A/N: You get to see the League again! Did you miss them? I know I did!

The designated 'living room' area was a former meeting room, and you could tell - large windows along one wall had long since been covered with long rectangular metal sheets and secured by large bolts on each corner. A long table sat in the middle, dusty and worn from years of use and from being left to rot.

Instead of regular chairs, Kurogiri had found some spare stools from their new hideout to bring in so that nobody would have to sit on any of the boxes that littered the room at the edges. All For One sat at the head of the table in front of the windows, and though the room was dimly-lit with flickering bulbs, his presence seemed to command attention all the same.

Once every member of the League had been teleported in and had sat down, he beckoned to Izuku, who cautiously came in with a tray of drinks.

"Still tolerating the kid?" Dabi drawled, raising a brow as the teenager sat a cup of water in front of him. "Shigaraki, you're growing soft."

"Shut up, barbecue," the younger man snapped, picking up the cup and taking a swig. "We have to work together for the plan to work. That's all."

"Izukun," Toga cooed with a wide smile and blushing cheeks, reaching out to grasp his arm. "Sit next to me, pretty pretty please?~"

Izuku looked up at his father with wide eyes, silently wondering what to do.

All For One nodded, smiling in amusement.

"O- okay," he timidly answered, and as he sat the last cup of water on the table he pushed the tray further into the center of the table and sat down on a stool next to her.

Toga beamed in triumph as she grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder.

"Alright," the large man began, folding his hands together. "Now that everyone is present, we may begin."

The villains turned to look at him, and even Izuku was intimidated by the sheer might that his father's aura exuded. He swallowed heavily and allowed Toga to squeeze him tighter.

"As you were informed, my wife went missing this last Friday." He explained. "As none of you have turned up any information on her whereabouts, I went to look for myself - as did Tomura."

"I found some guys who were involved in the kidnapping," he said, holding up the business card. "One of 'em told me that there's gonna be an auction this Friday. You don't have to be a genius to figure out what that means."

"Human trafficking," Shuichi spoke up in disgust. "We had those guys visit my hometown a few years ago, but since it was full of mutants they didn't take anyone."

"They took her because she's a high-profile civilian," All For One continued, a look of utter displeasure clouding his face. "Not only is she unskilled in self-defense techniques, but she's also Izuku's mother - and anyone who's paid attention to Yuuei in the past year would know of Deku's exploits."

Izuku winced almost imperceptibly at the hero name.

"So what?" Dabi spoke up, catching the rest of the table's attention. "We rescue one civilian woman? How do we even know he didn't give us false info?"

"Some people will do anything to save their ass when faced with death," Tomura retorted, fixing him with an intense stare. "You, out of everyone here, would know that."

Dabi's eyes flickered with emotions unknown, and he grinned dangerously at the younger villain. "Watch what you say, Scarface," he uttered, low and menacing.

"Children," All For One chided. "Dabi, I would not bother if she wasn't an important piece of the puzzle. Not only is she Izuku's mother, but she's my wife."

"But why should we care?" He enunciated. "Trust me, I wanna see those scumbags burn like the rest of you do, but why should we care about a rescue operation like that? You'd have it handled."

Izuku's hand met the table, causing several others to look up in surprise.

His face was darkened with seething anger, though his expression remained deceptively calm as he asked, "What about yours?"

"Eh?"

"What about your mother?"

Not missing a beat, the flame villain answered, "She was a cowardly fool."

"Better to be a coward than dead," he spat.

Tomura instantly looked up, his lips stretching into a glower.

"I get it," the black-haired boy kept going, his eyes not leaving Dabi's icy-blue ones. "My mom never did anything great for me, either. She couldn't even stop me from getting bullied at school. She couldn't help me chase my dream because as soon as I was told it was impossible, she gave up and expected me to, too."

Though the young man looked flippant, the perceptive around the table could see the changing of emotion in his eyes as he fixed the boy with a half-lidded stare.

"For most of my life she treated me like I was fragile because I couldn't achieve my greatest dream," he continued, his fists clenching. "But she never gave up on me. She never once believed that I was a lost cause despite my own handicaps."

