When the purple mist appeared around her, Star had been alarmed. When she was ripped out of Mashirao's grasp, she had been panicked. When she felt herself falling into purple nothingness, she thought she had died. Turns out, she would end up wishing she had.

Then she wouldn't have had to see the crazed eyes of the masked lunatic as he held her temples in his black and red fingers. She wouldn't have had liquids injected into her arm, making her quirk amplified beyond her control. She wouldn't have felt him force her quirk to ripple through her entire being, through his entire being, and out into the world. She wouldn't have had to hear every voice, every feeling, every sorrow, every dream, every everything in existence.

It went on for what could've been an hour or a second, she didn't know, couldn't think. Even if she could think, she wouldn't be able to hear it over the thousands of voices in her head. The sound was debilitating, and it felt like she wasn't there anymore. Like she was buried underground and breathing in dirt except instead of dirt it was sound and she felt claustrophobic as the voices closed in and breathing was-

It stopped, and Star hadn't realized she had been screaming until the voices faded. Her throat was raw, and she was on the ground somehow, sweat covering her body. She could barely hear the man over the ringing in her ears and could barely see him through the swimming of her vision, but his voice rang clear in her mind.

"I have located the one with shock absorption. Their name has changed and they had their quirk pulled from the registry in a futile attempt to avoid their fate…." They would need the brainwasher soon.

Star registered that her hands, feet, and neck were all chained to the ground. As her vision cleared, the man was across the room, talking to a TV. If she wasn't touching him, why could she still hear him in her mind? She tried rattling the chains, but still heard nothing outside of her mind over the ringing in her ears. She's aware of what happens when she over uses her quirk. She's used to the low ringing in her ears that signals her limit... but this was so much worse. It was like her ears were contracting into themselves at the sheer volume of it.

She put her hand by her ears, holding them as ringing increased. Feeling something wet, she was shocked to see blood on her hand as she pulled them away from her ears. For a second, she thought the scientist's quirk had caused it. It wasn't until she saw the red under her own nails that she realized. She shuddered as realization washed over her, shaking violently.

Star finally pulled herself out, gasping from the effort as she maintained the connections. Clenching her teeth as her ears began to rang, she focused on a new memory.

Person after person was located as her quirk was used again and again. It was so cold... Her breathing quickened as she collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll. Her head hit the concrete as she landed, causing the ringing to sharply increase. She felt the familiar wetness around her ears, the familiar sting that reminded her just how out of her mind the overuse had driven her. Hitoshi was next to her in the lab, chained up. Weakly she cried out to him as the scientist approached him.

"Hito-"

She tried to block out the pain and overexertion as the masked scientist's fingers turned into black tendrils with red cracked spikes and pierced into Hitoshi's temples. She could feel his agony as the same pain she just endured ripped through him. Person after person was called, and when they answered, it was too late. Hitoshi yelled until his throat was raw, and the scientist would activate the quirk the second the person on the other line heard his voice. The people never stood a chance… They'd hide, and the scientist used Star to find them. They'd lock themselves away, and Hitoshi would be used next to bring them out...

The ringing in her ears became a loud roaring as she pulled out of that memory. After 5 hours of projecting, this was beyond pushing her limits, and she felt her grasp over her control weakening. She was so close to done though… Gritting her teeth, she struggled to hold on to the next one.

The cold seeped into her bones as she sank to her knees on the concrete. She relentlessly tried to pull against the chains as a child with bright blue eyes and messy brown hair was hooked up to the machine, under Hitoshi's unwilling command. As the tubes were inserted, the boy fell into an uneasy sleep, struggling in vain as the machine took what it needed. Hitoshi hit the ground hard next to her as the masked man released him from his quirk, moving to stand in front of the creature in the giant tube.

The Anti Symbol of Peace, bioengineered to kill the one called All Might, Symbol of Peace. She could hear the masked scientist's mind clearly. They would transfer this one to the warehouse soon with the rest of them… but first…

"NO!" Star gasped, standing up as she fought harder against the chains. Hitoshi looked at her in alarm, eyes widening as he recognized her reaction. He opened his mouth, eyes wide in horror, but an immature voice from the TV cut him off.

"Nomu, kill the spares."

"Wait, what happened?"

