Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A. That's a lot of Dirt

Izuku gasped as his eyes flew open. He'd been expecting a punch, instead his whole body had slammed down. 

He mentally prepared for pain, but… he didn’t hurt? At least, not like he would’ve had he hit concrete or asphalt. 

It was like that dream where you’re falling. His body had jerked so hard he’d been airborne for a moment. He took a deep breath and relaxed back into the bed…wait? Why was he laying down? Had he been knocked out? Was he in the hospital?

Blinking, Izuku found himself looking up at a bare wood ceiling, not the white foam tiles you usually see in a hospital room. Instead of antiseptic and caustic cleaning products, the room smelled vaguely of wood and tar. Where was he? 

Sitting up slowly the heroling looked around. The last thing he remembered was being hit by that young boy’s quirk when he’d grabbed Izuku’s arm... pulling up the sleeve of his linen nightshirt he saw there was a dark gray hand print on his arm.

Hmm.

He examined the hand print more closely. To him it looked almost like a tattoo, but there was no outline, or shading, it was all uniformly the same color gray and lay flat against his skin. 

Licking his fingers, Izuku tried to rub it off. No dice. He even scratched it a little, no change. 

Ok, odds are it wasn’t coming off. 

He tries to recall what the kids' Mother had said.

‘Five fingers’ and something about the multiverse, the boy's quirk had activated before she'd finished explaining. Shoot.

Looking around he was in a twin sized bed with a metal frame, made up with what appeared to be a handmade quilt and rough cotton sheets. 

Across from him was a dresser and mirror that had seen better days but still served their function. There was a metal radiator against one wall for heat but it was off right now. A chair and small desk with an oil lamp were in another corner. Was he in the past?

Izuku got up, daring to take a look in the mirror.

Much to his relief, he looked like himself, if not a bit more…tan? Tugging on the shirt the heroling wondered what he was wearing? He’d been fighting in his regular clothes, but now…

Izuku was only in a white linen shirt and underwear. Hopefully those dresser drawers had clothes in them. Turning around he saw a set of hooks by the door that held what seemed to be his daily outfit, a dark green button up plaid shirt, a green bandanna to go around his neck, a brown vest, and heavy duty looking pants with patches in odd places, some well worn cowboy boots and a matching wide brimmed hat.

On top of the dresser sat two guns, a belt with holsters, and a large sheath. No doubt it held an equally large knife. Izuku shivered. He didn’t touch the weapons. 

It was only because Izuku had seen All Might goes West that he recognized where and when the clothing was from. He went over to look out the window.

Below him was a classic rural western town, with one very busy main road. People were traveling on foot, horseback and carriage. He saw some kids playing with marbles, and a few random chickens pecking around in the dirt. 

He needs to find out if Kacchan and the Villains were here too!

Izuku tried to summon OfA but… nothing, not a spark. Never was he more thankful that he was proficient in hand to hand combat.

Pulling on the pants and shirt, Izuku finished buckling the belt just as he heard a loud squeeeak in the hallway. 

Someone else was here! 

Hopefully it's a local and they could tell him more about where and when he was!

Practically skipping to the door in his excitement, Izuku pulled it open and…

—

Tomura’s body jerked and he sat up as soon as his eyes opened. Fuck he always hated that falling dream. He didn’t know what had hit him hard enough to render him unconscious but he wasn't going to let it be the end of him! He’d get back up and… his thoughts trailed off as he looked around the room.

This wasn’t some anti-quirk cell in Tartarus.

This wasn’t even a regular jail cell.

Instead he appears to be in a rugged modestly furnished bedroom.

Where in the hell? 

Wait.

The kid! 

He remembers the snotty little urchin with no regard for traffic who had run into the street as he and Dabi were evading (not running away from) Midoriya and Bakugo. 

The brat.

And the vehicle.

Tomura had made a choice.

And as a result small glowing hands had landed on both his and the arsonist’s chest before they looked at each other in agreement and shoved the boy off them into the arms of the pursuing Deku and Dynamight. 

The inattentive parent had appeared and given them a half assed explanation about a Multiverse quirk. No good deed goes unpunished?

So now he was… somewhere else? 

The walls and floor were bare wood, a small dresser with a mirror hung above it was across from him and Tomura could see his own bewildered reflection. 

There was a chair and some shelves to his left, and a small table with an…oil lamp? So this was also obviously not a hospital or a modern setting. Could he have gone back in time too?

There was a window, no curtains. He peers outside. Everything has a layer of coppery orange on it, the people, the stores, the animals. Tomura doesn’t see any cars or bikes, looking in the distance and scanning the horizon he sees no hint of power lines, and no contrails in the sky above.  

All he sees are simple folks, living simple lives.

And a whole lot of dirt. 

Great, he was living a live action Oregon Trail. 

Turning back to the room Tomura spotted the rifle in the corner, and some clothes hanging on a large nail near the door. 

Getting up out of the bed the villain came to the realization that he’d be needing those since he seemed to be only in undergarments of… some kind that he didn’t own. They were linen though, that was nice. Very breathable. Still, who the hell’s clothes were these? 

Whatever, he needed to put on more than this to go outside or he'd be arrested for public indecency. 

Tomura sat in the chair in the corner and pulled on the heavy duty pants and boots. Then he got into the dark gray button up and shrugged into the vest. At least it all fits. 

Admiring himself in the mirror, Tomura realizes how quiet it was. Too quiet. Why wasn’t he hearing the usual murmur of the quirks AfO had collected? On a hunch the villain reached out and touched a candle on the shelf next to him with all five fingers. 

Nothing happened. 

So, no quirk. 

Shit.

He hesitated on taking the rifle. If he did, he could be construed as a threat, wind up in a gun fight and end up dead. He was pretty sure dying while traveling the multi-verse was a no-go. So for now, he left the gun where it sat. 

It was time to figure out what the hell was going on. 

Walking over he opened the door, the thing made a loud creaking noise and Tomura winced, there goes the element of surprise…

—

Izuku made eye contact with the villain across the hall.

“What the fuck?” said Tomura.

“Shigaraki!”

In the next moment Izuku mentally cursed at himself as the two men lunged at each other from their respective doorways. He should have deescalated the situation, not stooped to his nemesis's level!

Izuku shoved Shigaraki back into his room where his leg bumped into a table by the door knocking over a vase. It shattered on the floor into a million porcelain pieces. 

“What kind of Doom Eternal bullshit is this Midoriya, where the fuck are we?” jeered the villain accusingly as they continued to wrestle, each of them furiously grappling for the advantage.

Izuku was confused and yet giddy at the same time as he fought. AfO didn’t make video game references, this really was Shigaraki Tomura!

“We were all hit with the kid’s quirk,” he huffs, snatching his hand away from the villain’s teeth,  “I don’t know anything more than you do!”

Tomura grunted and shoved the shorter man back out into the hallway as they continued to struggle. When they got to the stairs Izuku tripped him and the two men, refusing to let go of one another, painfully rolled and tumbled down together.

THUMP 

     THUD

          THUMP

               THUD

                    THUMP

Dizzy, Izuku sat up trying to figure out his left from his right. They were in some kind of lobby with a wall full of… were those WANTED posters? Oh no…

Before Midoriya could fully regain his bearings Tomura leapt at him again. The two were tugging and pulling at limbs rolling around on the floor, neither one of them willing to admit defeat. 

Izuku did his best to get away from Shigaraki, but the man had much longer arms and legs than him so it was a real challenge. He had to use every trick he knew to avoid being ensnared.

Damn brat is slippery! Thought Tomura. He seemed to know how to wiggle his way out of any hold. 

Izuku knew they couldn’t keep this up forever, at some point, one of them would make a critical mistake. It just can’t be me, he thought to himself as he tried to focus on the fight and not the sinking feeling he had in his gut…

—

Suddenly the door slammed open and a very cowboy-esq FatGum appeared, boots, vest, hat and all. Both men froze at the ridiculous sight.

“Can’ I get a moment of peace? All I did was step out ta’ order ma’ lunch. What are mah’ two Deputies arguing about naw?”

The large man grabbed Midoriya and Shigaraki by the back of their vests and roughly carried both of them into a back office. He shoved each of them into a wooden chair on opposite sides of the room.

Tomura blinked up from where he now sat, trying to catch his breath. Deputies? Spotting the gold star shaped badge on FatGum the villain looked down at his own vest and found he wore his own badge shaped like a silver shield. And sure enough it was labeled ‘Deputy’.

Huh.

“He started it,” said Izuku, crossing his arms and pouting in his chair, face flushed pink and hair a mess. He refused to look at Shigaraki.

Cute, thought Tomura. 

What? 

No.

Adora…. Annoying! Midoriya was annoying at best. Yes, that's right.

Shoving that thought out of his head Tomura laughs and makes a face at Midoriya while FatGum isn't looking. 

The rather robust Sheriff does turn around in time to see Izuku flipping Tomura the finger.

“Midoriya!”

The green haired heroling quickly put his hand down and sat up straight, “Ahh, yes sir!” 

Tomura snickered, but also turned to pay attention. He may as well, since they still had no idea what was going on here.

“It’s sheriff to ya!” the large man took a seat in the only chair in the room that could hold him, the one behind the desk, “Enough with tha’ argurin’! How many times have I told ya’ tha’ ya’ll need to work together!”

“Sheriff, I brought your lunch!” called a familiar voice. In came Kirishima carrying a massive platter with a sandwich and baked potato topped with chili and a giant pickle. It was super weird to see him with his natural black hair, but Izuku supposed hair dye was a luxury that hadn’t made it out west yet.

“Thank you Eijiro,” FatGum put the giant sandwich on the desk. The younger man smiled, gave Izuku a wave, and quietly left the room.

“Now,” says FatGum, taking a bite of the sandwich and speaking with his mouth full, “I think ya’ need a mission together. Hmm. Bond by goin’ out to catch a coupla’ fugitives and bring em back.”

“Who did you have in mind?” asked Tomura, playing along. This was kind of amusing. Like being in a wild west game with a nemesis DLC.

The hero turned Sheriff pulled a piece of paper out of his vest pocket and put it on his desk, “This jus’ arrived yesterday. I recon’ you two could handle em.”

—

Tomura got up to look right away, while Izuku was more cautious.

It turned out to be a wanted poster. And it was obvious who was on it. Izuku knew Kacchan’s glare anywhere, and Dabi’s scarring of course.

It read:

~-~-~-~-~

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

DABI & DYNAMITE

The Arson & Explosive Bandits

BOUNTY* - $3,000.oo for one OR $7,000.oo for both.

Guilty of derailing trains and robbing from good kind folks 

all across the West from _______ to _________.

Last spotted near __________.

* Note: The head/s of the guilty must be present to collect bounty.

 ~-~-~-~-~

Tomura grinned. So Bakugo was out there somewhere with Dabi, and as a villain no less? This was going to be hilarious. 

“Now, go back upstairs, get yur guns n’ gear and head over to see Mina in the grocer next door for rations. Then get yur horses and head out,” ordered the BMI hero, picking up his sandwich.

Before Izuku could try to argue, the villain beside him stood up, said ‘Yes Sheriff’ and swept out of the room. 

Which left Izuku scrambling after him.

As he followed the LOV leader back upstairs Izuku’s mind was racing. Why did Shigaraki agree? What was the advantage? Was the villain just messing with him?

At the top Shigaraki interrupts his thoughts when he poses with his fingers in his belt loops and  teases, “What’s the matter? Don’t like the idea of me being on the comfortable side of the law?”

“Don’t you mean right side?” growled the UA student as he brushes past the villain to get to his room. 

Someone's in a bad mood, thinks Tomura.

As he paused at his door Tomura leaned over and whispered right into Midoriya’s ear. 

The older man was so close he felt puffs of air that made the fine hairs on the back of his neck rise. It all reminded Izuku of that fateful time a few years ago, in the mall…

“Even you know everything we fight for isn’t wrong, little hero.”

Chapter Text

B. Is that a Pistol in Your Pocket or are You Just Happy to See Me?

Dabi was standing three feet away from a very angry looking Bakugo Katsuki. The last time he’d been this close to the blond was when he’d kidnapped him. The arsonist recalls the feeling of the young man’s pulse under his thumb. His heart had beaten so fast. 

