with fire itself. 

"If you're talking about your girlfriend, you're already too late. Tomura plans on picking her up really soon. And after that, well, it's Tomura Shigaraki. We all know what happens when you mess with him." 

Bakugou went suddenly rigid, his fingers sparking and twitching, his glare finding their target. Izuku rushed to his front, grabbing his shoulders roughly. "Kacchan don't. We'll find (Y/N) before anything happens to her. And she's really brave! There's no way she'll let Tomura get to her so easily." 

Bakugou grit his teeth, heaving thorough his nose as though he were a bull in a stadium. Silence stood on the stale air, not awkward but anxious. A gentle croak arose from the ground, rising from the limp body previously thought to be momentarily dead to the world. Slowly a hand rose, not pushing him up from the ground but pointing off in the distance. "That way..." he said quietly, earning a surprised look from his meatbag lackeys. "There's a facility. Don't go in the front, there's a door at the side." 

"Boss, you're awake?" One asked. 

"Shut up. Just go. I don't want to deal with nosy wannabe heroes right now. Go already." 

Izuku and Bakugou shared a looked briefly, sharing a nod before electing in silence to follow his order. In unison they launched off, racing with inhumane speed off towards the allegedly secret entrance to the laboratory. Izuku's face grew with more and more worry as they grew closer. "I'll kill him if it turns out he's lying." Bakugou growled. 

"That doesn't matter now Kacchan. Let's just hope they were-" 

Izuku never finished, a sudden waves overcoming them. Free fall overcame the two as their feet failed to meet the ground. One moment in the forest, suddenly falling straight forward into an unfamiliar and cold lab. "Oh! Kurogiri your quirk really is nifty isn't it!" 

Over them towered a rat-faced girl with a tiara atop her auburn curls, smiling sweetly as she tugged on the arm of a smoked headed super villain. "Ryoko~love is so smart! She was right on the mark thinking you'd show up. But I wouldn't do anything foolish if I were you. That is, not if you care as much about our sweet little elemental as I believe you to." 

Izuku pressed his palm to his belt, moving slowly and slightly as not to trigger the action of the villains standing over them. Bakugou trembled, launching to his feet. "Where is she?!" He roared. 

"Kacchan don't! We can't fight them alo-" Izuku's words never reached his ears, as Bakugou flew against Kurogiri, instantly flung through another portal and into Izuku. Izuku cried out, his free hand clutching around his hidden tool and digging into a button. Red light erupted from the top, silent but instantly setting to work. 

"Oh! Little boy what have you done with that little bomb there. Aren't you supposed to throw those?" The woman croaked, ducking safely behind cover. 

"You annoying child you." Voice croaking and new. From beyond Kurogiri, a familiar cracked smile bearing down on the two heroes. "Why would you go and do something so foolish as to summon the heroes? And here I was hoping to speak with you before I departed. Oh well. Kurogiri, let's take our package and go. I'll see you two soon." 

"Tomura..." Izuku whispered, fear creeping into his expression. For once, Bakugou hesitated. His presence, the aura coming off of him alone, was paralyzing. 

"Go ahead (Y/N), go on before I'm forced to make you. With such prime examples, it would be-" 

"Y-Yes sir... I'm going. Please don't touch them. Please don't touch them please I can't... I can't bear it to..." 

Bakugou's eyes grew suddenly, as from behind Tomura arose their goal. 

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

I won't let Tomura kill them. I won't let them die. He only wants me. I'll be good. I'll protect them. 

Kacchan... 

I'm sorry... 

We can't fight them.

But I'll protect you, I'll be a real hero...

The air hung stagnant with the heavy silence that grew from Bakugou and Izuku's shock. Their eyes fell on you in disbelief, your shriveled form almost too foreign to believe. Bakugou's throat started with a growl, body tensing as he threw himself up into a low crouch.

"Where is (Y/N) you fucking hand creep? I'm not falling for a trick as fucking dumb as that! You think I'm an idiot??" He barked. His every sense seemed to be screaming for him to lunge, but he held back. You flinched away, his abrasive words sending fear into biting your mind.

"Kacchan please don't move... please go home... you'll be safe! M-Mr. Tomura promised me my friends would be safe if I submitted... I want to protect you... I'm too weak to be a hero, but maybe I can protect you." You begged, you tried to smile, but you could tell you were shaking. It made sense. You were standing next to a monster after all.

"Shut up!" He snapped, your heart crumbling with his words. "You can't possibly be my (Y/N)! Where the fuck did you take her?"

"Kacchan it's me! I promise... just please stand down... Tomura... h-he'll kill you... please just go away... please.... please..."

Tomura laughed quietly, growing in volume. Trembling overtook you as you shuffled away a few inches from him, being your head as you shook. "Please Tomura I promise I won't fight you! Just don't hurt them please... please!"

"(Y/N)... time is ticking... you better work quickly if you want them saved..."

Bakugou seemed to coil back now, fire engulfing his fist in a bright blaze. His pupils seem to shrink in a feral rage, meeting Tomura's amusement in magnitude. Izuku started to move, positioning himself to tackle Bakugou but moving too slowly to intercept in time. Time seemed to slow, almost becoming frozen with the sheer speed that overtook you. He flew into action, sailing over Izuku as he lunged at Tomura. Tomura, clearly expecting the movement, lifted his hand in preparation. Tomura's gaze slid to meet yours, as though to mock your failure, and your movement suddenly grew monstrous.

You threw yourself in Bakugou's path, finding air beneath you. Twisting your quirk to your will, you pressed Bakugou down with force you never before held. Tomura's grip didn't slow, moving target from Bakugou, to you, slim, cold fingers closing around your arm.

Time returned to you, your brain moving frantically as you looked down at Bakugou, still collecting himself on the ground, before your eyes slid to your brother. His eyes grew in horror as his gaze fixed on your arm, no words able to shamble from his lips.

You followed his horror, eyes turning to your arm. In place of your limb, seconds before a smooth, markless canvas of muscle, a stripped and bloodied mass. Your skin was cracked and crumbled away, the patch of exposed bloody flesh stretching from your wrist to your elbow. You wanted to scream, but couldn't find the sounds. Tomura released you, smiling still and laughed. "What a hero you are... (Y/N)... I'm sorry I caught you... but better you than your friend I suppose. Such a hot-headed boy isn't he? Let's go why don't we?"

"Y-Yes. Let's- Let's go..." you shuddered. Your arm hung limply now, your other raised, forcing Bakugou down with the air at your will. Kurogiri opened a vortex, allowing Tomura through first, before turning to you. "Hurry through (Y/N), we'll take care of your arm soon."

You could only muster a nod, dropped your quirk as you stepped through, behind you, a harsh cry echoing, "Stop! (Y/N)!!"