Incinerate

by KyuukaKoinu

Bakugou Katsuki is a workaholic hell bent on never dating because it's too much of a 'distraction'. Enter Midoriya Izuku: A walking contradiction that is giving Katsuki an actual lethal goddamn migraine along with a mysterious set of arson crimes that walked right into town with him. But the most frustrating part is that Katsuki can't seem to get his fucking mind off either.

28. Hellfire

Welcome to the climax! :D We finally made it to the build up chapter of everything and now we're officially in end game. I just wanted to give a special thank you to all the readers, commenters, and all the individuals who have blessed this fic with fan art as well :) this fic was a much bigger monster than I expected when I began typing it out and it made me nervous to bite off something this ambitious. But all the sweet, thoughtful comments and wonderful people it has connected me to has really been a great experience :')

Big Shout out to Luna (aka nmatthews) as always for betaing, and giving her impeccable feedback and vibe check like always. She's a truly amazing person and she encouraged me to write this fic a whole year ago when I told her the premise.

Secondly, new art has been added to chapter 17! Please go check it out! I love it :)

Alrighty! Strap in for the ride :) Choochoo train of angst has upgraded to the rollercoaster of fear.

Warnings: Violence, arson, Dabi is unhinged, (not major) character death

Song: Ebb & Flow - The Heartist

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Chapter 28 - Hellfire

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The sharp sound of rusted metal grinding unkindly snapped Izuku awake. Green eyes opened frantically as the smell and sound of soldering burning assaulted his senses. The grimy ground was cold underneath his body as he tried his best to orient himself and see where he was, however, it was too dark.

But then like a freight-train all the memories of U.A burning down slammed into his body.

The bright flames consumed his vision and his stomach churned with nausea at the recollection of dangerous heat against his skin. Soon it was as if he was transported back into the inferno on Uchimizu Ave all over again.

"Let go of him, you son of a bitch!" Katsuki's loud scream yelled into his memory and soon Izuku relived the feeling of being violently wrenched away from the other man.

"Katsuki—" Izuku yelled out with a start as he sprung forward desperately. But his words were choked harshly when he was yanked harshly backwards by cold metal tied around his throat.

The rattling of chains made Izuku's blood freeze. He rapidly felt around his neck and was met with a cold metal collar and his stomach dropped into the blackest pit.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Touya's voice echoed in the dimly lit room. "I was worried there for a second."

Green eyes stared wide at the darkness as his hands lifted to feel out what he hoped was a nightmare. But when he came to the chilled feeling underneath his fingertips, he realized it wasn't. His hands gripped a heavy metal chain that was pinned to the dirty ground and his insides flipped upside down.

Izuku's eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room that only held a single lightbulb above it. The light stained the dark, rusted room a dirty yellow and sitting underneath the only source of light was the unmasked Touya—Dabi—Touya. His gas mask was placed neatly in his lap as he sat in a chair and his head was tilted as if curious by the sight of the chained Izuku in front of him.

Frost bitten blue eyes were cold. Nearly emotionless.

Green eyes flickered down to the hands of the other man, and there in the faint light he saw three familiar rings catch the light. It was the rings of the Shigarakis and Yotsubashi that Izuku vaguely remembered.

Then, by just staring at the gleaming red, blue and green gems on the burned hand, Izuku felt the weight of his world shift.

"T-Touya," Izuku whispered as he tried to pull at the heavy metal restraint on his neck. He could sit up; the chain only gave enough space to allow the shaking man to lean weakly against the cold wall behind him. "Touya, please. This is twisted—let me go—"

"—Dabi, Angel." Touya's voice replied. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut when the alignment of the vocals didn't match the visual in front of him. "It is Dabi now."

There was a long stretch of silence as everything in Izuku's mind warped. He thought about the gravestone with Touya's name, Shouto's grief—his own grief and then how the voice of the person he loved was very much still speaking to him.

Dabi sighed and slowly placed the gas mask on the floor. The sound of footsteps walking closer to him made Izuku curl away when the other man sat directly in front of him. Green eyes peered open and Izuku leaned further into the wall, trying to get away from who was in front of him.

The black-haired man had an exhausted, seemingly tired expression on his face as he took out a silver lighter and cigarette from his leather jacket. He flicked on the lighter and lit the cigarette carefully and inhaled the toxins deeply.

Frigid eyes then focused on Izuku and the feeling of both bitterness and bile brushed the back of Izuku's palate.

"This whole time," the frightened man whispered with a broken voice. An unannounced sob wrecked through his body and Izuku curled into the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. "This whole time you've been alive? Why didn't you let me know?"

His head pounded intensely bursting at the seams with thousands of questions as the smell of nicotine filled the small space.

"As if that would have made a difference to you," was the bitter reply from the revenant. "But...it was the Shigarakis. They pulled me out of the fire then offered me my life in exchange for working for them undistracted. They barred me from telling you I was alive and kept me locked in a basement after Makinohara for two months with no contact from the outside world."

There was an undertone of sadness and the ghost in front of him nearly sounded human.

But it didn't make the explanation less gut wrenching.

"So you did nothing afterwards?" Izuku hissed. His fingers dug into his own dirtied skin, fresh with potent self-hate. "You left roses on my doorstep as if that could smooth over the fact I thought you were dead?"

"If I could've done more I would have," Dabi retorted back full of hurt. Several cracks in his emotionless mask showed at the accusation. "You don't think I wanted to? You don't think it hurt me to watch you fucking suffer like that? But I had to think about your safety first and foremost—like I always have!" The voice boomed angrily. "I've always been be on the side of keeping you alive even with those damn rose colored glasses on your fucking face. You could never think to do the same."

Izuku wept while he shook his head in disbelief.

"Touya—I loved you. I would've—"

"—No," Dabi cut him off. "Don't 'Touya' me in that pathetic ass voice. We both know if I told you I was alive, you would have sprung to tell the authorities and the Shigarakis would've killed you. I didn't tell you to protect you from your own stupidity." The voice was sharp, unkind and Izuku could only reply with a soft litany of protests. "Don't shake your head, you know it's true. You would've gone running to the police just the same as you did for the parade."

Dabi took another long drag of his cigarette and Izuku thought back to the tragedy that took his parents away from him.

He knew it was his fault. He knew everything he did cost him the lives of his loved ones, but what was being said to him was wrong.

Nonetheless, Dabi continued to press salt into the freshly reopened wound.

"You always were dead set on telling the police as if they're these superheroes that can fix everything when really they're what's wrong with the world. Then you go and put on that false knight cape yourself to play detective. As if you could really take down the Shigarakis with the shackles of corruption tied around your ankles."

"No," Izuku whispered weakly. Hot tears streaming upon his face grew heavier in downpour because none of that was true. "I wouldn't have gone to the authorities, Touya. Not after Makinohara. You keep saying I'm stupid and that I would've kept going to the police but you're assuming something based on who I was before the fire.

"That fire changed me. Losing you and my parents—it changed me." Izuku sucked in a shaky breath and he cried gently for several moments. Teardrops fell to the dirty grey cement underneath him. "I would have never gone to the police if I had known they were holding you against your will. I already thought I had lost you along with my parents and if I knew I hadn't—if I knew I hadn't lost you too—I would've done everything in my power to keep it that way."

Izuku hung his head down as he thought of the countless daydreams he imagined. The ones where somehow his loved ones were still alive and now that it was true—the image was distorted beyond repair.

"Then what would you have done?" Dabi asked softly. "Enlighten me."

"I would've asked you to run away to somewhere they could never touch us again. Like we originally had planned," Izuku confessed and he waited for a response.

But there was no reply and he could feel the figure in front of him grow stiff. It was as if Dabi wasn't anticipating that answer.

Green eyes finally shifted to stare at the man sitting cross legged in front of him and confronted the nightmare he wanted to ignore.

There he saw turquoise eyes studying at him with mixed emotions as a piece of the ashen cigarette fell to the ground. Izuku flashed back to the daydreams of him and Touya running away, hand and hand, while somehow living happily.

"It could have been me and you," Izuku continued on as his face twisted with a raw, wounded expression. "We could've escaped to Shizuoka City—or Kuromata. We could've gone anywhere miles away from the Shigarakis if I had known I still had you."

The sound of creaking iron from somewhere outside the door was the only sound to be heard.

Dabi made a pained face as he continued smoking.

"Well. You have me now," Dabi replied distantly as he blew smoke out of his mouth. His blue eyes shifted off of the shackled man and a feeling of bitterness swelled uncontrollably within Izuku.

"No, I don't," Izuku spat back in a cynical manner, unable to recognize who was in front of him. "This isn't who I fell in love with."

"You never knew who you fell in love with," Dabi said evenly, eyes draining his emotion all over again. "But neither did I."

Izuku paused. "What does that mean?"

"It means Tomura was right all along," Dabi echoed emptily. "He knew deep down there was something lurking inside of you that wasn't as pure as you projected. Do you know how it felt to be held against your will and then finding out the man you loved—the man you thought loved you too—without hesitation started sleeping around after he thought you died?

"It felt as if you were waiting on it," Dabi hissed with disgust dripping off his words. "As if you were waiting to be free from me—as if you went out and fucking celebrated. Not only that, you turned around and become a filthy cop—the very thing you knew would cut me fucking deep, Izuku."

"Stop," Izuku shook his head, rage slowly simmering. "You're wrong—"

But Dabi only spoke over him.

"And on top of that, you gave up being a cop for someone else. I asked you—no. I begged you not to be a cop but you do it for Bakugou of all people. Goddamn Bakugou. Someone who ripped me away from my family by wedging his goddamn boot in my business after I showed him fucking pity. Did I really mean as little to you as all the countless men you let fuck you into your mattress?"

Quickly, the dormant emotion Izuku felt by the riverside in Kuromata birthed again staring at the lie in front of him.

"Of course not—you meant everything to me," Izuku retorted. His voice quivered with fear but above all anger.

All the years of mourning boiled in his core the more he thought about his life until his equanimity snapped.

"You have no idea why I did what I did after I thought you died because you weren't there," Izuku accused with a livid glare. "You left me entirely alone to wander around with all this pain. I needed a distraction because I couldn't get the memory of you dying out of my fucking head!" He finally shouted and his chest convulsed violently with years of false grief. "Every time I closed my goddamn eyes I saw you burning and bleeding. That stayed with me for so long—it's still with me!

"You don't know, and you'll never understand how that feels," Izuku said slowly, full of resentment as he parroted Touya's words from years ago. "You'll never know what it's like to live with that type of hurt—that type of fucking loss!I loved you with everything I had! I loved my parents the same way and that pain will never go away, Touya. It never fucking leaves your dreams, your nightmares and it stays with me like a bullet lodged in my goddamn spine!

"I had to learn how to exist all over again because I died too," Izuku cried out and all the tears swarming his eyes clouded his vision. "The Izuku before Makinohara was buried in the ground with his parents and I had to learn how to be human all over again from scratch. I had to learn how to breathe, how to walk, think, and live again. I had to make my soul bigger to make room for that type of hurt because it never goes away—it just resides inside of you taking up space in the most excruciating way possible!"

