They were silent the whole ride back to U.A. Subdued and mopy despite their overwhelming success. "We're doing our best to get the League and return you students back to your homes. This has been so unfair on all of you, and we're doing what we can," Nighteye swore. They both nodded, and walked to their dorm silently.

When they entered, they were greeted by everyone, since they'd been missing two days and hadn't gone back to sleep there the night before. And they saw the soot in their hair. "Where the hell have you been?"

Ace sat down and said, "We vaporized the rest of the nomus. They were in an underground lab in a former hospital." Everyone was silent, before Iida asked if they had permission to do so. "Of course. How would we get there without transport and evacuate the hospital without help?" It was a dumb question. Iida shrunk back, noticing how stupid a question it was.

Tsu asked if they were okay since they looked depressed. "Yeah. We just got to go home for a bit, and it was hard to leave again," Ace replied honestly. "I think I'll go take a shower and go to bed." They asked what about dinner. "I'm not very hungry tonight." They were, they just wanted to be alone.

Luffy said he needed a shower as well and that both of them were exhausted.

They were pretty much silent the rest of the night before they both went to bed at the same time. They did see the things they'd bought Eri were there, so they'd give those to her the next day. And the next morning, Aizawa asked how it had gone.

"We killed all the nomus. They shouldn't be coming after us again. Hopefully," Ace said. They were still tired. Aizawa congratulated them. They both nodded, and he asked what was wrong, since they weren't acting like they'd done a major development for chipping away the League's power. They'd lost multiple members now, and they were in hiding for sure. That was obvious.

Ace truthfully said they just wanted to go home. Aizawa frowned and said that they would return the students to their families once everything was over. Once they were all safe. Ace and Luffy in particular.

The day went slowly, and they kind of wished they hadn't gone back home for as long as they had. It made them sad and depressed. When they got back to their room, they took their phones off of vibrate and got to work on their homework. It was nice, to not have to think about anything but their work. Their catch up work as well.

It was dinner time by the time they got a call from the home phone. "Hey," Ace said cheerfully. Luffy was excited to talk to Gunhead, too. Seeing him only made them miss him more. Ace turned the phone on speaker.

"We know what you did to our new supply of nomus," a cold voice said. One they hadn't heard in a long time. Ace immediately started recording the call. "If you don't want us to kill your guardian, you'll come here unarmed and alone. You have until midnight to get here or we'll kill him," and the line cut off.

They were breathing quickly, but opened their eyes, thinking as rationally as they could. He had called on the home phone, so Ace called Gunhead's cell phone six times before he picked up. "Ace? What is wrong?"

Ace and Luffy grinned. Gunhead wasn't actually being held hostage. "Don't go home, okay?" He asked why. "We got a call from Shigaraki on the home phone. He broke into the house. He told us to come to the house unarmed and alone or he'd kill you."

"What?!" Gunhead asked in shock. "I'm fine, I'm at work. I'm not even on patrol right now. I won't go home. We need to gather as many heroes as we can." He was calm as well. He was the one to teach them to be rational in scary situations. It had helped them with multiple things from school work to missions.

Ace nodded and Luffy called Nezu. Everyone had the main school number in case there was an emergency and a student needed help. Especially once work studies had resumed. "Hello?" the mouse asked pleasantly.

"We got a call from Shigaraki from our home phone. He said he would kill Gunhead if we didn't arrive alone and unarmed. But Gunhead isn't at home and is safe at work. We have to gather everyone, the deadline is midnight." It was 6:12. They had plenty of time.

Luffy hung up before he said anything else and called Nighteye. He got into work mode immediately. "I'll gather everyone from yesterday. We'll be there immediately."

Lufy said, "Let us come, please." Nighteye flat out denied him sternly. "But-!"

"No buts, they are after you two in specific. It is lucky that you didn't panic and go immediately, but no one will risk you against them when they're already so angry with you two." Luffy said they were allowed to go find the nomus and helped a lot then. "That is true, but that also required you two in specific. We have plenty of heroes that can take the League."

Luffy was pissy and asked, "Like last time? When All Might even went, too?"

