Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“This is your kid Dabi, and I need you to take her because they’re damn well going to kill me, we both know enough villains who were in foster care to know that that’s not a good option, she looks like you, and I’d rather not have the death of a baby on my conscience.”

Dabi stared at the newborn, probably not even a week old in his old friend’s arms. Big blue eyes and tufts of red and white hair confirmed what they were saying. This baby was undeniably a Todoroki. 

“What the fuck.”

~~

———-

Dabi - or Touya at the time, first met them when he was sixteen. Not quite blissfully unaware of the horrors of the world and most definitely not the picture of innocence either, yet still… youthful and oblivious to just how bad things could be. And if it weren’t for him, it probably would’ve taken him years to figure out that society was beyond fucked up, so Dabi vowed to thank him for the rest of his life.

Their name was Ronin. And when Touya had first laid eyes on them, they had tear stains on their slim face and blood on their ripped, old-looking school uniform. Their shirt, utterly decimated, had not done much to cover the bandages and duct tape he had been wearing underneath it. 

And- well, Touya-but-not-quite-Touya, who had not yet become as bitter and cruel as Dabi, who had spent most of his childhood isolated, had eloquently announced his presence with a sputtered, “Uh. Are you injured or some shit? I don’t think duct tape is gonna help much.”

They had looked up at him with the most baffled expression Touya had ever seen on someone’s face in his life. “I’m non-binary, you fucking dolt.”

Touya had physically felt his face heat up in embarrassment. “ Oh…” and then, “Uh, is the uh- duct tape and shit safe?”

They had rolled their eyes. “I’m here for a good time, not a long time. Wanna help me up though? Name’s Ronin.”

After pausing for only a second, he had then reached over and grasped their hand in his own. “Tou- Dabi.”

And so was the start of a very, very interesting ( some would call it toxic - Dabi would be a hypocrite if he did though) and destructive friendship.

———-

One year of the two of them living off the streets and Ronin mentoring Dabi on how to properly survive later, they had grown pretty close. It was hard not to when they were both there for each other’s first murders, when they both grew to trust one another enough to share their deepest secrets with each other in the dead of night - when Dabi and Ronin both admitted to wanting to ‘kill’ who they used to be, when they finally did and were able to talk about the names of the people they once were, when Ronin discovered that their weak water-boiling quirk wasn’t weak at all and when Dabi had to start using staples to keep himself from falling apart. They were there for it all.

“I never thought I’d ever be a villain,” Dabi had said randomly one day - freshly seventeen, if he remembered right. Ronin had snorted, twirling a cigarette in their fingers.

“Not that the cops or heroes even know who you are, but what kid ever does? You never see that written on those stupid ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ worksheets. Fuck, I used to think I’d take over my family’s restaurant one day. Oi, come over here and light this for me.”

Dabi had given them a deadpan stare. “You would think I never told you that my fucking quirk burns me with the amount of times you tell me to use it for your own benefit.”

Ronin had shrugged, the jagged scar going down the side of their face stretching as he raised his brow. “Doesn’t hurt you anymore, so why not use what you’re given? You know damn well what I started doing the moment I found out plasma was made up of water, rich boy.”

Dabi had crossed his arms and stared at them, visibly amused. When it was just the two of them, he could act like his age and not some mysterious, villainous twenty-something year old, and he liked that. “You started copying me is what you did. And I’m not a rich boy.” Not anymore.

“Bold of you to say I’m copying you when you’re the one picking up my mannerisms like it’s fucking candy. And you still give off a posh vibe below all that scarring and staples and shitty hair dye- actually, maybe it’s just because I knew you when you were like a fetus run-away,” and then Ronin had gasped dramatically. “Oh my God, I raised you!”

Dabi’s face had twisted. “Fuck no -“

“Fuck yes! I always knew I’d be such a great Papa -“

“Yes, Daddy, you were wonderful,” Dabi had drawled tiredly, absolutely done with their bullshit but still reluctantly amused. Ronin cackled the rest of the night.

———-

Eventually, and by that Dabi meant two years later, he and Ronin started… well, not dating, but not just fucking either. Neither Dabi nor Ronin would ever have been able to explain what they were, not that it had even mattered. After all, Dabi had finally started making a name for himself as an up-and-coming villain, which meant things were getting…. Dangerous.

A serial arsonist who got paid to burn down businesses with zero regard for whether or not there were people in the buildings tended to attract some enemies. And his… companion, who developed a penchant for boiling people’s blood as a method of torture and information gathering tended to do the same.

“Well,” Ronin had said stiffly, staring down at the ashes of a villain who had attacked them because of some grudge. The guy’s blood was all over the two of them. “At least they weren’t a cop. Or a hero.”

Dabi had scoffed. ”If they were a hero, they would’ve ended up the exact same way as this guy did.”

“As long as you don’t kill my guy Eraserhead.”

“… what,” he had said, because he had no clue who the fuck that was at the time.

“ Oh shut the fuck up, toasty, he’s cool!”

Dabi had not cared enough to ask Ronin who Eraserhead was at the time. But then…

“What the fuck did you just call me?!”

Ronin just laughed, meanwhile Dabi internally cheered that the world’s ugliest All Might themed tank-top Ronin had taken to wearing just to annoy him would be too stained with blood for them to actually keep the stupid thing. 

————

When Dabi and Ronin were twenty, they finally went their own ways. It was amicable, all things considered. And they had been together for longer than most friendships lasted on the streets of Japan. Regardless, with Ronin no longer by his side, Dabi had lost the one thing that made living somewhat bearable.

“I chose the name Ronin for a reason, Dabi,” Ronin had once said, uncharacteristically serious. “All my life, I’ve been told what I have to do, what I can’t do, and I’m sick of it. So now, I listen to no one, and I go where I want and do what I choose to do when I get there. Who I am and what I stand for is my choice and my choice only and I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks of me for it.”

That night, they had said that they were going to go looking for a place to steal some food from, and they never returned.

Ronin had been the last thread to connect him to the kind-heartedness he once had as Todoroki Touya, and when they left, there was nothing holding him back from becoming more than just Dabi.

On that day, Dabi let himself be consumed by hatred and desperation once more, and when he awoke the next morning, he was a monster . And where he once looked for Ronin to fuel himself to keep going, he now only looked at the prospect of revenge.

Everything he did - killing innocents, burning down more businesses, starving on the streets and giving… favours in dark alleyways for money and food didn’t hurt him nearly as much as it would have if he was still seventeen and Ronin was there with him. He didn’t feel shame or disgust either, he felt nothing. Because as long as he’d be able to stand victorious over the dead body of Todoroki Enji, it would be alright. It wasn’t like there was anyone else to worry about anyway. Maybe if he was still Touya, Fuyumi or Natsuo would’ve crossed his mind, but they didn’t. Not once.

Dabi had no one. And he was better off because of it, in his opinion. He very rapidly made himself known to the criminals lurking in Japan, but not well known enough for any heroes or cops to get wind of his crimes except for some petty thievery and one count of arson. To everyone but those he let know of his more heinous crimes, he was pretty harmless.

Then, one night, three years later, he saw them again.

“Dabi,” Ronin had smiled, running a hand through their curly auburn hair, and Dabi had fought off every instinct within him telling him to slam his shitty apartment door in their face. They were thinner, more sickly looking. They had most definitely either gotten addicted to one of the drugs going around on the streets, started selling them, or both. Dabi did not know how to feel about that. “It’s been a while.”

“What do you want?” Dabi replied flatly.

Ronin whistled. “Jesus, dude, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

Sparks of blue flickered on his burnt skin.

“No. What do you want?”

Ronin’s grin never once faltered. Instead, They held up a case of cheap beer. “Just wanted to catch up, you know?”

And, well, fuck . Dabi wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity for some alcohol.

They had both gotten really drunk and made some questionable decisions that night. Meaning they fucked. Without protection. And when Dabi woke up the next day, Ronin was gone.

Dabi tried not to feel bitter about it.

———-

When Dabi was twenty-four and heard of the whispered rumours surrounding Shigaraki and his League of Villains - how apparently some insanely powerful supervillain was backing them up and how their main goal was to tear down hero society along with some other rumours about Stain himself being in contact with the group, it was a no-brainer for Dabi. He joined up. He’d do anything to kill Endeavor, after all.

Shortly after, he was no longer a petty thief in the eyes of Pro Heroes and cops. He was dangerous. A mystery. Dabi: no known civilian identity with a powerful fire quirk and what seemed like an almost personal vendetta against heroes was all they could write about him in his file.

Only one person in the world knew that Dabi was once Todoroki Touya, a boy who was given nothing - not even love, and nearly died because of it. A boy who was given a second chance and chose to use it for revenge but had not yet developed the power or will to go through with his wishes. A boy who became a man, who then became a monster, willing to harm anyone in his wake for the sake of his own goals. 

By now, Dabi had not seen that one person in months, nor did he care. There were only a select few people he could admit to caring about now, and they were all in the League. Ronin existed in his past, and while there would come a time where Dabi would embrace his past and turn it into a weapon, there was no need to dig it up and reminisce now.

Until of course, Ronin had to go and dig it all up again by showing up at the League’s base looking gaunt and wiry, drenched from the rain outside while carrying a bundle of something wrapped up in moth-eaten blankets and newspapers. Their hair was matted, and their eyes were sunken in - dead looking.

“You look awful,” Dabi said, breaking the stunned silence. “How the fuck did you find me this time, Ronin?” And why, he wanted to ask, but didn’t.

“You know damn well how I found you- how I always managed to find you whenever we had to split off for a while,” They panted. “Turns out not many people like me boiling their blood and would much rather just share the information they have with me, who’d have thought?”

Shigaraki turned to him. “Who the hell is this?”

“ Nobody important,” Dabi said a little too sharply. Ronin laughed bitterly.

“Don’t be like that, you know just as much as I do that we wouldn’t have been able to stay like we were forever -“

“Of fucking course not,” Dabi snarled, then took a deep breath and paused. “I should’ve killed you when you came back.”

Ronin grinned. It was different from the ones they used to direct at him. They looked feral. “Well you didn’t, my old pal , my favourite fuck-buddy , and we’ve got some problems now because of it.” 

“ We?” Dabi laughed incredulously, purposefully ignoring Toga’s exclamation of ‘ooh, drama!’ . He despised the fact that their current hideout only consisted of one room they all shared. He missed when he had privacy. “Careful now, I have no qualms about cremating you where you fucking stand.”

“ Please don’t do that,” Compress spoke up. “We just found this place a few days ago and I’d rather we not have to go searching for another place so soon.”

Ronin exhaled shakily. “Look, you know I have no one I can go to for help because everyone hated me even before I went off and became a villain -“

“Join the club,” Spinner muttered sullenly.

“ - and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t my last option,” they shivered, then held up the bundle in their arms for everyone to see.

Magne gasped. “Is that a -“

“This is your kid Dabi, and I need you to take her because they’re damn well going to kill me, we both know enough villains who were in foster care to know that that’s not a good option, she looks like you, and I’d rather not have the death of a baby on my conscience.”

Dabi stared at the newborn, probably not even a week old in his old friend’s arms. Big blue eyes and tufts of red and white hair confirmed what he was saying. This baby was undeniably a Todoroki. 

“What the fuck.”

Even Toga was at a loss for words. Dabi fought the urge to douse the kid's hair in dye. If his identity was revealed because of a baby, he would murder both it and Ronin, who was apparently a parent- father, they had said they would want to be called once, now. And apparently he was too - what the hell ?

“Why did you keep it?” Was the first thing he asked as soon as he found his voice again. And then: “Who the fuck is going to kill you?”

“I didn’t want to risk someone taking the fucking kid out and deciding that my other organs deserve the same treatment ,” Ronin snapped, rubbing their eyes tiredly. “And I pissed off like a fuckton of gangs and maybe even the Shie Hassaikai. It’s a long story, but I’m dead as fuck.”

Twice whistled. “Yikes, I feel sorry for you. No I don’t! I hope they kill you slowly!”

Dabi, however, knew exactly why Ronin had gotten himself into trouble. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “The long story is that you stole Trigger, didn’t you?”

Ronin sighed. “Yes, okay? I stole a shit ton of it and they did not like that, but selling it earns a lot of money and- you know what, I’d just really rather not be the cause of this kid’s death. Also, her not being with you once I’m dead will cause you a hell of a lot of problems.”

Choosing to ignore the way Ronin calmly talked about their own murder, Dabi could read between the lines. If someone ever does a DNA test and the name of a boy who supposedly died at thirteen comes up as the father, you’re beyond fucked.

“You want me to raise this kid,” Dabi said flatly.

“You’re the only option.”

Shigaraki scowled. “You cannot raise a brat, that’s -“

“Whatever, hand it over,” Dabi interrupted. “I’ll make sure it stays alive.”

Ronin rolled their eyes even as their shoulders sagged in relief. “She’s not an it.”

“Dabi, don’t you fucking dare -“

“Mhm,” Dabi said disinterestedly as Ronin transferred the baby into his arms. “Did you name the thing?”

“ Dabi, I swear to god -“

Ronin frowned, and it made Dabi think of the day that they had said that they always knew they’d be a great father. At the time, he had thought it was a joke - what villain ever thought of having a kid? But now…

“I didn’t want to get attached. I’ve just been calling her firefly because she reminds me of you. You can name her though, Dabi.”

Congratulations Ronin, Dabi thought sarcastically. You failed to not get attached to her. Miserably.

The baby gurgled and thumped her little fist against his chest. Dabi stared down at her face with thinly-veiled disgust and wondered if agreeing to raise a baby just to piss Shigaraki off was the worst idea he’d ever had in his entire life. “Nah, just pick a name and I’ll go with whatever the fuck you want. You’re the dad who actually cares for the kid anyway.”

Ronin stared down at the baby longingly. Hesitantly, they brought their hand to their mouth, then to her face and gently placed it on her rosy cheek. A farewell kiss.

“I’ve always liked the name Yume,” they muttered finally. But before they walked out the door - before Dabi would have to watch as Ronin left him without another word or glance in his direction for the last time, they turned around once more. And with tears in their eyes, Ronin gave him that same smile that Dabi had been used to seeing everyday all those years ago.

“Thank you.”

A few days later, Dabi would go out searching for Ronin. In a dark, abandoned building, he would find only their head - would stare blankly into their unseeing blue eyes and sigh. In the dead of night with no one - not even any cameras around, he’d bury Ronin underneath their favourite tree - a willow one in a nice park with lots of pretty flowers and a sense of calm around the whole area . A calm that they had never had the chance to experience during the time they had been alive. On the tree, he’d carve the initials of the three of their names. 

‘R’, ‘D’, and lastly, because Ronin had so obviously wanted more than anything to be a father to their little girl, ‘Y’.

Yume - or dream. Maybe Ronin used to dream of a world where they’d have been able to watch their daughter grow. One where they weren’t a villain or in any danger, and one where they’d have truly been given a chance to be a good parent. A fitting name for the little thing who slept peacefully in the carrier he held, but tragic nonetheless.

He would almost, almost think of carving a ‘T’ into the tree too. Because Ronin hadn’t always known him as the villain Dabi, they had also known and befriended Touya.

He and Ronin had always had a complicated relationship, and although Dabi was a monster - although he no longer cared, the part of him who he let die had. And Dabi remembered that.

He’d always remember the kid who helped him get rid of the last remnants of who he used to be.

Sparing one last glance at Ronin’s grave, Dabi would quietly and sarcastically drawl:

“Here lies Ronin and with him, whatever the fuck was left of Todoroki Touya.”

For now though, Dabi stared blankly down at his newborn baby sleeping in his arms and… well, he didn’t love her or anything, but he did hope that shitty dad disease wasn’t hereditary.

Chapter Text

Yume was not a quiet baby. She cried. A lot.

“Shut the fuck up please ,” Dabi cooed as sickeningly sweet at her as he could muster, which at this point was normal speaking and not baby-talk, rocking her back and forth in his arms as he paced the room. Yume just wailed louder. At this point, he was knee-deep in an existential crisis and absolutely drenched in throw-up, even with the baby blanket he hung over his shoulder.

Ronin should’ve been the one to do this, he thought bitterly. They definitely would’ve done a better fucking job at it.

“Maybe she knows what you’re saying,” Toga piped up tiredly but still enthusiastic, the lack of energy less noticeable in her compared to the rest of the league. “Maybe you should try being nice to her, Dabi!”

“Maybe you should let me hold her,” Shigaraki said darkly. Dabi gave him a withered glare.

“Your crusty hands are not going anywhere near the fucking baby,” he seethed, then turned his ire onto Toga. “And she’s barely two weeks old. Evidently, she doesn’t know what I’m saying or who I am or else she would be listening.”

Dabi stared down at Yume. Yume did not look up at him because she was too busy screaming her lungs out. Her tiny face was scrunched up, and Dabi thought that she looked like a particularly ugly tomato.

After another loud as fuck, Present-Mic worthy wail, Dabi could not take it any longer. 

“What the fuck do you want?!” He cried out, beyond frustrated. Yume finally stopped crying and blinked up at him, maybe a little in shock. Nonetheless, his method had worked.

There was a pause, and then Spinner, who was staring at Yume and Dabi disbelievingly, spoke up: “ seriously?!”

Yet another pause, and then Yume screeched.

“Dear Lord,” Compress sighed, the bags under his eyes rivalling even Eraserhead’s. “Maybe if you apologise to her -“

“Shut the fuck up,” Dabi snapped, resuming his rocking a little more frantically. “She’s a newborn, they don’t fucking care about apologies.”

Shouto definitely hadn’t cared when he attempted to murder him. Dabi tensed, then stared down at his daughter’s red and white hair. Maybe thinking of Shouto with her in his arms was… not a good idea. Maybe thinking of Shouto like… that at all wasn’t a good idea. He hadn’t thought of him or his family as anything but strangers in a long, long time. That wasn’t going to change.

Still, if she didn’t shut the fuck up soon, he probably would end up apologizing to her. He’d do almost anything to make her stop crying at this point, just not singing.

“Maybe if you sang to her -“ Magne suggested yet again at the same time as Twice joyfully exclaimed “wow! It’s cold in here! No it’s not!”

…Oh.

Dabi could’ve smacked himself and everyone else in the room. “She’s cold,” he stated, and then very carefully warmed his hands up with his quirk. Yume quietened almost instantly and relief flooded through him and just about everyone else in the hideout.

In his defence, he was pretty much immune to the cold.

“Oh thank God,” Spinner whispered, staring at his heated up hands reverently.

Yume cooed softly as her eyelids fluttered closed. Quiet snores started escaping from her tiny body, and she subconsciously snuggled closer to the heat of the arms that cradled her.

Dabi did not thank God, because all that was on his mind was putting the baby down for a nap and going to sleep himself until inevitably, she started crying again. Which according to the past six days would be in….

Around half an hour.

————

“When do babies develop personalities? I don’t care! ” Twice asked, staring down at Yume bundled up in the stolen carrier Dabi held, who was staring up at everyone in the League emotionlessly. After a week of living in such a tiny space with a newborn, everyone unanimously agreed that it was time to find a bigger place so that Dabi and Yume could lock themselves in a separate room by themselves and not keep the entire League awake at night.

“You’re the one who couldn’t keep your dick in your pants,” Shigaraki had said when Dabi gave them all a frustrated look. “It’s not our fault.”

“You know what I just noticed? She looks like a candy cane! Maybe when she grows up she’ll really like Christmas!” Toga added, grinning. Shigaraki’s gaze flitted down as well, narrowed eyes observing her.

Dabi should’ve dyed her hair.

“…she looks familiar.”

Magne and Twice hummed in agreement. Yume scrunched up her face and narrowed her eyes at Shigaraki. If Dabi wasn’t currently somewhat worried about how it looked like he had kidnapped one of Endeavor’s children, he’d have grinned at the glare his daughter was giving him. “Yeah, when she looks up at you like that she looks like Dabi when he’s tired.”

…Or not. 

Compress snorted.

Dabi scowled. “She does not.”

Yume took the opportunity to wrap her hand around a distracted Shigaraki’s finger. Shigaraki looked down in confusion.

“Let go,” he said, angling the rest of his fingers away from her. Yume did not let go. “ You insipid little -“

“It’s just a newborn reflex or some shit,” Dabi snapped. He wasn’t a baby expert, but come on. This was common knowledge. “Have none of you ever interacted with a baby before meeting Yume?”

The League stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Have you?” Spinner retorted.

~~

“Mama, did I know Fuyumi when she was born? I don’t remember.”

-

“Mommy, Natsu is grabbing my hair! Ow -“

-

“Mom, I don’t want to hold Shouto. Look at him, he’s ugly! Don’t give him to me!”

-

“Touya, what are you -“

“ - Look at me, Endeavor!”

“TOUYA, STOP IT -“

“ - LOOK AT ME!”

~~

“Obviously,” Dabi grumbled, mentally yelling at his thoughts to shut the fuck up.

“I don’t know whether to be glad you have somewhat of an idea on what you’re doing or horrified that you don’t know more ,” Spinner said, probably remembering his brief lapse in judgement that resulted in him yelling at a distressed baby.

“Definitely the latter one,” Shigaraki added nonchalantly.

“Shut up,” Dabi seethed. Yume gurgled in agreement.

————

One good thing for the League about the next hideout they found was that it was furnished and there were multiple bedrooms - definitely enough for their current capacity of members. The bad thing was that Dabi now spent his entire day isolated in a room with a baby too young to do anything but sleep, cry, shit, and repeat.

“You’re fucking torturing me,” Dabi groaned, picking up Yume from her makeshift bassinet and rocking her as gently as possible, hoping that she would fall back asleep. “What is it this time? Are you hungry?”

She had just eaten less than an hour ago, and she definitely didn’t need a diaper change. Dabi ran his free hand over his face.

“I don’t know what you want,” he said tiredly. “And what you need- love or some other shit children are supposed to have, I can’t give you. Maybe you’ll make a good villain when you grow up, yeah? Just like your Papa and Daddy?”

Dabi grimaced both at the thought of driving his child to villainy like his own father had done and the idea that this was his child. That was still weird to say. He didn’t feel much like a father.

Yume quietened, but the moment Dabi went to put her back down, a cry escaped from her lips.

“Jesus, shh, okay,” Dabi felt way out of his depth now. “I’ll hold you, just don’t wake the entire League again. Fuck.”

Yume babbled at him contentedly. Dabi nodded back at her seriously, remembering all the times he caught his mother pretending to have full-on conversations with Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto before they even knew what a conversation was. Ironic, maybe, that she had probably felt just as alone as he did now. Pathetic that he had to replicate his mother’s actions in order to prevent Yume from screaming bloody murder, definitely. Especially because the whole idea of it reminded him of… who he used to be.

Fuck it, he thought. If it’ll get her to shut up, I’ll do it.

“Good point,” Dabi fake-agreed with her while simultaneously wondering what the actual fuck he was doing. “Shigaraki should use moisturizer. ”

Yume squealed.

“Yeah, when you grow up you’ll show him who the actual boss of the League is, won’t you?” Dabi paused - this was starting to sound like normal parenting and under normal circumstances, that would probably be a good thing. But it wasn’t - not to him. Because he wasn’t a Father. The evidence that was babbling in front of him didn’t count.

“Bet you’ll get just as annoyed with him as I do and burn him to death, won’t you?”

That was suitably fucked up enough that the average person wouldn’t say it to a little kid. Definitely not what a father would say at all. 

Yume, predictably, continued on babbling. As Dabi continued to stare at her and her red and white hair, he belatedly realized that yeah, it was exactly like Shouto’s. Split right down the middle and except for the fact that her white hair was on her left and both of her eyes were blue, it was pretty obvious what her quirk was going to be. Or what it could be.

The chances of her quirk being some kind of combination of fire and ice were looking pretty high in his opinion, because although Dabi didn’t have an ice quirk, he carried the gene for one.

The surge of jealousy he felt was expected, but unwelcome nonetheless. Dabi abruptly put Yume back down, ignoring her cries for him as he practically threw himself on his own bed.

How cruel, that his daughter was probably born with the quirk he used to wish he had been born with himself. Dabi scoffed into his pillow. Apparently everybody but him got fire resistance.

As Yume’s cries got louder, Dabi sighed and went to go pick her back up. Leaving her to cry alone like that made him feel… kind of guilty. Angry, yeah, but at what?

I̶t̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶F̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶.̶

“I don’t love you,” he told her, staring down at her tiny body and feeling absolutely zero parental instincts that the websites he’d been perusing and quite literally everyone else had said was supposed to be kicking in by now. “And I don’t think I ever will. And that’s not your fault, but who cares. Your Papa did fucking love you though, I guess. So don’t actually turn out like me, for the love of fucking god. I think they’d actually revive themself just to murder me if you did.”

Yume sneezed. 

“Not that they’d have any room to talk,” Dabi continued, his voice a low rumble. “Because they were probably addicted to drugs, they definitely fucking sold them, and they were also a villain who did fucked up things - their quirk let them boil blood, which was fucking insane to watch. They wouldn’t have been a great role model for you either, but you know what?”

Big, dark blue eyes stared up at him. They weren’t like his - fridged, piercing, and reminiscent of the man he hated. Hers were the blue of the night sky and the deepest parts of the ocean, and they held a certain warmth to them that his own eyes did not. She had Ronin’s eyes.

“They’d probably still be doing a hell of a lot of a better job than me.”

————

Being an active League member and having a baby to deal with at the same time… wasn’t easy. The days went by slowly, with him no longer able to go out and look for some recruits half as much. Yume was with him nearly all the time at this point, and Dabi was tired of it. So tired, in fact, that his mind had recently taken to straying back to the past way more than it usually tended to do.

Not once had he ever thought of having a child, not even when he was Touya. Back then, he had still loved Endeavor and was blind to a lot of the bad he did, but he still saw the looks on his mother’s face as she tried to care for multiple children she hadn’t even wanted. Being pregnant with Natsuo had been alright for her, as far as Dabi remembered. She had wanted to stop having kids after Fuyumi, but she had still been willing to continue having more at the time. 

Her pregnancy with Shouto had been different. After a lot of insistence on Endeavor’s end, she had eventually said yes. Even when he had been seven or eight, Dabi had known that she hadn’t really wanted to. He just hadn’t understood the implications of that.

Not only was she constantly sick during her last pregnancy, Endeavor no longer bothered to even spare a glance in her direction. Where he would once take time out of his day to do simple things like pick up stuff from the lower shelves and make it easier for her to reach in the later stages of her pregnancy, he had deemed himself “too busy” to continue with “such unnecessary things as that” - Dabi still remembered those words because it had been him who witnessed the panic attack his mother had devolved into directly afterward.

In all ways that mattered, she had been a single mother. And the stress of taking care of four children in an abusive environment that she tried her best to protect them from had ultimately broken her. And years later, she would flinch at the sight of him and Natsuo and pour boiling water over her youngest son’s face. Touya would then go on to die at Sekoto Peak shortly after.

Dabi had also witnessed things that made him swear he would never have a child of his own after he ran away. It was not uncommon to see extremely malnourished women cradling their children as they shivered in dark alleyways where he spent most of his time, nor was it uncommon to hear choked sobs and whispered pleas when one of their kids they simply couldn’t provide for died because of it.

Dabi had also found the corpses of babies abandoned by their parents - left alone because of how they were conceived. By that point, he had been all too familiar with the groups of people who nearly always had the sickly stench of alcohol on their breaths, and who offered decent amounts of money in exchange for sex. And maybe leaving a living thing to die like that was fucked up, but so was everything else about the situation in the first place. Dabi rarely had to deal with people offering him money to have sex, but Ronin had dealt with it often. They had been slim like Dabi, but their sharp jawline, slightly tanned skin, and hooked nose made them far more attractive than him with his staples, dark burns, and pale, milky white skin. Not that their looks were the only thing that mattered. It was more about the power they wanted to hold over them instead.

Those people who had seen both of them as nothing more than playthings had disgusted him more than anything else. They still did. Not that they bothered him now - joining the League had been enough to get them to fuck off.

Dabi found his gaze wandering to where Yume slept peacefully on the other end of the room. He wondered if Ronin had been scared during the nine months they had been pregnant with her, or if they had looked forward to meeting their baby.

Dabi scoffed. If they had genuinely been looking forward to this , then Ronin hadn’t been nearly as much of a realist as they pretended to be. Either way, it didn’t matter. They were dead, and most of their body was MIA. 

Unlike a lot of people, Dabi had never seen having a child as a representation of two people’s love for each other, hope for the future or some other bullshit. Having a baby to take care of so suddenly didn’t make him a good, happy person. Becoming a single parent had effectively fucked up his life and his plans with the League big time.

He tried not to resent Yume for it.

Chapter Text

Yume turned one month old and… well, it was pretty fucking boring, all things considered. She didn’t look all that different from when Dabi first took her in, nor did she really do much. Sure, she could lift her head if he put her on her stomach now but that was pretty much it.

He still spent most of his days watching after a kid who could only shit, eat, sleep, and cry. On the bright side, he now trusted the league enough to be able to leave her at the base and not have to worry about Toga or Shigaraki killing her, which meant that he could kind of get back to his job. And by kind of, he meant figuring out how to gain enough evidence that Hawks was attempting to get into a position to spy on them so that Shigaraki would let him incinerate the stupid bird instead of what he was actually supposed to be doing: being civil to him. And honestly, Dabi would’ve at least tried to be less of an asshole if the first thing that came out of Hawks’ lips when they first met wasn’t a stupid nickname. Dabi could see the tactic Hawks was going for clear as day - bubbly, approachable, and trustable. It was bullshit and would’ve only worked on Twice or Toga, which was why they were no longer allowed to recruit people.

