Even before she opened her eyes, Ochako's consciousness registered that her body was not in a good way. Her left side was stiff, and just from the way her body tensed at the feeling, brought an ache that shot past uncomfortable and into a dull, deep, pain, making her suck in a hissing breath through clenched teeth.

It was shockingly hard to open her eyes. When she did, she found herself looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. In fact, nothing she saw, smelled, felt or heard was familiar. There was a faint whiff of disinfectant in the air, the bed was stiff and unpleasant to lay on, and then there was the soft beep beep beep off to her side.

"…Where…?" Ochako swallowed. Her throat was dry, and raw. Her own voice sounded foreign to her.

"Dathomir Hospital."

Ochako almost didn't recognize the voice answering her. It wasn't often she heard the owner speak with such a delicate, careful, tone.

Turning to look at the speaker was hard. The simple motion made her neck ache. The pain reminded her of the sports festival, though she couldn't understand why at the moment. Her head rubbing against the pillow felt wrong. But, as she turned, she was able to see that she was definitely inside a hospital room. No other building would paint the walls these colors.

Head turned, she saw Tsuyu, asleep and curled up in a chair, her head nestled in the crook of the shoulder of Himiko, who was sitting besides the frog girl, a hair bun undone, making her already messy mane of hair even more atrocious. The lines around her eyes were dark, and with her eye patch hanging around her neck, it was hard to tell which tired eye was the kind one. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

And all at once, the weight of the previous night came crashing down on Ochako.

It took Ochako a good ten minutes to finally get herself under control. As the tears petered out, and Tsuyu had used up over half a box of tissues to help dry her off, Tsuyu excused herself, going to let the rest of the class know that Ochako was awake. It was another few minutes of silence before Ochako worked up the nerve to start asking questions.

How long was I out?

How was everyone?

What was happening?

Were there any leads on Izuku?

Himiko chewed on her answers. That fact alone filled Ochako with a sense of dread. Himiko wasn't one for being delicate.

"Just tell me."

It's the afternoon.

Almost all of 1-B are still recovering from Saito's gas. Most of our class got away with minor injuries. Bakugou got shot in the shoulder.

That's complicated.

No leads.

Ochako gripped her sheets tight. No leads. No leads. No leads. No—

"Hey, hey easy!" Himiko forced Ochako to look at her, hands holding her face and making her look up. "Breathe. Alright? You need to breathe and not start spiraling. Got me? All Might's here. So are a bunch of other heroes. Miruko's here. A lot of people are working really hard to figure this out." Himiko's eyes looked into Ochako. "Nod or say something cause I'll slap the shit outta you if that's what it'll take."

Ochako didn't need that. The sudden contact of Himiko's hands was enough. She reached up, and grabbed her wrists, squeezing and pulling her hands away. "I… I'm okay." She absolutely wasn't okay, but she at least had control. She had been out of commission for half a day already. She wasn't about to put herself into a situation where she was going to be out of it again.

"What's complicated?" Ochako needed to redirect. Learning nothing about Izuku was going to wreck her. Maybe learning about something else would give her something to latch onto.

Himiko took a breath. "Inko's here. Nezu and the police grabbed her."

Mrs. Midoriya's here?! Oh… oh god I can't face her after not saving Deku! I can't… I just cant—

"But not before All for One paid her a visit."

Ochako's thoughts ground to a halt. "What?" All for One… "What?!"

"There's more."

"More?! You just said All fo—" Ochako was cut off when Himiko put a hand over her mouth and hurriedly hushed her.

"Shhh! Don't go screaming the damn name! Inko's got government shitstains ready to come down on her like a sack of bricks right now." When Himiko saw Ochako wasn't going to keep up her previous scream, she moved her hand off Ochako's mouth. "That's part of why things are complicated. The HPSC is clamping down hard on this. They hear you mention that name, and you'll be in the same doghouse she's in. The government does not want word getting out about him. Far as I can tell, heroes are just being told there's 'a threat of a villain with comparable strength to All Might.'"

"This is… That's…"

"There's one other thing." Himiko winced at the look Ochako had. She didn't like dumping this on her so fast, but she needed to be brought up to speed on some things or else she was going to be in the same mess Inko was. "Don't let anyone know, you know who Mei's mother is."

"Hatsume's mother… Wait? Hold on, what does that have to do with anything?"

"She escaped Tartarus and is the one that put a hole through Bakugou's shoulder." Ochako's eyes bulged. "And Tartarus showed up and just almost dragged Mei away because they put two and two together after Mei opened her big mouth over an open line." Ochako reached up to rub her brow. "This is from Nezu to everyone in the squad. Do not mention Lady Nagant or that we knew she was Mei's daughter. Period. The government types got itchy fingers on the trigger right now…." Himiko trailed off when she saw Ochako's hand move from her brow and start to reach around her head, fingers tracing the bandages. "Ah… yeah…."

Fingers spread out, replaced with an open palm, it took Ochako a few moments to really register that instead of hair, her hand felt the coarse texture of a sheared scalp. Her breath hitched when her hand finally made contact with what remained of her hair. Though she winced at how short and obviously damaged it was.

"Here." Himiko had her phone out, the selfie camera on so Ochako could get a look at herself on the screen. "Think the doctors had to shave everything on the left so they could treat the burns. I'm sure Momo or Mina know someone that can—"

"Doesn't matter," Ochako said gruffly as she turned away from the screen. "Deku's missing. I'm not going to worry about something dumb like my hair while he's not here." She said that, but her fingers lingered for a few moments after she'd finished. When she lowered her hand, they were clenched into fists. "We… I should go find Mrs. Midoriya." Ochako hated how her stomach twisted in terror at having to face her but, "I don't want her alone, especially if some government douches are looking to give her trouble…" Himiko looked away. "What?"

