Ch. 9 Search and Rescue

Where the hell was Dabi?

As people streamed past you toward the door, desperate to get out, you swatted smoke out of your face and tried to find your boyfriend in the chaos.

Damn it, where was he? You knew if you didn't get out soon, you could be caught up in the flames as well. For a second you were torn – you couldn't just leave without him, though. So you took a deep breath and turned to go straight into the place where the smoke was the thickest.

But before you got very far someone walking by grabbed you and yanked you through the back of the house and out the door. It was too hard to fight the mob of people going that direction, so soon you found yourself standing in the grass while the building burned in front of you.

Once outside, it seemed like everyone was scattering away since police and heroes were on the scene. The fire department hadn't shown up yet and the building was quickly being engulfed in flames.

Your heart raced at the idea of people still being inside, especially since it seemed like the heroes and police were more concerned with arresting the people who had made it out. You had never seen anything like this before, and you couldn't help but stare in shock at the fire growing. With all that smoke, it was going to be hard for heroes to find anyone still in there even if they did go in.

A chill ran down your spine. Was Dabi still in there? Was he okay?

You started to take out your phone to call him but instead your hands went to your ears, grabbing and covering them; the noises you were hearing were so loud that it hurt.

You couldn't tell if this was all in your head or if you were really hearing it at first, but then you slowly realized that, without even wanting to, you had started to hear the thoughts of the people still trapped inside.

They were so loud. And they were scared.

And that's when you realized that if you could hear their thoughts, maybe you could find them and get them out.

As if your body was moving on its own, you rushed back into the burning house. Someone tried to stop you, but you shrugged them off.

I can do this, you told yourself.

You opened the back door to a cloud of smoke. You dropped down on the floor and closed your eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to listen for thoughts.

Almost right away you were able to hear something. A woman. No, two women. Scared.

You crawled through the room and were able to find two barely conscious young women in the first room you came to. You grabbed their hands and managed to pull them out the back door.

Then you went back in.

Listening again for people's thoughts as best you could, you could hear a man in pain. His thoughts were loud. It was easy to follow them which led you to where he had fallen and hurt his leg in the chaos, but with your help he was able to stand and limp out the back door.

Then you went back in.

You knew you didn't have much time at this point so you listened as hard as you could. You were able to find another young woman who was either out of her mind from fear or drugs or both, but either way she was completely disoriented, and you helped her get to the back door. But when you saw the back door...

Shit.

The fire had spread so that it blocked your way out and there was no way to make it all the way to the door.

Every breath was starting to burn in your chest. You knew it was from the smoke and you knew you didn't have much time.

Thankfully you saw a window nearby so you tried kicking it, but it didn't break. Finding a chair, you threw it against the window and finally it broke, allowing the two of you to get out through the broken glass.

Finally out, both of you bleeding from the jagged glass, the two of you lay coughing in the grass outside the house.

You were completely exhausted, and as much as you wanted to go help more people, you knew there was nothing else you could do.

"You idiot!" you heard a voice yell. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

Why was someone yelling at you at a time like this? You were honestly too exhausted to even care.

You tried to open your eyes just a little. That was pretty much all you could handle anyway. But your eyes burned so you quickly closed them. Truthfully, everything hurt.

"We need the medic team over here!" you heard that same person shout. The voice sounded familiar, but you were too tired to even think.

"Damnit, I will be right back. Don't die, you understand?"

Well, yeah, you thought, that was the plan.

Left alone, a coughing fit took over, wracking your whole body, and you tried to roll over in the grass but instead someone picked you up.

"I'm getting us out of here. Now."

You tried opening your eyes again this time and were a little more successful.

Dabi. He's okay.

You tried to breathe a sigh of relief but it came out as a cough instead. 

"I tried..." you coughed, your breathing labored.

"Don't say anything."

Dabi had thrown you over his shoulder in order to be able to move faster. He was on his phone as he took you away, but the conversation didn't make any sense.

"Good thing you were late," he was saying to the person on the phone. "I took care of it... we're on the way."

The last thing you remember before you fell asleep from pure exhaustion was the sight of police and heroes helping the people who had made it out of the fire. You didn't see the people you'd rescued, but you said a little prayer that someone would help them.

Just before your eyes closed, you thought you saw...

No.

It had to have been a dream.

--

"Wake up, baby. We're here," Dabi said softly.

Opening your eyes, you realized you were in a completely different place. You must have been asleep for while, because this was definitely not the same house you were in before.

"Where are we?" you asked, sitting up quickly. Too quickly because you started coughing. "What the hell happened?" you rasped.

You looked down at your clothes; they were dark from the smoke and little cuts from the glass dotted your skin. 

"It doesn't matter," he said, helping you up. "What matters is that you are safe and with me now."

"I'm exhausted. Dabi," you said, leaning against him. "I don't even care about anything else. I just want to go home."

"You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks," you coughed.

"I'm sorry," he said, his tone softer. "We'll go home right after this, okay? I found the guy I wanted to introduce you to. We've got this all set up for you."

"Honestly, I can't even think straight right now. I can't breathe. My skin is all torn up. Dabi, that was chaos. How did that happen?"

"It looked like the heroes decided to set a fire to smoke everyone out of there and arrest them as they were leaving."

"Oh... but people were hurt. I don't even know if there were more...."

"All that matters is that you're okay. Come on, stand up," he said, helping you off the couch.

"I just want to go home."

"Right after this, I promise."

Together the two of you walked into an office where a young man was sitting on top of a big desk. His red eyes looked the two of you up and down.

"So you finally decided to show up," he said.

"We had a small delay," Dabi replied.

"Sit her over there." He gestured toward the chair in the middle of the room. "You both smell like smoke."

"Excuse me?" you coughed. "You have no idea what we just -" you started to say, but Dabi put a finger over your lips to silence you.

"Y/n, this is Tomura Shigaraki," Dabi said as he gently walked you over to the chair. "He likes to think he's my boss."

"Oh."

So this was the guy who had this supposed job offer? You were already not impressed.

"You sit down too," this man, Shigaraki, said to Dabi. "I don't need you interfering here."

Nothing about this felt right.

"Dabi, I want to go home," you said, turning around to clutch his shirt.

"Come on, baby," Dabi said, slowly peeling your fingers off his chest. "You'll be fine. She'll be fine, right?" he asked Shigaraki.

Shigaraki shrugged. "Hopefully."

You were not convinced. "Dabi, I do not want to do this. Whatever this even is." You tried to walk around him, but he stopped you, placing a hand on each shoulder and looking you right in the eyes.

"You're going to do great," he said.

Taking your hand in his, Dabi walked you over to the chair and slowly you sat down. Dabi let go of your hand and thankfully stood behind you. Okay, you thought, if he was going to stay, this would be fine. Everything would be fine.

But then your hands were pulled behind your back and Dabi was tying them to the chair.

"What the fuck? What are you doing?" you said, struggling against him. Not that you could struggle much, as tight as he was tying them.

"Just relax."