Chapter Text
Heart racing, Lily rushed into the nursery, Harry tucked to her chest. The one-year-old wiggled and whined, unsure of what it was that scared his mother so badly. The house shook, deafening explosions sending cracks webbing through the drywall and setting her infant son into his crib, Lily quickly dug out the final go to she had.
She hadn’t told the Order. Hadn’t so much as whispered it to James. It was a last ditch effort to ensure her child would be safe. Both from Voldemort and from whatever machinations Dumbledore no doubt had in mind. He had a tendency to find loopholes around what people wanted and even though they had a Will in place, the thought of her sister getting Harry, was enough to have Lily searching for desperate alternatives.
“It’s okay, baby,” Lily cooed, opening up vials with shaking hands and trying to soothe her sniffling child. Another shout from James had her working faster. “Don’t worry, D-Daddy’s just being silly.”
Runes, she needed to write the runes. An Athame, a quick slice and she used her own blood to mark the posts of Harry’s crib. After that, she had to mark each post with one of the four elements. Soil for Earth, a candle for Fire, a dish of Water and her own frantic breaths for air. The minute the Runes lit up; relief flooded her. But it was short lived, because Jame’s scream of agony filled the house.
Time was up.
Trembling, Lily quickly unzipped Harry’s onesie. Another slice of her hand, and she placed the final runes on his chubby little belly, a watery laugh escaping her when he giggled and wiggled. She had just enough time to right his clothing and settle him in his crib when the door exploded inward, splintering apart. Lily spun, Harry screeching shrilly and set emerald eyes on the stuff of nightmares.
Shrouded in robes, all she could see of the Dark Lord Voldemort was the glowing red of his eyes. “Please! Please don’t do this! He’s just a baby!”
“Stand aside girl,” Voldemort ordered, wand raised. “I only want the boy…do not be a fool like your husband.”
Her heart twisted. James was dead, but Merlin damn it, she wasn’t going down easy. “N-No…I won’t! He is no threat to you! Please!”
Voldemort barked a laugh, the sound chilling. “Fool! Stand aside!”
“You gain nothing from this!” Lily snarled, tears welling, her son’s terrified cries cutting her to pieces. “Absolutely nothing! He is just a child! Please! I’m begging you!”
“I will not ask again girl, stand aside!”
“No!” Lily hissed. “I’ll die first!”
“So be it…” Raising his wand, eyes alight, he cast. “Avada Kedavra!”
Her death was instant, her scream snuffed out, but Voldemort barely had a second to relish his victory when all hell broke loose. Harry’s shrill cries grew louder as light blazed from the bedposts, runes igniting in a burst. A sudden wind ripped through the room, driving Voldemort back with a grunt. Red eyes narrowing, he watched the light engulf the wailing baby, the cot splintering apart beneath him.
A piece flew up, striking Harry across the face, only making him screech louder and when all the sound fell away, Voldemort barely made it to the door before a magical explosion ripped through the house. When the chaos cleared, only ruins remained, Voldemort’s body destroyed and little Harry nowhere to be seen.
~W-A-R-L-O-C-K~
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Shota Aizawa yawned and made his way along a roof top. At five am he was definitely ready to get home and crawl into bed next to his husband. It had been a relatively quiet night, but hours on patrol were taxing, especially when you did it three nights in a row.
Contemplating a hot meal, followed by a scalding shower, Aizawa spun at the sound of a sudden explosion and a bright light. With a curse, the young Hero sprang toward it, using his phone to quickly call for backup. When he reached the site, he expected to see it obliterated. Instead, to his shock, there was no damage and a baby sat wailing in the middle of an alley, blood staining the left of his face.
“Hey, hey, kiddo,” Aizawa crooned, darting toward the little one and scooping him up. He carefully checked his face and winced in sympathy.
A nasty cut spread from his forehead over his eye and down his cheek. It was bleeding sluggishly, and Aizawa couldn’t tell if the eye itself was damaged. On further inspection, he found blood on the boy’s onesie and after carefully unzipping it, he hissed a string of profanities.
Something had been branded into the child’s stomach. No wonder he was hysterical.
“Eraserhead?”
Jolted, Aizawa turned to see to his dismay, All Might hurrying toward him. He forgot he was on patrol near here. He wasn’t Aizawa’s favourite Hero, but it wasn’t the time to be picky. “You got the SOS?”
“No! I saw that light!” All Might blinked in shock when he realised what was in Aizawa’s arms. “Is that a baby?”
