Authors Note: I'm skipping ahead a touch but trust me it's worth it. I own nothing. Yes Grand Torino is here but it's coincidence. I own nothing.

Back Alley

Iida was going to die. No one knew where he was, the hero killer was standing over him sword at the ready. Then there was a pop and the hero killer wasn't anywhere. Iida blinked. A voice echoed around the alley.

"You know, I see what you're going for here. And honestly I sympathize, I really do. World's a fucked up place. But killing kids really isn't going to help." He blinked. There were two figures standing in the alley now instead of one. One of them was smaller, sitting on top of a small dumpster, her chin in her hand looking over the hero killer who was now farther down the alley away from both Iida and the unconscious hero on the ground. She looked almost disappointed. She sighed still looking at the hero killer.

"Are you with that villain Shigiraki?" The girl shook her head, her green hair moving just slightly.

"Fuck that guy, seriously I would help you kill him if I had a choice. Sadly I don't. He's a dick with no spine, the brain of a five year old and the powers of a destroyer. It's not a healthy combination. He's noisy and he butts his head in where he's not welcome. He wasn't supposed to contact you. I was. But you're a hard man to get a meeting with." Iida was more confused than ever. This girl looked like the girl Todoroki had described helping them save All Might at the USJ. Bakugou had stayed tight lipped about the whole thing which was a bit unusual for the brash boy. But Todoroki had confided in Iida that the girl had helped Hagakure and given him information about his brother, one he'd thought long dead. But what was she? If she was here to recruit the hero killer she couldn't be a good person.

"This is none of your concern!" He cried out from his spot still frozen on the ground. The hero killer advanced on Iida. There was another pop and the girl appeared between them.

"Yes, well I'm pretty good at sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong too. But I'm less noisy than Shigiraki."

"Why do you work with him if you hate him?" Her hands clenched into fists.

"Because I have no choice." The fight was hard for Iida to follow, she moved too fast, and not just with her teleportation. She bounced around on pieces of debris that floated at the flick of a glowing hand. But the hero killer was just as good and just as fast. A slash to the cheek just under the girls mask and she collapsed to the ground frozen with a loud swear. Stain stepped forward and flipped her onto her back with a foot frowning down at her. He tilted his head to the side.

"What did you mean you have no choice?" She blinked at him for a second like she'd been expecting a sword to the face instead of an interrogation. Blood dripped from her cheek as she stared at Stain.

"Just between us? I mean you're probably going to kill me anyway so…" She seemed to contemplate him for a moment then she spoke again. "I mean what I said. I have no choice in what I am. And I don't mean life forced me into this. I mean that if I don't do what I'm told someone I'm unfortunately related to kills someone I love, or worse." Stain regarded her for a moment.

"If you had a choice, if this unfortunate relative was out of the picture, what would you do?" The girl laughed.

"You're going to laugh at me." Stain stayed quiet. The girl sighed. "If I could be anything in the world, I would be a hero. Someone like All Might, someone who saves as many people as they can." Stain regarded her for another moment. Then he turned away from her. She frowned.

"Wait weren't you going to kill me?" Stain shook his head.

"You saved this boy. He is tainted with vengeance, he came only for revenge, with no regard for the life of another. But you had nothing but regard for life, lives I can safely assume that you were supposed to be taking. At least if your orders come from anyone like Shigiraki." He glanced at her.

"Killing's never been my proficiency. Because I never let it be." Stain smiled slightly.

"The world needs more people like you. A shame about that relative of yours. We could have worked together in another life." She glared.

"I don't work with people who kill kids and call it justice." Stain shook his head slightly and lifted his sword above Iida again but a stream of fire sent him leaping backwards. The only odd thing was that the fire was bright blue. Iida managed to look up at the figure at the end of the alley. He was dressed in dark clothes and would have been impossible to see if it weren't for the bright blue flames he was throwing. Once Stain was well passed the three unmoving figures in the alley the fire user spoke.

"Why do you always get into such shit Boss?" The girl on the ground snorted.

"I'm just always where I don't want to be Dabi."

Shoto Todoroki spotted the flames before anyone else did. He remembered the blue fire.