Nighteye pointed out that the battle was only turned against the heroes once All For One came into the picture. "I understand your wish to go, but that just won't happen. No matter how strong you are, we will not use you as bait. You are still students, and nobody will put you in harm's way like that."

Ace said, "That's not fair!" For once, they were acting like bratty teenagers. But Gunhead was still on the line and commanded them to not leave their dorm building. Ace protested, but Gunhead said that if they did get involved, that they would be confined to a tent in the backyard if they came back home. Both of them were sour.

"At least keep us up to date on what's happening. They broke into our home, we deserve to know what's going on," Luffy insisted. Nighteye said they'd know as soon as they captured the League. "But you'll be a victim to Shigaraki's decay power! We won't, we have haki."

"Boys. You are heroes, but you don't need to save everyone every day. Let the adults do the work for once. Trust us like you did when you let us be the ones to save Luffy." They both deflated, understanding their points. They begged them to not let this time be a failure, too. Begging them to be successful so they could return home. Nighteye sounded sad, but promised they'd do their best.

They were kept on the line with Gunhead for a while, him not being one of the heroes to go and risk anything. He was the supposed target. But they really wanted to lure the twins out of the school and go home to die. That was what Shigaraki was thinking. But this was a stupid plan. Was he so impatient that he wouldn't actually get a hostage?

Nighteye sent them a photo of the huge group of heroes they had prepared. They were going to wait till nightfall so they could surround the neighborhood, just hoping there would be no civilian deaths. It was like the Shie Hassaikai battle. They couldn't warn everyone on the street or the neighborhood without giving their presence away prematurely.

But Chiaski wasn't reckless or stupid, he didn't do things out in the open like Shigarakai was doing. He didn't cause scenes on purpose so he never attacked the neighbors or any innocent people. It didn't make him not a villain, but it made him not a foolish one. Shigaraki was foolish and messy with this plan. He was angry or maybe desperate as he had lost any chance of using the nomus. Those were gone for good, and they lost their hideout from the brothers hacking their computer.

They waited in their room until 10:45 before they got a call from Nighteye, meaning he was alive! Please, please let the mission be a success. They were begging the universe or any god if there was one. Anything!

"Your rational thinking saved many lives, boys," Nighteye said. They both gasped, then held their voice before quietly asking what had happened, if they caught them. "Shigaraki, Dabi and Mr. Compress were caught on the scene and are all headed to Tartarus, helicopters with gun turrets and dozens of heroes in cars are escorting them to jail.

"The other three were able to get away on foot but the police easily apprehended them. All of the known members have been caught. They were not Chisaki, who had plans and failsafes. The League of Villains had already been pushed to the brink into hiding and poverty, and they were desperate for something to go their way, but that was what doomed them," Nighteye explained.

Ace asked if their house was still intact. "It will need a new front wall and some repairs, but the house is still standing." Ace and Luffy broke into quiet tears. "We'll talk to the school immediately about when students may return home."

Luffy sniffled and agreed, him and Ace hugging. "Your rational thinking was the cause of the success," Ngihteye praised.

"You can thank dad for that," Ace said with a watery smile. They would go home soon, and then be formally adopted, finally moving on completely from their old life. The pro-hero asked them to not tell any other students at the moment, not wanting to get their hopes up in case there was any chance that they would not be able to return home. They promised they wouldn't.

He thanked them and hung up before Ace and Luffy called Gunhead immediately. "Dad?"

"You guys! I'm so proud of how rational you were!" They didn't say anything about Ace calling him dad. They always referred to him as Gunhead to others and him, but they didn't feel caged anymore, and knew they would be seeing him soon. They could be a real family! Luffy laughed and said it was thanks to his teaching.

"Can we be a family after this? Can we get adopted?" Ace asked in a small voice, sounding unsure. He didn't think Gunhead's mind was changed, but he was afraid there would be another reason they couldn't go back home.

"Of course!" Gunhead said enthusiastically. "But will you miss your friends?" Ace said they'd rather come home than be with their classmates all the time. They'd see them at school anyways. "I am so happy with you two. I took in some pretty amazing kids." They both grinned, and thanked him.