The sobbing man felt his throat burn with all the unhinged emotions spilling over, but he couldn't stop them.

He cried painfully when his chest tightened to the point he started hiccupping. It felt like harrowing hellfire was in the pit of his stomach and scorched his insides. It was all too much—too real—and everything he had known was somehow a lie. All the daydreams about Touya and how Izuku put him up on this pedestal for saving his life were false. False like the illusion of the man he thought he had fallen in love with.

"But I didn't even need to make myself that much bigger because here you are—alive." Izuku made a sour face and turned away as he clutched himself harder.

"...Look at me," Dabi commanded calmly and Izuku shook his head.

"No," Izuku replied harshly through his sore throat. He knew it was bruised an ugly purple from where he had been choked. "I don't want to look at the fact the last three years of my life have been a half-truth. I don't want to believe all my grief over you was a fucking lie that you allowed me to suffer through."

Dabi sighed and put out his cigarette on the dirt cement floor. He carefully repositioned himself directly next to the crying Izuku against the wall. He tilted his head back against the concrete wall in the dark room and stared up at the small, flickering light.

"I'm sorry," Dabi said in a tone that nearly surprised Izuku. It was gentle, soft and almost full of regret.

Almost.

"I'm sorry for causing you so much pain, Izuku...I wanted to get rid of the Shigarakis so that they could never harm you again. They spent so much time threatening you and hanging your life above my head." Dabi's face twisted with a dejected expression and he turned to face Izuku with remorse floating in his teal eyes.

"And I did get rid of them. I allowed them to be brought to justice how you would have wanted. They faced the court with capital punishment after standing before a jury like I knew you would've wanted."

Izuku frowned and closed his eyes, not wanting to hear what was being forced into his ears.

"I could've killed them after burning their tongues out," Dabi explained as if what he did to the Shigarakis was mercy. "I could've slit their throats—it would've been easy for me. More than cathartic, but I didn't. I didn't do that for you because I knew you'd want them to be held to justice versus drowning in their own blood like how I think they deserved."

"So what? Them being brutally maimed and left alive was a gift for me?" Izuku whispered sarcastically.

"In a twisted way, yes." Dabi shrugged lightheartedly. "But I can recognize my shortcomings, Izuku. I know I'm not a decent person. I only wish other people could recognize their shortcomings as well. It's why I exposed Bakugou and my father rather than killing them. I wanted the city to confront its shortcomings in the face and deal with them—and this was me taking matters into my own hands.

"But...I did all of this to be reunited with you, ultimately. That is the core of all this madness." Dabi looked at him softly and lifted a hand to run through Izuku's hair tenderly. "Love is always chaos."

The smaller man flinched at the contradictory touch that didn't align with the shackle around his neck.

"And becoming a powerful drug lord was for me too?"

"Yes and no," Dabi spoke below a whisper. "I do not wish to participate in a society that is corrupt and pretends it is not. So I don't. I would rather surround myself with people who understand and embrace the darkness inside of them like I do versus hiding it away. But I needed power to make sure we were together again—this is all for you Izuku."

"None of this is for me," Izuku said as he lifted his sorrowful eyes to stare at the man beside him. Blue eyes were full of sadness and green eyes were hopeless. "Touya, you have to know none of this is really for me. You've always wanted power and you've always been drawn to drugs and gangs. With or without me, you always wanted this type of lifestyle so please don't use love as a scapegoat.

"This—" Izuku emphasized his words by grabbing the metal collar around his throat. "—This isn't love. This is control. Look at me, you keep h-hurting me. Please, let me go. This is sick."

"You say that as if love, pain and control are independent of each other," Dabi countered with an unwavering voice. "They're all connected. You never listen, even with your precious police station going up in flames you never fucking listen to me. You've become corrupted by that goddamn city and I'm sorry, but I need to correct it. Control allows me to do so."

Izuku felt his stomach clutch with pain at how deeply tainted the words were.

The Touya he knew was gone—or did he ever really exist?

"So what now?" Izuku asked in a fragmented manner.

He thought of Katsuki and how he knew the U.A squad would be out looking for him. The sliver of hope kept Izuku from breaking down as he thought of being rescued from this dark dream—wherever he may be.

Green eyes then glanced around at the room that felt like a dungeon and listened to the rustling of people from outside the door.

"Are you going to keep me chained in here forever?"

"No, of course not," Dabi said as if he was offended. "You play an important role in my life, whether you like it or not. I need you—in various ways. I need you for the bomb mechanics just like the Shigarakis did and I need you as my life partner."

Izuku stiffened when the look of dangerous infatuation sunk deep into blue eyes.

"I'm a lot of things but blind to knowing treating you like a prisoner will make you unable to love me again," Dabi confessed with a hint of loneliness and yearning. "I want you to learn to love me again, and I understand there are several steps that need to happen before that can happen. Like treating you fairly and with care. I can give you the world and more, and that's all I ever wanted."

Then something shifted in the room when a cold, hateful expression fanned crossed Dabi's face.

The nightmarish man stood up slowly with a long exhale and dusted himself off as he walked over to the other side of the small room. He carefully grabbed a black camera Izuku hadn't noticed before.

Eeriness settled into Izuku's bones as he wearily eyed the device and the powerful man in front of him.

Dabi slowly turned around with a cold, calculating gaze as he stared at the shivering Izuku chained to the ground.

"But, I also realize Bakugou needs to die before any of that can happen."

The world stopped moving.

Izuku halted breathing as his eyes widened by several fractions and white noise settled in his ears. He began frantically shaking his head as Dabi walked closer to him.

Suddenly the image of Touya bleeding out on the ground surrounded by flames shifted to being Katsuki burned alive.

"N-No—" Izuku pleaded and a new level of desperation was born inside of him as he tried to sit forward. He struggled viciously against the chain that was choking him as the visual of hungry fire eating away at Katsuki flooded his brain. "No, Touya! Don't you fucking dare! Please—don't!"

But Dabi only coldly looked at the camera in his hands, ignoring the ongoing cries of the man in front of him.

"I wasn't going to kill him at first," Dabi said honestly as he squatted back down in front of the struggling Izuku. "I originally only wanted to witness the Symbol of Victory crash and burn. It was beyond satisfying to watch him go toppling down from his podium. I was going to take you and disappear, but then you confessed that he was the love of your life," the words were spat at him distastefully.

Izuku pleaded and cried more, trying to claw away at the metal around his neck to the point his fingernails dug into his own skin and drew blood.

"Touya—T-Touya no—anything but this—"

"It has to be done. You said it yourself: you've never loved anyone more than him. Which means as long as he's breathing, you can never love me again properly. That messes up this whole thing if someone else is the love of your life and not me. We need to fix that before we go away and I will make sure I snap his neck my damn self. And I'm going to do it directly in front of you."

"Please, please, I'll do anything! Don't—don't do this—I'll stay with you willingly and I promise I won't try to escape but please don't kill him—"

A strong hand gripped Izuku's chin in an unforgiving manner and forcefully slammed his skull straight back onto the hard-concrete wall. Izuku cried out in pain as his line of vision was turned to stare into the deep abyss of winter like blue eyes.

"—I'm not the Shigarakis, Izuku. Don't fucking insult me like that," Dabi scowled and his hold on Izuku's jaw tightened until the freckled man gritted his teeth together to keep from whimpering out in pain. "I do not use bargaining chips to get what I want. I don't need you pretending to love me in order to keep him alive like I pretended to be the Shigarakis' perfect Frankenstein invention in order to get what I wanted. I know how that game is played."

A malicious smirk blossomed over Dabi's face and Izuku felt himself shake with newfound fear—but not for himself.

A visual of Katsuki's smiling face filled his heart as he shook his head inside of the tight grasp.

"I'm going to break you down, and I'm going to rebuild you," Dabi said in a sadistic manner ignoring all of Izuku's pleas. "You won't ever try to leave because you're not going to have anything to go back to. No home. No parents. No friends. But most importantly, no Golden Boy. You will have absolutely nothing. I'll make sure all you have is me."

Izuku's heart shattered uncontrollably as he was overtaken with horror.

Dread prickled at Izuku's skin as the acidic feeling of loathing washed over his being for the man—the monster—in front of him.

"I hate you," Izuku whispered in a broken voice. Defiant viridian eyes burned into the revenant in front of him and pulled the words from the bottom of his soul. He formed each syllable as sharp and cut-throat as he could with full intentions of wounding the phantom in front of him. "I hate you with every fiber of my being."

Dabi curled his upper lip. "And I hate you all the same, Angel."

The hand bruising his jaw switched to roughly grip Izuku's disgruntled head of hair until the battered man cried out in pain. Dabi's face remained still as he held up the camera in his other hand and he pulled unforgivingly on the roots of Izuku's curls.

"Now smile for the camera. I want to send Golden Boy a message in the morning."

. . .

The grey walls on the inside of the 1B police station were bleak and full of dread as Katsuki sat in a small debriefing room with everyone from U.A along with Monoma's squad.

It was officially the morning after Izuku was taken and the fresh wounds on his back and heart were still open. They bled every time he moved, and truly the scar on his heart stung more than the two burns on his back.

Katsuki hadn't slept a single wink as he stationed himself in the downtown precinct, waiting for any sign Izuku was alive or okay.

But they received none.

The blond Lieutenant clenched his fists tighter as he listened to the updates from Toshinori in the front of the room, ignoring all the stares from the other officers. The two squads were pooled together after the burning down of his own precinct. Monoma without hesitation extended the offer that all the U.A officers take the vacant floors of his precinct and that's where Katsuki had been since he lost Izuku.

Everyone's gazes were worried as he didn't move. No one said a word to him. A large chunk of the 1B officers were shuffling around him in a guilty manner—but none of that mattered.

The only thing plaguing Katsuki's mind was how terrified and beaten Izuku's face had been right before he lost his grip on the stolen man's hand.

He opened his palm to stare at the broken bracelet he couldn't find himself to let go of.

"We just got the result back from forensics on the lighter," Toshinori announced to the front of the room with a deeply disturbed look across his face. "I need everyone to listen in close to what I'm about to say because this case has shifted from a matter of arson to an extremely hostile hostage situation."

All eyes turned to the captain standing in the front of the room. The soft murmur that was bouncing around the room settled into a thick silence as everyone focused on Toshinori. He gripped his laptop and there was an ominous energy radiating from the usually emotionally strong man.

"The DNA test from the lighter former detective Midoriya found tested positive for Touya Todoroki's DNA." The information dropped and everyone but Katsuki stared directly at Shouto, who was seated by the dejected Lieutenant.

Katsuki hung his head away and shoved the broken puzzle piece bracelet into his pants pocket.

"All For One had successfully faked his death three years ago and his target was former detective Midoriya," Toshinori whispered regretfully, blue eyes glued down to the ground. "The locations of the buildings burned down spelled out an anagram of Midoriya's first name, Izuku. Kidnapping him was the endgame of Dabi's arson."

