Chapter 8

                                    

                                          


                          
Both of the heroes' eyes met, Kirishima's face paling.  "Katsuki..." he murmured and then dropped like a ton of bricks, sagging against him.
                          
Bakugo's eyes widened with horror and he reached around Kirishima to give the spider villain a direct blast to the head.  The villain detached his fangs, shaking his head, dazed from the blow.  Tendrils of smoke rose from singed hair.  Bakugo rolled Kirishima off him and onto his back.
                          
"Eijiro!  Speak to me!"  Kirishima laid there lifelessly as Bakugo shook him.  His heart raced in his chest as he scrambled to feel for a pulse.  His hand trembled and he clenched it, struggling for calm.  He reached out again, but the trembling was even worse.  He couldn't feel anything.  Where was his pulse?  Was he even breathing?
                          
Time seemed to slow around him as grief seeped into his heart.  Pain bloomed in his chest and nausea twisted in his stomach.  He teetered to his feet as the agony squeezed his heart in a vice.  "Eijiro...  You fucking idiot, I told you to go."  He stared blankly at the ground, his vision growing fuzzy.
                          
A snicker made his head shoot up, and a tear trickled down his cheek unnoticed.  The villain rubbed his head and walked toward Bakugo on eight horrific legs.  "Aw, was that your mate?  Poor little omega."  The villain headed toward him, glee sparkling in his eyes.
                          
Deep, endless grief mixed with searing rage.  His vision tightening to pin drops and all he could focus on was the villain.  Smoke billowed from his hands, filling the office.  The spider villain faltered as he neared the omega and he coughed violently.  He cupped his nose and mouth with one hand.
                          
"Can't take a little smoke?"  Bakugo's lips felt numb as the taunting words left him.
                          
"Your pheromones.  What is with them?  I've never smelled anything like them," he wheezed now, backing away from Bakugo.  Tears tracked down the villain's face and he rubbed them away in confusion.
                          
"Hm, is that so?"  He tilted his head.  "Interesting."  Bakugo deliberately embraced the emotions churning in his heart, even though it was against his personality, even though he'd fought every feeling but irritation most of his life.  His chest heaved as a sob crawled up his throat, making him fall to his knees and tears pour down his face.  He crawled toward the villain as he cried harder than he ever had before, making his throat feel raw.
                          
"Get away from me!"  The alpha villain stumbled, scrambling toward the exit.  Bakugo flung his hands out, sending rapid fiery blasts after the retreating monster.  Just outside the door waited dozens of Commission and police officers that captured the disoriented, charred villain, binding all of his arms and legs in specially made, quirk-proof restraints.
                          
Bakugo crawled back to Kirishima, laying his head on the alpha.  The omega frantically breathed in his smell, struggling to contain the grief that still ran wild in his chest. 
                          
As soon as the villain was taken care of Commision officers and EMTs headed into the office building.  Several people staggered as Bakugo's pheromones hit them like a blast to the face.  After several minutes Bakugo felt a hand on his shoulder and he tensed.  The hand pulled back, sensing danger.
                          
"It's okay, Bakugo.  I'm Dr. Nakamura.  I work for the Hero Public Safety Commission.  I've actually met you, though you might not remember me.  Can you let me look at Kirishima?" a voice said.
                          
Bakugo looked over his shoulder to see a man with a respirator and vaguely familiar, gentle eyes.  The man slowly crept around to the other side of Kirishima, and quietly sank to his knees.  He held up his hands to show Bakugo he had no weapons.  Setting a bag on the ground, he reached out for the fallen hero.  Bakugo's arms tightened over Kirishima protectively and the man froze.