There was a knock at the door. Ayumu, nodding on the couch while the twins napped, groaned as she pulled herself upright. She glanced down to check they were still asleep; Dai had one chubby fist extended in his sister's direction. Hana's nose twitched. They certainly were cute little buggers.

Another round of banging met her ears, making her jump. She scurried toward the door, grumbling all the while.

"I swear to all things holy, if you wake my children— oh." This was the second time she'd open the door to find the large, flaming man. Ayumu frowned and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

He stared over her shoulder toward the children in their bassinets.

"Endeavor," she snapped.

Those familiar bright eyes snapped down to her. "There's a problem. You're needed."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy."

"It's serious. A child's Quirk is out of control. Eraserhead is occupied. I wouldn't ask, but it's serious." This was all said in his usual slightly aggressive, monotone voice.

"I can't exactly leave two infants alone—"

"I could—"

"- and I'm not leaving them with you," she finished, as though he hadn't spoken.

Endeavor's eyes narrowed. "There are nurses in the clinic. Would you trust one of them?"

She'd met most of the nurses who worked downstairs, and they were alright.

Ayumu pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought through the options. "Why can't anyone else help this kid?"

"He screams in pain when anyone uses their Quirk on him, and no one can get close."

Shit, she thought. "It's his own Quirk causing the pain?" The big man nodded. "Fine. There's a woman with an insect Quirk downstairs. Her name is Tia. She'll do."

Endeavor took out his phone and began typing. A moment later her own phone buzzed to let her know someone in the big office had gotten the message that she would be out. They tracked her like hawks.

"We'll leave in a few, then," she said.

Endeavor glanced her over, taking in the loose sweats and Hawks' t-shirt hanging on her frame. Ayumu grabbed a light jacket to cover the wing slits in the back, and slipped on a pair of ballet flats, but that was her only preparation.

A heteromorphic woman appeared a moment later, her glittering compound eyes taking in the details of the situation, dragonfly wings twitching with a dry rustle.

"I'm sorry for inconveniencing you," Ayumu told the woman, who batted the apology away.

"It's nothing, Miss Sato. The babies are angels. It's far better watching after them than dealing with a few barely scratched sidekicks." They exchanged smiles— Tia's had taken time for her to recognize, but she knew it by now— and she grabbed her purse and turned toward her least favorite hero. "Lead the way."

She followed him down the stairs and to a car, which she supposed made sense, given the fact he couldn't fly her to their destination. It was funny, and Ayumu wondered if it bothered him. It had bothered quite a few people when she was growing up. In school, she remembered the leery glances her way at the start of the year, when everyone learned each other's Quirks.

It made her wonder if her kids would have the same problem.

Perhaps they'd inherit only the better parts of their parents' abilities. She could hope.

"Where is this kid?" she asked when Ayumu realized they'd been driving for twenty minutes or so. She took out her phone and tapped to the camera app. Daiki was already awake. Tia bounced him on her lap, and he waved his chubby hand toward her antennae as though he had a chance of reaching them. He was going to be a handful when he was older, she was sure of it.

They turned into a compound in the midst of construction. "He was playing in the area with some friends," the hero explained.

It seemed like an odd spot to play. She rolled her lips inward, but shrugged and followed him out of the vehicle.

From the empty lot and through a half-built courtyard, then he stopped.

His back was to her. The vast man sighed, his shoulder sank, and he seemed to shrink by a measure. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

And then she was cut off from him by a blazing blue inferno.

Ayumu stumbled back. A hot hand wrapped around her front, the only reason she still stood. Steaming breath tickled her ear. "Hey there, doll. Did you miss me?" He pressed his body against hers, his fingers bruisingly tight in her skin. "I missed you."

Before she could turn to see him, grotesque black ooze spouted from her airway until it encompassed her entirely.

She stumbled into an unfamiliar room. There was a bed, a dresser, and a small closet. A light fixture cast it in waning fluorescence, but that was it. The two windows were boarded. There was no bedding. There was nothing else but a long chain with a wide metal band at the end. Both her wrists could slip out of it. Hell, it wouldn't stay on her ankle.

Ayumu backed against the wall, away from the swirling portal, and the coiled chain, an uneasy sensation creeping down her spine. One shaking hand fumbled in her purse for her phone.

"Oh, no, babygirl." Dabi formed behind her. She tried to get her texts with Hawks, but he snatched the cell phone from her hands and melted it with a macabre grin stretching the staples of his face. He wrapped the still-hot hand on her throat and walked her toward the bed, shoved her flat on the mattress.

Her pulse hammered against his fingers. And then she felt something cool. It replaced his grip, clicking locked when it shut.

Her hands flew to her throat to claw at the metal. "A fucking collar, Dabi?"

"Act like a bitch, you get treated like a bitch."

Her eyes were filled with tears. She hadn't been this terrified the first time he kidnapped her, and this time she was certain he wasn't planning on killing her. Not any time soon. So why—

"The children—" she tried to away her tears to see him.

He was staring at her with such an edge in his eyes; any moment now they'd slide over bare flesh, and she'd bleed.

"Dabi, they need their mother."

His tongue darted across his lips. He laughed. One hand pressed against her stomach, and then heat overwhelmed her.

She screamed. It was short, but so hot there were blisters already forming above her navel. Her shirt had burned away, leaving her too exposed to his gaze.

Dabi slid onto the bed and straddled her. When her hands beat at his chest, he grabbed them in one that was larger, stronger, and shoved them down to the bare mattress.

Tears hadn't stopped flowing since she'd first mentioned the twins. They were sliding down the outer corners of her eyes to dampen her hair. "Dabi. Touya, please—"

Her begging ceased when his hot mouth closed over hers. It was all gnashing teeth and roaming tongue. His free hand clutched a breast, ignoring the trickle of milk, but she cried harder.

He broke from the kiss to shove between the headboard and the mattress. There were shackles, because of course there were. They enclosed her wrists, allowing him to slip to his knees between her thighs. Ayumu tried to close her legs, but he dodged a kick and held down the offending limb. Shimmying down her sweats proved enough to fully incapacitate her; they were dragged down to her calves, and she couldn't fight anymore.

"Don't do this."

He had already shucked his shirt and jacket. Now he lowered his pants and knelt closer to her, filling her vision with his cruel gaze.

She leaned up to brush her forehead against his. "Touya. Please."

Words failed when he pushed inside her. He groaned, his eyes fluttered shut. For a moment, they laid like that. Then she sniffled, and Dabi's burning eyes snapped back open.

His pace was rough, fast, angry. Every slap of flesh rang through her ears, and every thrust bruised her cervix. He was punishing her with this, using her while she tried to plead for her children.

And still, her body responded to him. Within the first few thrusts she was dripping, her walls squeezing, pleasure already gathering in her core. She hated that she'd missed his touch.

He growled and fisted her hair, wrenching her head back to reveal the column of her throat. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, he sank his teeth into her flesh until it broke, and the iron tang of blood filled the air.

She came violently against him, her body tensing, her nails cutting into her palm, and a scream caught in her throat.

"Fuck." Dabi buried his face against her. His arms slid around her torso, and he pounded into her as though trying to merge their bodies. Then he was emptying himself inside her. He continued moving until his cock became soft and slipped from her entrance.

He panted against her hair, pushed himself up, and stared down at her.

"Dabi," she started, but he scoffed, stood, and did up his pants again. Before she could think of what to say next, he was gone.

In the shoebox bedroom, chained like a dangerous beast, Ayumu broke down into helpless sobs.