Star could no longer feel Bakugo by her side. Instead she felt the chains biting into her skin, the cold concrete against her knees.

She was in the lab.

Hitoshi's screams of horror mixed with the Nomu's terrible screech

"The projection is flashing in and out, this didn't happen before."

as the people fell one by one, dead, her own scream ringing in her ears.

"Olivia's breathing is too fast."

"A flashback is probably mixing with Chickadee's quirk."

They watched as the children were hooked up to machines and drained, the life fading from their eyes.

"Olivia? Can you hear me-"

"Get the fuck away from her, Icyhot!"

She felt Hitoshi's agony and guilt on top of her own, they were the reason these people died.

"You don't understand, she's having a-"

"I don't give a fuck! You don't think I know that?! Move!"

And when that group was done

"Pilot-"

"Fuck off, Pigeon!"

she had to find more

"Red."

and he had to bring more

"Red!"

the agony of their quirks being used for them

"FRECKLES!"

ripping their minds apart

"Fuck this."

they would've been better off dead, then those people would've lived

"BAKUGO, NO!"

She was suddenly doused in ice cold water and she gasped, blinking and removing her hands from her ears.

Bakugo was in front of her, empty water bottle in one hand, the other in Todoroki's face, crackling. Todoroki also had his hand pointed at Bakugo, who had ice running up his body and a feather was at both men's throats. They were both panting.

No, wait. Star was panting, not them. She breathed in deeply, feeling starved for oxygen and looked around. She wasn't in the lab. She wasn't there. She was safe, and Hitoshi was safe, and-

"UNFREEZE ME NOW YOU ICY HOT BASTARD!" Bakugo roared, and Star could feel his frustration at being frozen, unable to move to her.

She could feel the need in his mind to reassure himself that this was over, the need to remind himself that the horror he just went through was in the past.

The images flickered erratically in his mind. How much he hated Todoroki for his power- for being as powerful as himself- possibly even more powerful- how he had managed to catch him in his ice despite his skill level- he hated him for it- he hated feeling powerless-

His mind was even clearer now.

She was distracted when she heard her name.

Olivia, calm down. I'll handle this. Todoroki mentally said, not taking his eyes off of Bakugo.

She hesitated, shivering as she wrapped her arms around herself. The feathers by the men's throats left and flew back to their owner who was walking towards her while Endeavor approached the two male students.

Hawks shrugged off his giant jacket, putting it around her. For once... he didn't look laid back. She could feel how he had been caught off guard by living through her memories, how he was steeling himself for what was yet to come.

She shivered more at the thought of him willingly walking into a place like that, and decided he was the bravest Pro Hero she knew. Even if he was kind of a jerk sometimes.

A handkerchief suddenly touched the side of her head, around her ears, and she gasped as it stung. Sir Nighteye was next to her. When he moved the handkerchief to her other ear, she caught sight of the blood on it.

Looking down at her nails, she saw the red under them as well, and her breathing stopped.

Bakugo's voice was suddenly in her ear.

"You got your fucking information, take us the hell back. Now."

When did he get there? Wasn't it Sir Nighteye next to her? Wait, where did they go?

Star opened her eyes, unaware of why she had closed them. The world around her was moving. As she felt his warm sweaty hands and breathed in his burnt sugar scent, she realized she was being carried by Bakugo.

Had she fainted? Her whole body felt like lead. Like the energy had been sapped out of her. She was so tired.

She opened her eyes with a start when she was being moved again. They're already back at Hawk's building?

"Mmmm put me down, please…" Star groaned as they approached the elevator. She looked up just in time to see Bakugo raise an eyebrow at her, but he complied anyway.

Hawks trailed behind them, writing furiously in a tiny notebook. Glancing up, their eyes met, and she could feel his genuine apology. She shrugged off the jacket, and handed it back to him quietly, attempting a smile.

She had made huge progress thanks to him calling in Sir Nighteye. She could at least acknowledge that, and she was thankful.

...To be honest though, she just didn't want to think about anything else. At least Hawks mentally promised to stop spying on her. Small comforts.

As they reached the top, no one said a word as they walked into the penthouse. Hawks anxiously ruffled his hair, and headed for the roof. Bakugo gave her a once over, looking at her wet clothes, and headed to the kitchen with something warm to drink in mind. Star headed to the shower after grabbing her pajamas, forcing herself to gather the energy to take off her damp clothes.