Shit, they were still hiding out in the bar then.

Even back then he’d admired the kid’s fire. Now he is eighteen. (Not like Dabi had been keeping track, nope.) He’s matured, thought the fire user, raking his eyes up and down the toned body, built like fucking carved marble.   

Admiring Bakugo Katsuki was like admiring a fine work of art. Dabi could never afford such a piece, but looking was free and didn’t hurt no one.

Broad built shoulders and biceps to handle his explosions. Trim waist that aided his agility, letting him twist around as he flew through the air to deliver devastating blows to anyone who dared to cross the blond’s path. God, thinks Dabi, those thighs were welcome to crush his head any day.

The arsonist bit his cheek, focus! He really shouldn’t be letting himself get distracted. The very anger prone man had a gun pointed at him right now. 

Granted it was some old revolver, but he was in no way bullet proof and knew from Duster and the USJ fiasco that shit fucking hurts to dig out.

Bakugo had the advantage because he’d woken up first and grabbed Dabi’s gun during a brief scuffle. The heroling has been working on his ground game, thinks the villain. He wasn’t at the top of his class for nothing.  

“What the fuck is going on Captain Daddy Issues?” yelled Katsuki, holding the weapon as steady as he could. It was all he had to defend himself at the moment, confused as to why he couldn’t call on his quirk.

Dabi snorted.

The two of them had woken up in a barn. Katsuki had immediately tried to use his quirk against the villain, and Dabi tried to use his against Bakugo, but nadda. No quirks. 

That’s when the arsonist had tackled him to the ground and they fought like cats and dogs. Were Izuku and Shigaraki here too, wondered the blond. Was Izuku stuck with the other villain?

“I know just as much as you!” Dabi said calmly. He maintains eye contact, and blinks normally. Gotta get the heated firework to calm down before he ignites. 

Katsuki kept the gun pointed at the villain, finger twitching on the trigger. He sneered, “And?”

“And why don’t you put the gun down and we try talking?” Dabi saw the barrel dip for just a second, then level back up at his chest.

“I don’t think so. You tell me what you remember and if it doesn’t match, I’ll add a few new holes to your piercing collection.”  

Katsuki was totally bluffing, but the villain didn’t know that.  

Dabi narrowed his eyes at the blond, no way he had the balls. However, he didn’t want to risk a nervous trigger finger, so he asked, “And when it does?”

Bakugo stayed silent.  

Ok, fine. He’d tell the blond what he remembered.  

—

Back in his room Izuku put on and adjusted the calf sheath with a large knife, a belt, handcuffs, and the set of guns. He also grabbed the cowboy hat, letting it hang on his back by the ties a lot like his hero costume mask.

Apparently, Western-Izuku preferred dual wielding pistols. The UA student himself didn't know much about specific gun models. Just the basics. How to check the safety, if they were loaded, and how to fire them. It was a class all hero students had to take their senior year and hoped to never have to use.

Picking one up after the other he carefully checked and found they were both loaded.  

Sheesh.

In his room Tomura righted the knocked down table and swept the shards of broken vase to the side. He grabbed the cowboy hat off the wall and took a look at himself with it on in the mirror. 

Nice.

In the top drawer of the dresser he found a handgun and a knife with a tough leather belt that held both on his hips. Oh, and cuffs. Sweet.

On his way out he grabbed the rifle from its place in the corner of the room. Handling each weapon felt oddly familiar, as if he was connecting with the Tomura of this world. Doubly weird.

Izuku was still trying to figure out what to do next. Was there a trigger to this quirk? Or did it have a time limit? Most multi-verse quirks had at least one if not both. If he had to work with Shigaraki then he may be doomed…

“Nice Peacemakers,” said a raspy voice from his doorway, startling him.  

Izuku turned away so he could finish adjusting the belt and rolled his eyes, “Of course you would know what kind of guns these are.”  

“Hey,” said Tomura, understanding where the heroling’s mind probably went, “It’s not what you think.”  

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“I played the remake of Red Dead Redemption Two. That’s how I knew those, and that this is a Winchester,” the villain said pointing over his shoulder to the rifle and then to his hip, “And this is a Patterson.”

Any remaining doubts of who Izuku was dealing with were quashed from this conversation alone. 

Shigaraki Tomura wasn’t dead, he’d just gotten… lost, which meant Izuku still had a chance to save him. Looking at the villain out of the corner of his eye, Izuku nearly froze. Why did western look so god damn good on Shigaraki? 

He tried not to show how he felt, but something must have slid across his face. The villain tilted his head at Izuku curiously.

What was that expression? Wondered Tomura as he watched the heroling. It was gone before the older man could parse it out.

“And the knife?” asked the UA student.

Tomura smiled and shrugged, “It’s a knife.”

Izuku snorted. Was…was that meant to be funny? Who knew Shigaraki had a sense of humor?

He eyed the barrel of the weapon on Shigaraki’s hip. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of the other man being so well armed, but if they were going to ride out then they should both have some way to defend themselves since quirks didn’t seem to exist here.

“Can we at least agree on a truce?” Izuku asked.  

Tomura leaned against the doorframe crossing his arms. All rugged, weapons strapped to him and ready to go on an adventure. Izuku felt lucky he wasn’t wearing his suit, it’d be alerting him about his pulse and blood pressure right now. 

Ignoring how his blood was rushing through his veins, Izuku double checked his room before facing the Symbol of Fear. 

Tomura gave the request some serious deliberation. He was stuck in some kind of multiverse quirk with his arch-nemesis. 

At the end of the war AfO’s corpse was left lying in the rubble. Tomura had decayed away the monster’s heart and head, without both he had no way to heal or command any remaining quirks. The Heroes knew the villain was dead, and Tomura had made it clear at who’s hand. 

The green haired heroling spoke to him as if they were respectful colleagues. The young man was clearly relieved Tomura was himself and not AfO. 

Midoriya Izuku wanted it to be him. 

In some sick and messed up way Midoriya was relieved it was Tomura who survived. That was so stupid, the little hero should have wished they had both died… yet that wasn’t the case.

Well now, things just took a turn for the even more interesting. 

Tomura thought about the Paranormal Liberation Front. Of all the people looking to him now for direction. Counting on him to help them all.

He thought of the League members. How when it came to surviving, they pushed back and were ostracized for it. How it’s true, people fear what they don’t understand, and they’ll kill you for it.

“Shigaraki?”

Ah, he’d been quiet for too long hadn’t he? 

He'd refused Midoriya's hand back then, but maybe now he could take it after all? This all felt so fucking crazy.

“We do seem to be at a stalemate, don’t we?” commented the villain, “What terms do you propose?”

“We agree to keep the truce until we are back in our own timeline or universe and escape whatever is going on here.”

“And?”  

“No hurting anyone except in self-defense,” said Izuku, quickly adding, “And no killing!”  

“You sure about that? This isn’t 22XX Midoriya. People die out here every day. What if it comes down to them or us?”  

“Ok, fine, but only if it’s them or us.”  

Tomura’s eyes gleamed wickedly, “That all?”  

“And we have to agree to work together,” he finished pointedly.  

The villain stood away from the door and held out his hand, “Agreed, let’s shake on it.”

And Midoriya, crazy, trusting, naive Midoriya, took Tomura’s hand and shook it.

—

“And that’s the last thing you remember?” asked Bakugo.

The two men had taken a seat on some bales of hay. The UA student still had the other man’s gun pointed at Dabi so he was being careful not to make any sudden movements. It had steadily grown brighter as the sun rose.

“Yes. We were literally trying to get away when that kid ran into damn traffic. When he got grabbed he was scared. He freaked out and accidentally activated his quirk. We tossed the brat at you and Midoriya as a distraction. The mom showed up, started to explain his quirk. There was a disco rainbow tunnel, and then I woke up here,” with that Dabi leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, “Was similar to the last time I did shrooms…”

Fuck, thought Katsuki, that did line up with his experience. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He was all alone with a crazy ass villain. He blinked and rubbed his eye, lowering his arm holding the gun in the process. It was so fucking dusty in here damnit. 

That’s when the bastard across from him moved.  

Dabi tackled the heroling before he could raise the weapon again. Knocking it out of the younger man’s hand it slid across the wood floor hitting the far wall of the barn with a thud. 

The arsonist paid no attention to that however, he needed to immobilize the heroling beneath him and remove his gun.  

The side of Katsuki’s face slammed into the floor hard. He inhaled some dirt and who the fuck knows what else as he fought to twist his body around. The fucker got the drop on him. That helped fuel his rage but also caused him to make stupid choices. 

Before Katsuki knew it, he’d been pinned. 

Shit.  

“Stop struggling and listen to me!” grunted Dabi as he sat on the blond man beneath him, legs twisted around the heroling’s, pinning one arm to his back with a knee, a scarred hand wrapped around the back of the blond's neck.  

Katsuki felt like prey. Bile burned the back of his throat. He wasn't sure what pissed him off more. The fact the scarred man had him again , or that something dark hidden within himself liked it.

He didn’t have a choice now. Katsuki forced his panic back and waited to see what happened next. Just give him one more chance.

Dabi felt along the heroling’s side, unbuttoned the holster and removed the revolver.

Katsuki froze as he heard the second gun slide across the barn floor and hit the wall.  

Dabi leaned in close so he was sure he’d be heard. With his mouth next to Bakugo’s ear without risking getting headbutted (he was an older brother and had pinned many a rambunctious opponent)  

“Listen. I am not going to hurt you. I swear on my life. Now, will you please calm the fuck down so I can let you up?” Dabi said, slow and clear.

Katsuki weighed the situation. He was in a strange place, no clue if anyone else was here. He’d lost his weapon and the upper hand, being that he was currently pinned by the villain. 

If he agreed at least he had a chance to escape (not run away, Bakugo Katsuki didn’t run away) and get help or another weapon to defend himself with. Not to mention the longer he waited the weaker he felt without air. And he did not want to be unconscious around fucking Dabi of the League of Losers.

“Well?”

The blond slowly nodded his head.  

“That a yes then?”  

“Yes you crispy fuck,” he managed to wheeze out.

—

Letting go of his hand, Shigaraki made an after you gesture with a slight bow. Frowning, Izuku headed back down the stairs first. They walked by two empty jail cells, through the lobby and out the front door into the bright afternoon sun.

Tomura looked around. The place was really bustling with activity now. 

Carriages were traveling the main road in front of them, along with people socializing or running errands. They were probably in the center of the town, he could see a market set up just down the street for people to sell wares. It was just like an MMORPG! Turning he followed Izuku into the business right next door. 

A simple wooden sign hanging above the door was carved with the words ‘General Store’.  

Stepping inside a bell above them rang announcing their arrival.  

“Welcome to the General Store! We got good food and great prices!” called a cheerful voice Izuku recognized.

“Hi Mina!”

“Well hello there Midoriya and Shigaraki! Ya here for yur rations?” she asked with a warm grin.

Izuku nodded, “That’s right, then we need to head to the horses. They didn’t move them did they?”

Tomura caught that. A dig for information without directly asking. Clever little hero, he thought to himself as he pretended to browse the shelves.

“As far as I know they are still in the big barn down by the north end of town,” Mina said as she gathered what they came for.  

“What do we owe you?” asked the green haired man.  

Shigaraki was poking around at various items in the store. Spying a barrel of apples he grabbed one and winked at the woman, “These look as lovely as you my dear, may I have one?”

Izuku watched as his friend blushed at the compliment and said, “Yur rations are paid for already, and you snake in the grass. I know better than to fall for yur honey’d words. Take yur tainted apple an get goin’!”

The older man pouted and Izuku smirked at Shigaraki as they left. It seemed even in this universe, Mina was still Mina.

—

Passing one of the packs to Tomura they started walking to the north side of the town. A street sign confirmed they were headed in the right direction.

The heroling was silent as they marched forward, forced to listen to the older man crunching away on his ill gotten apple. Once he was finished, he tossed the core aside and asked, “So, any idea how we get back?”

Izuku had, in fact, been thinking about that all morning. So far though, he had nothing. He replied flatly, “Not a clue.”