"Complicated."

Ochako frowned. "Complicated? What does that mean?"

"If I tell you I already flew off the handle and tore into people over this, will you promise me you won't freak out?"

It was insane how little that did to placate any of Ochako's growing alarm and worry. "Has something happened to her?!"

"Complicated."

"Himiko!"

Himiko held up her hands. "I'm trying to be diplomatic here, alright. Things got… really really bad last night."

"Perhaps," a new voice joined the pair, "it would be best if I explained things from here, Toga." Both girls turned to see Nezu walk into the room. "Since I was the one that made the call to have Mrs. Midoriya rendered unconscious."

"Yes, I still got a fucking hole in my shoulder," Katsuki growled out into his phone while he glanced down at the bandage that was wrapped around his gunshot wound. "Arms stuck in a sling too. Fucking sucks." Katsuki's brow scrunched. "I am not complaining! I am toughing it out you old hag!" Calling his parents had been a mistake.

Should have just sent a text or something.

"Eh? What'd the old man say? Huh?! I can't hear him over your bitching!" Definitely should have texted. "No, Recovery Girl hasn't come to see me yet. Doctors here said I'm at the bottom of the list of people she's going to visit." Katsuki wished he had a free hand to rub the pain in his head. "Because a gunshot wound is simple. Almost the whole fucking other class was sucking in some poison shit and she's got her hands full dealing with them." Katsuki wanted this to be done. "How's the kid?… Yeah… Yeah, keeping her distracted is a good idea." Katsuki frowned deeply. "Yeah. She's still up here. Tore up some room last night apparently." Katsuki blinked, then snarled, "No, I'm not going to do anything to upset her more! Fuck sakes, what kind of shitheel do you take me for?! Look. Focus on keeping the kid distracted, alright?! Bye!"

With a growl, Katsuki almost drove his thumb through his phone's screen as he hung up. He was just about ready to chuck it out into the hallway, before he decided that having to go through the hassle of getting a new one was not worth it.

It was annoying that he couldn't lay the blame for all his frustrations on his parents. He'd been in a foul mood ever since those investigators pounced on him the second he had been cleared by the doctors earlier in the morning. Even with Aizawa acting as a buffer, they were still annoying as fuck. Since Ochako had still been out of it, it had fallen onto him to tell the vultures that their experience last night had been a little different than everyone else's.

Hearing that Tomura had extended an invitation to join the League of Villains had the agents giving Katsuki some strange looks. Katsuki damn near threw his IV drip at the one dumb enough to ask if he'd been tempted to take the offer. Aizawa had then reprimanded the agents and had made it clear in no uncertain terms that as his teacher, he found the idea absurd and would not tolerate it being taken seriously.

'The boy doesn't exactly act heroic though.' The agent pointed out Katsuki's tactics during the recent sports festival were alarmingly aggressive.

'Need I remind you who our current ranked number two is?'

After that got the agents to drop the subject, Katsuki got to the meat of his encounter. Hood. Hearing a Nomu had been on site didn't exactly get much of a reaction from anyone. Hearing that it talked made one man drop his pencil as he froze.

When he was done, the agents made it clear this information was not to be spread around. Doing so could induce panic in the general population, etc etc etc. When Aizawa was able to get the people out, he had asked if Katsuki was alright and if he needed anything.

Katsuki didn't answer the first question, but did ask if what Tomura had said was true. About the Nomus. That they were made from people.

'We suspected. But never had confirmation.'

A knock on the door pulled Katsuki out of his thoughts. "It's open." Eijirou stuck his head through. "The fuck you want Shitty Hair?"

"Hey. Just heard Uraraka is awake. Principal Nezu got us all a room to meet up. We're all heading there now. You coming?"

Katsuki could see the bags under the other boy's eyes. Clearly he hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd be surprised if anyone in the class had. Aside from Ochako, but only because she had just functionally stopped working.

"Fuck it, I'll be there in a minute. I'll find the spot." Katsuki didn't really want to be there, but he got the feeling saying no was going to be a bigger pain in the ass than going.

The way Eijirou sighed, before flashing a thumbs up and leaving, probably meant he had been prepared to argue that he should come. Katsuki was also pretty sure he heard Denki from behind the door sighing too.

"Fucking, what are we going to do. Just sit together and feel sorry for ourselves…" Katsuki growled at the way his shoulder throbed, a constant reminder of how he hadn't been able to stop Izuku getting taken. "Round Face probably going to want a pound of flesh outta me. Crazy bitch needs to leave being a nutjob to her pet serial killer, fucking shit." He hissed with annoyance.

Still, before he had to go deal with that roomful of headaches, he had one other thing he needed to do. Phone in hand, he scrolled through his contacts, until his thumb landed on a name he hadn't spoken to since getting into U.A., aside from a text here or there. Yubi. One of his friends growing up. For a long while, it had been himself with Yubi, Izuku and Tsubasa. In terms of the pecking order, Yubi being able to grow his fingers put him just above the wimpy Izuku and his next to worthless Quirk. Tsubasa back then was practically his right hand until…

Fucking… don't think about that shit right now.

The phone rang a few times and at the fourth signal, Katsuki was ready to just hang up. But then, "Hello? Bakugou?"

