Hawks landed in front of you the moment you arrived outside of the house you were staying in.
Even using your speed, it had taken around twenty minutes to get back, and instead of acknowledging the heroes presence, you took a moment to get your breathing back under control. Running whilst using your speed didn't typically wind you or tire you out too much, which is why you felt comfortable doing that but not any sort of normal running.
"Do you have any idea what you just did?" Hawks asked.
His face was nearly as red as his wings. Whether it was from anger, or from the effort it had taken him to fly such a long distance, you couldn't tell.
You took another couple of breaths before responding in a sarcastic tone. "No, I have absolutely no idea, please enlighten me."
"This isn't a joke. Everything you did, going against the law, revealing your identity, trying to expose the hero commission, all of that only put a bigger target on your back. Now, it's not only gonna be the villains coming after you, but the heroes too."
"Right..." you dramatically extended the word as you spoke it, "and how is that any different from before?"
Hawks put a hand over his face and loosed an exasperated sigh. "It's different because you aren't officially under anyone's protection anymore. You may have gotten used to getting away with things because you had Eraserhead there to defend you, but right now, you're on your own, and people are coming at you from every possible direction."
His own words seemed to register in his head, because he froze after finishing the last sentence.
Good, you liked watching the regret slowly seeping over his face. After everything that had happened, he had the nerve to bring Aizawas' name into his own stupid lecture?
You stepped closer to him, still breathing heavily. "Aren't you the one saying that I'm under your protection? Over and over again you've tried to convince me to trust you by saying 'I promised to protect you,' and now you're saying that I'm on my own in all this? Which one is it, huh?"
He clenched his fists. "I am trying my hardest to do what I promised, but you make it incredibly difficult when you cause trouble like this!"
"Then stop trying!" You shouted, throwing your arms above your head. "I never asked for your help, so far all it's done is landed me in even more shit than before!"
He'd been the one to give you the tools needed to take on the role of a vigilante, he'd known that the League planned on sending a Nomu to attack, and when you'd been held captive, he hadn't told a single person about it. Your feelings toward him may be confusing, especially after learning of his relation to your mother, but you knew for sure that you wouldn't allow him to continue acting like what he did was in your best interest.
"Listen," Hawks said. "This isn't the conversation I wanted to have. I'm just trying to get you to understand the gravity of the situation here." His phone buzzed in his pocket and he quickly grabbed it. His agitation seemed to grow as he read whatever message he'd been sent. "A group of pro-heroes are being called for a meeting. I'm sure you can guess what it's about."
"I'm sure I can." You began walking inside, brushing against his wing as you passed him. "You know, is it really smart for you to be worrying about me right now? Especially considering that the villains could be on your tail at any minute now."
He looked over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"
"The League knows about your betrayal, Hawks, All For One told me himself. I'm not sure why they haven't come for you yet, but you need to be watching your back."
If he continued to keep his main focus on you, it would only end badly for him, no matter how you felt about the guy, you refused to bear the weight of that.
His eyes widened and you continued inside, shutting the door behind you.
You walked up the stairs, ready to take a shower and attempt to sort through the mesh of thoughts in your mind.
Bakugou was sitting on the edge of the bed, the TV flickering on the wall across from him with images and reports of what had happened at the funeral.
Setting your things on the nightstand, you turned to the bathroom, but stopped when hearing Bubbles' voice coming from below.
"Girl, I don't know what you did, but I'm pretty sure whatever it was caused that boy over there to go through the five stages of grief."
Your gaze traveled to where Bakugou now stood, his arms crossed over his chest. "Is this how it's always gonna be?" He asked. "You just do whatever reckless shit you want without telling anyone, even the people who may end up being affected by it?"
"Last I checked, I didn't need anyone's permission." You stated, standing up straight.
"It's not about asking permission, dammit! It's about the fact that just last night I was cleaning blood off of your body and then only a couple hours later, you were gone! If Hawks didn't have that tracker in your suit I would've had no way of knowing where you were!"
God, you just wanted to take a shower. It was barely noon and the day had already been filled with enough drama to last for the rest of the week. "Why are you so freaked out over the fact that I didn't tell you where I was going?! You know that I can handle myself!"
"I don't know that!" His cheeks were flushed in anger, and the emotion behind his words startled you.