“Hey hot stuff,” Hawks chirped, his body leaned casually against the pole in the abandoned warehouse. Dabi gave him a deadpan stare. Seriously? “Wanna hear a joke one of my fans told me while I was on patrol- ooh yikes , no? Tough crowd -”

“Cut the bullshit,” Dabi snapped. “Last time we met you said you wanted to join the League.”

“Yep!” Hawks grinned. Fake, Dabi thought viciously. Fake, fake, FAKE. “You have a great memory.”

Dabi was ten seconds away from murdering Hawks. Fuck Shigaraki’s orders, I’m losing brain cells every time I have to listen to him speak.

“If you want to join the League, I need proof that you’re not a spy.”

Dabi stared at his face closely and- yeah, a flicker of real emotion appeared on his face. Not enough proof for Shigaraki, but enough proof for him that Hawks was never going to be loyal to their side. Now, it was just a matter of asking for things he could never do. 

“Kill Best Jeanist,” Dabi said off-handedly before Hawks could open his beak again. “And bring me his body.”

Once he failed that task, Dabi would have enough proof to take the hero out. Shigaraki wouldn’t have to deal with a double agent and he wouldn’t ever have to be referred to as ‘hot stuff’ ever again. A win for the both of them, in Dabi’s opinion.

————

With the continuous rise of villain activity and the new number one hero’s inability to fill the role of the new symbol of peace (Dabi took great pleasure in reading the news articles that criticised Endeavor for it) came Shigaraki’s orders for the League to split up for their next mission. It did make sense - the risk it used to pose had been extremely high, but now… As long as they weren’t stupid, they’d be perfectly fine. The only problem left was -

“Aww sweetheart, you’ll miss Auntie Magne, won’t you?” Magne cooed, booping Yume on the nose. 

“She’s so cute,” Toga pouted. Twice agreed with her very loudly . “Why can’t she come with me?”

Spinner just awkwardly patted Yume on the head and then proceeded to walk out the door with Compress and Shigaraki, who’s parting words with his daughter had been something along the lines of ‘ you’re lucky I didn’t dust you.’

“Because,” Dabi said. “She’s my fucking kid.” And Shigaraki wouldn’t let anyone else take her.

This, of course, would go on to cause even more problems. Namely that even Dabi was hesitant to bring a baby recruiting with him. There was a difference between talking to her about burning people and actually letting her see him do it. Which… fuck, as he sat in an abandoned apartment with her, the realization that he might have to do it anyways was hitting pretty hard.

“It’s not like you’ll remember it,” he told her, and then wondered if smoke inhalation would also end up being a problem. Yume just stared at him, as she usually tended to do. “If you have a better fucking idea, why don’t you share it, huh?”

Yume did not have a better idea.

“Why Shigaraki thought me going recruiting with you was a good idea I’ll never fucking know. Don’t fucking cry now though, because I’m about to lift you off of the bed and you have that stupid look on your face that means you’re about to fall asleep and you’re going to be real pissed at me that I didn’t just leave you alone, but it’s time for you to eat so be a good girl and suck it up,” Dabi told her tiredly as he got a squirming, grumpy baby secured in his arms. Bringing the bottle up to her lips, he hoped to God that Yume would be willing to drink cold formula because he had no way of warming it up for the next week. He could try to warm it up with his quirk, but even his coolest flames burned at insanely hot temperatures.

He’d have to start training his flames to turn orange. Which… that was a strange thing to realize considering that all he had ever been taught was how to turn up the heat.

Yume did not like cold formula. Dabi wasn’t even surprised at this point. After a few more minutes of trying, he finally grew desperate enough to use the god-forsaken baby-talk.

“Yume,” he cooed, the urge to shoot himself in the head growing by the second. “Aren’t you hungry? Don’t you want some yummy formula?”

Fucking kill me, he thought.

Yume smiled.

“Yeah, that’s right, now here’s the fucking bottle -”

At least she kept it in her mouth this time. Dabi, regretting the moment he ever decided to do this, took the bottle back and moved it side to side, slowly bringing it to her mouth. 

“Here comes the airplane or whatever the fuck you want it to be, Yume. Open your mouth and drink it or you’re not going to be the only one crying.”

I hope Hawks is about to stab me in the back right fucking now.

That was sarcasm. Kind of. He was really very tired and still not used to taking care of a newborn, and adding a mission to complete on top of that left him feeling emotions he hadn’t felt in years or at least had the opportunity to suppress . It was insanely discomforting. Dabi was not a fan.

Finally, blessedly, she drank it. At the expense of Dabi’s sanity. He was never doing that again.

————

He was doing that again.

“Yume, come on ,” he grumbled as gently as he could manage, bouncing her up and down and pacing across the room because Jesus fucking Christ she had good lungs. Maybe her quirk was loud crying. “It’s just for a few fucking minutes, and no one can know you’re in here so you have to be quiet.”

Dabi had eventually figured out a way to recruit while having to take care of Yume at the same time. It consisted of leaving her in the apartment for a few short minutes while he met with the people wanting to join the League outside, proceeding to burn them to death when they didn’t meet his standards, and then rushing back upstairs before Yume started wailing again. Inevitably, he always failed on the last part, and it took him forever to get her to calm back down. Fuck Shigaraki with his whole ’ it can’t be that hard to deal with a baby’ bullshit like he had any idea - he interacted with Yume the least out of the entire League, and when he did interact with her it consisted of him holding her in the most awkward position imaginable as if she was a bomb at risk of detonating.

“You’re driving me batshit insane,” Dabi said as Yume let out a particularly loud cry. “Do you just want me to talk to you again? Is this like that one time where I had to fucking talk for half an hour until you fell asleep?”

Yume quietened as he continued on, which was enough of an answer for him.

“I hope you know that once you’re old enough to understand what the fuck I’m saying to you, this is going to stop. I’m only doing this because I have to and it really fucking sucks, but that’s just how life is. You’re already learning how shit life is considering you’ve got me for a dad and a dead villain for a papa, so maybe once you start speaking we can compare notes on bad dads or whatever. Speaking of which, if you ever want revenge on me, you just need to wait until I get my own revenge on my dear old dad, alright? Do we have a deal?”

What the hell was he even saying?

Yume let out a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. 

“…You know what, we’ll shake on it once you’re able to sit up. That’s another thing that’s annoying about you fucking babies, you can’t do a thing, and you’re lucky I don’t want revenge on you for making me speak like I’m three years old. And yet I’d still recruit you over the last seven people I killed today -“

Ten minutes later, Yume was sound asleep and Dabi was back outside staring into the fear-filled eyes of common criminals who had absolutely zero motivation to do anything but be bad. Pitiful, that they couldn’t even find one thing wrong with the world they lived in that they were willing to become a villain because of. Dabi didn’t care about the normal idea of morals - how could he, when he so brazenly listened to the screams of multiple people everyday as he let his quirk burn ? But he did care about why the villains he talked to about recruitment commited villainy.

Living in a world where heteromorphic quirks were still shunned, where people who didn’t fit the gender norm were given funny looks and called names simply for existing, where certain quirks were deemed ‘villainous’, where the quirkless had the highest suicide rates in the entire world, where heroes who hurt people could go unpunished simply because they were heroes, choosing to commit villainy because ‘ it’s cool’ or because they ‘ just wanted to, I dunno’ was downright pathetic, and Dabi felt zero remorse in ridding the world of scum like that.

Long ago, he would’ve balked at the idea of using his flames in such a way, but hero society had spent the entirety of his existence beating him down and literally ( F̶i̶g̶u̶r̶a̶t̶i̶v̶e̶l̶y̶?) killing him, and when Dabi had first heard of Stain’s conviction in ridding the world of fake heroes, it was settled. He had to try to do more.

Dabi was a villain ultimately created from the pain he was dealt at the hands of heroes. He became a monster from the pure hatred that ran in his veins put there not only by his upbringing but by the people he had met right after he ended up on the streets of Japan. They too had not had a good life, they too once had hopes and dreams that were crushed without a further glance in their direction. Hurt people hurt people - Dabi had heard that more than once in his life, and occasionally he still wondered if there was a saying for when hurt people stopped being considered hurt people because they turned themselves into something so horrific that the average person could look at them and not see a human being, just a villain. Less than human, more of an abomination to the perfect, idealistic picture of what the world should look like.

He wondered if there was a saying that explained why he no longer gave a single shit about what people saw him as - human or inhuman, villain or something else, Dabi existed now for one purpose and one purpose only: killing Endeavor and any other fake hero that roamed around with fake, plastered smiles on their faces. After that… he’d probably be dead. He hadn’t thought much farther than beating Endeavor.

As for Yume, whenever his time came, she’d probably end up being better off anyway, even if she still ended up in a shitty situation. Right now though, Dabi had told Ronin he’d look over her, and so he would. He’d keep her healthy, he’d make an attempt at keeping her somewhat content, but he wouldn’t do it at the expense of his long-term goals. She wasn’t important to him - no one was.

Dabi was okay with that, though.

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B̶u̶t̶ T̶o̶u̶y̶a̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶.

Chapter Text

Dabi was an enigma - one that Hawks wanted to solve… Obviously not at the expense of his infiltration mission, but come on, being serious one-hundred percent of the time was boring. The commission should cut him some slack, not that there would ever come a time where Hawks would willingly be open about his incredibly weird interest in Dabi…. Nor would he ever tell the Commission that he should get a break (not that he actually wanted one - what would he even do if he wasn’t working?)

Either way, That was something best kept secret for sure.

He found the mystery of Dabi’s identity interesting, so what? And who wouldn’t would be a better question. There was next to nothing actually confirmed about the man, and Hawks was in desperate need of a puzzle to solve. He’d keep calling it just boredom until the day he died, but his mission to infiltrate the League was a little nerve wracking. Maybe, just maybe , he wanted to focus on a much smaller problem first - work his way up before trying to tackle a terrorist organisation with eight people who all had pretty powerful quirks at once.

Not that Dabi was that much of a small problem, he was just slightly less intimidating alone than trying to go the route of somehow squeezing his way right into the centre of the League. Hawks had been very hyper aware that his quirk’s weakness was fire when he had met the villain those two times. Especially when he had tried (and failed) to fight off the urge to irritate him to no end.

Regardless, Hawks knew that Dabi didn’t trust him one single bit. All things considered, it made sense. He was the number two hero, and Dabi was a prolific villain. If the roles were reversed, Hawks would’ve also ended up coming to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, that meant that the villain he found himself intrigued by wasn’t even marginally stupid. At all.

That realisation hit him pretty damn hard - Dabi wasn’t just a villain drunk on the prospect of revenge on heroes like some of them originally thought. He planned. And he did it fast, judging by the speed at which he told Hawks to go after Best Jeanist. And telling him to bring him the body was…

It was smart, and it made Hawks flounder when he first heard the request. Admittedly, the information that he had been given in the first place to prepare for meeting Dabi was not nearly as informative as he’d have liked, but he was pretty flexible and no, he did not mean that as an innuendo this time.

Dabi might be smart, but it wasn’t like Hawks was dumb, either. Sure, he was bubbly, he spoke out of turn, he said things to other heroes that ended up with the two of their faces plastered on the front pages of magazines with dramatic, bolded words that read: ‘ HAWKS AND MIRKO: TROUBLE IN PARADISE?’ Or ‘ HAWKS TELLS ALL ABOUT THE NEW NUMBER ONE HERO: ENDEAVOR!’

But Hawks had also been trained by the HPSC. If he wanted to, he could be dangerous - deadly. 

Dabi was not the only one with secrets, and so Hawks knew to tread very carefully.

With all of that solved (more like shoved to the side to worry about later tonight), Hawks now had some free time to figure out how the hell the press managed to come to the conclusion that Rumi, a lesbian, was ‘tragically and irrevocably in love with the man who stole all of our heart’s,’ which… well. Hawks wouldn’t want to sound egotistical but -

Oh. Hang on just a moment…

Hm, he thought amusedly as he continued reading . 

‘It seems as though Hawks is staying true to his name - the predator has got his eyes set on a target… but one that isn’t Mirko. Only one question still remains: will Mirko convince Hawks to hunt her down instead of this other mysterious woman?’

Hawks had never dated a woman or man in his entire life. Romance for him ended at random hook-ups and extensive NDAs. This magazine was hilarious though . He might even go out of his way to buy it regularly now.

…And yeah. He was definitely going to quote that magazine for the foreseeable future. Right now though, he really should be getting ready to start his patrol or, in the eloquent words of heroes’ weekly: start his daily hunt for prey. Just instead of single women, he’d be looking for villains. 

Ah, the life of a Pro Hero.

————

Dabi could not for the life of him remember how he ended up in this situation, and under normal circumstances that would probably be a major red flag, but judging by the brainless looks of the people in front of him, he just probably didn’t give enough of a shit to care.

What he did know, however, was that he had never met a group of people trying to be recruited to the league who had the balls to be so audacious to his face.

“You don’t want to be recruited to the league,” Dabi repeated their words back to them flatly, his eyes boring holes into their thick skulls. “You’re here for a… proposition.”

“Er, yeah. Kinda,” one guy said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “I mean, ‘least that’s what boss man told us.”

Dabi pointed his hand towards them, outstretched. “Your boss is going to receive our answer to your proposition by a gift bag of your ashes showing up at his front door.”

“Wait.” The woman beside the other guy spoke up calmly, as if Dabi wasn’t two seconds away from melting the skin off her bones. “You’ve heard about trigger, yeah?”

Ronin’s face briefly flashed in his mind. Oh? 

Maybe in another world, Dabi would’ve chosen to incinerate all of them, ignoring their attempts to get him interested in whatever the fuck they had going on. In this world, though? He remembered Ronin.

Dabi surveyed her face carefully. “The drug that the Shie Hassaikai manufactures? What about it?”

Shakily, she grinned. “We’ve made it better. More addictive, more potent, everything about the drug is the same but times one-thousand. People are flocking to us to get their hands on more.”

Dabi narrowed his eyes. “And what does this have to do with the League?”

“We’re offering to give you thirty percent of the money we earn in exchange for protection and information. We’re looking to improve the drug further, and we’re hoping to have you on board for some of it as well, you know?”

“No,” Dabi said bluntly. “I don’t know. Hypothetically, how much money would we be getting?”

“That’s a big word,” mumbled someone in the back of their little group. Dabi sneered. Why people always expected him to be exceedingly stupid or plain - average, he’d never know. And sure, maybe his math and science skills were lacking, but he didn’t need school to learn about common sense, languages, and battle tactics. All things he was pretty proficient in, in his personal opinion.

In fact, the multiple different languages he had started learning back when Endeavor still saw him as a suitable successor and then him becoming fluent in three of them on his own when he first started hiring tutors for Shouto instead proved it. 

Endeavor had said that knowing English, Mandarin, and Korean would be important for business deals and international relations and that Touya, who would never be a suitable hero, no longer needed to know how to speak it. Touya, like with a lot of things, had begged to differ, which meant that Dabi now had a hell of a lot of knowledge he’d probably never use for the rest of his life. 

Oh, but the training would be used, at least. Dabi couldn’t wait to relish in the look on Endeavor’s face when he finally managed to murder him with his own special move - prominence burn.

And if there would ever come a time where, say, he had to speak English to commit a heinous crime, then he would. It was Endeavor’s fault that he knew how to, anyway.

Regardless, there were so many flaws in potentially agreeing to help them. For one thing, Dabi was pretty damn sure this small-time gang did not get permission from the fucking yakuza to modify their drug. Then again, he was… reluctant to just cremate them and leave. There was a possibility that this gang knew Ronin, and Dabi hadn’t forgotten about the fact that their body was nowhere to be found. Not that he cared about Ronin anymore, though.

Money was not that great of an incentive - not that they’d know about Shigaraki’s Sensei not only backing the League with his words, but financially as well. Otherwise, they probably would’ve gone a different route - one that may have actually been convincing.

Dabi didn’t like leaving things unfinished. That was the only thing keeping him marginally curious. Ronin was enough of an incentive for him right now.

“Ten-million yen a month.”

Dabi paused. This was a stupid idea, but his interest was piqued and he really had nothing better to do. Everyone else he had met with and would meet with would end up as a pile of bones in an alleyway anyway. I’ll blame it on Shigaraki later .

 “I’ll make a deal with you, but under one condition.”

The woman in front of him tilted her head curiously. Her white eyes glowed ominously in the dark, and her matching hair almost made her look ethereal - like some sort of Goddess. “What’s the condition?”

“This has nothing to do with the League of Villains. Anything your boss wants from them, he can just get from me. ”

She hummed, then held out her hand for him to shake.

“Deal. Oh, you can call me Whisper, by the way.”

Dabi didn’t care. Something about this gang was nagging at his mind, and now he was determined to figure out why. Any extra information about Ronin would be a bonus, too.

Ironically enough, it was looking like Hawks wouldn’t be the only one out of the two of them infiltrating a criminal organisation.

Next time he saw Shigaraki, Dabi was not going to have a fun time convincing him to let him do this. 

And yet Dabi still shook her hand.

————

By complete accident, Dabi managed to find the best thing he would ever lay his eyes upon in his entire life.  

He had just been about to head back inside the abandoned apartment Yume was currently sleeping in when a run-down, battered old clothing store caught his attention on the other side of the street. More specifically, what was in the window of the store.

It was a customised graphic baby t-shirt with Endeavor’s face crossed out. The words on it, in ginormous, very obviously All Might themed colours, read: ‘ MY DADDY IS RAISING ME RIGHT!’

Dabi, in a very hastily done disguise, bought multiple different sizes so that Yume would never grow out of it until she was well out of diapers. He didn’t even like All Might, but my god.

When he got back inside the apartment, Yume was awake, but surprisingly content, which Dabi ruined by instantly dressing her in the new shirt. It was worth it, even with the surprisingly hostile glare she was directing at him.

Dabi laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Then he took a picture (or twenty) and sent them to the League’s group chat.

~~

League of Villains (Toga do NOT change the name)

—

[image of Yume in t-shirt.]

Dabi: Haven’t found any suitable recruits but I did find this t-shirt.

Kurogiri: Tomura gave you permission to buy something in support of All Might?

Toga: KSKSKSKAJ DABIIIII I KNEW YOU HAD A SENSE OF HUMOUR

Twice: LOLLLLL

Spinner: that’s actually pretty funny ngl

Mr Compress: She’s adorable.

Magne: Dabi tell your daughter that her favourite Auntie says hello!!

Shigaraki: i did not give him permission to use the League’s funds to buy that

Shigaraki: but i will let it slide this time

—

~~

For the first time while looking down at Yume, Dabi smiled.

Chapter Text

~~

“Dabi,” Ronin had whispered into the comfortable silence between them, their hands tightly clenched onto their old school uniform jacket. It had been just over one year since they ran away, and exactly one year for Dabi. The two of them had been seventeen and the least intimidating villains in Japan, not that it mattered much at the time. The two of them were just happy to have someone by their side.

“What?” Dabi had groaned, trying to rub the exhaustion out of his eyes. 

“…Do you ever think about your family or like, just the life you left behind in general?”

“Not since I’ve met you.”

“Oh,” Ronin had paused, then gave him a twitchy grin. “Fair enough, your little snide as fuck comments make your sperm donor sound like an ass.”

Dabi had snorted. “Understatement of the fucking century.”

“…What about the good parts?” Ronin had asked curiously, after another bout of silence. That was what finally made Dabi turn towards them, surprised.

“Do you want to talk about your past?” He had asked, a little aghast. “Last time I asked, you held a knife to my throat and told me I should shut the fuck up unless I’m suicidal.”

It was Ronin’s turn to snort. “I was bloody and shirtless in an alleyway after a fight and some random kid with burn scars and shitty dyed hair started badgering me with questions I didn’t want to answer. Cut me some slack!”

Dabi had shook his head in amusement. “Whatever. Well, do you?”

Ronin had grown sombre. Dabi always found it weird when he did that. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

They laughed, a little bitterly. “My quirk is registered as ’Water Boil’ - it doesn’t sound special, and growing up it wasn’t. My mom’s quirk lets her spew out large amounts of water from her fucking hands and my dad just has a stronger version of my own quirk. They tried not to show it, but they were disappointed when it first came in. It was just another bad thing that made up who I was- am. I was always thin as fuck, weird, and stupid. I didn’t fit in. I couldn’t read like the other kids, I didn’t understand numbers like they did, and when those kids realized that not only was I not like them, but that my quirk was shit too…” they trailed off.

“In elementary school, it wasn’t that bad. Middle school was only marginally worse. In high school, they just… I never did anything to them, and they still fucking hated me. And there was nothing I could do. My parents refused to let me move schools - they thought I was lying about the bullying, and I felt trapped. So one day, when the kids at school shoved me to the floor, poured their food all over me, pinned me down and carved insults into my skin, and took out their phones I… I fucking snapped. I don’t remember what I did, but later on that day when I was in the midst of getting out of the city, I heard about it on the news. Apparently, I bashed in the skull of the boy who was recording me. I left him severely brain damaged.”

Ronin had then grinned - it didn’t reach their eyes. “But hey, we all make mistakes, right? What about you? You gonna share your tragic foray into villainy now - are you like, secretly a Yaoyorozu bastard? Or, ooh- an Iida?”

Dabi had not known what to say. He had never been much good at comforting people - so instead, he decided to do what Ronin had asked - share a bit about himself, too. Information for information. Vulnerability for vulnerability.

“I’m the oldest son of the number two hero” he had replied simply. That was enough of an answer by itself. “My name was Todoroki Touya.”

That would be the last time Dabi ever uttered that name aloud.

Ronin’s eyes had widened. “God damn…I mean, I wasn’t that far off then.”

Dabi had snorted. “Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

Ronin had just rolled his eyes and flipped him off in response.

~~

Dabi woke up feeling nothing but rage.

He was used to that feeling, but he did wonder why it was so heightened in the moment.

————

The first thing Dabi said when he walked back through the door of the League’s hideout fashionably late was, “I no longer hate Yume.”

Magne and Compress blinked.

Shigaraki tilted his head. “What changed?”

Slowly, Dabi pulled out Yume from the carrier she was in. She was now around two months old, and was much bigger than she had been the last time the League saw her, but that wasn’t it. Dabi had dressed her in yet another t-shirt he bought while out recruiting. This one was white and said ‘MY NUMBER ONE HERO IS MY DAD!’ In big black letters.

The League quickly fell into shocked silence.

Being a villain and a father made a lot of baby t-shirts so fucking ironic and funny that Dabi was having a little bit of fun buying or stealing the occasional shirt or onesie whenever he saw one that was really bad. There was no harm in that - the League could go fuck themselves if they had a problem with it.

“Ah!” Yume said, breaking the silence.

“What the fuck,” was the first thing that came out of Shigaraki’s mouth. “Are you kidding me, Dabi? You’re spending the League’s funds on that?”

“It’s ironic,” Dabi replied blandly.

Spinner choked on a laugh. Compress chuckled.

“It’s funny!” Twice said. “ No it’s not!”

“ She’s gotten so big!” Toga squealed suddenly, and then proceeded to steal Yume right out of Dabi’s hands. “Hi Yume! Remember me? Aww, you’re so cute, you’d look so adorable in red -“

“Hello Yume!” Magne cooed softly, walking right up to where Toga held his child. “Did you miss Auntie Magne?”

“Ah-gah!” Yume replied happily. Magne melted. 

Even Shigaraki wasn’t directing a glare at her. “I’m still confused as to how the hell she’s Dabi’s daughter. She definitely doesn’t resemble -” he gestured at the burnt skin and bloody staples on his arms, “…All of this.”

Oh, if only you knew how wrong you were, he thought amusedly, but still mildly offended.

Dabi scowled at Shigaraki. “You have no room to talk, whenever you walk around the base it snows dandruff. It's a miracle your mother didn’t name you ‘White Christmas’.”

Shigaraki’s face darkened rapidly. “I don’t want to hear anything from the man who looks like Hot Topic threw up all over their crispy -“

“ - Is there a reason why we were called back here?” Compress interrupted loudly, very obviously attempting to stop the fight Shigaraki was no doubt about three seconds away from starting. Dabi took the brief moment of silence as an opportunity to take Yume from Toga’s arms, ignoring the stink eye he was getting from her and Magne because of it.

“Tomura,” Kurogiri said calmly. “You should tell them about the Shie Hassaikai.”

The what.

Oh.

Fuck.

Oh hell fucking no.

This would make things so much more complicated.

“Twice came across Overhaul, the leader of the Shie Hassaikai, last week,” Shigaraki drawled. “He believes that he’s a perfect recruit for the League -“

“No,” Dabi said aloud. Shigaraki stared at him, annoyed.

“I believe he’s nothing more than an NPC too, but do not interrupt me ,” he hissed. “As I was saying, Twice managed to secure a meeting with him, and I’m not passing up an opportunity for a good side quest.”

Well, fuck. 

“Magne, Toga, Twice, Compress, you’ll be coming with me.”

Spinner stared at Shigaraki, aghast. “What about me and Dabi?”

Shigaraki scratched his neck lightly. “Dabi has that brat to watch, and I don’t want to risk bringing the entire League in case something goes wrong. Kurogiri has been told when to warp us out if our side quest goes wrong, but it would take him longer to do that if he had to worry about all of us.”

“And two people not being there is going to make such a big difference,” Dabi pointed out sarcastically.

“Maybe he just doesn't want to listen to you complain about your motion-sickness, Dabi!” Toga piped up cheerfully.

Whatever. It wasn’t that big of a deal to Dabi, anyway. In fact, not interacting with Overhaul would probably keep his interactions with Whisper and her other gang members as uncomplicated as it would ever get. Which meant that Dabi wasn’t going to go out of his way to cause further problems for himself.

“Well,” Dabi saluted them sarcastically. “Good luck on your side quest then .”

Magne laughed, then bent down to say goodbye to Yume, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Auntie Magne will see you in a little while, firefly.”

Yume giggled as Twice, Compress, and Toga followed Magne’s lead by saying goodbye to her before jumping through Kurogiri’s warp portal.

Firefly, Dabi thought as he looked down at Yume.

~~

‘I’ve just been calling her firefly because she reminds me of you.’

~~

‘Firefly,’ Dabi mouthed, feeling uncharacteristically unsure of himself. 

Yume wrapped her hand around his finger. And Dabi?

Dabi let her.

————

The next few hours were pretty uneventful. Dabi had never really interacted with Spinner alone before, and it wasn’t like he could actually have a decent conversation with him because of Yume. Recently, she had been getting pretty talkative - there was not a minute that went by where she wasn’t babbling, even when she was asleep.

His daughter talked in her sleep. Loudly.

Magne, Toga, Compress and Twice had all found it endearing. Shigaraki found it hilarious. Dabi, on the other hand, dealt with the reality of it - which was him staring at the roof of his room blankly while Yume said ’AhAh-gah-Goo-whatever-the-fuck-else.’

That brought him to yet another development that most of the League found endearing: Yume played now. 

She didn’t do much, but she did expect Dabi to talk back to her whenever she babbled now, and she found it particularly amusing whenever he’d gently grab her arms and clap them together or move her legs in a cycling movement, which he found himself doing whenever he was bored out of his fucking mind. Which was pretty often.

In fact, loath as he was to admit it, Dabi found himself seeking out Yume more than he did before.

It was not difficult to keep Yume entertained, for the most part. As she grew, it was becoming blatantly obvious that she was a very happy baby and shockingly energetic. Dabi was not looking forward to when she started crawling or, god forbid, walking.

He was also not looking forward to the prospect of having to buy baby toys, which he was now actually going to have to do. Yume would probably get bored of the League and him eventually (and by how quickly she was growing, that would be really soon), and Dabi would like to avoid any boredom meltdowns, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, his thoughts on Yume were cut short when a loud crash from outside his room sounded throughout the entire base.

What the hell, he thought, opening the door with Yume cradled tightly in his arms.

His eyes met Toga’s wide yellow ones - frenzied and terrified, first.

And then they drifted away to gaze at the absurd amounts of blood coating the walls and floors of the League’s base. 

Chapter Text

Dabi’s heart didn’t stop - although at first it was a close thing, but then it pounded loudly in his chest as he listened to the cacophony of roars and panicked shouts - as his hands twitched and he began to subconsciously bounce Yume in his arms when she started crying out, terrified of the noise and the wide-eyed, shocked look on Toga’s face.

Shigaraki arrived, absolutely drenched in blood. It was impossible to tell if it was his or someone else’s, although Dabi was pretty confident in guessing the latter. If looks could kill, everyone in the room would be dead.

Dabi’s gaze was brought quickly back to Kurogiri’s warp gate when it closed so suddenly. What the fuck? He turned back to the members of the League. Compress, Twice, Toga, Shigaraki… Magne wasn’t there.

Magne wasn’t there .

Why wasn’t she there?

Toga screamed. It was a painful, anguished sound. Her eyes were now dark with unbridled fury, her mouth twisted in a snarl and her fist clenched tightly onto her dagger. “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill them -“

“Shut up!” Shigaraki snapped, his nails digging into the skin on his neck. He knelt down next to where Compress was sprawled, but Dabi couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or if he just… collapsed. “Just… shut up, I need to think!”

“Wha- what happened to his arm?” Spinner asked. “What happened to Magne?”

“Overhaul happened ,” Toga replied darkly. “I-“

“Enough talking,” Shigaraki interrupted. “Someone needs to get over here and fucking help me stop the bleeding!”

