If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie

Smoke billowed around them, so thick that Hanako could barely breathe. Her father was at her side, arm wrapped around her waist in an effort to get her standing on her own two feet.

"C'mon Sprout, you have to stand." He urged, eyes scanning the area around them. She knew that she needed to stand, but her whole body felt so heavy, everything hurt. More than one of her bones were broken and she was bleeding from more than one injury.

"Where's Itsuki-nii?" She managed to cough weakly, planting her feet on the ground and getting her balance. Her father didn't answer and her heart sank. "Hinata-nee?"

Once again, her normally cheerful and boisterous father's face remained in a grimace. No.

"You need to get out of her Hana." He said, eyes still scanning the area, on high alert. "Take the twins and go."

"No, not without you Otou-san." She replied, trying to sound firm but failing as she began coughing.

"There's no time to argue with the me Hana, they won't stop until we're all dead, we're both injured too greatly to stand a chance." Hanako fought back the tears wanting to spill over, she knew what her father was saying. He was going to sacrifice himself, so she could take her brother's children and flee. So, they had a chance at survival.

"I can't just leave you here." She tried to argue and for the first time, he took his eyes off their surroundings to look down at her. When she saw the tears in his eyes, her own spilled over.

"You have to Sprout. It's too late for Itsuki and Hinata, but it's not too late for you and their children. If these villains kill us all here and now, then they win, they accomplished their goal, but if you take the kids and get away then they failed. We can't let them win Hana." He placed a bloodied and bruised hand against her face and tenderly wiped the tears away. "You'll be alright, you're strong."

"I love you Otou-san." Hanako cried weakly.

"I love you too Sprout."

Hanako woke in a cold sweat, tears leaking from her eyes and heart racing. The plants were buzzing with distress. She jumped out of bed and discreetly ran to the twins' room. Her heart didn't begin to slow until she saw them snuggled together, still asleep.

She sighed as she walked into the kitchen, collapsing into one of the dining table chairs.

"Sorry guys." She apologized to the plants as they began to calm down.

It had been a long time since she had that dream, that vividly at least. She felt like she could still smell the smoke, feel the heat of the flames licking at her from all angles. Shivers raced up her spine as she ran a hand across her chest, feeling the scarred tissue. A constant reminder of what happened, to carry with her always.

"Wonderful." Hanako groaned as she caught sight of the time. It was still the middle of the night and she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anytime soon.

The redhead stretched as she stood, a yawn slipping out. "Might as well make use of this time and get some training done, huh?"

The plants around her buzzed in agreement as she began to stretch.

"Breaking News," Caught Hanako's attention as she was watering the blossoms. "The number one ranked hero school, U.A's Unforeseen Simulation Joint, popularly known as the U.S.J., was attacked by a group of villains calling themselves the League of Villains. A group of students were present, and we don't have an exact number, but there were injuries, including serious injuries to pro heroes Eraserhead and Thirteen."

Hanako was quick to shut the television off. It was horrible, of course it was, students being attacked, children. Horrible things happened in the world every day, it was why she rarely watched the news. She couldn't stop that desire in the pit of her stomach, that burning urge to do something. It was that same desire that led to her becoming a pro hero in the first place. There was so much wrong with the world, so much injustice and pain, she wanted to do all in her power to help people, to make a difference.

She loved being a pro hero. Not for the fame or the fortune, but for the knowledge that she was helping. It was for the cards she would get at her agency from people she had saved, the drawings children would send.

Hanako harshly shook the thoughts from her head. That was before, it didn't do good to dwell on the past. That part of her life was over. Her niece and nephew needed her, and they were more important to her than anything else, than anyone else.

With a sigh, she went back to watering her plants.

She heard the crash before she felt the impact. It was a week after the attack on the U.S.J. and there had been an increase in villain activity. Though the League of Villains' attack was unsuccessful, it showed that the villain presence was alive and well, that the U.A. was not invincible, and that drew many of them from the shadows.

Hanako ran to the front of her store, seeing the destruction immediately. Something, or someone, had crashed through the front of her store, smashing the whole front and left walls. Screams permeated the air and though the situation was indeed frightening, the former pro hero felt calm. She was used to these situations and the best thing you could have was a level head.

"Kaa-chan!" She heard two voices wail simultaneously and her level head went out of the window.

"Shut up! I hate snot nosed brats!" A thunderous voice boomed and Hanako raced outside. There was a large, muscular man dangling a pair of twins, -not her twins, she realized and felt her body relax before immediately feeling guilty-, chaos surrounding the area. There was more than one villain at work in the area, that was evident.