They were on the phone for a while before both of them were mentally exhausted. "Go to bed, boys."

"Promise you'll be okay? Call us in the morning?" Luffy asked in worry. Gunhead said that he'd stay with a friend if that would make them feel better. They asked for him to do that, as it would make them feel more secure that their dad was safe and sound. That they weren't happy only to be crushed if some other League of Villains character appeared.

They wished him goodnight and fell asleep with tears in their pillows, coming from their closed eyes even after they were sleeping.

-x-

They went into the common area in the morning after checking in with Gunhead, who told them he'd been staying with Death Arms to make them feel better, and found everybody guled to the TV.

It was the news, reporting that a mass amount of heroes had gathered to a residence and apprehended the League of Villains. "Heroes from the scene described the villains as 'desperate and disillusioned'. A threat was made to two students from U.A. from the villains but those students called the heroes, and saved many lives by doing so. The League members are being taken to a high personnel prison where other high profile villains are being kept.

"As far as the authorities know, all members of the league have been apprehended. U.A. has yet to make a statement about what they will do with the students now that the biggest threat to their lives has passed," the news anchor said. It showed a mugshot of all of the League members, all looking miserable or angry.

Shigaraki's full face was shown for the first time without the hand mask on. He was disturbing looking. And they were glad they'd never seen his actual face in person. "It was you, wasn't it?" Sero asked. "Everything happens to you guys."

Iida said that it only made sense, as they held a bigger grudge against Ace and Luffy than anyone else. "Yeah, it was us. They called from our home phone and said we had to go alone and unarmed by midnight or they'd kill Gunhead. We called his cell and he wasn't even at home and had no idea there had been any break in. We really wanted to go, as well, but Nighteye refused us. So a bunch of heroes went. We were told all of them were apprehended, no deaths."

The other students were silent before erupting into loud cheers.

"We can go home!"

"I can see my brother again!"

"My dog!"

"I can't wait!"

There was nobody upset, everyone was generally happy. It was true, they'd rather be with thier families than their friends. The school was gathered early that morning, teachers fetching the students quickly, and they were in an assembly. Everyone was restless and excited, happy and smiling.

"As many of you must've seen on the news, the League of Villains was apprehended. And the last of the nomus have been killed. The school is working with the hero society to plan on when we can return you safely to your homes, and resume school how it had been at the beginning of the school year.

"We are all so grateful for your flexibility to continue to come to U.A. even after needing to say goodbye to life with your families. We'll let you know by tomorrow what will happen next. Class is canceled until we know for sure. But just be relieved the League of Villains can no longer terrorize any of our precious students."

The students all cheered, jumping up and down. None of the teachers stopped them from doing so. They celebrated the fact that the league had finally been caught. After months of them being contained to campus and only able to go off if they got permission, which was hard considering which teacher you had.

Nobody was in the dorms that day, the students organized a barbeque out on the grass, all celebrating together. The hero courses weren't shamed for once, now that the source of their hatred had been caught and taken to prison. It was a short day, everyone was so happy. But also incredibly long while they waited for news of what would happen next.

It wasn't the next day that they found out, but that evening. Aizawa came into their dorm and announced the next step, in his bored voice, like usual. "The police and hero society has told us that there are no more League villains out there due to intensive interrogation and all of the members were either dead or captured.

"Thanks to Ace and Luffy, the nomus were gone as well. You will all be returning home by the end of the week. Get your stuff together and be ready to go back to your homes. Anyone who cannot go back for some reason will be moved to a dormitory shared by those who cannot go back home."

Many of the students were in tears, so happy to go back home. Aizawa smiled at all of them, a true smile for once. "You've all been through a lot since enrolling here, and it is finally over. You can go back to being regular students."

They nodded happily. After a while of celebrating, Ace and Luffy went to give their presents to Eri. Midnight let them inside, and they made a beeline for the little girl, who was coloring in a coloring book. She looked like such a normal little girl it was wonderful. "Eri, we got you some presents." She looked at them with wide eyes and stood up, putting a pack of crayons on her page to block their view.

