...

Tsunagu reluctantly stood outside of a rundown warehouse. He knew that Katsuki and the others were inside. The tracker installed on Katsuki's phone told him as such. The explosive blond must have forgotten about it for he hadnt turned it off as he usually did when meeting the vigilantes. All the better for him but he still felt guilty.

Angry voices could be heard even from his position. It sounded like the Frenchman, Echo he thought the vigilante was called. Something about the night had riled him up.

Tsunagu knew a lot had happened in the fight against Quake had his followers. Dozens if not hundreds were dead. It would have been far greater if Izuku hadn't arrived with his team. Or had taken on Quake himself. What happened during that time he didn't know. Whatever it was it scared Tsukauchi and those in the police department. Those who worked with and respected the vigilantes.

For that reason Tsunagu was here checking on Izuku and the others. Knowing the three as he did he didn't dare enter the building without permission. They would have booby trapped the place to the gills. Without help he would most certainly be injured and lose whatever trust he had gained from the three.

So instead of entering Tsunagu knocked loudly against the wooden door he found. The angry voices from inside suddenly stopped. It was as if someone had stolen them away. He waited knowing they were still there now trying to figure out who he was and how he found them.

Admittedly if he didn't have the tracker he wouldn't have known where to look. The district was full of rundown warehouses. The stink of dead fish alone was enough to keep the curious away. In the times he had picked up Katsuki they had been in different areas of the district. All of which were blocks from this particular warehouse. Tsunagu couldn't deny that Izuku despite his age was brilliant. This was the perfect hideaway.

Above him there was the rough sound of a window opening. Tsunagu looked up to see a familiar green haired bleary eyed teenager look down at him. He looked far worse than what the hero had been expecting. It was as if all the life had been drained out of him. Even when facing the possibility of jail there had been fire in those eyes. He was scared now. Not for his safety but for the safety of Izuku in his mental state.

"Jeanist," called down the boy, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he replied easily.

He had to be careful here. One wrong word and he could destroy all the repore he had built up. The kid as far as he could tell didn't trust anyone outside of his group. Katsuki despite being childhood friends with Izuku was still feeling like an outsider.

Izuku stuck his head back inside and called out something. There was a moment of silence before he then said to Tsunagu, "Echo will let you in."

...

Izuku leaned heavily on the wall as Henri brought Best Jeanist up. It hurt for him to breathe and all he wanted to do was collapse onto his sleeping bag. With Jeanist there it was too dangerous to let his guard down.

Zach asked worry glinting in his grey eyes, "Are you okay Izuku? You look as if you're about to fall over."

Izuku grunted, "I just want to sleep. It's been a long day."

"That it has," agreed Zach agreed but anything else he would have said was interrupted by the return of Henri and Jeanist.

To his surprise Jeanist was in his civilian clothes. All of it was denim from what he could tell. A multicolored bandana covered the lower half of his face. Katsuki came out from the other room with Orion in his heels. At seeing Jeanist, Orion blinked in surprise but didn't comment.

Jeanist couldn't however help himself, "I thought you didn't have adults in your group, Midoriya. This is something of a surprise to find..."

"Call me, Orion," said the man, "The warehouse was my idea. Easier defensive position and typically hard to find."

"Katsuki forgot to turn his tracker off," explained Jeanist.

Izuku looked to his friend. Katsuki for his part froze and his hand went to his phone. They knew Jeanist had put a tracker in his phone. It was a safeguard in case something happened to the explosive quirked boy. He even approved of the tactic it was just annoy to think it brought him here.

To Jeanist he questioned curtly, "What do you want, Jeanist? You could have waited for Katsuki to call you. You could have called your sidekicks to attack us. Arrest us if you really wanted to."

"If I wanted to arrest you," scoffed Jeanist, "I would have done so when I pulled you out of that building. But I wanted to check on you after the battle with Quake. From what I heard you took a real beating and didn't get proper medical attention."

"I was checked out by the paramedics."