“That a statement or a question?”

Glaring at the older man he said, “You know what I know. The boy pressed his hands on all four of us, the prints glowed, and then we were here. From what we’ve seen so far it’s safe to say his mother was telling the truth, her son has an alternate universe travel quirk of some kind.”

The student started mumbling as he theorized. Tomura listened carefully. The heroling had so many ideas at once, no wonder he rambled like this.

As they went to cross an intersection Izuku was suddenly grabbed and yanked back, falling on his ass in the process.  

“Hey what the hell!” he yelled, as several horses galloped by right where he would have been walking.  

Getting up he did his best to brush the dirt off his pants and this time looked both ways before stomping across the street.

“What, no thank you?” called the villain, also checking before jogging after him.

“You tossed me on the ground!”  

“Better than then being trampled by horses.”

Izuku grumbled and stomped forward quickly. Unfortunately Shigaraki was like a half foot taller than him (who wasn’t, he internally huffed) and easily kept up.

“You’re just cranky because you’re hungry.”

“I’m not…” he started to argue, before a pale graceful hand holding a bright red apple appeared in front of him.

“Here. It’s a good boost of sugar. You’ll feel better.”

Izuku frowned, realizing Shigaraki had stolen a second apple.

“Eat it, or I’ll feed it to the horses instead,” the villain threatened, seeing Izuku hesitate.

Well, in that case. 

The heroling tentatively took the apple from his nemeses and began snacking.

Chapter Text

C. What a Shitty Situation

Immediately Katsuki was released and could breathe easier. He struggled to his feet, hacking and coughing. Katsuki looks over in time to see Dabi retrieve the both guns and place them in his lap as he sat back on a hay bail. When he didn't move Dabi gestured in front of himself.

Bakugo grunted and grabbed his own bale of hay, slinging it over his shoulder in a show of strength that Dabi’s brain did not save to watch on replay later. 

Slamming the hay bale down three yards in front of the villain far out of his reach, Katsuki sat down and crossed his arms. He fully expected to have the revolver pointed at him. Or worse. However…that’s not what happened. 

God Dabi desperately wanted to poke the bear. To get a rise out of the young hero. Fuck. He bit his tongue and waited. The explosive blond started shifting and fidgeting, fingers tapping his bicep.

“Aren't you going to…” started Katsuki, gesturing at the gun in his hand. 

“No, what good would that do? We have no idea where we are and for all I know you’re the only other person here,” drawled the arsonist.

“I seriously doubt that,” said Bakugo, he was pretty sure the kid had touched all four of them, “What the fuck is this then? The enemy is my ally when we have no idea what the hell is going on?”

The fire user pretended to look as if he were considering Bakugo’s words as he tucked his own gun back into its place on his belt, “I guess you could say that.”

“Well, what should we do now?”

They sat in silence. 

The two men finally got a good look at each other since waking up. After taking in what the arsonist was wearing Katsuki glanced down at himself. He was dressed like…well, like he was auditioning as a dancer for the Country Music Awards.

What in the hell was with the cowboy getups? 

Katsuki had on a plaid button up with a tan leather vest, jeans and leather chaps to match. There were even explosions burned into the hide. His boots were a darker brown leather, and the spurs looked like they also had an explosion design. 

Looking down at his own clothes Dabi found he was dressed similarly, his boots were black snake skin, he wore jeans and black chaps with silver beading, a dark navy button up shirt and a purple poncho with some intricate blue flames stitched into it. 

“Hey,” said Dabi on a hunch, “Where did that brat touch you?”

Katsuki thought about it. He’d been wearing a t-shirt, his arms were bare and the kid had grabbed…his right forearm.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the place.

“He hit me on my chest, look,” Katsuki ignored how he was now ogling the villain’s pecks. He did see a small gray hand print on Dabi’s un-burned skin. Rolling his own sleeve up, the blond revealed an identical print.

“Surprised you even thought to check,” said Bakugo as he tugged his sleeve back down.

The arsonist frowned, “Hey, I'm not a total dumb-ass. The bright glowing hands were an obvious give away. A lot of touch based quirks leave marks.”

Bakugo grunted.

“Look you hellion, can we get real here for a minute? I’d like to survive whatever this shit is and I’m sure you would too.”

Katsuki looked up with his eyebrows raised, “Hellion?”

“Was going with the atmosphere,” explained the fire user gesturing between them. A horse neighed in the background as if on cue.

Bakugo smirked, then his hand came up to hide his face as he broke out into laughter. The action was contagious. Soon the villain lost control and joined in. This whole situation was so fucking comical, thought Dabi. 

All because they bumped into the wrong bystander.

—

Izuku could smell the stable before he saw it. 

As they rounded the corner a giant pile of crap blocked their view. Beyond that were horses out in a nearby corral where a couple men were brushing off their steeds. 

When they passed by the mountain of manure Shigaraki said bluntly so Izuku could hear him, “In the words of Ian Malcom, that is one big pile of shit.”

Giggles burst out of Midoriya as they walked into the barn. The corners of Tomura’s mouth quirked up. 

Achievement Unlocked: Make your nemesis laugh.

Should he keep track of how many times he got the heroling to do it?

Two stable hands helped them locate and get their horses ready to ride. Decking them each out with a blanket, padding, saddle, and bridle.

“Do you even know how to ride a horse?” Shigaraki asked, hands on his hips.

Izuku didn’t know how to explain it, but it felt like he could. Which again, made no sense since he’d never been on a horse in his life. Well, in his universe anyway, but if the him from this universe could then...

The heroling used the fence for a boost, put his foot in the stirrup and used the saddle to pull himself up off the ground, swinging his leg over the horse's middle he settled comfortably into the saddle.

With a huge smile he looked down at the villain. 

“Show off,” muttered Tomura as he approached his own horse.

Before the Symbol of Fear knew it he was up on a living breathing animal. Feeling the powerful muscles move beneath him was strange yet he felt steady as if he'd been doing this his whole life (Ask him how he felt eight hours later). He heard Midoriya thank the stable boys for their help, and then they were off.

They were heading to the next town over, it would be two days travel for them to get there though. Izuku hoped Kacchan was doing ok. 

As the sun set they looked for a good place to camp, eventually settling near a small lake. 

First thing the two men did was water their animals. It also gave them a chance to rest. Next they gathered plenty of firewood and made a pit with some large stones. 

Tomura took both the horses and tied them on long leads where they could graze and be able to drink from the lake. He removed their saddles and bridles, hanging them on a nearby tree with low branches. When he was done with that he headed back to their campsite they’d set up about a dozen yards away under a large oak tree.  

Izuku was thankful for his survival training, though he felt like some of what he knew how to do was coming from who he was calling ‘Western-Izuku’. 

He had started a fire, and rolled several large dead logs over for them to sit on. While waiting for Shigaraki to come back after settling the horses for the night he took out their rations and a small pot. First he boiled and strained water with a piece of cotton cloth and refilled their canteens. Then he opened a can of beans, and cut up some salted sausage to add to it. There were these hard flat crackers they could use to dip into the food. 

On the way back to camp Tomura turned and looked up into the sky, the view making him pause.

Stars. 

So many more than he’d ever seen in the city, or even in the hills of Japan when he’d fought against Gigantomachia. Only the smell of food over the campfire drew him back to reality. Shaking his head, Tomura continued on his way back for dinner.

He found the heroling working in silence, unrolling his sleeping mat and blanket. Tomura did the same. 

“Ready to eat?” asked Izuku, pretending not to see the way the older man jumped at the sound of his voice. 

“Sure.” 

Never in his wildest dreams did Tomura ever think he’d be eating a peaceful meal out in the wilderness with Midoriya Izuku.

Afterwards they cleaned up and settled down on their sleeping mats. 

Izuku pulled his coarse blanket up to his chin. It smelled like the horses. 

It wasn’t that he was cold, he was just… well, he had so many questions he wanted to ask the person laying across from him and he didn’t know if he’d ever get another chance. Where did he even start? Should he just ask the tough stuff first? What if it made Shigaraki upset? That would be no good…

“You’re muttering.”

“S-sorry! Sorry! I’ll stop.”

Tomura rolled over so his head was propped up on his arms, “Can you really?”

Izuku turned over into the same position and looked at deep carmine eyes reflecting the orange firelight. It felt like they could see right through him, flickering like embers in the darkness.

“Maybe? I am sorry if I was bothering you though. I’ll try to stop.”

“Quit saying you’re sorry. I never told you you had to stop.”

“Then why…”

“You don’t seem to always know when you’re doing it. I was just pointing it out when you do in case you don’t want people to hear what you’re thinking,” the villain paused, then, “Does that bother you?”

Oh, thought Izuku, “N-no! I don’t mind either.”

“Goodnight little hero.”

“Goodnight.”

—

Katsuki managed to get a pair of horses out of their stalls and fit them with tack. How was anyone’s guess, it just felt like he knew he could so he did. Guess that was part of how this quirk worked. 

While Bakugo was messing around with the horses, Dabi snuck around the outside of the barn to better gauge their surroundings. They were on some remote farm. Nothing but flat wide open plains in all directions. No other houses in sight. 

Sneaking over to the main house he peeked inside through the screened in back door. He spotted the Mother of the house and a little girl. It looked like the Mom was getting ready to start cooking. Ol’ Dad was probably already out working the farm, maybe in the fields or taking care of animals.

Suddenly the little girl picked up a basket and headed to the back door where Dabi was watching from. He ducked out of sight and jogged over to hide behind a large pile of split wood.

Seconds later the girl came out the back of the house with a basket. She went over to a door that was stuck up out of the ground at an angle. What was she doing? Wondered the fire user. 

He didn’t have to wonder for long. Soon the girl came back out with her basket full of potatoes.

Ah!

It must be a root cellar!

Waiting until the girl was safely back inside her house, Dabi snuck to the root cellar and closed the door most of the way. There was just enough light to see by.

Dabi did a quick inventory of what was available. Grabbing two empty burlap sacks he started shopping.

The villain snatched a couple potatoes, a few large carrots, what looked like some kind of beef jerky (after taking a sniff Dabi can say it was most likely some kind of venison). 

Turning around he picked up several large smoked sausages, and a few apples. He knew the next town was a solid couple days away and they'd need the food. How did he know that? No clue. 

Finally satisfied with his haul, Dabi tied the bundles up with some twine. 

After checking the coast was clear, he closed the door behind him and crept back to the barn.

Katsuki found a rain collection barrel and used it to fill the canteens he'd located near the saddles. He wasn’t sure if these things were theirs (but they needed them, other Katsuki urged, so…). Checking his pockets he found he also had a leather pouch with some crumpled bills and coins. Ok, so he has money, not much though.

“Nice job whippersnapper.”

Katsuki jumped two feet into the air and spun around to face the fire user. Gritting his teeth and scowling up at the villain he hissed out, “You asshole!”

Dabi cackled as he avoided the other man’s predictable swing. Slipping on some wet hay he landed right on his ass, still laughing. The blond looked like he wanted to physically explode, too bad he couldn’t right now.

“That was priceless!”

“Fuck you!”

“Buy me dinner first.”

“Not until you prove you have better footwork you crispy freak.”

Dabi just shakes his head. Getting up he held out one of the burlap sacks, “Here.”

The blond hesitates, “What is it?”

—

“It’s food,” Dabi answers.

Katsuki squinted his eyes at the other man, “Where did you find food?”

“I stole it from the farmer’s root cellar.”

“You what‽ We can’t…”

“We’re already taking the horses and other shit. I don’t know about you but my brain says for some reason the next village is at least a two day ride from here. We are going to need something to eat and I seriously doubt we'll be seeing a conbini anytime soon!”

The heroling narrowed his eyes at Dabi. 

“Fine,” he said as he pushed past the villain. Katsuki was really getting sick of the fucker being right, damnit.

“Oh and one more thing, I better give this back. Never know when you may need it.”

He turned around to find Dabi holding out the other revolver. Was he for real?

“Just promise you won’t use it to shoot me, alright?” the arsonist said with a joking lilt to his voice, licking his bottom lip. The blond's eyes flicked down, following the movement.

Well well well, thinks Dabi.