The children continued crying as the villain roughly jerked them around.

She had to help, there weren't any pro heroes at the scene yet, those children could get injured.

But she would be exposed. A redhead with a plant-based Quirk, that information was enough for the right person to connect the dots.

Her decision was made for her when the villain wound back his arms and threw the children. Vines shot out from her hands and wrapped themselves around the children, she quickly pulled them towards her and caught one in each arm.

"Oh, what do we have here?" The villain laughed and Hanako clenched her jaw as she held the children tight against her form. It would be tricky to fight him while protecting the kids, and she was out of practice. The situation wasn't good.

Her only option was to run.

"Not so fast little lady." A slim, cowboy looking villain sneered as she turned to book it. Shit. "We've been told to keep out a look out for a gal like you, bright red hair, plant Quirk, about your age."

Her blood ran cold.

"What do you want from me?" She asked through gritted teeth, eyes searching for an escape route as the children in her arms continued to cry.

"Not us, darlin', an associate of our boss. We were only told to bring you in, alive." Hanako felt her heart begin to race, she had to calm down. A panicked mind would only hinder her. "You and a pair of brats."

The redhead dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the grip of the first villain who tried to sneak up behind her. She had to get out of there, she had to get those kids out of there. Where were the pro heroes when a girl needed them?

"I love when they put up a fight." The cowboy laughed and Hanako clenched her jaw.

"Don't worry, I'll get the two of you back to your parents, okay?" She said quietly to the whimpering children in her arms, flashing them a reassuring smile despite the fear in her heart. "I need the two of you to hang on to me reeeeeally tight, okay?"

The children nodded and Hanako took a deep breath before maneuvering to where the palms of her hands were free while she kept the children pressed tight against her with her forearms. It wasn't going to be easy, only being able to use from her wrists down, but it would have to do.

Vines shot out from her palms as fast as a snake's strike, latching onto the top of the nearest building. In the moment before the cowboy's lasso could wrap around her, she pulled as harshly down as she could, feeling her wrists protest from her own weight plus the children's'. The wind sailed past them and she gritted her teeth as they landed harshly on top of the building, a rolling landing would have been preferred but that wasn't in the cards.

Wasting no time, she quickly began going from building to building, trying to shake the two villains.

"You can't get far with those snot nosed brats clinging to you!"

"Just give it up darlin'."

Her wrists screamed in protest, but she couldn't stop. Hanako just had to run until pro heroes arrived, only until then.

"With how much fuss this guy caused 'bout catchin' you, I hoped you would be a challenge." She cursed when the lasso wrapped around her ankle. The redhead twisted her body, landing on her back and keeping the children from skidding across the rough surface.

Shit.

Hanako quickly scanned the area, the were almost to the next building. She couldn't fight with the kids at her side. Vines wrapped around the children and she snapped her arms back before propelling them forward. She was as careful as possible to make their landing soft before letting her vines come back.

"I want a challenge!" The bigger villain whined. He wanted a challenge huh?

Vines once again shot out from Hanako's palms, one aimed at the first villain, the other at the lasso wrapped around her ankle.

"What's a little plant gonna do against me?" He laughed. The vine hit the lasso first, cutting straight through it.

"Move!" His cowboy partner tried to warn but was too late. The vine pierced right through his stomach, not fatal, never fatal, just enough to incapacitate him.

The second vine moved for the cowboy as Hanako got to her feet, wincing as she put pressure on her right ankle. Sprained, for sure. The cowboy had more brains than his partner and dodged the initial attack, but she caught him in the leg the second time.

"Little bitch." He growled and Hanako cursed when his hand went to the holster on his pants. She wouldn't be fast enough, she was too far away and too out of practice. "Those little brats'll pay for your actions."

Shit.

Hanako's head whipped around and she saw the twins standing on the rooftop. She could yell, but they wouldn't listen, she wouldn't be fast enough getting to them. The only way to stop the bullets were with her own body.

The sound of the gunshot was deafening, and her body moved immediately, putting herself in the direct trajectory of the bullet. She could only pray it didn't hit somewhere fatal.

"It's fine now." Reached her ears before the man himself landed in front of her, rocking the very building they were standing on with the impact. "Why? Because I am here!"

A/N: Surprise! I'm not dead and I also haven't abandoned this fic! Thank all of you who reviewed, it's what gave me the motivation to type out this chapter, I love all of you. Just a quick note, I modified Hanako's quirk because I needed her to have something she could fight with and I couldn't make just the animation of plants work, so it'll be more that she has the vine quirk and as a byproduct can communicate with plants. I'll do a tiny but of editing in the first chapter but nothing too major. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!