With such a bleak statement, the group of hostages, rather than falling into a state of outward panic, instead grew more introverted, their thoughts screaming rather than their voices. Kiko glanced at Ainu, who stared at the floor with wide-eyes, her mind obviously scrambling. She then looked around at the other people in the room - the family of four, the elderly couple, the two security guards, and those who'd just wanted a quiet day to themselves in the art museum. How would it go down? Would there be any warning? Would she be one of the first ones or would she have to hear while everyone else was killed? She couldn't even imagine which was worse.

No. This couldn't happen. She couldn't let this happen. All of the people in front of her - they had lives they needed to continue, people they needed to go back to, and she was no different. She'd had an amazing sixteen years of life, but she was not ready for things to end here. Something. There had to be something…

"If we don't do something…" Another gloomy, terrified looking guy finally broke the silence in the room, his voice quiet. "The way you just made the situation sound, I guess we're all pretty much screwed."

"Mommy," the youngest of the two little boys, who looked to be about four, looked up at his mother worriedly. He'd been timidly watching and listening to the adults the entire time, but only upon hearing the word "die" did he seem to finally understand the situation. "Are the bad guys gonna shoot us?"

The mother noticeably choked back a sob, and Kiko felt her heart break a little too. The woman hugged her son a bit tighter. "No, Sabito. Of course not, honey. We just have to find a way to stop the bad guys, that's all."

He and his brother weren't oblivious to her distress however, looking at their mother with even more concern. Almost instinctively to keep their mind off things, Kiko asked, "Hey, Sabito, what do you think we should do to stop the villains?"

The little boy observed her curiously for a second before thinking about her question. "We should call Red Riot. He stops bad guys all the time…"

Despite the overwhelming situation, Kiko actually felt her heart swell a bit with pride and a small, comforting smile formed on her face. "Do you like Red Riot?"

"Uh-huh. He always looks super cool and...and he's really hard like a rock. He could punch the villains really hard if he came."

"Yeah, how nice it would be if we just had the heroes on speed-dial…" someone commented quietly, sarcasm and distress in their voice.

Oh my God. Stupid, Kiko! Stupid! "But we do."

"What?"

"My dad!" she quietly exclaimed. She looked at Ainu, who's eyes were wide with excitement and understanding. "If I can get to my phone, I can call my dad!"

The guy who'd made the comment earlier looked at her as if she was nuts. "And...how is that supposed to help us?"

Her head compressed a bit at the tone of his voice as well as his less-than-helpful remarks. Oh, if they weren't in a life-or-death situation, she would school this dumbass.

Thankfully, Ainu spoke for her. "Red Riot's her dad!"

The whole group now looked at Kiko with wide eyes.

"Holy crap, really?"

"I didn't know he had a kid."

"What are the chances?"

Since she didn't get to necessarily brag about it all the time, Kiko felt a little proud once more. She felt the memory of last night's argument briefly resurface, but she once again pushed it back. Now wasn't the time. If anything...this could hopefully make up for it...even a little. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs how proud she was of her fathers, but that could wait for later.

Looking between the security guards and the ushers, she asked, "Where do you think they would keep all of our things?"

"Before you two arrived, when they were grabbing all of our phones, I saw them heading towards where the elevator is," the usher from before offered, her voice more hopeful now. "There's a help desk over there, they may have just hid them there."

"It sounds like no one's over that way either…" Kiko added, tuning her hearing for a moment. "As long as I can stay out of the sights of the guys at the ends of the hallway, I'm golden. I could even freeze them with my quirk if I have to - "

"Now, just hold on a minute," the older guard sternly interjected once more. "If you think we're just gonna let you walk out there by yourself, young lady, you got the wrong idea."

"But it's like you said, the more people that go, the more complicated things get. I'm less likely to get caught if I go by myself."

"Hey, chief, maybe she's right," the younger guard came in her defense. "I mean her dad's Red Riot, so she's gotta be hero-course on top of some of the stuff he must have taught her, right?"

"You bet." Crap, she may have said that too quickly. Still, the guy was at least partially right. She'd never felt so grateful for the impromptu mini combat lessons her dads had given her. Besides, she knew plenty of heroes and hero-course students. If telling a little fib could get her in contact with her father, save everyone, and stop the robbers, then she was fine with it. "I might not be U.A., but I'd say I'm pretty good."

"Hey, a hero's a hero in my book," the elderly man encouraged.

The old guard stared her down for a solid minute, obviously skeptical. Kiko couldn't really blame him. He probably knew that if she were actually hero-course, she would have come to the same observations he had earlier, or at least caught on quicker. Fortunately, after what felt like forever, he told her, "If I hear one sign of trouble, I'm coming after you, got that? Someone young like you isn't going to die alone."

The reminder that she could get shot or worse didn't exactly help her confidence, but despite that, she actually felt quite strong in that moment. Suddenly, something Uncle Izuku once said came to mind: I think smiling is one of the greatest weapons against fear, whether it's someone else's or your own. As a hero, it's my job to make sure people know everything's going to be alright. If I'm smiling, then that makes it easier for them to too. That's what I've always admired about your dad, about Kacchan...whether he's actually afraid inside or not, he always gives villains the biggest grin to make them know he'll never back down. That look is scary when you're on the receiving end of it though…

Kiko flashed the guards with a confident smirk that hopefully gave Papa a run for his money. "Don't worry. I'll make sure the cavalry arrives in no time."