"Hey Center Part."

"Holy crap it actually is you. I thought maybe someone stole your phone."

"Why the fuck would you think that?"

"You don't ever call me, man. Plus with the news saying how your class got attacked again…" Katsuki could hear the other boy shudder. "Is it true? What the news is saying about Dek… About Midoriya?"

"Yeah."

"Shit man…"

"…"

"Dude… listen, it's crazy. But like… why are you calling me? I mean sure a text here or there, but like… you don't call people."

"Look. Things are…shit right now. Had one of the villains…throw some shit in my face. So I'm checking up on some things."

"…Wait, you think I'm talking about you or something?"

Katsuki heard the way his voice went up as he kept talking. "Well I do now."

"Just… just to people in class. Kinda bragging how… you know, I was one of your boys growing up."

Katsuki wished his arm wasn't in a sling so he could run his brow. "Seriously. The fuck, Center Part?"

"Hey, don't judge me. Been hard having to hold my own. Also, I'm going to get a new haircut and make you stop using that damn name."

"…" Katsuki was not feeling guilty that he had all but abandoned the boy after graduating junior high. Definitely not. It was probably just whatever drugs the doctors shot into him to deal with the pain of having been shot in the shoulder. "You've been saying that for years. You do and you're Chicken Fingers."

"Man, what the hell."

"Look… When you're going around bragging you were one of my boys. You ever mention Tsubasa?"

"Tsuba…? Huh?" Katsuki could almost see the flinch. Some unwritten agreement between himself, Yubi and Izuku had been not to talk about Tsubasa after they heard the news about his death. It was just too fucked up to think about, and Katsuki hadnt wanted to seem weak back then. "No man. No, why would I… dude, what?"

"Has anyone come around asking about him?"

"No? Wait… wait, you said the villains threw something in your face. Did they mention him?" Katsuki made a very angry grunt. "Oh fuck, the hell is up with that?"

"Look. Until you hear from me directly, keep my name outta your mouth. You're so low on anyone's priority you should be fine—"

"Ow."

"—but better you play things safe."

"Yeah… shit man. Why you got bastards coming after you already?"

"I'm me. You think I wouldn't make enemies?"

"In your first year of high school?! … Actually, nah… this track. Alright, yeah I'll… keep my mouth shut."

"Good. And if you hear anyone bring up Tsubasa, you call me. Text. Whatever. You get a hold of me immediately. Got it?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good. I gotta meet up with my class."

"Yup."

Katsuki was about to pull his phone away but paused, then added, "You're not smoking, are you?" There was a series of sputters and coughs. Denials stumbled and tumbled out of Yubi's mouth, none of them convincing. "Center Part, the next time I see and I find those shitsticks on you, you're getting exploded. Got it!"

"Yup! Loud and clear!… Wait, uh wait, next time you see me?!"

Click.

Katsuki didn't bother listening to the rest and hung up.

"I informed Miss Asui that there was a room prepared for all of 1-A to be able to meet comfortably. Miss Uraraka will meet you all there after she and I have had a chance to talk."

Nezu dismissed Himiko with that. And to Ochako's surprise, Himiko actually left. 'Already flew off the handle and tore into people,' seemed to imply these two had already had their own 'talk' about things, and had come to some kind of understanding.

So now, Ochako was sitting across from the principal, not entirely sure what she should be expecting, but knowing what she wanted to ask. There were several questions of course, but first and foremost, "'Rendered unconscious?'"

Nezu folded his paws. "First, let me say I place no blame on Mrs. Midoriya. After everything she's been through… well, humans all have moments when they finally snap." Ochako blinked slowly, as she realized that Nezu, like Himiko beforehand, was being diplomatic while explaining things. That was fucking terrifying.

"But, in order to… ensure no harm was done, to herself more than anyone… I ordered Midnight to use her Quirk on Mrs. Midoriya." Ochako sucked in a sharp breath. "Before you say anything, you should be aware. When I say she reached her breaking moment, that meant that she had just used her Quirk to cause property damage to the hospital." Ochako's eyes went wide. If Quirks were getting thrown around… "Minimal of course, and kept within a small room, but to make sure she didn't… have a chance to put herself in a truly untenable situation, I chose to act." Nezu sighed. "Her Quirk may not be as potent as her son's. But in a cheap little room she can still make quite a mess. Small is relative when it comes to a truly upset woman with any form of telekinesis."

"That doesn't… She's not…" Ochako was having trouble forming the words. "Mrs. Midoriya isn't like that. She's…"

"A woman pushed far past her breaking point. U.A. has of course informed the hospital that we will be covering the damages, so on that front she will not have anything to worry about." Nezu leaned forward. "However, there are other factors that are more pressing concerning her. Miss Uraraka… Mrs. Midoriya has found herself in the unfortunate position of having certain government agencies' attention. And in order to help her navigate this trying time and to ensure this attention passes, I'm going to need to figure some things out. Which means I'm going to ask you some questions and you need to answer truthfully. Understand?"

Ochako nodded.

"Does Mrs. Midoriya know about One for All?"

"No sir. I don't think… Deku has ever worked up the heart to tell her anything about that. About that, or about All for One or…"

"She knows about All for One."

Ochako winced. "Right… Himiko said he… he went to her after… after Deku was…" She didn't want to say it.

"You misunderstand. She knows about All for One, because she met him when she was a child." Ochako's head snapped up as Nezu summarized what he had been told by All Might and Himiko.