"Is there any word on where they are? We know his base is in Kuromata, we need to go there before he can move," Mina pushed with desperation in her voice. Her pink brows were wrinkled in worry and a sleep deprived look was pinned on her face.

"I received an extremely disturbing video last night in my email. I assume Dabi—or Todoroki Touya—must've gotten my information from my phone that was pickpocketed," Toshinori informed in a hushed voice.

Katsuki's attention was gripped as he snapped his bloodshot crimson eyes up to his captain.

Waiting for him were cautious eyes that were looking at him and only him extremely wearily.

"Before I show this, I'm requiring everyone to keep their heads screwed on and think pragmatically. I need absolutely every single one of you to understand that the delicacy of this situation requires that this information does not get out from this task force," the captain said sternly. "There is a life on the line and things could escalate due to the past relationship of Touya and Izuku. This is not an ordinary hostage situation."

A choir of agreement chimed and Katsuki found himself wordlessly nodding his head as his stomach knotted.

His mind was cruel as he made up scenarios for the video before even seeing it. The sickened look in Toshinori's sky colored eyes told Katsuki's gut it was directed at him—it was for him.

He grinded his teeth thinking about everything the black haired arsonist had done. Then finally his thoughts settled on the bluish hued bruises around Izuku's throat.

The captain gave a single glance at him and then to Shouto beside him before placing down his laptop. His large hands opened the device as if it was the last thing he ever wanted to do, and stiffness was evident through his back as he clicked open a video and pressed play.

The visual Katsuki was hit with nearly made him dry retch right then and there.

The tape played and it was a crying Izuku tied to black chair by rope with a metal collar wrapped around his pale throat. A large chain attached to it hung down to the ground and was straining him from going far in some dirty, dimly lit room. The bruises littered across Izuku made Katsuki's heart shatter but not as much as the absolutely broken expression encompassing Izuku's face.

His disheveled head of curls was hung away from the bright light and dark spots of soot were smeared all across his freckles. The soft cries of Izuku echoed out into their room as he struggled to breath around the white cloth gagging him. The captured man's police uniform had been stripped away and replaced with an unbuttoned white shirt displaying all his chest scars and black shorts.

And directly behind him was Dabi looming in his gas mask. He nearly blended into the shadows and his gloved hands were placed possessively on Izuku's shaking shoulders.

The arsonist was exuding control and there didn't seem to be an inkling of mercy in his body language.

Katsuki felt his nostrils flare with absolute rage the second Izuku choked back a sob. The younger man's muffled voice begged incoherent muffled words and his eyes were squeezed shut in fear.

"Eyes on the camera, Angel," the undistorted voice said coldly. Both Shouto and Katsuki immediately cut their eyes to look at each other.

That was Touya's voice—the final nail in the coffin—or confirmation of lack thereof.

A wave of hurt rushed Shouto's features as he inched his eyes back towards the ugly visual in front of him on the small screen. The youngest Todoroki's face blended with various mixed emotions Katsuki couldn't even fathom. The only emotion Katsuki was in possession of at the moment was a dangerously burning hatred for the masked man on film.

One of Dabi's large hands lifted to forcefully turn Izuku's head and made him stare directly into the camera lens.

"I'm giving Izuku the opportunity to say goodbye to you, Bakugou Katsuki," the dark figure informed him. The voice was pointed and sharp as Izuku hiccupped through his tears and shook his head as if trying to warn them of something. "And I'm going to be generous and give you a single shot at saying goodbye as well. If you fail, then that's it. By daybreak tomorrow, him and I will be gone."

Katsuki's heart rate tripled and his eyes widened at the declaration.

"And I can promise you, Lieutenant, not a single soul will have a shot at finding us for an extremely long time if you fail at this too. You better hurry and make your way over to my headquarters," Dabi hissed. "We'll be waiting."

The last thing Katsuki focused on before the video cut to black was the terrified look in Izuku's eyes. The stare stabbed him through his chest at how petrified Izuku seemed and all he wanted was to rip Dabi's head clean off.

The silence that followed the video was deafening.

Not a single officer said a word and it took everything Katsuki had to pry his eyes away from the screen.

For the first time since he arrived in the debriefing room, Katsuki allowed his scarlet colored eyes to glance around. There he saw all the worried looks of the shared 1B and U.A officers gazing upon him.

It wasn't until Katsuki held back a small sniff that he realized he was crying. Quickly he lifted his hand to wipe away the flood of tears that had unknowingly escaped from his eyes.

Monoma's gaze was locked onto his face as he did this with a deep look of pity. Quickly, the other lieutenant turned with a deadly serious expression to Toshinori.

"This is clearly a trap," Monoma stated gravely and broke the silence. "He's using Midoriya as bait to lure Bakugou to Kuromata for something dangerous. How do we know Dabi or Midoriya are even in Kuromata?"

"We don't, but we need to take our best shot at this because this may be our only chance," Toshinori said with a hard voice. "I'm going to dispatch a small scout team out to Kuromata within the next hour and I want a full report in my email before noon if there's any suspicious activity."

Katsuki's red eyes looked to the side at the other blond Lieutenant wordlessly as Toshinori continued.

"In the meantime, we're going to prepare for hostage rescue," his captain said, fully settled into his plan. "Everyone certified for S.W.A.T at U.A is going to get suited up, go over tactics and formations with squad leaders. We are going to go retrieve Midoriya."

His captain looked at him before walking up to where he was seated and held out a thick manila envelope. Katsuki frowned slightly before reaching to the heavy folder in front of him and feeling the heavy weight in his hand.

Blue eyes locked with red and an unspoken plea was translated.

Get him back safely.

"Lieutenant Bakugou, you're second in command," Toshinori instructed and an ugly emotion coiled tightly in Katsuki's stomach. "Everyone will listen to Bakugou during this mission because I trust his intuition to nip this in the bud."

Katsuki looked down at the file bitterly and the phantom feeling of letting Izuku slip through his fingers like sand resurfaced.

He tightened his hold on the envelope.

"Sergeants Yaoyorozu and Iida, you're the next two in charge underneath Bakugou," Toshinori continued. Soon his words paused as he turned to look at the other congregation of officers in the room. "1B, you don't have to engage in this, but we cannot allow Midoriya to be lost to the clutches of Dabi."

All the U.A officer's eyes shifted to stare at the other uniformed policemen in the room.

Katsuki watched how all their eyes shifted between each other, clearly unsure what the call was going to be. But soon Monoma stood up with duty heavy on his shoulders.

He turned to Toshinori with a respectful bow.

"We'll help," Monoma's voice said in a solid tone. "I promised you when this arsonist first appeared, we could work together to take him down. As the Lieutenant in command at the 1B precinct I am offering my willing S.W.A.T certified members and myself to aid in the rescue."

"Thank you, Monoma," Toshinori said with a small, relieved smile.

Katsuki tried his best to be happy about what he was hearing but he couldn't find himself to be thankful past all the thick clouds of heavy emotions he was feeling.

Then slowly Monoma approached him with a deep regretful look in his eye.

The two rival lieutenants held eye contact for a passing moment, and no one said a word.

"I know what I did was wrong. I'm sorry for believing it was you who was working with the Hero Killer," Monoma said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "I'm partially at fault here because I allowed Dabi to bait me. Please, let this be my extended way of an apology for the stress and mayhem I introduced into yours and Midoriya's life. I can't help but think if it wasn't for the court case and all the unneeded distractors that maybe you could've figured out the anagram sooner than you did.

"I'll follow whatever command you give, Bakugou. From one Lieutenant to another, let's work together to finally put a stop to this." Monoma extended his hand in comradery. "Allow me to help get him back, Symbol of Victory."

The name that he had been stripped of settled into Katsuki's ears but this time, it had an entirely different meaning to it for the fallen Icarus.

He was always the Symbol of Victory for the city—for himself and his own personal accomplishments.

But right now, he needed to be it for Izuku.

The blond let a dedicated expression etch into his face. He was Izuku's Symbol of Victory and he will get the other man back safely. Not a matter of if—when. The burning feeling sitting inside of Katsuki's heart flickered as he took the hand in front of him and held the firm handshake.

"Apology accepted if you tell Izuku the same," Katsuki spoke for the first time into the debriefing room. Monoma gave a nod of agreement and Katsuki solidified his nerves. "We're going to work together to end this. I won't allow Dabi won't get away with this."

Monoma smirked and slowly Katsuki felt his confidence fully surge again. His red eyes darkened with a plan as he stood up. The gears inside his rusted heart shifted and soon the lieutenant pushed back all his inner doubts about himself. He could beat himself up later—but right now Izuku needed him.

And Izuku came first above everything.

Crimson eyes looked over the room of all the officers with a single nod. He got a solid wave of confident expressions from all of his squad members.

A silent exchange occurred between him and Shouto as the youngest Todoroki's eyes flickered off to the side. Katsuki frowned at the action but pushed it down. Instead he turned to Toshinori with a new composed air.

"Let's go get Izuku. We officially have twenty-four hours."

. . .

The hours stretched by and when word returned back from Kuromata, it confirmed Shouto's deepest fear. Dabi's—his brother's—gang was inside of the small valley-like town. Waiting for them.

The firestorm of emotions that were ignited inside of Shouto were a mixture of self-hate for thinking Izuku had been exaggerating, but above all he felt the bitterness of betrayal for knowing all those years were a lie. All the tears their mother shed and how their family was torn apart because of Touya had been nothing but a falsity this whole time.

They suited up fully in their midnight gear and for the first time in Shouto's life—he was angry with Touya.

He always felt himself drowning in sympathies for his brother but knowing that Touya had masked himself as Dabi and committed countless crimes truly showed Touya was beyond the point of saving. His eldest brother had stepped over an invisible line that neither he nor Izuku could ever pull him back from.

All of Shouto's turmoil was only tripled as he watched his comrades load their guns with every intention of bringing his brother back to justice.

As they loaded up in the long line of black vans, Shouto watched how Katsuki counted his bullets with his brow furrowed pinched in deep concentration. The entire ride, all S.W.A.T officers were silent and watched both him and Katsuki carefully for entirely different reasons.

Understandable reasons. He could tell they were all watching their emotions on this operative.

Katsuki's emotions for Izuku.

Shouto's emotions for Touya.

It was a tormenting web they were all caught in and a foreboding sensation inside of Shouto's gut was screaming at him that everything was going to steer wrong. The cars were dispatched and made their way to Kuromata for a two-hour long drive. With each passing second, they headed up the narrow mountain side trail until they arrived at their destination.

The vans all came to a halt on the mountain side and the doors clicked open. As they poured out of the designated cars, Shouto was met with an orange and red sky. It was the same view that he, Katsuki and Izuku had gazed upon not too long ago.

But this time he felt all the more serious and terrifying for what was at stake.

Mixed colored eyes watched the golden sun slowly start to disappear into the distance behind the thick forest. Soon after, all the color was drained from the small town sitting in the valley.