Bakugou quieted. "Every time you've left like that, every time you've decided to 'handle yourself' in those situations and not tell anyone, it ends with you being taken from me... in one way or another. When you pull this shit, it leaves me helpless, I'm forced to walk around and try and come up with a plan, but the entire time I'm thinking that maybe the villains got their hands on you again, that maybe, especially after last night, that you went somewhere to- to give up." His voice broke during the last sentence and he looked away. "I'm not saying you need to ask my permission, I just need you to realize that what you do doesn't only affect you."
You weren't sure how to respond. Sure, you'd expected him to be angry, but that was something you could easily brush off. The emotion, the fear and sadness within his voice, you hated how terrible it made you feel.
You tried to remind yourself of the things he'd said before, tried to remember that letting yourself open up to him once again would only cause heartache for you both, it would be best just to turn away without a response. But you couldn't bring yourself to do it.
"I'm sorry," you said. "But, if I'd told you what I was planning on doing this morning, would you have tried to stop me?"
He waited a moment before turning his head back to you. "I get why you wanted to go to the funeral, I do, alright? But making an appearance like that, especially on live TV, that was insanely stupid."
You readied to respond with something to defend yourself, but he cut you off. "Because, now, not only am I gonna have to kick the ass of any villain that comes near us, I'll also have to do the same to any hero, law enforcement officer, or commissioner that comes near us too."
A bit of Bakugou's normal demeanor had returned to him. You tilted your head, a small smile coming across your lips. "You say that as if you'll be the only one doing the ass-kicking, give me some credit here."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, we'll just have to split them up evenly between the two of us."
Thank god, you didn't think you could've handled another argument. And a part of you was relieved that he wasn't angry, like it or not, you still cared about how he felt about you, which was annoying.
Bakugou's expression fell serious once more. "Listen, we're a team now, which means we gotta help each other out, you can't just go out doing stuff and leave me here clueless, I'm not some weakling that needs to be kept away from a fight. We came here together because we've got the same goal, and that goal will get accomplished a lot faster if we're both on the same page."
He was right, and you'd known when you'd agreed to let him come along that it would be nearly impossible to keep him on the sidelines.
You turned, beginning to walk toward the bathroom door. "I'm showering, and when I get out I need you to pull up the pictures you have of Midoriyas notebook pages, after that, we're gonna have to find you something suitable to wear tonight."
"What's happening tonight?" Bakugou asked.
"Tonight... we're having a little chat with someone who's gonna help us get what we want."
-------------------
After getting out of the shower and feeling much better than before, you got dressed and placed Aizawas scarf and goggles into your bag, wanting to make sure they stayed close to you.
Bakugou had pulled up the images of the notebook. Luckily, he'd saved them to an account online before throwing his phone away, and he could access them on the phone Hawks had provided, even though you didn't fully trust the device. You went through them until you found the two in particular that you were looking for.
The first step in learning new quirks was simply to understand how they worked, even if it was just a rough idea, you needed a mental description to guide you.
Both quirks would be useful in a battle, but one of them would be much more difficult to learn, and was more of a precautionary thing. If you ended up having to use it in the way you'd imagined...
You shook your head, those kinds of thoughts were unnecessary right now. You just needed to focus on starting to learn these quirks.
A few hours passed, Bakugou stayed outside training, and you continued to study. It had been a while since you'd tried to fully master any new abilities, and you'd forgotten how difficult it was. Especially since the two you were attempting to learn didn't have many physical aspects. Any kind of quirks that didn't involve using the body in some way were always much more complex.
Bakugou came back into the room, his bare shoulders glistening with sweat. He wrapped his discarded T-shirt across the back of his neck and looked at you. "You're still looking at those?"
"Things like this take time, Katsuki. Trust me, if I could be out there kicking your ass in training, I would, but I need to learn these."
"Which ones are you learning?" He asked, walking to your side.
You shut the screen off, "you'll see once I've learned them."
His eyes narrowed and you decided to change the subject. "You need to clean yourself up and find an outfit. Something that'll let us blend in."
"We're going into the city?"
"We have to, yeah. But it's a smaller area, I doubt anyone will give us even a second of their time."
He went over to his side of the bag and began rummaging through his clothes. "What exactly are you planning?"
"Look, we need information. I think I have a lead, but it's not guaranteed that he knows anything or will be willing to talk."
He nodded, and you sighed, feeling slightly nervous about the fact that he'd be coming with you. "You know, to make him talk, I'm probably gonna get violent. If you don't want to be a part of that, then I need you to tell me."
You knew how far you could take things sometimes, especially with people you held grudges against. You didn't want him looking at you like he had that night, like he was disgusted by the blood on your hands.