The injured child had finally stopped crying and clung to Aizawa’s uniform, one watery emerald, green eye studying All Might curiously as he hiccupped the odd breath.
“Found him here alone, right where the explosion took place…Can you check the area?”
With a nod, All Might took off, making his departure as subtle as he could manage so he wouldn’t scare the boy. In the air it was obvious the explosion had been all light and noise. There was no damage, nothing. No evidence anything had happened. People even continued on as normal in the distance and nowhere did he see anyone searching for a child or anyone running away from one. Shaking his head, he hurried back.
Aizawa waited with the baby, and All Might saw other Heroes had arrived. Landing, he shook his head. “There’s no one…no damage, nothing. It’s as if he appeared out of nowhere.” To his amusement, one of the Heroes was attempting to take the baby, but he was having none of it. Clinging to Aizawa, the boy positively wailed. “It might be best to leave him with Young Aizawa for now. You’re only distressing him.”
Aizawa looked momentarily terrified at the prospect of being responsible for such a tiny human, but sure enough, the minute the other hero backed off, the baby calmed and burrowed into his jumpsuit, and damn it, he would sooner die than admit he positively melted when one tiny hand wrapped tightly about his capture scarf.
He felt the infant jump at the sudden squall of a siren, and gently bounced him for comfort. “Easy kiddo, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Sniffling, the baby gnawed nervously on his tiny fist, one good eye widening in surprise when what appeared to be a big black dog hurried toward them.
“P-Paddy!” The baby squealed, wiggling happily, before beaming up at Aizawa. “Look…look, Paddy!”
English! Aizawa realised in shock. The baby’s small vocabulary was English! And he could see himself the little boy’s features and dark skin were certainly not Japanese. How on Earth was an English speaking infant left bloodied and on his own in a Japanese Alley?
Stopping next to them, the Paramedic, who Aizawa recognised as a rookie named Akimitsu, blinked in surprise when the baby gave a delighted squeal.
“Paddy! Look! Paddy!!”
Akimitsu wasn’t sure what to say to that, but there was a bleeding infant and if he happened to look like a dog the child recognised, he’d take it, if it meant treating him. Giving the baby a toothy grin, Akimitsu began pulling out supplies as he mentally thanked his mother for hammering English into him. She often said it would come in handy and the woman hadn’t been wrong yet. “Hey there, kiddo…You gonna be brave and let me check out your face?” Gently, he dabbed the gash with some gauze soaked in antiseptic, wincing in sympathy when the baby let out a pained howl.
“No, no, Paddy…no, no!”
“I’m so sorry, buddy, I need to clean it and see what we’re working with.”
When it looked like he was determined to hide his face in Aizawa’s capture weapon, they resorted to the Hero sitting on a blanket, while keeping the boy in place. His cries were heartbreaking, but Akimitsu worked fast, before covering the injury with some gauze, doing the same to the brand on his stomach. Exhausted, one good eye drooping, the baby burrowed into Aizawa the minute he was free to move.
Sitting back on his haunches, Akimitsu began packing up his bag. “He’s going to need stitches and it’ll leave a hell of a scar…but whatever caused the wound, thankfully missed his eye. Eyeballing it, I’d put him at fifteen months old. I’ve a nephew his age and he’s about the same size. In good health from what I can see, though he’ll need some blood work just to be sure. The brand is raw and second degree. Treatable, but it’s gonna leave another bitch of a scar.”
Aizawa nodded, relieved to hear the eye was undamaged. Gathering the baby up carefully, glad to see he had finally fallen asleep, the Hero climbed into the back of the ambulance.
Something told him, it was going to be a long morning.
~W-A-R-L-O-C-K~
Honestly, it still stunned Aizawa how quickly things moved when Hero credentials were involved. The baby was admitted into Paediatrics faster than he could put his ass on one of the harsh waiting room seats. He wasn’t complaining. But he did receive quite a few aggrieved glares from parents with their children waiting Kami knows how long. Ignoring the stares, he followed the doctor waiting for him.
The baby was put through a full physical, right down to blood tests, which he thankfully stayed calm for, merely grunting in discomfort. But the minute they tried to separate the infant from Aizawa for treatment, his cooperation went out the window. He became instantly hysterical and for all involved, none expected what happened next.
With a sharp pop of sound and a blur of colour, the baby vanished from the arms of a nurse and reappeared right on Aizawa’s lap. With an angry. “No, no, no!” He wiggled as close as he could get to the startled Hero.