Dabi chanced another glance down at Compress’ arm… or, apparently, the lack of one. His mouth went dry.

“What the fuck,” he said, a little hysterically. “ What the fuck. What the -“

“We heard you the first time!” Shigaraki roared. “Dabi, put Yume down and get over here!”

Bile rose up to his throat. “Oh, fuck. You’re not asking me to -“

Shigaraki glared at him, and Dabi realised that even he looked off. “I’m not asking, I am telling you to come here and stop the bleeding.”

Being asked to cauterise a wound, also known as a fire quirk user’s worst nightmare. Dabi had burned plenty of people in his life - had listened to them beg for their lives and scream as his flames hit their bodies. That, at least, was over quickly enough, and Dabi usually stood at a great distance from them.

To cauterise a wound, Dabi would have to heat up a knife and place it on Compress’ skin because his flames alone would be too hot. He’d have to hold it there, and he’d be close enough to smell the scent of healthy, burning flesh -

His stomach churned violently. There were some things that Dabi still could not stomach besides Spinner’s horrible driving, apparently.

I have to do it, he told himself as Twice handed him a knife. Shigaraki shoved a cloth into Compress’ mouth.

I have to do it .

He knelt down next to Compress. 

I have to do it.

He went over what he remembered about Cauterisation. He heated the knife up to a dull red and -

I have to do it.

“ This is going to hurt like a bitch,” he warned.

Dabi pressed the flat part of the knife down on his skin in one swift motion, and Compress lost it. He screamed, he thrashed violently, and Dabi fought off the urge to vomit. Fuck, and he could smell it now too - putrid and nauseating, like leather. 

Fucking pass out, he wanted to yell at Compress.

Dabi inhaled. Then exhaled, then he blocked out his thoughts that screamed at him to fucking stop. He continued on, ignoring the chaos around him. Burn, he thought over the other voice in his head viciously. Burn, burn, burn, BURN.

He had always been good at burning things.

“It’s done,” Dabi finally said shakily. Compress sagged in Shigaraki’s arms, his face red and blotchy from crying. “Now someone better tell me where the fuck Magne is.”

Shigaraki gave him a strange look - a bruise was forming under his right eye. “She’s dead.”

Dabi blinked. “What?”

“She’s dead!” Shigaraki howled, his bloodied hands going back up to his neck. “Overhaul fucking killed her right in front of us, and then Compress tried to avenge her and he got his arm exploded off!”

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

The words repeated in his head, and yet he still struggled to understand. Magne, the woman who would take Yume from his arms and sing her lullabies whenever he felt overwhelmed or too exhausted - Magne, the woman who would talk to him late at night and who warmly gave herself the name ‘Auntie’ when she talked to Yume, was dead. Murdered. By fucking Overhaul.

Dabi blinked again. This time, he was shocked by the pure rage that flooded through him - he had… oh shit.

He had cared about her. 

Dabi wasn’t supposed to care about people. That ability died years ago when Ronin first left him. Touya cared about people. Dabi was meant to only care about getting revenge on Endeavor and nothing else.

He was not doing this.

Dabi stood up and briskly walked out the door.

“Dabi, where are you going?!” Someone yelled. “Dabi, what the fuck! At least take Yume with -“

He ignored them and slammed the door shut.

Dabi continued on walking. To where, he wasn’t sure yet, just away. 

Away from where the memory of her wasn’t quite so strong. 

Away from where he felt a little bit like that little boy with a heart too big for his own good.

————

~~

Dabi: You better meet me in 30 minutes with Best Jeanist’s body or you’re dead, birdie.

Dumbass with wings: woah wtf y?
[Read]

Dumbass with wings: you could’ve started off with a “hello hawks, how’s your day going” yk

[Read]

Dumbass with wings: wow you rlly don’t like jokes ok then

[Read]

Dumbass with wings: dabi?

[Read]

~

“ Here you are,” Hawks said, placing a navy blue duffel bag on the ground in front of him. “One Pro Hero, extra, extra rare because I don’t have your quirk!”

Dabi ignored him and knelt down to look inside. 

J̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶g̶o̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶e̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶t̶e̶r̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶n̶ d̶.̶

Sure enough, the real body of Best Jeanist was folded neatly inside. Fuck, he didn’t think Hawks would actually do it. He was looking for an easy way to commit a murder and of fucking course he couldn’t do it now, unless he had to act in self defence-

Wait. That was it. If Hawks attacked him first, he’d let him get in a hit, then he’d be able to kill him and Shigaraki would ask absolutely zero questions.

“So,” Dabi drawled as he stood back up, clapping slowly. “Congratulations on your first kill. How does it feel to be a phony hero?”

Hawks smiled at him. “It feels like I’ve made the first step towards getting rid of hero society.”

Dabi narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, that’s fucking fun for you, isn’t it?

Hawks’ smile twitched slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean ,” Dabi stressed. “That either you’re a privileged asshole who decided to turn to villainy because living in a penthouse as a rich and famous pro hero wasn’t good enough or -“ he smirked. “ …You’ve got something to hide.”

Hawks frowned. Genuinely. Bingo, Dabi thought gleefully. “Are you alright, Hot Stuff? I have no idea what you’re talking about -“

“Oh, but you do,” Dabi grinned ferally. “Let me guess, shit upbringing? How’s mom and dad?”

And oh, that touched a nerve.

The next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall with a sharpened feather pressing at his throat. Dabi stared at Hawks open-mouthed. He’d expected a little shove or a punch, not the equivalent of a knife pressed against his fucking jugular vein.

“ Cat got your tongue, Dabi?” Hawks said, annoyingly calm as he pressed the feather harder against his neck, but careful enough to not draw any blood. His eyes were a bright yellow - unnervingly birdlike in the way they stayed pinned on his face.

Dabi choked on a laugh. Anytime now… just one wrong move . “No. I just didn’t know you had it in you, hero.”

Hawks tilted his head, the glare in his eyes contradicting the tight smile on his face. “Oh, this?” He asked, gesturing at the feather and the other hand he was using to pin him to the wall brazenly. “Of course I have it in me. I do this lots. In fact, most men and women beg me for this kind of treatment.”

Wait.

Pause.

What.

Dabi’s brain stopped working for a good five seconds.

.

.

.

.

.

Yeah, Hawks really just said that.

What the fuck.

Dabi stared at Hawks with pure contempt on his face as he finally pushed him off. “That’s disgusting.”

“What? That I fuck men too?”

“No, birdbrain,” Dabi snarled, momentarily forgetting his mission of get-Hawks-to-attack-me-so-I-can-murder-him. “The fact that they want to fuck you is what disgusts me.”

Hawks looked genuinely offended. “I’m very fuckable, thank you very much.”

Dabi wanted to murder him so badly, but now that Hawks was back to his usual cheery attitude the chances of Dabi goading him into attacking him were slim to none. God fucking damn it.

“Whatever, I don’t care. Leave.”

Hawks whistled. “Damn, can I at least -“

Dabi glared at him sharply.

“ Ooookay , then. Right, uh- I’ll be heading out now.”

————

Despite not being able to murder Hawks, the valiant attempt he made at it served as a good enough distraction from Magne’s death. Once Hawks had left, however, Dabi had instantly felt a different kind of rage settle within him.

He should’ve returned to the League’s hideout.

He got drunk and high out of his damn mind in an abandoned apartment alone instead. Sprawled on the dust-covered floor, with only his thoughts as company.

It was horrible company to have. Mainly because even after drinking and smoking enough to kill a fucking elephant, Dabi couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he had actually given a shit about Magne.

That was not supposed to have happened. And yet she had still crawled her way into his cold, dead as fuck heart. Who was next? Yume? Or maybe even fucking Shigaraki?

Caring about people was how Dabi ended up here in the first place. If he had just never cared, or if he had chosen to care for someone who deserved it all those years ago, Touya would still exist. But Endeavor killed him - stomped out the flames that made him who he was.

Ronin had barely kept them alive, and then they too had left them to die out. So why the hell did he care? Was he making a big deal out of nothing?

Dabi wouldn’t know. He’d been alone for years before the League. Being abandoned and left for someone or something else had just been a normal, everyday experience for him. He had hated it when he was Touya and he’d probably still hate it now.

And maybe that was why he didn’t like the idea of caring for someone.

It was a vulnerability. And Dabi could not afford to have those.

————

~~

Yume did not know why her daddy wasn’t there to hold her, even when she cried and cried and cried .

Even though sometimes he gave her these looks that didn’t make him look very happy, he always held her anyway.

Where was he now? Why wasn’t he holding her?

Yume missed him.

~~

Himiko hated Overhaul, hated the Shie Hassaikai, but right now, she also hated Dabi.

He just left them all after Magne and Compress… didn’t he know that they were mourning her too?! And Yume wouldn’t stop crying either, no matter what any of them did! Even Shigaraki had tried rocking her to sleep to no avail.

Himiko hoped that Dabi was okay.

She was still going to stab him the next time she saw him, though.

~~

Tomura itched.

He was going to kill Dabi. He definitely was not worrying about him at all.

Still, he kind of… hoped that he’d find his way back to the base alright.

So that he could murder him, of course.

~~

Shuichi felt numb. He had no energy at all. He just wanted to sleep.

He didn’t even want to wonder what Dabi was up to.

~~

Atsuhiro ached whenever he was awake, which wasn’t often - he flipped between unconscious and conscious rapidly and often.

But wait.

Did he just hear someone say that Dabi was MIA?

~~

Jin was scared and oh so guilty.

It was his fault.

He never wanted to hurt his friends like that ever again.

There wasn’t much more to say than that.

~~

Kurogiri could tell that Magne’s death was hitting the League pretty hard. He briefly thought of forcibly bringing Dabi back, but changed his mind at the last moment.

People grieve in different ways, after all. He should leave them all alone.

Still, if the members of the League woke up to hot chocolate on their bedside tables, that was no one’s business.

~~

Magne’s last thought, as her entire body exploded in sharp, agonising pain, had been Yume’s name.

In her last breath, she had thought about how the little girl she had grown to love would never remember her Auntie - the one who would’ve spoiled her as much as she could’ve which, given that she had been a villain with very limited funds, would not have even been close to what the little girl deserved.

In fact, if Magne could’ve given her the entire world, she would have in a heartbeat.

In her last breath, as her world went dark, she hoped that Dabi still had enough humanity in him to keep her memory alive. If not for him and the League, then for Yume.

Chapter Text

When Dabi finally made his way back to the League, he was met with glares and a whining, squirming baby in Twice’s arms.

“He’s back,” Twice exclaimed flatly as he handed him Yume. “No he's not!”

“Welcome back,” Shigaraki said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Toga had gone right back to ignoring him. “Did you have a good vacation?”

“What the fuck is your problem?” Dabi snapped. Shigaraki scratched his neck furiously.

“Our problem,” he spat. “Is that Magne died and you decided that that was a perfect time to fuck off to who the hell knows where?!”

“Yeah, that wasn’t cool Dabi! It was very cool!” Twice shook his head sadly.

Dabi clenched his fists angrily. “It’s not like me sticking around was gonna undo what happened to her. You’re overreacting.”

Shigaraki and Toga’s eyes darkened. Twice stiffened. Compress and Spinner stared at him in shock.

Oh fuck.

He shouldn’t have said that. He hadn’t been thinking -

In one swift movement, he had an open palm just slightly away from his face. Dabi tensed. 

“Overreacting? Overreacting?” Shigaraki trembled, venom laced in his voice. “Compress lost an arm, Magne had just been killed, then you abandoned your daughter with us to go and what? Get drunk? High? Both?! Congratulations, Dabi. I think you’ve just won father of the year.”

Dabi couldn’t help it - he laughed bitterly. Yume whined in his arms. “I was never going to be a good father, even if I tried. You know why? It’s because I don’t care. The only thing that matters to me is my own goals. I could burn Yume to ashes right now and feel absolutely fucking nothing.”

He wouldn’t feel anything. Because if Yume was gone, then Dabi could go back to solely focusing on his plans of murdering Endeavor.

Toga looked at him again, horrified. “You wouldn’t -“

“He won’t,” Compress interrupted firmly - confidently “He just likes to pretend that he’s not human like the rest of us.”

Dabi snorted derisively, but Compress continued on.

“That’s what bothers you, isn’t it? That you’re still human. That you can still care. So you’ve convinced yourself that you actually can’t - a nice  trick, by the way, but one that is definitely not fail safe. You could’ve killed Yume all those weeks ago when she first came into your care, you could’ve refused to take her from your friend, but you didn’t,” Compress stared at him. “Why?”

Dabi rolled his eyes. “Quit playing shrink. I took her because the cons of not taking her outweighed the pros of it. I don’t know why you all think that because we’re pathetic misfits we suddenly all have to be like a happy fucking family and that because I don’t give a shit about anyone I’m uncool or the bad guy . This isn’t a Disney movie. Grow the fuck up - we’re all bad people here.”

“Of course we’re all bad people,” Toga spoke up finally, her voice unusually brazen. “But not all of us are cowards.”

Shigaraki froze, his eyes flitting back and forth between him and Toga.

“What?” Dabi’s voice was dangerously calm.

“You heard me,” was Toga’s reply. “You’re a coward, Dabi.”

With her eyes a blazing fury and her lips twisted into a ferocious snarl, it was easy to forget that Toga Himiko was only a teenager. That, at such a young age, she had fought long and hard to survive in a society that constantly pushed her down. That she had just seen someone she affectionately called ‘Big Sis’ be blown apart by a man’s quirk in front of her.

Dabi had forgotten.

Maybe he should’ve apologised, but instead he turned towards Shigaraki. “Best Jeanist is with Ujiko.”

Without another word spoken between him and the League, Dabi took Yume back to their room, slamming the door shut behind him.

————

Yet again, it was just him and Yume. It seemed like most days, that was what it was like now. Day in, day out, making sure that the baby didn’t manage to kill herself with what limited movement she had.

Only this time, Dabi didn’t mind being around Yume. In fact, he preferred it over the stifling, uncomfortable air around the League whenever he entered the room. 

“You have no idea how fucked up I am,” he marvelled quietly, looking up at the baby currently lying on his chest. With her so close to his face, it was easy to notice that she really did look like him. Or… what he used to look like.

“I could tell you that I’m going to turn you into a pile of ashes and you wouldn’t give a single fuck. You’d make a great League member.”

“Oo!” Yume exclaimed.

“That’s right, you little shit,” Dabi whispered. “Working with villains never ends well because we’re all assholes. But you, Miss evidence-of-a-lack-of-condoms, are going to sit right here and help me anyway because you can’t go anywhere else without me carrying you.”

“Ah!” Yume babbled.

“Yes, I know, my plan to keep you here is evil ,” Dabi twirled another strand of her hair. “But who the fuck cares. You’re my sidekick right now -“

“Bah!”

“- and you are going to become an accomplice to a murder for the very first time.”

Yume whined.

“Or not… fucking calm yourself. We’ll do that tomorrow then. It’s your bedtime anyways, isn’t it? That’s why you’re so bitchy. You’re going to want a song, yeah? Auntie Magne sang you to sleep a fuckton of times. But I won’t do that shit.”

Yume glared at him. 

“I’ll tell you why, though, because you should know why you probably won’t ever hear a lullaby again. Do you hear my voice now? It’s deep and raspy and nasty as fuck, isn’t it? It wasn’t always like that. Apparently I used to have a pretty sounding voice, according to Fuyumi. Little Natsuo always preferred me singing him to sleep over her, and I fucking loved it. It was one thing that nobody else - not even my littlest dumbass of a brother could match up to. It was something where finally, I was the best. Undefeated. Unmatched. ”

Yume’s eyes fluttered a little bit.

“And then, when I was sixteen, I woke up from a coma to discover that my vocal chords were permanently damaged. Just like my quirk, just like my fucking body. I had nothing. It was all taken away from me - even something as small as how my god damn voice sounded.”

“Da,” Yume said quietly.

“The League thinks I don’t think of myself as human sometimes,” Dabi continued on blandly. “Which is fucking stupid, I know better than most people just how human and mortal I am. I wasn’t always Dabi, but I’ll never not be him ever again. And that’s the problem. I won’t stop being him, even if I actually do somewhat give a shit about you now, asshole. And that means I can’t care for you like Magne did.”

Yume’s breathing was starting to even out. She was nearly asleep, and Dabi himself could feel his own eyes getting heavy.

“Yume,” he slurred as his eyes fell shut. “I can’t be Touya for you.”

Dabi fell asleep that night with Yume cuddled in his arms, unaware that he had ever spoken that name to his daughter.

————

Dabi wasn’t sure what the hell he got himself into, but he was treading a dangerous line where, if he fell over it, he’d be brutally murdered by either the Shie Hassaikai or the Serpents - which turned out was actually Whisper’s gang. She wasn’t working for them, they were working for her.

“See this?” Whisper’s soft, lilting voice echoed around the warehouse they were currently in. “This is where we take the Shie Hassaikai’s trigger and turn it into the better version that we sell.”

Dabi’s eyes roamed over the hundreds of thousands of boxes filled with trigger in them. That was a lot. “…How did you make it better?”

Whisper grinned at him. “I used to be a scientist, but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that that’s all the information you’ll ever need. I won’t give away my secrets.”

Dabi sometimes hated the fact that he was surrounded by scientific megalomaniacs. He especially disliked the ones that threatened him.

“Whatever. What is it you want me to do?”

Whisper hummed. “You recruit for your own group, but if you don’t like the people asking to join your League of Villains, you kill them. What a waste of life. My proposal is this: anyone that you think is useless or desperate, send them my way.”

Dabi stared at her. “That’s it?”

Whisper smiled. “That’s it.”

Dabi didn’t have a good feeling about this, but sticking around any longer would piss off the League, who was watching Yume despite the argument they had with him only a day ago. He… needed to fix that.

And maybe he could.

————

~

There was no way in hell Shouto hadn’t noticed his dear old dad’s black credit card disappearing during the brief stint he was actually back at home.

Judging by the way he acted when Dabi put it back a few hours later, he actually hadn’t.

What a fucking idiot.

~

Shouto hoped whoever had stolen his father’s card had some fun with it.

He hoped they wouldn’t want to use it again, because they would not be getting through UA’s security system. How unfortunate.

He’d leave it on his window the next time he came home though. Maybe they’d use it again.

~

“Here,” Dabi said tonelessly, handing Compress a prosthetic arm. “It’ll work almost exactly like a real fucking one. Just wait another week before you try it out.”

Compress blinked, shocked. “Thank you, Dabi, but how…”

Twice whistled. “That looks expensive! No, it looks cheap!”

“Oh, it’s expensive,” Dabi drawled, a hint of amusement shining through. “It was made by David Shield.”

The room fell so silent, a pin dropping could’ve been heard.

Shigaraki, who was sitting at the bar with Kurogiri, choked on his drink. “ It was what?!”

“How did you even get that -“

“- You better not have been using the League’s funds -“

“I didn’t. Shigaraki, Spinner,” Dabi continued, handing them a brand new gaming console. “Here, I got this as well.”

“What the fuck,” Spinner said. “Dabi, this is one of the most expensive -“

“It was on sale,” Dabi waved his hand dismissively. It was definitely not on sale - Dabi had made sure of that. “Twice, I stitched up all of your damaged masks and bought you some new ones. Oh, and Toga, there’s a fuckton of blood bags in your room right now. Stole them right from the hospital.”

Toga narrowed her eyes. “I’m still a little mad at you.”

Dabi grinned. “Not a lot anymore though?”

“…No,” she acquiesced. “I’ll probably always be a little mad at you for leaving right after Big Sis… you know. I wanted to stab you so bad, but not in a pretty way! One day, maybe I’ll forgive you. But not now. I still kind of want to stab you.”

“What the hell?!” Shigaraki yelled, now sitting right beside Spinner on the couch. “How the fuck did he even -“

“I don’t know,” Spinner said, staring at the gaming console reverently. “And I don’t even care that much right now. Shigaraki, do you know the amount of games we can play now?”

“Of course I know -“

Dabi was not good with words, but he hoped that this was enough to make the League less pissed off at him. And maybe it would even serve as a distraction from Magne.

Yume’s definitely-not-an-apology gift came last.

It was a soft, white rabbit plushie with hints of pastel pink around the ears and nose. It was disgustingly cute, but Dabi had gotten it for her anyway as her first toy.

“I hope you like it,” he told her seriously. “Because no way in hell am I buying you anything like this again. I have a reputation I need to uphold.”

Yume giggled. 

“Laugh it up, you little asshole,” Dabi’s lips twitched. “But it’ll be your fault if your daddy wakes up to his face plastered all over the internet buying your stupid pink rabbit. The heroes won’t shit themselves in my presence anymore if that happens.” 

Yume smiled at him, and, unbeknownst to Dabi, his own eyes softened.

It had been a while since someone looked at him like that - like he wasn’t Dabi. Like he wasn’t a monster.

In Yume’s eyes, he was just her dad.

In due time, that would be another thing inevitably destroyed by him.

Chapter Text

~

“You know, if we weren’t villains I think I’d marry you,” Ronin had said off-handedly once. They were older now - and because they were older, closer to the age where Ronin would leave, their relationship had rapidly become more stilted. Tense. Dabi had only been able to stare at them because of it.

“I thought you didn’t like me like that,” he ended up replying eventually. Ronin snorted.

“I still don’t. I love you, my wonderful burnt friend, but all you are to me in that regard is a really good fuck. Like, really really good. If I married you, I’d be marrying your dick as well.”

“Mhm,” Dabi had not been able to look them in the eye. “So is that why you think that us staying together for much longer is stupid? Once you get fucked by me, you’re good to leave?”

A tense, uncomfortable silence had fallen between them for a few moments.

Ronin gaped at him. “What the fuck are you talking about? Wha- you don’t like me like that, do you?”

“Hell no,” Dabi had denied, and it was true. He didn’t like Ronin like that, but… fuck, he didn’t want him to leave and lately… he’d been feeling used by them. They had both agreed to the arrangement they currently had, but something had changed between them, and it didn’t feel like how it used to. 

Probably because the threat of Ronin leaving at the time had been creeping up to the front of his mind. And rightfully so.

“Dabi,” Ronin’s hands had gripped tightly onto his shoulders. “You are my friend. I tend to give a shit about you most of the time. Even if I end up leaving, I’ll still think of you. You have a pretty unforgettable face.”

Six days later, Ronin left him. And Dabi wouldn’t see him for years. ‘I’ll still think of you’ - Dabi should’ve known he wouldn’t.

And for the first time in a long time, Dabi had hated the fact that his tear ducts were burnt shut. Of course, that had only been for a moment, but it had been enough.

~

Ronin had always been of the opinion that Dabi was an over dramatic piece of shit. Their over dramatic piece of shit, yes, but a piece of shit nonetheless.

The asshole had no idea how much their friendship meant to them. And he never would - because no matter how hard they tried, Ronin wasn’t meant to stay in one place forever.

They moved of their own accord, even when sometimes, they thought of staying with Dabi because fuck, they’d known him since he was sixteen, it was pretty hard to leave him behind.

They did it anyway.

Ronin would never be stuck in one place ever again. That was the promise they made to themself after their parents kept them in that fucking school until they snapped and nearly killed a boy.

They intended to keep that promise until the day they died.

~

On the day they left, flames of hatred that burned deep within Dabi grew more powerful. More potent.

So potent that it consumed all that he had once been with Ronin. 

~

I wish it hadn’t, he thought groggily as he awoke.

Dabi didn’t remember why he thought that.

What had he wished?

It didn’t matter, in the end.

Dreams were just a distraction from reality, after all, and Dabi needed none of that shit.

What he did need however, was a competent spy. It was unfortunate that he’d never get one of those. Nonetheless, he’d suck it up and talk to Hawks regardless, because horrifyingly, he was the next best thing.

And Dabi had some shit he needed to know about Whisper.

————

~

Dabi: I need information.

Dumbass with wings: k so what info though dab

Dumbass with wings: as much as i wish i could say that we have so much chemistry together that i can read your mind or that part of my quirk is telepathy

Dumbass with wings: that is not the case 🥲

Dabi: Shut the fuck up or I’ll burn you the next time I see you in twenty minutes.

Dumbass with wings: that’s hot 😉

Dumbass with wings: see what i did there?!

Dumbass with wings: dabi?

Dumbass with wings: you have no sense of humour 

Dabi: You’re an idiot.

Dumbass with wings: ouch, burn!

[Read]

~

“So!” Hawks pointed finger guns at him. “What is it you need to know? And can we skip the insults this time?”

Probably not , Dabi thought. “What do you know about a gang called the Serpents?”

Hawks actually frowned. “Nothing. I’ve never heard of them before.”

Dabi blinked, then laughed harshly. “Seriously? You heroes have no idea who they are or what they’re doing?”

How pathetic.

“There’s an easy solution to that, Dabs -“

“Do not fucking call me that -“

“ - All you have to do is tell me about them!”

Dabi stared. Hawks grinned back. “I’m not a snitch.”

Hawks mimed zipping his lips shut. “My lips are sealed!”

“Bullshit,” Dabi snarled, then paused. He really needed information. Or he wanted it. Same thing. “If I fucking die because of this stupid gang it’s your fault, and you lose your contact in the League if you so much as say a single word .”

It was a calculated risk he was taking. Stupid, but calculated nonetheless.

Hawks tilted his head. “Okay, fine, I wasn’t going to say anything in the first place… but why are you involved with a criminal organization that is not the League again?”

“I’m infiltrating their ranks,” Dabi deadpanned. “And I thought I’d consult the best liar I know, which just so happens to be you, hero.”

Hawks smiled tightly. “Thanks. I think I’ve tricked the HPSC pretty well.”

You’re so fucking full of shit it’s pouring out your mouth.

Dabi, yet again, fought off the urge to murder him, which was something that was happening more and more frequently while in the other man’s presence. Although Hawks, despite being annoying and an incredibly shitty actor, may still prove useful to him. So, for the time being, he’d hold off on the murdering.

“Any reason why you’ve decided to play vigilante?” Hawks asked casually.

Dabi blinked once. Then twice.

“Fucking what?” Dabi said, the shock at Hawks’ stupidity shining clear as day through his voice. “I’m not.”

“Yeah okay,” Hawks smiled patronisingly. Dabi took a deep breath and prepared himself for the insult that was no doubt about to fly out of Hawks’ mouth judging by the glint in his eyes. “I knew all that hatred was secret admiration for us!”

Not an insult exactly, but definitely an attempt to piss him off. Dabi narrowed his eyes. “I don’t admire you heroes,” he spat out the word like it was poison, which, well. To him it was. “And vigilantes aren’t all hero-wannabes, you egotistical bastard.”

Hawks just continued to smile at him. “You know, if we want to help each other, it would be productive to stop with the insults.”

Hawks was acting like he wasn’t the one who just tried to antagonize him.

Dabi took another deep breath, suppressing the feeling of flames starting to flicker underneath his skin. If there was a ranking system for anyone in the world that Dabi couldn’t stand to talk to, Hawks would be first on that list. The way the man held himself - calculated, loose poses and tight-lipped smiles. Winks and cheesy pick-up lines too - Dabi knew damn fucking well that the hero Hawks was a persona built on lies and secrets. And maybe the world was blind to the fact that something much darker - more sinister lay underneath every teenage girl’s fantasy come to life, but Dabi wasn’t.

Dabi had seen a glimpse of the real Hawks - the one that threatened him with a knife against his throat. The flawed one. And oh, how it intrigued him. How had Hawks, a notoriously horrible liar, hidden himself so well from everyone else? 

Every good lie has a bit of truth to it.

Huh. Maybe that was why. 

That just made Hawks more fucking annoying though.

That was fine. Just this once, Dabi could be the bigger person. “I assume you know what Trigger is.”

Hawks nodded. “Yeah, but I didn’t think the League would have any interest in the Shie Hassaikai.”

“They didn’t,” Dabi’s throat constricted. “Until they killed Magne.”

Dabi didn’t want to think of her for longer than was necessary. Just because he acknowledged that he had cared for her once didn’t mean he wanted to acknowledge it again. Fuck that.

Hawks opened his mouth, then paused. “I’m sorry they killed her.”

Dabi could read in between the lines: but I’m not sorry she’s dead. Less villains for the heroes to worry about.

Dabi didn’t bother saying anything. If he did, and Hawks replied to it, he’d most definitely be without an informant and have fried chicken on the ground in front of him. “Whatever. The Shie Hassaikai isn’t the only organization selling trigger - the Serpents are fucking the original trigger up and making it more addictive and potent.”

He had done it. He had fucking told a hero . 

But he needed to know what the fuck was up with this gang. It was the right decision.

Right?

Well, he’d find out eventually.

“If you tell anyone I told you this,” Dabi snarled. “I swear I’ll -“

“Look, Dabi, I swear I won't,” Hawks raised his hands in an attempt to placate him. “I’m gonna be honest with you, I don’t like you, but It’s not enough for me to even think about getting you killed by some gang. I’m not going to betray you. I actually kind of want to help you with… this .”

Dabi scoffed. 

“No, really ,” Hawks insisted. “I don’t know you well, but you get all… weird, when talking about this gang and the drug they’re selling. You also just told me that you’re impulsively infiltrating their ranks, you’re asking me to help you and you sure as hell don’t just dislike me - you tried to get me to attack you that one time presumably so you could go ahead and kill me with your boss’s permission and yes, I knew what you were doing. So obviously, you’re in a little bit of a conundrum here.”

