These Things Take Forever (I especially am slow)

Daughter

What?

No.

That couldn't be true.

The room seemed to slip out of his perception, his field of vision reducing down to just the eyes, the grey eyes, of the baby in front of him. His breaths quickened and Shouto felt his knees nearly give out as he fought to remain upright. She was lying, she had to be. There was no way the baby in front of him, those vulnerable trusting eyes, had anything to do with him.

"You're lying," he murmured, shaking his head.

The woman laughed, "would it even matter if I was? Your DNA was so easy to get, it was almost too simple to create this, create her. I heard what happened with Lebedev, and knowing your past, I figured you were the most likely to be the bleeding heart of your little group. As soon as I knew you were coming after me, I thought I'd need to take out some insurance, and what could be better than your own child? Knowing where your own little girl is, who I sold her to."

Shouto could feel his breaths coming in short gasps, but fought to stay in the present moment: he couldn't panic now. He had to save the child.

"Of course, your bratty blonde of a husband had to just get in the way. Such an interesting quirk he has, I wonder how it'll all turn out."

Seeing Shouto's frown, she laughed. "Oh, sweetie! Stop looking so confused. This little one is no clone. She can't just have one parent, can she? And what could be better than the hero chart's best genetic quirk? His relationship with you was just a bonus really. I thought it would make her more marketable, give me a little bonus to get away with. You see, they take a lot of energy to make, these babies. You provide the DNA but I have to give them flesh, cleave them from myself. It's why I'm so choosy when it comes to quirks, nothing worse than spending years waiting only to be met with disappointment. Your explosive little blonde was a good get, a quirk most organisations would pay a lot for, let alone the relational connection to two top heroes."

"You're sick."

"And you're going to help me get away," she glowered, taking a step towards Shouto. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your little girl, after all."

Shouto stared at the baby, uncomprehending that this was somehow his child, his daughter. He felt like he might be overcome by the weight of his feelings: desperation, fear and anger; and something else, something deeper that he didn't want to, was unable to, recognise. It was like a twisted mimicry of his own secret desires, a terrible wish fulfilment Shouto had no idea how to acknowledge.

His emotions were warring inside of him, but he knew he had to stay present, he didn't know if he could see this child as his daughter, but he did know that right now she was his responsibility. She might never need him in the future, might be happier with someone else for a father. But right now, she did. Right now, she needed him to protect her.

Another explosion rattled against the door, louder than before, causing larger debris to fall from the ceiling.

"How are you expecting me to do that?" Shouto asked incredulously, trying to ignore the wetness around his eyes and focus on the woman in front of him, not the baby that babbled so prettily as though nothing was wrong.

"Figure it out!" she yelled.

"Dynamight is out there," Shouto gestured to the door, "he's not stupid enough to have not called for back-up. I don't know what you want me to do."

"You're supposed to be a hero," her voice took on a hysterical edge, staring at Shouto with eyes half-crazed. Despite her earlier bravado, Shouto could tell she was losing it. Her plan didn't extend this far, they'd caught her too soon. "Can't you rescue your own child? I'll blow her head clean off her shoulders if you don't! You think I won't? I've looked at kids I've raised from babes right in the eye while I've handed them over to a gang of child traffickers. Do you think I'd hesitate now? I'd wanted to be rid of her, to have sold her on, get rid of the evidence as well as having you all begging me for a location. A pretty sweet bargaining chip, don't you think? So, you see, I have no problem getting rid of her as soon as she proves no longer useful. I didn't hesitate to sell her, I sure as hell won't hesitate to shoot her." She rattled the gun, raising her eyebrows at Shouto, as though daring him to present another objection.