When the final thread of bright color was no longer able to be seen, Shouto took a deep breath and hardened his nerves.

It was time to bring his brother back in handcuffs.

He turned his body to face all those in his squad who were under Katsuki's command: Kirishima, Mina, Monoma and several others from the 1B district. Every officer was in full body S.W.A.T gear adjusting their weapons and their earpieces accordingly.

Shouto's eyes focused on the ground underneath his feet as he battled the conflicting emotions sitting inside of him.

"I've ordered four squads of ten to be waiting at the bottom of the mountain side blocking all the exits in and out of Kuromata," Toshinori announced as he came into view. He held his military grade weapon in his hand as he adjusted the intercom in his ear. "The scout team that was sent out earlier did their best to warn the townspeople to evacuate in case this escalated due to the nature of Dabi's likelihood to use the The Incinerator."

As Toshinori began giving out orders and instructions, Shouto watched how Katsuki couldn't help but peer over his shoulder at the river. Shouto thought about what Toshinori had said about the roads being the only exit but as he stared at the coursing water from up above, something inside of him tightened.

His line of vision followed the coursing river that Katsuki was staring at and noticed the same thing. It was flowing out of the dark forest and down the valley out of view.

Shouto watched how Katsuki looked back at the entrance out of curiosity.

"Is something on your mind, Bakugou?" Monoma said and quickly the blond Lieutenant turned around.

The serious crimson eyed man glanced towards their captain before pointing to the river with his hand.

"Can we spare twenty or fifteen of those men to be stationed at the bottom where the river is?" Katsuki asked carefully. "It feels too easy that he chose here. He knows the narrow road up the mountain is the only way down."

All eyes then turned to gaze upon what he was seeing and Monoma hummed in agreement.

"Bakugou is right," the other Lieutenant said. "We need men stationed down at the edge of the river before it leaves the valley in case he tries that as an escape route."

"Good call," Toshinori said before his blue eyes glanced over to Shouto in a weary manner.

The youngest Todoroki frowned at this as he watched his captain clear his throat and then rip his eyes away from him.

"Before we go down, please know that Dabi and Nine are dangerous men," Toshinori continued in a hardened tone. There was a small pause. "They are responsible for the disfigurement of The Shigarakis, the death of Yotsubashi and the hundreds of murders that gave way to the day called The Red Dawn. Because of this, I am implementing mandatory kill shots on Dabi and Nine."

Shouto's breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat.

"I usually don't require this but, in this case, if we arrest either of them, they will more than likely be receiving capital punishment the same as the Shigarakis. Therefore, if you have a chance to take them down—you do it. No hesitation."

Toshinori pointedly stared directly at him again. "That won't be a problem for anyone, will it?"

Shouto's finger fiddled with the cold trigger of his rifle.

Everyone's voices around him chimed in unison with 'no, sir' but Shouto only could bring himself to a silent head nod. A vision of Touya's grey headstone appeared in his head. Next he re-lived all his family's hurt and pain that was squandered on what now felt like the wrong moment. Soon, the reality of what and who his brother turned out to be—or always was—was slapped into his face like cold water.

"Glad there's no objections. I'm going to head back down the mountainside and station myself with the squads at the exits. Bakugou and Monoma, you two are leading like planned," Toshinori said before dismissing himself.

Shouto furrowed his brow as he looked at the weapon in his hand.

It suddenly felt significantly heavier.

Everyone around him began strapping up their various assault rifles, knives, and equipment. Katsuki spoke out commands of their formation and plans as he instructed several people to form a barricade of the exit behind him.

The scarlet eyed man confidently assigned several people to go to the headquarters building in the business district and then selected a squad to head into the forest with him. Katsuki's finger pointed to Monoma, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, several other U.A and 1B officers before landing on Shouto.

"Lastly, Todoroki. You're with me," Katsuki said in a stern voice.

Shouto nodded once before putting on his helmet and walking over to the van to grab his flare gun out of the back. As he put several extra rounds of bullets into his pack, Katsuki stationed himself next to him quietly.

The Lieutenant didn't pay him any mind as the second in command cocked his assault rifle. A single red eye gazed through the sniping lens, testing the green laser on it.

"Shouto," Katsuki started with his eyes looking through the glass and finger on the trigger. "I wanted to say something to you privately before we go down there—"

"—If it's regarding how I'm feeling, I'll be okay," Shouto cut him off quickly. "I feel okay." The emotions inside of him were clashing around like a flock of sparrows trapped inside of his chest and he knew he desperately needed to compartmentalize.

Red eyes cut to stare at him dead in the face.

"Actually. That wasn't what I was going to say at all," Katsuki countered as he lowered his rifle.

There was a familiar tunnel vision look of duty that always settled into the blond's shoulders during an operative that Shouto recognized.

But determination in his eyes was different this time.

Shouto pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "What were you going to say then?"

"I was going to tell you don't miss," Katsuki said in a low voice for only him to hear. Shouto's heart skipped a beat at the sudden challenging gaze. "If you screw up and don't take that shot—I will."

Their eyes locked in a wordless exchange before the second in command strapped an extra rifle to his back. He loaded his weapon while holding the youngest Todoroki's eye contact and the gesture was past cold—but the message was sent loud and clear: don't choose Touya over Izuku.

"Move out," Katsuki shouted to the group with heavy bass in his voice. He turned away from Shouto and held his hand up to point towards the trail that led down to Kuromata. "Dabi isn't leaving off this mountain unless there's a goddamn bullet in his skull."

The trigger underneath Shouto's finger felt all too cold.

. . .

Izuku lost count of the drips of water that leaked into the dark room as he curled into himself. It had been hours. Hours with no light. No food. Only his own growing dread. He hung on tightly to the sliver of hope that this would all go away—or that he was somewhere caught up in one of his night terrors.

But the constant dripping of the leaking piping told him otherwise. Each droplet hitting the floor felt like an agonizing metronome of Father Time ticking past the seconds. All his life was drained out of Izuku's body as he thought about what was to come.

The bile in his throat reminded him that Katsuki was going to come here, to Kuromata, and be led straight into a trap where Dabi was going to attempt to kill him.

The door in the dark room flew open and light flooded in, making Izuku flinch and turn away. Two dark silhouettes stood against the bright light like twin moons eclipsing out the sun.

"It's time to get up, Izuku. Your friends are on the way," Dabi announced as he stalked into the small room and unchained the metal leash from the ground.

Izuku shook his head and tried to resist but a single harsh yank on the chain caused him to be dragged forward. Unannounced sobs spilled out from Izuku's lips because the rusted iron was beginning to burn around his neck. The jagged surface of the collar rubbed constantly against his injured throat imprinting more scars.

The trembling man said nothing as he was hoisted up and pulled out of the mystery room by the rattling chain. Dejected viridian eyes stayed locked downwards, focused on his dirtied white gym shoes as Nine without any word grabbed Izuku's hands. The silver haired man strung a rope tightly around his wrists and bound him from using his hands until the course material burned against his wrists.

As he was brought out into the light Izuku recognized the large infrastructure he was in as an old, abandoned train station.

He blinked several times at the rustic atmosphere that held large windows where the light poured into the cracked and dirtied building. The insides were stacked with several mechanical devices and wires. People were bustling around shoving replicas of what Izuku recognized as The Incinerator into brown crates.

Assembly lines for several shipments of drugs were formed and it took all Izuku had not to be horrified. But what he, Shouto and Katsuki had assumed before was correct. Dabi had stationed himself out in the middle of the woods in an old train station to build countless bombs.

But where are they going? Izuku thought to himself as he was ushered out into the dusk colored wilderness.

The orange sun was shimmering through in speckled dots through the treetops onto Izuku's face. The green-eyed man felt his stomach churn as he watched Dabi and Nine talk casually as he was led somewhere deep in the woods.

Twigs on the forest's ground snapped underneath all the feet and the thick foliage brushed lightly against Izuku's skin until he was brought into a large opening.

"Tie him on that tree," Dabi commanded Nine and yanked Izuku forward. "I'm going to go check the parameter and escape route."

The freckled man stumbled forward as his chain was passed to Nine and Izuku clenched his teeth tightly as Nine roughly manhandled over to where he was told. The purpled eye gang leader shoved Izuku down on the dirt ground and removed the rope around his wrist. Izuku hissed as he was forced in a position to hug the large tree and Nine twisted his arms with little regard for his comfort.

"Why are you helping him do this?" Izuku asked through tears. "This is cruel. Please. Let me go—"

"—You can save the water works for someone who cares," Nine cut him off. The gang leader finished double knotting the rope on Izuku's slim wrists to the point the younger man yelped in pain. "Everyone here is loyal to Dabi because he's cruel. He took down three big time gang leaders and doubled every single member's pay by taking two territories then halving the population of people getting paid."

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut as he rested his forehead against the rough bark in front of him. He winced when Nine moved to tie a rope around his ankles, restraining him from moving all together.

"I could give less of a shit if he's going to kill some cops," Nine continued as he focused on tying the rope. "However, I do know he's romantically infatuated with you. I can pick up on small hints. So—if him kidnapping you is what helps keep him satisfied emotionally—then fine. The Shigarakis and Yotsubashi raped for fun in their free time."

Izuku winced when the final restraint was tightened to the point it burned.

"You should be thankful Dabi wants you as a spouse and not some sex slave," Nine said without a hint of mercy. His lavender eyes gazed upon Izuku void of regret for what was about to occur. "I've seen people do much worse things to pretty boys like you. I suggest you play the house husband role if you want to enjoy the rest of your life in a comfortable manner."

Izuku cried and he turned away when he was fully bound to the tree in front of him with no hopes of escaping.

"Everything checks out," Dabi called out as he came back from wherever he went. "The parameters is set to go and I got word from the lookout in town about the police coming this way in S.W.A.T gear. It's showtime."

Izuku felt the warmth of the sun above him slowly fade as it started lowering beneath the horizon. He lifted his dejected bloodshot eyes up to stare at the canopy of the trees above him and thought about Katsuki.

"He's going to rescue me," Izuku whispered slowly. He tiredly leaned against the tree he was tied to and turned his defiant eyes to both Dabi and Nine. "He always does. He'll find me."

Nine let out a chuckle and a sinister smirk fanned across Dabi's face. The arsonist flexed his eyebrows like he was amused before crouching down in front of Izuku's face. The ringleader folded his hands as their eyes met in a powerful clash.

"That's the plan, Izuku," Dabi said with a hint of humor. "I want him to come running straight to you so he can set off all the bombs we laid out encircling us here."

Izuku furrowed his brows as he wearily glanced around at the dense forest.

The very dense, flammable forest.

No—

"This whole woodland is going to go up in a vicious wildfire that not even all your precious police officers are going to be able to escape," the revenant informed him as his face twisted in a light scowl. "They're going to be trapped inside the ring of hellfire as it consumes everything and we're going to round them all up together like cattle and slaughter them like the pigs they are."

The promise of an unstoppable wildfire made Izuku's limbs run cold.