Dabi blinked. Fucking hell . “I never told you I impulsively infiltrated their ranks.”

Hawks smiled at him again. “I can read in between the lines too.”

Oh?

Dabi glared at him, but it was lacking a little heat. “Do not start mind games with me, birdie.”

Hawks laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t!”

Dabi would still analyze every single fucking word out of the man’s mouth from now on. “Fine. Just get me information about the woman who calls herself Whisper. Her age, quirk, real name, I don’t care, anything.“

Ronin’s face flashed in the back of his mind once again. Dabi gritted his teeth.

His ghosts just couldn’t stay where they belonged, could they?

————

“Why is she smiling at me,” was the first thing Dabi heard out of Shigaraki’s mouth as he entered the League’s base. His daughter was happily babbling at him while he held her in his arms awkwardly, his pinky fingers up despite the bright yellow pair of artist’s gloves he had on.

“Shiggy, she likes you!” Toga chirped excitedly.

“ Why?” Shigaraki sounded genuinely distressed. Dabi was greatly amused at this. Yume laughed loudly in his arms - her dark blue eyes crinkling and the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth. Her hair, Dabi noted, had started to become a little wavy - while his own hair was pretty straight , Ronin’s had been curly. Yume not having completely straight hair made sense.

It was weird though, seeing little bits of them in her as she grew older.

“Dabi,” Shigaraki turned to him. “Take the little brat -“

“Why would I deprive her of precious time with her Uncle Shiggy?” Dabi responded amusedly. He swore he heard Spinner cackle from the kitchen.

Shigaraki gave him a look. “I fucking hate that nickname.”

“That’s why Yume will be calling you by that the moment she learns how to.”

Dabi looked at his daughter giggling in Shigaraki’s awkward hold.

“…After she learns how to say my name first.”

Not even God would be able to save Shigaraki if Yume’s first word was some variant of ‘Shiggy’ instead of what it better fucking be - ‘ dada’.

She was his daughter after all.

Chapter Text

“I need to infiltrate another gang,” Hawks said brazenly.

“ What?!” His handler shrieked. Hawks knew her face was going purple out of anger. “Hawks, denied.”

“…Yeah so, about that -“

“ Hawks,” his handler’s voice was dangerously calm.

“You can’t deny me. I’ve already initiated the infiltration.”

Silence, and then:

“For the love of God! After everything the commission has done for you, you still cannot ask us before you go and do stupid things? Do you have any idea what position you’ve put us into? Hawks, after all this time, have you still not learned your place -“

Hawks hung up, grinned to himself, and then frowned.

He still hadn’t told Dabi that he was going to help him infiltrate the gang by his side. He had kind of just saw the opportunity to… well, get into the League faster. Maybe, if he stuck around Dabi long enough, he’d even let something important slip.

Not only that, but if what Dabi had said was true, then infiltrating that organization as well wasn’t a stupid idea on its own. Stronger, more addictive trigger on the market was dangerous.

Dabi was going to be pissed though.

It’ll be fine, he told himself.

Fire is your biggest weakness , the pessimistic part of his brain whispered.

————

Fried chicken was on the menu for tonight... or whenever Dabi next saw Hawks. Dabi would’ve actually murdered him the moment he found out what he did if he hadn’t told him over a fucking phone call . 

“Yeah so guess what? I’m kind of helping you infiltrate that gang instead of just giving you information! Bye!” Hawks had said, and then, like the chicken he was, he hung up.

Dabi was fuming. Apparently, the hero could handle extremely dangerous situations but couldn’t stick around long enough to explain himself to him. There were no words to explain how much Dabi despised Hawks now. He was supposed to make things easier, not harder.

And he still couldn’t fucking kill him. Because he needed the information that Hawks could get him. Now, he’d just need to do it while spending more time in his presence.

Dabi promptly burst into flames.

“Ah!” Yume happily exclaimed from where he had placed her on his bed, looking in wonder at his blue flames and making little grabbing-motions as if she had any hope of catching it in her hands. Dabi stared at her as his flames extinguished.

“You don’t get to touch that,” he told her, which was something he was having to say a lot more now that she was officially three and a bit months old. Yume could reach her hands out for things, sleep for about five hours at night now, and she could lift her head up, which was a miracle in itself because holy shit, baby heads were big.

Yume pouted and kicked her legs.

“You’re not fire-proof- actually, I don’t fucking know if you are, but you’re not touching my fire either way,” Dabi explained as he picked her up when she started to whine. Despite being told that she had sufficient strength in her neck for him to stop supporting her head, he found he preferred keeping her cradled to him like he had done when she was a newborn. Holding her this way, he didn’t need to worry about her accidentally breaking her neck. “Oh, look at that, no more whining.”

Yume stuck her tongue out at him. It was probably unintentional, but Dabi found himself a little amused regardless. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re giving your Daddy sass already?”

“Ah-goo!” Yume said, smiling.

“Yes, whatever that fucking means- ow, fuck!”

Yume had grabbed onto one of his staples. And she was pulling. Dabi very quickly stopped that by wrapping a hand around her wrist. “Yume, you can’t put this in your mouth.”

She wasn’t letting go.

“Yume,” he stared into her amused eyes. “You little shit.”

She giggled. Dabi tried prying her fingers off the staple she grabbed. He failed miserably. “Why are you so strong, what the fuck?”

No hero could ever match up to the fight Yume was currently putting up.

Yume continued trying to rip his face off. It seemed like the villainous urges developed in her early. Dabi only had one last tactic left, and it was to blow a raspberry on her cheek.

She squealed and let go. Dabi looked at her fingers in shock.

She had his blood on her hands. Shit. A laugh bubbled up in his throat. “You’re way too fucking young for patricide. Anyway, asshole, now you’re gonna come with me so I can wash your hands.”

Yume tried reaching up for another one of his staples. Dabi gently slapped her hands away.

He hoped this phase would end soon.

————

“Uh,” Dabi said eloquently, wishing that he could tell Shigaraki what he’d done the same way Hawks had told him. Would this be enough incentive for Shigaraki to kill him?

Probably not. Hopefully.

“Just spit it out,” Shigaraki hissed, his eyes narrowed. 

“I joined a gang for the purpose of infiltrating them for unimportant reasons.”

Shigaraki’s eyes widened comically, but instead of getting angry, he just sighed. “Oh my fucking- why? Why. You know what, fine. It’s not like I have any modicum of control over you . The fucking baby in your arms proves it.”

Dabi stared.

Yume reached over to grab a strand of Shigaraki’s hair. Without even blinking, Shigaraki gently pried her hands off of him.

“Do whatever you want, as long as this gang isn’t some high level boss that’s going to fuck the League over,” Shigaraki continued. “We don’t even really need you for what we have planned with Overhaul anyways.”

“Wow, thanks,” Dabi deadpanned. “I feel so loved.”

Shigaraki scoffed. “If you want someone to tell you they love you, go find Toga or Twice. Either way, whatever you’re doing with this gang, you’re gonna have to figure out how to do it with Yume. We’re all going away on a side quest so nobody in the League can watch her.”

Oh. Oh fuck.

“Ah-bah!” Yume said.

“Shit,” was all that Dabi could say in response.

Dabi’s remedy for the predicament of what the hell he was supposed to do with Yume? The abandoned apartment. Again. Except this time, he’d be leaving her alone for a lot longer than a few minutes.

Dabi wasn’t exactly okay with leaving Yume alone anymore, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. If anyone found out about her- that she was his daughter…

Fuck it, Dabi could admit it to himself just this once - he had grown to care for Yume just a little bit. Just like he had cared about Magne, except his daughter was not going to die on his watch. Or anyone else’s.

Dabi looked down at Yume, wrapped up in blankets and hidden away from prying eyes in a dark corner of the apartment. “Fuck. Fuck.”

He had to leave her.

He had no choice.

Dabi gritted his teeth. Nothing would stop him from working towards achieving his goals. Not even Yume.

Yume sighed in her sleep. Dabi stiffened.

He couldn’t leave her unprotected like this. What if someone came in here and saw her? Or what if she needed him? She was only a baby. She was worse off than useless.

Yume wouldn’t stop him from reaching his goals.

Unless she wasn’t safe.

“Damn it,” he whispered harshly, pulling out his phone. “ Fuck.”

~

Dabi: I’m not coming today.

Whisper: Why? Has something gone wrong?

Dabi: I’m sick.

Whisper: Oh. Feel better soon. I’ll introduce you to our newest member another time. <3

[Read]

~

Dabi already knew who their new member was. Birdbrain - the annoying, meddling, winged hero Hawks . Whisper didn’t though, which meant that so far, Hawks wasn’t a complete idiot. He was keeping the fact that Dabi and him were… acquainted a secret.

Good.

Dabi gently picked Yume up from the corner of the apartment and moved her onto the bed beside where he currently sat. He watched the show rise and fall of her chest, and wondered what the actual fuck he got himself into for the millionth time.

Existential crisis involving Yume: the sequel.

Yeah, fuck that. 

————

~

Birdbrain: yo dabi 

Dabi: What.

Birdbrain: are u actually sick? 

Dabi: Yes. Why else would I have told Whisper I was?

Birdbrain: idfk 

Dabi: Is there any particular reason why you are texting me?

Birdbrain: not really? i just wanted to let you know that i talked to whisper and was able to gather some information on her from the hpsc

Dabi: What?

Birdbrain: her real name is Shinsou Emiko. Quirk: Influence. she can implant ‘suggestions’ into the minds of anyone she talks to. it’s not like, that one brainwashing kid in UA but it’s pretty close, just weaker. i’m trying to find out if they’re related.

Dabi: What the fuck.

Dabi: How do you know if she’s implanted one of her suggestions?

Hawks: that’s the problem. you don’t. i dont know what your problem with her is and i don’t really care (lol sorry) but just beware of any impulsive thoughts because they might be her doing. how was that information, by the way? good enough?

Dabi: It was sufficient. Now get out of my business.

~

“Fuck,” Dabi stated, which pretty much summed his current situation up fairly well. He was unwillingly infiltrating a gang with a fucking hero who he genuinely couldn’t stand, he had a child he had no idea what the hell he was going to do with for the next little while, and the woman he’d been having a horrible feeling about could semi-brainwash whoever she fucking chose to. Which meant his mental alarm bell had been right.

“…Fuck.”

Had he joined her little gang of his own accord, or had he been influenced by her quirk?

Yume whined as she woke up, her blue eyes peering at his face.

“I am in some deep shit,” he told her.

This was a horrible idea, he thought to himself. But fuck it.

————

Whatever Whisper had done to make someone like Dabi wary of her, clearly had been something big. She wasn’t just a small-time villain picking fights she couldn’t handle like Hawks originally thought. She had a certain vibe around her that felt strong, all-encompassing and vile. Her melodic, lilting voice and the softness in her gait made her that much more intimidating. Because behind that facade, there lurked a woman that could play with minds like they were her puppets.

Hawks had felt like he was shitting bricks in her presence, which was saying something, especially because he had been in the direct presence of A-Rank villain Dabi while he was angry. And, not that Hawks had any personal dealings with Shigaraki, ( yet - he’d be getting closer to Dabi to fix that) but if he was anything remotely like Whisper, he’d contemplate moving away to like, Canada or something.

That was a lie, but holy fuck. Regardless, his infiltration had been almost seamless. In fact, Whisper had seemed almost giddy to have him in her ranks. 

That definitely did not raise any red flags whatsoever. Hawks definitely had not been extremely concerned about that. Nope. Haha.

“Yes, oh, yes!” She had clasped her hands together excitedly in front of her. “You will be a valuable member of The Serpents.”

…Yeah, he couldn’t lie to himself. That did not exactly comfort him, but oh well. He had plastered his trademark smile on his face and spun lies about how the HPSC overworked and underplayed him, (which wasn’t exactly a lie) and how he had heard of their gang through someone on the streets whispering of a way to make good money. Whisper had bought it, and Hawks had been left with the sickeningly sweet taste of his lies lingering in his mouth - smooth as honey.

The sweet taste, like all of the other lies he’d ever told, slowly began to taste like ash the longer he pretended they were the truth.

He’d been pretending for so long, he was used to it - in fact, he had been used to it for a very, very long time by now.

After all, Hawks was born from lies and dishonesty covered up with sweet smiles, and Takami Keigo was buried because of it.

Chapter Text

~

When Touya was six - small for his age, burns littering his pale skin and strands of white hair well on their way to replacing the bright red it used to be, he had cuddled up to his mother on a rainy day as she sat in a rocking chair, quietly humming lullabies and hymns she had told him came from her childhood. In particular, she was fond of ‘Love Divine, All Loves Excelling’, even though by then she had not been even remotely religious (to his own knowledge - his dad had never allowed him or Fuyumi to ask any questions about religion and his mother was not allowed to speak of it because of that - even when she hummed, she did it as barely a whisper.) Touya had once asked why she sang so much about Jesus or God if she no longer believed in them, and she had simply smiled at him, albeit a little subdued.

“It reminds me of when things were much simpler for me, darling. I may not be so faithful now, but some things from my childhood will always stick with me. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Touya had pouted. He hated when adults said that - why couldn’t they just explain it to him now?

“Mama,” he had said, after the silence between them began to go on for much longer than a six year old had been comfortable with. “Does dad love me?”

His lower lip had trembled, despite doing everything to get it to not do that, or… attempting to. His mother had run her hand through his hair gently. “Now where did this question come from?”

Touya had bitten his lip. “Well, he won’t train me anymore. He says I can’t be All Might. Mama, he said I was a failed creation. But I’m not! I swear I can do it if he gives me a chance -”

His mother had sighed. “Your father is… a complicated man. What he said to you wasn’t right, Touya, but I do believe that he loves you. Did you know that he refused to hold you for weeks when you first came home from the hospital?”

Touya scowled. “That doesn’t make it sound like he loves me.”

His mother ruffled his hair. “You were a preemie, you were born earlier than you were supposed to be. And Touya, you were so, so tiny - you could fit into the palm of your father’s hand.”

Touya’s eyes had widened. “But that’s really small!”

His mother smiled and winked at him. “That’s right. And your father is a very big man isn’t he?”

He giggled. “Yeah! He’s almost bigger than All Might!”

“Mhm,” his mother’s voice had been so, so amused. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“Yes! Yes!” Touya had chanted over and over again.”Tell me a secret!”

“Please,” his mother chided.

“Tell me a secret please!” Touya chirped.

“Your father was terrified to hold you. He thought he’d end up breaking you,” his mother said, letting out a little laugh herself. “Your father is a stubborn man, and it took me piling almost all of the pillows around the house around him and on top of his lap, as he sat on the bed, before he even dared to hold you.”

His mother’s lips had twitched. “And then, while you were in his arms, you pooped on him.”

Touya had laughed so hard, tears began to threaten to cascade down his cheeks.

His mother’s own genuine smile - crinkled silver eyes and little giggles escaping out of her mouth would forever be ingrained in his mind. It was not often that he got to see his mother so content. Just at that age, he hadn’t understood why.

~

To this day, it was still one of only a few… nice memories that Dabi didn’t half mind remembering. Kind of.

Maybe it was because he found himself remembering the nice parts of being Touya as though he were an outsider - as though it wasn’t him directly in those memories. Because Dabi was not, and would never again be Todoroki Touya. 

He physically could not picture himself as that same little kid, because that kid would have never grown up to have the same amount of blood on his hands as Dabi did.

Dabi was what Touya could never be.

Nonetheless, Dabi had never (and never would) try to forget this one, single memory that remained mostly untainted of Endeavor’s terrible parenting, and of his mother’s rapid decline in mental stability.

As long as he remained a stranger to his own memories.

-

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H̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶z̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶e̶a̶s̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶.̶

~

Thank fucking god for Kurogiri. Long story short, Dabi, realizing that he was getting absolutely nothing done while having Yume in his presence, had sarcastically texted in the League’s group chat about needing a babysitter.

Well. Apparently Shigaraki had been well aware that there had been some truth to Dabi’s message, because here Kurogiri was - in the apartment with Yume offering his help to take care of her whenever he’d be away.

A few months ago, Dabi would’ve been disgusted at how easily he had folded and said ‘yes’, but a few months ago, he hadn’t been a father. He’d take whatever benefitted him the most with Yume at this point, which oh, the benefits were fucking fantastic.

Dabi could solely focus on what he needed to get done now. It felt freeing. And sure, he had gotten used to Yume, but being saddled with a baby shortly after joining the League hadn’t exactly been a walk in the park. It still wasn’t - but at least for now, he could put it all to the back of his mind.

Yume was safe and away from harm. She was protected. Kurogiri even had experience with kids.

“I took care of Tomura when he was little,” he had said wistfully, then frowned. “And… I do believe I’ve taken care of another child much younger, but I don’t quite remember.”

Either way, Yume was good - completely and entirely safe. Which meant that it was showtime for Dabi. 

First on the list of things he needed to do? Meet up with Hawks. Unfortunately, he’d be having to do this a hell of a lot more now. Mainly because Hawks was incapable of doing what was asked of him. And Dabi. Hated. Incompetence - which, yeah, it was more complicated than that, but Dabi sure as hell didn’t care.

“Hey,” Hawks winked - the very first thing he did when seeing Dabi. Dabi, for the sake of his sanity, ignored him. For once in his life, Hawks did not speak to him again. 

Dabi chanced a quick glance at Hawks. It was obvious that he was a little jittery. Excited. Dabi didn’t know why - maybe it was because Hawks saw less risk in infiltrating another gang  with Dabi instead of trying to infiltrate the League, but that was an extremely optimistic way of thinking, and Dabi had a feeling that not even Hawks could be that happy.

“Birdie,” Dabi turned to him when they were closer to the location Whisper told them to go to. “You’re not here to be a hero right now. I don’t give a fuck about what this gang is doing to the trigger, I only care about one thing, and you’re here to make finding that information faster.”

Hawks’ lips briefly twitched into a frown. “I know I’m not a hero here, Dabi. Why- you know what, nevermind. What are you looking for?”

Was he really about to potentially give Hawks personal information about himself? Did he really need to know that bad - know if Ronin had decided to leave him once again, this time with a newborn kid, just for the sake of drugs? Know if it was Whisper they worked for? Or if they lost their life for the meagre money involved in this shitshow?

Yeah, he did. 

He needed to know if resenting Ronin for everything he didn't do was stupid or decided based purely on emotional responses. He needed to know that there were valid reasons for the hatred he felt for him - he needed to know if caring for him had been a dumb decision, even when they were sixteen.

“Look for any information pertaining to someone named Ronin, or to someone with a mix of brown and red hair, blue eyes, a long scar going down the side of their face, and faded scars on their arms and neck in the shape of insults.”

Hawks blinked. “I was not expecting -“

“I don’t give a shit about what you expect me to be like,” Dabi snapped. 

Hawks rolled his eyes. “I meant that I wasn’t expecting such a detailed description from you because you tend to be close-lipped, not that you’ve never had a single friend in your entire life, but it’s helpful, so thanks.”

Dabi scowled, then quickly wiped any emotion off his face when he saw Whisper appear from around a corner ahead of them. She smiled widely, taking her hands out of her dress pockets and beckoning them over. 

“She gives me the creeps,” Hawks muttered and yeah, that was one thing they could both agree on. Not that Dabi would ever say that out loud.

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better, Dabi,” Whisper said, placing a lithe hand on his shoulder. Dabi forced himself to stay relaxed at the gesture. “I know our agreement was that you would simply send recruits you didn’t want our way instead of killing them, but I’m really in need of a favour from you and Hawks - which I do apologize for, usually I’d introduce the two of you to each other first but, well...”

Dabi stared at her. Are you fucking kidding me. “What -“

“What would that favour be?” Hawks interrupted loudly, sending an over-exaggerated wink in her direction.

Whisper’s grin widened. “Oh, just… cleaning some things up in our makeshift infirmary!”

Hawks smiled, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Dabi really wished that people would stop touching him, damn it. “Well, I bet we could do that for you, right?”

Fuck you, you dumb bird. “Yeah.”

————

“What the fuck,” Dabi said, staring down at sickly thin, wide-eyed men shaking violently on the mattress in front of him and Hawks.

“Poor dears,” the nurse had tsked as she walked hurriedly on by. “That mission was just too much for them. Please make it quick, won’t you?”

Hawks looked like he was going to be sick at the implications of that. “She wants us to…”

Dabi rolled his eyes. The fact that Whisper disposed of the people that were no longer any use to her was not that shocking. Nor was it shocking that she wanted them to do it - this was obviously some sort of test. It was common practice for a lot of villains who had something big they needed to hide. What was shocking, however, was the condition these men were in. Dabi even thought he recognized a few. What had happened to them? 

“Yes, she wants us to murder them. Is the little hero going to be able to accomplish that?” Or are you going to blow our cover?

Hawks actually glared at him. “You make it sound like having a moral compass is bad.”

Dabi grinned, staples pulling at his cheeks. “Because it is. Now, since you’re not going to do it, move over.”

Hawks didn’t move. Dabi narrowed his eyes and shoved him. Hawks yelped as he stumbled. “What the -“

“I’m not going to listen to you while you tell me what’s morally wrong or right,” Dabi sneered. “Because you and I both are well aware that this is fucking wrong . But don’t you worry, birdie. I’m not doing this because I think it’s okay. I’m doing this because I want to and it benefits me.”

And with that, Dabi sent a burst of blue flames at the men on the mattress. They had been too weak to even scream. 

When blue eyes bright with malice met shocked yellow ones, it was easy to tell that something had changed between the two of them. There was a new level of understanding there - that they were two men on opposite ends of a spectrum, and that Dabi was most definitely on the irredeemable end.

And of course now was when the conversation he remembered Touya having with his mother all those years ago resurfaced to the front of his mind.

“If there is a God out there,” Dabi said into the silence between him and Hawks, smoke furling out of his arms as the smell of burnt flesh began to become overwhelming to even him. “I am well aware that he will condemn me to hell the moment I take my last breath.”

Chapter Text

Hawks was shocked at how quickly Dabi could just… kill . Okay, maybe he should’ve expected it - the man was an A rank villain, but seriously, what the fuck.

Hawks had literally had training in killing people, and even he still froze at the sight of the men.

He was even more shocked that Dabi had been lying when he said he was doing it for his own benefit. It was there in the twitch of his eye, the previous mentioning of a person named Ronin.

Dabi wanted to know what happened to someone he had cared about. He went about it in a horrifying way, but holy fuck.

The Commission had been under the assumption that Dabi didn’t care for anyone but himself. This was a stark contrast to that belief.

It made Dabi more dangerous. It made Hawks more intrigued and, if he dared to even say it, a little less hateable.

Fuck.

————

“Dabi,” Kurogiri sighed as he handed Yume back over to him. “Your daughter does not like it when you aren’t around.”

Dabi raised his eyebrows as he settled his daughter on his hip, low enough to where no matter how hard she made little grabbing motions at the staples on his face, she wouldn’t be able to grab them. Dabi was glad she hadn’t discovered that he also had staples on his wrists. “How the fuck do you know that?”

“She only stopped crying when she napped and… well, now.”

Dabi stared down at Yume’s tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes. Yume proceeded to try to shove his fist in her mouth, slobbering all over his hand. This was her idea of revenge, maybe. He couldn’t stop his face from scrunching up in disgust at that. “She’ll get used to me not being around all the time. It’s not like I can strap her to my chest with one of those carriers and take her out with me.”

Even Dabi was not that bad at parenting.

Kurogiri sighed. “Hopefully. She’ll understand why you leave when she’s older, at least.”

Dabi froze, horror beginning to shine through on his face. Oh, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. “When she’s older.”

Kurogiri tilted his head. “…Yes?”

“Oh my fucking god, what am I going to tell her when she’s fucking older? That her father’s a serial arsonist and a murderer and that’s why he couldn’t stick around to- I don’t fucking know, play barbies?!”

“ Dabi,” Kurogiri sounded almost surprised at his outburst. “Are you not raising her to be a villain?”

Dabi threw one of his hands up, the other one still supporting Yume on his hip. “I dont fucking know. Can this even be considered me raising a god damn baby, or am I just making sure she doesn’t fucking starve?”

“Don’t start that up again,” Kurogiri said, sounding strangely soft. “You’ve been taking care of her for almost as long as she’s been alive. You didn’t have to do that, no matter how much you claim you did. You are raising her. How you want to do that is up to you.”

Dabi looked at him, then at Yume. A weird feeling stirred within him. Yume was… well, Yume. He couldn’t describe how he felt towards his daughter. He didn’t think it was love, but it wasn’t like he didn’t care anymore either - there was no point in denying it anymore. He… didn’t mind it when he made her laugh, or smile. He wouldn’t mind making it so that she’d never be sad again, if that was possible. “I’m not going to raise her to be anything but what she wants to be. It’s her life to live, no one else’s.” Not mine, not the League’s, not anyone’s.

Dabi figured out what that weird feeling had been shortly after, when his mouth twitched into a frown as he imagined Yume taking the place of Todoroki Touya. Or Fuyumi. Natsuo. Fuck, even Shouto. As he imagined himself in the position of his father, condemning Yume to a fate similar to his own.

I will not be anything like Endeavor.

And then:

I will be so much better.

————

Hawks had been having a perfectly normal patrol. He had arrested a couple of robbers, took selfies with his fans, and answered some questions about his secretly pathetic love life. Apparently, the rumours about him and Mirko had died down long ago, and, according to the press, his most recent hook-up had been Mount Lady.

He didn’t even know Mount Lady. Nonetheless, apparently she had a thing for being ‘ rendered completely helpless by the winged hero’s strong, red feathers.’

Firstly, what the fuck.

Secondly, what the double fuck.

Thirdly, why were people so adamant that he was into bondage?! Ignoring the fact that he probably implied it while flirting with someone without even realizing what he had done.

As much as Hawks probably implied all of that , the only people he had ever tied up were villains. But it looked like his fans would definitely rather not know that - which was even more obvious in the horrifyingly graphic smut fanfictions Rumi liked to force him to read whenever they got drunk together.

~

“This one is titled ‘baby bird’. And- oh, it gets right fucking to it. Listen to this. ’I whined and thrashed helplessly, red feathers holding my wrists above my head as Hawks took my clit into his mouth and sucked’ -“

Hawks went bright red. “Rumi!”

Rumi cackled. “Oh my god, your fans are horny.”

“I don’t wanna hear anything coming from the woman who has a fanfiction written about her where the reader literally gets crushed to death by your thighs.”

Rumi scrunched up her face. “Oh god yeah, that was the day we learnt what ‘dead dove: do not eat’ means.”

Hawks shivered. “And the day we decided that no matter how drunk we got, we’d never go within 100 feet of the ‘watersports’ tag ever again.”

~

Either way, that became the least of his concerns when, as he lowered himself to the ground to give his wings a little break, someone gripped his arm and spun him against the wall into a dark, totally-not-creepy-at-all alleyway.

Hawks stared at the sobbing woman who clung to his clothes like her life depended on it. She was sickly looking - terribly gaunt, except for the bump on her stomach. She was heavily pregnant.

“Listen,” she heaved, looking into his eyes. “Hawks, I’ve never worked directly with you, but I did work at the Commission. So, you’re going to skip the formalities behind telling me that you can save me when I tell you what I need you to do next, got it?”

Hawks gaped. “I- what.”

She pulled herself up to whisper in his ear. Hawks could feel her full-body tremors against his own limbs. “You need proof that I worked there? Your name is Takami Keigo.”

Hawks paused. That was… adequate proof. “Okay, fine. What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to give me a weapon.”

…What. Hawks gave her a look . “Ma’am, I legally cannot give you that.”

She scowled at him. “So help me god, if you don’t give me a weapon I will broadcast your entire identity and family history to the world.”

That threat had a tiny bit of a kick to it, damn. “Why do you need a-“

“The Serpents,” she stressed. “You have no idea what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into, have you?”

Uhhhhh.

Hawks did not like where this was going. “If you need protection -“

“If you protect me, you will blow your cover and get you and whoever the hell is helping you - some vigilante I assume, killed or worse. They aren’t just trying to make stronger trigger, fuck ! They killed my husband! Just give me a fucking weapon, and promise me you will not, under any circumstances, tell the commission the truth about anything you find out about them from here on out.”

This made Hawks even more uncomfortable. A former commission employee - presumably once higher up in management, telling him to lie to them? “ …Why?”

“Because,” the woman said. “If they find out what Whisper is actually trying to do, they won’t want you to put a stop to her trigger dealings anymore. Don’t give me that look, you know damn well what the HPSC is capable of, Hawks. You know they’re not always the epitome of morality.”

Hawks… was aware of the Commission's occasional bouts of cruelty, yes. “What is it that Whisper is attempting to accomplish?”

The woman threw her hands up in frustration. “That’s the thing, I don’t fucking know! All I know is that two months ago, they came into my apartment, slit my husband’s throat in front of me, tried to kidnap me, and have been chasing me down ever since. It was pure luck that I overheard one of them mention something that alluded to more motivation besides just ‘oh, woe is me! I’m going to make the world a fucking shitshow just because!’ But it wasn’t like I could go tell a hero, because then that information would get back to the Commission! Until you -“ she poked him in the chest. “Presumably went against their wishes to infiltrate what they still believe is a harmless gang. You’re the only fucking chance I have at getting away, despite arguably being the one hero who is the deepest inside the Commission’s pockets.”

Hawks blinked as he processed the information. There was a chance that she was lying, but it was looking like that was a slim possibility. “I’ll take your word into account, but I still legally cannot give you a weapon.”