“Well,” The doctor breathed out. “That was unexpected…It seems we’ll be treating him with you acting as a comfort blanket of sorts. That okay with you, Eraserhead?”
“Eh, yeah…not like the kid is allowing for anything else.” Much to Aizawa’s surprise, the little boy sat still in his lap as the gash in his face was stitched up. Right from his inky hairline, it slashed down, missing his eye and nearly covered the length of his pudgy cheek. Sealed up, it looked like a bolt of lightning, one the poor boy was going to be stuck with.
Groggy between being poked at and painkillers, the baby barely moved when they finally set about treating the burns on his stomach. The doctor swore colourfully. “What kind of animal brands an infant? Three separate symbols, all below his navel. Poor little thing.”
“Could he have been kidnapped?” A nurse questioned. “That’s English he’s speaking and he’s definitely not Japanese.”
“Possible,” Aizawa answered tiredly. “Maybe tourists? We’ll have to put out an alert on the kid.”
“And till then?” The doctor queried, reaching for a gauze bandage. “The boy refuses to be parted from you.”
Oh, he had noticed the minute the kid teleported. Looking down at his little face, Aizawa made a quick decision. “As a Pro Hero I have an emergency foster licence. It wouldn’t be my first suggestion, but with him latching to me and with an active Quirk this young, it might be the logical choice.”
“Child services have been alerted…it could be a couple of hours before they get here…It’s just barely passed seven am.”
Oh, he knew that. His body clock screaming that he should have been in bed about two hours ago. Cringing, Aizawa also realised he hadn’t done one vital thing. He never phoned Hizashi! The blonde must have been out of his mind! Careful not to disturb the baby too much, Aizawa rooted out his phone. Sure, enough he had about thirty missed calls and just as many messages.
Zashi: Hey, Sho. Just checking in, babe. You on your way home? 5:15am
Zashi: Sho, would it kill you to answer your phone? Nem says you were heading home when she crossed paths with you. Call me back. 5:23am
Zashi: SHO PLEASE ANSWER YOUR PHONE!! You’re FREAKING ME OUT! 5:45am
Zashi: I swear if you don’t answer your phone I’m hiding your coffee. Don’t think I won’t! 6:02 am
Zashi: SHOTA!!!!!! 6:20am
With each message, Aizawa’s head dropped deeper into his capture weapon. He was alive and well now, but he mightened be once Hizashi was through with him. With the baby asleep again, his injuries treated and the doctor backing off to fill out a report, Aizawa put a call through to his agitated husband.
“Finally!” Hizashi barked over the line, a tremble in his voice that left Aizawa feeling guilty. “You’ve ten seconds to explain before I call a damn divorce lawyer!”
Where did he even begin? This wasn’t something he could explain over the phone. So, he wouldn’t try. “You need to come to the hospital. I’m okay, but you need to come.”
Hizashi spluttered something that wasn’t exactly coherent, before hollering he was on his way. Ignoring the ringing in his ear from his husband’s Quirk, Aizawa locked his phone and placed it in his pocket. It would take him at least a half an hour to get to the hospital.
Nothing to do but wait.
~W-A-R-L-O-C-K~
Frantic didn’t begin to describe where Hizashi’s thought train had gone. His husband had gone MIA and when he finally called back, it was with a cryptic message to head to the hospital. Who did that? He was going to smack Shota on principal! Rushing out, dressed in comfy clothes and his blonde hair lose—not that he gave a shit—Hizashi was in his car and burning rubber in under a minute. When his phone blared, he nearly didn’t bother activating the hands free, but that tone was Nemuri, and she’d only hound him. With a curse, he hit answer.
“Hello?”
“Did you get a hold of him?”
“I did! He’s in the hospital, Nem!” Hizashi immediately ranted. “Says he’s fine, but that I need to get there. What the hell, Nemuri! You said he was fine when you saw him?!”
“He was!” Nemuri defended. “Wiped, but fine. Unless he ran into something after that. Did he sound okay?”
“Sounded fine…but he’s been off the grid over two hours! What could have possibly happened that he’d ignore his phone?”
“Guess there’s only one way to find out and let me know as soon as you do!”
Hanging up, Hizashi focused on the road ahead. As miffed as he was, his husband better be okay.