The world was already well aware Mr. Dynamight was into men. Thanks to harassment from tabloid reporters he'd come out with a bang in typical unapologetic Bakugo fashion. 

Dabi woulda sworn the blond had something going on with Midoriya but maybe he has a thing for bad boys? Dabi let a lazy smile slowly creep onto his face as a faint blush graced the blond’s cheeks.

Bingo.

“No promises,” said the heroling.

Dabi watched in fake disinterest as the blond brushed past him, heading for the horses. 

Katsuki called over his shoulder to the arsonist, “Let's get going.”

Moments later they were trotting off together towards their goal over the distant horizon.

—

When Tomura and Izuku woke up they reversed their roles without any need for discussion. Izuku went to take care of the horses, put their gear back on and brought them closer so they could reload their camping stuff. 

Tomura cut up two apples, some hard cheese, and added the bland crackers to eat it with. For drinks their options were water, tea or some kind of instant coffee. He’d found the small packets of coffee in their food bundles this morning. Tomura did the best he could with it.

Izuku got back and drank some of his water, the villain was already boiling more so they could top off their canteens before they left. He passed a plate of food to the heroling as well as a cup of instant coffee. 

They sat in awkward silence. At least, it felt awkward to Izuku. He should say something, keep an open line of communication, right?

“You’re pretty good at this camping stuff,” offered Izuku. Ok, that was kinda lame, but he had to try. 

“Have to be, spelunking around the city is a lot like camping but way less fun,” said Tomura, as he made sure the fire was totally extinguished.

Izuku took a seat, “Is that so?”

“Resources are limited. You make do with what you happen to… find," explained the villain, "All while doing your best to avoid heroes who want to bring you in, or worse.”

Oh, thought Izuku, that was depressing.

They quickly finished cleaning up and got on the horses. Before long, the sun rose high in the sky.

The day was hot, as in H O T !

Tomura had drained the last of his water hours ago and was now literally dying of thirst.

The constant mirages of water in the distance didn’t help his increasingly sour mood. Other him knew they needed to keep going though. He kept checking on Izuku, who looked just as bad as he felt, which meant he must look like shit. Last thing he needed was for the heroling to fall off his horse and wind up with a concussion, or break his neck and never make it back.

Izuku was miserable. He was swimming in his pants and his head felt like a balloon on a string. Ugg, he just wanted to wash all this sweat and grime off and get cool. 

They spent all day traveling across a barren, shadeless hellscape.

Chapter Text

D. The (Wet) and Wild Part of the Wild Wild West

The holders of OfA and AfO traversed under the blistering hot sun while in their long sleeved shirts and pants no less, because of course they didn’t have any sunscreen. 

When they finally reached the forest they were granted some small relief, under the shade of the trees the temperature dropped enough to be noticeable.  

Even without the blazed tree trunks, the route they were meant to take was obviously well worn.   

Following the dirt path led them up over more rocky terrain to a beautiful, crisp, flowing stream that ended in a deep pool of water, complete with glittering waterfall. 

Oh thank god. 

Izuku rode his horse right up to the edge of the water so it could drink its fill, then jumped off and, as Tomura watched in silent shock, stripped down to his underwear.

“What the fuck are you…” before the villain could finish that sentence Izuku let out a yell of ‘Geronimo!’ and jumped right into the impossibly blue water, disappearing beneath the shiny surface reflecting the color of the sky.

Tomura left his steed with the other and walked up to the edge of the water. At that moment the heroling resurfaced a few yards in front of him. His previously fluffy curls now weighed down, falling in wavy rivulets along his sculpted shoulders. 

Tomura bit his lip. 

Uhh. 

Suddenly the villain realized he was kind of…

Thirsty?

The sweat from Tomura's back dripped all the way down his goddamn crack adding to a condition he'd mentally dubbed nut soup.

Fuck it. He's going to cool off too. Stripping down Tomura tossed his clothes aside. Then he joined the heroling in the water with the same level of enthusiasm.

Izuku heard the tell tale yell, then splash as Shigaraki jumped in. He pulled his water logged curls out of his eyes, turning to look this way and that. 

      The other man was nowhere in sight. Was he still under… 

            …something caught his ankle!

Izuku squealed like a wild animal as he was yanked down.

Moments later Tomura came up laughing.

This time the heroling rose from the water looking a lot more like an angry green swamp monster with his hair all over his face like seaweed. 

Izuku was a sputtering, gasping mess but still managed to choke out a very offended, “You jerk!”

Not one to be outdone, Izuku splashed Shigaraki, who splashed him right back, which only led to a battle of epic proportions. Once they were out of breath, a cease fire was agreed upon and the two ended up paddling over to the waterfall for a drink.

Izuku took a seat near the falls and let his feet dangle in the water as he was being hit with cool mist. 

Shigaraki slipped back into the cove to sit on a large flat stone, his body temperature finally cooling down. 

—

For the majority of the day all around Dabi and Katsuki there was nothing but barren plains.

Tall grasses everywhere the blond looked, mountains far off on the horizon. At one point they passed by a massive herd of buffalo. Then they were heading up and the tall grasses gave way to shrubs, short green pastures and clover. Their horses kept wanting to stop to eat.

Eventually they reached a small stream. 

“Good place to camp,” said Dabi. He was tired of riding all day. His skin was stiff and dry from the sun covered in dirt.

Looking around, Katsuki had to agree. It was getting late and they’d lose the sunlight soon. May as well camp near fresh water. They and the horses needed it. All of them drank their fill and then the men refilled their canteens. 

Dabi quietly admires the way the blond's muscles flex under his shirt from a distance as he settles their horses for the night. 

“Now what?” asked Bakugo as he dusted off his hands.

“Something for dinner?”

They didn’t have any wood, so no fire. Instead the arsonist pulled a few raw carrots from his bag, and some of the deer jerky to eat. It was at least something. Better than the bitter black void of an empty stomach.

Seeing what the villain was doing, Katsuki did the same. It wasn’t a hot dinner, but it was still nutritious. He side eyed the dried mystery meat. Probably.

Katsuki wasn't happy with the idea of laying out in the open to sleep. Instead he set up near a large hedge. The dense foliage offered the illusion of a protective barrier and would act as a windbreak. He could already feel the temperature dropping. 

Katsuki heard the jingle of spurs draw near from behind him.

Then silence. 

“You just going to stand there like a crispy creep?” says the blond as he finishes setting up his bed for the night. 

Dabi hums and says, “It’s kinda cold isn’t it?”

“Aren’t you fucking observant,” Katsuki says, turning to face the villain with narrowed eyes and snarl on his face.

He lays down and pulls the blanket up under his chin, “M’not cold.”

“Right, well, it’s going to get colder.”

“No shit.”

“Uh huh, I was wondering if you were ok with laying next to each other to share body heat?”

“I already told you. I’m not fucking cold,” Katsuki lied. 

Dabi resisted the urge to bite through his own tongue, “Ok, well, I am. Is it alright if I sleep next to you?”

Ruby eyes met turquoise in silent calculation.

It was just to stay warm right?

“Don’t you dare cuddle me in your sleep you fucking discount haunted house decoration,” Katsuki huffed as he turned over to face the shrub.

He didn’t get to see the grin on Dabi’s face as he lay down facing the opposite direction, “No promises.”

“Tsk.” 

The world faded away almost as soon as Dabi closed his eyes.

—

“This is kinda fun, right?” said Izuku, swishing his legs in the water.

Tomura hummed, “It’s like we’re in some kind of Western RPG.”

“Role playing… heh, yeah. It is,” Izuku chuckled, then asked, “Why do you like video games?”

“What makes you think I like them?”

Undeterred, Izuku pressed forward, “Well, you use terms like NPC and RPG, and power up, mana, and other stuff I’ve heard you say. It’s all gamer terminology.”

Tomura let himself sink out into the lake and gently treaded water, keeping just his head above the surface. His long white hair flowed around him making his eyes stand out in stark difference to their surroundings.

“Games are fun. I like to win, but the story is just as important. Nothing beats a good adventure.”

Izuku chewed on his bottom lip in thought, “I see.”

“What about you? What do you do for fun?” asked Shigaraki.

“M-Me?” stuttered Izuku, “I don’t, I mean, I have a lot of responsibilities. I go to class and study and train and…”

“You gotta take a break sometime.”

“I…do?” 

Did he? Izuku liked what he was doing. He was about to graduate and receive his professional hero license. He was going to be a real pro, alongside Kacchan. Together with Kacchan.

      That was his dream… 

                        at least,

               …it used to be Izuku’s dream.

Tomura gave Midoriya a concerned look. Did the heroling really think he didn't deserve to take time for himself?

“Don’t your classmates have hobbies?”

“Oh! Yeah!” said Izuku, “Kacchan likes cooking, and Ochaco and Tsu are in a Manga club, Koji has a pet rabbit and…”

“And what do you have?” interrupted Shigaraki.

Izuku stopped. 

He probably definitely shouldn't share what he was thinking about with the villain, but Shigaraki had talked about his hobby with Izuku. If he didn’t make this an even exchange the man might withdraw and they’d never make any progress. 

“Well…” Izuku says reluctantly.

“Yes?”

“I keep notebooks…”

Like a diary or something? Wonders Tomura, asking, “About what?”

The UA student still hesitated. Quickly losing patience, Tomura swam closer and reached out grabbing tickling the younger man's toes beneath the water.

“Wha! Ah! Ah hah ahah s-stop! Shiga..Hahah!

Tomura shook his head, "Not until you tell me!"

"Ah! Ok! I write about quirks!”

The tickling stopped immediately. Opening his eyes (when had Izuku closed them) he saw that Tomura had backed off to give him some space. 

What the fuck was he doing? Water hit his face and Tomura looked up.

"Shigaraki?"

Get a grip Tomura. Running a hand through his bangs he asked, "What about quirks?" 

“Everything! Anything!" with that the damn broke and Izuku couldn't stop himself from sharing, “What they can do and how they work. Strengths and weaknesses. Theoretical support equipment based on their chemical properties and what kinds of situations they’d be most helpful in! I think all quirks are amazing. Even your quirk, Decay. You could use it to remove dangerous obstacles in countless types of emergencies or even turn a dangerous threat like a bomb into harmless dust!”

As the heroling babbled on, Tomura’s brow furrowed. Midoriya thought his quirk was…  amazing? His quirk? Something warm and fuzzy fluttered in his chest for just a second or two. The villain shook his head, it was time to get out of the water.

When he finished talking Izuku looked up and didn’t see Shigaraki. Where had he gone?”

Suddenly he heard a splash, the heroling turned just in time to watch as the pale man arose from the water and stepped onto the shore. Bending over slightly Shigaraki gathered most of his hair into one hand. When he stood and flung his head back, it all flew in white arch. Beads of water glittering like diamonds in the last strong rays of evening sunlight. 

Mother of god, Izuku’s jaw dropped. 

“We should set up camp,” said Shigaraki, looking over his shoulder at Izuku, “What?”

Fuck, Izuku, he's talking to you!

Say something!

Say anything!

“Uh… 'kay.”

Oh yeah. Good save.

The only thing that would have made this even more embarrassing would be if he was drooling...Izuku quickly wiped his mouth, just in case. 

Shigaraki turned away and grinned like the Cheshire cat.

Izuku felt his face growing warm, “Y-yeah, ok. I'll be right there.”

He dove into the water to cool off as he swam to shore.

—

The next evening Izuku and Shigaraki were stuck in a field of tall dry grasses. 

“We can’t risk making a fire out here,” said Tomura.

No, Izuku thought, they could not. 

Dinner was apples and sliced seasoned sausage. They ate that cold with more of those flat bland crackers. It was better than going hungry. 

Tomura looked across the open plane, watching the dry grasses blow in the wind, “It’s going to get cold.”

After eating it was time to set up their sleeping mats. Izuku had a good idea. The sun was going to set soon but if this worked they’d both be a lot warmer. 

After checking on the horses, Tomura returned to find Izuku pulling large tufts of tall grasses together and tying them at the top with some of the twine used in their food bundles. 

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Making a simple,” Izuku said with a grunt, “Grass shelter to sleep in.”

“What am I supposed to do? Freeze out here by myself?”