They sat on the carpet floor and Ace and Luffy gave her the presents wrapped in blankets. "Wow!" she said when she found she had a new nightgown that looked exactly like the not-ice princess's outfit from Frozen. And she was also happy with the pascal stuffed animal from Tangled. "Thank you!" she said and hugged them hesitantly. They encouraged the hug and returned it.

"We're glad you like them," Luffy said.

Eri said she heard that everyone would be going home now. She sounded sad. "That's true, but don't worry, we'll still visit you. And Mirio as well," Ace replied honestly. "We're happy we get to go see our dad again. Maybe we can introduce you some time. He's a hero, too. He saved us and took us in, like U.A. did for you. We have a lot in common."

She gave a tiny, tiny smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. They watched Frozen again with her, and she mouthed along to the words. Mirio came when they texted him and joined in with the movie watching. He was happy he got to go to his own home as well. Everyone seemed happy. They didn't come across one person who was upset about it.

They'd all grown tired with the dorm life. It was fun at first for most people, but that had faded by now. They would be going back to being a regular school soon. By the end of the week. It would be hard to adjust back quickly, but it was better than just not going back in general.

The day came where their dorm was packing everything up. Ace and Luffy had boxes of their belongings, and family members and movers were allowed on campus to help their kids get things back home.

Gunhead had his truck and they put their things in the back. They grinned to everybody and said they'd see them next week. It was a little bitter sweet, as they'd all grown very close, but they were all more happy to go back home with their families, their pets.

When they got back home, the front wall was surprisingly already fixed. It was surprising but welcome. They put all of their things back in the small and cozy bedroom, putting their clothes in the dresser and wardrobe.

They soaked in being home, just sitting in the living room. It was so much smaller than the Heights Alliance dorm, but that didn't matter. They might be the only ones around when Gunhead was at work, but they wouldn't be lonely as long as they had one another, and they had so much more privacy.

The next day, Gunhead had a surprise for them. "Where are we going?" Luffy wondered, sitting in the back seat of the four doored truck.

"You'll see."

Ace and Luffy looked confused, but happy to be back. "I want you to know I'll be adjusting my work schedule so I can spend more time at home with you both. After you moved out, I regretted not being here more often." Ace said that they weren't upset that he had a heavy work schedule by being a hero. "Still, it's my wish to be home more often."

They arrived at a building that knew was the courthouse. "I planned it yesterday and already filled out the paperwork long ago. But we're going to officially turn it in today and start the process. I'm finally adopting you, though you've been my kids for years already. It's just now going to be official," Gunhead explained.

Ace and Luffy couldn't help the tears as they got out of the truck and walked in the Gunhead, both of them holding hands. They watched as the paperwork was turned in. It was simple, a simple thing, but it meant a lot to them. Just seeing it started wasn't something most would care about. But they really did.

After that, they went to dinner at a real pizza joint. "We finally get real pizza without having to somehow sneak it in," Luffy said happily between bites. Ace nodded. Gunhead told them they could go out to eat as much as they wanted.

All day, there was a huge group chat going between everyone in the class, all talking about what was happening or how happy they were. Many had gone out to dinner at their favorite places with their parents or other family. The school year still had two more months, two more months of normal school.

Nobody was upset that the dorms were closed. At least, not that anybody said.

Finally turned in the paperwork to be officially adopted!

There were so many happy replies or celebration emojis. They were back at home, sons by someone who actually loved and cared for them. They even got a cat to keep them company, a thing they didn't need but were happy with. It was black and cute. It was a shelter cat. They would help it adjust to the home like they had been. It felt like just yesterday that they were out on the street, running to Gunhead and begging him to help them.

That day changed everything. They couldn't imagine going back ever again, and were finally absolutely positive that they wouldn't be forced out again. Still, it had lingered in their head. They hadn't noticed it was there until it left for good.

They were going to a top hero school, with tons of close friends, and returning to a loving home. Life was good and they looked forward to the future. Safe and loved, heading to their dream they'd always had. They were going to be heroes. Happy ones, at that. Always making everybody smile.

It was a lot easier to make others smile when your smiles were completely true.

A happy ending! Hope you enjoyed!