He'd snuck out to watch his siblings playing. He never got to join them, his father wouldn't allow it. But sometimes his tutor let him sneak away to watch them play. She felt bad for him, he knew that. But she was nice. He hoped his father never found out. They were playing with their quirks in the yard below. He watched as a flower of blue fire blossomed in his brothers hand, carefully watched by their mother. Toya had more powerful flames than Shoto did, he knew that. But the temperature ran so hot that it often burned him too.

Shoto took off at a run, away from his father. He didn't listen as Endeavor tried to call him back. If it was Toya, he had to know. He had to know what had really happened that night. He followed the glow of the fire across rooftops racing across gaps with his ice. It was all he ever used. His father had bribed his way into getting Shoto for the internships but he refused to work with him, he stayed stubborn. He didn't care, he would be a great hero without his father's quirk. There was a fight raging in this back alley though and a lot of things were catching fire.

"Watch where you're shooting Flame Brain!" Dabi scoffed at the nickname. She still hadn't moved. He would guess the hero killer was responsible. Izumi was a good fighter but with her quirks she was better suited for distance combat, not close. But she was a hero at heart, something she'd often been punished for. She'd have tried to save the two others in the alley. "And don't let him get a taste of your blood. He's got a paralysis quirk."

"Smart and has her heart in the right place, a rare combination." Stain said, twirling a knife before throwing it at Dabi. But the flames were too hot, melting the blade before it even came close. He knew he couldn't keep this temperature up for long. But he had to get Izumi out of here and he knew, paralyzed or not, she would not leave without saving the other two in the alley. He swore under his breath as his fingers began to tingle. They'd be burning soon. The last thing he expected was a layer of ice to come skidding down the alley, under all three paralyzed people and drag them to the other side of the alley. He cut off his fire as the tips of his fingers began to sizzle. Most of the alley was alight now except the other end where there were now four figures, not three. The only one standing was somewhat familiar to the fire user, though it had been many years since he'd seen him. He grinned at the sight of candy cane hair and determined heterochromatic eyes. His grin widened further as a green head of hair became visible behind him. She was back on her feet.

"Run along Dabi, we've got this." He nodded and took one more look at his little brother before he turned and raced out of the alley, dodging a knife on the way.

Maybe she shouldn't have sent Dabi off, but she'd counted on Shoto Todoroki having both powers. She knew Dabi wasn't ready to fully confront the family he'd left behind. And she'd been paralyzed again. A slash to the ankle downing her, for at least six minutes. She'd been counting before. But Shoto was protecting her, ice ringed around her, keeping out stray knives. She squirmed as feeling returned. If they kept the hero killer fighting for much longer then the power would wear off the others too. But she wasn't sure if they could keep going like this if the boy was only using half his power.

"You know if you're not going to take this fight seriously you should just leave." He didn't look at her, too busy following the hero killer with his eyes but the ice under her moved, depositing her beside the copy of Ingenium who'd been downed when she arrived looking for Stain.

"What are you talking about?" Izumi scoffed at the question.

"It's all well and good to not use all your power against your classmates in a friendly sports match, but he will kill you and your friend if you don't start taking this seriously!" She looked at the blue haired boy. "I mean I assume you two at least know each other. I know you're in the same class but I wouldn't want to assume." Before Iida could answer her, though he was a little bewildered that she was making small talk at a time like this, Shoto growled.

"I refuse to use my father's power. I will beat him without my father." From his spot next to her on the ground Iida saw the bright green eyes behind the black red and gold mask roll sardonicly.

"Well that's incredibly stupid. It's not his quirk, it's yours. If you let him take your power you'll never be free of him. Trust me I would know." That statement seemed to throw Shoto off balance for just long enough for Stain to throw a sword at Iida. He slammed his eyes closed but the pain never came. He blinked and found the sword floating inches from his face, glowing purple. The girl stood favoring her injured ankle.

"Get your shit together Shoto Todoroki. If you don't, get out of the hero business before you get someone killed." That ended up doing the trick. Iida watched on in a kind of amazed horror as flames sprouted from Shoto's left side and the look in Stain's eyes changed from anger to panic.

The fight ended quickly after that. Shoto thought that she would run, well teleport but she didn't. She sat down on the pavement and inspected her ankle with a sigh.