He stared around at all the plants and trees. He took in all the flowers that were going to burn then finally he gazed down at the ties around his wrists and ankles. Izuku let out a shaky breath as his panic started to grow in his chest.

"Touya, no—that's too dangerous," the freckled man pleaded. Green eyes looked wildly at the arsonist in front of him as Izuku twisted his wrists and shook his head. He needed to get through to Touya— "Y-You can't control that level of wildfire. W-We're going to die too. Setting a fire like that will kill everyone here."

"I have an escape route planned," Dabi replied with a single shrug of his broad shoulders. "There's one thing here that can't catch fire."

Izuku gazed in terror as the sun behind the figure cloaked in all black finally fully set.

The bright star took all its light with it, leaving behind only darkness that sparked horror in Izuku's eyes. The shaking man thought about the hellfire that was soon to come and he felt his body struggle to stay afloat.

"Dabi, they're approaching," a new voice entered from a member in a gasmask. Behind him were at least twenty men from what Izuku could count and it made the captured man clutch harder onto his small silver lining. "S.W.A.T has parked on top of the entrance into Kuromata. The escape route is set to go whenever for everyone when we get your signal to retreat after we've finished trapping them in."

Dabi looked over his shoulder and gave a single hand motion of confirmation to begin. "Perfect, let's show 'em hell."

Ice-like eyes then cut towards Izuku again.

This time they were burning with a dark blue fire that Izuku had never witnessed as the arsonist pulled out his new lighter from his pocket. With the simple flick of his thumb, Dabi summoned the orange flame from it with the trigger.

Izuku felt his heart rate incline and his chest started to heave heavily. The heat from the flame was directly in front of him. It poured hues of orange across his face in the navy-blue darkness, and on the other side of the tiny spark was Dabi. Smiling at him like a blood thirsty wolf.

"But before we begin, I need to get you screaming, Izuku."

. . .

Katsuki cocked his rifle as he led his team of twenty-one into the dense greenery.

The dark shadows from the trees stretched long and wide, engulfing them all as the team worked their way inside the forest. Every officer tried their best to be carefully quiet following the hand signals from Katsuki that made them halt at the sound of footwork or rustling.

The lieutenant gritted his teeth because he knew damn well this was a trap, but the best they could do was to be on their toes. The video of Izuku's beaten face was stamped into his mind and was what kept him pushing on because this was their only fucking shot.

This was his only chance at rescuing Izuku properly and he had full intentions of burying Todoroki Touya in the goddamn ground for good.

No matter the hesitant emotion he saw in Shouto's eyes.

They were locked into two single file snake formations with Katsuki leading one line and Kirishima leading the other. Both were listening carefully past the sound of running water. Katsuki was trying to lead the squad into the forest carefully when suddenly an ear-piercing screech pierced the silent night.

Everyone's heads whipped to the left to the source of the sound as a flock of birds flew into the night sky startled by the sheer volume of the cry. Katsuki felt his heart hammer against his rib cage when he processed the voice long enough to recognize it.

And he felt seasick like he was suddenly on an unsteady boat.

"That was Izuku's voice," Katsuki hissed and straightened his back. "Split into three groups heading that direction. Be careful of where you step and watch each other's backs."

Everyone nodded and evenly split into teams of seven with Shouto and Monoma sticking with Katsuki. The group made their way towards the call of Izuku's voice and the sweat gathered inside of his gear made it seem like Katsuki's uniform was an uncomfortable second skin to him.

Then a loud surprised sound from Kirishima in the darkness caused all three groups to turn towards his voice.

"Shit," Kirishima hissed into the intercoms. "Sorry, I tripped over something. It looks like a wire—"

Katsuki's eyes cut down at his feet when suddenly the same metallic wire was unearthed from the ground for all of them to see. His mind panicked when he put the pieces together.

"It's the fucking bomb—get back now!"

But before anyone could properly react an explosion in the distance went off and triggered several larger vibrations directly behind them. The squad ran inwards away from the explosions as pieces of ground went up in smoke and soon the first several bushed were catching fire quickly.

The final explosion was closer than Katsuki anticipated and it rocked his team of seven off their feet as Monoma threw him on the ground safely and shielded him until the bombs stopped. Everyone held their breath as several distant booms went off and soon it was crystal clear that they had finally tipped off their trap.

And when Katsuki looked up from the bed of dirt and leaves beneath him, he saw a ring of small fires in every direction. Clouds of smoke were going up in the distance above the trees signaling that the silver wire had detonated more than the bombs closet to them.

"He's starting a wildfire," Monoma said in a ghostly tone as he stood up and gazed all around.

Katsuki gritted his teeth as he checked behind him to see a thick wall of smoke blocking off the direction they came. He glowered resentfully when he realized they were being forced to keep moving inwards.

"No. He's trapping us in wildfire," he corrected. Katsuki pressed the button on his earpiece and signaled for his team to head directly in the direction of Izuku's screams.

"We need to quickly move so we can get to Midoriya and find an exit before the entire place is in flames," he commanded through the smell of smog. "Scatter outwards. Yaoyorozu, your team needs to scout for an exit. They must have an escape route unless they plan on dying in here—find it. Iida—head in another direction than my squad. They want us all together. Everyone, use your red flare guns to give your location if you find the targets and green if you find Midoriya."

The team quickly scattered and Katsuki led his squad in the direction of where Izuku's cries had echoed inwards from. But as they pushed forward, the voice of his lover died off and the threatening sound of wood snapping from flames increased. The blond felt adrenaline flood into his veins as they cut through all the foliage.

Everyone in the squad watched the igniting fire behind them carefully as they wandered deeper into the dark woods. But suddenly the sound of bullets whizzing past their ears caused everything to shift into high alert.

Katsuki heard Monoma curse and quickly shifted his own feet to enter into the pie slicing tactic. Katsuki fired off in the direction of the opposing gunshots and gave the command for the other members of S.W.A.T to follow suit.

"Everyone, get down and take a defensive position!" Katsuki commanded loudly. "They're in riot gear—"

His words were cut off with a loud grunt by a stunning string of loud gunshots. Katsuki immediately ducked behind the nearest tree and crouched low with his rifle in both hands. The commander tilted himself from behind the tree to fire off in the direction of the assault. He peered into the blackness as the night lit up with tiny sparks by the clash between the sides.

"Bakugou—" Momo's voice cut in on the intercom. "—They're coming in all directions!"

"Immobilize every single one the best you can," Katsuki replied in between firing and ducking. "Keep looking for the escape route."

As he said this, quicker before he could think, a sudden orange flare gun was fired off by their ambushers. Red eyes cut up towards the night sky to see the bright light illuminate their position followed suddenly by the ominous sound of a rush of footsteps headed directly for them.

"Break formation and take them down separately—everyone chose a mark and stick to it," Katsuki instructed quickly. "They're coming in this direction—they're trying to zero in on us."

The lieutenant stood up and launched several stun grenades into the dark to disorient their attackers, being mindful not to hit his own team. He rolled and ducked behind all the thick trees and bushes until he reached Shouto, who was ducking and firing at an assailant doing the same.

Katsuki gritted his teeth and crouched low to the dirt. He steadied his breathing as he took careful aim at the body across the dark woods firing at Shouto. Katsuki pulled the trigger with precise aim and lodged a bullet in the man's arm as a scream echoed out into the night.

Shouto snapped his head towards Katsuki and the lieutenant motioned for him to quickly join him behind the tree. The Todoroki sergeant made his way over to his crouching lieutenant, avoiding bullets flying his way to dive behind the tree next to Katsuki.

"We need to get past them," Shouto hissed as his eyes darted all around. "They're closing in on us with a hammer & anvil tactic and there's more coming. We need to break them up."

Katsuki cursed when he could feel the smell of smog growing stronger by the passing second. His red eyes peered behind him to see the rapidly approaching hellfire behind them.

It rolled in viciously, consuming everything in its path as trees began toppling down. His anxieties shot through to the moon above them and he quickly snapped his eyes to frantically search at what was ahead of them. There, he only saw smoke slowly rising out of the treetops in the distance and orange embers rising to the sky.

Another of Izuku's screams echoed out into the night above all the madness and it only added to the increasing amount of foreboding.

Katsuki's heart clenched agonizingly tight as he nodded to Shouto to head in the direction of the cry of pain. Determined scarlet eyes set sight on a distant clearing on what looked like a set of suspended train tracks that led deeper into the forest.

"I need everyone not searching for the escape route to head north east on your right," Katsuki said into the intercom. "Another cry in that direction just came in."

He got several affirmatives in his ear and in that moment Katsuki calculated all the things that could go wrong. But out of all the scenarios, the one of whatever was happening to Izuku to make him scream that loud was the most unsettling. He bit his cheek hard to distract himself from the crippling thoughts of Izuku being harmed. He repeated to himself that this wasn't the end for them.

There was still so much they needed to do-so much he still needed to say.

Katsuki's heart clenched at the thought of never getting the chance to tell Izuku he was wrong. The possibility of all the words left unsaid-all the words he wanted to take back-dying in this inferno of Dabi's design brought a chill to his spine, despite the all-encompassing heat.

But he refused to allow that bastard to snuff out the blinding, beautiful light that Izuku shared with this undeserving world.

He couldn't fail the one person that meant more to him than the entire world and everyone in it.

Katsuki confidently gave a hand signal and led ahead of Shouto while running towards the bridge. But as they tried to approach the train tracks, the smell of gasoline thickened, and it made Katsuki hold out his arm to halt his and Shouto's running.

The youngest Todoroki came to a skidding stop as his heels dug into the moist dirt. They both quickly snapped their heads down at the dampened ground and suddenly the loud cry of 'fire in the hole!' erupted from a masked gang member from beside them.

Shouto quickly used his reflexes to grab the lieutenant by his bulletproof vest to throw him unceremoniously off the dampened soil towards the tracks at the same moment the assailant slammed two fully lit Molotov cocktails to the ground.

Katsuki grunted loudly as he was vigorously launched to the other side of the ground.

Pieces of dirt painfully dug into his chin as his head slammed onto the hard soil. His world was flipped upside down as he tried to reorient himself and frantically looked behind him.

"Shouto—"

He saw the youngest Todoroki stumbled backwards as a tall wall of fire was ignited between them at an unnerving rate. It radiated intense heat and grabbed onto all the trees and plants, crept up the bark. Katsuki crawled quickly away, grabbing his gun when Shouto began fighting off the fire-starting man.

"Go!" Shout shouted desperately from the other side of the flames as more gun shots fired off. He slammed the blunt end of his rifle into the man's skull knocking him out cold before wildly looking at his commander beyond the thickening flames. "Get to Midoriya! They're trying to block us from going that direction for a reason!"

Several distant yells could be heard from his other team members as Katsuki stumbled upright, trying to dodge the hungry fire that was clawing its way towards him.

"But—" he started but got cut off by Shouto firing off more rounds at the men and women trying to ambush him.

"I said go now!" Shouto yelled while gritting his teeth as he took down another man with two precise bullets in his opponent's shins. "I can hold them off but you need to get out of their line of vision. They are coming here because of that flare gun—I'll find a way around and be right behind you!"