The look he was a dead giveaway about what he thought of that. Izuku had to wonder if he would make a fuss. He wouldn't get far with an argument here. Outnumbered and mistrusted.

He watched as Jeanist paused took a breath and then said, "I did as you asked. I looked into All For One. I tried talking to All Might. I'd have an easier time pulling teeth out of a wolf. I even had a visit from Nighteye insisting I back off. That All For One is dead."

Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. One would think the two heroes would have more common sense than that. Especially given the fact that All Might was going to pass on One For All to Nighteye's intern.

"You don't have to trust me completely yet," pleaded Jeanist his light green eyes showing the sincerity of his words, "But trust me with something. Please."

Izuku's chest clenched tightly. He owed Best Jeanist. It may not be the same man in front of him but he still owed him. Jeanist had once sacrificed himself for a quirkless teenager who he didn't know. Continuing to hold back was dishonoring that sacrifice. Yet it wasn't just his decision to make.

To his left Zach nodded his acceptance. He would follow Izuku's lead in this endeavour. Whether it was to continue as they had been or to tell the hero everything. Katsuki was tapping his fingers nervously on his jacket. He wouldn't meet Izuku's eyes but he knew. Katsuki wanted to trust his guardian with everything but refused to betray his friends.

Henri caught his eye and for the brief moment he nodded. Orion unsurprisingly mirrored the action. Orion was all for They should tell him. It was however his decision for as Henri practically screamed at him he was the leader. Without him the group would fall into madness. Izuku didn't believe it. He knew that Henri was a better leader if he put his mind to it. He just wouldn't for a reason Izuku never understood.

Taking a breath Izuku centered himself. Getting worked up would not help him here. This was his decision. Did he trust Best Jeanist? That was the question here. Looking back at the hero he knew he did trust Best Jeanist. There were many things he couldn't explain but that one was easy. Like he had said. If he wanted to expose Izuku and the others he could have done so. Instead he kept their secrets with very little in return. It was time to uphold his end of their bargain.

"You will need to sit down for this," Izuku said simply.

Zach and Henri both let out relieved breaths understanding what that meant. Katsuki went to go get chairs while Orion gave him a nod. Once Katsuki returned with a few. He left with Zach leaving just Orion and Echo with them. All four of them took their chairs.

"Where to begin," questioned Izuku more to himself as he carefully sat down.

"The beginning is usually the best," teased Best Jeanist lightly.

Izuku gave him the deadpan look that comment deserved. Though he wasn't exactly wrong. To understand All Might and All For One's feud first one had to understand All For One and One for All.

First he had to know, "What do you know about the Dawn of Quirks?"

Jeanist blinked before leaning back in his chair appearing relaxed, "It was a turbulent time in the world's history. Violent even. Not many records have survived from that time."

"Which allowed one of the oldest villains to thrive even in our time," said Izuku with a low growl.

"Oldest?"

Right he needed to explain. Izuku tried to lean forward in his chair to rest his arms on his knees. That lasted only a few seconds as he had to lean back. His protesting ribs made it impossible to breath leaning forward.

"Understand you are the first person we have told about this outside of Katsuki," he explained, "Don't interrupt me or we may never get done. It all started during the Dawn of Quirks around 200 years ago. Two brothers were born to what appeared to be a normal family. One was thought to have been born with a quirk. The ability to give and take quirks at will. The other brother was sickly and thought to be born normal."

And so he gave the information on All For One and One For All as given to him by CIRO. He watched as numerous emotions fluttered across Jeanist face despite his best efforts. Katsuki for his part was showing similar emotions but wasn't able to hide them. He had been told about happened after but not what came before.

With the explanation of the first also came the other One For All users. That got real emotion from Jeanist. He understood that they had been heroes in their own right. Heroes who would never be remembered as they should have been for fighting such a threat. It would only grow worse the longer they went on.

