They checked their gear as soon as they parked, but that didn't stop Midoriya from going over them again. From the corners of his eyes, Bakugou watched him pick through the trunk methodically, muttering under his breath as he reassured himself nothing would malfunction. Even if he didn't like him, the Suit was surprisingly knowledgeable when it came to weapons. Underneath his wild green hair was a wealth of knowledge. Too bad he was so fucking annoying that no one would want to talk to him about it, except Kirishima, who was too goddamn nice.

"At least he knows his stuff," Todoroki pointed out.

Bakugou snorted and reached into the bag of fast food to dig out a jalapeno popper. It was cold by now after the long drive, but he didn't care. Todoroki had bought more than enough food for two people, as if he'd been preparing for this to be his last meal. Maybe he was. There was a high possibility that none of them would make it out of here alive. Their surveillance proved that they were outgunned, outmanned, and mostly in the dark. Maybe that was why he suggested they meet in a shithole restaurant that he loved.

Leaning against Todoroki's car beside him, Bakugou tried to pay attention to the warehouse a way's down where Uraraka was being held. It was possible they were wrong - she could've been kept elsewhere while they were lured here - but he didn't think so. He couldn't have said why he believed that when it would've been the smart thing to do, but the background in the pictures Midoriya was sent matched up with his memory of the job he'd done here. Even Todoroki agreed on that point.

Despite his attention normally being laser-focused, every time Midoriya spoke a little louder, his eyes went to him. It irritated the hell out of him and he chomped down on the food a little more aggressively each time. Couldn't he freak out a little quieter? The fact that he was standing this close to Todoroki and not trying to murder him put him on edge even more. Once upon a time, the two of them were one of the best teams the CIA had ever seen. They got shit done well. Even after they cut ties and eventually worked together again, people knew not to cross them. They were a dangerous pair.

To others and each other.

Bakugou had forgotten how quiet Todoroki could be. It was disquieting. Stealth was a part of the job, one even he had become familiar with despite his loudmouth tendencies and explosive personality, but it was more than that for him. He was simply...quiet. That unsettled people, even him. Sometimes their superior officers didn't know what to do with him. He was so damn hard to read, even now after knowing him for years. Shouldn't they be trying to kill each other? Why was he here, quietly observing this area, letting Bakugou eat his food?

"Why are you doing this?" Bakugou blurted, the words escaping him before he finished thinking them through.

Todoroki turned his head and looked at him impassively, that damned unreadable expression on his face. "Because it's the right thing to do."

"Bullshit." Bakugou glared. "You're not some perfect guardian or savior. I know you better than that."

"You don't think I'd risk my life in hopes of doing one good thing that might balance all the awful things I did?"

"I think you're smart enough to know that isn't how it works."

After considering him for a moment, Todoroki looked back to the warehouse. "It is the right thing to do. Even when we weren't getting paid to do something, we did them because those were the orders - for our country, to save lives, whatever other excuse we told ourselves to sleep at night. Sure, the jobs I take now are with the hope that I am genuinely helping people, but I hurt a lot of others to get there. Everything I do is tainted with that darkness."

"It's not going to be much better here." There was no way in hell they were going to save Uraraka without shedding a little blood. Maybe he'd try to go for non-lethal shots. He had a feeling that was Midoriya's plan, a way to make this not so bad. He didn't have it in him to kill someone unless it was for a damn good reason. He was too good of a person to have someone's life on his hands and Uraraka would hate him for it if he did.

Bakugou could try to be better. He could try to do what Uraraka would want, even if she had killed a few assassins the first time they were attacked. That at least been in self-defense. He wanted to be better. He was prepared for Uraraka to cut him out of her life once this was over. Even if she didn't, once he went into WitSec, as shitty as he thought the program was, he'd more than likely never see her again. No, he wouldn't see her again. She was going to be out of his life either way.

It didn't matter. As long as she was alive, he would do whatever the Feds wanted. He'd cooperate fully. No more piddling around or playing games. He was done.

