I'M SO SORRY.

I didn't mean to just vanish on you guys, but this chapter… would not write itself. Writer's block sucks, and then I neglected telling you guys that I would be taking a break.

Agh, this is a horrible chapter as well. *sigh* Well, this'll be back to normal now. Hopefully.

You guys wanted a fight scene and the reunion, sooooo… I did my best.

Hawks quietly watched the clearing from his perch in the trees. It was dark. He hoped the other heroes would get there soon. He wasn't sure he would be able to catch all of the villains without endangering the hostage - the little bean sprout.

To be honest, Izuku was quite happy with his current situation. He'd borrowed Dabi's quirk (which could not end well, Hawks thought) and was playing with a stick, the end ablaze.

"Come on, Dabi-nii!" Izuku pulled him along with one hand. "We hafta stop the vampire queen!"

Toga giggled from her perch on top of a stack of wood pallets. "Be wary, adventurers! I'll suck you dry if you come too close!"

"Oh." Izuku hesitated, looking up at Dabi. "What do we do? Nii-san, she's going to drink our blood!"

"Set her on fire, kiddo." Dabi shrugged.

Izuku's eyes widened and he spun around. He liked the taste of Dabi's quirk; it was spicy, like the katsudon Kacchan makes! A brief moment of sadness crossed Izuku at the thought of the older boy, but he shook it off quickly. He'd see him again soon, Dabi said so! And he trusted Dabi. Probably unwisely. He still had a mark where he was burned before…

Izuku ran up to Toga's stack of wood pallets and pressed his hands to it. He furrowed his brow, concentrating, and blue sparks emitted from his palms. Izuku drew his hands away, hissing in pain, but the fire was set.

Toga shrieked good-naturedly, casually dancing on the burning wood. Dabi offered Izuku double-high-fives. "Nice job, buddy."

Izuku eagerly slapped them, then yelped in pain, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes. Concerned, Dabi quickly grabbed Izuku's wrists, turning his hands to inspect his blistered palms.

"Oh boy." Dabi groaned. "That's gotta hurt."

Izuku nodded, sniffing. Suddenly, he gagged, and Dabi felt his quirk return. Dabi scooped the toddler up and walked to his bag, pulling out some ice and bandages. He gave the ice to Izuku, who held it carefully between his hands. Dabi sat down in the grass next to the boy, preparing the bandages.

Toga hopped down from the burning wood just as the flames reached her feet. "That was fun!"

"We just burned the last of our wood, though." Dabi pointed out.

Toga stuck out her tongue. "So what? We're in the middle of the forest!"

"Okay, then go get some wood. I'll help once I wrap the kid's hands."

Dabi wasn't stupid. He knew Hawks was watching. It was a bit unnerving, to be honest. Like he was being hunted.

It was a good thing that he was on Hawks' side. Otherwise… well.

Hawks watched Dabi taking care of the kid. Honestly, it was adorable. Dabi must have younger siblings or something. Not that he'd say.

There was a small thunk as somebody settled on the tree branch next to him. Hawks glanced over to see the Dragon Hero, Ryukyu, watching the scene before them.

"Everything's in place." She muttered. "The purple guy is your informant?"

"Yup." Hawks confirmed. "And he's got the kid right now. Couldn't wait for a better time."

Ryukyu tapped the small radio in her ear. "Operation Bean Sprout is go."

Hawks and Ryukyu, and several other heroes, burst out of hiding from around the clearing. Hawks immediately tackled Dabi while Ryukyu grabbed Izuku and ran.

"Sorry," Hawks muttered to Dabi. "Don't want to blow everything."

"Of course not," Dabi said easily. "Neither do I."

Dabi's hands sparked violently and Hawks had just enough time to get out of the way. Dabi flipped backwards, putting distance between the two.

"Toga! Go after the kid!" Dabi yelled.

Toga squirmed from where she was pinned to the ground by Fourth Kind. "I can't!"

"I got him! He's lost forever!" Twice yelled, running in a dead sprint after Ryukyu.

"Who are you?" Izuku asked Ryukyu quietly.

"I'm one of your otou-san's friends, honey." Ryukyu told him. "Don't worry, we'll get you home soon."

"Oh, wait for Twice!" Izuku gasped, looking behind Ryukyu. "He's nice! But mean sometimes."