"You know nothing about me, kid," Dabi's voice became colder, with an edge that warned him to stop. "Don't act so high and mighty about it. You'd never understand."

"I understand enough," he retorted. "Do you hate her for it?"

There was a second, a very quick second, that he hesitated - and the slightest amount of uncertainty in his gaze spoke volumes to the young hero. "Of course I do."

"Because I think, from what I know," he continued, before muttering, "which is next to nothing," he ignored Tomura's snort of amusement and his voice raised again, "is that despite her living in fear, I don't think she ever gave up on you either."

"The half-pint's got a point," Tomura sighed, before looking at the flame villain with a wry smirk. "Your mom raised you better than this, Zippo."

"If the boss wasn't sitting right there I swear on my own grave that I'd set you on fire." Dabi threatened, though his voice seemed half-hearted compared to its usual sharpness.

"Please refrain from threatening each other with death when at a meeting," All For One said pleasantly, though there was an undercurrent of a threat underneath. "Moving back to the plan, I feel as if those men are hiding something. I'm sending two of you out tomorrow to stake out the area and to find the best way of entry."

"Tomura." The young man looked up in anticipation of his mentor's words.

"Dabi." The flame villain raised a brow.

"You two will be my primary spies," he added. "Toga, Twice, you both will be my backup. In case something happens to either of them, don't hesitate to go in yourselves."

"Can I disguise myself like I did last month?" Toga exclaimed happily.

The villain's crimson eyes gleamed with malice. "Do whatever you want."

She cheered, raising Izuku's arm with hers, and Twice cracked his knuckles. "I don't know about this - I'm super pumped! Hell yeah! "

"Kurogiri, Compress," the man continued, "you both will be on standby. In case of emergency, I'm sending both of you in to clean the place up."

"And finally, Spinner," his eyes landed on the gecko. "You will be the absolute last resort."

"Aw man," he grumbled with a sigh, folding his arms. "The one time I get the chance to see some action, and I have to be stuck behind."

"I'm going too," Izuku spoke up.

"Absolutely not," both Tomura and All For One insisted at the same time.

"As much as I admire your dedication to getting your mother out safely," Compress added, "this is something you will not want your name to be muddled in with."

"Exactly." The boss nodded emphatically before turning to his son with an apologetic smile. "You still want to be a hero, don't you?"

"Of course," the teenager replied slowly.

"If you were to be blamed for the operation as well as the League, I don't believe that's a transgression even your new school could forgive. Especially not from someone as… experienced as you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it, stupid," Tomura snapped, causing him to look over with a glare. "You're already infamous among the largest hero schools for running into fights without a second thought. If you brought that energy to Besupin, you'd be too much of a risk to afford keeping."

"Ah, Besupin Academy?" Compress chimed in with surprise. "I've heard of them quite a bit around here. Their record for villain attacks is pretty decent; though they've been attacked before, they've always fended them off and rebuilt what was lost with minimal government input."

"Yeah, see?" The twenty-year-old rolled his eyes. "They aren't gonna appreciate a danger magnet bringing more villains to their school. Especially not after Yuuei booted you for being a traitor."

Izuku's body stiffened at that accusation, and this time his glare turned serious as he hissed, "That was a false accusation."

"Yes, indeed," Hisashi added with displeasure coloring his face. "Our contact is still at Yuuei as we speak. Currently they haven't been found out, and thanks to Izuku being their scapegoat it's given them more security in the fallout of losing both their star first-year pupil and their greatest alumnus."

"So we go in, get her out, blow the place up?" Twice asked.

"If opportunity arises to destroy any chances of this happening again," the villain's voice grew cold, and it sent a shiver down his son's spine, "then so be it."

A/N: ShigaDabi? More like villain BakuDeku lmao

Seriously y'all, the parallels between them are getting way too hard to ignore. I love throwing little sprinkles of canon in where I can, just for extra angst potential. I may not ship it but y'know, I respect it now. They've truly matured since chapter 1.

Also, adorable Toga! I missed having her in the fic! Trust me, you'll see more of her soon.

Anyways, please tell me what you thought.