"Every other job I've done had an objective - a reason - be it to make money or listen to orders. I got something out of it in the end." Todoroki shrugged. "I get nothing here. I'm not even sure I'll get satisfaction, if I'm being honest. It would be better for me to turn on you and turn you in." Bakugou stiffened at the thought. "That's what someone in my shoes should do. Lace a few of the jalapeno poppers with a sedative since I know you love to eat spicy food. Kill the Fed. Make it look like he was the mole and was turned on."

Dropping the remaining half of the jalapeno popper on the ground, Bakugou muttered, "Way to kill the mood."

"I'm simply saying: it would be in my best interest to do that." Todoroki fished the last popper out of the bag on the hood of his car and ate it without mercy. Asshole. "Helping you of all people with what is a suicide mission at best to save a Fed who I've never met and don't give a shit about is not."

"You suddenly develop a conscience in the last six months?"

"I'm not sure," Todoroki admitted, "but apparently you did."

He had and he didn't like it. Bakugou twisted his lips and turned his attention back on Midoriya, who had finally gone silent now that his inventory count was over. He stood still, one hand on the car and the other over his face, breathing deeply. He looked like a wreck, but not as much of one as Bakugou felt.

A part of him couldn't believe he was doing this - it went against everything in him - but another part of him was desperate for it. Todoroki was right. This was a good thing and it had been a long time since he'd done a good thing. Maybe it was a little selfish too, but it was hard to be selfish about something that could possibly kill him or get him into even deeper and hotter water. The only other time he could think about was the job he botched that landed him in this mess with the Feds to begin with, but even then, he'd been more pissed about being lied to than anything.

"Not gonna lie," Todoroki hummed. "I didn't expect you to go soft."

"Give me an hour," Bakugou snapped. "You aren't gonna see soft in there."

A faint smile crossed Todoroki's face, one that he couldn't decide was mocking or not. "You really care about her, don't you?"

Bakugou was not going to talk about Uraraka with this bastard. "Shut up."

"No, it's good. It…" Todoroki took a deep breath. "It kind of gives me hope."

"For real?" Bakugou shook his head. "That's fucking cheesy."

"You were never willing to risk your life for someone before," Todoroki pointed out. "Something changed. I didn't think that was possible for people like us."

It was the truth. Even when they worked together, if Todoroki fell into some bad shit, Bakugou wouldn't have gone back to save him. If he got himself into something, he could damn well get himself out of it. After all, he was a professional. Working together did not mean having each other's backs, which this felt a lot like. It was weird and he didn't like it, but it...didn't feel wrong. Had he been missing out on even more than he thought?

"Guys?" Midoriya prompted, interrupting the conversation. For once, Bakugou was grateful to hear his voice. The FBI agent held out his phone as he walked over to them. "We've reached our time limit."

Bakugou snatched the prepaid phone out of his hands to check the time. They'd been forced to abandon Midoriya's government issued phone in order to escape detection. Agent Shinso was damn good at his job and they hadn't wanted to run the risk of clashing with the good people - if they were good. Midoriya was certain that Shinso wasn't a mole since he had vetted him himself, but the dead air between them now that they'd gone dark bred uncertainty.

"Do we push it?" Midoriya asked.

"Not unless you want Uraraka to be tortured," Bakugou said.

"More than likely she's already gone through the first round of that," Todoroki put in, which wasn't fucking helpful at all. Bakugou glared at him while Midoriya shifted uncomfortably on his feet. People heard the word "torture" and didn't blink. They knew what it was, but they didn't know, not really. Midoriya had probably gone through lectures on it at Quantico, but there was no way in hell that they could prepare him for the reality. It wasn't like he had ever been shoved in a box for nearly twenty-four hours as a part of his training. "Or not."

Bakugou shoved the phone back into Midoriya's hands. "Yeah, it's a bit too late for the attempt at positivity."

Midoriya cradled the phone like it was something precious. "So?"

"I say we wait," Todoroki said.

"But-" Midoriya blanched. "She'll be tortured."

"We're already playing on their field," Todoroki countered. "We need one advantage at least and time is our one only option at this point."

