Chapter Text
Gravitrix was waiting in an alley, sitting on top of a rickety metal staircase observing the set-up. She had a bad feeling about this. And then, of course, it all went to hell. She had been planning to fly over and gently touch down on the stage. Gotta play it up a little, for the show.
Instead, given the sudden and unexpected need to step in and be a Hero, she rocketed over at top speed, missing the turn a little bit and crashing her bruised shoulder into the bricks above the first guy who'd got out of that van the block before, then jogged behind it before ducking left down the alley to do who-knows-what with his nefarious buddies!
Oh, he was hiding, taking video. Ah well, she'd just take his phone away and leave him tied up. She was angry enough that she may have "accidentally" crunched his phone down into the size and rough shape of a golf ball. She then threw it really, really hard.
Careful, Chako. Super strength is great but if you'd done that to his hand… Or his stupid face…
She grabbed some metal piping from the remains of the stage, bent it around him to lock his arms in place against his torso, and left him there protesting loudly in futility. It was then she noticed 3 people still trapped under the stage and… for the love of Batman, there was her green haired neighbor trying to lift several thousand kilograms by himself to get them out.
Had the situation been less dire she would have giggled at the look on his face when he seemingly got the warped paneling to lift all on his own, before realizing that he has some assistance from the most amazing girl in the world.
Izuku's brain was moving at lightning speed. Amazing Girl? Nah, bad name. She looks familiar…. If I could see her eyes I think I'd know her! Why did I try to pick up the stage!? Ow ow ow, hands are on fire!
He belatedly remembered that he can't actually lift skyscrapers and that metal conducts heat. Luckily, that wasn't a problem for Super Woman! Nope. Names later, help now. He called out, asking what she wanted him to do.
Ochako froze momentarily. Thinking back on some online 'what to do in case of emergency' videos she'd studied about emergency response coordination, she decided to have Izuku go with the people she'd freed to seek shelter behind some bushes near the edge of the pavilion area. Not much concealment and basically zero cover, but it was the best they had. She pointed, issued orders, and people obeyed. Huh. They really trusted her.
Izuku had helped the three people find a place to hide and now was standing up, looking dumbly at the wreckage of what had been the stage erected to honor the city's helpful heroine. He felt a hand grab his neck and a sharp pain in his ribs as something distinctly metallic jabbed him. It wasn't pointy like a knife. It was solid and round.
He flinched and jerked his head over enough to see scars all over the face of the man who had him by the neck before the hand yanked, hard. Izuku stumbled and fell free of the man, falling and looking up to see the melted half-grin and the dull black gun pointed at his face. Eyes wide with shock and fear, he felt like had to move! Get up! Run! But instead, he froze.
This is it.
Ochako Uraraka liked saving people from bad guys. She loved helping people in non-threatening situations. She didn't sign up to take on domestic terrorists or whatever the hell was happening.
You decided to be a hero. Deal with it. Save them.
She scanned the area, noting that ambulance and fire crews had swiftly got things organized. The Incident Commander was the city Fire Chief himself, not afraid to get dirty and conduct rescue and first-aid operations. Mayor Yaoyorozu was holding her daughter, both crying. Governor Todoroki was nowhere to be seen.
Where is Midoriya?
Save me. Please. Save me! He repeated the mantra in his head. His mouth had been taped shut and his hands were aching, his wrists were also taped with his arms behind the back of the chair he was sitting in, and his jacket was torn and the medal he'd stuffed in his pocket had fallen out and he needed help. The man with the half-melted face was waiting for something. Or someone.
A thud sounded, and scar-face whirled, firing blindly at the sound. Tracer rounds? From a pistol? Even with a drum mag he only has maybe 50 rounds, and he's used up at least 8. What kind of ammo is that?
Incendiary. He's firing incendiary rounds. Izuku noticed things like that; his favorite games to play with his online friends had several kinds of weapons and ammunition and each was good for different applications and he loved making tables and charts to show the optimal load-outs of equipment for each mission!
Another thud, metal on metal as something squealed and groaned, More shots fired, bullets ping ping ping-ing off the wall of metal being held up as a shield in front of the woman who had come to save him. She actually came! She was going to get hurt, to save him! He couldn't let that happen. Izuku had to help!
He took stock of the situation. Tied up. Can't talk. No supplies. No weapons.
He'll think of something.
Step 1: get free.
He toppled the chair over onto its back, hoping to smash the wooden frame to bits. It cracked. He bounced up and down, thrusting and gyrating his hips wildly in the air with no regard for dignity. Finally, it gave out under him! He managed to sit up, hands still behind him.