The heroling huffed, “It’s big enough for both of us.”

Leaning over, Tomura took a look inside. Sure enough it was basically a tunnel the two of them could lay down in, side by side. One side would definitely be touching.

“You’re serious? You just want to lay right next to your nemesis?”

“No, but I’d rather be warm,” Izuku said honestly, wiggling his way inside.

No one man should have that much cake, thinks Tomura, staring at the heroling's ass jiggle in his blue jeans. 

“I am going to die of thirst,” he mutters under his breath.

Izuku finished setting up the blankets and settled in for the night, “Sun’s going down, it’s up to you Shigaraki.”

As the final rays of light started to fade away, Tomura crawled in after Midoriya. He’d rather be warm than spiteful, it seemed. 

—

Katsuki woke up slowly, he’d expected his nose to have frozen off over night… instead it was warm. He was warm, and his legs were tangled up under the blankets with someone else's…

His body stiffened as he remembered what had happened the day before. Oh fuck. 

Slowly opening his eyes the heroling takes stock of his position. Katsuki is currently laying in a field, under a bush, in the Old West, cuddled up face to chest with Number One Burn Cream Advocate, Fucking Dabi of the League of Idiots. 

The older man was still fast asleep, one arm wrapped around Katsuki’s middle, the other holding his head to his chest as if he were something precious.

Meaning Katsuki was sleeping on the man’s bicep. His firm, strong bicep, the blond noted. Taking a breath he got a good whiff of Dabi. The man smelled of smoke and something else, like dried plums and almonds.

Katsuki slowly, cautiously, tilted his head back to look at Dabi’s face. 

His appearance was so different when he was asleep. Relaxed. This close up Katsuki can see the villain was young, younger than he thought. His piercings and staples shimmered in the early morning light. 

Katsuki wondered if the scars still hurt. He wondered if the metal was warm or cool to the touch. He wondered how someone so villainous could still be patient with someone as loud and bull headed as himself.

Focus Katsuki.

He needed to get out of the man’s warm and cozy unwanted embrace. After thinking on it, the heroling decided the best (quickest) way to proceed would be to just get up and walk to the horses. Let the damn villain wake up and figure things out himself. 

Dabi was jostled awake, his arm hitting the ground. What the hell? Sitting up he looked around and spotted the UA student stomping away from him. What the hell was that about? Sheesh, whatever. 

He took time to fold the blankets and made sure things were ready to go when Katsuki returned with their steeds.

For breakfast they had some jerky and an apple, then hit the road. They should make town by late that afternoon, then maybe they could get some answers about what the fuck was going on.

Half way through the day they reached a more forested area near a river. After watering the horses they found a clearing for them to graze so they could take a break to make a fire and cook up the sausages and a baked potato for each of them to eat. Katsuki was grateful, he’d started to feel light headed. Too much damn sun and not enough carbs.

“Fuck, I needed that,” said the heroling, leaning back for a moment to relax while he digested.

“No kidding,” agreed Dabi.

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, until the arsonist says, “I’d love to be able to take a nap.”

This prompted Katsuki to stand up out of spite, “Hell no, we need to keep going if we want to get to the town by tonight.”

Dabi groaned. 

On they went. 

A long slow ride across dry dusty fields of tall grasses, until the villain spoke up, “Well well, look at what’s on the horizon.”

Katsuki turned to where the arsonist was pointing. In front of them outlined by the light of the setting sun, was a large settlement in the distance. 

Finally, the town was only minutes away. That was good because Dabi wanted a real hot meal and a bath. His scars were pulling on his healthy skin making him itch. 

He’d give his left nut for some decent moisturizer.

—

As Dabi and Katsuki rode into town later than they'd expected that evening, conversations stopped and people in front of them scattered. Uh oh, thought the fire user. He was getting ‘our reputation precedes us’ vibes.

Katsuki noticed people low key getting the fuck out of their way. Not a good sign.

“Common, let's go there,” said Dabi, pointing out a bar with music playing and all the lights on. 

The blond nodded.

After tying their horses up at a trough where they would get fed and watered, they walked into the saloon. It was actually pretty crowded for this time of night.

The man playing the piano wore a top hat and bolo tie with a peach colored button up, dark pants and white and tan cowboy boots. He stopped as soon as he met Dabi’s gaze.

The villain smiled, finally a familiar face. Nodding to Atsuhiro he said, “Keep playing, I like it.”

As the music started back up again the two sauntered over to the bar. There a tall man in black slacks wearing an impassive look was wiping down the counter. He had bright yellow eyes and wore a violet button up with his long full wavy black hair in a high ponytail.

He greeted them with, “Welcome, the name’s Kurogiri. What’ll it be, gentleman?”

Katsuki thought he knew the piano player, but when they got to the bar he was sure he knew the bartender. Hearing him say his name he looked the man up and down. So this was what the Misty Warper Nomu looked like here. That was a trip.

“Two beers," says the arsonist, "And what have you got to eat?”

“Porkchop in a bowl with Beans and bread is today's special,” answered Kurogiri.

“Two of those as well.”

“That’ll be three dollars,” said the raven haired bartender. 

No fucking way was he letting the older man pay for his food. The heroling dug out the money before the fire user could and slapped it on the bar, “There.”

Dabi sat stunned, then a smile slowly crept across his face.

“What?” barked Katsuki.

“Guess this means you’ve bought me dinner, Doll,” he said smugly.

Chapter Text

E. They Never Get the Nose Right

Katsuki’s blood pressure spiked. 

“You fucking asshole.”

Dabi saw the blond tense, and he got ready to counter what he presumed would be most likely a punch to his face. 

Before they could come to blows, Kurogiri interrupted with a simple, “Ah hm.”

“What?” both men snapped at the bartender.

Unshaken, he asked, “Will that be all?”

Katsuki nodded and the former mist man wrote a ticket that was picked up by a runner, who headed to the back where Katsuki had serious doubts any kind of respectable kitchen existed.

When two mugs of beer were set in front of them Dabi grabbed his and raised an eyebrow at the blond. 

“I don’t drink,” hissed the younger man.

Yeah right, as if he’d believe the blond hadn’t tried alcohol before. Then again maybe he hadn’t because Bakugo followed that up with…

“Even if I did, there is no way I am getting drunk around you…”

“One beer won’t give you more than a little buzz. Common, relax a little,” Dabi leaned over and whispered, “Best to play along. Keep things chill. You can tell right?”

As Katsuki scanned the bar he could see some people avoiding their gaze while he caught others staring trying to appear inconspicuous.

“Fear,” mutters the villain after Katsuki took a sip of the room temperature brew, “They’re scared.”

A frightened person was extremely quick to judge and pull the trigger. They are also dangerously unpredictable. And a large group of frightened people? Prone to panicking like a flock of sheep, trampling themselves along with you beneath their cloven feet. 

The runner came back in almost no time with two trays containing large bowls loaded with their meal, each came with a big wedge of crusty bread and a pat of freshly churned butter. Katsuki’s stomach rumbled. God he was dying for a nice hot meal.

Sitting next to Dabi he begrudgingly started eating, while occasionally sipping on the beer. Now that both of them were dining, conversation in the bar had picked back up again. The pianist was playing in earnest now and some people had gotten up to dance while groups chatted around them.

When they were done Dabi downed the rest of his drink and nodded, “Now you know what it feels like.”

“What what feels like?”

“Being the villain in a room.”

“I already knew what that feels like.”

—

Katsuki ignores Dabi's stare as he scans the bar.

Why were they all afraid of them though? Just what kind of criminals were they? Looking around he spotted a wall covered in posters. Leaving Dabi at the bar, he headed over for a closer look. As Katsuki weaved by tables he passed by some woman who looked a lot like Mt. Lady.

At the wall Katsuki scanned the papers, most of them were news bulletins or WANTED posters. He froze when he got about half way through the board. There almost in the middle was a fresh poster on top of the weathered older ones that featured two very familiar faces. Snatching it off the wall, Katsuki gave it several folds and shoved it into his pocket.

Dabi watched the heroling walk away from him again. As much as he disliked the action, the view wasn’t bad.

“Hello sugar, how're you doing tonight?” Dabi turned to come face to face with a very blond woman who screamed ‘hero’ to him. Bakugo probably knew who this was. 

“You look tired hun, you wanna get a room upstairs?”

“Depends, does upstairs have a bath and hot running water?” he asked, standing up.

The woman’s smile was saccharin sweet as she led him over to a desk near a staircase, “Oh my, yes we do. We also have the most comfortable beds, right Tsu?”

“Yes,” said the wide eyed woman behind the reception desk. The hostess was in a silky green dress. Her long black hair was done up in elaborate braids.

She eerily displayed no emotion.

“One room for the night,” he said, reading the board behind her with pricing and sliding some money over the desk, “An make sure someone cares for our two horses out front. Have them back before breakfast tomorrow ready to go.” 

The woman behind the desk looked at him, then the floozy on his arm, “Sure thing Sir. And will you be taking company with you?”

“The blond.” 

The smile of the woman on his arm widened and Dabi shook his head pointing to a furious looking Bakugo stalking over to them, ”Not her, him.” 

As Katsuki trudged over, the ditz hanging off the villain’s arm like a fuckin’ barnacle saw him coming. Before he reached them she gasped and let go, returning to the bar with her nose in the air.

“Enjoy your stay,” a bored looking Tsu said to Dabi, passing him a key.

“I have something I need to show you staples,” said Katsuki.

Hooking his arm around the heroling much to his annoyance, the arsonist steered him up the stairs, “Bath first.”

Dabi walked down the hallway half pulling the younger man with him. Unlocking their door he left Bakugo to shut it as he strode across the floor unceremoniously shedding clothing as he headed for the bathroom.

—

Katsuki followed him through the doorway and got a good look at the man’s bare back, scars wrapping around his middle, metal clutching the different textures against each other, as well as his pale behind. He blushed and turned away. Fucking exhibitionist.

Dabi pulled the door closed behind him. Walking to the tub he turned the water on as hot as he could make it, then when it was half full he sunk into the bath with a deep sigh. He spent a good twenty minutes just soaking. 

God that felt heavily. 

As the water cooled, he grabbed a bar of rough pine tar soap. Rinsing off quickly after scrubbing himself clean, Dabi wrapped a towel around his waist. Let’s see how Kitty Kat is doing, he thinks. 

Left alone in the bedroom, Katsuki saw there was only one bed. Of fucking course there was. 

Sighing heavily he took off most of his outer clothes, shaking the dirt out the window. He just left his jeans and linen undershirt on. Then he picked up the other man’s clothes and did the same, the fuckin' slob. 

When he was finished Katsuki took a seat on the large plush armchair in one corner. He pulled out the paper he’d taken from downstairs and unfolded it. 

In this universe, Katsuki was the bad guy. 

The thought made his stomach churn. It was so easy for people who didn't know him to paint him that way. If anyone bothered to pay attention, to see what he did, they’d know there was no way he’d ever be a villain. 

While ruminating, Katsuki noticed the water had turned off. The arsonist must be done, guess it was his turn.

The door opened and steam flowed out into the room. The fire user stepped out wearing only a towel around his waist. 

At least he was wearing something, thought Katsuki, forcing his eyes up from where he could see pale hip bones peeking over the terry cloth fabric, a scarred hand holding it up. His eyes made their way across plains of abs to the villain’s chest along his collar bones to his face.

“Finally made it up here did you?” smirked the older man as he went over to where Katsuki had put his clothes. 

“You should shower while you can,” Dabi replied to the middle finger Bakugo had flipped him.

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do.”

“Ok,” Dabi shrugged, tossing the clothes on the chair Katsuki had just vacated, “Just warning you before I drop the towel.”

“Take a look at the WANTED poster I found downstairs,” Katsuki responded, slapping the paper against Dabi’s still damp chest as he shoved past to get to the bathroom.

Peeling the poster off his chest, the arsonist set it down on the side table while he dressed himself. 

Sitting on the bed he pulled his cotton shirt and underwear back on. No way was he sleeping in those stiff dusty jeans tonight. Then he reached over and grabbed the paper to read it. 