The woman went back to looking like she was about to burst into tears.

“And,” Hawks continued. “I feel morally obligated to tell you that under no circumstances should you find a vigilante in the dingy bar down the street that goes by the name of ‘Warmonger’. He sells very dangerous and illegal swords, daggers, probably other stuff too for an affordable price. Definitely a no go.”

The woman stared at him in shock.

“Anyway,” Hawks smiled, walking backwards out of the alleyway. “I gotta get back to my patrol!”

As Hawks flew away, he began to really feel a sense of dread. His mind was fixating on the interaction with the pregnant woman. She’d managed to really jar him, and he didn’t even know her name.

What was Whisper doing that the Commission could potentially find interest in? Hawks pulled out his phone and called the contact he had named ‘ Hot Stuff’ purely because he knew it would piss Dabi off if he ever found out about it.

“Oh my god, is Hawks on the phone with Mount Lady?” One girl screeched, followed by a cacophony of other people joining in. Hawks simply grinned and flew higher up, away from prying ears.

“ What,” Came a raspy, exhausted sounding voice not a moment later.

“So,” Hawks began casually. “I know you said that all you cared about was your own goals, so I won’t tell you anything I just found out -“

“Hawks,” Dabi warned. “Do not start -“

“ - and I’ll just skip to the part where I ask how the hell you would, completely hypothetically, go about hiding information from the HPSC that they expect you to give them in like, a day or two. Again, completely hypothetically. This isn’t me asking for advice.”

Hawks could almost see the deadpan, hate-filled stare on Dabi’s face as if they were talking face to face.

“…What the fuck type of reverse psychology is this?”

Hawks frowned. Why did Dabi always have to be so difficult ? “What are you talking about?”

“You seriously think I’m going to believe that you’re going against the fucking Commission because you’re asking me how to do it? Fuck off, I know what you’re trying to do.”

Hawks squawked. “That’s not what I’m -“

A weird, high-pitched sound interrupted him, followed by another crashing sound of Dabi presumably throwing his phone across the room, and then muffled, frantic whispers from afar. Hawks quite literally had never felt so suddenly confused in his entire life. “Uh, hello?”

Nothing.

“Dabi? What-“

Did he just hear Dabi say something about not crying ? “Um. What the hell is going on -“

Finally, Dabi returned to the phone. Just to string an impressive number of curse words together and hang up.

Hawks tilted his head, staring blankly at his phone screen. “Right… okay .”

Considering how his conversations with Dabi usually went, this one was by far the most confusing. 

At least this one wasn’t anger inducing.

Chapter Text

“Um. What the hell is going on -“

Dabi would like to know as well. One minute, he was pacing around the apartment he was in with Yume lying peacefully on the bed. The next minute, she was glaring at him and screaming bloody fucking murder.

The scream was so angry, Dabi actually thought something was wrong. Besides just having a baby who was in the midst of developing extreme amounts of fucking sass, of course.

And, in a panic, Dabi didn’t hang up the phone. Yume - the baby he was supposed to be keeping a secret from the heroes, was wailing and he hadn’t hung up . Hawks could fucking hear her. 

His heart leapt up to his throat as he scrambled to where his phone lay surprisingly undamaged on the ground, letting out a string of curses as he finally ended the call. He grimaced as he stood up though - that was a particularly embarrassing moment for him. At least it was just him and Yume, and Yume was still too young to be able to grow up and remember what he just did.

Speaking of Yume, she was upset. Inconsolable, even. She hadn’t been this bad since she had been a newborn. Hell, Dabi hadn’t felt this out of depth since she was a newborn. 

So he did what he always did best: he cradled and rocked her in his arms and just… hoped for the best. Her cries didn’t sound like the hungry or ‘shitty’ ones, so there was that.

Eventually, she calmed down. Until Dabi tried to put her down for a moment. Then she started back up again. Dabi shushed her, the realization of what she wanted was hitting him.

She just wanted attention.

“The princess gets what she wants,” Dabi drawled sarcastically, picking her up and holding her up in front of him. She had her stupid pink rabbit plushy clasped tightly in her hand. “Did you hear that, asshole? Are you a princess?”

“Gah-bah!” Yume said, eloquently as always, and sticking out her tongue. Her hair was starting to get longer - it was easy to tell that she had inherited Ronin’s curls now. Besides that and the darker hue of her eyes, she still looked a hell of a lot like him.

Dabi did not take pride in that. Nope. Absolutely fucking not.

That was a lie. 

“Yeah?” Dabi pretended to hum thoughtfully. “Does that make me a king then?”

Yume smacked him in the face with the rabbit.

“You could’ve just said no,” Dabi told her seriously. Finally, Yume let out a giggle.

No more grumpy baby.

As for Hawks… well, Dabi didn’t fucking know what to do about that. If it were up to him, he’d never speak to the bird again, but unfortunately, that was getting less and less possible as the days went on. Pulling out his phone, Dabi decided to finally stop ignoring the League’s group chat.

~

Himiko’s cute friends!! (Shiggy stop changing it back this is less boring ❤️❤️❤️)

Dabi: Oi.

Toga: oh my god he’s alive!!!

how’s little baby Yume? you didn’t send any pictures of her!! how am I supposed to know if she’s grown?? <:(

Twice: Dabi!! We haven’t spoke to you in SO LONG

Compress: It’s good to hear from you, Dabi. Please send more recent photos of Yume to us when you get the chance.

Spinner: Okay but is anyone else worried about the fact that he texted us randomly out of the blue? Do you need help or some shit?

Dabi: Spinner’s my favourite now.

Toga: WHAT NOOOOO BIG BRO DABI WHAT ABOUT ME???? :((( 

Dabi: Don’t call me that. I’m not a big brother.

Toga: i am totally calling u that!! ur everyone’s big bro except for twice, compress, and kurogiri because they’re like actually adults

Spinner: Does anyone even know how old Kurogiri is?

Dabi: Wtf I’m an actual adult too, Toga. I’m 24. I have a whole ass child.

Shigaraki: hell no. im not a little sibling.

Twice: really?

Compress: I admit that I find that a little surprising too.

Shigaraki: what the fuck is that supposed to mean

Dabi: It means you act like the average younger sibling does. You’re whiny.

Shigaraki: no tf im not

Shigaraki: and how do YOU know anything about younger siblings if you aren’t an OLDER BROTHER

Twice: oooh busted!!! you’re both lying i can feel it in my bones

Dabi: Fuck off. Dusty, I want your opinion on something.

Shigaraki: u have no right to call me that when your skin is one sunburn away from disintegrating

Shigaraki: but what is it that you want

Dabi: If you were me and you had to see if Hawks was worth recruiting, and Hawks randomly called you to ask how to hide something big from the HPSC, would you think he’s telling the truth or lying?

Toga: omg hawksie!!!!!!!!! i wanna stab him so bad dabi pls let me meet him!!!!

Shigaraki: what does he have to gain from lying about that?

Dabi: I don’t know. Not a lot. It’s not like I’ll ever trust him.

Shigaraki: exactly. nothing. if he’s got nothing to gain from lying to you about something then chances are he isn’t lying to you. 

Compress: I agree. I’m not saying you should completely trust him, but I do think your hatred of him sometimes gets in the way of being able to properly judge a situation. Hawks is a hero. If he needs to lie to the HPSC to help someone, he probably will. So analyze the situation, Dabi.

Dabi: K. Here’s a picture of Yume btw.

[Picture of Yume lying on her stomach, sticking her tongue out at the camera.]

~

Dabi stared at the contact in his phone simply named ’the fucking bird’ for a good few minutes before taking a deep breath and deciding to call him back now that Yume was suitably content in his arms and starting to drift off to sleep.

“ Dabi, are you like, okay?” Was the first thing that Hawks said when he picked up. “Is it- were you attacked by- oh fuck, this is my fault -“

“Hawks, what the fuck are you going on about? Nobody attacked me.”

Hawks audibly sighed in relief, which left Dabi reeling. Why did Hawks suddenly care so much about his well-being? When he voiced this question, Hawks paused for a moment.

“I think that you might want to hear the full story.”

Dabi’s blood, once again, started to boil. No fucking shit.

————

Dabi stared blankly at the wall as Hawks finally finished relaying his interaction with the woman in the alleyway. 

“But I don’t understand, what are they doing with the trigger if their motives aren’t just sending it out onto the streets of Japan?” Hawks groaned. “I’ve been thinking about her for ages now, but I don’t see any patterns between her and the other victims you killed.”

Oh, there was a pattern. Dabi could see it clear as day - but only for one reason.

He had more information than Hawks did now. 

Those men weren’t in the same category as the woman was. They had been distractions, Dabi was sure of it.

But if he told Hawks that - if he said that Ronin and the woman he met indicated a potential pattern, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out why. 

It also meant that there was a possibility that Ronin hadn’t been killed just because they pissed off a gang, rather that they had gotten themselves entangled in some fucked up shit. Maybe even got Yume entangled in it, too.

Yeah, fuck that. 

“Maybe because there isn’t a pattern, Birdie,” Dabi lied smoothly, briefly glancing down at Yume. “That woman had just been through something traumatic, she’s probably just paranoid. She pissed off the Serpents, and she doesn’t want to pay the price for it.”

That was utter bullshit. It was Hawks’ turn to pause. “I disagree. I think there is a pattern here, I just don’t have proof.”

“Between what?” Dabi rubbed his eyes. “You have had one woman come up to you and tell you that the Serpents aren’t just selling trigger and suddenly you want to solve a mystery that doesn’t fucking exist. Don’t be a dumbass. ”

“Careful,” Hawks snapped. Dabi blinked in shock. “I’m beginning to think that you’re actually working with Whisper.”

Dabi burst out laughing. “Wha -“

“ Or,” Hawks said. “Maybe it’s you that’s got something to hide, after all.”

Dabi froze, déjà vu setting in. “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about -“

“No, Hot Stuff,” Hawks interrupted in a purr. “I think you do. See, just because you like to claim that I am a horrible spy and that you’re going to have to do everything yourself doesn’t mean that I haven’t had formal training, unlike you . I can read body language. I can detect when someone is avoiding the truth by listening to the lilts and intonations of their voice . I can tell that the turn our conversation has taken is unnerving you, even though I can’t see your face. You know there’s a pattern here just as much as I do, but there’s a difference between you and I.”

Dabi’s eyes widened.

“You’re afraid of someone putting the pieces together. And as for me? I’m eager to be the one to do it.”

Dabi was starting to prefer the Hawks that acted like he was dumb and completely incompetent. Because what the fuck .

“Is that so?” Dabi said blankly. “I think you’re overestimating the skills you were taught by the Commission. I’m not hiding anything, and I’m definitely not afraid.”

Hawks laughed. It grated on his nerves. “You can’t hide forever, Dabi. Eventually, everything you have ever tried to bury will resurface, even if you don’t want it to. Especially if it’s connected to the Serpents. I refuse to give up on uncovering what Whisper is up to.”

Dabi’s hackles rose. Hawks was being uncharacteristically mean. “Was that a fucking threat?”

“No,” Hawks replied coolly. “It was a promise.”

And then he hung up.

————

Hawks didn’t know why Dabi had managed to royally piss him off like that - just that it had happened, and he had gone absolutely ballistic.

The fact that he and Dabi both had similar goals and yet he still refused to help him out probably played a major part, but Hawks’ slip in controlling his temper was still shocking to him nonetheless. 

Somehow, Dabi always managed to bring the worst out of him. It wasn’t like Hawks would ever normally go around and insult, covertly threaten or pin people to walls with a sharpened feather to their throats - with Dabi, his emotions seemed to go from one to one-hundred in less than a second. His impulse control did the complete opposite, it seemed.

In his defence, Dabi had also tried to murder him once, so. Hawks was completely within his rights to have a hard time getting along with the villain. Except now, the fact that they both heavily disliked each other with a passion was getting in the way of his work.

Hawks needed to fix that. Question was - how? It wasn’t like he could just cozy up to Dabi and be nice to him all of a sudden. Not only would that make Dabi suspicious, but Hawks would undoubtedly eventually slip up. The only way that Hawks could see Dabi agreeing to some sort of truce would be-

Oh.

Hawks stiffened in his seat. 

Complete honesty. If he told Dabi his original mission - infiltrating the League, and then claimed to have defected from the Commission, he’d be able to make his story a hell of a lot more believable. Only issue with that plan would be the fact that he’d have to go under deep cover - everyone but a few higher ups in his agency and the Commission would have to believe that he became a villain. And he’d have to lose any and all contacts within hero society for the duration of his mission - that could be anywhere from months to years.

Usually, the only heroes who went undercover like that were underground heroes. Hawks had never heard of a limelight hero trying to do the same - their fame and, well… sometimes, notoriety made it impossible most of the time.

If he did it - if he fooled the world into thinking he became a villain, he’d be the first limelight hero to do so.

It was a gamble, and one with huge detriments if it didn’t work. But if it did… if he survived, the benefits would be immense. 

The woman’s words about not trusting the HPSC kept flashing in his mind. It made his gut twist. If he did decide to go through with going under deep cover, it would fix the issue of him having to report back to them nearly every day.

Still - this was one decision that he wouldn’t make without consulting someone else first, though. 

And he had a good idea about who he should go to.

It looked like Hawks would be flying over to Musutafu sometime soon.

Chapter Text

Walking into UA high school felt like taking a glimpse at what his life could’ve been like had things been just slightly different. In a world where the Commission hadn’t bought him and paid his mother to stay silent about his past - where he’d have made friends and gone by the name of Keigo. Probably. If he hadn't like, you know, starved to death in the dumpster fire his parents had called a home before then.

Seeing Class 1A and their teacher all together by barging in through their classroom door was a whole other experience. In hindsight, he probably should’ve taken into account the fact that every single person in that room had ample experience with villains randomly attacking them at school and that, because of that, they may have some… reactions to his surprise appearance.

But he hadn’t. So when he heard a bunch of yelps he had planned on accepting his fate and getting trapped in Eraserhead’s capture weapon. He wasn’t expecting the tape, though. Apparently, neither was the kid who managed to catch him, because he was staring at Hawks like he’d grown a second head.

“Um,” the kid gaped, slowly retracting the tape. “ Uh -“

“Sero,” Eraserhead drawled. “You just earned extra credit for quick thinking.”

The kid - Sero, looked at his teacher in shock. “Uh, thank you Sensei.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Eraserhead continued. “I would’ve failed you if this were an exam. At the time you released Hawks, were you absolutely certain that he wasn’t an imposter?”

Sero sputtered.

“We went over the logistics of Toga Himiko’s quirk yesterday, don’t forget that lesson. Always confirm identities,” Eraserhead turned to glare at him. Hawks gave a twitchy wave to Tokoyami, who then proceeded to look like he’d rather be anywhere but this class. “Hawks, let’s talk. Outside.”

Hawks saw the Todoroki kid tilt his head in curiosity at him as he walked out the door and swore he heard the pink kid ‘ ooooh ’ at him. Wow, he was really getting the full high school experience in just a few short minutes - ridicule and all.

“Care to explain why a top ten pro hero just  pranced into UA uninvited, into my classroom, while I was teaching ?” Eraserhead seethed. Hawks tried to maintain eye contact, he really did, but that was a losing battle. The floor was looking particularly interesting right this second, oh my.

“I… needed to talk to you?” Hawks shrugged sheepishly. “And I forgot that… Uhhhh, school was happening like right now?”

“You forgot there was school right now,” Eraserhead repeated flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How old are you - eighteen? How did you forget about school when you look like you’re freshly graduated?”

Probably because I never went.

“Okay, I’m not that young,” Hawks protested, mildly offended. “I’m twenty-three, Eraser. And I need your opinion before I go ask the Commission to do something that could potentially kill me, so I jumped the gun a little bit.”

Eraserhead raised a brow. “We’re not on duty right now - I’m just a teacher, and you’re acting just as stupid as a first year hero student. Call me Aizawa. What the hell did you do?”

Hawks was beginning to actually feel stupid as this conversation continued on. “So, I was thinking of… going under, um. Deep cover. So I thought I’d - I dunno, ask you for advice or something. You’re the only one I know of who’s actually successfully done it.”

“You’re not being serious right now,” Aizawa said. “Tell me you’re joking.”

Hawks stayed silent.

“ Why,” Aizawa sighed. “Do you feel that it’s necessary for you, a limelight pro, to go undercover like that? Do you have any idea what that’ll do to your reputation? Nobody will trust you again.”

“But you did it -“

“And I’m an underground hero,” Aizawa interrupted. “Nobody knows who Eraserhead is. My reputation was never and will never be at risk for the rest of my hero career because I don’t have one in regards to the general public. You, on the other hand, do. You’re also famous, Hawks, and going undercover like that can be traumatic - which I have a feeling you’re not equipped to deal with. This isn’t a good idea.”

“I need to get some guy to trust me, and he won’t if I’m still,” Hawks gestured around them. “ Here.”

“You need to convince a vigilante that you’re a villain?” Aizawa blinked. Hawks made a so-so gesture. Aizawa narrowed his eyes, telling Hawks to follow him inside an abandoned classroom. “Hawks, what did you get yourself into?”

Hawks rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s a long story.”

“Funnily enough, I’ve heard that excuse before,” Aizawa said brazenly. “Start talking.”

“But -“

“Hawks,” Aizawa glared, activating his quirk. “Start. Talking.”

Jesus. Aizawa was intimidating.

Hawks started talking.

————

Aizawa was staring blankly at him. After a minute, Hawks began to shift uncomfortably. “Is there… are you gonna say anything?”

“I have nothing even remotely nice to say to you.”

Hawks winced. Aizawa continued on regardless.

“Firstly, you’re going from one extreme to the other. Just because you have to get closer to -“ Aizawa's face twisted “- Dabi for your mission doesn’t mean you have to play the part of a villain for the entire world to see. Make him empathize with you.”

Huh . “But how do I do that?”

“Villains don’t just appear out of thin air,” Aizawa said grimly. “There’s always a reason why they turn to crime - good or bad. I told you that going under deep cover like that was the dumbest and most dramatic idea I’ve heard from a full-fledged pro in a long time, but I didn’t say that using undercover tactics was stupid. That idea has merit to it. Pry for information, make calculated assumptions about him, and apply a select few of those to yourself. Make him relate to you - draw parallels between you and himself. He’ll be more likely to confide in you.”

Hawks blinked. “That’s not manipulative at all.”

And this was coming from someone who had been taught how to manipulate someone from the moment he turned eight.

Aizawa snorted derisively. “Do you think I survived as long as I have in underground heroics by being as morally correct as All Might? Do you think I was completely honest and non-manipulative to all the people involved in the human trafficking rings I took down from the inside?”

Holy shit. Aizawa was fucking ruthless.

“Do you think I haven’t ever had to do something considered bad or immoral for the sake of completing my mission - making the decision to save larger groups of people over one human being?”

Hawks said nothing. Aizawa stared at him a minute longer, before something in his eyes softened.

“Look,” he said. “I’m not saying this to be rude or discouraging, but you’re infiltrating villain organizations now. You’re going to have to let go of some of those morals you’re upholding in your head. You can’t save everyone - and when you can’t, whatever you have to do after you realize that, don’t hesitate. It’ll cost more lives in the long run. ”

Hawks had never, ever, heard a hero speak like this before. It was jarring.

“The Commission ,” Aizawa emphasized. “Has made it seem like being a real hero is exactly like how the pre-quirk comic book heroes were to the public. We’re meant to be bubbly - kid friendly, mostly, and cheerful or overconfident. When you’ve been working to catch some of the most secretive, dangerous villains in Japan for long enough, it becomes apparent that heroics is nothing like that and they just like to spew bullshit to keep the ratings of heroes up, while choosing a select few people to continue doing their dirty work. You would know about the last part of what I said, wouldn’t you? You’re Nagant’s replacement, are you not?”

Hawks squawked. Aizawa looked satisfied with himself. “I thought so.”

“Have you always been this cynical about heroics?” Hawks asked. Aizawa looked him dead in the eye as he backed away towards the door.

“What do you think?”

Hawks thought that there was no way Aizawa's opinions weren’t shaped from his own personal experiences. If he had always had such a poor opinion about the HPSC, why would he have ever become a hero?

And that?

That sent a chill up his spine.

Before heading out the door, Aizawa turned to him one last time, surveying him with sharp eyes.

“You don’t know me well, but if you ever need help or advice with your mission, my ears are open.”

The clicking sound of the door shutting behind him sounded much louder in Hawks’ ears than it actually was.

“I… feel stupid,” Hawks muttered sullenly under his breath. On the plus side, it was a good thing he didn’t impulsively make decisions on his own this time.

Unfortunately, this left him in the same position as before - he wasn’t a fan of Dabi, Dabi absolutely despised him, and… well, how the hell was he supposed to find common ground or draw parallels or whatever if they couldn’t even have a single conversation without fighting?

Luck, probably. Seeing as Hawks just couldn’t see how Dabi would ever be able to relate to him.

In fact, he almost wished the Commission spent a little more time on the useful parts of his training in later years than those ‘public perception’ lessons.

Almost .

Chapter Text

~

“Dabi, let’s take a photo together!” Sixteen-year-old Ronin had said, pointing excitedly at a photo booth in an arcade. Dabi had given them a look.

“But you’re all over the news for nearly killing that- mmpf!”

Ronin had stared widely at him, their hand slapped tightly across Dabi’s mouth. “Shh! What the fuck, dude.”

Dabi glared at them until they removed their hand. “Nobody heard me.”

“I thought I taught you better than that,” Ronin tsked. “Looks like somebody needs more training. Bad dog.”

“Haha,” Dabi drawled, then knocked them over the head. “You’re not funny.”

“ I’m fucking hilarious, actually!” Ronin quipped, pulling up their hood and physically dragging Dabi inside the booth. “You’re just incapable of seeing it because your only two personality traits are obnoxiously angry and obnoxiously confused. I swear that sometimes you’ve never interacted with someone your age before me.”

Dabi stayed silent. Ronin turned to him. “Oh fuck, have you not?”

“I have!” Dabi protested. His somewhat isolated childhood and three years in a coma did not count. “Of fucking course I have, what do you mean -“

“- Holy shit,” Ronin interrupted breathily. “That would explain why you had no idea what the fuck dick riding meant when I made that one joke about Endeavor and All Might.”

That joke had been awful (and even more traumatizing for Dabi to hear considering… you know), and so had the experience of Ronin explaining ‘dick riding’ to him in depth through fits of annoyingly high-pitched giggles.

Dabi turned bright pink in embarrassment at the memory just as Ronin wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him in closer to their body, grinning and throwing up a peace sign as the photo of them was taken.

“This is hilarious,” Ronin cackled later that day, staring at the photos of the two of them - in which only one had Dabi actually made an effort to make some sort of gesture in. They shoved the photos into their pocket.

“I’ll be keeping these, pretty boy.”

That was another thing that Dabi wasn’t particularly fond of. The pet names that Ronin used and discarded constantly were just plain annoying. For one thing, Dabi was not pretty. He was horrifyingly ugly -  with slightly discoloured scarred, wrinkled skin covering a good portion of his body and cheaply dyed black hair.

“Don’t call me that,” Dabi grumbled heatedly, shoving his hands into his hoodie’s pockets.

“Whatever you want, baby!”

Dabi involuntarily snorted. “Ronin, would you please shut the fuck up before you make people think we’re together -“

“Sure thing, honey-boo!”

He shook his head, grinning in amusement despite himself.

Dabi had lied. The pet names weren’t too bad sometimes.

~

Dabi sometimes wondered if Ronin had actually kept those stupid pictures. He sure as hell wouldn’t have if he’d been the one to pocket them, but Ronin was weirdly sentimental in some ways. They had always referred to it as them collecting souvenirs from their travels. Dabi, on the other hand, referred to it as a weird form of hoarding - where he thought that Ronin actually valued objects more than the people around them.

Now, he was beginning to wonder if that was truly the case. Ronin had always said they would never be forced to stay in one place ever again whenever they talked about their past. Dabi had just… never fully realized what that implied. He’d never realized how terrified Ronin must’ve been about potentially becoming stuck around abusers day in and day out, just like what had happened to them at school.

At the end of the day, Ronin had been just as fucked up as everyone else who winded up as a villain.

Like most criminals, their descent into villainy could’ve been prevented if someone had just helped them - listened to them.

But nobody did.

And Ronin paid the price for it.

~

Okay, fuck. Dabi didn’t know what the fuck he was doing - there, he admitted it. The decision to go and start infiltrating a gang because they might have had something to do with Ronin’s death was a dumb one. The decision that lead to him having to work with Hawks was an even worse decision.

In the words of Shigaraki, ’this whole fucking situation was created because two grown ass men were overdramatic, overthought everything, and it made you stupid. i have no empathy for u.’

This was followed by a text from Twice that simply said ‘just do what i do and stop thinking.’

First of all, he had every right to be curious about what the fuck Ronin was doing that ended up with them dead and him having to raise a child as a single father.

Second of all- well, fuck. Dabi was in a bit of a dilemma. He was still going to put the blame solely on Hawks. Because Hawks just had to go be a hero and care about more than what Dabi asked him to care about. Still, he could use this to his advantage.

The woman Hawks met in that alleyway had been pregnant.

Ronin would’ve been pregnant at the time they got involved with Trigger dealings.

Dabi could disclose this information to Hawks, but that could put Yume at risk. If Hawks was actually trying to join the League, it would be beneficial to disclose Yume’s… whole existence, but Dabi didn’t believe for a single second that the bird wasn’t working for the HPSC.

It would be a disaster if the HPSC found out that he had a daughter. While Dabi himself never had the… pleasure of interacting with the Commission, he had still grown up right smack in the middle of hero society. Endeavor, who had oftentimes been supportive of whatever the hell the HPSC was doing, used to claim that they all ‘ saw the merit in having heroes with strong quirks.’

Little Touya had agreed. Heroes needed good quirks to beat bad guys, after all.

Dabi thought back on that memory and said ‘ what the fuck’.

Dabi didn’t know how fucked up the HPSC was, but he definitely wouldn’t trust them with the knowledge that a villain with a fire quirk that can rival the Number One Hero’s powers had a child with a villain who could boil blood. Not one fucking bit.

If Yume ended up developing a quirk, there was a good chance it would be a strong one. 

He didn’t trust the heroes not to take advantage of that. Of her. Not after what happened to Touya.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

…Fuck it. This was his daughter he was talking about.

Not after what happened to him .

~

For the first time in many years, Dabi made the decision to remember Todoroki Touya as a part of himself.

For the first time, Dabi and Touya came the closest to being synonymous with each other since Dabi first decided to completely leave behind who he had once been, choosing instead to wield his upbringing as nothing more than a weapon.

The very memory of Todoroki Touya was never meant to have been protected by Dabi. And yet…

Oh.

Oh.

Dabi felt a growing sense of horror.

~

Here lies Ronin and with them, whatever the fuck was left of Todoroki Touya.

~

Dabi looked down at Yume. She grinned at him, blue eyes crinkling.

She really did have their eyes. Their smile, too.

Yume looked a lot like him, but she was also part of Ronin, too. Not that Dabi understood all that DNA genetics shit - cut him some slack, he never went to high school - but he could remember something along those lines.

Ah, shit.

If parts of Ronin lived on through their daughter, then did Touya fully die?

“Yes,” Dabi muttered to himself forcefully. “He’s fucking dead. If he wasn’t, Dabi would’ve never been born from his ashes.”

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

O̶r̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶T̶o̶u̶y̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶y̶ ̶c̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶D̶a̶b̶i̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶?̶

————

Dabi was pretty sure he was onto the third existential crisis caused by none other than his daughter, who was making the ability to remain apathetic all the time much more difficult.

Dabi absolutely hated it.

That wasn’t his main issue though - currently, he had to try to figure out how to give Hawks enough information to help him and not help the heroes at the same time.

Said bird was standing in front of him with his dumb pinched expression. “Look, Dabi -“

Dabi scoffed. Hawks twitched.

“I am sorry,” Hawks stressed the ‘sorry’, “for the way I spoke to you the last time we talked. But we’re not getting anywhere. If we can’t trust each other -“

Dabi’s brow rose. Seriously?

“ - then both of our own goals aren’t going to be achieved. And we have similar goals, don’t we?” 

Dabi snorted. “You want to do hero shit and I just want to know what happened to an old acquaintance. There’s no similarities, but fine. You want me to trust you? How’re you gonna make me do that, birdie?”

Dabi watched curiously as Hawks seemed to fight an internal battle with himself. It was quite amusing.

“You hate Endeavor.”

Dabi’s smirk fell. “ Yes.”

Hawks’ frown deepened, his eyes darkening. “You haven’t tried to outright murder him very many times.”

Where was this going? Dabi crossed his arms over his chest, grinning a little manically. “That’s right,” he practically hissed. And, because he was feeling a little petty while the hero notorious for being an Endeavor fanboy was standing stiffly in front of him, he decided to add on to that. “Maybe I should try again sometime soon.”

Hawks’ lips curled. “I’ll give you information on him and the other Todorokis as well as any other information I come across that relates to that acquaintance of yours. Anything you want to know, in exchange for your cooperation, an agreement that you will not physically harm anyone in that family but Endeavor himself, and your trust.”

.

.

.

What.

Every time he thought he finally understood what Hawks was trying to do, he did something like this. This game of back and forth was annoying as fuck.

Dabi blinked in shock, then laughed harshly. “ Oh? Are you really offering to sell out the entire Todoroki family to me in exchange for some help?”

