AN: Hello wonderful readers. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, it genuinely means the world to me. It took a lot of willpower to take the time to open myself up to taking criticism, but I wanted to at least explore this idea that was conceived in my head. If you could, please don't hesitate to criticize anything, from the character interaction, to grammatical errors (especially those concerning quotations).

If you have any questions or ideas, don't be afraid to pm them or leave them as a review. Please remember this is an AU, and the characters will be approached differently, but a lot of what makes them work so well will still exist.

Thank you all!

Breath in. Breath out.

Izuku wasn't quite sure how everything had gone so wrong. The incessant blaring of the alarm not even registering with the green-headed boy. His body stilled with each passing second, the sounds around him grew even fainter.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Months of careful planning, months of convincing others, months of mental and physical preparation all for this one damn day. Lines of self-doubt circulated through his head, pervading his thoughts with "what ifs", instead of how his back was painfully sliding against the quartz wall. His knees buckled, and his overall suit felt significantly heavier.

Breathe in. Oh great he's been hyperventilating. Breathe out.

"OIH, shitty Deku get your shitty ass off the floor, we've gotta get outta here. I knew this shit was gonna happen, it's time to go!"

Oh right, he wasn't alone. The gruff voice shook Izuku from his stupor, suddenly becoming very aware of his surroundings. Had he not been roused already from his prone position, the sudden and very forceful upward pull from the person the voice belonged to most certainly did.

"Yo Bakubro, you're gonna pull his arm if you grab him any harder, just start movin' him to the escape point already", came another voice this time, muffled by what appeared to be a red mask.

Katsuki, Kirishima, to very important people to Izuku, and Izuku didn't want to hold down his friends. He knew this was going to be extremely difficult. No amount of planning can make up for the psychological choices made during the process of any mission, Izuku knew this. He knew this, but still froze like prey in the face of a dangerous predator.

Having enough of his friend's inner turmoil, Katsuki like any proper assailant and friend, lifted Izuku over his shoulder and swiftly delivered a strong punch to his stomach. Had Izuku not been wearing any protective body armor under his green suit, he most certainly would have lost the remnants of his lunch. "Get your shit together, we don't have time to mope around about some idiot asshole", Bakugou yelled through his strained voice, glaring very intensely at his surprisingly heavy friend.

Izuku shook off the assisting arm, capable of walking on his own now. He knew his explosive friend was right, "Y-yeah, you're right. Just give me a moment to breathe alright, wh-", Izuku stepped away to slow his once strained gasp for air until he was finally prepared to finish what he was saying initially, "where are the others, is everyone else alright?"

Before Bakugou could speak, Kirishima interjected, "They're fine dude, now let's go before that stiff cop and his bastard friends show their smug faces. And bro, try not to look at the mess you made, blood makes me queasy and cleaning messes is not manly". After Kirishima readjusted the weapon attached to his back, he grabbed a few unmarked gym bags and hastily rushed out of the room. Izuku, ignoring the last comment (both unsurprisingly), glanced down at the lifeless form sprawled across the floor, reddening jumpsuit.

'Shit, shit, shit. I have to go'. Grabbing his most important pieces to his get-up, Izuku couldn't help but think about how drastically the situation had changed. For now he needed to remain calm and leave.

Breath in. Breath out. He was ready, only letting out the briefest of thoughts.

'How had this gotten so bad?'

(10 Months Prior)

Izuku felt very out of shape at this particular moment. Running for his life out of a small jewelry store with a bag of money, hopefully authentic rings and necklaces, and a loaded assault rifle is extremely exhausting, and if he weren't in such a perilous situation he would quickly throw off his green jumpsuit and run in his undergarments. The plan went off without a hitch, a few hiccups but nothing irreparable, and Izuku was excited to count the money they collected from their recent hit. Even his usually aggressive friend was overly excited about their success. Although, he felt something vital had been missed.

"Hahaha, did you see the look on that shitty guards face? Oih, Deku, why you laggin' hahaha?"

The masked green-haired boy's eyebrow twitched. He couldn't possibly been running so slowly because he was holding a majority of the spoils, unlike his partner who wasn't even having any breathing difficulties from their sprint. Despite his annoyance though, he was glad the hard part was done, now all was left was ensuring their escape route was safe.

Izuku was fond of this part of their robberies, nobody was around in the empty evening alleyways to look at the pair in fear. While Katsuki was fond of the usual hostage or store clerks distressed expression, Katsuki also knew his friend faced difficulties when he met their tear-brimmed eyes and the literal smell of their shitty fear. And for Izuku, not having to face anyone besides their usually uncaring, seedy character in the downtown district of their town made it far easier to think about their success.