Katsuki cursed under his breath when he realized Shouto was right.

They needed to scatter and find that damn exit before it was too late.

Father Time was not on their side and the minutes surging past allowed all-consuming flames to get closer to taking everyone's lives. He backed away quickly and tightened his hold on his weapon as the destructive flames approached closer to him.

He gave Shouto a single hand gesture of affirmation before turning on his heels and running in the other direction. He quickly dislodged his empty rounds out and expertly reloaded his rifle as he ducked under several branches and jumped over logs or large rocks that were becoming more frequent in the woodland territory.

He ran with intense speed letting his hopes carry his feet as he headed towards the direction of Izuku's voice. But he hesitated when he arrived at a large cliff that he wasn't expecting. He came to a hard halt that caused his black combat boots to dig into the ground.

He cursed loudly as he barely stopped his body from flying over the ledge.

Red eyes glanced down at the deep descent when he accidentally launched several small rocks down into the coursing river. The tides were rapid and fierce as the river flowed down stream. He quickly looked ahead of him and saw that the river was bigger than he gauged.

The raging current filled his ears and it was contradicting the heat behind him as several trees fell onto the ground. He cut his eyes to the side at the suspended train tracks that led into the obsidian black shadows of the forest. A wrathful expression bled into his face.

The lieutenant took off at full speed across the tracks and headed straight into the other side of the woods. He carefully drew up his gun and began slowing his motions when everything around him felt calm.

Almost too calm.

The distant gunshots and mayhem on the other side of the bridge carried to his ears as he inspected his surroundings in the dense, green woodwork.

He headed in deeper, putting himself on high alert as his intercom was firing off with his teammates communicating amongst themselves. In his view were trees sitting unburnt. Katsuki cursed under his breath when he didn't see anything telling and there wasn't another cry of Izuku's for a stretch of time.

As he was searching frantically around the shadowy forest, a small whimper carried with the wind to his ears. Katsuki perked up and he whirled his body around in that direction. His heart pulled him towards the sound as he carefully crouched low with his gun fully ready to fire off.

He pushed past a layer of verdure as the sight of a small figure tied to a tree came into view. He saw Izuku leaning against the bark of the tree he was forcefully bound to, gagged and crying with his head hung low.

Katsuki's heart stopped when he could fully hear the heart wrenching sobbing and took off in the direction of the other. He strapped his rifle to his back quickly and shifted to grabbing his tactical knife.

"Izuku—" he whispered out his lover's name desperately. Green eyes immediately snapped open to search around and the second they landed on Katsuki's approaching figure—the captive man shook his head frantically.

The lieutenant's heart broke in several fragments as he kneeled down in front of the other, crunching old discarded leaves underneath his body weight.

"Izuku, I'm here. It's okay. It's going to be okay," he tried to comfort as he held up his steel knife for Izuku to see. With deliberate precision Katsuki cut the ropes clean off Izuku's hands and ankles and ungagged him. The millisecond the white cloth left Izuku's mouth a tidal wave of cries and pleas spilled out.

"K-Katsuki, you need to turn back and get out," Izuku cried as he pointed desperately in the direction that the officer came in. "It's a trap for you—"

"I know," Katsuki hushed as he grabbed Izuku's shaking hands to steady the other's nerves. "I'm well aware but traps can be escaped. It's my job to escape them. I can outmaneuver this bastard with my eyes closed."

He steadied the other's wobbly figure as Izuku staggered upright. Fear sunk into his bones as he watched the smaller man struggle to stand on his legs and use the tree for support. The green eyed man winced with a loud groan as if he was in extreme pain as he tried to speak.

"Katsuki," Izuku heaved breathlessly and his hands reached out to grab Katsuki's uniform desperately. "Y-You're in danger. Touya is sick in the head—past sick. H-He wants to kill you."

"Don't worry, the feeling is fucking mutual." The blond glowered dangerously as he wrapped an arm around Izuku's figure and held him up right.

The worried lieutenant frantically searched Izuku up and down with his hands for damage and when his eyes zeroed on the fresh burns seared into other's exposed stomach, he nearly lost it.

"What the fuck did that bastard fucking do to you—"

"—H-He's coming back," Izuku warned once his body was steadied. "Touya—H-He went out into the fire trying to hunt you down." Green eyes were terrified—horrified. But above all, Izuku's eyes were locked in the direction where the smell of smoke was being carried in with the wind on the other side of the woods.

Katsuki cursed under his breath when he realized they needed to move and move fast.

He interlaced their fingers and started to pull Izuku along with him at a quickened pace. The green haired man shifted himself into escape mode and soon the pair was running into the night together, looking for a way out of the wood. They weaved in and out of the trees towards the fire that was closing in towards them.

"I retrieved Midoriya," Katsuki spoke steadily into his intercom and he gripped the smaller hand inside his tightly. "Any word on an exit yet?"

"We can't find an exit route," Momo's voice chimed in. "The fire is everywhere and it's rapidly spreading."

Katsuki cursed himself as he looked all around him in the darkness they were aimlessly wandering in until they came to another halt at the steep edge of another cliff. Fire on their right trickled in and Katsuki growled lowly and cut and ran to the left with Izuku. He quickly put together that the bombs created a cage of flames—boxing them in tightly.

It was a fiery death trap and they were mercilessly caught inside.

"It's the river," Izuku panted out as they ran. Katsuki looked over his shoulder at the stumbling ex-detective who seemed as if he was struggling to keep upright. "T-They're planning on escaping on the river in several delivery boats. I overheard them w-when I was tied to the tree."

Katsuki stopped their running altogether and looked at Izuku with wide eyes at the information.

The green haired man groaned out in agony and stumbled forward as if he was about to faint. Out of reflex Katsuki quickly caught the smaller figure in his arms. Izuku's hands clung to his arms and all the urgency surging through Katsuki's body tripled. He looked around all the flames closing in quickly and pressed his finger to his earpiece.

"Everyone, they're planning on escaping through the river," Katsuki said as he shifted to quickly bend down and pick Izuku up in his arms. The near faint man grabbed onto him as they started off in the direction of the river. "You all need to get everyone to the downstream right away to stop the boats that'll allow them to escape—fuck!"

Splintering pain blossomed in Katsuki's calf as a bullet tore clean through his muscle, sliding inside past his leg gear.

Both men went toppling down to the ground as Katsuki lost all balance and screamed out in pain. Izuku was launched forward into blackened dirt and Katsuki hissed as he rebounded and reached on his back to quickly draw his gun.

"Katsuki, watch out! He's behind you—" Izuku screamed and the blond turned around what felt like a hair almost too late.

The officer skillfully dodged within the second when he saw the endless barrel of a gun pointed directly at him. The metal bullet clipped his helmet and to counter the officer cocked his assault rifle and pointed it to Dabi with the intention to kill.

He stood up on his feet quickly, ignoring the burning pain in his bleeding leg as he ducked behind a tree. He took a deep breath in as he began firing at the gang leader hiding in the shadows of the trees. The Lieutenant cursed several times when he saw a petrified Izuku lay low on the ground trying not to get caught in the crossfire while cowering away at the flames that were enclosing dangerously close to them.

Several more shots caused him to tilt away and lose sight of Izuku again. The metal bullets cut through the bark on the tree sending shattering pieces of wood flying in the night.

The moment Katsuki took aim again, his finger froze on the trigger at the sight of Dabi dragging a screaming, kicking Izuku. Then all the blood in his veins went ice cold when the black gun was pressed into Izuku's temple and a frigid expression of ruthlessness flashed in Dabi's eyes.

The lieutenant stopped all motions as the temperature surrounding them increased tenfold.

"Hey there Goldie," Dabi taunted as he forced Izuku to stand upright by a choke hold. The greenette clawed at the arm strangling him and squeezed his eyes shut when the nightmarish man pressed the gun harder against his skull. "Make the wrong move here and I'll kill him. Then we'll both have nothing."

Katsuki gritted his teeth as he steadily lowered his gun.

He eyed the hellfire that was now uncomfortably close to them. The trees were catching fire and the orange flames surrounded them in a final dance as if the wildfire was watching what decisions all three of them were about to make.

Katsuki cut his darkened scarlet eyes back to Dabi.

"Let him go," the lieutenant demanded. "We both know you're not going to harm him, and time is running dangerously thin for any of us to make it out of here alive."

"And we both know you'll do anything to keep him safe," Dabi retorted back with a smirk. "Get on your knees. There's a bullet with your name on it and the exact person I want to witness your fucking skull blown open is right here with us."

In that moment green eyes met with red and slowly Izuku's heaving chest evened out.

Izuku's viridian eyes with lightning speed flickered to the growing fire beside them and Katsuki's eyes widened when he saw Izuku make a split-second decision. Without warning, the captive man shouted out in both pain and determination as he threw his body weight forward to topple Dabi onto the ground in a full body slam and Dabi reacted instantaneously.

The two ex-lovers scuffled onto the ground with Izuku pinning the man underneath him. Katsuki cursed as he lifted his rifle again to aim but found it hard to aim correctly at only Dabi. The two tossed around in the dirt with years of fury built up.

There was a small snapping of wood from beside them as Katsuki tried to take his shot to kill. Scarlet eyes looked up to the orange flames wearily and he found a large tree fully ignited leaning dangerously directly over the two men battling it out on the ground.

He watched with growing eeriness when Dabi managed to stagger upright. However, within the blink of an eye, Izuku gave a sickening clash of their heads with a loud crack that elicited a hiss of pain from the raven haired man.

The violently shaking man, who had clearly pushed himself into overdrive, stood up to his full height and gave a hard shove to the black haired man into the flames.

Then all too quickly the tree above them snapped again and came toppling down.

"Izuku!" Katsuki cried out as a warning and the green eyed man looked up.

The disheveled man staggered backwards, barely missing the falling tree and Dabi rolled out of the way as well, while attempting to stop himself from catching fire.

Katsuki cursed when he realized he was effectively cut off from Izuku—again. He stared all around him for a route around because there was no way he could jump through those flames. He caught sight of a downwards slope heading downhill but hesitated as he stared at the two ex-lovers on the other side.

His feet remained rooted like the trees around him as he watched his lover stand on the other side of the flames with Dabi. Then slowly the man cloaked in all black stood tall, holding his almost burned body.

Through the heat of the mirage Katsuki could see an emotion inside of Dabi's eyes was lost.

It was something vaguely lukewarm—something close to want. It was that crazed expression in his eyes as he gazed upon Izuku. It was always present but now it was suddenly gone. Drained just like the life inside of the forest that was being devoured alive.

This time when blue eyes stared at the object of his fixations there was an emptiness that even caused Katsuki's spine to chill.

"You tried to push me into fire to burn to death for him," Dabi spoke slowly and Izuku began to slowly back up. "You never will love me more than him…will you?"

"You didn't give me a choice, Touya," Izuku hissed as the blue eyed predator approached him and that's when Katsuki saw it.