Fuck, Bakugou also forgot how cold Todoroki could be. Then again, he had a point. On one mission they'd worked together for the CIA, Bakugou had allowed himself to be captured in order to gain access to their target's safehouse. Saving him was part of the mission, but goddamn if Todoroki hadn't taken his sweet ass time. Bakugou still had the burn marks on his chest, the scars having never fully healed. Asshole.

Bakugou sighed. "He's right."

"What?" Midoriya rounded on him quickly. "But Uraraka-"

"She can handle herself," Bakugou cut in. "She's strong. She can take it."

"That doesn't mean she should," Midoriya shot back, waving a frantic hand. "We're right here. We can't just leave her like that. We don't even know what kind of torture they might resort to if they think you aren't coming."

Anger flared in Bakugou's mind, causing him to snap and snatch Midoriya by the front of his shirt. "You don't think I don't know that, you dipshit? I wanna rush in there right now. I want to fucking save her and kill the bastards that thought to even touch her! But we're at a disadvantage. We're probably going to die. And all I can think about is how I just wanna see her and-"

Behind him, Todoroki coughed, as if to politely remind him that he was speaking his true feelings out loud and might not want to do that. Bakugou snapped his mouth shut and pressed his lips into a thin line. Instead of staring at him with wide eyes or looking at him in fear, when he returned his attention back to Midoriya, he found a similar angry fire in the agent's eyes. Maybe he was scared, but he was furious too. Uraraka was important to him as well, after all, and it would do Bakugou good to remember this wasn't just about him.

Truth be told, Midoriya had thrown away and was risking a lot more than him to do this.

Letting go of his shirt, Bakugou shoved Midoriya away from him and stalked to the trunk of his car. He didn't want to look at the Suit. He only reminded him of Uraraka, which pissed him off further. Why in the hell had he got stuck with the two good fucking feds?

Todoroki stepped forward and laid a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "I know waiting is painful. There were so many times when all I could do was sit and watch as something awful happened or risk blowing my cover. All those times I could've done something to protect or help an innocent person and I had to turn a blind eye or put it aside for what I was told was the greater good."

Midoriya looked him directly in the eyes. "It was wrong. They were wrong."

"You're right," Todoroki replied without hesitation. "But we have to wait or we could risk them killing her or worse."

Finally, Midoriya's shoulders dropped and he looked down at his feet. "Okay."

Bakugou gazed at the warehouse over the top of the car and, for one of the first times in his life, thought, I'm sorry.

Sleeping upright and tied to a chair should've been impossible, but exhaustion won out every time. Uraraka was violently jerked out of a restless sleep when she felt hands tightly grab her arms. Even though she knew it was useless, she struggled to get out of the grip, squirming as much as possible with what little wiggle room she had. The handcuffs had rubbed the skin around her wrists raw, causing blood to slowly drip onto the floor, but her pulling hadn't seemed to do much to the arms of the chair.

Unable to speak with the tape over her mouth, all Uraraka could do was grunt and growl as the rough hands pulled on her until finally the person slapped her in the face. She went still, her head twisted to the side, lights bursting in her eyes despite the blindfold. Even though she couldn't see, she knew from the sudden violence that it wasn't Shindo. He might've implied violence and torture and had even kidnapped her, but so far, besides tilting her head to get a picture of her face, he hadn't hurt her. He didn't seem the type.

Maybe he'd finally been forced to bring someone else in to do the dirty work.

The attacker grabbed her by the hair and jerked on it hard, straining her neck even further. An involuntary whimper slipped out of her from behind the tape, but she fell silent again. She'd suffered worse pain.

"Listen here," a man hissed. "I'm done playing games and being nice. There's no more time. Do you understand?"

Uraraka didn't budge or give him any indication that she did or agreed with his terms. He pulled on her hair tighter, pulling a few strands out. Tears leaked out of her eyes, but still, she didn't make a sound. He could go screw himself for all she cared. Of course, she might not feel nearly as brave if he actually laid into her. When another hand latched around her throat, she tensed. She was already struggling to breathe as it was through only her nose. More oxygen deprivation would do her little good in fending off a brutal interrogation.