That's when they reached the present, "The current holder of One For All is All Might. Unfortunately because of his fight against All For One four years ago he has a time limit on how long he can use it. If I had to guess it's currently between 3-6 hours. In what will be our first year at UA he will choose his successor. It's why he will teach there. By which time he will only have about 3 hours left for using his quirk."

"What about All For One ?" Questioned Jeanist reluctantly.

Izuku sighed, "He's out there somewhere. Where?" He indicated to Echo, "We don't know. That is our main problem. So far I've made a few contacts out on the streets. If they hear anything I will know."

Henri picked up from there, "Charlie and I will be leaving Musutafu soon for other cities. We know where All For One will make major strikes before the Fall. We hope to be set up in those cities before the strikes happen."

Jeanist asked confusion clear on his face, "The Fall? You've mentioned that before. What is the Fall?"

Izuku and Henri exchanged a look before Izuku answered softly, "It is what is to come. The Fall began in 20xx."

Jeanist blinked and said with confusion, "That's two years from now."

"Exactly," he stated, "In two years All For One will make his first move against the heroes. It won't be made by his protege under his direction. They attack the USJ to kill All Might who over used his quirk. His protege is called Shigaraki Tomura he has a decay quirk that at this point requires five points of contact. This was the start of the League of Villains a group that would slowly bring doubt upon heroes and the Commission. When it evolves it won't require that. At the USJ he will kill two of the Class 1-A when Katsuki is in his first year at UA. Eraserhead will be severely injured as well. What helped in this was a creature known as Nomu. They are bioengineered creatures that have multiple quirks upon them. At the time of the USJ incident there was only one kind a black Nomu. Enhanced strength and healing. They are capable of being killed but it incredibly difficult without Orichalcum weapons. Or very specific quirks."

"How do you know this?" Jeanist asked his voice tight with emotion.

Izuku sighed, "I'll skip to the Fall. At the UA graduation for Katsuki and the students who were able to survive their three years. I was 18, Charlie was 20, and Echo was 22. I was going to attend as a family friend when Katsuki sent me one of our special messages. It was to avoid the graduation. At first I didn't know or understand why."

His hands clenched into fists. That wasn't the worst despite all the losses. No, the worst was what came after that.

Jeanist asked his green eyes softening, "Do you need a break?"

Vehemently Izuku shook his head, "No if I don't do this now I won't be able to. It's just that during the Fall I was useless. I was worse than useless. I got you killed."

Jeanist reached out for him and Izuku flinched back. There was a flash of hurt in the light green eyes before he settled again. He waited for Izuku to be ready.

Swallowing back bile as he remembered what he had seen on the TV he said, "A portal opened at the graduation ceremony. I don't know how Katsuki had known what was going to happen or if it was just instinct but he saved my life. If I had gone I would have died there like so many others. Through the portal came Nomus. Not like the one or two we had seen before. Four dozen had been dropped into the ceremony. Shigaraki appeared there as well. He was after the now hero Lemillion, the Ninth and final user of One For All. He had been invited to the ceremony with All Might who against all odds was alive."

Here Izuku had to pause his green eyes staring blankly off into the distance as remembered. Oh how he wished he could have forgotten. He should have been there that day. He should have died with his soulmate.

Pushing through his dark thoughts he continued, "It wasn't just Japan that was attacked. Other countries were attacked at the same time by different members of the League. All the major countries were attacked and their defenses destroyed. Nomu soon went out of control and heroes were killed by the hundreds. Including my..."

He choked up there. One hand came up to grip his shirt where soulmate mark was. It was a name in red and black Aizawa Shouta. He should know it that was the feeling he knew it. Every part of him felt this way but he kept himself from searching for them. It was too dangerous for him to search for his soulmate. What he intended to do would end up with him losing them again.

Jeanist asked softly, "Who did you lose?"

"Everyone," he whispered his voice breaking slightly, "My mother died early on. Despite her kicking me out at sixteen she was still my mom. My soulmate died in the Fall. I never knew him or how he died. Just that he died painfully."

Jeanist said kindly, "I'm sorry. Have you tried looking for them?"