He saw malicious intent strung tightly in the gang leader's body language and it made his heart stop.

No—

"Dabi—I told you it's fucking Dabi," the raven haired man hissed, slowly becoming unraveled. He groaned and cracked his neck as his eyes narrowed in on Izuku while reaching for his gun. All three sets of eyes honed in on the hand that clenched before drawing the weapon and pointing it directly at Izuku.

"You know...I always wished Bakugou knew what it was like to have something ripped away from him. And I always wanted to be that person to do it."

Katsuki screamed out from the other side of the flames for Izuku to run and his own eyes frantically turned towards his only way around the burning tree.

Izuku took off at full speed into the flames and Katsuki frantically rushed to find another path to him.

. . .

Shouto screamed out in pain as he tried his best to avoid the searing fire.

"The area is secure!" Monoma's voice cut into his intercom. "We currently have all the attackers in custody and we're forcing them to lead us to where the boats are. Time is up and we need to leave now. I'm signaling Toshinori that we're retreating outwards."

Shouto frantically looked around the burning forest when he realized neither Katsuki nor Izuku had returned from deep inside the woods.

He tried calling out to Bakugou over the intercom but received nothing and his heart began to drop in his stomach.

His eyes stared at the hellfire directly in his face before solidifying himself in his resolve.

He reached up to his ear with a shaky hand and pressed his earpiece. "I'm going to go retrieve Bakugou. He hasn't returned with Midoriya and his intercom is out—"

"—Todoroki, there's no more time left," Iida quickly corrected with an edge in his voice. It was a mix of disappointment and hurt but it was focused on the team's safety. It was what he needed to do, but Shouto couldn't focus. He kept thinking about Izuku and Katsuki lost somewhere inside the flames. "Todoroki, do you hear me? The fire has spread everywhere. Even the assailants are begging us to leave at this moment. There's no getting out if you go further in—"

Shouto shook his head and ignored all the warnings that begged him not to go.

The youngest Todoroki allowed himself to be fueled by the need to find his friends but above all there was another driving force. It was the feeling of responsibility—for this.

For all of this.

Shouto found a way through all the burning woodwork as if it was like being trapped in a dangerous maze of fallen trees and destroyed wildlife. He carefully dodged all the toppling trees and hissed whenever the heat got too close to his face.

Something in his heart sang low looking at all this destruction because this was his brother's doing. Touya was setting a whole forest on fire with the intention of mass murder.

Shouto's Todoroki colored eyes looked around at all the fire that was now fully blossomed in every direction uncontrollably—and that's what it always was with Touya, wasn't it?

Control.

His brother yearned for control—for power. Touya had craved control and power so desperately that he would never again be at the mercy of an abusive tyrant but in achieving these things he became the oppressor himself; wielding his power over helpless victims.

He was drawn to the flames like a doomed moth because it gave him both of the things he craved. But this—this level of fire was a testament of how far off the deep end Touya had dived. He had gotten out of control to believe he could use fire in his way. He had become too power crazed, just like their father.

And now it would be the unknowing downfall of all four men to plunge into the depths of their regrets.

Shouto came to a halt when he approached the ledge of a steep cliff. He peered over it to see the tides of the river far beneath his feet and winced at how far of a drop it was.

He carefully backed up and stared at the railroad tracks spanning across the flowing currents. The sergeant carefully clutched his rifle in his hands as he began to cross the makeshift bridge.

But he froze mid-stride when the echo of gunshots grabbed his attention in the worst possible way. He stared at the hellfire on the other side of the crossroads and out came Izuku running full speed, feet carried by sheer desperation alone.

His eyes widened as Izuku glanced behind himself, not paying him any mind. The green eyed man ducked swiftly when a bullet whizzed out from the flames but Shouto's heart stopped when another shortly followed and clipped Izuku's shoulder.

The green haired man cried out in pain as he fell onto the track and clutched his bleeding shoulder. Shouto sprang into action with urgency and ran full speed towards the other. He squatted to use his body that was padded with bullet proof gear to take the hit of several bullets that knocked the wind out of him. He clenched his teeth and continued to use his body to shield Izuku's body while quickly drawing his rifle.

"Izuku, get back," Shouto hissed and quickly the bleeding man did as he was instructed.

The smaller man clung to the officer in front of him and they began to defensively stand up together—but when the second body emerged from the flames, Shouto's world came to a vicious stop.

The jarring visual of Dabi's face made every nerve inside of his body dive into coldness.

The way his burns bent around his devil-like frown was a visual Shouto's mind could never think of. His rageful blue eyes were eclipsed by the reflection of the orange flames that birthed him and the look of murder was covering his face heavily.

The gang leader pointed a gun directly at him and the two brothers stayed all too quiet in the stand still. They silently stared at each other on the other side of the crossroads and the gap in between them reminded Shouto how exactly different the paths they chose were.

Same house. Same parents. Yet somehow their lives were so vastly parallel to the point it brought them to this dividing moment in time.

The flood of emotions that swarmed Shouto's heart was indescribable. It stung inside of him, reopening fresh wounds he thought had scabbed over but now they were all rebleeding from seeing his brother very much alive in front of him. He stared at his family's ghost who he only ever wanted to save and suddenly felt—

—livid.

But his trigger finger was immovable, and it seemed like Touya's—Dabi's—Touya's was the same way.

But this lasted for no longer than a delicate moment. Both the raging flames and the roaring river reminded them both they couldn't savor the reunion.

"Move, Shouto," Touya's angry voice spat out and it felt like a gut punch. "This isn't your battle."

That was a voice that should be buried and ash, but it wasn't. It was here—standing in the middle of all its destruction pointing a gun at him. The furrow in Dabi's black eyebrows was both familiar and foreign and it made an angry taste arise on the back of Shouto's tongue.

"It is my battle," Shouto chided. "It's as much my battle as it is yours."

"You're not my target, Shouto. But don't test me—I will gladly kill you too if it's what I have to do," the ghost informed him and it only hardened the youngest Todoroki's resolve.

He sourly looked upon his twisted brother and decided in that split second it was time for Touya to come home.

Shouto watched how Dabi gritted his teeth before seething.

"Fine, have it your way, Shouto." And with that the trigger was pulled several times and Izuku's loud cry from behind him mixed in with the raging sound of water beneath them.

Shouto cursed as he ducked down to a defensive position and yelled for Izuku to get back and the green eyed man did his best to. The sergeant kneeled down quickly and took sharp aim to land two bullets directly in his brother's unpadded shoulders.

A loud yell spilled out into the night as Dabi went down and time stood still for a visible moment. Shouto quickly snapped himself out of his freeze as he ran to approach his brother who was attempting to grab for his fallen gun. The sergeant dug his boots into the lethal hands before they could do any more damage.

Shouto gritted his teeth as he witnessed the revenant's face twist in pain and begin bleeding out at the shoulders.

With mixed emotions the youngest Todoroki held the rifle up and pointed it directly down at his elder brother with all his anger and hurt. He aimed the long barrel of the assault rifle in between the blue eyes he used to look up to all his childhood.

The same familiar eyes stared back up at him.

Shouto's finger once again went cold on the trigger.

Dabi's bloody smile flashed up at him. "You can't do it either," his brother taunted manically. "Ah, my little Shouto. Still trying to help your big brother as always."

The sergeant's features distorted into a raw, pained expression when he heard his mother's crying in his ears all over again. He lowered his rifle steadily when the man pinned underneath his feet began laughing. Dabi tilted his head to admire the fire around them and slowly a small smirk appeared on his face—as if he was proud of himself for all the wreckage.

For some reason, seeing that happy expression snapped Shouto to nearly yell. His heart swelled with hurt, anger and bitterness. They all collided in a rageful hurricane that picked up speed faster than anything he ever felt.

For so long he blamed their father for Touya turning to a life of crime, but he realized now that his eldest brother had made this choice for himself. Izuku had tried, his mother had tried, even he had tried to pull Touya away from the darkness but ultimately, he decided to adopt it. There was no one else to blame for his decision that had led them here.

Running on pure emotion alone, Shouto turned his rifle on its blunt end. The other two sets of eyes went wide as Shouto used all his strength to bash his weapon upside his brother's temple and knocked Dabi unconscious in one single hit.

Shouto clenched his teeth to hold in all his shame as the body underneath him went temporarily limp.

Shane boiled at a molten temperature as he hung his head away. He realized he couldn't do what was asked of him: he couldn't take the shot.

"We found the boats," Iida's voice cut through in his ear. It was a heavy reminder to Shouto that they needed to hurry, and this wasn't the time for his emotions to get the better of him. "Follow the route of the river and we'll hold off for as hold as we can but we cannot wait much longer."

In that moment, Katsuki came bursting through the flames with a wild expression. Frantic blood red eyes were honed in and the lieutenant was gripping his rifle with lethality.

But Katsuki stopped at the ruinous sight before him.

The disgruntled lieutenant's expression went deathly still at the sight of the unconscious Dabi on the ground bleeding out pinned under Shouto's combat boots.

Katsuki then wearily glanced towards Izuku on the other side of the bridge who was holding his shoulder and back to Shouto whose chest was heavily heaving. Shouto knew what was on his mind and he knew he was going to be judged for it.

"Shouto...is he—"

"—No. He's unconscious," Shouto bit out without looking at his commander. He couldn't bring his gaze up to stare at the red eyes and tell him he wanted to bring in his brother. "I'll handcuff him and we can drag him to the boats. Iida just stated on the intercoms they found the escape route."

Katsuki glanced between the two Todorokis once before exhaling roughly and leaving it be.

Shouto found himself thankful and thought maybe mercy had returned to Katsuki's mind—but couldn't hide the rising of some level of distaste for himself.

He resentfully took in the intense heat of Touya's mayhem against his face.

Everything that was happening around him was because of Touya just like it had been with his father—yet he had the power to pull the plug on one and not the other. And the big difference was how Touya had geared up to kill all three of them without an inkling of hesitation.

Yet Shouto couldn't take the shot—despite knowing his brother way beyond help.

Despite knowing Touya no longer could be saved.

The saddened sergeant looked over his shoulder with some level of relief that it was over. All they had to do now was escape. He watched how Katsuki limped past him to head towards Izuku. The green haired man was stumbling to stand up while simultaneously attempting to stop the bleeding through his soiled white shirt.

Shouto turned back around to grab his silver handcuffs. He placed his rifle down on the ground before he leaned all the way down to restrain his brother.

However, when he reached down two burned, scarred hands wretched forward and grabbed him by his wrists in a bone snapping tight hold. Blues eyes flung open like an undying being and sitting inside was nothing but hurt. The expression that blossomed on Dabi's face was that of a person who had lost the very thing that was important to him.

The spiteful gaze below him made everything in the sergeant run cold. Shouto tried to yell out as a warning but soon a powerful uncut landed in his jaw.

Shouto yelled out as he was harshly kicked in the gut and sent stumbling backwards off Dabi's body. All eyes turned towards the sound frantically, not expecting it.