" Do you understand ?" he repeated.

When Uraraka begrudgingly nodded her head, he let go of her throat and ripped the tape off her mouth. The first thing she should've done was breathe. Instead, she spit in the man's face and gasped out, "Fuck you," which earned her another slap to the face that sent the chair reeling sideways. She slammed into the ground hard, her shoulder damn near dislocating, which hurt like hell. At least she could rub her face on the concrete in order to scoot the blindfold up a little just enough to see partially out of one eye.

Just as she'd guessed and figured out the second he talked, her new guard wasn't Shindo. She didn't recognize the man, but the fatigues he wore along with his build suggested some sort of military background. Also, unless he was a particularly skilled actor, his accent pegged him as an American. It wasn't what she expected. She thought perhaps a foreign government had paid off Shindo to betray his country, but would they have also hired Americans for the job to catch Bakugou?

The man grabbed her arm and roughly jerked her and the chair back upright. A swishing sound caught Uraraka's attention, bringing her eyes to rest on the switchblade knife he'd produced. However, his other hand now held the key to her handcuffs. "If you try to fight me, I will end this quickly."

"And lose your leverage?" Uraraka countered, trying to calm her racing heart. "What is this? Ameature hour?"

"Sometimes you have to cut your losses."

Before Uraraka could question him, an explosion from somewhere in the building rattled them. The ceiling light about her swung back and forth like a pendulum, light swirling around the room strangely, and dust drifted lazily to the floor. A few seconds later, gunshots echoed through the air from multiple types of guns. What the hell was going on? Were they under attack?

Uraraka whipped her head around in the direction of the fight, but locked away in the small back room, there was nothing for her to see. "What-?"

"Shit, shit, we wasted too much fucking time with you." The man advanced on her, raising the knife. She tried to scoot the chair back to get away and cried out, but nothing stopped him from grabbing her by the chin and tilting her head up to expose her neck. He was going to cut her throat. He was going to silence her. She'd seen too much - heard too much - this was it - he was-

A gunshot cracked through the air. A shocked expression came over her assailant's face before he crumpled face first into the ground, the knife and key clattering uselessly to the ground. Uraraka sucked in a gulp of air, relief swarming over her, only to freeze when she dropped her head and connected eyes with Shindo. The gun in his hand was still smoking as he eyed her would-be killer with disdain.

"So much for the best of the best," he sighed as he reholstered his gun.

Uraraka gawked at him. "What are you doing?"

"They told me that they hired professionals, but half of them lose their shit at the first sign of things going downhill." Shindo sounded miffed, like he was complaining about something as normal as the weather. He stepped over to the body and kicked the knife away before reaching down to pick up the keys. "I spend days being questioned by these overgrown buffoons and they're the ones ready to cut and run at the slightest notice. They're no better than the cheap ass mercenaries they send overseas."

"Shindo, what's going on?" Uraraka demanded.

"We're leaving," Shindo explained vaguely as he unlocked her handcuffs.

"What do you mean leaving?" The gunfire sounded closer now, but it was hard to tell in here. The metal threw off all the acoustics. "What's happening?"

After undoing her ankle bindings, Shindo hoisted her to her feet. Uraraka was by no means weak, but after being strapped in that chair with little to no food and water for so long, her knees wobbled and her legs almost buckled out from underneath her. Shindo caught her against his chest, as he had done when he'd drugged her. Almost gently, he helped her back to her feet and looked her in the eyes.

"Your murdering little boyfriend showed up," he told her, "but he didn't come alone."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Midoriya?"

Shindo grimaced. "If only that was it." He used one pair of handcuffs to bind her wrists together. "Not gonna lie: Bakugou really surprised me. You made more of an impression on him than I could've ever imagined."

She had no time to process the explanation before Shindo dragged her out of the room. He pulled his gun out again, keeping a sharp eye out. The gunshots and explosions were louder now, along with people screaming whenever a bullet struck them. Her eyes darted and head swung as she tried to make sense of what was going on, but it was hard to tell when she had to focus on not collapsing on her face. She even lost a shoe in the process, but that didn't stop him.