So, they had a bounty on their heads. No wonder everybody downstairs was on pins and needles around them. Leaving it on the bedside table, he pulled the blankets back and lay down. Oh this was awesome. It was probably just some straw and cotton bundles but it felt way better than a thin horse mat on the cold hard ground.

—

Katsuki will never admit the villain was right, again. The bath was totally worth it. Now he couldn’t wait to lay down, except…

“Why one bed?” the blond heroling grumbled as he stood on one side with his hands on his hips, somehow managing to look both pissed off and hot as hell. Dabi likey, thought the arsonist. 

“All the rooms are one bed," the ravenet said, sitting up in the bed, "It's a hotel for intimate company Kit Kat.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened. They were in an Old West Love Hotel? Oh fuck no. There was no fucking way. 

“I am not lying in this bed with you.”

“Suit yourself. It’s really comfy,” the older man stretched out and arched with a big yawn, reminding Katsuki all the while of a large feline predator. 

Dabi smiled up at the heroling and winked. 

Katsuki closed his eyes pinching his nose. He counted backward slowly from ten. Shaking his head Katsuki said, “God, why are you so fucking annoy…”

Suddenly a firm hand grabbed his other arm and yanked Katsuki down into the bed. 

“Hey! Let go!” 

The dried out shriveled raisin balls on this fucker! fumed Katsuki as he tumbled into the blankets struggling to grab an arm or a leg. 

The ensuing wrestle match didn’t last long. The heroling was exhausted and Dabi still had a height  advantage. This time the blond was pinned with his back to the villain’s chest and his arms up over his head. Katsuki was basically sitting in the villain's lap with him breathing heavily behind him. Goosebumps rippled down his shoulders with each puff of air against his neck.

“Come on. I promise I won’t bite,” the fire user purred seductively in his ear. Katsuki fought off the shiver that threatened to slither down his spine.

“No shit, you usually burn people to ashes,” he growled back. Using his legs for leverage Katsuki pulled them both up, twisted around and flipped them. Now Dabi was beneath Katsuki with an arm pinned to either side of his head, hips caged in by those powerful thighs. 

That growl resonated in Dabi's skull. He looked at Bakugo with hooded eyes and a coy smile, “I don’t bite.”

Katsuki blinked down at the villain. He didn’t quite know what to make of this… development. What the fuck was he doing play wrestling with a villain in his underwear? How tired was he?

Christ Kats, get a grip. 

Lifting off the other man the heroling got under the covers on his side, pulling them right up to his eyes. Glaring at the villain he said, “You turn out the lights. And don’t you dare fucking touch me.”

Dabi didn’t answer, he didn’t trust his voice right now. Rolling out of bed he pressed the button in the wall and the room went dark. It took a couple moments for his eyesight to adjust. When it had Dabi turned around. His breath caught in his throat.  

Katsuki had closed his eyes, but was still awake. He just was refusing to look at the fire user. 

Moonlight poured through the window, turning blond hair into a white halo around the younger man’s face. 

Pretty. 

Dabi sighed and respectfully got back into bed. 

—

As soon as he and Tomura rode into town early that morning they were waved down by Sato who appeared to be the town’s baker. Very on brand, thought Izuku as they approached.

He gave them both a fresh hot buttered roll and said that last night two suspicious men had come to town late in the evening. They hadn’t caused any trouble, yet, but everyone had recognized them from the latest WANTED poster.

Taking out the copy they’d been given, Tomura held it up for the large man to look at. Nodding furiously, Sato said he believed they were staying in one of the rooms above the saloon up the road. 

Kacchan was here, thought Izuku. They finished their bread on the way to the bar. Tying their horses outside a young woman who had to be this universes Tsu was pouring water into the trough for the animals. 

“Good morning,” Izuku said to her. She looked at them, then she noticed his badge. Her eyes got really wide and she ran back inside without saying a word. Huh, what was that about?

“Seems like not everyone is happy to see us,” said Tomura.

“I guess not.”

“Whelp, let’s go find out if they're here.”

Before Izuku could protest the villain had already pushed through the door into the saloon leaving him to follow. 

—

As Tsu hurried inside Yu looked up from where she was sitting at the desk prepping napkins and silverware for the lunch rush, “What in tarnation’s gotten into your britches girl?”

Ignoring the older woman, Tsu dropped the water pale by the door and hiked up her skirts so she could take the stairs as fast as she could. Jogging down the hall she made it to the door she was looking for and hammered her hand on it.

Katsuki wakes up first, ignoring the arms wrapped around him again he sits up and stumbles bleary eyed across the room. 

The fire user follows after, standing behind the blond as he yanks the door open they come face to face with Tsu. 

Before either of them could comment she’s already talking at a rapid pace, “The sheriff’s gon’n sent his Deputes after ya’ll! They’re downstairs right now, probably interrogatin’ Miss Takeyama!”

“Who?” mumbled Dabi over his shoulder. 

Tsu made a face, “The blond lady you snubbed last evenin’?”

“Oh shit, what are we gonna do?” asked Katsuki as Tsu pushed inside and closed the door behind her. Looking over he saw the villain already pulling his clothes on.

“Quick, get dressed,” the woman said, tossing him his pants, “Take your things and skidoo out the winda’!”

Katsuki took note of how urgently Dabi was moving and got to work catching up. 

In less than four minutes they had dressed, and Tsu yanked open the window. 

Dabi started to climb out then stopped, “Wait, where should we go?”

“Head to the train a’course! The gang still plans to rob it so it’ll take you right to em!”

Katsuki said, “Wait, how do you…”

There were shouts from downstairs, and then the sound of people running up to the second floor. Tsu shook her head and shoved them out the window, “No time! I'll see you both later!”

—

The saloon was quiet this time of day. 

The only two people Izuku and Tomura saw were a drunk half asleep on a table and a blond woman behind a reception desk by the stairs. Let’s start with the drunk, thought Tomura. 

The small short man tipped his mug back only to find out he was out of beer. Damn, where was that barkeep when you needed him?

Oh my god, thought Izuku as they walked over, it's Minetta. This was so not going to go well…

Tomura leaned over and moved the man’s mug out of his reach in order to get his attention, “Excuse me. Can you tell us if Dabi and Dynamite are here?”

The drunk looked up and blinked very slowly. No answer. 

He tried again, asking more slowly this time. 

“He’s too far gone to answer you sweetie,” said the woman as she walked towards them. 

Izuku recognized her, it was Mt. Lady!

Tomura asked again, “We are looking for Dabi and Dynamight. Are they here?”

The smile on her face turned upside down and she scowled, “Yes.”

“You shut up! They don’ deserve this kinda’ end!” growled the drunk man at the table, chucking his mug at them. Thankfully it went soaring over their heads and clattered to the floor.

“That’s why he gets a wooden one,” huffed the blond woman as she stalked over to him.

She kicked Minetta’s chair over, and the man went down with a yell, “Damn you whore!”

“Fuck you Minoru, drink ya’ self ta death already!” she hollered back.

Izuku and Tomura backed up towards the stairs as the two people began tossing insults and whatever else they could get their hands on at each other.

In the middle of it all Mt. Lady called over her shoulder, “Second floor, third room on the left. You can have ‘em!”

Izuku thanked her and the pair dashed up the stairs.

Chapter Text

F: How to Hijack a Train with Your Worst Enemy

The two outlaws were ducking behind buildings, jumping over piles of trash, crates, and all kinds of debris. At one point they had to run through a goat pen. Katsuki had nearly fallen on his ass sliding on a fresh pile of dung. 

This whole thing was shit, he thought to himself bitterly.

“Where are you, hah, even running to?” asked Katsuki as he kept up with the fire user. The guy was slow as shit for someone who regularly committed crime.

God damn, Dabi thought as he huffed. His lungs weren’t in the best of shape since he burned them as a kid. They had to keep going though. 

“Heh, you heard your froggy friend, heh heh, we need to catch a train! Hah!” 

“You aren’t serious?” 

They skidded to a stop as they came around a corner. In front of them was the railway, to the right the train stop, a long wood building with a large deck out front to load people and luggage. And just pulling into the station was the locomotive. 

Katsuki had never seen an old-world steam engine in person before. It was a massive pitch-black beast made of steel and iron that rumbled into the station and ground to a stop. 

Gray dust covered it from the billowing smokestack. The conductor pulled a chain and a horn sounded announcing its arrival to everyone in the town behind them.

Grinning internally Dabi took the stairs up to the platform and strolled to the far end of the loading zone. When he got there he leaned back on the wall of the building, crossed his arms and waited as people disembarking were helped with their luggage.

“What the fuck are you doing? We need to buy tickets?” said Katsuki weaving between the crowd after him, “And did you forget about the fucking Deputies chasing us?” 

“You may want to quiet down to avoid drawing any unwanted attention,” said the villain.

Glancing around Katsuki saw a young couple was looking at them and muttering to each other. Shit. He leaned on the wall next to Dabi and pulled his hat down to hide more of his face hissing, “What are you planning? How do you expect to get on the train without a ticket?”

Dabi shrugged, “I’m going to just walk on when no one is looking, like I belong there.”

“Seriously?” asked Katsuki in disbelief. 

The arsonist shrugged, “It works more often than you’d think.”

“Of course it fucking does,” fumed the blond. It turns out villains got places they shouldn’t by just acting like they could. Fucking fantastic, then he added, “The conductor is going to come looking for tickets eventually.”

“Won’t need 'em since we’ll be robbing it.”

“Oi! We are not hijacking this train,” hissed Katsuki in a low voice.

Dabi’s cerulean eyes flashed in his direction, and that did NOT make his stomach drop. 

“What’s the matter?” the arsonist asked, pushing off the wall behind him to press his hands against it on either side of Katsuki’s head, “You never played cops and robbers as a kid?”

He watched as the blond’s pupils dilated, and Dabi took a risk by leaning in to whisper, “Never played the bad guy before?”

The blond sneered and turned away, determined to keep his eyes on the people around them. 

He’s had enough of people calling him a villain, especially after that shit show at his first Sports Festival. Damnit. They only had a few minutes before the Deputies caught up to them. Would these extras get moving already?

Finally it was time for the new passengers to board. Katsuki moved with the fire user and stepped onto the front most train car available. Just like the villain had said no one batted an eye.

Instead of sitting down, Dabi headed towards the engine. 

If they were going to hijack a train, they'd need to get control of it first. 

—

Izuku and Tomura ran down the hallway. At the door Tomura tried to pull it open but alas it was locked. He cursed under his breath. If he had Decay this wouldn’t be a problem, now however… 

“Um…” the villain stepped back, unsure of how to proceed.

Izuku rolled his eyes and took a stance, reeling back he plowed his leg forward and broke the lock with one kick.

Shit, thinks the holder of OfA, that was hot. 

What Tomura wouldn’t give to see Midoriya do that in some tight shorts. Jesus christ, he ought to slap himself. They were in a rush, and here he was experiencing level 3 gay panic.

Bursting into the room they quickly ascertained it was already empty, the only window had been left wide open. 

“Shit, they ran.”

“Why?” asked the heroling.

“Probably the same reason we run in our universe, because someone told them lawmen were after them.”

“Ah right. Where do you think they ran off to?” Izuku asked, figuring the villain would have a better idea than he would. He kicked down the folded-up corner of a rug, hands on his hips.

How the fuck was he supposed to know where they went? Thought Tomura. 

Thankfully a loud whistle provided the perfect answer. Looking out the window the two men saw the billowing smoke down at the other end of the town. A steam engine was just arriving.

“You don’t think…” started Izuku. 

“Yes I do,” said Tomura, heading out the door and back to the hallway calling out, “Common!”

Izuku followed the villain down the stairs two at a time as they spoke.

“If we lose them on the train we'll never be able to catch up,” said Tomura.

Izuku ran beside him, “Do we have to?”

“Maybe? We still don’t know much about how this quirk works!”

Izuku had to agree.

Flying out of the saloon and squinting in the bright sun the villain headed to their horses. They had been watered and were still in their gear.

Hopping back up into the saddles they took off towards the station.

“If we could just talk to them, they’d know it was us,” called Tomura in frustration.

Izuku held onto the reins as his horse carried him forward, “How can you be so sure they headed to the train?”

