'Twas The Night Before Deployment
Bakugo knew this day was going to come sooner or later. He had actually been counting down the days until this moment, and as he sat there in his office with Uraraka and Keigo on that lovely Friday afternoon, he actually didn't want to kill either adult in front of him.
Consider their transgressions temporarily forgiven until the coast was clear.
"Alright so, what's the plan, one last run-through to make sure you two got it," Keigo asked, of course very nonchalantly.
"Go out tomorrow night in the same area activity has been spotted, and we allow ourselves to get captured on our date." Uraraka piped up.
"Correction, we'll be about 15-20 kilometers outside of the most recent kidnapping sites, assuming they don't travel far in between kidnappings." Bakugo said, much to his co-worker's dismay.
"Good, good. You two keep your guard up, and don't let yourselves be easy targets. We need you somewhat healthy going in." Keigo reminded them. "You've been issued new ear pieces as well as cleared testing for the tracking devices we're going to put in you."
"In us?" Uraraka asked.
"We've developed a special sort of tracking device that will be implanted in your arms. They're non-metal and don't require radio frequency to operate, so they shouldn't be detectable from the current knowledge we have of the lab we've been investigating. Same for your new ear pieces, you'll find them in your apartments."
For the first time in a while, Bakugo and Uraraka shared a look, which Keigo picked up on.
"Don't tell me you guys are scared," He joked, his wings jumping with his soft laughs.
"What?! No," Uraraka scoffed. "Tough guy over here might be though," Her attempted joke at Bakugo fell through however, and the office was silent for a second as neither man spoke. She looked at Bakugo for a minute, then sighed.
"C'mon tough guy, let's get these stupid tracking devices."
They headed down the hall and into the elevator quietly, not really looking at each other or even breathing at the same rhythm. It was weird to Bakugo, because he had grown used to their elevator banter, and he was sure she'd had some corny joke to make about the tracking devices. When Keigo stepped into his office earlier to back up Uraraka's intel, he was shocked by their cordial mannerisms and behavior towards each other, almost as if no one had seen the older hero completely drunk and heartbroken in Uraraka's apartment 2 weeks ago.
Why didn't she throw it in his face like she had last week? Why didn't she try to overcompensate, or push herself harder to speak to him? Her energy was waning, he could tell that much, and it seemed as if she were growing tired of trying to win him back.
She made an honest mistake, Bakugo knew this. But he also knew how she had willingly allowed this problem to grow bigger and bigger until she couldn't smile her way out of it, and that was something he didn't respect.
But he also allowed himself to get caught up in it, knowing the game she was playing.
He looked over at her briefly, her slightly longer hair covering most of her face as she looked forward. She looked soft and gentle, but the aura she put off was strong and suffocating, and Bakugo felt like he couldn't breathe after being in the elevator with her for a few seconds.
She was trying, he knew this, but he also knew how he felt. At some point in time, probably about a few days back, he did think he was dragging out this whole 'silent' treatment too long, and that maybe he should've just gone upstairs to talk to her. But seeing as last weekend was a complete disaster, he didn't, and he sat in apartment like a brooding little puppy, tossing and turning all night until she consumed his mind.
He hated he still loved her, or rather, the honest parts of her. He made himself hear her voice when he couldn't sleep, and he picture her goofy smile or the way she stood defensively in the face of danger. He watched all the news reports about her solo battles for the past week, proud of her when she took down villians like it was a UA training exercise. When she burst into his office just then and demanded his attention and respect, he liked that for her, because if he was going to be pissy with her for eternity, at least it didn't seem to bother her anymore.
He wanted to say something to her though. He wanted to just grab her hand and walk her down to the agency's lab like she really was his, but this was life, and though it was pretty much in his favor until 2 weeks ago, it had a way of knocking him back on his ass. Bakugo noticed the elevator nearing the floor of the lab, and he cleared his throat loudly, as if he wanted to speak. She turned to him quickly with the softest expression on her face, and he felt his heart falling faster and faster the longer she looked at him.
"...Did you need something?" She asked him quietly, a little afraid to do so. His mind tripped over his next statement for a few seconds, because he needed several things.
He needed to drop his ego.
He needed to communicate with her.
He needed this to all be over before it was too late.
He just needed...her.
"It's just some shit in my throat. Don't worry about it."
And so he looked away, unable to face her until he could say what he needed to.
They headed into the lab, a crew of scientists running around and making calculations left and right. If it were up to anyone besides Uraraka, they'd say Hawks was running a damn circus aside from heroics, but she saw the system running through the chaos. They were whisked onto tables immediately, swabbed, cleaned, and prepped in a matter of minutes.
