Zero and Specter head back to home base, dealing with the repercussions of their choices. But they have no time for regrets, they have a job to do, and they'll be damned if they don't do it. Even if they both know this quest they are on will end in only one way.


The trek back 'home' left Ochako with a lot of time to think. Kacchan's angry departure the evening before left a pall over the evening, with her Izuku being incredibly upset, though he wasn't showing it to the heroes or Eri. But she knew, she always knew. They'd eaten dinner in mostly silence and then just…waited. She hated it. She could be patient when she was on the job, she often had to sit silent and still for hours to get the information she wanted, but sitting in some random heroes living room and watching cartoons? Hell no. Only reason she put up with it was for Eri's sake, really.

Eventually, they managed to get her to sleep, and thus they could sleep…well, what little they could. Izuku was not handling Kacchan's departure well, she knew it. As soon as the two heroes had left and Eri was asleep, they adjusted themselves so he was resting on her chest, her arms around his shoulders, giving him a safe place to rest, leaning on her for her support. Just like how he protected her when her nightmares came to light, she'd protect him from his hurts too.

And then the morning came and shockingly, Eraser kept his word. Their costumes were fixed and ready, and their helmets were repaired. She went over them with a fine toothed comb, not trusting them not to have added some tracking device, but it seemed they were just the same as before. Still, once they got back to the warehouse she was going to get her tools out and check every inch of them. The warehouse they already knew about as a meeting place so she wasn't as worried about that place getting burned.

Saying goodbye to Eri was rough. Eri apparently understood what Izuku hadn't said, because the look she gave them was so full of betrayal and sadness it nearly broke Ochako. She had to muster every bit of strength to not tear up herself. She wasn't even entirely sure why she cared so much; she'd only known the girl for like thirty hours or something, but…from the second they heard about what happened to her, from the second they'd seen the injured innocence in her eyes, they just…needed to save her.

But they had to let her go, make sure she was where she needed to be. And so they did…their costumes in some spare shopping bags the heroes had on hand, still borrowing the tracksuits. They ripped the patches off so it didn't directly imply UA (they wanted no chances of being mistaken for UA students), but even then, they had a long trek and stood out with those clothes. As they left, Eraser insisted they take his work cell number, the one he used specifically for Hero work, just in case they needed his help. They didn't really care, but…fine. If it'd make him feel better, Ochako had slipped the card into her pocket.

They didn't have any spare cash on them, since they'd brought none of their stash when they went to save Eri. Izuku had accepted enough train fare to get them to the other side of the city, where their warehouse was, but both of them swore they'd return that, the cost of the food, the tracksuits, and repay it all. Zero and Specter never left debts unpaid. And so they sat together, leaning on one another on this stupid train until they were close enough to their home base to get off and proceed on foot.

They ducked into the alleyways as soon as possible. It was much earlier in the day than they normally liked being out, so it was more difficult to skulk around, but it wasn't like they'd never had to do this before. Sneaking through alleys and back roads, carefully making themselves not look suspicious, all so they could return home without being noticed.

It was nearly noon by the time they got home, and they immediately began their checklist. Had to check if anyone had arrived, check the dropboxes, check for any indication of someone finding their little hidey hole buried in the south corner. A couple of information requests in the dropboxes, nothing big or time sensitive that either of them cared about. Ochako looked through them quickly as Izuku examined their traps, nodding at him to let him know they were good.

The two did one last security sweep, making sure no one had noticed them, before heading to the south corner. There, they opened up the lock on the beaten down filing cabinet, stepping inside and triggering the mechanism she'd made to relock it from the inside. They moved a few boxes out of the way, revealing the hole in the floor of the cabinet, and dropped down into what was once an extension of the sewers but ended up getting sealed off decades back. Ochako grabbed one of the broom handles they kept around and carefully managed to pull one of the boxes back over the hole, before setting it aside as the duo continued down the tunnel. Left, left, right, left, right, and through the maintenance hatch door they had jury rigged this specific tunnel entrance into…home.

It wasn't a big area. It was originally meant to be a larger maintenance room of some kind, but had been abandoned like the rest of the tunnel. It was enough for them though. They had a bunch of large batteries to power some lights, a small fridge, a little hot plate, everything they needed to survive. The temperature stayed pretty even, down this far underground. The one thing that had caused them the most headache was fresh air, but they were able to run a few plastic tubes through this extension up and into the warehouse walls itself, blended in to look like they were part of the walls, using a few fans to help circulate the air.

They did a quick once over of everything to be sure it was all in order: her tools (a soldering iron and a busted welder that could work for a couple minutes at a time, along with a bunch of random hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc, that she'd managed to nick over the years), his electronics (a laptop they'd stolen and he used in libraries and coffee shops to do whatever research they needed), their knives and ball bearings (all accounted for). Everything seemed set, in the place they belonged. Ochako checked the food stores…they had enough to let them lay low for a couple days before they had to leave. She turned to see Izuku giving her the thumbs up about their water jugs, all mostly full.