"I can't," he denied, "They would be in danger if I did."

Henri said directing the conversation, "Let's get back to the Fall."

Izuku took a breath held it and continued, "For months after the initial Fall it was chaos. Everyone was trying to figure out how to survive and hope that we would be saved by heroes. It was during this time that you died and soon after I joined the remnants of CIRO."

"CIRO?"

Izuku nodded, "Japanese Intelligence agency. I was taken in by Alexander Conklin and David Abbott. They trained me for the renewed program of Medusa. Despite everything I was given a callsign one you know well now. All of us were given one as a way to protect the group."

"That makes sense."

"In the mines," he said with a far off look, "they found a metal ore that in it's pure form can stop quirks in it's tracks. It has to be mined and forged without quirks. These weapons turned the tides of the war. They are able to stop Nomu and Villains alike. Including All For One and Shigaraki."

"Delta," whispered Henri, "Killed both of them once. Until we came back here."

Jeanist stared at them before he asked, "How?"

Izuku's cold eyes turned to the grey showing his killer side, " A bow. He should have been expecting it after finding so many arrows in his Nomus. At least they were under his control for a short time after the Fall. Within half a year they had dispersed and formed their own communities and evolved. Unlike typical evolutions it doesn't take nearly as long. Some of them can even breed. Or turn their victims into Nomu."

There was a new light in Jeanist's eyes. He understood the implications. You could lose a friend or family member and grieve for them. Only to have the shell of their body without it's mind to come after you. It was traumatizing.

Almost reluctantly Jeanist asked, "Was I one who turned?"

A shudder ran through Izuku as he fervently denied, "No. You... You were..."

He saw what happened as if it was yesterday in his mind eye. The glazed with death eyes staring at nothing. Blood soaking into the ground from where he was cut in half. He could hear the Nomus and screeching for blood. They were hunting him. He had to find a place to hide then find his way back to base.

Where was Echo and Charlie? Were they caught in this? He threw himself back trying to find a place to hide. Pain flared in his ribs but he pushed aside the pain. Somewhere small but sturdy place that a Nomu couldn't get into easily.

"Zuku? What? Let me go, Echo!"

Katsuki? But he was dead? Delta jumped up from his position. Danger. He has to get away.

"Delta," came Charlie's hard voice, "Hey we are safe. Focus on me."

Delta met the grey blue eyes of his comrade searching them. Charlie wasn't wearing his combat gear. He was wearing regular clothes that weren't common since the Fall. What? Now he glanced around the room he was in. He wasn't in the city he was in a warehouse.

Izuku shook his head and pushed aside Delta trying to reorganize his mind. Another look around told him he was safe with friends. Zach was crouched in front of him. Katsuki was being held back by Henri with Orion standing in front of Jeanist who had gained his feet after Izuku slipped into his darker side.

Zach asked, "Are you back with us?"

Slowly he nodded, "Yes sorry."

Henri released Katsuki and questioned, "It's okay, Izuku. Was it a memory?"

A shudder ran through him but he nodded. It wasn't of this time. He knew that now but he couldn't just throw them aside.

Zach said coolly, "I think we need to set this aside for the night. Come back another day, Jeanist."

Izuku growled, "No we need to get this out now."

"Izuku," murmured Zach sadly.

Izuku glared and Zach sighed. He knew that the younger would not back down from this. Jeanist knew most of the story now it was time for him to learn the rest.

"Okay, Izuku," conceded Zach.

With aid from Zach and Echo he moved back into his chair. Slowly Jeanist also sat back in his chair his eyes never leaving Izuku. Once they were settled with Katsuki and Zach leaning against opposite walls.

Jeanist asked, "Okay what happened next?"

"Training," answered Izuku, "Alexander Conklin found me in the wasteland that was our country. He took me in and trained me. I was pushed towards the Medusa. An operation to bring down All For One. The operatives, those who are quirkless went out to kill Nomu and members of the League that they could."