"So you're gonna wanna let this bandage stay on for at least 12 hours, and no alcohol or any drugs while the device registers in your system." A young woman said, her stark white coat flying behind her as she moved from hero to hero.
"Will this leave a scar?' Uraraka asked.
"What? No!" The woman, who Uraraka assumed to be a doctor, laughed. "Who knew Uravity cared about her looks!"
"I um, I don't, I just don't wanna get notic-"
"It's okay, we ladies have standards to uphold," The doctor continued.
"I don't have any standards I just- ouch!" She yelped, feeling a sticking feeling in her arm. There was a weird sensation afterwards, like a stinging feeling, then a slight burning feeling as something expanded in her arm.
"A little needle like that shouldn't have been too much!" The doctor laughed again, swiftly wrapping Uraraka's arm in a slight bandage. She took a hold of Bakugo's bicep next, smiling ever so softly. "Now this guy, I know he'll take it much better."
Uraraka scoffed and crossed her arms, slightly offended by the doctor. I'm tough too, she pouted to herself. Bakugo caught this pout and smiled to himself, which the doctor took as positive affirmation of her blatant sexism. She repeated the procedure on him, and while it actually didn't hurt, he did feel a weird feeling once the device expanded into his arm a few centimeters.
"What the fuck was that?!" He asked, looking at his perfectly smooth arm.
"Oh...guess you're a little sensitive too. The device is just taking form, it shouldn't hurt once you leave this lab." The doctor explained.
"I'm not fucking sensitive you psycho," He muttered at her, and of course she heard it.
"Well, I'd expect it more from Uravity..." She said casually, throwing away the now unsterile needles. "She's kind of a softie."
"I'm right here." Uraraka complained.
"She's tough as fuck," Bakugo said quietly. Both women looked at him for a moment, and when he looked up at them, they looked away. "You nerds don't give her nearly enough credit for what she does for this world."
Uraraka left the lab that evening feeling a bit lighter on her feet.
By the time they got everything checked over and planned, Bakugo and Uraraka were well into the night, clocking out several hours later than they normally did. It was about 2 am, and they walked out of the agency nervously, the reality of their mission just now setting in.
What if it failed, what if they didn't find anything useful, or worse, what if it erupted into something bigger they couldn't handle alone? Bakugo hated the idea of such an occasion, even though he felt pretty confident in his abilities. He just didn't want anything to happen to Uraraka.
It wasn't like he was worried she couldn't hold her own, it was just most of the information he read up on for the past few weeks seemed like this was a more jarring experience for the woman than the man, since the woman would have to be the one to carry if the experiments were successful. And while Keigo had assured them multiple times no one would end up with irreversible injuries or pregnancy, Bakugo wasn't too sure. If these villians were sick enough to carry out such an experiment, they were sick enough to actually test it on live subjects.
And they had made themselves the live subjects.
The view of their apartment complex washed a wave of familiarity and peace over Bakugo, and he calmly opened the door for Uraraka, watching the smaller woman go in before him as if he hadn't imagined her death 25 times. Something in the back of his mind told him to grab her hand as they walked through the lobby, but they simply waved goodnight to the quiet old woman that sat behind the desk in the lobby next to the elevators.
Uraraka felt like taking the stairs tonight, though she had gotten in a good enough workout for the week. But she clambered onto the empty elevator with Bakugo as she had done many nights ago.
This night felt different however, and for once, she actually looked around the elevator she had ridden countless times. Bakugo, with the same uneasy gut feeling she had, noticed her looking around. Again, the voice in his head told him to hold her close to him, but he chalked it up to have sensitive little feelings. He did take a step closer to her, just t be sure.
Uraraka had noticed what had been bugging her for the last 30 seconds, and she turned to Bakugo hesitantly.
"Hey...have you noticed there isn't a camera in this elevator..?" She asked him slowly. Bakugo looked up and around, noticing there wasn't anything in the elevator aside from the panel. Uraraka looked around once again to confirm, and upon realizing there wasn't a camera in the corner where it should've been. Her gut bubbled again, and she felt the urge to act.
"Take off the bandage." She instructed him quietly. He blinked at her, and when she ripped it off his arm and signaled for him to be quiet, he just stared at her. She too ripped off her bandage, and when the elevator hit her floor, she made him get off with her.
She grabbed his hand, putting him at ease because his mind had been screaming at her to make physical contact, and quickly dashed down the hall to her apartment. Something wasn't right, and they both knew it. Whatever it was though, they couldn't be too sure as they made their way down the strangely dark hall.
Uraraka got the feeling they were being followed.
Bakugo got the feeling they were being set-up.
He wished he could have held her hand longer when she unlocked the door to her apartment and was snatched inside.
She yelled his name when she saw a figure loom over him from behind.
After that, all was lost.