Bakugou was here - so was Midoriya. Had someone else come too? But who? Kirishima? He didn't seem like the type that would get directly involved in a gunfight. No, he just sold the means to them. What the hell was going on back there? Why did it sound like a full-fledged fight between countless people going on? The only other time she'd heard anything like this had been in a movie. She'd thought it unrealistic.

It turned out she was wrong.

Furious as she was at Midoriya for doing something so reckless and career tarnishing as this - not to mention illegal - the further Shindo carried her away from the sounds of the fight, the more her heart began to race. He wasn't like Bakugou. This kind of life and fight wasn't made for him. Bakugou should've known better than to bring him here. He had to know she would never forgive him if something happened to Midoriya, even if he did manage to save her.

When Shindo kicked a door open, cold air swarmed over her. It was night, giving them the cover of darkness, but Uraraka still spotted the sleek, black car they were heading for. "Wait!" She dug her heels into the ground in an attempt to hinder him. "Shindo, stop!"

"Stop fighting, Uraraka!" Shindo snapped, jerking on her hard enough to trip her up and nearly cause her to do a faceplant. "If you would just listen to me-"

Uraraka stumbled into his chest in an attempt to stand up - and also get closer to him. Frustrated and distracted by the failure of his plot, he didn't consider her much of a threat since she'd been tied up for a while. True, she did feel weak and it wouldn't take much to overpower her, but all she needed was an opening. That tiny slip underestimating her gave her just enough leeway. The moment he moved to help her up again, she lurched forward and grabbed the gun with her hands despite them being cuffed.

"Fuck! Stop!"

He squeezed the trigger in the scuffle, the bullet striking the ground near her feet. He had a better grip on it since he wasn't cuffed, but she refused to let go. Using all her strength, she shoved their arms into the air, another gunshot going off above them like a signal, and then kicked him directly in the shin where she knew a sensitive nerve would be. The pain shooting up his leg caught him off guard and he buckled on one knee, the movement allowing the gun to slip out of his grasp. Before he could grab her again, she pistol-whipped him hard in the jaw and then stumbled back out of his reach.

Panting heavily, Uraraka aimed the gun at him. "It's over. You're done for after what you did."

Instead of fighting or arguing, Shindo fell down into a sitting position and leaned back with his arms behind him. "You really think that, don't you?" A tired but amused smile touched his lips as he tilted his head back and let out a sigh. "God, you're such a good person. It kills me, Uraraka. It really does. To have seen and been through so much shit and still be that naive and hopeful - it's beautiful."

His relaxed reaction upon having the upper hand turned on him didn't make any sense. Nothing did. He'd saved her life after kidnapping her. He didn't even appear concerned that she was pointing a gun at him. Uraraka furrowed her brow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Uraraka!" a familiar voice cried out.

"I've got him!" Uraraka called back without taking her eyes off of Shindo.

"Who-?" Midoriya skidded to a halt beside her. His hand never quite reached her shoulder, not when he saw who she was pointing a gun at and keeping cornered. "Shindo?"

Their colleague of so many years waved a hand. "Hey, welcome to the party. You look like you're having fun."

"Why would you…?" Midoriya's voice was so betrayed, the expression on his face so hurt, that Uraraka wanted to pull him into a hug and she had been the one kidnapped. The two agents stared at each other, a thousand things unsaid, but Shindo gave nothing away with his mild expression. Did he even feel guilty over what he'd done? "I don't get it. Shinso checked you twice."

"I've worked with him for long enough to know how he works," Shindo pointed out.

Now that she wasn't alone in pining Shindo down, Uraraka peered at Midoriya to give him a closer look. Her heart shot right into her throat. There were multiple holes in his shirt from gunshots, but all had pierced a bulletproof vest. She could tell he was having difficulty breathing, having most likely broken a rib or two from the force of the bullets, and there was blood pouring down the side of his face where one had grazed his head. His sleeve was torn as well from what looked like slashes from a knife, more blood dripping from his fingertips. But he was alive.