“Dabi’s always been good about getting the fuck outta Dodge when shit goes south.”

—

The fire user stalked through the cabin heading to the front of the locomotive. Katsuki was right behind him, passengers trembling as they strode by. Conversations went silent, and people looked away. Nobody tried to stop them. 

It was very different from being called a villain or being told he behaved like one, thought Katsuki. Here and now, he was fully taking on the role. He didn’t know what else the version of himself that belonged in this world had done to earn the title. It unsettled Katsuki that some part of himself was capable of being… corrupt (?) to some degree.

Reaching the end of the last cab, Dabi stood to the side, angling his head to look out the window.

“What?” asked Katsuki.

“Take a look,” the older man said with a nod.

Katsuki looked out through the pane of glass. He could see the open coal car, and in front of that, the engine where a single man was operating the locomotive. 

“No doubt the engineer is armed and used to having to protect himself from bandits trying to take the train,” whispered Dabi above him.

Katsuki tried to ignore how close they were standing, the feel of hot breath on the back of his neck, “So?”

“We need to get the drop on him. I’ll tackle and subdue, you take control of the train.”

“Why do I have to take the train? I could tackle the guy just fine!” argued the blond.

The older man gave him a look, “I’ve pinned you twice, I get to take down the engineer. End of story.”

Katsuki felt himself turn red at that and was about to argue when the arsonist said with a shrug, “Besides, you’re way smarter than me. You can handle the train.”

Dabi watched as the blond puffed up a bit at the praise. Noted.

“Fine, whatever. Let’s just fuckin' do this.”

—

The locomotive had just pulled out of the station when he and Shigaraki rode up. Crap, thought the heroling, they missed it.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tomura turned his horse and urged it from a trot, to a canter, then a full on gallop.

Uh, what? Izuku reacted on instinct. Before long he was catching up with Shigaraki, who was pulling closer to the train's retreating caboose.

“Shigaraki!”

No answer, shit. Izuku urged his horse on, they were gaining on him.

“Shigaraki!”

Tomura could hear the younger man getting closer. He didn’t respond, too focused on that last train car.

“Tomura!”

That made the villain look over his shoulder. 

Oh finally, thinks Izuku while yelling, “What are you…”

“You ready for this hero?”

Then to Izuku’s shock the older man brought his horse parallel with the back of the train, holding onto his saddle horn as he climbed up so he was crouched on the back of the animal.

Izuku's eyes widen, oh no he isn't!

Reaching out with his long arms Tomura lurched for the railing, hanging on with an ironclad grip he pulled himself from horse to the caboose.

Holy shit, he’s crazy! thought Izuku.

Holy shit, that worked! thought Tomura.

Hauling himself over the iron bars he turned around. Holding out his arm Tomura yelled, “You won’t let me one up you, will you Player 2?”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed and he steeled his features in a way that sparked a fire in Tomura. 

He pat his horse’s neck and urged the animal to give him one final burst of speed.

Drawing up next to the final car, Izuku pulled himself up onto the saddle like Tomura had and reached…

    …just a little further…

          …just a little more…

… Tomura wrapped his hand around Izuku’s arm and hauled the shorter man onto the train.  

Shaking, Izuku crawled over the railing and sat on his ass, he did not trust his legs right now. Covering his face with his hands he took some deep breaths.  

Tomura plopped down near him, a serious look on his face. He gave the heroling a few moments, then asked, “You ok? I mean, you are ok, physically, but are you ok?”

Peeking through his fingers Izuku said over the buffeting wind, “You…hah, that was insane!”

Tomura fidgeted. He didn’t know if he should apologize or…

Izuku dropped his arms to his side and looked out at the rapidly receding town on the horizon behind them. He just took a huge risk, he could have died! … and Tomura (when had he become Tomura?) had helped him.

Looking over he saw the other was picking at some mud on his boot, respectfully giving him space to calm down. It was stupid and reckless, sure, but..  

“It was also pretty cool,” Izuku said, giving him a wobbly smile. 

Tomura grinned back.

—

“Now we just have to find those two assholes,” said Tomura as they got up and let themselves into the caboose. It was mostly full of people’s extra or oversized luggage. Izuku read travel stamps as he passed by different bags. 

“Wait, what about tickets?” asked the heroling sounding scandalized.

Tapping his badge the LOV leader said, “We’re lawmen, I think we get a pass.” 

Good point, thought Izuku. Ahead of him Tomura pulled open the door to the first passenger cabin. He was not prepared for what happened next. 

People smiled and waved to them as they walked by. Izuku helped a little kid back to his mother and she thanked him by giving him a small bag of gingersnap cookies. 

Being respected and admired was a peculiar experience for Tomura. More than once, he and Izuku were stopped and thanked for their service. 

“Doing ok there Tomura?” Izuku asked coyly.

“I ah… yeah…” he replied distractedly as he pat a grinning child on the head, “Hey, wait. I don’t recall saying you could call me by my first name?” 

Izuku hummed, “Oh I'd say I earned that when you pulled me from a galloping horse onto a speeding train.”

“Then I’m calling you Izuku,” the villain snorted when the young heroling stumbled upon hearing that proclamation.

Oh my god.

Shigaraki Tomura called me by my first name. I am on a first name basis with a villain. I am on a first name basis with the most wanted man in Japan. I am on a first name basis with Shigaraki Tomura, the Symbol of Fear. 

Tomura could practically smell the smoke coming out of the younger man’s ears. 

Just as he was about to say something the cabin jerked on the tracks. Izuku turned to look at him with wide eyes and a sudden realization.

“The Engineer!” they both said at once. 

Together they sprinted through the remaining cabins towards the front of the train. 

—

Katsuki hates this. 

He hates hanging off the side of a steam powered train’s coal cart going who knows how fast. One wrong move and he’d be unrecognizable nuggets of person strewn along the ground behind the locomotive. Shit. 

He’d at least been smart enough to tie a rag around both of his palms. The way he sweats he didn’t want to risk a hand slipping.

When they got to the front, Dabi wasted no time in tackling the Engineer. Katsuki saw the man had indeed been reaching for a revolver. Picking it up he secured it in his belt with the other.

Scanning over the controls Katsuki felt his stomach drop. How the fuck was he supposed to know what any of this shit did? 

Looking over at Dabi the man was still struggling to subdue the Engineer but he wasn’t going to get involved. He told Katsuki he could handle it, so he’d let him do just that. 

“Hey Katsuki!” called a faint voice. Looking out the side of the cab the blond recognized none other than Shinsou Hitoshi! Of course he’d be a bandit in this universe too. The both of them had become friends when they bonded over the fact people wanted to villainize them for their quirks. He was on a horse just barely keeping up with them.

“Eyebags!”

“Stop the train!” yelled Shinsou. 

Dabi, who had the engineer wrapped up like an octopus, asked, “Who was that?”

“Classmate. Wants me to stop the train.”

“So stop it.”

Katsuki snapped, “I have no fucking idea how any of this shit works!”

“Figure it out!” shouted Dabi, who had finally grappled the conductor into a choke hold. 

Figure it out, he says. 

Turning back to the controls Katsuki frantically started looking around at all the levers, buttons, gauges, and knobs. Tentatively he reached out and pushed a lever forward. 

The train jerked and accelerated.

“Well that wasn’t it,” snarked the fire user.

You know what? Fuck it. Grabbing a lever in one hand and a wheel in the other, Katsuki just started yanking, spinning, and pulling on everything, everywhere, all at once like this was some kind of malevolent game of Bop-It.

—

Izuku and Tomura had made it to the front of the train. Through the window they could see Kacchan and Dabi in the cab. The arsonist was struggling with the engineer, and the blond was at the controls. 

“We need to reach them!” said Izuku.

Tomura took a look. They’d have to climb to get there, he supposed they could… 

Before he could finish that thought, Izuku had yanked the door open and pulled himself up into the coal cart. 

What the hell! thinks Tomura.

Scrambling after the heroling, the older man put a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing away. He’d forgot how fucking windy it was out here. Pressing forward he followed after the smaller man as he half walked half slid over the coal to get to the other side. 

Izuku was going to get to Kacchan, no matter what. Just as he reached the end of the coal cart, someone grabbed his shoulder. Turning around he came face to face with the LOV leader. 

“Slow down little hero or you’re going to get us both killed, I swear.”

Izuku was about to argue when the train bounced, jolted, jerked and wrenched itself on the tracks before they heard a loud squeal. Shrieking and grinding, the locomotive finally slowed to a stop.

Thank fuck, thought Katsuki, it worked. 

Dabi dropped the now unconscious engineer to the floor and stood up with a nod, “Not bad.”

“Shut the fuck up, we could have…”

“Hey you bacon fried idiot!” yelled Tomura. 

Dabi paused and took in the sight before him. His boss was covered in coal soot holding up an equally disheveled Midoriya Izuku by his arm. 

“Hey Shiggy!”

“How can you be sure they're from our universe and not this one?” asked Katsuki.

Izuku wore a brilliant smile as he waved and called out, “Hi Kacchan!”

Dabi gave Katsuki a look. 

Right.

Chapter Text

G. Drinking, Drag and Dancing

The train was quickly surrounded by the rest of the gang. Before things got too awkward Dabi took charge. Katsuki just let him, it wasn’t like he had any idea how to be a villain.  

Apparently Dabi and Katsuki were the group’s leaders? And the reason they had planned to rob this train was because they’d gotten word a lot of wealthy people were traveling today. 

Two covered carriages had pulled up and they were joined by Hanta, Iguchi, Tsu, Himiko, Shouto, Jin, Ochaco, Kenji and Shinsou. 

What a mix, thought Izuku as he took in everyone from where he and Tomura had been tied up and gagged by the gang on account of them being ‘the law’.

Once the hoodlums had gathered up all the innocent civilians, they tied each person’s hands and feet and left them sitting in a line outside the train cars with a couple guarding them as the gang unloaded the caboose and train cars of all luggage. 

Izuku had overheard Hanta speaking to Himiko about killing the ‘yellow bellied badges’ and leaving their bodies for the sheriff to find as a message. Tomura shared a look with Midoriya and both of them began to subtly try to struggle out of their bonds. 

Thankfully Dabi made it clear he and Katsuki had dibs on the pair since they’d had the nerve to chase after them. 

He wanted to bring the Deputies to their hideout to deal with later. Right now they needed to get moving, it wouldn’t be long before the train was missed at its next stop.

The loot wasn’t going to sort itself.

Izuku and Tomura were tossed in the back of one of the carriages with the stolen goods and enjoyed a rough and bumpy ride for what seemed like hours. At some point they began to descend into a canyon, the air getting cooler the further down they went as the sun was setting. 

—

Finally they reached a camp that was set up in a large natural cavern. Iguchi and Shouto brought Tomura and Izuku to their hoosegow, a steel cage on a colorfully painted cart. There were a few massive candles giving off just enough light to see by. 

After testing the bars and looking for any way out but finding none, both young men collapsed to the floor.

“Since we obviously aren’t going anywhere, I’m taking a nap,” said Tomura.

Izuku’s arm ached, his back was sore and he was too worn out to argue. If Tomura was going to get some sleep he may as well too. There was dry hay in one corner. In silent agreement the two lay down to rest. 

Later, who knows how much later, Tomura woke up to the sound of now familiar mumbling. Sitting up and clearing the sleep from the corners of his eyes he saw Izuku was sitting on the floor in front of him puzzling over something, “What’s up shortstack?”

The heroling turned to look at the villain, in the low light his green eyes were even more intense. It felt as if they could bore a hole right into him, making Tomura feel exposed. 

“Was just thinking.”

Ah yes, thinking. Tomura stretched and got up, better taking in where they had been imprisoned.

“What is this thing even for?” asked Tomura.

Emerald eyes flicked up to look at him, then pointed at his feet, “It's for holding circus animals.”

Looking closer the older man could see on the floorboards in front of him were long claw marks. He bent down and ran a hand along a set of large parallel gouges, “Lion you think?” 

“Bear actually,” said another voice.

They looked up to see Jin, aka Twice.

“Don't cha’ worry he's not here. We set him free in a forest a while back,” said Jin as he passed some bread and water to them through the bars.