"But up until the recent attacks on the school, she hadn't thought about him since. Just some scary villain that let a harmless child run away as far as she had been concerned. Unfortunately, she chose to speak with All Might on the matter. And he chose to tell her he was dead."

"Oh god."

"All for One is a very closely guarded secret as far as the HPSC is concerned. A very select few people even in their organization know who he is. That Mrs. Midoriya has now revealed herself as someone who has known, and the fact that he chose to appear to her… it's raised a few eyebrows. I think it'll be a simple thing to explain, relatively speaking, as long as everyone involved is able to get their stories and facts straight. Ultimately I'm sure she'll be encouraged to sign documentation promising to never speak of the man." Nezu sighed. "It should go without saying, but you and everyone else in your circle of friends would be extremely wise to follow Toga's advice and not say a word about the matter."

Ochako rubbed her hands together. There was a lot to take in right now. Inko knowing about All for One was alarming. How All Might decided to ease her worries made her want to put her head through some glass. But there was something else added to it all. Himiko telling her to keep her mouth shut was one thing. Nezu put it into a new light. "…I'm going to be lying to the government…"

"Everyone in the government lies. Only the ones foolish enough to always tell the truth end up in jail." Nezu waved off her concerns, before he moved on. "There is one other topic I need to ask you about. And it goes without saying, treat what you know with the same discretion you do with All Might and One for All. I'm speaking of Miss Hatsume's mother."

"Hatsume's… So it's true. She escaped Tartarus? She was with…" Ochako trailed off when Nezu raised a paw.

"Yes. The exact how's are unknown, though it apparently involved faking her own death." Nezu regarded Ochako carefully. "Answer me truthfully. Do you hold Miss Hatsume responsible for what has transpired?"

Ochako bolted upright. "What?! No! Why would I… I mean, my god, I'm sure Hatsume must be a mess if she's just finding out about this."

"Good," Nezu replied curtly. "In times like this, it is extremely easy to pass blame on others. Guilt by association will not be tolerated while I am your principal. Fortunately you and your friends that know of Miss Hatsume's connection to the woman all chose to not try and shift any blame onto her." Nezu sighed. "Granted, I'm not saying you shouldn't feel strange about the subject. Several of you were, but that is a completely normal thing to experience." Nezu tapped his paws together. "My, such stressful conversations make me wish I had my tea set with me. I feel we could both use a cup."

Maybe if Ochako wasn't reeling from everything, she might have made a small witty joke. But she just silently nodded.

Nezu noticed. "I won't keep you much longer. Yes, I think it would be best if you see your friends sooner rather than later. So I'll ask my last question. You've practically lived with the Midoriyas now for well over a year. During that time, did you ever see any evidence that Mrs. Midoriya might have known who Lady Nagant was?"

"I… no?" That question confused the fuck out of Ochako. "Why would she know who Hatsume's mother is?"

"That is the question myself and the other staff are trying to figure out, before the HPSC decides to ask her themselves." Nezu leaned forward. "Mrs. Midoriya ran into myself, Midnight, All Might and Hawks as we were escorting Miss Hatsume to her room." Nezu went on to explain the confrontation, but when he told Ochako about how Inko grabbed some of Mei's hair after seeing the undyed parts, that left Ochako stunned. When he went on to say that after finding her again, he ordered Midnight to knock her out, that now had a whole new perspective.

"Learning that Lady Nagant was the escaped villain is what pushed her over the edge?"

"Yes. Not learning that Miss Hatsume was related to a member of the villains that attacked you, but specifically that it was Lady Nagant. Can you shed any light on that?"

Ochako leaned back, and tried to think back to all the times she had been over to Izuku's apartment. All the times she'd talked to Inko. And nothing she could think of would make what she'd just heard make any sense.

"I see. Then it appears that if we're to understand this, then we'll just have to ask Mrs. Midoriya herself." That got a frown from Ochako, but Nezu held up a paw. "I can assure you, this will be handled delicately. And not by anyone directly working under the HPSC or Tartarus. I don't trust them to be kind to her. Of course, it can't be done by anyone working for U.A. They would assume, given the connection, that we wouldn't be willing to ask the hard questions. But never you worry about that. I already have a plan in motion. I expect Mrs. Midoriya will not be held… overly long. Once this… situation is dealt with, we will be able to direct all our attention back to what matters. The safe and timely return of Mr. Midoriya to us."

Ochako gulped down what felt like a stone in her throat. "How is… um…"

"Heroes, police, investigators and others have been mobilized. Trust me when I say, no one is sitting on their hands doing nothing."

After the talk, Ochako had been cleared to leave to meet up with her class. And it was a dreary sight. She was pretty sure she was asked how she was doing, but she could only really offer up a grunt. She might have heard Mina say something about scheduling an appointment with her stylist after all this mess was over, but she barely acknowledged that.

There was an empty seat which Himiko led her to. Sitting down, Ochako had her hands grasped and her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward and just sat silently. And that offered her some measure of peace as everyone just let her be.

And for a little while, the room was quiet, with no one really wanting to be the one to break the silence. Then the door opened and Katsuki walked in and scowled. "Fucking hell… a fucking pity party."

Shouto gave him an annoyed look. "You're welcome to leave."

Katsuki clicked his tongue against his teeth in an annoyed tsk. "Then Racoon Eyes would sic Shitty Hair on me to try and drag me back."

"Damned right," Mina muttered with her arms crossed. "We should all be here." Which got a general murmur of agreement.

"Then where are Lobes and Ponytail?"