She turned on the shower and let the hot water pour over her, trying to wash away the cold on her skin, and the cold in her mind.

It burned her skin as she tried to scrub away the feeling of chains at her neck, her wrists, her ankles. She tried to forget what it had felt like to be back there again, the way her skin felt like it didn't fit right. She tried to scrub away the puncture wound on the crook of her arm. Wishing it was as simple as taking a cloth to her own mind.

Coming out of her episode just to feel everyone's reactions in the room was almost as bad as the memory itself. She didn't want their pity clinging to her mind like waves trying to cling to the shoreline. Their worry and shock had slammed into her like a wave in a storm, taking breath away from her that she could have sworn the memories had already stolen.

It was the same way everyone felt when they looked at her after the party. It was the same thing she felt from the nurses as they fixed her bandages after the USJ. It was the same expression the police and heroes had when they had rescued her from the warehouse. Heck, it was the same expression Mashirao sometimes gave her when he didn't think she was looking.

Pity.

Hitoshi had understood during the capture. How could he have not? He was there with her. Mina had understood after the party. Had stayed with her, knowing that she wouldn't want to be alone. But, the Hero Killer? That wasn't something anyone could understand. And after everything that had happened, she felt like if she got any more pity, she would scream.

She let the hot water hit her back, and she breathed in the steam slowly. She had shown enough weakness to last a lifetime. She refused to show any now.

But as she finished showering and walked into their room, she was caught off guard. A cup of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows was on her bedside. She didn't even realize he knew exactly what she had been drinking every time he came downstairs and joined her…

For a second, she considered letting him in. She had never felt pity from him. Not from the man that hated it more than anyone.

She considered admitting just how scared she was. How scared she was to touch an open drink, to be in Hosu, to talk about the incident to Hawks, to look at the mark on her arm and know someone had done something to her she wouldn't remember, to look at her chest and admit that the scar now there matched the scars she's had since she was a kid…

That... she wasn't okay.

But...-

Looking away from the mug, she was silent as she went to bed.

-...She didn't.

Katsuki Bakugo set the extra mug on Red's nightstand, drinking his own tea as he waited. He had felt sick, living through her memories. It didn't help that Brainiac's words kept running through his head like a broken record, either.

"You think dragging a small part of the truth out of her, after yelling that her struggle to be here is an insult to your precious little dream, suddenly means you understand? You understand nothing of what happened that week!"

Brainiac had been right. He hadn't had a fucking clue. And after spending so much of his time trying to figure her secrets out, he now wished he hadn't.

He couldn't get the image out of his mind of Red screaming on the gym floor as she clawed at her ears, her memory flashing around him. It had sounded just like the screaming from the night he first broke down her door.

Before, he had never wanted to hear the screaming again because it kept him up and haunted him. Now, he never wanted to hear it again because he knew what she was screaming about. And because it would haunt him if he couldn't physically remind himself, and her, that she was here with him. It's hard trying to remember it was in the past, when he had seen and felt it only hours ago.

Brainiac may have been right in calling him a bully at the time, but he had been wrong about him understanding nothing. By that match he had already started to realize what his assumptions about her had blinded him to. He had already begun to piece together that it wasn't a false illusion he saw at the USJ, after she had yelled back at him earlier in the festival. He had even begun to realize that, in his mission to keep from getting too close to the drunken woman he had labeled as irresponsible, he had missed something that everyone one else seemed to have already picked up on.

It had been so obvious, how had he not seen before that moment? The Monkey bodyguard, the teachers not using her real name, the school allowing her to drink, her jumpiness, her desperate drinking during the alarm, the screaming that night…

Red returned to the room in her pajamas, damp hair falling in tangles around her shoulders. He didn't say a word as she pulled her hair back into a braid and replaced the bandages around her ears. He pretended not to notice her hands shaking. He pretended not to see all the scars there that the shorter layers of her hair usually hid.

Watching her carefully, he frowned. He wasn't stupid. It was obvious the woman was playing at some game of 'I'm fine'.

Besides the break in her composure the morning after the party, he hadn't seen any reaction out of her. It was like she walked into the shower broken, and for good reason, and had walked out like it had never happened.

The only time it had come close was when Hawks goaded her yesterday. And today…

His eyebrows furrowed as he watched her.

