Author's Note: Not gonna leave you all in suspense for too long. Might stop this at 75 chapters and then move to a new story. As ways I welcome ideas, suggestions and am looking for a beta reader.
Chapter 68 - Lost and Found
Azumi got to the scene first. She had taken the bus to the incident where the police line stopped all vehicles and got off before it detoured around the block that was wrecked from the fight. All Might had stuck around long enough to do a news interview and make sure the villain was in custody before taking off to help elsewhere. That left police and emergency services to help treat the injured, clean up the damage and rescue heroes to help find people who had been separated from each other in the chaos of fleeing and fighting. Sion was sitting in the back of an ambulance arguing with the EMT about being taken to the hospital.
Chi and Hasu's parents had come to get them once the incident hit the news. Sion had argued with the police that Mila was missing since the incident, and her parents were on their way but they should start looking. The police stated Mila could have run home since it was less than two blocks from where they were. Most children, when able, run home in the event that something scares them. To satisfy that explanation Soji had gone home first and was walking back on foot looking for her as Azumi went straight to Sion to make sure she was alright and hear what happened. The older woman saw Azumi and tried to get up, despite the arguments from police and medics.
"I'm so sorry Azumi. I left them alone for less than a minute to get Hasu. I shouldn't have done that even with the mess of what happened. I'm so sorry!" Azumi grabbed Sion in a hug and tried to comfort her despite her own panic. "It's ok, we're going to find her. Are you alright?" Sion nodded yes as the EMT yelled from the ambulance. "No! She needs to go to the hospital, her blood pressure is high and her OC 2 readings are off." Sion glared at the medic as Soji hurried up to where they were with a police officer. "No luck at home or on the way here. Not even a feather." Sion looked ready to start looking on foot as Azumi started to open the GPS app on her phone.
"We can track that ribbon Keigo gave her, this is exactly what it was given to her for." Soji nodded as the police officer asked for a recent picture of Mila to share with the precinct. With a picture of Mila given to the police, Azumi tried to figure out where the dot was on her map as Soji gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "Zumi?" She looked up into his eyes and he nodded to reassure her as Sion looked at the small map on the phone. "What is the item that has GPS on Mila?" Azumi tapped her own neck. "It's a black ribbon she wears like a choker around her neck, why?" Sion winced and pointed to the phone. "It's going to lead to my place."
Both parents looked at Sion confused as a real fear crept into Azumi's purple eyes. Sion explained. "She spilt milk on it at lunch and I washed it, setting it with my dishes to dry. If I had known I wouldn't have left it there." Sion looked even more guilty now as she looked down and Soji rubbed the back of his neck trying to think. The police officer came back to them all with a radio. "We have an amber alert out for her and every hero agency in the burroughs has been informed. We want to hold off on putting it on the news but if that's something you want to do we can." Azumi shook her head no as Soji held her close and rubbed her back and explained to the officer. "Our oldest son is a pro hero. We don't want the publicity."
A low whistling was heard from the speed of something in the air before Echo landed right in front of Sion. He was dressed in his hero gear having sped to get there and lifted his goggles to fuss and look over his grandmother. "Are you ok grandma? I came ath thoon ath I thaw on the newth." Sion tried to dismiss the concern stating she wanted to help look for Mila, but the medic was still in the ambulance behind them. "She needs to go to the hospital to be checked over. I am not comfortable with her refusal." Echo looked between the two before grabbing both of her hands. "Pleathe go? At leatht to rule out any injurieth." Hawks landed near his parents, phone in hand with the GPS app open on the main screen as the officer who issued the amber alert brought a second policeman and family trauma specialist to escort them both back to the apartment.
Sion finally agreed to go to the hospital with Echo in order to stop all the fuss with herself and get the police to start looking for Mila. Hawks watched before talking to his parents. "I got the amber alert at my agency. All of my sidekicks are out looking. I was going to check the app but I got your text that she isn't wearing the ribbon. Where was she when she disappeared?" Hawks was in hero mode, trying to keep calm and go over things logically so he didn't upset his mother. It was obvious Azumi was scared and trying not to panic, looking worse for wear as Soji listened to everyone before filling in Hawks. "Mila was in the alley with another little girl right before All Might showed up on the scene. She may have run or flown away from everything, but no one has found her yet."
Hawks looked up towards the other buildings and glanced over at Echo and Sion in the ambulance that was now closing its doors to head to the hospital. "I'll check high up spots just in case she got up to a roof and couldn't get back down. The police are right, she could return home at any minute." Azumi shook her head no. "I'll walk around the block to help look for her. I can't just sit at home and wait!" Hawks rested both hands on her shoulders and closed his wings around them both to hide their interaction from any prying eyes. His forehead rested on Azumi's as he locked his golden eyes onto her purple ones to help ground his mother. "I'll find her, mom. I promise." Azumi squeezed her eyes shut trying not to cry and held his wrists tightly. "I'm scared something will happen to her Keigo. She's all alone somewh-" Hawks kissed his mom's forehead before moving his hands to hold the sides of her face and looked her in the eyes with determination.