"Katsuki, just call her."

"Oh, yeah. And have her hang up on my ass the second she sees my name. If she wants to talk to me, she'll freakin' call me."

Kirishima sighed in exasperation at his husband's stubbornness. Per usual, he had to be the mediary, but...this time felt different somehow. Katsuki and Kiko were two sides of the same coin and got into mini arguments all the time over silly stuff, but last night seemed to be a whole level of seriousness that had never really happened before. He'd only caught the tail end of their fight as he walked through the door, but what he heard Kiko say had practically stopped him in his tracks, and she'd completely ignored him as she stormed out. Still, while his daughter had a quick temper, she had a huge heart that caused her to apologize if she said something even slightly rude to someone who didn't deserve it. He'd confirmed with Ainu's mom where she was, but he figured he would give her some space to simmer down. Eijiro honestly had expected her to call or walk through the door this morning so they could all talk, but that hadn't happened yet. The worry was eating at him, but he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Come on, you know she won't do that, and you know she feels sorry for last night. She probably hasn't called you because she thinks you're mad at her."

"I am mad. I'm pissed." Bakugo fiercy plopped the paperwork he'd been working on off to the side of his desk, his signature glare on his face. Eijiro noted how he hadn't said he was specifically mad at Kiko. It was also telling that he wasn't shouting. No, he knew his husband was ten times as frustrated with the situation as he was and just as clueless about what to do. After all these years, Katsuki still had his special way of displaying his feelings, a way that Eijiro loved but recognized could be problematic at times. Circumstances like these are what pushed his communication skills to their limits.

"Once we all talk this out, everything's going to be fine," the red-haired hero assured not just his partner but himself, "but one of us has to take the first step. We're her parents. We need her to know that we love and support her, that she can come back to us no matter what."

Katsuki observed his husband as he spoke, his expression now thoughtful and maybe even a bit somber. Once he finished, the blonde glanced down at his desk, his gaze far off. His lack of a comment plus the look in his eyes was enough to make Kirishima's heart ache a bit. "Katsuki…"

Before he could say something encouraging, his phone began to vibrate on his own desk. Eijiro rushed over, expecting to receive a call from a dispatcher, but his whole spirit immediately lightened at the sight of Kiko's name on the user I.D. He held the screen up for Bakugo to see, flashing a huge, relieved smile. "Hey! It's her!"

Katsuki noticeably perked up a bit, but as Ei picked up, he could see the slight pout that appeared on his husband's face as he grumbled, "Of course, she calls you…"

As he went to speak, Eijiro suddenly remembered the things they would have to talk about, and his voice came out slightly cautious. "Hey, sweetheart. Whatcha doin'?"

His question was met with silence. Raising an eyebrow, he wondered if she'd accidentally hit his number, which would be embarrassing on both sides, especially in their predicament. That thought immediately went out though when he picked up some shaky breaths on the other side, something that didn't help the worry that'd been hibernating inside him. "Honey?"

"Dad…" Kiko finally spoke in practically a whisper, her shaky breaths now obviously coming from holding back tears. "I'm sorry, I...you have no idea how good it is to talk to you right now."

Eijiro could feel his heart crack at her voice. He knew she'd be feeling sorry, but it sounded like she was more torn up than he'd expected. "Hey, hey, you don't have to cry. I feel pretty good myself now that you called. We've been -"

"Dad, I'm so sorry, but I don't have a lot of time." His daughter seemed to compose herself rather quickly, though there was still a bit of shake to her voice on top of dead seriousness. "You need to come to the Ahch-To Art Museum right now. It's being robbed."

Kirishima had been hit pretty hard more times than he could count, but hearing that statement come out of Kiko's mouth seemed to jar his brain harder than any punch. He was definitely taken off guard by the sudden turn of the call, but the implications of what she'd said caused him to immediately tense up. "What?"

"Ainu and I came here to see this dumbass Portugese exhibit, and these guys suddenly showed up with these automatic weapons. They gathered up everyone in the museum and are holding us in the curator's office while they steal these rare paintings. There's a lot of security on them though, so it's taking them a while. If you and the police come over here now you can stop them."

"What the hell is it?" Katsuki calmly spoke up halfway through what Kiko was saying, his eyes narrowed upon seeing his husband's change in demeanor. Not wanting to cut Kiko off by passing along the information, Eijiro quickly switched to speaker phone and came over to him so they could both listen.

"One of the security guards thinks there's about ten of them, but nobody's actually seen all of them so we don't know for sure," she continued, speaking quickly and concisely. It sounded like she was wary of being caught, something that sent Ei's stomach into knots. "Uh...I'm not sure what any of their quirks are. They've mostly just used guns to threaten us. One guy has a weird bubble power though - that's how they caught Ainu. Um, what else?...This all started maybe...fifteen minutes ago."