There was a brief moment where they stopped and took a moment to appreciate the stillness…and then they just rushed together. Stripped out of the tracksuits and collapsed into their 'bed' (a messy pile of every blanket they could find), wrapping themselves up in the biggest one and just letting herself be crushed into his chest, her eyes wet as the stress of the past few days just broke free at once. She felt the dampness on her cheeks, the soft drops of tears falling into her hair where he'd buried his face in, and she just closed her eyes and breathed deep, the scent of him helping reassure her where she was.

They'd won. They did everything they wanted. They got Eri to safety, the Shie Hassaikai were broken, and she wasn't going to pretend like she took no pleasure in the absolute thrashing the duo had given to Chisaki and his Eight Bullets. It wasn't that hard, when they were dumb enough to try and shoot Izuku with their Quirk-Erasing bullets…all he'd had to do was do his little orbit trick and launch them back, faster than they could react. And without Quirks? They were less than no match for her or Izuku. Only Rappa had any combat training, and she still was easily able to trip him up, tap him with her hand, and send him floating helplessly to the ceiling.

Then they obliterated their compound, all the research, all the awful, awful things that man had done. Izuku went through their computers and destroyed all records of the data and then the harddrives themselves, burned all the paper copies and left no more records. She was the one to literally bring the walls down and collapse it all, something she really enjoyed doing to the Yakuza.

And then, taking Eri to Eraser. To safety. To a real life she could actually have. But…it hurt. It hurt to hurt that little girl, by having to tell her they couldn't come back. It hurt to see what could have been, a class of close-knit students on the course to be heroes, to help people, something she'd always wanted to do as a kid. And she knew, even though he hadn't said it, how torn up Izuku was about the way things ended with Kacchan, even if it was what he wanted. He wanted Kacchan to be mad at him, so he would give up on him. So he'd forget about Izuku. Seems like he got his wish, but…well, they say be careful what you wish for.

Now it was just the two of them again, and these past couple days reminded them of what was at stake for them. They never really talked about it, but…

She cleared her throat. "Hey, Deku?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think about what happens at um…the end?" she asked.

He was silent for a moment, before he spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "...you want me to be honest?"

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"I don't think we get out of this alive. There's too many syndicates and just the two of us. One of these days, we're going to slip up."

She nodded, tucking her head under his chin and squeezing him tighter. "...yeah. Me too. That's what I think too."

"Do you want to stop?" he asked hesitantly.

"...I don't think I can," she whispered back. "Do you?"

"Me neither," came his own whispered reply. "...but what do we do if it's only one of us who gets…lost?"

"Want me to answer honestly?" she said this time, a slight smile on her face at turning it back on him.

"Yeah," he replied, a sad chuckle escaping him as his left hand stroked her hair gently.

"I wanna do everythin' together. Regardless of what it is."

"...me too."

She let out her own sad chuckle at that, gently kissing his neck and enjoying the shiver he gave in response. "Probably not somethin' we're supposed to say, is it?"

He shrugged, kissing the top of her head. "Probably not. But when do we ever do what we're supposed to?"

She nodded, closing her eyes and pressing her ear against his chest, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She listened, the sound of his heartbeat gently thumping in her ear, a relaxing rhythm that reminded her he was here, and alive, and all hers. They let the silence stand for a while, her one hand gently rubbing his side, his hand in her hair stroking it as they lay there.

His voice interrupted her reverie. "Do…do you ever think about it? What it'd be like?"

"What? If we took Eraser up on his offer?"

She felt his nod. "That. Or just…even if things had been different. If we'd not…ended up like this. Being in a hero class or something."

She stayed silent for a moment to collect her thoughts, before shrugging. "I…have. Sometimes. If Ma and Pa didn't get…taken, I think I'da tried to be a hero. I know I wanted to, back when I was little. I wanted to become a hero, make it big, and be able to let them retire. Go on vacation, to like Hawaii or somethin'. I wanted to pay them back for every time they took care of me," she found herself being cut off by her own tears, curling her fingers on his chest and pressing closer to him, trying to find comfort in his touch. "It's…it's so silly, ain't it? Such a childish dream."

"I don't think it is," he whispered, his arm around her shoulder pulling tightly. "I don't think it's silly or childish at all."

She sighed deeply, touched by his reassurance. "...I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied softly.

She let the conversation go at that, and he didn't seem keen to continue it either. Both of them knew it was futile to wonder what if, to think about what could have been in another life, because they didn't have that. They had what they had, and they were stuck in this world, never to escape its clutches. Maybe Eraser was being genuine in his offer, in his attempt. She thought he probably was. But she didn't think she could give up her quest. And Izuku couldn't either. They were too locked in, too focused, they needed to do whatever they could…even if it ended with them reuniting with their parents sooner rather than later.


They stayed together in the bed, silently taking comfort in one another for hours, but as the afternoon wore on, it was time to get up and get to work. Izuku turned to get some food started for them (plain rice and canned vegetables), while she double checked their equipment. Once he finished, he set her bowl down next to her little half-desk she worked on, as he turned to the laptop and began checking their known information versus the requests they got. Once he confirmed they could handle the requests, he pulled up their targets list, scanning to see what their next best target was.