“In exchange for your complete cooperation,” Hawks corrected. “Do we have a deal?”

Dabi hummed thoughtfully. “If I find out the information I give you - no matter how irrelevant it is, has found its way to the HPSC or any other hero, I will find you, slowly turn your wings to ash, and then burn the rest of your body so bad nobody will ever be able to identify you when I go to parade your corpse down the streets of your beloved hometown.”

Dabi was mildly surprised that Hawks had no outward reaction to that threat at all besides an outstretched hand. “Deal.”

Dabi took his hand into his own, clasping them together as they shook, twin grim looks on both of their faces.

This didn’t change the fact that they didn’t trust each other - not really.

It did mean that they’d both have to stop hindering each other, though. Unless Hawks was an extreme two-faced bastard, in which case Dabi wasn’t afraid of playing the same game.

“Well,” Hawks said, plastering a grin on his face. “I look forward to working with you, Mr. Dabi.”

“Funny,” Dabi deadpanned, thinking it was anything but.

————

Information for information had been what Aizawa texted Hawks to try. So he had. On the plus side, it worked. Unfortunately, he now had to feed information about the number one hero and his family to a villain who downright despised them.

At least Dabi wouldn’t be physically hurting Endeavor’s family now, and really - Todoroki Enji was an extremely capable hero. A little bit of information in the wrong hands could be dealt with, Hawks knew that.

What worried him was the possibility of running out of useless information before he was able to stop interacting with Dabi and, by proxy, the League of Villains.

Hawks did not want to have to give away information that could actually get Endeavor brutally murdered. There were still lines he was unwilling to cross.

“How the hell do Underground heroes do this?” Hawks whispered into the silence of his apartment, taking another swig of vodka straight from the bottle.

Being trained in infiltration and actually doing it were two completely different things, Hawks was learning that rapidly enough. Either that or Dabi was just unnecessarily difficult to deal with.

He was going to go with both of those things.

God, Hawks needed to be so drunk off his ass right now.

Chapter Text

~

“Dad?”

“Yes, Touya?” Endeavor grunted as he forced his flames to turn blue. Touya looked at it in wonder, frowning when it flickered back to orange.

“Will I be able to do that one day too?”

Endeavor turned to him, his face devoid of emotion, and yet- he leaned down and ruffled Touya’s fiery red hair. “I’ll teach you it when you’re older.”

“Aw!” Touya pouted, stomping his foot. “But I wanna learn it now! I wanna be strong like you! stronger than you, too!”

Endeavor rolled his eyes. “You’re four, you won’t be stronger than me for a very long time.”

“Hey! Mama said I was a very big boy yesterday! Just like you!”

A hint of amusement had shone in his eyes. “Oh? Did she now?”

“Yeah!” Touya nodded frantically. At the look his father gave him, he corrected himself. “I mean yes. And so did Fuyumi! Fuyumi said that being four is so much older than being three! But then she cried because she wanted to be four too, and I didn’t really understand that -“

Endeavor sighed loudly, cutting him off. “You’ve got a strong quirk, boy. You’ll get stronger with it in due time.”

“I will!” Touya agreed. “And then I’m gonna be a hero named… what would be a good hero name again? Oh, Dabi!”

“Cremation?” Endeavor grimaced. “That’s an awful name - how did you even come up with that?”

“Oh,” Touya frowned. Mama had said that it was a good name, but she wasn’t a hero, so maybe it really wasn’t? “Well then what would you choose for me?”

Endeavor hummed thoughtfully. “What about Inferno?”

“What’s that?” Touya asked. Endeavor actually snorted.

“You know what ‘Dabi’ means but you don’t know what Inferno- Touya, it’s a very large fire.”

He thought about it for a moment.

“That’s boring,” Touya had ultimately decided. “Is there anything you can teach me right now?”

Endeavor hummed thoughtfully, then moved his fingers in a certain way to create a dragon-shaped flame. Touya gasped. 

“I assume you want to know how to make these shapes? It takes a lot of focus, do you think you can do it?”

“Wow!” Touya beamed. “Yes, I can do it! I can do it, teach me please!”

~

Touya hadn’t gotten stronger.

Dabi had, though.

And that wasn’t the full definition of ‘inferno’ - a large fire that tended to be dangerously out of control.

Dabi laughed bitterly.

How ironic.

~

Aizawa was maaaaaaaad.

“You agreed to give him what.”

“Not valuable information!” Hawks was quick to protest. “Like… silly, outdated- I’m not putting Todoroki in danger, Eraser!”

“You better tread carefully,” Aizawa snarled, his voice cracking through the phone. “Because if Dabi manages to hurt him or his siblings because of you, you better pray to whatever God you believe in that you’re able to flee the country before I find you.”

There was silence for a moment, and then:

“Also, good job on your progress. Using Endeavor for information was a smart move.”

Yeah. Wow. Aizawa was an interesting human being for sure.

————

Not even the devil himself would deserve to be placed in this situation. And yet Dabi would’ve swapped places with him or literally anyone else if he had the option to within a second.

Dabi gagged.

Yume giggled.

Dabi actually died a little inside. Why?

Because shit happened. Literally.

“ I-“ Dabi gasped. “Eugh, Fuck. Absolutely not. No. This didn’t fucking happen.”

Yume blew a raspberry, not yet realizing the damage she had done to her diaper and… well, fucking everything.

Why anyone would voluntarily choose to create babies, Dabi would never know.

“Why is it up your back?!” Dabi said, a little (a lot) hysterically. “I- okay, Yume- fucking ew, shut the fuck up. I can do thi -“

Dabi gagged again. He could not, in fact, do this.

He tried calling for Kurogiri, because the man had said to do that if he really, really needed help, and Yume was currently a four-month old biological warfare weapon that any sane, living person would be completely unwilling to touch.

Kurogiri warped into the apartment, took one look at Yume, violently glitched, and warped back out.

Dabi’s eye twitched as Yume finally started to whine in discomfort. Taking a deep breath, he bravely lifted up the baby, but kept her far away from his body, arms outstretched. 

“This is fucking disgusting,” Dabi said as he blindly kicked the bathroom door open, gagging yet again as he stripped the soiled clothes off of his daughter, and placed her directly into the tub. 

She sat silently, looking up at him with a pout on her face. Dabi knelt down to turn the water on, watching her as she used her hands to splash more and more as it filled up.

“You really are a little shit now, aren’t you?”

Yume said nothing, too engrossed in splashing the tub water to even make a sound as Dabi spent the next minutes of his life wondering why he and Ronin hadn’t used a condom.

~

The final consensus?

Babies were horrifying, disgusting little creatures.

Yume was kind of alright for the most part, though. Dabi was not biased - absolutely fucking not.

Lying down with Yume on his chest, her split-hair tickling the bottom of his chin, Dabi gently moved his hand to cup the back of her head, listening to her little snores as she fell asleep. One of her fists still clenched tightly onto his shirt, and her onesie wrinkled and scrunched up around her knees.

Her hair smells nice , he thought distantly, pausing briefly as Yume shifted a little in his hold. I’ll steal more of that baby shampoo later.

Yume let out a particularly loud snore. He bit his lip to stop himself from barking out a laugh.

Dabi felt…weird. It was only a few moments later when he realized why. Even though having her made things so much more difficult, even though he wasn’t exactly happy all the time while he watxhed over her, he kind of… liked this - being a father, having someone look up at you and not see a scary, mutilated villain but just someone who cared for them. Wanted to protect them . Someone who-

“…Oh,” Dabi whispered, his heart clenched in his chest painfully.

He wasn’t quite ready to say it yet.

At least he wasn’t denying it anymore.

~

————

Dabi hated mind games. He hated playing them with Hawks and he hated the fact that he was going to have to do it with Whisper too.

Dabi also didn’t understand why the fuck she had so many sickly men in her ranks that she needed him to kill. Not that Dabi was convinced that it wasn’t a distraction, but this was just fucking insane. Twelve men, he counted. Eleven of them were people he recognized from League recruitment.

One of them had spoken before going up in flames. A pain-filled moan, followed by slurred words: ” Please, more.”

More.

More.

More.

Dabi narrowed his eyes at the ashes their bodies had left on the ground, the scent of burning flesh still in the air. And then it hit him. Thin, sick appearances. Gaunt faces and inability to speak in proper sentences.

“They were trigger addicts,” he muttered under his breath. 

Dabi was certain that the men he knew from before had not been addicted to trigger before he sent them to Whisper - they had all looked relatively healthy and had none of the symptoms. Which meant that Whisper was actively making them addicted to trigger - and not only that, but her stronger version of trigger, because Dabi had seen trigger addicts before, and none of them were as bad as these men.

And then, presumably, these men would be sent on missions while high on it, only to come back addicted. Whisper would have them dosed with it until they were left… like this.

Disposable. Useless.

Yeah, what the actual fuck. It was a good thing that Hawks wasn’t here to come to this conclusion alongside him, because this was fucked up even in Dabi’s standards. The hero might have actually had an aneurysm if he learnt of this first hand.

But wait.

Dabi wrinkled his brow in confusion. Had he been wrong about the connection between the pregnant woman and Ronin, then? Or was this really just an elaborate distraction like he originally thought?

He didn’t know. 

Maybe he jumped to too many conclusions too fast.

Shit.

He tensed as Whisper placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for your help, Dabi. I greatly appreciate it.”

The way she spoke and held herself - airy, delicate, light, would always be creepy as hell in Dabi’s personal opinion. But he wasn’t one to talk - he had made himself look like a monster for the sake of his own goals.

“You know, I feel like even after working with you for some time, I don’t know you very well,” Whisper admitted, smiling at him shyly.

“I’m gay,” Dabi said flatly. She laughed - and strangely enough, he could tell that it was a genuine one.

“Well, that’s one thing we have in common,” she shook her head in amusement. “Oh well, not that it matters much with our way of living anyway. It’s hard to get together with a woman when you’re running a gang with a growing demand for the trigger you make. I assume you’ve had a similar problem with men.”

“Are you trying to ask me how many people I’ve fucked recently?” 

Whisper tilted her head at him. “You’ve got quite an intriguing personality.”

She was supposed to have fucked off and left him alone by now. “It’s because of the trauma.”

Was that- did he just make a fucking joke?

Somewhere deep in the pits of hell, Ronin was probably losing their shit.

“Ah,” was all she said in response. Dabi side-eyed her, waiting for her to continue speaking. “Well, I suppose that would indeed have an effect on your personality.”

Whisper walked away, her heels echoing as they hit the floor with each step. Dabi took a second to wipe the fake blank look off his face, and then he got the fuck out of there.

But as he turned the corner, he froze.

“I know you know ,” the woman, chained to the wall by her arms, hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. ”and I know you’re not working with them. I can see it in your eyes. Don’t doubt yourself, you were right the first time.”

She looked up at him, her face scarred and eyes hardened. “Find Hawks. Tell him that they found me, took me, and that there were two other pregnant people here. They’re dead - I don’t know how , but their babies didn’t die with them. I heard crying for a minute before they were taken somewhere else. I don’t know what happened to them.”

What the fuck?

Dabi’s gaze dropped down to the bump protruding from her stomach.

“Oh, and I don’t know if this is important,” she began shakily. “But I’ve deduced that I’m an anomaly. Most pregnant people they kidnap aren’t nearly as far along as I am. I get the joy of being an experiment in an experiment . ”

She was heavily pregnant.

Three pregnant people known to have been in the clutches of Whisper’s gang. Four, if Dabi included Ronin… which, well. It was looking more likely that they hadn’t just ‘ gotten involved’ in things they should not have and that, like always, they just hadn’t been completely serious when telling him important shit.

It was looking like Ronin had been kidnapped, or at least manipulated by the Serpents for something. But what-

The pattern. Pregnancy. Most of them had been in the early stages at the time of being taken.

The pregnant people would then be killed sometime afterward. The woman he had talked to hadn’t heard the babies die with them.

Ronin had been running away from something. Said that they were going to kill them. All but begged Dabi to take Yume.

Holy shit.

They weren’t experimenting with pregnant people, they were experimenting with their babies .

“Oh, fuck ,” Dabi cursed.

Yume had been involved in this shit.

Were they still looking for her?

Chapter Text

Hawks was, naturally, completely unprepared for the ominous message he received from Dabi, of all people.

Simple, to the point, just ‘ we need to talk. Now.’

Not that Hawks hadn’t explicitly been saying exactly that for the past few days or anything. Oh well, he wasn’t going to be petty - some brains just worked a little slower, was all.

Oh, yikes. If he didn’t bite his tongue, he was probably going to end up insulting Dabi when he really should be doing the complete opposite considering, you know, the whole ‘ we need to be amicable with each other’ speech he gave to him.

Whatever, Hawks could do that, this was fine. It wasn’t like he was notoriously bad at not insulting the people around him or anything, who would’ve thought that he was ? And don’t even mention the hundreds of compilations that exist of him dissing Endeavor to his face, or of that one time where he made an itsy bitsy comment about All Might and nearly committed social suicide . 

And threatening people? Pfff, Hawks never did that! Anything he said while mad at Dabi didn’t count. 

Hm.

Well.

So, turned out, Hawks was having a harder problem biting his tongue in front of Dabi than he’d originally thought. The ‘ I told you so’ was on the tip of his tongue.

Immature? Yes. Something that really shouldn’t be said given the context of what Dabi was trying to tell him? Yes. Something that Hawks would say if he didn’t filter himself? Also yes.

“You were right,” Dabi eventually said, his face pinched as though those words physically hurt him to say. “There is a pattern.”

Hawks forced the smug grin off his face, which was shockingly difficult. Whenever he was with Dabi, he didn’t really have to worry about upholding the personality his handlers drilled into him from the moment he entered the HPSC’s hero training program, so forcing a different reaction that had nothing to do with keeping his cover was incredibly strange.

In another context, that might’ve even sounded romantic. And sure - Hawks didn’t exactly find Dabi hard to look at (the staples and the whole edgy look was kind of hot), but Jesus. Every interaction he had with him left him irritated beyond belief. At least it was mutual - because the true context was that Hawks never faked annoying Dabi, he did it enthusiastically.

As pretty as Hawks may have found Dabi, his personality and attitude destroyed everything else about him. Hawks might go as far to say that he was revolting.

Hawks knocked on his head lightly. “See? I’m pretty smart.”

Dabi’s eyes flickered to the top of his head briefly. “That sounded pretty fucking hollow to me.”

Damn . Hawks opened his mouth to respond, but Dabi beat him to it. “Pregnancy is the pattern.”

Hawks furrowed his brow. “But I don’t- no. No. They’re experimenting on the babies?!”

That would explain why the woman he talked to had a hunch about not telling the HPSC anything more than necessary. 

If he was right, the Commission would probably even be overjoyed at the prospect of Whisper’s work. Because Hawks wasn’t stupid - he had grown to learn that a lot of the things the HPSC tended to do was wrong (namely buying him from his mother for one), he was just under too many contracts to do more than disagree.

Dabi actually looked surprised - Hawks was not used to seeing any emotion besides anger on his face. It was weird. “You came to that conclusion fairly fast - do you have any idea why trigger and unborn children are included in the same category for whatever the fuck Whisper’s doing?”

“At what point in time were the pregnant people taken?” Hawks whispered, horrified.

“Most of them were kidnapped pretty fucking early into their pregnancy.”

“… like before quirk factors develop in a fetus?”

Dabi’s eyebrows raised. “How the fuck would I know that? I’m not a scientist.”

Hawks blinked. “It’s middle school science.”

Dabi shrugged. “Never finished middle school. And that does not fucking sound like something a kid would learn about.”

“Wha - Dabi, I’m only talking about quirk factors. Like, you know, the very start of how quirks form? Fetus development? Not everything else.”

”…Oh,” Dabi said. “Yeah, I never fucking learnt any of that.”

And Hawks never even attended any school at all, but oh well.

Duly noted. More information about Dabi and his potential identity.

Hawks pinched the bridge of his nose. “I- okay, would you say they were kidnapped in or around their first trimester?”

“Yeah,” Dabi said, crossing his arms. “So what does that mean?”

…Oh, no.

This really would be something the HPSC would be interested in. This was something that Hawks most definitely could not let them find out under any circumstances.

No no no no no.

Did this make him some sort of triple agent?

Hawks took a deep breath. Exhaled.

“It means,” Hawks said darkly. “That Whisper is most likely kidnapping pregnant people to conduct experiments on foetuses with the goal of creating children with extremely dangerous, volatile, powerful quirks.”

“Oh,” Dabi said, before the realization must’ve hit him too, because his eyes went impossibly wide. “Oh, fuck.”

The emphasis on the ‘fuck’ reminded Hawks that Dabi’s friend/acquaintance had been involved in this and that, somewhere, his friend’s kid might be alive for the sole purpose of becoming a child soldier, or being sold off for some other horrific quirk research, or even dying because their quirk wasn’t as strong as Whisper hoped it would be.

“I’m sorry about Ronin and uh, their…you know -“

“- Well,” Dabi laughed shortly, seeming a little out of it - dazed eyes and a frown on his face before he very evidently forced himself to look neutral. “Looks like maybe your head isn’t hollow on the inside after all, Birdie.”

Considering that this was Dabi he was talking to, Hawks would take this as both a compliment, extremely high praise, and a win.

Multiple conversations and fights later, they’ve finally succeeded in one semi-amicable conversation. Unfortunately, this was only because of the shock that came with the revelation that Whisper was effectively making (or trying to make - Hawks was still unsure) super babies to presumably sell them for an absurd amount of money like they weren’t human beings, just tools. Weapons.

E̶x̶a̶c̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶H̶P̶S̶C̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶.̶

…Yeah.

This was screwed up.

————

Was Dabi manipulating Hawks into believing that he had absolutely no idea that Whisper was kidnapping pregnant people? Fuck yeah.

If Hawks wanted to believe that Whisper had Ronin’s child alongside the other babies she was practicing fucking eugenics on, Dabi would let him. Because at least then, he wouldn’t have to risk Yume being found out by him everytime he uttered the truth about what Whisper was doing. And then, both of their goals wouldn’t be hindering each other as bad as it had been.

It was also just… better.

At least then, it was easier to pretend that Ronin had never returned, that they had never been close friends as young, impressionable villains, and that he hadn’t found their decapitated head after agreeing to raise a baby they affectionately referred to as ‘firefly’.

Or the fact that he kept on having dreams about when they had survived on the streets together.

Whatever.

The conclusion:

Dabi was not dropping any baby bombs on Hawks.

However, if Hawks was right about the super powered children, then Yume, however, was apparently an actual baby bomb. 

Dabi’s current thought process directed towards that developing problem sounded something like this: ‘ whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck -‘

Dabi exhaled shakily. The whole genetically modified super-baby shit show had caught him off guard. Badly.

It was bringing up some horrible fucking memories. Ones that he swore to let die just as he had done with Touya.

Going off of Hawks’ weirdly efficient and not-completely-stupid hypothesis, Dabi either had a normal baby and one of Whisper’s failed experiments in his care or a successful experiment (which Dabi was never going to use that to refer to Yume again, that hit far too close to home), and an insanely powerful child. 

Now, Dabi didn’t exactly have a traditional school education, but this sounded like a horrible idea. Partially because he too was a result of experimenting with quirks and oh fucking boy, look how he turned out!

There was a good reason why playing around with quirks like a God of some sort was outlawed, for fuck sake. This was like quirk marriages, but a thousand times worse.

Dabi had a cremation quirk.

Ronin had a quirk that could boil anything with water in it - including blood.

Yume had a pretty good chance of developing a stronger quirk in general, what the actual fuck would a trigger-induced quirk factor or whatever the hell Hawks had called it do to her body?

What if she was like him?

She looked like him - in the shape of her nose, the curvature of her lips. The white and red hair, too. She looked like a Todoroki through and through, and if her quirk was exactly like his but so much stronger and she also lacked the ability to withstand fire…

Dabi did not like this. Selfishly, because this was forcing him to acknowledge the fact that he was directly connected to Endeavor and his family and, by blood, so was his daughter. Selfishly, because Yume’s continued safety was very rapidly becoming one of his main goals, overtaking almost all of them except for a few - Get revenge, uncover all of the horrible shit Endeavor did to the world, then kill him, which wasn’t supposed to have happened, god damn it.

Selfishly, because the realization that he had inadvertently referred to himself as a Todoroki for no other reason besides worrying about another person was just… fuck.

Dabi was never supposed to have something to live for besides revenge.

Later on in the day, when he picked Yume up and settled her on his hips, looking at her grumpy face as she woke up from a nap, he still did not like it.

Because suddenly she was like him in ways he wished she wasn’t.  

Dabi frowned, a familiar feeling he used to feel often from his past stirring within him.

Touya had been familiar with feeling like a failure.

Dabi hadn’t been up until now and god, it felt exactly the same. All-encompassing and weakening. He hated it. He hated being made to feel like the sad little boy upset at being told he’d never do anything right he’d once been.

He hated it so fucking much.

This wasn’t even his fucking fault. He didn’t need to feel like this.

Yet for some reason, he bore it. He let himself really feel for the first time in years as he gently rubbed circles into Yume’s back, quieting her whines.

“I hate you,” Dabi mumbled under his breath half-heartedly. “I wish you didn’t fucking exist. I wish you were dead .”

He knew what he had said wasn’t true - not even a little bit.

But whether he had been talking to Yume or referring to Touya…

He didn’t know.

And that?

That shouldn’t have been as fucking terrifying as it was.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

The past never died - Dabi was well aware of that.

And neither did Todoroki Touya.

Deep down, he did know this as well.

He chose to pretend he didn’t, though.

Whether that was to preserve the memory of an innocent Touya or to prevent himself from being more than just a purely evil human being set in his goals or something else…

He didn’t know.

And that was what was really terrifying.

Chapter Text

Hawks was slightly tense as he stood beside Dabi in Whisper’s warehouse, but he had a pretty good reason to be.

From what Hawks had heard from Aizawa, the raid on the Shie Hassaikai went well, with only one hero casualty and minimal League involvement (excluding the personal attack on Overhaul). Eri, the little girl who had been held captive by the yakuza, was in the hospital healing. Aizawa was planning on taking custody of her once he was approved to.

The most exciting part of the information exchange for Hawks had been when he was told that the trigger that had been manufactured by the Shie Hassaiki was taken off the market almost completely - which, hopefully, would prevent Whisper from continuing to make a stronger version from Overhaul’s original work or at least hinder her until Hawks found a way to safely take her organization down.

Speaking of which… Dabi wasn’t fighting him on that, anymore. Where once he would argue that Hawks wasn’t there to do hero work, now he said nothing. Occasionally, he’d even offer up information without prompting. It was probably selective, but it was a noticeable change from ‘ maybe there are no patterns and you’re just a fucking idiot, birdie birdbrain blah blah blah-‘

It was such a rapid switch, in fact, that even though Dabi was doing a fairly good job at making it seem seamless, it was impossible not to notice it a little bit.

And the one time Hawks did point it out, he got extremely defensive about it. It was so out of character from how he usually acted, it left Hawks reeling. And then, as though something had physically struck him, Dabi had just… fallen silent. Wiped any and all emotion off his face.

Hawks chalked it up to Dabi wanting more information about what happened to his friend or whatever he considered them - the man was horrifyingly emotionally constipated (not that Hawks could say much on that - he was self aware enough to know that he was just as bad). And maybe there was a slim possibility that Dabi cared enough about his old friend to want revenge, but Hawks was more inclined to believe that he quite frankly didn’t care about anyone but himself.

To be quite frank, the first thing on Dabi’s villain folder in the Commission’s files said something along the lines of ‘ demonstrates psychopathic tendencies’.

Only, Hawks wasn’t sure that was actually true anymore. Not because Dabi ever really showed empathy, just that he never hid the fact that he tended to not give a single shit about anyone.

He was pretty sure ‘psychopath’ wasn’t an official diagnosed anywhere outside of the HPSC anyway, so there was that, too.

On the plus side, Dabi’s slightly better cooperation was allowing him to gather more information he could tell the HPSC without worrying about giving them access to child soldiers, so he wasn’t having to say absolutely nothing to them at all and risk upsetting them. His handlers had been a little upset at the lack of information he had, but were pleased about the personal tidbit of info he uncovered about Dabi.

“Good,” they had said. “Get closer to him - we know almost nothing about him.”

Basically, if Hawks gave the Commission information about Dabi and the League, they were happy to leave him alone about Whisper. Or, well, it would be easier for Hawks to pretend he didn’t have any information about her without breaking any contracts.

Gotta love loopholes.

…Yikes.

God, what had he gotten himself into?

“Oh, fuck me,” Hawks cursed under his breath. Dabi, being the smartass that he was, raised an eyebrow at him, making a point to slowly drag his eyes across his body.

“I would rather not,” Dabi said, completely straight-faced. “You’re not my type.”

“Wow,” Hawks drawled. “Thanks for your much wanted insight. Is it because I’m a hero?”

Dabi paused. “Nah. It’s because you’re a dumb blonde, birdbrain.”

It was Hawks’ turn to raise an eyebrow. “You called me smart the other day.”

Dabi blinked. “No I didn’t. What the fuck?”

“I recall you saying that maybe my head wasn’t hollow. Thanks for the compliment, by the way.”

Dabi stared at him. “Are you that desperate for praise? That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Yes it was,” Hawks said, completely nonchalantly. “Because you’re you, and you wouldn’t actually compliment me for the sake of your mental health.”

“Just shut up,” Dabi grumbled. “Actually, you told me that you would get information on Endeavor and his family.”

“Yep!” Hawks chirped, popping the ‘p’. “Did you know that Todoroki Shouto isn’t an only child? The other two kids aren’t reported on at all so it’s not common knowledge.”

Silence fell between them for a brief second.

“Hey Hawks, did you know that the sky is fucking blue?” Dabi snapped.

“As amusing as this is, could you two pause in your bickering for just a moment please?” Whisper interrupted as she strode calmly into the room. 

“We aren’t bickering,” they both said at the exact same time. Dabi glared at him in response, as if Hawks had meticulously planned that to happen. Whisper tilted her head at them.

“You hate each other. But you’ve agreed on something and now you don’t constantly want to kill each other.”

That observation sombered the tense mood. Hawks forced himself to not outwardly panic. “Yes, we’ve sorted some of the more important things out between us, haven’t we?”

Dabi sent him a quick ‘ what the fuck are you doing’ look, before something flickered in his eyes and he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh?” Whisper smiled dangerously. “Like what?”

Hawks opened his mouth, barely stifling the yelp that threatened to escape his mouth when Dabi subtly kicked the back of his leg, hard.

“Like where the birdie’s loyalties lie,” Dabi responded smoothly. “I don’t trust heroes. I had a hard time believing that he was really working for you.”

Whisper’s white eyes bore into his skull. “I… see. And the verdict?”

He felt Dabi tense beside him. “I still don’t trust him.”

Hawks whipped his head around to glare at Dabi. What the hell-

“Hm,” Whisper said, before sighing. “Ah, well, that is to be expected with your relationship with him, I guess. Hawks, I assume you must be aware that the Shie Hassaikai’s trigger dealings have almost been completely shut down.”

“Yeah,” Hawks frowned. “I wasn’t involved in that mission, otherwise I would’ve tried to save some of it for you.”

Dabi covered up his snort with a fake cough. Hawks chose to ignore him for the time being.

If Hawks lived to see another day, it might very well be him trying to murder Dabi instead of the other way around, for once.

Seriously, why the hell would he say that? After they had been making some progress with lessening the physical attacks and murder attempts, too.

“Thank you,” Whisper’s lips tilted upward - she didn’t seem too upset about it. “Let’s not worry about that, though. Actually, I was wondering if I could ask for your  help once again, Dabi?”

“With what?” Dabi asked.

“Well,” Whisper said. “We’ve got a deserter in our ranks, and I’d deal with it myself, only… with the Shie Hassaikai falling, I’ve become quite busy.”

Hawks grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ve got this!”

Whisper’s smile faltered briefly. 

Whisper wanted Dabi away from here - away from him.

She had just tried to split them up.

But why?

————

That had been risky.

Not for him - because Dabi had just gambled with Hawks’ life. And now he was pretty damn sure that, out of the two of them, it was actually the fucking hero that was the safest with Whisper.

‘ Sometimes, the less you say, the more you’re able to find out.’

That had been what Endeavor told a five year old Touya during training after he finished watching a hero movie with an underground hero as the protagonist. Ironic, considering the man had such a big mouth he never knew when to shut up most of the time.

Dabi would’ve had a bigger issue with using what he learnt in training all those years ago if he wasn’t actively doing it in a villainous way. Or if it didn’t help him gauge how aware Whisper was of Yume, or if she knew that he had her.

The verdict he came to was inconclusive. He could go ahead and say that she knew and was trying to get him away from Hawks to open up an opportunity to grab his daughter, or she could also simply just be prioritising her relationship with Hawks as the bridge between her and the Commission.

Another reason for Dabi to distrust Hawks. Immensely.

On one hand, if Dabi burnt her and her entire organisation to the ground because there was a chance she was looking for Yume, he’d blow his and Hawks’ cover and never be able to figure out what happened to Ronin and what was done to Yume besides educated guesswork. If he did nothing and Whisper was actually trying to kidnap his fucking baby, then Yume’s safety was at risk.

Well, the League had just finished with the Shie Hassaikai shit. Maybe they’d take Yume for the time being while Dabi was out searching for some guy that he was pretty fucking certain wasn’t important in any of this at all, and simply another distraction. 