"Is the guy a villain?" Bakugou asked.
"Yeah."
"Then I'm more than happy to join you in that violence."
-------------------
The streets of the city were crowded, allowing you both to blend in relatively easily.
Bakugou had found a black, long-sleeved, shirt, that he'd paired with a pair of black jeans, along with a medical mask to wear across the bottom of his face. You'd managed to find a similarly dark outfit, and wore the same mask as he did.
There were certain features that were nearly impossible to completely cover without looking even more out of place, meaning that the outfits you both currently wore wouldn't completely save either of you from being recognized, but most of the people that you passed barely even spared you a glance.
All For One had given the location of Giran, the broker for the League of Villains and the man who'd arrived at UA dressed as a police officer, he was the man who'd delivered you into their hands.
You knew that the chances that All For One lying about the location were high, but it was worth checking out. Giran had the closest access to the League, and if he proved to be unuseful the you could go through the list that Hawks had given to find other potential leads.
Turning the corner of the street in which the bar was located, you and Bakugou slowed, checking to make sure there was no one watching or following behind you.
This area of the city was notorious for underground business dealings, and as you walked to the bar you spotted numerous businesses that were clearly just fronts for whatever shady dealings the owners were truly profiting from.
The reflection of a streetlight could be seen in Bakugous eyes as he turned his head to you. "How exactly do you plan on getting into a bar?"
"We'll figure it out when we get there, they might just let us in."
"Right," he said doubtfully, and then shrugged. "Worst comes to worst, we just knock everyone out and then grab the guy."
Statements like that, coming from him, pissed you off. Sure, he may not be fully serious, but he'd looked down on you for fighting people under the guise of being a vigilante, it was a bit hypocritical in your eyes.
"Doesn't sound like the most heroic method." You stated.
"I've looked into this area before, pretty much everyone who steps onto this street is some-kind of villain."
Up ahead, a sight caught your eye, and you raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we won't have to worry about getting in."
He followed your line of sight, and saw what you were talking about. "Huh, this is proving to be pretty easy."
"Follow my lead on this, I think I have an idea on how we can grab him without raising suspicion."
Giran appeared to be drunk, to the point where he was having trouble standing on his own. The woman beside him had a look of disgust on her face, and was holding onto him to keep him from collapsing to the ground.
You ran forward, making your voice sound as though it was filled with relief. "Oh, thank god. We've been looking for him everywhere!"
The woman looked up at you. "You know this guy?"
With a sigh, you went over to Girans other side and helped to hold him upright. "Yeah, he's our dad." You clamped your hand over your mouth and looked to the woman. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone that, please, please don't say anything. I just need to get him home before mom finds out that he went out again."
The woman's eyes narrowed, and Bakugou stepped forward directly in front of Giran. "You really had to go out and get drunk again, old man?! You know that mom's sick, she could die and you'd be out here holding onto a random woman!"
The mans head lifted, and he mumbled something you couldn't understand.
With a sigh, the woman holding him up spoke. "Alright, you kids just take him straight out of here. This is no place for people your age."
"Of course, thank you so much for helping." You said with as much gratuity as possible.
She gave a firm nod and Bakugou took the spot where she'd been standing.
The three of you began walking down the street, waiting for the woman to go back inside. Once she was gone, Bakugou placed his hand into Girans pocket and pulled out a motel room key. "Now, let's get going."
------------------
For some reason, you'd been under the impression that a criminal broker would choose to stay somewhere nice. You were proven wrong when walking into the motel that was listed on the room key.
It was a small, run down place that had been wedged between two convenient stores two blocks from the bar you'd found him by.
No one was present in the lobby, and there were no cameras that you could see or detect, which made the night all the more easy.
You and Bakugou walked Giran to the elevator, which smelled of mildew and played music that continuously cut out. The room was on the second floor, and after inserting the key, you stepped inside.
The walls were painted a drab green color, and the white carpet was littered with empty bottles. Bakugou wrinkled his nose in disgust as he looked around.
"Isn't the dude supposed to be rich?"
You shrugged, and then pointed to a chair sitting underneath a wooden desk in the far corner of the room. "Grab that."
"I was already gonna grab that," he mumbled, "don't tell me what to do."
The chair was placed in front of the bed and you sat Giran down, then you proceeded to grab the sheets from underneath the comforter, wincing at the smell.
You and Bakugou worked to tie the sheets around him, and you used a small amount of your strength ability to increase the resistance of the knots.