"Jirou went to get Yaoyorozu. Apparently Hatsume grabbed her earlier after she was cleared by the staff and she got dragged off to some far corner of the hospital for something. Haven't seen either since," Hitoshi answered. "Teachers have been mum about the whole thing."

"Weird."

"The Hatsume thing or how the teachers are acting about it?"

"Both I guess."

"Hey, does anyone know what was up with Hatsume getting dragged off like that last—"

More than a few people coughed loudly. Himiko extra loudly. When the rest of the class that didn't cough looked at her she pointedly spelled out, "Unless you wanna have government assholes making your lives miserable, don't ask."

Fumikage crossed his arms. "Did it have anything to do with the attack?"

Himiko groaned, rubbing her bad eye. "Swear to god. What part of don't ask, didn't you understand? No. She was worried it might. A bunch of paranoid shits thought it might. It didn't, it doesn't, and let's leave it at that."

Thankfully no one really had the fight to push. They also figured that they'd hear what was going on eventually.

"Anyone speak with anyone from 1-B?"

Kouji nodded, fingers tapping together while he signed and whispered he had spoken with Itsuka earlier.

"Almost all of her class got really messed up last night. She must be having a hard time," Mina mentioned sadly.

Tenya adjusted his glasses. "I spotted her checking on each room and speaking with Recovery Girl. She has proven herself a great representative of her class taking on the duties to keep an eye on them as they recover."

Sero scratched his head. "Man, what kind of villain has a Quirk that can take out a whole class like that? Guy must be crazy strong."

Kouji glanced at Himiko but kept his mouth shut. Himiko knew a few people were looking at her and sighed. "Y'all remember Saito?" She waited for the name to ring in their head. "He joined the League so he'd have a shot at killing me."

…

"Fuck," Denki groaned. "What the hell?"

"Helped Shigaraki kill his folks too, if I had to guess. So there's that fucking mess." Himiko was starting to think herself missing her chance to 'deal with' Saito last night, was going to come back to bite her later.

Fuck having a fucking conscience.

All in all, it was pretty clear to the class that things sucked all around.

"Man… how could this have happened?" Denki grumbled as he slumped into his chair. "What the heck…"

"Hey, no way the teachers saw this coming. Not like there was anything they could do," Tooru offered.

Rikido crossed his arms. "You think it's fine to just say our teachers didn't know something like this could happen? Makes them sound incompetent."

Mina frowned, not liking the sound of that. "What are you saying? That it's better they knew and couldn't stop it? That's way worse."

Tenya cleared his throat. "We should not be putting the blame for what happened on our teachers and heroes' shoulders. We must believe that they took what they thought were appropriate measures to ensure our safety."

"Except, you know, having All Might with us," Sero muttered.

"We all know why the school thought it best not to bring All Might," Tenya countered. "At the time, our teachers thought he presented too tempting a target for the League."

"Then why bother sending us out to the mountains? We could have just used one of the training grounds at school and brought the Wild Wild Pussycats there instead," Minoru pointed out. "We'd have the school staff and All Might for protection."

"Because they were trying to give us a little bit of the student life we're missing as heroes-in-training, kero." Tsuyu sounded tired. Agitated and tired. "We don't get to be in any school clubs. All our free time is training. But going to the Wild Wild Pussycats' home, we got to camp out. We got to experience some of the things other kids our age get to take for granted."

The class quieted down. None really liked the way the conversation was going. They all knew they were stressed and the temptation to lash out was leading down to some bad talking points.

Himiko sighed. "Sometimes, someone just has your number. And there's nothing you can do about it. No sense trying to nail the blame on someone when we don't even know what the fuck really happened yet."

"Yeah, like how did they even find us?" Eijirou asked. "We were out in the middle of nowhere."

Ochako wrung her hands together. She didn't want to think about any of this. She honestly wished she had just stayed asleep.

How did they find us…?

The question was stuck in her craw now. A splinter under her nail. Because there was an easy answer to it. If her mind wasn't so numb she'd have come up with the conclusion sooner. Because the only real way those villains could know where they were…

Was if someone had—

There was a knock at the door, cutting off Ochako's line of thought. Ochako wasn't sure if she had said they could come in or if it had been someone else. She still felt so listless. Her body was moving and doing things, but it didn't feel like she was the one in control.

"Holy fuck."

The sharp gasp from Himiko, along with a few startled noises, was enough to at least get her to look to see who had walked in.

Kyouka had brought Momo and Mei, the last of the group, into the room. Followed by…

…

Ochako stared blankly for a few moments. Then slowly, some clarity, some sharpness returned to her eyes. Because even in her fucked up state, she wasn't so far removed from reality to not recognize who was standing in the room now. And what that meant.

"Melissa?"

Some of the class didn't know who this was, though they saw she was recognized by others. Mina and those that had been at I-Island were quick to fill in who this stranger was, but neither group seemed to catch the wide-eyed gazes from the third set of the class. The group of Izuku's close-knit friends who knew what Melissa being in that room actually meant.

Melissa walked into the room, and moved to wrap Ochako into a tight hug. The size difference would have made it comical if not for the raspy, shuddering breath that escaped Ochako's body, like she wanted to cry but just didn't have the power to. "Y-you're here."

"I am here."

Earlier that day.

"Ah, I think the final member of the strike team is here at last," the HPSC officer said as he put down his phone. "She's on her way up now."

Around the room, there was a small murmur from some of the gathered. The strike team already consisted of All Might, Endeavor, Edgeshot, Gran Torino, Sir Nighteye, Kamui Woods, Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Mt. Lady, Miruko, Hawks and Tiger.