His hand reached under his shirt and pulled out his dog tags. They lay heavily in his palm reminding him of the day they were handed over. Alex had handed them over inside their hideout in front of the remaining members of Medusa. It was supposed to be a big day in the group but they had lost four members. So it was solemn event.

Henri took it up when Izuku was silent for too long, "Out of the two main villains Shigaraki is the most dangerous. He has the intelligence of All For One without his care. All For One didn't have the insanity that Shigaraki has. He wants to rule the world not destroy it."

Izuku continued solemnly, "To kill him Orichalcum is needed. It will stop all the quirks he has stolen and stockpiled. Shigaraki requires stealth when seeking to kill him. I killed them both."

Here he paused again exhaustion was filling him. He wanted this to be over. They were almost done though. All he needed was to explain how they got into the past.

He sighed, "The day I killed Shigaraki and returned to our headquarters Abbott told us of a plan. By this point we were what was left. Medusa was practically destroyed. A plan had been in the works for awhile from what he said. "There is no saving this world and we all know it. But if we go through with the plan we could create an alternate timeline that's separate from the original. Save it from becoming this one." That is what he said to us."

"Save us?"

Izuku held up a hand to stop him from interrupting further.

"There was a fifty percent chance of it working," he continued eyes glazing over again, "Three of us were given the chance to go. With a bag of equipment each as we weren't sure when we would get sent. Using the quirks of three people callsign Almanac with a time manipulation quirk and two women Anna and Seri. Their quirks were meant to amplify Almanac's. We knew it would send us between 10-15 years into the past. I was in my 13 year old body when I came back. Thirteen years so they were pretty close."

Jeanist breathed, "Time Travel quirks. Everyone thought those were impossible."

Henri said softly, "If it was impossible we wouldn't be here. The world would be destroyed beyond redemption. There were a few thousand humans surviving but food resources were gone."

"We have to stop it from happening," declared Jeanist, "I'll help you in any way I can."

The three vigilantes exchanged surprised looks. Izuku being the most surprised. He honestly had expected Jeanist to tell them they were insane. That they needed to see a doctor and this couldn't have happened. How? How was he so accepting?

"I'd be a fool not to believe you," said Jeanist answering the unasked question in their eyes, "You three have sacrificed so much to ensure the safety of others. You don't have to do it alone. Who all knows?"

Izuku laughed in a way that sent shivers down everyone's spines, "That's the thing. Only those in this room know the truth."

"Wait," nearly shouted the hero, "You haven't told anyone? Aren't you close with Eraserhead and Tsukauchi?"

For the first time Orion spoke up, "It's taken me this long to convince the kid he should out his faith in you. The other two might be older than Delta but he is the leader. They won't go against him for anyone. In this group Delta's word is law."

"Why would we tell them?" Asked Izuku quietly drawing everyone's attention, "They have no reason to believe us. We are vigilantes and the moment they figure out we are quirkless they will ignore everything else."

"Surely not," tried Jeanist, "They have more trust in you than anyone before. Surely they would listen."

Izuku sighed, "It all comes down to the label of quirkless. No one listens to us. Short of murder we are invisible in the eyes of the law. Even if they figured out who I was they wouldn't be able to arrest me. Just discredit and put the word out on the streets. We are many things but invincible is not one of them. Too many attackers and we would be dead. Then who would take up our work."

Jeanist opened his mouth then closed it again he seemed to be contemplating his words. Izuku was exhausted. Did he want to tell the two? Sure he did but he had more sense than that. He knew what happened to people like him who trusted the police. They ended up hurt or dead.

Katsuki said, "Maybe we should head out, Hakamata."

Jeanist looked over at his ward for a moment before nodding. He pushed himself back to his feet. An uncomfortable silence fell into the room as they watched Jeanist head towards the exit with Katsuki. There he paused and Izuku who was still in his combat gear had begun to pull his jacket off carefully paused.

Izuku glanced up as he tried to remove his jacket. What?

"Don't give up on us yet, Izuku," whispered Jeanist, "We may still yet surprise you."