"I will find her."
/
Mila was definitely lost. She stood on a sidewalk near a strange store with neon lights in the windows with metal cage bars on the glass and looked around at the street she was on. It didn't look like any of the streets near home and that worried her. The people on the streets didn't seem interested in talking to a dirty five year old that looked lost. She had kept her wings close to her back and wrapped around her upper shoulders to look like a shawl as she kept trying to get the attention of anyone. As Mila slowly walked in the direction she thought home was, she replayed what happened hoping to get her bearings and find her way home.
The incident of the villain attacking the buildings near home had reminded her of the attack on the mall that her daddy and her went through. It caused her to panic and flare her wings out in a panic. Her wings acted like a kite and she caught the wind from All Might's arrival getting swept up into the air. To avoid the acidic gloop in the air, she had flown away from the large villain and fight trying to keep her home building in sight, and found flying for more than a few yards was way more tiring than she thought. Mila had tried to glide down to a rooftop but she couldn't slow down fast enough. Then she tried to glide down to an open parking lot nearby that had a parge fence, and ultimately had a rough landing in an alleyway over four blocks from home. She had wrapped herself up in her wings to heal the scraped knees and bleeding palms before trying to get someone's attention to find her way home.
Using her quirk on herself didn't seem to tire herself out as much as using it on someone else, but she was still worn out and felt like she wanted to curl up and sleep off the events of the day and the healing. Mila chirped sadly and kept walking trying to get back to where the playground was because she knew how to walk home from that area. It was getting dark and there were less people on the street as she tried to find someone to ask for help. The rows of run down houses took over the sides of the street, and she passed a number of bus stops that had benches with trash on them. She hugged herself and looked around for any heroes or police or any other options as a voice spoke up behind her, rough and amused by the tone of it. The first person to even look at her.
"You look like a pretty little thing. Are you lost?" Turning to look at the man, he was filthy even compared to herself. He was short, missing half of his teeth, the remaining ones were a sickly yellow. His brown eyes were wide and bloodshot which reminded her of the large villain from earlier. He was wearing a brown suit that was filthy and his left hand was rubbing his right forearm as if it itched. Mila stepped back and flared her wings out as if scared and tried to intimidate him. His eyes widened and he chuckled. "Nice! Winged quirks are pretty uncommon. You're quite a rare find out here." He reached down to grab her arm and Mila ran.
She was too afraid to even try and fly and knew he wasn't a good person as she tried to run away from the smelly scary man. He grabbed her upper left arm and turned her towards him admiring the street light reflecting off part of her wings. Mila made a scared whistle and chirp, remembering what Dabi had taught her about bad people who tried to grab her. Making an angry warning noise, she bit his hand as hard as she could while trying to kick his legs. He let go with a yell and Mila ran again, trying to get to the alley she saw that went straight through to the other side of the buildings. What she hadn't seen was the chain link fence that stood tall and rigid to keep anyone from walking through.
Flapping her wings and jumping, Mila tried to get into the air to fly over the fence. She got a foot off the ground before he was back and had grabbed one of her wings, twisting it as he pulled her into his arms. She screamed and tried to kick and scratch as he slapped a hand roughly over her mouth even as she tried to bite him again. "Stop squirming you little monster!" He turned to drag her out of the alley and saw a tall dark figure standing in his way. Blue eyes that seemed to glow, even without much light, were glaring at him with murderous intent. His hands erupted with blue flames as he blocked the man's exit. "I'm only going to say it once. Let her go."
The man let go of Mila from surprise and raised his hands as if to show he meant no harm. The little winged girl tumbled to the ground and quickly got herself upright, running over to Dabi and latching onto his right leg. The flames on his right hand went out and he immediately put an arm around her, causing Mila to whimper with a quiet trill of relief over a familiar face. Dabi nodded towards the alley entrance with his head for the guy to beat it, but the guy kept his eyes on the little winged girl with narrowed eyes. "I-I saw her first. She's mine!" The guy's fingers looked like they were elongated now, thin as knives, the back of his hands turning silvery. Dabi moved to stand in front of Mila, eyes never leaving the guy as he spoke. "Little bit, close your eyes and don't open them unless I tell you, understand?"
She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut, hands going over them just in case as she backed up a step to give him room to move but remained near him. Her twisted wing hurt and she wanted to curl up in her wings and heal her scraped knees, but she also didn't want to move too far from Dabi. She trusted Nii san and would do as he asked without arguing because he was safety right now. The guy's eyes got wilder looking as he crouched down to spring, and Dabi allowed his left arm to ignite up to the elbow in blue flames as he raised his arm across and over his right shoulder as if to throw those flames.