Some of the metal stage paneling had fallen near enough to him that he could backwards to it and maybe cut the tape holding his wrists together. He scooched back, keeping half an eye on the wild battle as he finally banged his hands into the twisted metal. He craned his neck to find a suitable area and hoped he managed to get the tape off without cutting himself to ribbons. He got a little bloody, but was freed after 30 seconds of struggle.
Step 2: Run, Hide, or Fight?
Hide. He cannot fight, and there's nowhere to run safely. He took cover behind the wreckage, watching as the fugly baddie and the gravity-defying heroine duked it out. She was winded and scratched from several wounds, and his bullets were doing some damage but apparently not able to penetrate her skin.
Oh, maybe they're supposed to burn her and overwhelm her senses, lots of pain making her unable to focus?
He saw a shiny disc on the ground. The medal, the one that the hero was supposed to receive today, sitting right by his knee. It was sooty and covered in dirt, but he grabbed it anyway. It was sooty and the pink and white silk ribbon was covered in dirt.
A cry of pain grabbed his attention. She was hurt!
That special ammo had finally done something, a round hitting her shoulder right where a huge bruise was visible under the torn costume. The ragged edges of the fabric smoldered and he could see a round red mark. Entry wound! She's hurt bad!
Smoke sizzled from the wound as she knelt before the man, who was pretty messed up in his own right. He clearly had one dislocated shoulder and his left elbow was bent the wrong way. He limped over, put the gun to her already wounded shoulder, and fired again. She screamed, a primal scream of pain and terror and anguish and fury.
Izuku leapt, his body moving on its own.
He grabbed the medal by the lanyard and swung as hard as he could, the disc catching the surprised villain right in the mouth as he turned and, from the noise he made, bursting his upper lip and maybe knocking a few teeth loose.
It was just enough time for the woman to reach out her undamaged left hand, grab the bastard by the leg, and throw him into the side of the nearest building. He slumped, finally knocked out cold. Izuku knelt, holding the woman as she cried, her head on his shoulder.
He assessed her wounds as best he could. Wow, that shoulder wound looked gnarly, and… the smell. He wasn't prepared for the smell. He smelled iron, and heat, and burnt clothing, and smoke, all over there was smoke covering everything. He pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth. The woman was hurt, but breathing, and her face clenched in a grimace that was holding back the scream he knew wanted to come out. She looked at him, first with fear, then her eyes widened and relaxed just a tad.
He was safe, and she was not under attack, and he was safe.
He squeezed Gravitrix's left hand until the paramedics came and loaded her up, and she told him, "Hey, you better make me that Mochi you promised." as she was driven away. The EMTs diagnosed him with shock and mild burns, skin abrasion, and bruises. He had plenty of time to mull over the events of the day while waiting for the victims who'd fared worse to receive treatment ahead of him.
Izuku looked down at his watch. It seemed so ordinary an action, just a reflex he did a thousand times a day. His phone was ruined, unfortunately. He'd have to wait at the emergency room, watching TV with the rest, on the sidelines, not in the office where he should have been coordinating the crisis response.
Was that where he should be? Or could he do…. More?
They had gotten a bigger place to live, with a workshop and a garage and office and everything! He had his very own superhero lair to be in charge of, while Ocha did the field work. It was almost every single dream he'd ever had come extra-true.
He had his latest product ready for the re-named Saturn to try on, and it was very special indeed.
Saturn came in, battle suit on and ready to kick some ass. She gave him a peck on the cheek and paused as he held up a box. "What's this?" she asked, cocking her head to one side. He hadn't mentioned any new gadgets.
Izuku flashed back to nights helping his neighbor, who was "hit by a car", toddle around her apartment with her arm in a sling, how she'd ask him to turn the TV channel and fetch her a glass of water.
He remembered the wonderful smells of cooking for her, omurice and sushi and katsudon, mochi on the weekends as a treat, and trying every variation of shrimp dishes until she found the one she liked the best.
He recalled helping brush her hair as she gently instructed him on the routine she needed to keep it tamed, and one incredible day invited him into the shower to help wash it.
He thought back to when he knew that this amazing woman was his one and only.
"It's a new accessory, made from a one-of-a-kind alloy that a friend and I worked out. I call it Saturnite. It's actually made from the medal I was supposed to give you back when the governor came, mixed with a meteorite from Starchild's collection. She and Zoomboom both helped me with the design. I hope you like it."
He took a deep breath.
His mind flashed back to the day she was released from the hospital and had come to see him, giving him that medal and a kiss on the cheek. She'd said "You're my hero, Izuku. Thank you for saving me." He knew what he had to do.
"Ochako Uraraka, light of my life, my hero. You have made my life whole, and I want to make all of your dreams come true. I aim every day to show you exactly how special you are to me."
Izuku knelt down and opened the ring box.