Whisper might have been hindered somewhat by the recent raid, but it looked like she was using it as an opportunity to start making advancements towards furthering her work. Taking these babies, trying to modify them to have ridiculously powerful quirks - it genuinely disgusted Dabi, even more so because Yume was involved in the shit show that this was as well.

Dabi made a decision at that moment.

He would do whatever it took to keep Yume safe, and once her safety was guaranteed, he would leave all of this behind, go back to the League, and finally get his revenge.

Even though he would forever be tainted by the sins his father committed - by the melancholy of the house he had grown up in, by the mere memory of the boy he had once been, he would not let that become Yume’s fate. That cycle ended with him - he would not be like the man who he once called his father - he refused to let the sorrows from his own past drip down like a faucet onto his daughter, letting her be haunted by the same what-ifs as him.

And for all the harm that had been done to him - to Natsuo and Fuyumi, it would be paid back a thousand times worse. 

Dabi would bring justice and retribution to Endeavor and Whisper, even if it killed him. Deep down, a part of him almost hoped it would.

Because how symbolic would it be to die by the same flames that had engulfed everything else in his life? Everything that he knew, everything that he had once loved revolved around that fire. The fire that n̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ killed Touya. The fire that fuelled Dabi. 

The fire that brought Yume into this world.

Chapter Text

~

“ Oi,” Dabi said. “Don’t murder her or I’ll burn you.”

Shigaraki rolled his eyes as he shifted Yume in his arms, looking mildly irritated as she became transfixed on grabbing his nose. “She’ll be fine. Look at her - she can barely think. She’s an NPC, it can’t be too difficult for us to keep her alive.”

Yume chose that exact moment to let out an ominous giggle. Compress eyed her like she had a disease. 

“Don’t worry, Dabi!” Toga grinned. “Your cute little baby will be soooo happy and healthy with us!”

“Alright,” Dabi sighed, and then, even quieter:

“Thanks.”

~

Day one of looking for a random deserter with Hawks, and Dabi already wanted to kill himself. Not because anything particularly challenging had happened - no, just that Hawks was convinced that filling the uncomfortable silence between them with ‘ fun facts’ about Endeavor, his mother, and his siblings would be something he appreciated.

It was not. If it was halfway decent information, Dabi would’ve been more than happy to let Hawks continue rambling, but it was a bunch of trivial shit. Like their names. Their favourite food. All the shit Dabi knew all too well. Because, once upon a time, he had lived under the same fucking roof as them.

“ - and Fuyumi, Endeavor’s daughter, celebrates her birthday on the 6th of December,” Hawks was saying. Dabi wanted so badly to snap that he knew, and that he also knew she was probably going to buy herself an ice cream cake, not actual cake, because Fuyumi hated it with a passion, almost as much as he hated fish. Like clockwork, Natsuo would probably bitch about her choice in ice cream cake, proclaiming ‘ it’s not cake, ‘Yumi, it’s ice cream!’ And Fuyumi, petty as she was, would find something to bitch about at his birthday. It was a horrible cycle that had been going on since Natsuo was old enough to speak, and Dabi held zero expectations that this had changed one bit since they had all grown up.

If there was one thing the Todoroki children all had in common, it was their propensity for pettiness.

“Do you ever shut up?” Dabi grumbled, kicking a rock on the ground and aiming it towards Hawks’ head, which he unfortunately dodged. 

“I’m bored,” was Hawks’ response, over the chirping of crickets and other obnoxious (Dabi found it kind of nice though) sounds heard in the middle of the night. “And we made a deal.”

“I don’t want to know about what day Endeavor’s daughter celebrated her fucking birthday on,” Dabi seethed. 

“Oh,” Hawks paused. “Well Shouto’s is -“

“For fuck sake, it’s January eleventh,” Dabi snapped. The day his life was ruined. Hawks gaped at him. “ Stop with the Todoroki trivia . If you have to open your big beak, talk about something else .”

“How the hell did you know that?” Hawks asked, sounding genuinely mystified.

“The internet,” Dabi said blandly. Or, at least, he hoped it was on there. It probably was. Perfect little Shouto, the famous golden child. If Hawks didn’t end up giving him good, usable information soon, he might just pay his baby brother a visit.

“Ooookay,” Hawks drawled, making sure to walk right beside him. “I’ve started to avoid using my phone most days. The internet is a terrifying place. Especially if you’re a celebrity.”

Dabi rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to hear about how your bath water is being sold online either.”

“Oh, ew,” Hawks pretended to gag. “No, I’m talking about fanfiction.”

Abso-fucking-lutely not.

“Then don’t,” Dabi replied. “I don’t want to hear about that fucking shit, nor will I talk about it with you like a hero obsessed fanboy. Give it up.”

“I’m just trying to find a topic for conversation that we won’t argue about,” Hawks pouted. “We’ve been doing nothing but walking silently in the dark for three hours, and we’ve got to stop soon anyway because, you know, sleep .”

“I like when it’s dark and peacefully quiet,” Dabi said, then sent a look towards Hawks. “And your presence is ruining it.”

“Wow,” Hawks stared at him. “You like it when the outside world reflects your soul and innermost, darkest thoughts, don’t you, emo?”

That left Dabi extremely bewildered. His eye twitched. “That was the weakest insult I’ve heard in my entire fucking life. Calling it an ‘insult’ is being nice. Really fucking pathetic. Just shut up already, birdie.”

“No can do,” Hawks smiled.

If Dabi was learning one thing from this whole experience, it was that Hawks became extremely annoying when bored. If there was silence between them for too long, Hawks would either whistle, hum a song, or start a conversation. Despite Dabi making it abundantly clear that the last thing he’d ever want to do would be to have a conversation with the hero, he continued to try nonetheless.

-

“Do you think All Might has stretch marks from going from extremely thin to buff as hell so fast? I mean, imagine how that feels on his skin. ”

“… Shut up.”

-

“Man, I wish I knew how to cook. Then I wouldn’t have to waste so much money on KFC.”

“I don’t care.”

-

“Do you wanna hear a joke Rumi - Mirko , told me on patrol a couple days ago?”

“No.”

-

“Do you listen to metal music? I feel like you would.”

“Yes. Shut the fuck up.”

-

“… What artists do you listen to?”

“ Hawks. Pay attention. We’re supposed to be looking for someone.”

“See, the good thing about my quirk is that -“

“Fuck right off before I burn your quirk off.”

“…”

“Did you know Endeavor- woah ! Okay, you were being serious, I’ll stop, I’ll stop!”

-

When they found a place to rest in and Hawks actually fell asleep right away, Dabi was almost tempted to send a prayer of thanks up to whatever deity was looking down on him today.

Suddenly not having enough incentive to murder Hawks and being forced to actually tolerate him was hell on earth.

Dabi closed his eyes. That night, he dreamt what he usually tended to dream these last few months. Him and Ronin. Their friendship. When Ronin moved away. All the shit that happened after that.  Flashes of their decapitated head, their eyes that they shared with their daughter so lifeless and dull-

And then, a new addition to the dream. Yume, staring helplessly at him, being held in pale, thin hands. Then laughter-

Despite all that, Dabi wished the time they spent asleep was longer. Because now it was morning, they were gone longer than they had originally planned in search of this guy (this was making Dabi even more sceptical about Whisper. Hawks was blissfully unaware about why he was more hateful towards her in the first place ), and damn it, he was hungry, he had no money, he couldn’t bring attention to himself during the day, and he was not about to ask Hawks to buy him a meal. Not that it was likely that the bird had money on him in the first place.

“Oi,” Dabi eventually grumbled an hour later, “hero, are you gonna care if I steal some food?”

Hawks frowned. “Oh, right. We don’t have money. But you can’t steal .”

Dabi sneered. “ Why ? In case you haven’t noticed -“ he gestured to himself, “- I’m a fucking villain.”

Hawks sighed. “That’s not what I- hang on, I’ll get the money.”

Dabi scoffed disbelievingly.

Hawks, who, much like Dabi, was wearing plain black clothes (a much bigger hoodie than him to hide his wings) and a mask to hide his face, then proceeded to calmly slip ahead of where he had once stood beside him. Dabi found himself eyeing what Hawks was doing a little curiously. No way would he actually-

Hawks spent approximately two seconds gazing around at the sidewalks before he spotted a woman in extremely expensive attire, silently sped up his pace until he was within arms reach of her purse, opened it, and took money from her. Without blinking an eye, he made his way back towards where Dabi stood, eyebrows threatening to fly off his fucking face.

“Colour me surprised,” was what Dabi eventually decided on saying when Hawks grinned shakily at him as he put the money in his pocket. “Not your first rodeo in pickpocketing, Birdie?”

“I’ve got my secrets,” Hawks replied, giving him an exaggerated wink. When he turned around and began walking to the nearest fast food place, Dabi stared hard into the back of Hawks’ head. “I’m getting us chicken. Stay here.”

Another tidbit of useless information to Dabi: Hawks ate a concerning amount of chicken.

Dabi sent him a glare, his intense dislike of Hawks returning instantly. He leaned back against the brick wall, crossing his arms. “Don’t tell me what to do like I’m your fucking pet.”

Hawks ignored him, but it was obvious that he had heard his words loud and clear. Dabi spent the next fifteen minutes of his life basking in the fact that there wasn’t an annoying hero talking right in his ear. Occasionally, he glanced out towards the busy street, finding some amusement in the fact that people were walking right by where he stood calmly, completely unaware that an A-ranked villain was a few feet away from them. But when Hawks returned…

He proceeded to look Dabi dead in the eye, a shit-eating grin slowly appearing on his face. “Oh. You stayed. Good boy.”

Dabi felt a vein pop in his forehead. Steam escaped from the seams in his skin. Hawks, realising that he had well and truly pissed the fuck out of him, thankfully chose to remain silent as he fought off extreme homicidal thoughts, and very nearly lost.

————

Hawks had not been deliberately trying to be an asshole to Dabi. For the most part, he had actually been trying to be civil and stay away from saying anything actually insulting because yeah, this was a perfect opportunity to form a better relationship, and then Hawks wouldn’t have to deal with the HPSC beginning to question what the actual hell he had even accomplished.

If Hawks was being completely honest (which was becoming a rarity more and more these days) he had only really said the whole ‘good boy’ thing because, well. He got defensive. Yes, he knew how to pickpocket. No, he didn’t like pickpocketing. It brought up bad memories - of harsh kicks to the back and breath that reeked of cheap beer.

And maybe there had been different ways he could’ve gone about getting them something to eat. Hawks could’ve simply asked for some money , or done something - anything else.

The fact that he had just gone and stole like it was nothing bothered him. Just a little bit. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tr-

That was a lie. 

So when Dabi suggested that he wasn’t a stranger to committing thievery, Hawks wanted to drop everything and just.. run. Cowardly, yeah, but it wasn’t like he actually did it. He just proceeded to be an asshole as a defence mechanism and nearly ended up as fried as the chicken he and Dabi were eating in stifling, uncomfortable silence for the fiftieth time.

The fact that the mission to snuff out a random guy was taking the both of them longer than originally planned had Hawks on edge, and it very obviously had Dabi on edge, too. 

Hawks wondered what could possible be bothering Dabi about this whole thing.

As for himself, he knew why.

If he didn’t manage to find some good information with no correlation to Whisper’s manufactured babies, he was risking getting the HPSC curious about something other than Dabi. And if they found merit in what Whisper was doing…

No.

Hawks’ situation with the HPSC raising him was complicated. But with the missing babies involved with Trigger? Hardly complicated at all. He refused to let them be pulled into the same training program he went into so young, without any choice.

And he had zero confidence in the Commission that they wouldn’t try to do something like that.

He at least had been old enough to voice that yes , he wanted to be a hero. Old enough to talk, walk, move and think. And sure, training had been difficult at times. Hawks could recall days where his back hurt so much from quirk overuse that he could hardly move, days where the disappointed gazes from his handlers made him want to curl up into a tiny ball and hide himself from the world, days where he wondered if he was strong enough to prevail.

But hero training was difficult for everyone. His training had just started a tiny bit earlier than the average person’s did.

That was the key difference between him and those babies - one was choosing to be trained, to be made stronger, and the other was forced.

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H̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶l̶e̶d̶g̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶u̶r̶t̶.̶

Chapter Text

~

Dabi: Oi Toga.

Toga: you’ve known me long enough to call me himiko :((

Dabi: No.

Dabi: Can you sneak into the HPSC and grab any information you can find about Hawks?

Toga: if you call me himiko yes

Dabi: I fucking hate kids.

Dabi: Himiko.

Toga: change my name in ur contacts too 😇

Dabi: Fine.

Himiko: i’ll do it for u big bro don’t worry!!!

Dabi: Don’t call me that.

~

It was sometime late at night that Dabi found himself being woken up by hands literally dragging him upwards into a sitting position. Disoriented and slightly panicked, he flailed a little, unconsciously heating his body up and only stopping when he heard Hawks yelp and drop him, his head slamming onto the ground with a ‘thunk’.

“What,” Dabi panted, eyes still a little wide and heart pounding loudly in his chest as he shot back up. God, he hated Hawks so fucking much. Now he had a headache. “The fuck?”

“I think I spotted the guy we’re looking for,” Hawks hissed back, pointing out the window to where a man who matched the description Whisper gave him was hurriedly speed-walking down the empty street - he watched as the guy shoved his many knife-shaped hands shoved into his pockets.

“Fantastic,” Dabi drawled. “I didn’t know I had to fucking self- immolate for you to catch him.”

Hawks winced. “I didn’t- uh, realise you would react like that.”

Dabi stared at him, a little aghast. “I’ve been living on the streets since I was sixteen, birdbrain, and I didn’t choose to do that for fun . How else would I have reacted?”

“Oh,” Hawks said stiltedly, pulling off his hoodie and throwing it to the ground, revealing his bright red wings and his midriff in the process. Dabi‘s eyes wandered downwards for a brief moment to take a glimpse at the man’s chiseled abs and slim waist. He would’ve found it much more attractive if it wasn’t Hawks he was ogling, but he could appreciate the sight regardless. “Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t do that again, but we need to go.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head,” Dabi rolled his eyes, following Hawks in a jog as they left the building they had been camping in for the night. Why and how the fuck he blurted out ‘pretty’, he’d never know. He blamed it on still being half-asleep. “I’m right behind you.”

“I’m not worried at all!” Hawks quipped back sarcastically. “Working with a villain with an extremely powerful fire quirk, who’s also notoriously bad at listening and who would probably celebrate my death? What’s there to worry about?”

Dabi rubbed his eyes tiredly, narrowly avoiding tripping over his own feet and making himself look like a complete dumbass. “For fuck sakes, haven’t I made it clear that I’m not going to murder you? If anything, I should be wary of you, hero.”

“And I told you that my main goal is to save the babies Whisper is experimenting on and prevent her trigger dealings from becoming more wide scale,” Hawks huffed quietly, turning around a corner. “I’m not working against you right now, Dabi. I just want the best for those kids.”

“Give me one reason why I should trust the Hero Commission’s little pet bird and not instantly assume that you’re waiting for the perfect opportunity to set Whisper up with your fucking boss. I bet the Commission is hanging onto your every word about this mission right now. ”

Hawks’ eyes darkened. “They aren’t, actually, because I haven’t told them anything.”

Dabi snorted derisively. Hawks eyed the building the man they were chasing walked into briefly, before pulling him into a dark, slim area between two buildings. They were close enough to feel each other’s puffs of breath on their faces, mingling in the air between them.

Dabi wished Hawks would stop pushing him against brick walls, god fucking damn it. If he lived for much longer than a few years, his spine was going to feel the effects of this.

“This arguing is dangerous,” Hawks whispered quickly, but grimly serious. It was weird to witness when Hawks spoke and didn’t include a joke or some sort of insult along with the serious shit he was saying. “And it’s going to get us both killed if we continue to do it. So I’m going to give you proof that I haven’t said a single word about any of this to the HPSC before we continue looking for that man. So, for once in your life, listen. The only thing I’ve told them about is you - I swear it. ”

Dabi eyed Hawks’ phone as he dialled a number warily. Pressed against a wall like this, with Hawks’ own body caging him in, made him an easy target. All Hawks would have to do to get him in quirk cancelling handcuffs would be to reach over. All Hawks would have to do to kill him would be to detach a feather and barely move it more than two inches until it would reach his body. And, he supposed, it worked vice versa as well - it could be him trapping Hawks. One flick of the wrist, and both of them were going up in flames hotter than most people could handle.

The world stopped for Dabi, and it seemed like so did his heart and lungs. Suddenly, breathing became difficult - nearly impossible. His fingers twitched, blue flickering across his skin as his whole body tensed. If it came down to it - if this was where Hawks revealed that he was fully cooperating with the HPSC all along, neither of them would be able to put up a proper fight. It would come down to one thing and one thing only: whoever made the first move would come out victorious.

“ Hawks,” a woman’s voice came from Hawks’ phone, snapping Dabi out of the trance he had been in. He sucked in a breath harshly, eyes pinned on Hawks and any little movement he made. “ You called. Good. We would like more information.”

The way she said that they would like more information sounded more like they were actually demanding it. Hawks’ eyes briefly flickered to meet his own. Uncharacteristically open yellow eyes and the characteristically icy, cold, blue he knew his own was.

Dabi could feel how Hawks tensed as he opened his mouth to speak. “I’ve discovered more information about the A-Ranked villain, Dabi.”

There was a brief pause over the phone.

“ Ah,” the woman said. “ Splendid news. Please, do tell.”

“Well, it’s more trivial stuff like music taste and what time of day he likes the most,” Hawks replied, his mouth twitching briefly in amusement at the frustrated noise the woman made. “But he’s been telling me more and more as the days go on.”

The woman sighed. “ The information you gathered should’ve been much better, what a disappointment. Although, the fact that he has begun to trust you is good.”

“Ah, okay,” Hawks muttered. “Understood. I’ll work on getting more information for you, then,” and then he hung up.

The silence between them felt like it lasted forever.

Dabi blinked in shock. They hadn’t asked about Whisper. They had to have known at least a little bit about her, how else would Hawks have gotten permission to infiltrate her gang? “Why didn’t she fucking ask -“

“I claimed that Whisper’s gang - The Serpents, was nothing special, but that continuing my infiltration mission provided me an opportunity to become closer to you,” Hawks admitted. “They liked that. You’re a bit of an anomaly to them. To all of us heroes, if I’m being honest. We don’t know who you are, where you come from, what your motives are besides your hatred for Endeavor and hero society. I haven’t had much to tell them, don’t worry about that. You don’t give away much information about yourself.”

“Of course I don’t,” Dabi scoffed, still reeling from whatever the hell that whole phone call was. “That information is earned.”

Hawks tilted his head at him, some sort of understanding flashing through his eyes. “ Huh . I… get that.”

Dabi highly doubted he did, but whatever.

They had work to do.

————

They had taken too long. The man was nowhere to be found.

“ Fuck,” Dabi hissed, frustrated. “You couldn’t have waited to do that dumbass phone call later?”

“Nope,” Hawks said, popping the ‘p’. “Because you’d have probably convinced yourself that I was given orders to murder you by the Commission and then you’d have killed me before I ever got the chance to.”

…

Wow.

Even if Dabi trusted Hawks a tiny bit more than before, the general dislike he felt towards him remained the same. “Maybe because I’m not an idiot.”

“Debatable,” Hawks murmured under his breath.

Dabi froze. “ What did you just say?” 

Hawks bent down to pick up an article of clothing - ripped, flannel, and multiple holes for arms to go through. “I said ‘debatable’. You could think you’re the smartest person in the world, and someone else could think you’re the dumbest. There’s no way of determining whether or not you’re an idiot, because thinking is relative.”

“Is this another one of those times where you just open your big fucking mouth to talk for no reason, or does this conversation have a purpose?” Dabi sneered.

“ Philosophically , it has a purpose,” Hawks declared proudly. Dabi continued to glare at him.

“Be philosophical after we find fucking Octo-man.”

Hawks snorted at the nickname, shaking his wings a little and grabbing a single feather. “I’m working on it. See this? I’m putting this in the flannel. Hopefully, this guy misses his nice button-up, comes back to grab it, and boom , we know for certain where he is.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Dabi knew what that meant. Fuck.

They were staying away from back home even longer, and he’d have to suffer Hawks’ constant presence by his side for another night, minimum .

“Look,” Hawks said, pointing towards an area completely surrounded by crates. “We can stay there, take turns watching to see if the guy shows up again. Then, if he does, whoever is awake will wake the other person up, and we’ll take him out. Then, we can go back, and no harm done.”

“No harm done,” Dabi scoffed. “You’re just saying that because you haven’t had to interact with someone as annoying as yourself.”

“I love your confidence,” Hawks cooed, sickeningly sweet. “But Hotstuff, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from spending so much time with you, it’s that you’re not as bland and easy to work with as you pretend to be. You can be annoying too.”

Dabi grumbled something even he couldn’t discern, and trudged off to where the crates were scattered all over the floor, some towering quite high.

This was going to be a long night if the deserter didn’t show up.

————

~

“You’re pregnant,” Touya stated flatly. “Oh.”

His mother tried to smile, but failed miserably. “Yes, aren’t you excited to have another sibling, Touya?”

Endeavor stood beside her, both physically and metaphorically casting a shadow over the both of them.

He looked up at her, wondering how she could even ask him that. Wasn’t it obvious - the way he felt? “No. ‘Yumi and Natsuo are enough.”

“They are not,” Endeavor grunted. “They both have ice quirks, and your fire quirk is incompatible with your body. None of you have the power to surpass All Might.”

Those words felt like knives stabbing into his very soul - his very being. “But you told me I could, dad! We used to spend all day together, and you used to tell me which hero names I should use when I’m older, and you used to show me cool tricks and -“

“ - And that was before we found out that your quirk was nothing more than a disappointment,” Endeavor cut him off simply. “You aren’t fit to be a hero, Touya. I’ve told you this time and time again. Go be a kid. Play with your brother and sister. Pick up some hobbies, and when you get older, choose another career. There are so many to choose from.”

Touya could almost hear the sound of his heart shattering, just like he usually did whenever he heard those words come out of his father’s mouth. He watched as Endeavor’s hand came to rest on his mother’s shoulder, making her flinch and cower into herself even more.

“This isn’t your legacy anymore, Touya.”

All three of their gazes drifted towards his mother’s stomach, still too early in her pregnancy to be showing.

“It’s theirs.”

“You don’t know that,” Touya said weakly. “It could be like me, or Natsuo, or Fuyumi. You don’t know if it’ll be what you want.”

“I am hopeful,” was how he replied before walking off, presumably to where his office was.

His mother stared at him for a while, as if she were in a trance, before she too walked away, leaving him alone in the hallway of a house that suddenly felt like it’s walls were closing in on him.

Touya would spend the next months selfishly praying that his new sibling would be far from what Endeavor’s dream child was supposed to be like, even while knowing that he wouldn’t stop until one was born. Even while knowing it would cause his mother’s happiness to dim so much more than it already had.

Every single one of those prayers would go unanswered, when his mother - exhausted and mentally drained, returned from the hospital with a baby with little tufts of split red and white hair.

Shouto, was his name. He cried. Touya wanted to make him stop. He wanted him to go away.

His father’s gaze passed over him briefly - disinterestedly, before returning to the baby cradled in hospital blankets.

Slowly, Touya watched as a manic, crazed smile appeared on his face.

~

Shouto’s face twisted and merged with Yume. Endeavor’s face did the same, but with Whisper.

~

Dabi’s eyes flew open, a gasp stuck in his throat and an uneasy feeling in his heart. He waited, expecting to feel the usual hatred that came with thinking of Shouto.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But seeing him merge with Yume like that-

Oh, fucking hell.

Those feelings of hatred never came for anyone but Endeavor.

Chapter Text

Jin was having a great time with Yume. The rest of the league had gone off to help Himiko grab something at the HPSC for Dabi, and he had volunteered to stay back and watch her.

She was adorable. He didn’t mind staying back for her, not one bit. Sometimes, with her in his arms and a baby tv show playing off of his phone to keep her entertained, he could pretend that his descent into villainy was all just a bad dream - that his entire family hadn’t cut him off after his quirk accident, and that Yume was really a niece or nephew of his.

In a way, she was. Jin had been living with the league long enough to consider everyone in it his family, even Dabi, who despite the rough patch with Magne’s death and how often he had to be away from them, had really warmed up. He still pretended he didn’t care, but it was beginning to become more and more obvious that he did.

Especially recently, because he now sent texts in the group chat almost daily.

It was nice. Jin felt happy with the League in ways he never would have been able to be happy in normal , hero society.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts. With Yume happily babbling in one of his arms, Jin walked towards the door, opening it.

“Are you back already- who are you?”

A tall woman dressed in all white, with bright white eyes smiled serenely at him. It was pouring rain outside, and she had her hood up.

“I’m Shinsou Emiko. I’m a close friend of Dabi’s. Would you mind… letting me in for a little bit?”

Jin’s first thought was that that wasn’t a good idea at all- or, well, she was Dabi’s friend…

“Sure,” he found himself saying, gesturing inside. “ No, get the fuck out of here!”

Shinsou’s smile widened - and wow, were her eyes glowing just a little bit?

“Thank you so much.”

Jin found himself smiling hesitantly back at her through his mask.

————

“Sorry,” Hawks muttered quietly, one hand clamped tightly over Dabi’s mouth. “He’s here . Couldn’t have you yelling out.”

Dabi glared at him, tapping on the hand on his mouth in rapid succession. Hawks let him go. He was going to have words with him later, holy fuck.

“Oh, thank god,” Octo-man (Dabi was in too deep to break that particular name-calling habit now) muttered as he picked up his flannel shirt and kissed it. Dabi and Hawks both blinked at the same time.

“No fucking way,” Dabi breathed quietly, instantly forgetting about the way Hawks had his hands on him moments before.

“Well,” Hawks muttered back, his voice strangled in an obvious attempt to not laugh. “We were hoping he’d like his shirt.”

“Well, obviously,” Dabi snarked. “But he’s fucking molesting it.”

Hawks shook silently, slapping a hand over his own mouth. “ Please shut up. You’re gonna make me laugh.”

“ I’m gonna make you laugh? Not the guy who’s acting like his shirt is his fucking girlfriend -“

Hawks muffled his snort into the crook of his elbow. Dabi whipped his head around to stare at Hawks in shock. He didn’t realise Hawks would actually laugh. That he’d make him laugh.

“Oh, my love,“ Octo-man spoke to his fucking shirt again, and Hawks proceeded to slip down to the floor and dissolve into a fit of quiet giggles, all while Dabi stared, wide-eyed, at whatever the fuck was going on. “It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ll fix you right back up in just a moment.”

“This can’t be real,” Dabi whispered, because again, what the fuck.

Hawks wheezed as he stood back up, grasping onto his shoulders. “I can’t breathe.”

“Breathe later,” Dabi hissed impatiently. “What do we do now?”

Hawks’ good mood rapidly sobered. “Well, he’s not moving, so we don’t need to use the feather to track him down. I guess we… get rid of him. Or I could hide him -” 

Dabi glared. Hawks sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.

Dabi paused, taking a good look at Hawks’ face. Last time he was faced with the prospect of killing someone, he didn’t do all too well. He hesitated. He had been a liability. And that was the thing with Hawks - Dabi was rapidly learning that, no matter how well he pretended to be on his side, no matter if, for the time being, he actually was, he’d always be a hero.

And Dabi would always be a villain.

“I’ll kill him,” Dabi found himself saying. “I’m strong enough to do it on my own. Just stay here and look pretty.”

Oh, what the fuck was wrong with him? First, he had a fucking nightmare, didn’t so much as dislike his baby brother, and now he was offering to do something for a fucking hero?

Hawks sputtered. “But what if -“

“ Hawks,” Dabi snapped. “You’d only be getting in my fucking way if you helped. Just keep an eye out here. I’ll kill him faster than you anyway, and I’ll signal to you if I need you to do some shit.” 

Yeah, that was logical. Dabi wasn’t actually being considerate - he was a villain, and he didn’t even like Hawks, so consideration wouldn’t make any sense.

Clearing his mind and taking a deep breath, Dabi winded his arm back, activating his quirk, and sent a huge wall of blue flame at the back of Octo-man, which he then somehow dodged, throwing his shirt off to the side as he did so.

“What the fuck -“ Dabi yelled, before he had to duck to avoid a flying knife. “ Shit!”

“Get away!” Octo-man screamed, a new knife-hand generating on one of his many arms. “I know who you are and who you work for, you sack of shit !”

“I don’t work for Whisper,” Dabi snapped, sending another blast of flame towards him. “I’m not one of her fucking lackeys like you were before you cowered out of her gang with your flannel girlfriend, you fucking idiot .”

Dabi swore he could hear a strangled laugh from behind him. So much for ‘ be quiet’ when Hawks couldn’t even stop himself from laughing.

“ What!?” Octo-man yelled, confused. Dabi rolled to dodge another knife thrown in his direction, wincing as he felt the pull of his staples. The moment the man in front of him stepped closer, he tensed.

The thing was: Dabi was a good fighter. As long as the fight remained short and long-distance. Which it usually did , because Dabi didn’t allow fights to not go in his favour. Even when afterwards he’d spend the night tossing and turning because of the pain, even when he’d wake up to new patches of burnt skin, that was all because it was in his favour. Realistically, if he ever lost a fight, he’d be dead.

And for the first time in a long time, the realisation that he’d be losing a lot more than a chance at revenge if he died was hitting him hard. Yume.