One of the techniques he had taken from his no good father had been how to use his arms alternately to launch his flames quickly. As he finished one attack by turning, the other hand would be pointed at the target to immediately attack, giving the impression of never-ending flames. The tactic was good for handling close combat, which really wasn't his strong suit. This guy had a quirk that was all close combat so this would be the only tactic Dabi could use that would leave him standing long enough to protect Mila. As the man darted at his legs, staying close to the ground, Dabi let loose with a torrent of blue flames as he turned his body so his right hand was right at the man's face.
"Boom." Dabi grinned maniacally as his right hand exploded with searing blue flames right into the guy's face. There was the sound of screaming as he rolled backwards, bladed fingers trying to reform to normal fingers to safely roll and try to put himself out. Dabi took a step back, a brief glance to see Mila still curled up with her hands over her face waiting. The heat was rolling under his skin and he knew he was about to start feeling the flames and pain with a few more blasts. This needed to not go that far, so he stepped forward and planted a heavy steel studded boot onto the man's back. A few small blue flames still burned the man's face and shoulders.
The man clawed at Dabi's legs, trying to get the booted foot off of him so he could have a chance to survive. It hurt and Dabi reached down to place his left hand onto the back of the man's neck and let his hand light up, the blue flames causing an ethereal glow in his eyes as he watched the man start to burn. As if a survival instinct had kicked in, the man screamed and pushed himself upright, frantically swinging his hands at Dabi to try and slash or skewer him. His hands were now long pointed blades like swords, and Davi was grateful for all the practise he had fighting Keigo's feather blades. It came to timing, the flame user making sure to steer this guy back and forth, staying between him and Mila to prevent the guy getting any closer. As the man swung, and Dabi felt the sharp pain on his right forearm, he grabbed the man's wrist with one hand, hia face with the other.
"Now you die " Dabi growled as he let loose a huge blast of blue flames, maintaining his grip as firmly as he could until the man was reduced to fragile ash and bones. As the fire dimmed, he let go and brushed his hands off, stomping the brittle bones to dust. Dabi's hands hurt, smoke rising from the seams on his hands and a bit from the seams in his mouth. His forearm was bleeding and there was a taste of blood in his mouth. He licked his lips and swallowed to keep any blood from leaking out that Mila might see. His sleeve tugged to hide the cauterized cut on his forearm.
Mila remained still, hands over her eyes and entire body shaking with pain, fear and weariness. A warm hand gently rested on her head, causing her to look up at Dabi, who was smiling down at her. His eyes glowing like the rooftop light behind him. "You doing alright?" She nodded slowly and stood up, her injured wing twitching as he gently scooped her up to rest on his left hip, arms around her so she could rest her head on his shoulder, wings wrapped around him as if clinging to him. "Let's get you somewhere safe so I can call Auntie and Uncle, ok?" She nodded and chirped faintly as he rested a hand on her back between her wings. He could see bruises around the base of her left wing and he rubbed the area to try and relieve the pain as he slipped from alley to alley towards his apartment.
Dabi's safehouse apartment was one room with a small kitchen on a corner, a cot and folding table with two chairs. Mila was set on one of the chairs as Dabi got his first aid kit. She looked around, still shaking a bit and wrapped her wings around herself to finally heal. He watched in surprise as her bruises disappeared, the scrapes on her knees fading so that only dirt remained. Deciding to get her something to drink and clean her up, he dug around in his kitchen for a cup of juice and washrag, beginning to wipe the dirt away. "So what happened to bring you all the way out here?" He asked gently, so Mila started with being at the playground with Sion. The villain attack and how she hid with her friend in an alley to wait for Sion and how her wings caught the air current from All Might. Even how she wandered looking for help until she ran into the stinky man at the alley.
When she was done, Dabi smiled and pulled the disinfectant out of the first aid kit to tend his own wounds. "Well, once I have my seams cleaned up, we'll get you home, and I'm going to show you how to get home if that happens again." Mila set the juice down and hopped off her chair, walking over to where he was. "I want to help, Nii san." He smirked and rested a hand on her head. "I'll be fine, little bit. Really." Mila frowned and reached up to grab his first hand, then took the other, bringing her wings around to brush the sutures and seams with her wing tips. The feathers brushed his arms all the way up to his elbows and all he could do was blink at the tingling sensation that was drifting up his arms, the pain slowly going away and he could see some of the deeper scarring was lighter in color as if the tissue that had been rotting away suddenly became healthier, the damage he had just done in the alley defending her was healed as if it never happened.
Dabi furrowed his eyebrows before holding up his hands, surprised how thorough her healing quirk was. "Wow, no wonder you were able to heal Jin and Uncle. That's a really potent quirk, Mila. Mila?" He looked as she swayed on her feet. He caught her before she fell over, listening as she chirped and whined slightly. "Tired..." He gently picked her up, glad his jacket and boots were gone as he settled her on the cot, tucking the blanket up to her chin. It took a bit to settle her wings properly, but once she was comfortably sleeping, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