Grabbing a glass and filling it up with cold water from the sink, you came back to stand in front of the chair and splashed the liquid onto Girans face.
He blinked a few times, taking in his surroundings with a confused look.
When his eyes landed on you and Bakugou, he stared, and you saw the moment that he realized who stood before him.
"You- what are you doing here? How did I-?" He tugged against the sheets that kept him tied to the chair.
Pulling a folded knife from your back pocket, you chuckled. "You should know better than to get wasted out in public without anyone to get you home, there are people out there who might take advantage of your drunken state."
Bakugou crouched down. "You've got a lot of enemies, who knows what would happen if one of them found you hobbling down the street like a pathetic old man."
"Cut the crap, what the hell do you two want?!"
"Personally, I'd like to kill you." You flipped the knife in the air and caught it by the handle. "But, unfortunately, we need information from you, so you get to keep your life."
"You do business with the League," Bakugou stated. "You're gonna tell us everything you know."
Giran scoffed. "I'm not telling you anything."
Without a second thought, you stabbed the knife through Girans hand, pinning it into the arm of the chair. Bakugou jumped up and covered the mans mouth to muffle his screams.
"I think you forget who you're dealing with here." You pulled out the knife and he screamed again.
Giran was panting when Bakugou stepped away from him. "Oh, I know plenty well who I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with the same helpless, pathetic girl that I had sitting next to me in chains, the same girl who could do nothing but scream as-"
Bakugou punched him across the face and you watched two of the mans teeth fly out of his mouth. "Say something like that again and I don't care how useful you are, I'll kill you myself."
"The League, where are they hiding?" You asked, Girans words causing you to shake with rage.
"I don't know," he spat.
You lifted the knife, allowing the dull lamplight to gleam against it. "Wrong answer."
"Stop! I'm telling the truth!" His demeanor changed quickly, switching from determined to fearful in an instant. "I don't know where they are, when All For One escaped I was cut off completely from any of their communications! They managed to get into all of my accounts, they've left me with nothing, threw me out like I was some useless pile of trash!"
"Awh," you placed a hand over your chest, feigning pity. "So, you lost your job of selling villains and providing the League with people to torture? My heart aches for you."
Bakugou shook his head. "You're a pathetic excuse for a man."
"One that seems to no longer be useful, if he's telling the truth." You responded.
Blood still leaked from Girans wounds and you felt a sick sense of satisfaction watching the fear that grew behind his eyes.
"I was just doing my job, ok? Please, don't kill me."
"Wow," you tilted your head. "Didn't take that long to get you to beg, weren't you just acting all tough? I thought I was some helpless and pathetic girl, why are you so afraid all of a sudden?"
Giran looked over at Bakugou, speaking desperately. "Aren't you a UA kid? The same one who said he wanted to be a Hero? You can't do this!"
"I'm not entirely sure what a hero even is anymore." He leaned down, his voice lowering. "But, I do know that, hero or not, I'm not gonna let the guy who helped take her from me get any less than what he deserves.
"All I did was give her to them! I didn't know what they were planning!"
You grabbed him by the chin. "What? Did you think they were gonna throw me a party or something? That's bullshit, you said yourself that you stood by and listened to me screaming." You allowed fire to rise to the tips of your fingers, burnings his skin. "You didn't know what they planned to do? I'll show you what they did, I'll let you experience it first-hand."
You stepped back, hearing him sigh in relief as you released your grip. "Where should I start? Breaking bones, searing your skin with flames, blood-drawing, hallucinations? Ugh, there's so much to show you in so little time."
The color drained from Girans face. "Wait, I think I have information, something that might be useful!"
"Then spit it out already." Bakugou said.
"He's planning something, I don't know what it is, but it's gonna happen by the end of next month, once his strength is fully restored."
End of next month? That felt like a lot of time, more than you'd guessed. "What is he planning?"
"I don't know. I just know that he's preparing to do something big."
What he said what somewhat useful, but If that was all he planned on saying, there was no point in talking to Giran any longer. "There might be something useful in here, we should look around before we leave."
"I'll check," Bakugou glared down. "You can finish doing what you want with this scumbag."
You twirled the knife in your hand and smirked down at Giran. "Gladly."
----------------
Guys, Idk if some planet is in retrograde or something but my emotions are all over the place and I've been feeling hella unmotivated, it's some wack stuff and I'm not having fun.
I'm pretty sure I had something else to say, but I forgot, I'm just gonna go get french fries.