"Okay, Kiko, where are you right now? Where are these guys?" Eijiro wanted so desperately to be her father in this moment, but it was clear they were on a time crunch. This was the last thing he'd been expecting, and the worry had hit him like a sudden avalanche, but he needed to be a hero right now. The quicker he got information from her, the faster they could save her.

Bakugo was already on his phone to the police chief, a few feet away so their calls didn't interfere. Ei could tell he desperately wanted to move right now, to bolt over there and beat these guys to a pulp, but he also knew that they couldn't just go in blind. Still, his expression was an inpatient one. "Tsukishima, grab however many of your lackeys and meet me and Red at…" He briefly turned to Eijiro. "Where the hell is she?"

"That art museum downtown."

"That big art place downtown...Yes that!...There's some damn idiots robbing the place! We'll explain when we get there! And no sirens! They've got hostages."

And just like that he hung up and began to get the rest of his gear on, though he stayed nearby to listen to what his daughter was saying. Ei felt bad for Tsukishima - Ground Zero was never one for giving very detailed reports, especially when he was in a hurry. His husband made a quick mental note to apologize to him later before immediately giving all of his attention back to Kiko on the other line.

"I'm at the help desk in the middle of the second floor, over by the elevators," she told him. "Everybody else is in the curator's office a little ways across from me. There's a few of the guys patrolling on the upper floors, but most of them are in the limited-time exhibit on the first floor, not far from the front entrance."

"Do you know how they came in? Or how they plan on leaving?"

"Uh...no."

"Okay." Despite how concerned he felt, the man couldn't help but feel so much admiration for her in that moment. She'd managed to sneak away and contact them without arousing any suspicion, and she was providing them with all kinds of helpful info. He wanted to feel like maybe he and Katsuki had done something right, but in the end he knew that this was her bravery at work.

"You're awesome, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you." Damn it, last night's events combined with the severity of this situation were really making this hard. He was not going to choke up on her, not when he needed to be at his best. "Just head back to where the other people are and be careful. Take your phone with you too. We'll be right there."

"Don't do anything nuts, you hear?" Katsuki finally spoke to her for the first time, making his way over with everything but his mask on. He still had his "go" face on and his voice held its normal bravado, but his eyebrows were also furrowed, concern lacing his expression. If Kiko were actually there, Eijiro knew he would have hid the worry better, but he thankfully didn't care as much anymore about showing it in front of his husband, which was a relief, seeing as they'd been married for over a decade now. "Make sure you leave some asses for us to kick."

Kiko took another shaky breath, almost as if she were a little surprised to hear her other father's voice. Her words came out less confidently now and more like a small whimper. "Okay, Papa...Just...get here as fast as you can, okay? That security guard...he...thinks that these guys also stole something in America...and the hostages they had there -"

Her voice suddenly cut off, though the call obviously hadn't ended. Kirishima's knuckles were white as he gripped the edge of the desk, his heartbeat reverberating throughout his body. After a couple seconds of tense silence, he said, "Kiko? Are you there?"

No response. The timer of the call kept ticking underneath Kiko's name. Anxiety taking hold a bit, Ei went to go say something again, but Katsuki firmly gripped his shoulder, eying the phone suspiciously. It was then that the redhead made the obvious connection: someone was nearby, and their daughter could not talk right now. As the two men stood helplessly in silence for a moment, all Eijiro could think was Don't make a sound. Please, please…

A few more seconds passed before a slight rustling sound came through from the other end, as if she were repositioning it from against her clothes back to her ear. The two of them exchanged weary glances before Kirishima spoke more quietly this time. "Kiko?"

"Sorry." He and Katsuki went rigid and wide-eyed when a deep male voice responded. "It seems she's a bit busy."

The call ended.

"NO!"

"YOU BASTARD!"

Both fathers lunged at the phone as they screamed, as if they could grab the man and pull him through to their side. Any worry they'd been feeling was now replaced with pure fear and anger. Realizing there was nothing they could do with the phone, the two simultaneously whipped around and bolted toward the exit, Eijiro quickly grabbing his face guard on the way.

"You take the car! I can get there faster with Explosions!"

"What!? Katsuki, save your quirk! We're gonna need it!"

"The faster I can get there, the faster we figure out what to do! I'm not gonna be goddamn pathetic for her anymore!"

That declaration threw off Ei's steps a bit, in addition to putting even more strain on his heart. He was going to say something to combat that statement, but Bakugo surprisingly stopped running for a second, turning toward his husband with a fiery resolve in his eyes. It was a look that Eijiro only saw in some of their more perilous battles, one that he'd fallen in love with but had to admit was bone-chillingly frightening to be on the end of.

"I'm gonna look those bastards in the eye and tell them that my baddass of a daughter got them in this mess and that if I never hear her call me Papa again, then someone's gonna die today. And I freakin' mean that, Ei."

Kirishima stared at the blonde in awe for a moment before meeting his eyes with an equally determined and fierce glare, nodding in agreement. Yeah...the one thing they cared about more than each other…

"Let's go."

Am I being purposefully vague with the argument because I'm planning on flashing back to it later? Maybe...

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