"Well that's gonna take forever to heal." She stuck her tongue out at the hero killer who was unconscious, a rock to the head and Iida's Recipro Extend to the stomach had taken care of that. Iida was sitting near her staring at her like he didn't understand what he was seeing. The hero who had been leaning against the wall for the whole fight was upright again, finally. Shoto found a long length of rope and cut it in half with one of Stain's knives. He tied the hero killer up first then turned to the girl. She was still wearing her mask. In fact her outfit hadn't changed since he'd seen her at the USJ. Except she wasn't wearing the long coat anymore. Her suit pants were torn now and there was still a small amount of blood dripping from the edge of her mask where Stain had first cut her. He hesitated. The hero, who introduced himself as Native, frowned too.

"I know it doesn't seem right. But vigilantism is a crime." The girl laughed a little bitterly.

"He's not wrong." Iida looked frustrated. "Though really is it a crime to help others. Not really, but it is frowned upon to do what I did." She shook her head and nodded to Todoroki. "Go ahead, I don't blame you. You're just doing your job." Todoroki still found a sour taste in his mouth as he bound her hands together. She smiled at him. "Sadly, I can't really walk on this ankle." Native stepped forward and lifted her over his uninjured shoulder. She shrugged. "Fair enough. Shoto dragged Stain and Iida followed slowly at his side, both arms still dripping blood.

"That looks pretty bad." She spoke nonchalantly from her spot over the hero's shoulder. "I could help." Native raised an eyebrow.

"How can telekinesis and teleportation help with injuries?" The girl laughed.

"Who said those were the only tricks I have up my sleeve?" The three of them frowned at her. Two quirks was one thing, Shoto had two quirks but three? Iida hesitated then stepped up to where she could reach him. She slowly reached out and her hands glowed gold for a second before she placed them on Iida's arm. The bleeding slowed then stopped. He flexed his hand, then his arm. He was distracted from the now healed arm by a large yawn. He frowned at the girl. She looked exhausted.

"Don't think I'll be able to do the other arm sorry." She brought her tied hands up and rubbed her eyes despite the mask covering most of her face. Iida felt a surge of guilt. She had to be about their age, how had she managed to get stuck in this life? An unfortunate relation, or at least that's what she'd told Stain. Had she realized he was still conscious when she'd said that. She didn't seem too upset that she was captured either. In fact she looked downright comfortable. He didn't get much time to think about that though as they were met at the alley entrance by a group of pros, all of whom were stunned that they'd captured the hero killer and someone else. But before they could set straight that the girl didn't work with the hero killer something swooped out of the sky and plucked her off of Native's shoulder with a screech.

It was a large winged thing with an exposed brain, a Nomu and it took off to great heights, the still bound vigilante dangling from its talon like feet. Shoto couldn't tell if she was still conscious or not as Endeavor raced forward and readied a blast. An older hero stopped him, warning him that he'd hit the girl. The Nomu circled a tall building and set down with its cargo. But someone else was up there too, he wasn't a clear figure from this far away but he picked up the girl and both of them dissolved into nothing leaving the Nomu behind to circle around and dive back at them, only for a knife to go flying into its brain from just behind Shoto.

The hero killer was back on his feet, the ropes falling to his sides, his mask had come loose too. He glared at the surrounding heroes with contempt and raw hatred in his eyes.

"You call yourselves heroes. But none of you could save her. Would any of you have thought to save someone like her? Someone you call a villain, a vigilante. Someone who is more of a hero than any of you will ever be! No. You are all pathetic pretenders! None of you are true heroes! There is only one true hero in this world. All Might is worthy!" Every hero present was frozen in fear, none of them even able to move as the hero killer advanced on Endeavor. Then he froze. They would find out later that a broken rib had punctured his lung but Iida and Shoto had a conversation while they were stuck together in the hospital. They both agreed that Stain was right about one thing.

The girl had been far too eager to be caught. She could have teleported away from them at any point. But she didn't. She let herself be bound, let herself be carried like a sack of potatoes, had saved Iida from permanent nerve damage in his hand. They had to find a way to help her. Shoto had another reason to help her. The man who'd been using his fire to try and stop the hero killer. He'd gotten a glimpse of his face as he ran. He knew those eyes. Even though the girl had called him Dabi he knew it was his brother. He would find a way to save them both and the first step to that was talking to Bakugou. He knew something about this girl, something he hadn't told them.