Driving like a bat out of hell, Hizashi managed the drive in under twenty-five minutes. There was probably a ticket in his future thanks to the street cameras, but he’d worry about that when he wasn’t dreaming up all sorts of crazy scenarios in regard to his husband. Tempted to just park his car anywhere, the Hero figured he shouldn’t push his luck and headed for the parking lot. Much to his chagrin, even for nearly eight am it was packed and took a frustrating ten minutes to find a spot. By the time he was rushing inside, he was cursing any deity listening.
He expected an obstacle at the nurse’s station, but thankfully, Aizawa had let them know he was coming. To His surprise, he was sent up to Paediatrics. Had his husband come upon an injured child? It happened sometimes and a Hero could end up with the child for hours if a parent couldn’t be located…or worse.
Hizashi expected many things when he found the room his husband was in. What he found, wasn’t one of them.
On a hospital bed, Aizawa was sprawled, fast asleep, an arm around a baby who sat wiggling on his bottom and happily playing with strands of his dark hair. Hearing Hizashi, his little head turned at the blonde Hero gasped in shock. The poor thing! Fresh stitches covered a good portion of the left side, swelling and bruising puffing up the eyelid, and yet when he saw Hizashi, the baby smiled, babbling happily, before reaching down to tap Aizawa on his face.
“Look! Look!”
Hizashi blinked in surprise at the clear English and stepped closer. Giggling, the baby waved a chubby hand at him, bouncing happily. He was of mixed heritage. Indian perhaps? With the greenest eyes he had ever seen. Thick ink black hair surrounded his little face. Wordlessly grabbing a chair, Hizashi took a seat. Squealing with delight, the baby shuffled around until he was facing him and made grabby hands. Chuckling, Hizashi obliged him, and scooped him up. The minute the baby was situated in his arms, he went straight for the Hero’s long blonde hair, gushing happily.
“Well, aren’t you just a bundle of sunshine, huh?” Hizashi asked, grinning at the baby’s jovial mood. “I’m guessing you’re the reason my husband didn’t come home and apparently forgot a phone is a thing.”
“It was on silent.” Jumping, Hizashi looked over. Aizawa was sitting up, scrubbing tiredly at his face, and looking just a tad guilty. “Sorry, babe…you can see I was a tad distracted.”
“Clearly…Care to fill me in?”
Smiling at the cooing infant, Aizawa stood up and stretched, his spine cracking in places. “I was on my way home when there was an explosion and bright light. I followed in case backup was needed, but instead of the crater I expected, I found no damage and this little guy bleeding and crying his heart out.”
“Oh, the poor little munchkin!” Hizashi gushed, nuzzling his uninjured cheek and making the baby giggle. “Who could hurt such a face.”
“Right now, we’re running on the assumption he’s the child of a tourist. The little bit of vocabulary he has is English and he’s certainly not Japanese.”
“I noticed.” Bouncing the little boy, Hizashi chuckled when the baby wiggled happily on his lap, babbling away to himself. “And if his parents aren’t found pronto?”
Aizawa winced, because he wasn’t sure how his husband was about to take the decision he made without so much as a phone call. “I’m using my emergency foster licence…I know I should have consulted with you first…but it proved the most logical choice…because his Quirk is active.”
Hizashi blinked in shock. Both at the fact they were about to have a baby in their lives, if temporarily and that the baby was one of the rare few with a Quirk so young. Before he could speak, the blonde yelped in surprise when the baby vanished from his lap and reappeared on Aizawa’s. From his husband’s lack of surprise, it obviously wasn’t the first time. Shuffling about, he got a grip on Aizawa’s capture weapon and cooed happily.
“A teleportation Quirk?” Hizashi croaked. “They’re practically unheard of!”
“Yes and quite possibly how the kid ended up in this predicament in the first place.” Aizawa pointed out. “We were going on the assumption he was kidnapped…until he poofed away from the medical staff and into my lap…”
“Oh, little bug, you probably have two very freaked out parents,” Hizashi gushed tickling his toes.
“Or they hurt him, and the kid manifested his Quirk to get away.” Aizawa said, eyes narrowed in irritation. “As well as his injured face, runes of some kind were branded into his stomach.”
“What?!” Hizashi snarled lowly, fury flushing his cheeks. The stitches looked like a bad fall on something sharp, but the branding? That was definitely intentional. “So, the parents will be investigated first.”
“Yeah. When the kiddo was found, there was nothing around him that could have caused his injuries. So, until we determine what caused them, everyone is a suspect.”