And the warehouse had gone quiet behind them.

"What did you do?" Uraraka demanded.

Midoriya met her eyes and blinked placidly. "The right thing - not the proper one."

Uraraka opened her mouth to argue, but then Bakugou's rough voice cut through the air. "Fucking idiot Suit, I told you not to run off and what did you do? You could've gotten yourself fucking killed and Uraraka would have-"

He stopped when Uraraka turned around to face at him, as if she'd frozen him on the spot with a single look. He looked even worse than Midoriya somehow, like he'd taken the brunt of the attack. When he took a few steps toward her, he limped, but then he shoved through the pain to run to her. Before she knew it, he scooped her in his arms and held her against his chest. With Midoriya watching over Shindo, she let herself be taken in by Bakugou's warmth and strong presence. One hand slid through her hair to the back of her head as she pressed her wet face into his shoulder while the other gripped the material of her shirt at the small of her back.

"What were you thinking, Round Face, getting kidnapped like that?" Bakugou murmured for only her to hear. "You had to know that would drive me mad."

"It wasn't like I did it on purpose," Uraraka mumbled into his shoulder. She lifted her head slightly to angle her face into the crook of his neck, her hot breath warm against his skin, the smell of sweat, blood, smoke, and gun residue melting into a scent that was simply Bakugou. She could've recognized this anywhere.

Bakugou pulled away, unraveling himself from her, only to cup her face. His eyes roved over her to assess any injuries, narrowing when he noticed the redness of her cheeks from being slapped and hitting the ground. She almost shivered when he ran a thumb over her lips, taking note of the sticky residue on her skin leftover from the tape. She must have looked like absolute hell - her hair oily and flat, her cheap makeup smudged, her clothes wrinkled and smelly - but he gazed at her like she was something to treasure.

Finally, once he was decided he'd had enough, he dropped his hands. Without looking away from her, Bakugou asked, "Is that your mole?"

"Yes," Midoriya replied grimly.

In a flash, Bakugou stepped past her and aimed a harsh kick at Shindo's side, but Uraraka grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back. The tip of his shoe barely connected with Shindo, who rolled out of the way.

"He's not worth it!" Uraraka exclaimed, holding him back as much as she could.

"Like hell he isn't!" Bakugou snarled as he went from another kick. "He kidnapped you! Nearly got you killed! At least when I left the CIA, it was for something."

Shindo sneered. "Oh, please, don't act all high and mighty. You became a paid killer."

"The government already made me one," Bakugou shot back. "I just wasn't on their dime anymore."

Uraraka stepped in between them and pressed her hands against Bakugou's chest. "Stop it, please! For me!" It was a cheap shot, but one that forced Bakugou to simmer down. She hadn't been sure it would work and was somewhat surprised to find it did. He sure as hell didn't look pleased about it, that pissed off fire still in his eyes and his body tense, but he stopped. "He'll get what's coming to him. That's what matters."

A bark of laughter escaped Shindo. "You still don't get it."

"Get what?" Uraraka questioned. She kept one hand on Bakugou's chest as she turned around, unsure if he would try to kill Shindo again.

"You think I betrayed our beloved country," Shindo said, "when in fact I'm just the most loyal one of us all." Bakugou stiffened underneath her hand, going strangely still and quiet. She looked from him back to Shindo, who closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Who do you think hired me? Who do you think had the means to fool Shinso? Who do you think had the funding for all of this venture?"

"I don't…" But she did. Uraraka didn't know much about Bakugou's history as it had been scrubbed. She knew there was more than what was on paper. Midoriya's psychological profile for him was one point, but it also brought up the blank periods in Bakugou's past that they knew little about. His skill set, his training, his connections. There were few people who could come out like that without a little help and guidance. "You're lying."

"He's not."

Uraraka jumped at the sound of another unfamiliar voice, gripping the gun tighter and whirling around to aim it at the newcomer, only for Bakugou to grab her wrist. She glanced at him questioningly. He nodded his head and slowly pushed her hand back down as a red and white-haired man stepped out of the shadows. She wasn't sure how he'd managed to blend in looking like that in the first place. Red blood matted the white part of his hair, but it didn't seem to be his. Out of the three, he looked the least injured.

