Summary: When six-year-old Midoriya Izuku is kidnapped right out of his own front yard, it takes four years for them to find him again. But the boy that comes back isn't the sweet, cheerful boy that was taken. This boy is hurt and broken, and All Might finds he can't bring himself to let go. (Or alternatively, the AU where All For One chose Izuku as his protégé instead of Shigaraki Tomura.)

The Prologue

"So nobody came to save you, did they, little one?"

The child flinches slightly at being addressed, and looks up.

He's cowering against the wall, all curled in on himself and trembling.

His unruly black hair is dirty and matted, his clothes torn and hanging off his too thin frame.

But there's something there, behind the fear in his big green eyes – a brilliant spark of intelligence, a hunger to learn, a determination to reach his goal, the tell-tale sign of a sharp mind.

"It must have been so hard for you...Midoriya Izuku."

The child looks up at the sound of his own name, a flicker of interest in his gaze, a flicker of hope.

He leans forwards slightly.

"'Just wait, a hero will come to his rescue,' they say, and, so assured, everyone makes as though they don't even see you there."

The child's lips are trembling now, his eyes swimming with unshed tears, but he refuses to let them fall.

"Who is it that made society this warped, I wonder?" he asks, kneeling down and offering a hand to the child. "You did nothing wrong, little one."

The child leans forward slightly more, reaching slowly out to take the offered hand.

He gently tugs the child to his feet and hand in hand, they leave the decrepit building.

The various police officers and detectives on the scene part around the two, like water parting around a rock in a stream.

No one even seems to notice their presence, and whereas an older child may have noticed how suspicious that was, Midoriya Izuku is blissfully unaware; clinging to his saviour's hand as they walk, gaze cast downwards.

He makes sure to keep up their little notice-me-not bubble until he and the child are well away from the building.

Patting the child reassuringly on the head, he smiles.

"It's okay now…"

"FOR I AM HERE!"

A sharp intake of breath.

Ten-year-old Izuku's throat closes up as his suspicions are confirmed.

His hands are trembling where he's still clutching the doorknob with a white-knuckled grip, and there's an icy panic gripping at his heart, freezing him in place.

The heroes have found their headquarters.

His sensei is trading blows with the strongest man on Earth, and he's losing. And logically, Izuku knows he should be doing something, should be calling for reinforcements. But his heart is pounding so hard, he can hear his blood rushing in his ears, and he can't tear his eyes away from the battle.

His breath is coming in short little gasps.

The battle has brought the two fighters closer to him, and just as Izuku's almost convinced himself to move, to go call for Agakuro-nii, his eyes meet All Might's.

And the man stumbles.

His eyes go wide, and Izuku can see his mouth forming around the words, 'a child.'

He's stunned, but it lasts only a split second.

And then Sensei drags him back into the fight.

The tide seems to shift in Sensei's favour after that, and it's not hard to see why.

Even Izuku, young as he is, can see All Might visibly straining, trying to keep the fight as far away from him as possible.

Izuku is once again frozen to his spot, unable to move.

It's during a lull in the fight, after he's knocked Sensei into a wall, that All Might turns to look at Izuku again.

"RUN!" he screams, his expression is desperate as he stumbles one step towards Izuku. "There are other heroes on their way! They will s-"

And suddenly, he pitches forward. And there's blood pouring out a gash in his side as his distraction costs him deeply.

Izuku swallows a scream, reaching forwards on reflex.

And in the next second, Sensei is above All Might, about to strike the final blow.

Izuku doesn't even have time to think.

Before he even knows what's happening, his feet are carrying him forwards, tackling an unsuspecting Sensei to the ground.

He's knocked away by Sensei just seconds later, with a backhand that promises punishment for Izuku when all this is over.

But he doesn't care.

His reckless actions had given All Might the precious few seconds needed to get back on his feet.

And as Izuku scuttles away, he watches his hero wind up for one of his Smashes, and he feels triumph building in his chest.

Because his Sensei was wrong.

Even if it took them four years to do it, the heroes did come to save him.

And that's good enough for Izuku.

SkyGem: And that's it for now! So, what did you guys think? Like it so far? Hate it? Please leave a review and let me know what you think! And just in case anyone was confused, the first part of the chapter before the line break was somewhat of a flashback, to when Sensei first took Izuku under his wing, and the second part was four years later (the "present"), as All Might was saving Izuku. A lot of chapters in the future will be using this format.

Anyways, in case any of you are wondering, yes, this fic is actually based on an AU I've posted on my tumblr, which actually ended up getting a lot more attention than I was expecting it to. If anyone wants to read the posts in this au, you can find the link to it on my "Alternate Universes" page on my tumblr (url is: skygemspeaks). The au is called "All for One AU." Though I have to warn you, it does have a lot of spoilers for what I'm planning on writing in this fic, so if you want it all to be a surprise, you might want to stay away from it.

Thanks again for reading this guys, and I'll see you all next time!