Mt. Lady was counting off her fingers. "She, huh… let's see, what other women heroes could… Tiger, you expecting help from your team?"

Tiger shook his head with a grunt. "Pixie-Bob is still recovering and I don't think anything is peeling Mandalay away from Kouta right now."

Kamui Woods shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough."

Mt. Lady was still counting off. "Not Midnight, she's staying… Uwabami makes no sense… Ryukyu?" She looked towards Miruko.

"She's still neck deep in her investigation of some smuggling operation on the other side of the country," Miruko said offhandedly. "So I don't think she's going to be able to make it." Miruko paused. "She sends her regret at not being able to help by the way." Miruko muttered something along the lines of that she knew she'd been forgetting to tell All Might something.

All Might raised a hand. "I'm aware of the trigger smuggling ring she's been trying to nail down. No apology is necessary."

Mr. Lady then shrugged as she dropped her hand. "Then hell, I'm out of gue—" The door to the room opened, and the heroes all blinked at what, at first glance, looked like a walking flag in the doorway. When the person had to bend over to walk through the door, a few eyebrows shot up as they recognized who was coming in. When Star and Stripe stood back up, Mt. Lady just stared. "Okay, wouldn't have guessed her."

Miruko whistled. Edgeshot and Best Jeanist shared looks while Endeavor regarded Star and Stripe evenly. As All Might walked over to shake her hand, Endeavor turned to the agent in the room. "I wasn't aware we were asking for assistance outside our country for this operation."

"The… offer of assistance came from Star and Stripe herself," the agent corrected. "Which we graciously accepted."

The more veteran pros could read between the lines. Someone along the line got their arm twisted to make this happen. And given how countries are as a whole reluctant to ask for outside help in internal matters, it was easy to assume who got their arm twisted. As to who did the twisting…

"I made the offer of assistance. When I saw the news, and especially after meeting Young Midoriya during the whole I-Island incident, I was not about to sit around and do nothing. I was… adamant about lending my help. Fortunately our countries were able to figure things out quickly," Star and Stripe explained with a smile.

Translation: Star and Stripe twisted both countries' arms to make this happen. The more anti-authoritarian heroes of the group could appreciate that.

Mt. Lady, rookie that she was, didn't get any of that stuff- "Man. forget not knowing who asked or offered. How did we not know Miss Patriot here was coming?"

"Aside from the fact it all happened so fast?" Best Jeanist added. "I'm assuming she didn't fly commercial."

"I'm not surprised that you all are surprised. Given that I was shepherded here in a blacked out van when I landed." Star and Stripe kept her smile, but her eyes were frosty as she addressed the HPSC agent. "Would have been here faster if my boys had been given clearance to fly over your country. I don't suppose you all have fixed that yet since I left the base, Mr. Mera?"

Yokumiru Mera, the HPSC's agent and representative for the operation, didn't seem fazed at all at the thinly veiled aggravation of the visiting hero, and instead worked to address the other heroes' shock at her arrival and statements. "We felt it would be wise to ensure America's hero arrived with as little fanfare as possible. If even our own heroes are surprised she's here, then we can assume the villains won't expect it either. Best to make sure her presence is as minor as possible."

"Yup. Definitely don't want people knowing I came to help," Star and Stripe said with a smile.

In her ear, Agpar coughed through the little communication earpiece. "Star, be nice."

Under her breath, Star and Stripe muttered, "I am being nice."

"Be nicer."

Miruko almost snorted.

"As for your military fighter jets. The government doesn't see how those will contribute to this operation. So unless your government would like to explain why we should let foreign military equipment fly over our cities, I think it best they stay grounded at your military base."

Agpar, over the line, described the man in something very Australian. And added something about his piss poor attempt to learn about the United States experimental equipment. This time Miruko did snort. Star and Stripe glanced her way, and she just casually pointed at her ears.

"Now that everyone that will be taking part in this operation is here, we can begin going over what we know." Yokumiru opened his briefcase and pulled out several files for the heroes. "In these reports, you'll find summaries of the students and heroes on site during the attack." As the folders were handed out, the heroes began skimming through. "However, before you begin focusing on the villain profiles, I would bring your attention to the final summary. This piece of information was only just delivered to us after the interview with student Bakugou Katsuki. He was finally cleared less than an hour ago. Apparently, he and another student, Uraraka Ochako, who is currently still unconscious, had a unique experience during this assault."

"You mean aside from encountering Shigaraki?" All Might asked.

"Correct."

"Hold on," Gran Torino frowned after flipping to the back. "An intelligent Nomu?"

Everyone in the room that had come face to face with a Nomu before had very alarmed looks. Hawks sighed. "Great, because being a walking nightmare wasn't enough."

Sir Nighteye scanned through the document and concurred. "Before, these Nomu were indeed a threat, but it seemed like they were little more than walking bombs our enemy could drop somewhere and unleash carnage with before they were taken out. More so, none of the ones seen have been a match to the one encountered at the USJ."

"Figured the ones we ran into were just them putting whatever scraps they had left together…" Miruko clicked her tongue. "But fuck looks like that's not the case. So much for the limited resources idea. I bet the ones from Hosu City were made first. Then the USJ one. Not the other way around."

Tiger growled. "So they're getting better at making these things."

"The Hero Public Safety Commission agrees. This new information puts the whole Nomu situation into a new light. Which is why the main goal of this operation is being changed," Yokumiru informed the heroes gathered.