"I still can't believe you're here, Todoroki." Shindo whistled and shook his head. "You really did bring out the big guns, although I am a little surprised by Midoriya. I've never seen you get in a fight like that. Shame it had to be like this. Ah, well, I guess none of us are going to keep our jobs after this. At least I get something out of it."

Midoriya pressed a hand against his head, smearing the blood even more. "Shut up."

"Don't be so sour," Shindo said as he pushed himself to his feet. "It's not like I enjoyed doing this - like I wanted to betray all of you. Don't get me wrong - the pay off was very, very nice - but I still didn't want it to end this way." He shrugged. "Orders are orders, you know?"

"Shut up!" Midoriya shouted as he launched himself at Shindo. Holding Bakugou back already, Uraraka didn't have the ability to stop Midoriya too. He landed a solid punch right in Shindo's face, knocking him back. "You could've killed her, you bastard! Left her to be tortured for information! How could you do that?" He would've struck Shindo again if Todoroki hadn't grabbed Midoriya around the middle and pull him off him. "This is bullshit! You shouldn't get to hide behind this! Fuck that! It's not right!"

Shindo gingerly rubbed his jaw and winced. "What's not right is a cold-blooded murderer like Katsuki Bakugou getting to walk free because he told a few dirty, little secrets." He glared furiously even as Midoriya continued to struggle in Todoroki's ironclad grip. "Funny how you're so quick to buddy up to him when I don't have any blood on my hands. Then again, considering what you did to save Uraraka, maybe you're not so different or good after all."

Todoroki let go of Midoriya, who shrugged his arms and then walked away to take a few breaths. She didn't know who this guy was, but it was damn near impossible to get a read on him. A part of her was almost certain he was five seconds away from shooting Shindo right between the eyes as he assessed him impassively. Another part of her wasn't sure he gave a shit about what had transpired tonight or what he'd heard. The only thing she thought she knew was that he didn't seem surprised, as if everything played out as he'd expected.

Uraraka took a deep breath. "What do we do now?"

Bakugou grabbed her hand still holding him back. "Get the hell out of here before the CIA decides to bomb the fuck out of this place for good measure to cover up any loose ends."

"What?" Uraraka blanched. "They'd really do that?"

Todoroki shrugged. "What wouldn't they do to get what they want? Killing us would be the simplest option. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a jet in route."

"But where are we gonna go?" Uraraka asked, feeling dizzy and overwhelmed. She hated admitted any sort of weakness, but this whole thing was beginning to get to her. She felt like she could sleep for days.

Bakugou must have noticed her trembling because he wrapped an arm around her waist and then turned to Todoroki, a disgruntled look on his face. "I'll pay you back."

"Oh?" Todoroki tilted his head. "How's that?"

"By not killing you when we're this is all over," Bakugou answered with a sharp grin.

"I don't know," Todoroki hummed thoughtfully. "I always thought the threat hanging over my head was kind of exhilarating." There was clearly a lot she had missed out on and didn't know between them, but Uraraka had neither the energy nor desire to question it right now. "Okay, fine, but if you damage anything…"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. You break it, you buy it." He nodded his head in Shindo's direction. "You got a place for him until we're able to contact the right people?"

Todoroki gave him an unimpressed look and deadpanned, "You think I'm going to have a safehouse with an area to hold and interrogate captives?"

She briefly connected eyes with Shindo, but instead of fear, he mostly looked resigned to his fate. Midoriya slunk back to them, tail tucked between his legs, and smiled reassuringly at her. It was hard to tell if it helped or not. So much had happened while she was trapped here and she hated it. She hated having to be rescued. She hated the fact that Midoriya had washed his career and life down the drain for her. She hated that Bakugou had nearly died and she hated that she wanted to stay in his arms for as long as possible. She wanted him close and she didn't want to let go and she just…

My god, what had she fallen into when she allowed Bakugou so close to her? Uraraka didn't know, but she was certain she would find out.