The two of them were a well-oiled machine at this point, able to set aside feelings to prepare for what was next. All things in order, every preparation made, it was time to get started. Getting money was the first priority; they had to pay Eraser back, as well as get something stored away for when they didn't have the cash. Their cost of living wasn't really that high, but they had cut back heavily on theft and information trading and mostly focused on stopping crime. However, this meant they had to pay for information, and get new equipment when their equipment wore out, etc.

Still, these minor information requests could make them some quick money. They already knew most of it, and thankfully it wasn't something that pushed at their morals (what were left of them anyways). Various minor gangs getting into spats with each other and wanting knowledge of each other's movements and Quirks, that was easy. Hell, sometimes they sold to both sides; smart people made sure to pay them extra to only sell to them, but these dumb gang members didn't think of it, So, time to get some stuff organized.

They suited up, Izuku absently filling out the papers they planned to leave in the drop locations around the city for the information requests. Small, hand notebooks were what he specialized in, writing the information down as quickly as possible as Ochako made sure to check her fit and then his while he wrote. Once they had these dropped off, they would go on patrol, heading to the next target they planned on staking out, to plot out their next takedown.

Taking out the Shie Hassaikai was a big deal for them. Overhaul was perhaps one of the most powerful Yakuza they'd ever seen, with his Eight Bullets at his side, and they'd won. So now? Now they felt like they could step it up, and hit a much, much bigger target. So they'd begun their search for the bigger Yakuza syndicates, and so far had three possible targets they could go for. The Kyokuto-kai, Sakurai-soke, or the Shimizu-ikka. Izuku's top suspect for the ones who attacked his mom was the Sakurai-soke, so they planned to pay special attention to them. And the fact they had some members in Mie, near where Ochako used to live, had them higher up on the priority list than others.

All three syndicates predated the Dawn of Quirks, and while back then they were fairly small, they had managed to survive to this day and with the retirement of All Might, were working their way back up.

Zero and Specter did not intend on letting them.


It had been a week since the vigilantes had left, and Shouta had found himself too exhausted to really overly worry about them. He knew they were still active…he'd kept up with reports on their activities. They'd busted a sex trafficker ring just three days back, so he knew they were doing okay. And five days back, an envelope full of yen was stuffed in his door, supposedly for the cost of the food, the tracksuits, and two nights stay, or so the attached note said. So he knew they were doing okay.

Instead, he had to deal with his hellions, and Eri. Eri was a sweetheart, but an emotionally damaged one, and if she wasn't waking them up from screaming nightmares, she was crying silently in her bed, curled in a ball and too afraid to go to them yet. She needed so much too…getting her to eat at all was a struggle, as she kept being afraid they'd take the food away. Getting a blood sample turned out to be impossible, she'd panic the second a needle appeared. And they had that one moment where she nearly fled when Hizashi had turned around with a knife and she saw it.

On top of that…Bakugo. He hadn't taken the resurrection and subsequent leaving of his childhood friend well. Not only was he basically ignoring everyone in class now, even his friends, his zeal to train was becoming unhealthy and Shouta already had to forbid the teenager from the training grounds outside of school hours.

It wasn't hard for the rest of the students to pick up on his mood and what it had to link to. They'd pestered Bakugo about it, concerned, but all the blonde teen did was blow them off and stomp to his bedroom, ignoring anyone and anything. So they'd turned to him, and all he could say was it was Bakugo's private business and they should respect it, and to give him some space.

Not that he liked seeing his student like this, but…the boy needed time. His childhood friend wasn't the same person, nor was he, and it was hitting Bakugo hard to know that, to know what happened to Izuku to turn him into Specter.

It had also led to a lot of questions about vigilantes. Since Shouta had let two known vigilantes into the classroom, ones who had apparently taken down an entire Yakuza syndicate and rescued Eri, they wanted to know how and why and who and every other question they could think of. So Shouta had to completely change his lesson plan to adjust, giving an explanation they normally gave in third year…vigilantism was, absolutely, illegal. But, that said, sometimes Pro's would…look the other way, or even work with vigilantes.

The one saving grace for his explanation was Ida, the Vice Rep explaining proudly the times his older brother had worked with a group Shouta was familiar with, the Naruhata Vigilantes, and how he'd justified it. It left the class with a lot to ponder over, he realized. Especially with all their questions about Specter and Zero specifically. The two had made quite the impression apparently.

All that led to him being exhausted as he slumped on his couch, getting ready to review some essays the class had written recently. Hizashi was out with Eri, taking her on a shopping trip for new clothes, trying to expose her piece by piece to the outside world. Shouta had chosen to stay behind, figuring those two needed some time together, but he was ready for the call if her Quirk went haywire, knowing they were just a few blocks away at the nearby shopping center.

He rolled his eyes, picking up Kaminari's essay, knowing it'd be riddled with errors, when his work phone rang. He snatched it up without looking, already in Hero mode as he answered "Eraserhead here."

There was a brief silence on the line, the sound of ragged, pained breathing, before he heard her, the sound of Zero's voice, coming across the line, a desperate plea in her voice. "...we fucked up."