If there was a competition to see who could piss off two giant heroes the fastest, then he had just won. Because the mood shift from All Might and Star and Stripe could be felt by everyone.

"What do you mean the goal of this operation has changed?" All Might didn't need to yell, the dark gravel in his voice made it crystal clear he was fucking mad.

Hawks quickly moved to defuse the situation, stepping between the man and the pissed off heroes, aware that while All Might and Star and Stripe were very very mad, there were a few other heroes in the room who were not happy either. "Whoa whoa, let's just be clear. Rescuing Midoriya is still our objective. That hasn't changed. This operation just has two objectives now. Rescuing the kid, and destroying the League of Villains Nomu manufacturing facility."

Miruko rubbed her brow. "Maybe lead with that next time, you dumbass."

Yokumiru regarded her tiredly, then looked up at All Might. "If we're ready to get back on topic?" There was no objection. "This strike force will be divided into two teams. Team A will work alongside the police force to secure any villains at their main base. Team B will be a smaller strike force meant to completely neutralize their Nomu production. Both teams will also have the goal of rescuing Midoriya Izuku and Shiretoko Tomoko."

Gang Orca noted that his folder had a B paper clipped to the front. Looking around he started keeping track of which hero had what number attached to their folder.

Team A: All Might. Star and Stripe. Endeavor. Edgeshot. Gran Torino. Sir Nighteye. Kamui Woods.

Team B: Best Jeanist. Gang Orca. Mt. Lady. Miruko. Hawks. Tiger.

"Hmph, are you expecting heavier resistance for Team A?" It wasn't hard to notice that some of the heavy hitters were stacked to one side.

"Team A has multiple objectives on top of their rescue. We want them to also capture the members of the League of Villains. As such, we're expecting heavy resistance. Also, there is a good chance the true leader of this group may be on site." Yokumiru glanced at All Might.

Endeavor frowned. "You're referring to the villain that confronted the boy's mother shortly after the kidnapping?"

"Correct. We also have reason to believe that this villain poses a threat similar to the Nomu that attacked U.A. As such, it's best we stack the deck. Team B isn't without their own fighters, as there may be a chance this new Nomu is on site. But your task is much more straightforward. Annihilate the facility while Best Jeanist captures any individuals that may have information."

Star and Stripe flipped through the pages, making a mental note that the agent had been pretty damn quick to shift to another topic after even just mentioning 'the villain.' She paused when she came across documents summarizing Beros. Some strong feelings bubbled up there. She was the last living connection to whoever had been pulling the strings behind the attack on I-Island.

This goes well, maybe I'll get the chance to persuade her to tell me what she knows.

Gran Torino grumbled. "Wanting to kill two birds with one stone is all well and good. But we're still stuck at square one here."

"Young Hatsume and Young Yaoyorozu have been hard at work on that front. The receiver has been fixed. Now they are finetuning it to try and home in on the signal coming from Young Midoriya." All Might didn't need to look over at Star and Stripe for the next bit to know if she understood. "I've contacted a family friend, my niece, to come out and help the duo with their task. She is an inventor with top marks from I-Island, so I think she will be able to assist. I believe she should be here any time now."

Gran Torino grunted. "That'll solve the rescue portion. But for this to work how the HPSC wants it to work, we need to hit both bases at the same time. One or the other, and you can bet they'll go into hiding. And we don't have any clues where this facility is."

Best Jeanist crossed his arms. "We're also working under the impression that we will be hitting two separate locations. Who's to say the hostages aren't being held at this facility. It could be acting as their main hub."

Yokumiru shook his head. "Given all our intelligence gathered, thanks to the police force, we have a good idea where the Nomu manufacturing facility is. But that same intelligence leads us to believe that it is not their main hideout."

Miruko's ears twitched. "Hold on. You have a 'good idea' where these freaks are getting made? And you've done nothing?"

"The president felt that at the time, taking a 'wait and see' approach might let us collect more intelligence into the process. Mostly from a supply standpoint than anything else."

"Supply?" Star and Stripe frowned. "You mean how they're transporting cadavers and from where, you mean."

"We were operating under the impression that the League was running out of resources. Clearly that is not the case. Hence the change. In order to solve this situation, both tasks must be completed simultaneously."

Finding a room to themselves wasn't exactly hard. It just took some very creative running away before anyone could really think to grab either hero to talk to them.

All Might sighed as he deflated, while Star and Stripe kept her back to the door, making sure it wouldn't open unexpectedly. She also had her earpiece out so they could now talk privately. "How are you holding up?"

All Might looked down at his hands. "I think… it would be best if I make myself scarce until the operation actually starts."

"I can ferry information to you if you need it."

All Might waved her off. "No. Gran Torino will take care of that. You have more important things to take care of."

Star and Stripe nodded, before she pressed a thumb into her bracer, activating the nanotech and making her costume glow and unravel around her, while at the same time taking a deep breath and sucking herself in, until Melissa, dressed in her civvies and backpack slung over her shoulder, stood in her place when the steam cleared. "I'll get down to the warehouse where Hatsume and Yaoyorozu are. I brought some tools with me." Melissa tugged at the backpack strap. "We'll get something made in no time."

"What the fuck is this?" Whatever Melissa expected to see when she walked into the storage room, it certainly wasn't to see some massive tower of tech that fit more in a Frankenstein horror movie than real life, hardwired into the breaker box with wires she was all but certain would spark and short just by walking too close. So of course she saw Mei walk over them as she slammed what looked like a screen into an opening in the tower, before proceeding to attach jumper cable-like wires to it.

