Frozen in fear.

Most people think it's just an expression. Y'know, because moving feels impossible.

It's like a glacial wave crashed over me, turning me icy from the inside out.

Too cold to think or feel, too numb to do anything about it.

"What? No greeting for your old friend?" The gun clicked as it was cocked, still pressed against the middle of my back.

"Hello..." I lifted my hands, slowly turning around in surrender. "Zap."

"Are you ready to finish what we started?" He leered, his finger trailing the side of my neck. A shiver crawled down my spine but my gaze never waivered.

"I am. And I'll be defending myself this time."

"You're not even going to call your boyfriend in?" I bristled slightly, but kept my tone light and airy, trying to seem as flippant as I could. How did he know about Kat?

"No need for reinforcements." His lip curled into a nasty grin, his free hand crackling and sparking, an eerie mix of Kat and Kaminari.

"You're right. No need for your friends to watch you die."

"Hey, Zap?"

"What?" He snapped.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Wh- I told you. Your parents killed mine."

"What has that got to do with us?" I kept my wide eyes and innocent expression locked on his face, steady while he faltered.

"Are y-you stupid?" His face went red as his anger caused a stutter. "I grew up without my parents because of you."

"And I grew up without my parents because of you." Now he really was pushed over the edge. His mouth opened and closed like a fish on land, words escaping him. "So where does that leave us?" Zap paused and took a small step back, clearly trying to regain some composure.

"You ruined my life. We could have just moved on and had that stupid child take the blame. But you went and told the police that I did it, and now my hero career is down the drain. Ruined! I'm on the run when I should be basking in glory! Ruined!" He hissed, his voice building to a shrill crescendo.

"Hin-" Kat called from the other room horsley, cutting himself off with a fit of coughs.

"Stay there. I- I'll handle this." I replied, keeping my eyes trained on my opponent. "I'm not the same person I was, Zap. I fought a Nomu alone. I spent time with the League of Villains. I have a second quirk. This won't go how you think it will."

"You have a what?"

"I have a second quirk. Given to me by All for One personally." My voice was low, not wanting Kat to overhear. He knew I had another quirk, of course. But he didn't know how exactly I'd gotten it. Zap stepped back again.

"What is it?" Was he... scared? Of me, or of my ties to All for One? I leant forward, dropping my voice to a poisonous whisper.

"I'll never tell." A noise of shock and fear caught in his throat. "We don't have to do this the hard way, Zap. There is an easy option." His Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped, but his voice was unwavering and cold.

"What would that be?"

"You hand yourself in." His lip curled.

"And be thrown into a prison cell to rot?"

"Of course not. I would never ask for something so ridiculous." It was surprising how quickly I had quelled the sickening anxiety I had first felt rising up my throat like bile. Zap was never some untouchable evil. He was a person who made bad decisions. Just like the League. "I'll help you find a reformation programme to go through. You could even go back to being a hero eventually-"

"No! Liar!" He suddenly screamed, clicking the gun again and raising it towards me.

Don't flinch, don't flinch, don't-

"You're a liar! That will never happen! I'll be put in a cell with the other scum. The scum that I put there! I'll be killed in there! And I'll deserve it..." What a broken shell of a man I had before me. He still had some humanity left in him that I could reach out to, surely.

"That's not going to happen."

"What, you think some jumped up little high school student is going to overhaul an entire criminal justice system?" He laughed, but it was empty. "You'll never reach your dreams of a peaceful world! There will always be fighting, there will always be evil, there will always be pain, and there will always be people like you and your family." The last words were spat harshly, and this time I did flinch.

"It'll never happen if nobody tries." I muttered. "And I'll start with you. Help us. And I'll tell the police what you've done today. I promise?" The gun hung limp by his side as the anger on his face dissolved.

"You would do that? For the person that killed your parents. And almost killed you."

"Yes." I replied firmly, reaching out my hand. He pressed his fingers into my palm.

"You promise?"

"Yes." A vice-like grip pulled me close.

"Then you're more pathetic than I thought you were."

BANG!

My whole body tensed and I expected to keel over. But in the few seconds it took me to realise that there was no pain, no blood, no anything, Zap had paled and let go of my hand.

Who was screaming?

Was it me?

He crumpled to the floor, but it wasn't the same as when we knocked people unconscious. There was something ragdoll to his movements, and something sharp in the air.

Oh, God.

His head.

How did an entry wound that I barely noticed make such a gaping hole in the top of someone's head?

And the mess.

The mess.

The wall behind him was spray painted maroon. There were... Holy fuck, there were chunks of-

My whole body was trembling. I couldn't bare to look. But I couldn't tear my eyes away. I watched on as pink-red clumps rolled down the wall, leaving track marks in their wake.

"Hinami!" The gentle touch slapped me back to reality. I closed my gaping mouth, only to open it again to let out the contents of my stomach behind me, hand pressed against the cold wall for balance. A sob tugged my shoulders as I carelessly dragged my sleeve across my dry lips.

"K-Kat... I- I wanted to- I didn't know- I-" I was tugged back upright, face to face with two ruby eyes.

"I know. I know! But you can't go into shock on me, okay? We have a mission. We need to save the heroes, your parents, remember? They're what you need to focus on right now. So stop crying, pull yourself together, and grieve once everyone is out of danger." Kat held my arms tightly, as if keeping me from tearing in two. I sniffed, wiped my face with my sleeve - my other sleeve - once again, and nodded. He was right. There were more important things going on than my feelings.