The world slowed for Katsuki as both red and green eyes widened the millisecond Dabi reached for his gun. It happened in a split second. It was a split moment that happened too fast. Too fast that Katsuki couldn't shift his body and Izuku couldn't either but in a split moment in time, Touya's final act of resentment let a single bullet fly directly towards the two men.

And it flew directly past Katsuki and landed swiftly in Izuku's abdomen.

Everything slowed down as Katsuki's breathing stopped. Izuku stumbled backwards and Shouto yelled out. Izuku's feet lost balance because of the powerful impact as he staggered backwards towards the edge of the suspended train tracks.

"No!" Katsuki's hoarse voice broke and he took off at full speed towards the other side of the bridge, but he was too late.

Izuku clutched his bleeding stomach as all the feelings inside of him poured out in crimson red.

Tearful, forest colored eyes locked with hurt blue. The moment froze and Izuku hiccupped as his heart shattered a final, permanent time while staring at the bright scarlet blood on his hands. His soul fragmented in a way he didn't think was possible. He examined briefly how there wasn't an ounce of regret in his old flame's ice-cold eyes. It took that moment for Izuku to fully realize what their relationship always was.

And what it forever would be.

"Touya...why?"

Izuku's vision faded in and out through a starburst of vibrant colors until it settled into a faded black. His body buckled onto itself, too spent. Jade colored eyes rolled back and the last thing he saw was rose colored hair mixed with golden blond while the sound of Katsuki's voice yelled out his name.

In the same breath with the raging wind, Shouto quickly grabbed his rifle. Dabi looked over his shoulder with a bloodied smile at the sound of the gun cocking and held his hands up. However, this time around Shouto's brow was creased and his aim was true.

The trigger was warm as he landed three bullets directly into his brother's heart. Dabi fell backwards on the tracks with wide eyes, his entire body convulsing.

Shouto clenched his teeth as he turned his eyes to see the very last thing he wanted to happen.

Katsuki made it to the other side of the bridge too late as Izuku's body fell off the suspended train tracks. He cried out as he reached his hand out only to fall short a second time as Izuku unconsciously tumbled into water below them with a loud splash.

The commander's vision went hazy as quickly stripped himself of his helmet and gear, throwing down his guns too. He dived in headfirst after his lover with a single breath of air.

The wind cut his skin on the dive down and Katsuki closed his eyes upon impact. His whole body was submerged in cold water and the dense pressure of the river contrasted the hellfire he had been in. Red eyes snapped open as he searched around frantically in the deep blue for Izuku.

He swam until he found a floating line of red blood in the water and whipped his head down to see a sinking Izuku with his eyes closed. Gentle air bubbles escaped from the unconscious man's mouth as significant blood leaked out of his chest. It poured out like ribbons into the river and led a trail directly to the drowning man.

Katsuki pushed his body past its limit as he swam frantically down for the other until he reached Izuku. His face was deceivingly angelic floating in the blue as all the life was being stolen from his body. The crimson colored blood encircled the two destined men as they were suspended underwater with light spots from above hitting their face.

Red eyes snapped up to the orange stained surface and wrapped an arm around Izuku's body hurriedly. He kicked his legs and hoisted himself and Izuku up to the surface. Katsuki broke above the water with a hard gasp but instantly coughed when gagged by the smoke. He looked down at Izuku's unconscious wet face and cradled it desperately, pushing water droplets out of his black eyelashes.

Katsuki stared up at the sky horrified. It was now an unrecognizable mix of ash black smoke and fully ignited wildfire. The flames stretched up towards the sky like they were praising the moon and the lieutenant quickly found himself swimming back to the shoreline that was still safe at the bottom of the river.

Red eyes looked up at Shouto who was calling in on his intercom and hoisting up Dabi's limp body. Katsuki frantically returned his vision back down at the man in his arms who was also the same type of deathly still.

With all his left over strength Katsuki pulled Izuku's body to the shore line. Dirt and mud mixed into their bodies as he desperately hauled the drenched man onto the ground.

"Izuku," he tried to call as he positioned himself above the unconscious man. But the other remained unmoving. "I-Izuku—Izuku, please—w-wake up."

The sinking feeling of failure sunk into Katsuki as he whispered a litany of pleas while trying to shake the other awake. The water from the river mixed in with his own tears and he cursed when he looked down at all the blood pouring out from Izuku.

Katsuki quickly tore the sleeve off his black shirt with new desperation and began to bind it around Izuku's bleeding abandonment to stop the bleeding and begin CPR. He tried desperately to breathe life into the other. Katsuki frantically counted the chest compressions through teeth clenched so painfully tight his jaw started to hurt.

The memories of their time spent together went up in flames in Katsuki's mind even as the world around them burned. He would never again be able to hold Izuku in his arms and chase away his nightmares, never again watch in wonder as he painted yet another masterpiece, never again kiss those soft lips with his own. So many moments he had taken for granted. He choked on his own tears as this terrible new reality barreled into him without a shred of mercy.

When he felt like he was about to break once more—Izuku began to cough violently.

Katsuki let out a shaky breath of relief before he breathed one more kiss of life into the other and received the same reaction. Slowly green eyes fluttered open—but the light inside of them was weak.

"K-Kacchan?" Izuku's weak voice rasped and his forest colored eyes gazed upon all the fire and destruction above them.

"Y-Yeah, it's me. I'm here, you're okay," Katsuki quickly reassured when Izuku began to cough up blood. Red eyes widened as he looked down at the gunshot wound that was significantly still bleeding through. He snapped his eyes towards the flow of water downstream. "Grab onto me—we need to leave. I-I need to get you to safety."

He quickly swooped down and hooked his arms underneath Izuku's knees and back to hoist him up with all his strength. Katsuki knew how dangerous it was to move an injured body, but he couldn't wait for help to arrive. He lifted Izuku as carefully and gently as he could, drawing from the medical training that they all had received. Pain sparkled all over his own body like hot charcoal against his skin as he ignored the smell of gasoline and burnt wood filling the air.

The two drenched men stumbled into the night, following the rush of water out and it took all Katsuki's emotional training not to break down.

He wearily glanced at the fading Izuku whose hands were clinging to him more and more weakly by the second.

"You have to stay awake, 'zuku," Katsuki said desperately as he shook the other with deep need. His face twisted in his anxiety as he watched Izuku's beautiful eyes struggle to stay open. "P-Please—Please don't close your eyes."

"I-I…I'm sorry," Izuku started but slowly blinked in an extended lag. His half-hooded eyes looked up at Katsuki's face and then to the fire above them. "I can't focus. E-Everything is blurry."

Katsuki cursed and quickened his pace. "Talk to me," He commanded, and he shook Izuku lightly a little more. The greenette furrowed his brow and his hands clung tight to the man carrying him. "Don't focus on the fire—look at me and talk to me. Do that mumbling shit you always do. I'm going to get us out of here, o-okay?"

"Okay," Izuku said gently as he curled his head inwards to Katsuki's chest.

The breathing of the man in his arms began to even out to unsteadily inhale and exhale.

"List those nerdy ass colors for me," Katsuki supplied as he tried to grasp for anything—absolutely goddamn anything at all to keep Izuku with him. "Y-You know the fake ones like blood orange, purple violet—all that shit."

"Those are real colors, Kacchan," Izuku's sweet voice said with a hint of amusement. Katsuki felt the flicker of pain ignited in his heart.

"Okay, you're right. List them for me but just d-don't fall asleep 'zuku—"

Red eyes frantically looked around and quickly saw a small boat coming from downstream behind them. He signaled them over in haste and yelled out for help until his voice cracked. He stood still desperately and wanted nothing more to escape this hellish nightmare—but he wanted to escape it with Izuku alive.

However the dying mutterings of the wounded man in his arms began to give him doubt.

He choked back a heavy sob and fell to his knees as regret wrecked through him. He held the one person dearest to him close as he listened to Izuku's delicate voice until the boat arrived.

"There's flaxen...marigold, currant...and scarlet like your eyes," Izuku listed weakly and Katsuki nodded sadly as he pulled Izuku in close and rested his damp forehead against Izuku's. "I always loved your eyes."

"Pretty like roses, right?" He smiled through his tears and Izuku gazed up at him with a distant, unfocused look. The artist's hand lifted to wipe away Katsuki's tears.

"No. Beautiful like embers."

Dim green eyes were full of love and it shattered the last of Katsuki's being.

. . .

By the time the boat arrived Izuku was unconscious—breathing—but unconscious.

The wounded man's limp body was an experience Katsuki never in his life wanted to feel as he took a seat on the small blue and white delivery boat. His body shivered from the chilled river water as Iida reported to him that he had retrieved word back from all members of the rescue team had been fully accounted for.

Shouto had even found a way down with his brother's body and another boat retrieved him.

The blond lieutenant nodded emptily and took a tiresome seat on the floor. He leaned his body tiredly against the side of the boat. All his muscles were in pain, but he couldn't stop to think about himself.

He only thought about Izuku.

Katsuki listened to the current of the water as he kept his eyes trained on the rise and fall of Izuku's chest. He counted each and every single shallow breath. He listened to the all too delicate heartbeat of the other and he kept his hand firmly pressed on the gunshot wound. All the squad members were looking at him with worry, but he kept his eyes trained on Izuku's eerily unconscious figure.

When the fate of currents decided to push them all the way out of the burning forest, Katsuki took a single, bitter look back.

There, he saw a vortex of hot and cold and it was a hell of all their own creation. His body was trapped by the wind chilling his drenched body and the heat emitting from the burning wildfire. The uncontrollable flames would without fail consume all the entire lush greenery until there was nothing left.

There, he saw a vortex of hot and cold and it was a hell of all their own creation. His body was trapped by the wind chilling his drenched body and the heat emitting from the burning wildfire. He saw what seemed like the end of days as the bright, orange flames ate away at all the flowers, trees, and life in Kuromata. The reflection of the vengeful flames reflected in the river and made it all blend together.

Katsuki knew without a doubt the uncontrollable fire would without fail consume all the entire lush greenery until there was nothing left.

Just like Touya had done.

Katsuki had a distant thought of gratitude that they had evacuated the nearby residents. At least those innocent people wouldn't pay for Dabi's crimes. He glanced down into his arms and gently brushed Izuku's damp, dark green bangs out of his face. Several of his own tears spilled onto Izuku's cheeks as he made a silent vow to him.

And as he did this, the silver puzzle piece charm hanging from his wrist caught the light.

---

Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I hope you enjoyed!

Please let me know what you think about this chapter and your feelings about how everything climaxed and collided all together. I spent a fairly long time re-reading and re-working this chapter hoping to capture all three character's emotions. I'm a little nervous presenting it to everyone because its like *the* big moment, but I hoped it showed all the growth and character development that has happen thus far.

Also check out the songs! I also have been sitting on these for a year, super eager to share them with all of you lovely people.

Fun fact: I cried a little at the end scene lol which shocked me a bit because I usually don't cry very easily.

Thank you so much again for reading! Have a great day and stay safe