Oh boy, Ryukyu speed up. "We can't Izuku, don't you want to see your otou-san? He misses you!"

"Oh, yeah! I've missed him, too. Shiggy said I would get to be with my 'real' otou-san soon."

Ryukyu almost felt her heart stop at that.

The entire time Izuku had been gone - over a month now. Aizawa had been a mess. Depressed, would barely talk to anyone, would lash out randomly at anyone who breathed too loud. Present Mic had said Eraserhead hadn't slept at all. Vlad King had to take over homeroom for Class 1-A and 1-B, it got so bad.

Aizawa would be absolutely devastated to find out that Izuku wanted to meet his real father.

But, on the other hand, Ryukyu had to wonder - who exactly was Izuku's real father? He must be a villain, given the situation, but she knew only a few people actually knew. He must be pretty high up in the villain world if these villains were working for Izuku's biological dad (that's what Ryukyu assumed, anyway).

A villain popped out of the bushes ahead. Ryukyu swiftly shifted into her dragon form, carefully clutching Izuku in her talons. She leapt into the air and flew away.

Meanwhile, Hawks was making swift work of the villains, with the exception of the portal villain and the blue-haired leader, who was disintegrating his feathers one after another.

The high-school girl went down almost immediately. The lizard guy went down soon after. Dabi didn't even try to escape being pinned to a tree, knowing that a fall from that height would certainly not end well.

Suddenly, Hawks felt a pinch on his arm and all of his feathers fell to the ground. Dabi let out a yell as he was suddenly released. The portal villain caught Dabi and teleported himself, Dabi, and the leader away.

"What on earth…?" Hawks muttered, looking down at the numerous red feathers on the ground.

Fourth Kind ran over. "Hawks! What the heck was that?"

"I don't know…" Hawks' voice was progressively getting higher. "Fourth… I can't activate my quirk."

Fourth Kind reached over and plucked something off his arm. "You got hit with something." he revealed a dart sitting in the middle of his palm. "Like Fatgum's intern."

Hawks' heart jumped. "You think it'll come back?"

"Probably."

Hawks sighed.

-Meanwhile, Ryukyu-

"Are you okay, Izuku?" Ryukyu landed softly at the front gates of UA, turning back into her human form.

Izuku looked up at her, eyes sparkling. "Your quirk is so cool. Can you breathe fire? How fast can you fly? How high can you go? Do you eat-"

"Jeez kid." Ryukyu rang the buzzer. "Don't forget to breathe."

"Can I draw you in my notebook?" Izuku asked. The gate slid open, and Ryukyu scooped Izuku up to carry him inside.

"Sure."

Izuku cheered. "I've got a lot of colored pencils, so your picture is going to be awesome!"

Ryukyu spotted a figure in the distance, closing in fast. After recognizing the length of fabric the figure was hastily wrapping around their neck, Ryukyu relaxed. This person was not a threat.

"Where is he?!" Aizawa demanded firmly.

"Otou-san!" Izuku wriggled out of Ryukyu's arms and dashed to his father. Aizawa immediately scooped Izuku up and hugged him close. Izuku grabbed Aizawa's face between his hands. Sternly, he said, "You look tired, otou-san."

Aizawa laughed weakly. "I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

"I'm oh-kee." Izuku grabbed Aizawa's scarf.

Aizawa noticed the bandages wrapping his hands. "What the f-...What happened to your hands?"

"Burn!" Izuku squealed.

"Let's take you to go see Recovery Girl," Aizawa decided. The two disappeared into the building. Ryukyu turned and left the campus with a broad grin on her face.

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number: Thank you for bringing him home.

FINALLY. I'VE WRITTEN THE THING.

I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I've just been struggling with writer's block and Christmas and New Year's passed so fast! Then school started up and… yeah.

As much as I know you guys want updates, and as much as I don't want to disappoint, I need to remember that this is just for fun and I have no obligations. This is something I enjoy, and it will stay that way.

On a lighter note, my youngest cousin was born while this was away! She is very adorable and I will defend her with my life.

If you guys have any suggestions, tell me in a review or a PM, or send me a message in my social media (usernames and stuff are in my bio). There may be a bit of a wait, sorry about that, but I will try to do all of them.

Appreciate you all! ~BlackPolaris