It was so odd hearing the man speak singularly, thought Tomura.

“You can't keep us here,” said Izuku, "The Sheriff will come looking."

Jin shook his head, “I reckon’ yur right, but that's for Dynamight and Dabi to decide.”

They watched him walk away.

—

Katsuki sat in a corner observing as the gang opened and sorted their spoils. 

When they were finished Dabi allotted each member a share of the keep pile, usually it was whatever they were interested in having and some cash. The rest of the goods were neatly catalogued and packed away to be sold. The remaining cash was put away by Kenji, she was apparently the group’s treasurer. Whatever they couldn’t use was packed up to be sold at markets in other towns.

Dabi was having a hell of a good time. This was his element. He knew how things  worked in the black market. The arsonist walked around watching bags get unpacked. Fancy clothes, cigarettes, cigars, jewelry and cash. There were tools, horse tack, a few books, raw goods like leathers and fabrics, some food, fine wine and liquors.

He left the heroling to pout in the corner, watching but not helping. It probably went against his delicate morals, thought Dabi with a scoff. For all he knew, the people they'd stolen from were even worse.

Ochaco, Kenji, Tsu and Himiko ran off to play dress up with the new clothes while the others got to work setting up a feast to celebrate the successful heist. 

Katsuki was not pouting. 

He knew Jin had taken bread and water to Deku and Hands. He’d have to sneak over later. When the others came back in the fancy dresses it seemed to signal that it was dinner time. Katsuki moved to the table as hot dishes were served. 

Dinner was sliced up sourdough accompanied with butter bells, salt, and various jams. Beside that were several large pots of a hearty buffalo stew made with turnip, carrots, potatoes, and celery. 

Another plate was piled with baked potatoes, next to it was cheese, onion and bison bacon to top them with. There was also roasted green beans and brussel sprouts. Next to that was a platter loaded up with berries and fruit. And for dessert he could smell fresh baked pies.

His stomach grumbled.

Dabi smirked at him as Katsuki huffed and took a seat next to the man at the head of the table. 

Someone passed them each a mug filled with, the blond sniffed it, wine. 

Before he had the chance to put his cup down, Dabi rose and cleared his throat. The movement drew peoples' attention.    Conversation slowly fizzled down and fell into silence. Dabi had everyone’s attention.

"Congratulations everyone!, To a job well done!" he says.

“Here here!

“Yeeahh!”

“Ace-high!”

“I just wanted to say I couldn’t have done it without Dynamite. I think we should hear a few words from him as well!” with that the traitorous scoundrel turned to Katsuki expectantly, “Well, what do you say, partner?”

His look said, ‘I’m going to kill you, you fucking bastard,’ but his mouth had to say something totally different so as not to blow their cover. 

Taking a breath Katsuki considered, then spoke, “You all did an excellent fuckin’ job, no casualties and nothin’ wasted. You made me proud today. Now let’s eat!”

He plopped back down in his seat and before Dabi could push for more, and shoved a spoon full of potato into his face.

Cheers erupted around them, replaced quickly by talking and the clatter of plates. Katsuki hid his blush by taking a big gulp from his mug but Dabi was still grinning at him as he took a large helping of the stew and green beans.

Dinner was… not awful. Katsuki couldn't ignore the fact they could get alone, if only in another universe.

Bottles of wine and whisky were passed around the table and poured generously. Dabi grabbed a bottle when it got within reach and topped off his own cup. He was well on his way to getting roostered. 

—

After the pies were served and more liquor poured, a fiddle and harmonica appeared out of nowhere. 

The tables were shoved to the side to make room for dancing.

At some point Dabi disappeared while Katsuki was talking to Shinsou and Shouto. He’d decided that while he was stuck here, he may as well learn something, such as the underground trafficking of goods in the Old West.

Dabi didn’t show back up until a half hour later. 

Katsuki had moved on to speaking with Hanta and was in the middle of a conversation about how best to set rabbit snares when his classmate looked over his shoulder and smirked.

“What is the fuck is it soy sauce face?”

“You may want to turn around and take a look for yourself,” said Hanta, clearly bemused.

Katsuki rolled his eyes and turned around. 

He thinks he felt his jaw hit the floor.

There was Dabi, drunk as a skunk with Ochaco and Himiko on either side of him giggling. The man was dressed in a dark red gown with black lace accents, a square bust and puffy off the shoulder sleeves. 

What the actual fuck‽

“Dabi sure is an odd stick eh?” said a passing Iguchi with a laugh. Himiko waved at Katsuki as she hung off the arsonist with a knowing glint in her eye.

The women shoved the villain toward him as he walked over.

Katsuki had to reach out and catch the fool, only so he wouldn’t pitch to the floor and break his damn' nose and get blood all over.

Dabi giggled and wrapped his arms around the pretty blond man’s shoulders. This was fun! The music in here was louder, and he wanted to dance!

“Heeey handsome.”

“Why are you in a fuckin dress?” Katsuki asked bluntly.

Taking one hand off his shoulder the ravenet made a come closer motion with his pointer finger. In a moment of poor judgment Katsuki leaned in and Dabi whispered, “Cuz we stole them! Tee hee!”

Then he swung himself back and said, “Common, I’m all dressed fancy like. Let's dance!”

Katsuki could feel everyone staring, waiting to see what would happen. Can’t blow their cover, thought the blond. Fine, one dance. Then he’d get the older man to lay down and sleep this off. 

It was too bad cell phones hadn't been invented yet. This woulda been top tier blackmail material.

“Sure.”

The music slowed down as they made their way over so Dabi could keep pace with his sluggish movements. Damn bastards were all accomplices, thinks Katsuki.

The villain's hands stayed around his shoulders, thank fuck. After some obvious indecision Katsuki’s settled on the other’s hips as they swayed to the gentle melody. 

The arsonist moved well enough that the blond could tell he really knew how to dance, it was almost a pity he was too drunk…

As they moved around the room the party returned to normal, tension bleeding away to something more surreal. 

“So you emo hot topic freak, why the fuck did you come out here in a red dress?” Katsuki asked, trying to make small talk as they slowly spun around the dance floor.

“Humm?”

“I said, why a red dress?”

“Oooh,” Dabi tilted his head, his piercings shimmered in the candle light, “It reminded me of your pretty eyes.”

Katsuki has to force himself to keep moving after that comment. Jesus fucking christ. Before too long, but not soon enough, the song ended and the heroling did his best to keep the villain tucked into his side as he made his way to the gang’s sleeping quarters.

“Have a good night you two!” waved Himiko, chatting with Shinsou and Tsu.

“Shut the fuck up. I’m going to put him in his own bed, and then head to my own to sleep,” he wanted to be very clear on that. 

Katsuki was not taking the older man to bed , he was putting him in bed because he was too damn drunk to do it himself. Fucking idiot. He snatched an oil lamp to help light his way.

Himiko shrugged, “Whatever you say boss, see you tomorrow.”

—

Half stumbling, half walking the blond found what he knew to be Dabi’s room, thanks to “other Katsuki's’ shadow mind or whatever the fuck.

Pulling the tarp aside, he stepped into a small space with just the essentials. A few crates being used as a dresser, some knick knacks, a stool and a cot low to the ground.

“I don’t wanna go to sleep,” whined the villain, though he kept his eyes shut. God the man was pathetic, thought Katsuki.

Rolling the fire user into his cot the heroling left him in the dress. There was no way in hell he was stripping Dabi, an A-Rank Arsonist. Never gonna happen.

“You had a long day and must be so tired. I’ll bet you’ll have a good sleep,” Katsuki said, trying to convince the man, like he’d do with Eijiro or Denki when they didn’t want to get to bed after a long night of drinking.

Suddenly Dabi sat up and grabbed Katsuki’s arm, pulling him back so he fell on the bed. 

“I won’t!” blurted out the villain, his voice laced with fear.

Katsuki met his wide swirling turquoise eyes as he sat up,

“Why not?”

“Nightmares. I have nightmares,” the ravenet let Katsuki go to hug his arms around himself and shiver.

The blond's forehead wrinkles slightly as his eyebrows push together, “What kind of nightmares?” 

“Of the night I died. Of the fire on the mountain. Of no one there to help me,” Dabi starts rocking back and forth, “No one heard my screams.”

Katsuki looked at the villain like he was really seeing him for the first time. Dabi kept talking,

“I’m such a stupid fucking shit. I act like things don't get to me all the fucking time but they do. And when I need some person to person contact no one wants to be anywhere near me because I always shoved them away,” this grown ass adult opened his eyes and bit his bottom lip as he looked up at Katsuki.

Christ on a bike, thought the explosive blond, why was he stuck with this cute man-child? Still, he really needed Dabi to go to sleep so…

“Here, I’ll…let you hold my hand… until you fall asleep. That ok?”

Dabi’s whole face lit up and he held out his arm, making grabby hand motions at him. 

As soon as he could reach it the fire user snagged Katsuki's outstretched arm and yanked the man back down onto the bed. 

To be honest I should have seen that coming, thought Katsuki. 

He watched the scarred man snuggled into his hand, pressing it up against his cheek as if it were his own. Katsuki could feel the line of staples beneath his palm. He notes the slight difference in temperature of his skin, and the texture too, of course. 

They were less than a foot apart, so close Katsuki was reminded Dabi couldn't be that much older than him. 

“Hey,” he said to the beautiful blond staring at his scars, “You know we don’t hate you, right?”

“No?” said Katsuki, doubtful.

Dabi shakes his head.

“Nahh. Also…I think you’re… a lot like me. You act all tough, but look! When no one sees it, you’re so sweet,” the man looked like he’d had some magnificent revelation of some sort. 

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“Hah! I’m right aren’t I? You’re secretly a big softy! You…” the ravenet was taken by a large yawn. 

Katsuki waited but Dabi never finished that thought, instead he fell right to sleep.

After propping the villain on his side in case he vomits, Katsuki grabs his lamp and creeps out. He heads right to where he knew Deku and Shigaraki were being held.

Coming around the corner he spotted the two men mid conversation, sitting cross legged on the floor of the carnival carriage. 

Since when in the hell did these two chuckle fucks get so chummy? Thought the blond as he approached them.

“Kacchan!” exclaimed Izuku recognizing his friend. He gets up to clutch the bars, “Can you get us out of here?”

“Keep it down!” he cautioned quietly, “That’s what I’m here for, nerd.”

“My hero,” mocked Tomura.

“Hey, fuck you, you creepy crusty bastard. What if I let him out and leave you here to be used for target practice,” he said, glaring at the pale criminal in front of him. Steel bars or no steel bars, Katsuki would kick the villain’s ass. 

The two pairs of red eyes met in fiery dissent. Neither one wanted to give in to the other. 

“Hey!” interrupted Izuku, making them both blink, “Look, we've gotten this far by working together. Please let’s not screw it all up now!”

“Only because you asked so nicely Izuku,” the LOV Leader practically crooned. Deku waved at him to stop it.

Izuku? Since when were they on a first name basis? What the fuck happened with these two? thought Katsuki.

Tomura crossed his arms and asked, “Do you have the key?”

“Uh, no,” admitted Katsuki.

“Now what do we do?”

“Fuck if I know nerd!”

While the two were arguing Tomura grabbed the lock to give it a better look. He found it to be a very simple mechanism, “If you can bring me two six or seven centimeter long thin metal rods I can take care of this.”

Thanks to the villain they were able to make it look like the Deputies had managed to open the lock and escape. 

The pair snuck to the front of the cavern and waited while Katsuki managed to quietly bring them two horses and some supplies.

“There’s less than one finger left on the hand print, when it fades do you think we'll all be sent home?” asked Izuku. 

Tomura pulled himself up onto one of the horses, “I hope so.”

Weird, thought Katsuki, this was so fucking weird, “Knowing our luck I fucking doubt it.”

“Kacchan! Don’t say that, you’ll jinx us!” 

He just huffed and gave Izuku a boost onto his horse. Slapping the animal’s hindquarter he said, “Get the hell out of here.”

Katsuki stood back and watched as the two men rode off into the early morning sunrise. 

Then the next thing he knew, swirling colors obscured his vision and he was sliding backwards…

TO BE CONTINUED…