She should be screaming. She should be crying. She should be breaking down. It hadn't even been a few months, and she had been held captive for a week apparently, been in the hospital after the USJ, been drugged at a party, and been informed that she was involved with the Hero Killer... He had seen the memories, and he wouldn't blame her cracking.

But she hasn't.

Red sat on the edge of her bed, frowning. She reached to trace around her ears, only to find the bandages there, and sharply pulled her hand away.

"Drink your damn sugar water before it gets cold." Katsuki ordered, taking another sip out of his own.

He ignored her soft 'thank you' as she picked up the drink, giving her an embarrassed 'tch' as she looked his way.

They sat like that for a while, his eyes on the red skin in the crook of her elbow, her neck, and her wrists.

"I'm fine, Bakugo."

He glanced up at her face as she spoke, wishing he could read her mind as well. But she broke eye contact, bringing the covers up to her chin as she faced away.

And just like after her shower the morning following the party, she closed off once again. As if today had never happened.

It wasn't long before it started. Katsuki obviously hadn't been able to stay asleep, despite the hot tea. If he was honest, he would admit it was because he figured this would happen. So of course, instead he blamed the tea.

He sat up in his bed, letting the covers fall off his bare chest as he rubbed his eyes. The whimpering continued, and he figured he didn't have long before it turned into screaming. If he kept waking up and thinking about what he had seen today, he'd probably scream too.

He thought about when she had shuffled over to him in his room, blanket wrapped around her like a child during a thunderstorm. How her small hand rested on his arm, the woman sleeping quietly.

"I hope I didn't keep you up when I slept in your room... I was trying not to. I usually don't have nightmares when I'm touching someone. Takes me out of my own mind, I guess."

As she started thrashing, he let his feet touch the cold floor. Was he really considering this? She had seeked him out last time, right? He wasn't going to get any sleep if she started screaming anyway. And to be honest, having her near him would remind him that those memories he lived through today were just that. Memories.

Katsuki let out a tired 'tch', and walked across the room. He could see the sweat on her moonlight pale skin, and sighed, waking her up.

This time he was ready for her fight or flight response, bracing himself against the outside bed frame to avoid being pulled into her flailing fists. He let out a grunt of effort as she panicked, eventually whispering, "Fucking stop already, shit!"

To his surprise, she did stop. Her scared blue eyes blinked back at him before closing off, frustrating him. "Er, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Her voice was hoarse, and she cleared her throat as she looked around her, taking in the room.

He was too tired to care about tact at this point, knowing she'd just say she was fine if he offered instead. "Tch, move over."

"W-what?"

He rolled his eyes at her flushed face, visible even in the dark room. "Did you lose your hearing in your sleep?"

She narrowed her eyes, and he could tell how guarded the action was. Looking away in annoyance, he offered his hand for the little doubtful woman.

He tried not to seem surprised by how soft her small hand felt in his large calloused ones, and thought about his reasoning instead for the little mind reader.

It wasn't pity, or feeling bad, or any of that shit. It was pretty selfish, honestly. He just wanted her with him to reassure himself that she was still there, that way he wouldn't think about what he had seen.

Maybe also to prove that he understood now, since he hadn't understood when he confronted her at the Sports Festival.

And last, to make the screaming go away, along with his own troubled thoughts.

He looked back and met her eyes as she looked at him.

"This is just so I can actually get some damn sleep tonight. Got it, Freckles?" He grunted.

It wasn't.

She could close herself off as much as she wanted. He had spent weeks just trying to figure her out, and that was when he wasn't trying to get back her damn attention. So he didn't mind waiting now either. If she wasn't going to reach out, he would.

She nodded, scooting over. As he climbed in, he let his arm rest on her waist like he had the last time they did this, and she closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

"I know."

Her tone told Katsuki that it wasn't the words he said out loud that she was responding to.

Letting his hand fall on her waist, he finally felt less on edge. She was here. Not in that lab, not on the ground at the USJ, not screaming, not with Brainiac, not with Monkey or Deku or anyone else. She was here, with him. Since her eyes were closed, Katsuki allowed himself to finally relax, before closing his eyes as well.

And it was quiet for the rest of the night.

A/N: I was constantly editing this chapter. Just gotta post it, I guess!