Izuku knew, even Katsuki knew although would refrain from admitting, that the plan went so well because of Izuku's sleepless nights and very detailed notes. The jewelry store, Gotbid's Fashionable Accessories, was notorious for its poor management and horrendous customer service, run by a greedy couple who swindled their customers and profited off of very obviously stolen jewelry. Izuku took advantage of their sloth behavior, entering the door when the husband had been sleeping on the job and noting any escape points, staff members, and cameras. The hit had been so fast the days following Izuku's scouting it almost felt surreal, had he not been accustomed to this already. Infiltrating the small vault in the backroom was reliant on the next, very important piece to his plan, Bakugo Katsuki. Katsuki attended the same middle school as Midoriya and cemented his way into his life very quickly, but nothing impressed Izuku more than his prowess in explosives. The two's friendship evolving, or devolving, to crime due to specific circumsta….

A bullet pierced the silence that was only filled by the pair's footsteps, and Izuku's ragged breathing. Naturally, the two flinched at the noise, before simultaneously turning down the same alleyway as planned.

"Deku, you fucking idiot, did you not take the bozos gun before you tied him down!?"

Oh was that what he forgot? He really needed to stop thinking in the middle of something so crucial, it really was going to be the death of him. Before he could think any longer, another bullet interrupted his thoughts. Again.

"Kacchan, I th-think I see the van up ahead", taking stressed breaths between words didn't deter Katsuki from interpreting what this meant, and slowed a split second to take the bag from Izuku because he was only slightly winded. "Ignite the gasoline when you're past it, please." Despite the situation, his politeness still seeped into his speech, something that would have ticked Katsuki if the they weren't getting shot at. Following the order with a light grumble, he pulled out a lighter with his empty hand, and lit the puddle of fuel ablaze, cutting off any route for the guard in pursuit of them. Turning the corner to finalize their escape, he jumped into the unsuspecting 'flower' van they hid in the depths of the alleyways.

Kasuki jumped in the passenger seat, and Izuku quick to start the ignition of the van. Both ripped the mask off their face, breathing heavily, throwing the bags and disguise in the back of the van. When they both looked at one another for a split second, they laughed wholeheartedly. Hitting the gas began the journey back to the outer reaches of the city, where they would be safe from any police digging their noses where they shouldn't.

Smiling wickedly, flashing his dangerous canines, Bakugo was feeling the rush of the run as adrenaline coursed through his bloodstream. "Fuck yeah Deku, if you weren't such a bitch I would be celebrating with a smoke right now." His language would be appalling to an outsider witnessing their conversation, but Izuku knew there was not ill intent in his cruel mannerism. Before Izuku could think any longer about his blonde friend's foul language, his gruff friends voice had to say to most ridiculous idea of the evening, "How much you think we made off that joint? 200k? What we agree on again? 70:30 split, where I get most of the shit?". While Izuku was relishing the feeling of success before, he could only look at his friend incredulously now, taking a moment to look away from the road.

"Stop messing around Kacchan, you know we need to be careful with our money. We'll split half the reward, and stash the rest", Izuku said turning back to look at the road, "besides, we still needa talk about what we're going to do about paying for-". Izuku, when he's not distracted by his overly nervous tendencies, is easily some of the best observation skills. Problem is, his keen sense of his surroundings correlates with his ridiculously high nervous levels, resulting in numerous predicaments where his skills are actually detriments. The very instance he saw the alternating red and blue lights flashing in his rear view, he almost completely shut down. Gurgling out the last of his sentence, his eyes bulged on reflex and he grabbed the nape of Bakugo's neck quickly pulling his head down between the arm rest. "So-sorry Kacchan. Can't have them recognizing us by our hair color", he said hurriedly ignoring the face he imagined his friend was making.

This wasn't the case, however, as instead of the expected harsh scowl, Bakugo looked shocked by the randomness of the action, feeling extremely uncomfortable by the positioning of his head. 'What is this idiot doing, he could have told me'. Katsuki let out an animalistic snarl before snapping his head back to where it once was after he heard the siren zoom out of his hearing range.

"Don't do that again, asshole!" Katsuki roared into Izuku's sheepish face. "I'm kicking your ass later Deku, just you wait!" Great, after successfully saving their asses he was going to be on receiving end of his angry friends wrath. Thankfully, he could let out a small sigh and smile when he barely made out the last bit his friend mumbled, "Thanks for whatever, dickhead", turning his head to look out the window grumbling a few obscenities.

Finally turning all his attention to driving he was very grateful for his long-time friend, not like he could ever forget his support with his physical reminders and all. Glancing down at the scars on his hand and arms, he felt that now he needed support more than ever. The last few heist been sufficient in supporting future projects, and supporting their important spending decisions, but eventually it won't be enough. Izuku wasn't, and hopefully still isn't, an inherently greedy person. His raids have been controlled and are targeted personnel, and his incentive has never been for long time wealth. But the amount of smaller targets in their general area was getting smaller and soon they won't have an income. They would need to hit larger prey, bigger fish that would have both high risk and high reward. While the two together made a very adequate team, the foundation of their operation is definitely not sturdy enough to reel in such large fish.

For now he could only begin by telling his partner.

"Hey Kacchan, I-I've been thinking. I th-think we should hit the F-first World Bank."

Katsuki wasn't listening very intently before, but turned his entire body to give his idiotic friend a look of absolute disbelief. Had he heard him right?

"You wanna fucking do what now?"