"I'm a hero, after all." My voice cracked, but we ignored it.

"That you are."

We left the room together, him shielding my view of the carnage as best he could.

"Kacchan! Hinami! Are you- Oh my..." Midoriya's green hair came into view as we turned a corner. Todoroki, Kaminari, and Kirishima were also there. My lip wavered again as I was swept up into a tight hug.

"Are you hurt?" He whispered into my hair.

"No."

"I'm glad."

"Are you?"

"Nothing major."

"I'm glad..." He pulled away but took my hands in mine. I glanced down at them, remembering the tightness around my left palm suddenly disappearing.

"Let's get a move on." Kat grunted.

The foursome filled us in on what they had been doing, which was basically the same as us; fighting villains and freeing heroes. None of them were really hurt, and Kaminari had had a chance to get his cognition back as there hadn't been many villains down his path. As we rounded another corner, we found All Might, Tenya, Sero, Mina, and Ochaco shooing away a couple of heroes I only vaguely recognised.

"Guys!" Mina squealed, pulling as many of us into a hug as her lithe arms would fit.

"In the next room, we should find Endeavour, Hawks, and our teachers." Tenya was fiddling with a keypad, which would periodically beep.

"Move over, four eyes." Kat shoved him aside, examining the pad for a moment. Before turning to the doors and throwing his fist out towards it. The explosion echoed as the doors slammed open with a resounding boom that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Dads!" I rushed forward, not caring if I was walking into a trap. I just needed to hold them.

"Hinami!" Father's voice was hoarse. Dad opened his mouth, but no words came out. I took a second to drink them in as I stood before them.

Dad was pale and overly skinny. He was covered in injuries, just as the Hei's had been. His usually bright eyes looked vacant and broken.

Father had a more resilient look on his face, but his body was faring much worse. His clothes had gashes in them, the skin underneath cut deeply and stained with dried blood. But his leg...

His entire leg was covered in burns, some fresher than others. It smelt like seared flesh, and the urge to throw up tickled at my throat again.

Not wasting any more time, I tugged off their restraints, letting the others deal with the rest of the heroes. Dad was freed first. He waited patiently for me to undo Father before the three of us shared a bone-crushing hug.

"I missed you both so much. I love you so much and I'm so sorry about what I said. I- I love you!" Dad stroked my hair as Father hushed me.

"We love you too. You have no idea how glad I am to see you here again. We didn't know if... Well, you're here again now." I carefully held his cheeks, forcing him to look in my eyes. There was a scar on his cheeks from the USJ attack, and I felt my heart harden.

"He'll pay. Dabi will pay for what he did to you. I'll bring them all to justice single-handedly if I must. But Dabi will feel my wrath first." Dad started moving his hands around, and it took me a second to realise that he was signing, rusty and clumsy.

Because of his quirk, his hearing had never been perfect, so we all learnt JSL when I was younger. But with the advancements in technology making his ears almost normal again, we hadn't used it much.

Don't let your anger overwhelm you. He told me.

"I can't promise you I won't."

I know.

"Hey Aizawa, Yamada. We need to get you two out of here." Kat interrupted, trying to be gentle. Dad reached over to him, cupping his cheek and smiling. A light blush appeared as he swatted the hand away.

"I never thought I'd be rescued by my own students..." Father grumbled as he took his husband's hand and followed us into the hallway.

"Would it be easier to go out the way you two came in?" Midoriya asked. "The way I came was... uh... damaged."

"What the fuck did you do, nerd?" Kat sighed.

"Listen, it's not my fault that the wall was structurally unsound!" He responded quickly, his voice slightly higher than usual. The pair started bickering as Todo laughed and egged them on.

"Yeah, our route was pretty empty but it was also twisty and turny." Kiri added as he hardened up and tried to get in between the squabble.

"Well we'll have to go your way." I said firmly.

"Why?"

"Our way is... Is..." I trailed off, unable to find an excuse that didn't involve telling the truth. They didn't deserve to be subject to that kind of thing. Bile rose in my throat again.

"Are you alright? You've gone all white." Kami's brow furrowed with concern. Loud footsteps cut us off and the telltale growl of a Nomu reverberated through the tiled walls of Kirishima and Kaminari's route. The blonde tensed up and squeaked. "Your way it is then."

"Brace yourselves for... something pretty awful." I warned them as we hurried down the corridor as quickly as my father could limp.

"It can't be that..." Todoroki started, cutting himself off as he flung open the door.

"What the..." Mido's hand went to his mouth in shock.

"I think I'm gonna hurl-" Kami grimaced.

"Join the gang." I responded dryly, gesturing to my own vomit puddle. "Let's just go, okay?"

"Yeah..." Kiri nodded slowly, his crimson eyes wide in horror. "Let's..."

"Hinami..." Father asked tentatively. "Did he do that to himself?"

"Yes." I responded curtly. "I tried to get him to help us and in return I'd tell the police of his good deed. He made it seem like he accepted my deal. I... don't want to talk about it."

"Okay darling..." He said in a hushed voice. We moved through the rest of the building quietly, the villains on the floor still unconscious. Every body we passed made me tense up, and I had to fight the urge to check their pulses. Just in case I'd killed another.

(A/N)

God this chapter was awful... I love it.

Also I'm sorry for not updating in nearly a month, let's just ignore that please and thank you...