No Escape

Eraserhead and Cheshire had teamed up on patrol completely by coincidence.

It happened to be a bad coincidence for them, however.

They were currently trapped underneath the rubble of a fairly substantial house at the outskirts of town. Pressed close under the creaking weight that could fall further and crush them at any minute, hurt, tired, all they could do was await rescue. It was, unfortunately, a long time coming.

"A friend of mine died this way," he told her as he glanced around. "I think - hope -- he was killed instantly because it was mostly concret that fell on him."

"Oh, no. Were you young?"

"Teenager." He brushed it off with a small, curt gesture. "But this is different. You are here, and we're not quite finished yet." He paused. "Are you frightened?"

"No. I'm - I'm sad." She sighed tremulously. "I knew this might happen some day. I don't care about dying; I did my best and I'll be replaced. Someone else will go on saving others like I did. But..."

"But?" Aizawa frowned. He had never heard his own thoughts spoken out loud like this before. He wasn't sure what to think.

"It's silly." She shook her head.

"No," he said in a curiously gentle way. "It's not if you feel strongly about it."

"Well... I - I wanted to be loved back at least once in my life before I died. Just once! Like, how your parents are supposed to or a partner."

"A lover."

"Hmm." It was surprising to hear him say that word, but it was true. "Yeah. I always chose men that didn't treat me well, though. I struggled with that and thought it was a win when I fell in love awhile back with someone who doesn't show emotions. A good man, but one that has no time for anything but work." She deliberately kept her face turned from him so he couldn't see her tears.

"Anything other than conserving energy would be a most impractical use of our remaining stamina and air. However..." He stared off into the distance, his expression enigmatic, for several seconds. Then he suddenly choked and turned back to her, his gray eyes no longer coldly logical. They were the calm before the storm, roiling with suppressed emotions though the rest of his face remained still.

"Ai - Aizawa?"

"May I request, for starters, that you use my given name?"

She stuttered even more as her tired brain struggled to keep up. "Sh - h - Shota. Your name is Shota."

He nodded. "I pronounce yours badly," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. The back of his hand scraped the top of the crumbled roof and he winced. "Is it okay if I call you Ches?"

She nodded. "You know, you were the first to do that," she told him quietly.

Aizawa blinked. "What? Really? Didn't you have peers that -"

Elly cut him off with a sad, "No. I was 'Crazy Bitch' and a few other names, but nothing affectionate. Err... I didn't mean to say 'affectionate', I meant -"

It was his turn to stop her. He placed a careful hand on her cheek. "Yes."

"It ... was? Is?"

"We may not make it out of here," he said in a quiet voice of regret, "so I may as well tell you, and add my request. Will you listen?"

"Yes." She watched him closely, intrigued despite the constant sense of time running out.

He sighed dismally. "I need to relax my body, yet what I'm about to tell you is causing me to tense harder."

"Relax your - wait, Shota, have you been holding yourself up?! Damn it!"

"Apologies." He let out a deep breath and suddenly there he was, pressed even more tightly against her. She gasped at the closeness, which was far more personal than she had thought it would be. "And so, on to my confession." He cleared his throat nervously. "I fell in love with you a long time ago."

The Insanity Hero was too stunned to speak so he took her silence for what he expected; rejection, no matter how gentle. His body tensed and she could feel a tremor run through him. "I apologize for that," he murmured. "My ... feelings don't give us any advantage or help in any way. Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken. I never intended to tell you."

He closed his eyes to calm himself, so when he felt one if her arms worming its way around him and the other sliding up his chest he twitched, startled. They were wedged tightly together by necessity but she had now closed every inch between them. As he watched, she drew her legs up, then winced as pain shot through both of them.

"Ow." She swore under her breath. "Sorry. Something's twisted or, hell, I don't know at this point. Broken maybe. Not like we can look. Here..." His face was caressed with a shaky hand as her other held him tight.

"Ches..?"

"Fuck logic," she hissed bitterly. "I held back and you're the good man I was talking about. Now kiss me before we're crushed under this stupid rubble."

He reached up and placed his palm on her cheek, much the same as she had. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes. There were tears running down her cheek, cutting clean streaks through the grime of dust and dirt from their battle. He wiped these gently away and placed his mouth on hers.

Aizawa was a hard working man. He ate fast, pre-prepped meals and slept whenever he could get the chance, always deciding to work harder rather than anything else. He only did things that related to his goals of saving as many people as he could.

That said, he did not see romance and sex as necessary in his life. He took care of himself just fine without the added strain of a relationship or even a one night stand. Too much trouble, and why bother?

So it was when his lips touched hers that he realized with mild surprise he had never kissed a woman before. His heart began to race wildly in his chest and he felt himself sweating more than when they had faced off against the villain hours ago.

Elly couldn't help but cry at the sheer ridiculous situation they were in. To find out they loved each other now, when it might be too late ...

She felt his dry, slightly chapped lips brush hers tentatively, cutting off her melancholy thoughts. Strange that he would be so hesitant at first, but after she pressed back he kissed her with such growing enthusiasm that it took her breath away. His tongue flicked out, traced her lips and darted inside when she parted them with a low whimper.

"Mnn, Ches," he husked after a long, exploratory kiss. "M'sorry I waited."

"Me, too." She parted from him with a gasp, sobbing quietly as she clutched his capture weapon in both hands.

"Do you mind if I try something rather desperate - a call for help? I have an idea."

"Go right ahead. Anything at this point. I hear them out there, looking for us. They just don't know where we are."

"I believe I can shout much louder if encouraged enough." He got as close to the opening as he could and took a very deep breath. "Cheshire and I are under here! Please, I love her!"

Elly stared at him, so dumbfounded that she quite literally forgot to breathe. The Insanity Hero passed out.

She came to in a much more comfortable setting. Her legs were no longer needled with pain and she felt clean and refreshed, though exhausted. Bright white sheets, walls, and ceiling meant she was safe, probably in a hospital. The beeping she heard from her heart monitor nearby confirmed this and she sighed, relieved. She could have relaxed if only she knew Eraserhead was okay.

Her nose wrinkled as she caught the scent of bitter energy drink and coffee. Turning her head revealed a familiar face seated at her bedside. Her ears perked and her purple eyes sparkled happily.

Aizawa jumped awake from his nap. "Welcome back," he congratulated her with a huge smile.

"They heard you."

"Uh... yes." He rubbed the back of his neck, wincing a little. "They also let me know that I'd never live this incident down."

"Aww. What are friends for."

"Indeed," he said sourly. "To quote Hizashi, he told me, 'You and your girlfriend are gonna be the hottest gossip around when you get back'."

"Mmmn," she sighed happily. "Girlfriend."

He blushed but nodded. "Okay?"

"Better than okay."