Momo, wearing a very conspicuously opened shirt, was pulling more heavy duty wires out of her chest, and with heavy duty gloves, jamming them into another opened fuse box that had had its front ripped off, exposing all sorts of wires for Momo to connect her shit to, before she hurried over and handed the other ends to an ungloved Mei to add to the rest of the rats nest of insanity that looked more at home on a power pole in Mexico.

"CLEAR!" Mei screamed before she jammed the new wires into the mess. Melissa wasn't surprised when Mei was jettisoned across the room by the electric discharge.

She was surprised to see her back hit several layers of gym padding, obviously set up by Momo. When the padding fell off the wall, and she saw the huge hole, it seemed like this wasn't the first go-around at being electrocuted.

"What the fuck?"

"Okay… so explain the logic to me." After Mei had stopped sparking, Melissa finally got the pair to slow down and explain where they were at in tracking Izuku down.

"The issue is, we're effectively trying to find a paired Bluetooth device that's way outside the normal range of the signal sender and receiver." Mei held up a phone, and an ear pod as examples.

"Then can we make a stronger receiver to compensate?"

Mei shook her head. "I don't want to risk making something new and interrupting the pairing. The little devices Midoriya has are paired to this receiver. Right now that's our only link. We're not getting a signal now, but I know my babies are broadcasting."

Mei tapped the receiver screen hooked up into the tech tower. "So you're trying to boost this device's range. With all this?"

"Yup!"

Momo was busy pulling new wire out of herself to replace the cords that had melted during the last attempt. "The problem is, Hatsume's device wasn't made to handle the large amounts of power needed to send and receive a signal over a large area. Like a country. So we have to make something that will take the device and boost it, without sending that power through the device itself."

"We lucked out that the damage done to my baby was only the screen and not anything else. It was still technically working, so it never unpaired with the little bugs on Midoriya."

Melissa got it. They were effectively trying to take a kitchen faucet, attach a funnel to it, and turn the output into Niagara Falls. Without blowing up the faucet from the inanity of the task.

"Okay. But there are hundreds of not thousands of electrical signals and wireless signals all over this country. How are you going to filter them?" Melissa asked.

"My babies used Midoriya's own Quirk as the signal. His Psychokinies is unique to him, and it's what my babies send out for readings. Think Greentooth vs Bluetooth. The crest uses a lot more conventional tech to send me data over a long distance. My little bugs were piggybacking his Quirk's energy for sight to sight communication."

"…And what if he isn't using his Quirk?" Melissa said with a frown.

Mei shrugged. "Midoriya is a walking battery of power. He is constantly humming with energy now. Even if he's not actively using it, I should be able to pick it up. If I can make my baby strong enough."

"Without frying yourself," Melissa added dryly. Though she could follow the logic. Mei shrugged and Melissa unslung her backpack. "Okay. Let's get to work."

"So what were you three up to?" Himiko asked suspiciously. "You three? Off by yourselves."

"We're working on a device that should track where the villains have taken Midori…ya…" When the words left Melissa's mouth, she knew, instantly she had just made a huge fucking mistake. Not every reaction was the same for the class. But the ones that had the strongest reactions were the most concerning. In particular, Ochako's eyes had sharpened. The slight daze that had clouded them was gone. Clouded driftiness was replaced with alarming clear purpose.

"You're making a tracker?" Ochako looked from Melissa, over to Mei and Momo. "The three of you?"

"Wait, really?!" Eijirou shot up. "Seriously?!"

"Yao-Momo, why didn't you say so earlier? I wouldn't have interrupted you if I knew that's what you were doing." Kyouka tapped her jacks. "I mean, Uraraka waking up is big, but—"

"Hold on, why didn't you say anything?" Himiko cut in.

Tenya crossed his arms. "Clearly neither wanted to offer hope when they didn't have a working device."

Mei shrugged. "It's a shot in the dark. The little transponders I slipped into Midoriya's water weren't meant for tracking him like this. So I'm having to think outside the box to modify my receiver." She gave Melissa an annoyed look. "Should have mentioned to you not to say anything until we had something worth sharing. But, oh well."

It was a good reason not to mention this to the class, Melissa agreed with that. But that wasn't why she was suddenly so very pissed off at herself for bringing it up.

She had only spent a short time with Ochako and Izuku during their stay at I-Island. During that time, it had been made extremely and obviously clear to Melissa that Izuku learned a lot from her uncle. That he'd copied many of his traits, not all of which most people would consider to be good ones. Izuku was not one to sit around and do nothing.

But while so many people seemed to focus on Izuku, Melissa had learned something else. He wasn't the only one that had those traits. Izuku wasn't All Might's only protégé. Ochako was too, and while she might not be so out there with it, Melissa had seen first hand, Ochako was just as crazy as anyone connected to All Might was.

Ochako was just as bad as Izuku.

And I just let her know there was a tracking device being made in the hospital… Melissa, you are the smartest idiot on the planet.

Melissa at the time hadn't realized just what gears she had started turning, and what events she had just set in motion.

Authors Notes:

Sorry for the delay and the short chapter. This one was a little hard to get traction on. It didn't help that I've been playing TotK in my free time too. Not a whole lot to say this time. But it's fun getting so many plot threads lined up for something I've had planned for a long time.

Hopefully Part 2 will be out much faster!

A huge shout out to my beta reader WereTech

As always, comments reviews and critiques are always welcome!