He l̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ cared about her general well-being, and he needed to be around to make sure she was okay, especially now that he had the knowledge that her quirk could have potentially been modified by a fucking drug. That was something he could handle, now that he was aware of it, but if he died? Nobody would know . Whisper could still use his daughter.

So the moment Octo-man tried to close the distance between the two of them, Dabi gritted his teeth, and let an absurd amount of flames burst out from the palms of both of his hands. More so than was necessary. It had been a while since Dabi felt pain from being burnt around his hands, but shit. He felt it this time.

And, obviously, so did Octo-man, who’s ashes lay in a heap on the ground a fair distance away from him.

“Holy shit,” Hawks finally said, from where he sat perched on top of one of the crates. “Went a little overboard, didn’t you?”

Dabi sent a tired glare at Hawks, hands shaking. “Shut up, birdie.”

Hawks, predictably, didn’t shut up. In fact, he even looked reluctantly concerned. “Uh, not to be an asshole, but your hands are kinda not looking great.“

Dabi looked down at his palms. The burns had obviously spread further down his hand, and some of the staples weren’t there anymore, so there was some blood, but nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. “It’s fine. It’s just a little blood.”

“ That’s fine?” Hawks squawked. “ Seriously?”

“Yes,” Dabi snapped. “ Seriously. I just can’t use my quirk for a while. Now let’s go back.”

He needed to get back to Yume. Whisper sending him far away from her was making him uneasy. He knew it was paranoia, there wasn’t any way she could know he had her… and yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Like clockwork, the moment he thought that, something went wrong in the form of an injured, disoriented woman rapidly growing from the pocket of Octo-man’s flannel, charging at him while she was the size of a miniature version of Mount Lady , and sending them both crashing through a wall and down a dark, deep stairwell.

If Dabi wasn’t currently free-falling, he might’ve wondered why the actual fuck there was a hidden stairwell there in the first place.

Dabi and the woman both yelped, each of them flailing and kicking at each other blindly as they tumbled down an absolute fuck-ton of stairs. 

“What the fuck,” Dabi yelled for the upteenth time, kneeing the super-sized woman and pushing her away, panting. This was horrible luck - but how the hell was he supposed to have anticipated this? “I thought you were a shirt.”

The woman growled, launching herself at him yet again. Her eyes were weirdly unfocused. “You killed my husband!”

Dabi grunted, blocking one of her punches and forcing her to release her grip on his arm by heating his body up. He couldn’t release the flames yet, but they still existed underneath his skin. She hissed in pain.

“Leave,” Dabi snarled. “Before I decide to incinerate you, you fucking bitch.”

“You killed my husband!” She repeated furiously, jumping at Dabi once more. This time, she succeeded. 

His whole world went blurry as his head was bashed into the wall, and he grunted, grabbing as tight as he could onto her hands, which were pressing tightly onto his throat.

Fuck.

Fuck.

He tried to gasp for air, beginning to kick at the woman blindly - panicked. 

He couldn’t breathe.

He heated his body up again, saw her face twist in agony as her skin seared.

She wasn’t relenting.

He was tired. He used too much of his energy. He couldn’t fight back.

Everything was going dark. He slackened against his will in her hold.

He was going to die.

Everything he did - becoming Dabi, wanting revenge, was going to go to waste. Yume’s only parent was going to be murdered, alone, in a fucking stairwell.

He was going to be murdered because he got involved with Whisper, just like Ronin had. Albeit, most likely in a different way.

Fuck, he thought, with fervour.

But just as Dabi finally began to lose consciousness, the woman’s hands loosened, and warm liquid sprayed his face, his entire body. 

He fell to the floor, coughing and desperately gasping in air.

He was drenched in blood. The floor was slippery, and covered in blood.

Still a little disoriented, Dabi opened his eyes, and froze .

Bloodied, sharpened feathers on the ground, a headless body, and Hawks, standing in front of him, a look of pure unadulterated horror written across his face.

Chapter Text

Hawks floated. Away.

Anywhere was better than here.

————

Shakily, Dabi stood up. “Hawks.”

Hawks didn’t answer him.

Dabi reached him, grasping onto his shoulders. “ Hawks.”

He stared ahead, as if he couldn’t see anything, muttering quietly - so quiet, that Dabi would have to strain his ears to understand.

“Oh, for the love of fucking god,” Dabi said, finally realizing what had happened. “Not now.”

Hawks wasn’t reacting to anything. Dabi, admittedly, didn’t have a fucking clue what to do. He hadn’t anticipated being in a situation where he’d have to help Hawks, but there wasn’t another option. Not in his condition - completely unable to use his quirk. He… fuck. He needed Hawks to get home.

When Touya was three, one of the first things he had ever learned in training had been grounding techniques. Endeavor had scoffed and said that they simply weren’t important enough for the top ten heroes to remember, but that Touya was still too little to learn anything of importance.

Naturally, Touya had memorised everything he learnt that day, and he had felt like he was on top of the world when Endeavor smiled and patted him on the head for it. Because, even though he had still been small and insignificant, at least he showed that, when the time came to learn more, he’d be ready for it.

Naturally, Dabi remembered everything. Or, well, he remembered some of it. Whatever.

Dabi hated that he had to use what he had been taught by that man for its intended purpose, but he needed Hawks to get them both back home. Begrudgingly, he’d admit that he was kind of in an extremely shit condition at the moment, and that making his way back by himself was nothing short of a death wish.

He’d had way too many close encounters with death today.

“Hawks,” Dabi said, a hell of a lot calmer than he usually did. It sent a rush of irritation through him. “Hawks, don’t fucking look at that, look here. Look at me.”

And Hawks… did. No questions asked.

If Dabi wasn’t completely reliant on Hawks at the moment, he’d have made a snide comment about how he preferred the hero obedient. The ‘ good boy’ dig that Hawks had thrown at him was still fresh in his mind.

“Okay, good,” Dabi said instead, wishing he’d have been able to use his quirk and snap his attention back to him instead, or at least have had something else near him for what he was about to do besides himself. “Focus on me.”

“Okay,” Hawks replied, monotonously.

Dabi’s face twisted. He hated this he hated this he hated- “Okay, uh… fuck. Can’t do the five senses shit because there’s nothing around here but brick and fucking bl- god damnit-“

“I didn’t mean to,” Hawks muttered. Dabi cocked his head.

“You didn’t mean to fucking de-“ he paused. That would make things worse if he said that. “Okay, that’s fine. You didn’t mean to.”

“I hurt her,” he whispered.

No, you brutally fucking murdered her, he wanted to reply, but didn’t.

“Yeah,” Dabi agreed. “You hurt her, but you stopped her from hurting me.”

Hawks blinked for the first time in minutes. “I hurt her. I hurt her. I’m not- not...”

That was… pathetic. Dabi actually felt a slight twinge of sympathy. Sort of.

He was more focused on getting the fuck out of there. Maybe then he could confront those sympathetic feelings and pretend they never existed in the first place.

Patience was not one of Dabi’s strong suits. Still, he took a deep breath, sighed, and told himself that he needed Hawks to snap the fuck out of it to get them both back. 

Fuck , the things he’d grown to be willing to do for Yume…

“Hawks, you saved me.”

Dabi didn’t know whether he hated saying that, or the fact that it was kind of true more.

Hawks blinked slowly.

“You saved my life.”

Dabi grimaced. It was definitely both. That almost physically hurt to say, but it looked like it did the trick, because Hawks’ eyes looked less glazed over.

Telling himself that he did all of that for Yume made him feel so much better. It wasn’t even a lie. He needed to get the fuck back to her.

He lo- liked her, and he would be beyond fucking pissed if something happened to her while he was on the other end of a huge ass city.

Dabi watched as he slowly took in the scene in front of them. His bottom lip quivered.

“I slipped up,” Hawks admitted shakily, still evidently not himself. “I don’t- it’s never- I’ve never missed so bad. I sent those feathers to knock her away from you. I didn’t- I didn’t want to hurt her. I don’t wanna hurt anyone.“

Dabi stared at him.

“No I- I didn’t miss. That was a lie but I just- I don’t want to hurt people anymore,” Hawks whispered, sounding uncharacteristically small, childish. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Dabi grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to take a step up the stairs and definitely not using him as a crutch. 

“My handlers will be angry,” was Hawks’ response as he finally began to move his body on his own accord.

Dabi did not hear that right, because what the fuck? “Your fucking what?”

“Mhm, they’ll probably yell at me for it,” Hawks replied, as if what he said wasn’t completely fucking mind-boggling. Dabi left it at that, and hobbled out of the weird stairwell with the hero by his side, extremely pissed that he got his head bashed into a wall, and that he had to play hero all because of some ‘ little favour’ for Whisper.

At least they may have potentially found something connected to Whisper out of pure… well, not luck, but chance.

A hidden stairwell was the closest thing to a lead that they had right now, and as soon as Hawks was back to his usual self and he checked up on Yume, they’d be heading right back.

Preferably when Dabi’s head wasn’t throbbing.

But for now, Dabi would have to suck it all up and guide Hawks through this shit. Grounding techniques, like he was some rescue hero.

Like he was still Touya.

God, he was so fucking tired.

But if he was going to do it, he might as well do it good.

————

Hawks’ first coherent thought was ’ fuck.’

One moment, he had been staring down at the woman’s dead body (he killed her, he killed her-), the next moment, Dabi was cursing up a storm as he tried physically dragging him up the entire stairwell, skin cracked, bleeding, and still steaming slightly from the seams.

“Oh no,” Hawks squawked. He couldn’t remember properly . What had he said? How much had he said?

Dabi sent him a tired look - not even a semblance of a glare. He must’ve been too tired to be angry. Hawks blinked at him, noticing the darker parts of purplish skin around his neck, and the bloody blisters running up his arms. He winced. As much as he… well, now he wasn’t even sure what he thought about Dabi, he still felt bad about… that.

He hadn’t quite been all there, but he remembered it nonetheless. How Dabi patiently (and uncharacteristically - seriously, what the hell) stood with him and dragged him out of… whatever that had been. Some sort of panic attack, maybe? Hawks had hurt people before, had probably killed people, but he never stuck around long enough to see the same amount of damage as he had today, and he had never decapitated anyone. Ever.

He wasn’t even quite sure why, in that split second, he chose to do it. He could’ve stabbed her, he could’ve tried to move her off of Dabi, but in that moment, he had been further away (too far away)  and he had just… panicked - desperately searched for a quick enough option to get her off him, right away.

Dabi was… still Dabi. A villain. Definitely not someone Hawks had even remotely liked, but dying like that… no. That wasn’t how it was meant to be.

And now he himself was alive. More than alive. And it was because Dabi had helped him. By choice.

‘You saved my life.’

And Hawks could tell that he had meant it. It left him reeling.

Dabi really was an enigma, and not just because of his entirely unknown past, but because he did things that a villain without the ability to empathise - to understand, wouldn’t do.

With dawning clarity, Hawks came to the conclusion that Dabi was an asshole, probably traumatised, definitely not at all remotely heroic, but not evil either.

He was just a flawed human being. Deeply, deeply, flawed.

Hawks didn’t know what to think about that. But he could return the favour, if only a little bit.

Hawks subtly stopped leaning on Dabi, and transferred some of Dabi’s weight to carry himself. Dabi’s face gained a bit more colour after that. Either he really hadn’t noticed, or he was too out of it to care.

“You spaced out,” Dabi said, his words lacking its usual sarcastic drawl. Wow, he was almost pleasant post-being-strangled and burnt.

“Well, looking at the way she had her hands wrapped around your pretty little neck took my breath away,” Hawks tried to quip. It came out dry, his voice deeper than normal and just as exhausted as Dabi’s.

They were too exhausted to fight. Too exhausted to lie - to put up a mask. For the first time, Hawks and Dabi existed on the same level. Not unwilling, but unable to spin a good lie, or to hide anything below surface level.

Hawks wondered if Dabi was looking at him right now and wondering where they stood, too. If he looked into his eyes and wondered if the dislike - the pure unbridled hatred was still there, or if it was muted. Numbed. It certainly was for Hawks. Being in traumatic situations with someone certainly made things different. Mellowed the dislike out - replaced it with absurd amounts of confusion and I-don’t-like-you-but-I-also-don’t-dislike-you feelings.

Hawks looked at Dabi, and couldn’t identify any sort of feelings at all. Not even irritation. Definitely nothing positive there, either. But the fact that he didn’t feel any sort of emotion at all was weird, and Hawks didn’t know what to do about that.

He’d call it neutrality, even though it didn’t even feel like that.

He helped me, Hawks thought, and nearly scrunched up his nose because wow, that was weird.

The way he felt about Dabi couldn’t be described any other way but like a blank slate, waiting to be filled with new opinions on him. Especially because the way that Hawks had thought of Dabi before this fiasco didn’t fit with the Dabi that he had seen bending down slightly to meet his eyes, muttering calmly as he told him to ‘ breathe in and out, there you go, just like that. Focus on me.’

Hawks could still hardly believe he did that.

Dabi let out a huff. It almost sounded like the start of a laugh. “Freaky. And also bullshit. The fuck is a ’little’ neck?”

“Yeah,” Hawks muttered, mouth twitching.

Silence lulled between them for a few moments, the only sound being the echo of their boots hitting each stair with a loud thump.

“Why did you help me?” Hawks sighed, breaking the silence. “And where did you learn how to do all of that? Your therapist?”

“Well, birdie,” Dabi hissed a little as his burnt arm rubbed against the wall of the stairwell. “It gave me the opportunity to stare at your face - which I don’t get to see enough because you’re definitely not on every single fucking billboard in Japan. And yes, she taught me all of the healthy coping mechanisms I obviously practise on a daily basis.”

Hawks shook his head in actual amusement. Because of a joke that Dabi of all people made . Hawks’ could almost feel his inner turmoil grow in size. What the fuck . “Bullshit.”

“Yeah,” Dabi agreed quietly, in the same tone Hawks had used. ”That was bullshit.”

“Where did you learn it though?” Hawks eventually questioned carefully.

“Like I said,” Dabi replied, kicking a stray rock as they finally made their way out of the building, moonlight shining down on both of their faces, illuminating his bright blue eyes. “That information is earned.”

But then he paused, or froze. Hawks wasn’t even sure. He looked like he was fighting some inner battle with himself.

After five minutes of complete silence and continued walking, Hawks was about to write it all off as Dabi just being tired.

“… My father,” he said, and it took Hawks a moment to realise what he meant by that.

“ Oh ,” Hawks breathed, surprised.

Dabi had just volunteered information about himself only hours after he nearly tried to kill him because of lack of trust.

Was Hawks actually making improvement with Dabi? The answer was still vague, but it was something.

Sensing the confused air around Hawks, Dabi scoffed. “You helped me not die, so I answered your fucking question.”

Hawks blinked hauntingly at the reminder of what he did, but he forced a sly smile on his face regardless. “You mean I saved you?”

“Don’t push it,” Dabi grumbled.

“You even said it yourself -“

“ Hawks,” Dabi cut him off, irritated as he pushed Hawks arm holding him up off him. “I might not be able to burn you right now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to try another day.”

Huh. Maybe things hadn’t changed that much after all for Dabi. Maybe it really was just him panicking over his sudden capability of not finding Dabi annoying and evil-incarnate.

Hawks watched Dabi wince as he continued limping down towards the dimly-lit street up ahead. “Dabs.”

No answer, just a clenched fist.

“Hot stuff.”

Another clenched fist. He continued walking. Evidently, he wasn’t in the mood for nicknames. What a shame, really, that Hawks found nicknames to be hilarious.

Dabi was just lucky that he’d never brought out the pet names in fear of actually being incinerated on the spot.

“ Dabi,” Hawks called out, as loud as he could.

“ What ,” he snapped, whirling back around.

“You’re so fucking stubborn,” Hawks muttered under his breath, before looking back up. “I have a faster way of getting us back.”

Dabi frowned. Hawks thought the faster way back would’ve been obvious to him and also the first way of getting back home that would come to mind but… well, apparently not. It had been a long day, though. Hawks could cut him some slack.

“How’d you like to go for a little fly?”

Chapter Text

Dabi hated flying more than he had ever hated Hawks, which was saying something.

“Uh,” Hawks said, after Dabi had demanded they cut the flying short and land somewhere else for the night. He wanted to get home, but he’d rather do it and not throw up either. “You’re looking a little- you’re not looking too great.”

“I wonder why,” Dabi snapped, trying not to heave and throw up everywhere because that would be really fucking embarrassing. “It’s not like I got hit in the head, choked out, then ended up way too far off the ground all while having fucking motion sickness. I’d rather drive with fucking Spinner than fly with you ever again.”

Also, being held in a bridal carry however many feet off the ground they had been just sucked. Dabi was just glad he hadn’t demanded to be carried another way like he’d originally wanted to, because holy shit, they had been far off the ground and at least he never had to worry about being dropped, god forbid. He didn’t even know he had a fear of heights until today, but fucking hell.

Hawks cocked his head at him. “ You have motion sickness?”

He’s always had it. Natsuo used to make fun of him for ‘being a drama queen’ whenever he threatened to get sick all over the car on the way to school.

“ Yes,” Dabi blinked. “Why? Does that surprise you?”

Hawks crossed his arms. “Hm… nah, but you admitting it surprises me.”

“I am human.” Dabi grumbled. “Not some fucking machine without any fucking faults.”

“Obviously,” Hawks rolled his eyes. “Nobody’s ever perceived you as some killing machine. Not even the heroes. They just think you’re a monster who enjoys it.”

Dabi shook his head, letting out a harsh laugh. 

“Colour me fucking surprised,” he replied, his tone purely sarcastic as he followed Hawks into what looked to be another abandoned building. Great, one more night with a hero.

He had to remind himself that he genuinely wouldn’t be able to make it back tonight without making a fool of himself over and over again.

“Maybe they wouldn’t think of you as a monster if you didn’t pretend to be one, Hot stuff.”

What. Dabi frowned. “I don’t pretend.”

Hawks stopped walking, and turned to stare at him, bright yellow eyes full of earnestness.

“You know what?” Hawks said, lips twitching. “I would’ve believed you if today didn’t happen. You can convince yourself that you had no choice but to help me after I- well, you know. But you and I both know that if you really wanted to, you could’ve found a way back without me.”

“You’re giving me way too much credit, birdie,” Dabi crooned. “I helped you because you’re an asset to me and your quirk makes it easier to travel. I still don’t like you.”

Hawks’ smile widened. “Is that so? Well, even if you still dislike me, you know what you considering me an asset tells me?”

Dabi froze.

“You trust me right now,” Hawks practically sang, the way he was speaking. “You trust that I’ll help you with Whisper’s little ordeal, don’t you?”

Dabi refused to answer that.

The thing was, Hawks was partially right. If Dabi had no other option or if Dabi simply hadn’t wanted to even attempt to get him out of… whatever the fuck that had been, he would’ve tried making it back on his own regardless. And yeah, he might’ve died doing it, but he might have lived, too. He didn’t actually need to go as far as he did, that had been his choice. A choice that he couldn’t fully understand besides the fact that, at the time, helping Hawks had seemed like the only option for him.

Dabi didn’t fully trust Hawks - he probably never would, but for this? For taking down Whisper?

He… fuck, he didn’t distrust him. Hawks might still be the Commission’s pet bird, but it was obvious that really, he wasn’t as loyal to them as he’d originally thought. He lied to them for the sake of keeping the babies being experimented on safe from whatever the hell the HPSC would want with them. And sure, maybe he could just go and tell the Commission when Dabi wasn’t around to hear, but as far as Dabi could understand from that conversation, for the past few months, Hawks has told the HPSC nothing.

“As long as you’re useful to me, birdie, I’ve got your back,” Dabi murmured quietly, barely loud enough for the man to even hear.

For the time being, having Hawks around was more beneficial than not. Once Whisper was dealt with, things could go back to normal.

They could go back to hating each other.

————

“Your face- You’re still bleeding,” Hawks breathed out softly later that day in the evening, when the two of them sat hunched in front of a fireplace Dabi had barely managed to ignite with his quirk. It wasn’t his usual blue flames - they were a bright orange, and Dabi couldn’t help but stare at it, almost mesmerised at the sight. He’d always had trouble turning down the heat - it was why he never fully trusted himself with his flames around Yume unless he was certain he had full control of it, which oftentimes he didn’t.

There had never been a need to have control of his quirk. When he was Touya, he was meant to be the strongest - stronger than his dad, even. So why would he voluntarily weaken his flames? As Dabi… Well, his name didn’t mean ‘ cremation’ for nothing.

“Hm?” Dabi said disinterestedly, hand reaching up to feel a warm liquid on his cheek. “Oh, fuck. Whatever. It’s fine.”

Hawks gave him a strange look. The fire crackled loudly, enveloping the room in a comfortable warmth. “Okay… What about your head, Hot Stuff?”

Dabi sighed tiredly. He had long given up on getting Hawks to stop with the stupid nicknames. “Hawks, what about my fucking head?”

Hawks rubbed the nape of his neck. Dabi was beginning to recognize it as a nervous tick of his.“You hit it pretty hard against that wall, you know.”

“No, I had no idea,” Dabi drawled sarcastically. “It’s not as if I felt it happen or anything.”

“Dabi, you helped me just a few hours ago,” Hawks whispered, the glow of the firelight making his eyes seem just a little brighter. “Can I- just- let me help you too, okay?”

What the fuck? Dabi faltered, before finally managing a glare. “I don’t need your fucking help, birdie,” he paused. “And we agreed - I don’t need you to try to be my friend or some shit. I helped you, that doesn’t change anything for me. I still hate you, and I still hate all you fucking heroes.”

“Hate me, then,” Hawks sighed tiredly. “But I don’t want to be indebted to you. Just let me check your head and make sure you’re not gonna die or anything, Dabi. Please? ”

Dabi stared open-mouthed at him.

The silence quickly grew between them, and Hawks’ request was becoming too heavy for Dabi to bear - to just let it remain unacknowledged. His own eyes flickered from the dwindling flames to Hawks, narrowed and filled with thoughts and emotions that not even Dabi himself could make out. His first instinct was to take back any sliver of trust he had ever given Hawks today, even though technically, the man had done nothing to deserve that yet. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I don’t want to be indebted to you.  

In a way, Dabi could understand that. If the roles were reversed, maybe he’d even feel the same way. He wouldn’t know, he vowed to never place himself into a situation where he’d be indebted to a fucking hero. To Hawks.

Dabi exhaled, slightly embarrassed to find that he did it shakily. He’d never liked the idea of being vulnerable, and he disliked it even more to offer vulnerability to a hero, and one he wasn’t exactly very fond of, either. 

The air grew more tense between them. Hawks waited for his answer quietly, with bated breath.

It felt like there was a bridge between them, waiting to be crossed. He could choose to stay where he was, but what would happen if Dabi took one single step forward - if he allowed himself, if only for a moment, to step beyond the animosity left between them? Would he be able to go back?

Probably, he thought, staring at Hawks with thinly-veiled disgust as the man purposefully and dramatically fake yawned at him.

“Fine,” Dabi snapped. “I don’t care. Do what you want.”

He didn’t understand why Hawks even wanted to in the first place.

————

There were two things that Hawks couldn’t stop thinking about. One, Dabi’s hair was surprisingly soft for a man who was constantly being damaged by his own flames, and two, Hawks didn’t even know how he had successfully managed to convince Dabi to actually let him do this.

Had Hawks actually felt indebted to Dabi? Kind of, but he hadn’t really cared. He was just… even more intrigued than he ever had been before. That tiny sliver of something existed beneath Dabi’s tough exterior, and Hawks wanted to see more of it.

And maybe he was seeing good somewhere where it didn’t exist, but Hawks didn’t believe so. It wasn’t that he doubted that Dabi hated him, or that Dabi was only pretending to be a bad person all of the time, rather that really, Dabi had said it himself. He’s human, and he’s flawed.

Because if Dabi was pure evil, why would he have even remembered how to calm him down when he learned how to all those years ago? Why would he care so much about Whisper? And about his old friend?

Hawks looked down, gently running his fingers through Dabi’s hair down to his scalp as he sat tensely in front of him. “Why are you so tense?” 

“Because you’re fucking touching me,” Dabi hissed. Hawks paused.

“Do you want me to stop ?”

Dabi clenched his fists. “ No. Just stop being so…”

Hawks blinked, confused. “So what?”

“ Nothing,” Dabi snapped, and then fell silent once more, his body still extremely tense.

“If you ever want me to stop…” Hawks ventured cautiously. Dabi’s hand moved backward to punch him on the leg. “ Ow! Okay, fine, I won’t ask again, Jesus.”

Hawks continued, and narrowed his eyes. “You’ve got dried blood in your hair so you’ve probably got a cut or something and… wha- huh.”

The roots of Dabi’s hair weren't black. 

They were white. Startlingly so.

“You dye your hair?” Hawks blurted out, eyebrows raised in surprise. Instantly, Dabi smacked his hands away, standing up with an unreadable expression on his face.

Another moment of uncomfortable silence passed where Hawks realised that Dabi was not going to answer his question, and that it wasn’t exactly rhetorical in the first place. “White hair is… cool . So is black hair.”

“ Cool,” Dabi replied flatly. Hawks nodded his head rapidly.

“Yeah. Cool. I just didn’t expect you to have white- not that it’s ugly, it’s uh- pretty? ” He said, and at Dabi’s expression, winced. “So… never speak of this again?”

“Never fucking speak of this again,” Dabi confirmed, and then turned away to wander to another side of the room. Hawks’ eyes followed him. He couldn’t help it.

Never before had he found someone so interesting. Hawks wanted so badly to uncover each and every one of Dabi’s secrets. Except now, after everything Dabi had done…

He wanted Dabi to be the one to uncover them.

Information like that was earned, Dabi had told him.

And Hawks would earn it.

Chapter Text

Jin frowned as Yume whined, squirming around in his arms.

The League wasn’t back yet. This wasn’t supposed to be a long mission and… well, he was beginning to worry that something had gone wrong. Not really, things were fine! Right?

He didn’t know. It was eating him up.

“Shh,” he cooed. Yume was quite frankly not entertained. Jin was becoming more and more impressed that Dabi had dealt with being a single father so well as the days went on. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be around Yume anymore - far from that, actually - rather that… caring for a kid this young was immensely difficult. 

Dabi portrayed himself to be impatient in his goals - uncaring of what happened to the people around him, and yet… he cared. Under all of that brazenness, under all of that frost that made him appear so very cold, was a normal man. A man who lived and loved like every other human. Only, unlike the average citizen of Japan, he was outcasted for it. Just like Jin, Himiko, Shigaraki, Spinner, Compress, and- and Magne, too.

The League were villains, and they did horrible things (Jin included) but at the end of the day, they weren’t born evil. Something forced them into this - something forced Dabi into portraying himself as a piece of shit monster to the world.

But the thing with Yume was that she was born into this world while Dabi was already a ‘ monster’. The monster was all she knew. All she was ever going to know. Unlike the world, she didn’t see Dabi as a villain, or as some despicable human being. When Yume looked at Dabi, she saw her father. She saw someone who kept her alive and cared for her, and she loved him unabashedly. Unconditionally.

And really, that kind of unconditional love would soften even the coldest of hearts. Jin didn’t blame Dabi for unknowingly changing for her - not at all. In fact, ever since Yume came along, he was just generally… better. More lively. It was nice. Honestly. If anyone deserved to find a sliver of happiness in his life for once, it was Dabi.

And there was no doubt in Jin’s mind that Dabi hadn’t come to love his daughter - his baby girl. He could deny it as much as he wanted, even until he left himself out of breath with his lips blue from lack of oxygen. Jin knew - knew with his entire being that if it came down to it now, Dabi would choose her. Forever and always.

Eventually, he’d realise it too - that he was still human. Whatever part of him he thought ‘ died’ like he so often claimed might not be dead, just… matured. Grown up with him. Alongside him. Because maybe he was still him . And maybe that would make things harder for him - less straightforward, but things were never easy for the people in the League. He’d get over whatever had him so obviously conflicted. Jin was sure of it.

He just hoped that however he’d get over it, he’d make sure he got over it with his daughter seamlessly, because love makes people do stupid things, and Dabi was prone to stupidity when it came to feelings.

“Yume,” Jin cooed. “Aw come on, don’t cry. You like your Uncle Jin, don’t you? I bet you hate me -“

Knock.

Jin frowned, double checking to make sure the League hadn’t texted confirmation that they’d returned. 

They hadn’t. 

“Who’s there?” He ventured carefully, suspiciously. “ Show yourselves!”

“Sorry for scaring you,” a sweet, feminine voice sounded from the other end of the door. Jin sagged in relief. It was just Shinsou. Dabi’s friend. “Dabi has found himself a bit… preoccupied with something. He asked me to come and grab Yume for him. Can I come in?”

Jin frowned as he opened the door. Shinsou smiled at him meekly. “Did he really? Do you have any proof? You’re a lying bitch!”

Shinsou continued smiling at him, her eyes glowing a beautiful, striking white. “He did. You know how he is, always unwilling to ask for help. It’s a miracle he even demanded for me to come and grab his kid for him.”

Jin’s face scrunched up. Something was wrong… or was it? What was- maybe nothing was wrong at all. Maybe Jin was just being too… him. “I- What?”

Shinsou outstretched her arms. “I can take her to him, Twice.”

-

-

-

-

-

-

Jin paused, transfixed on her eyes. They were beautiful, glowing as bright as the sun… and Shinsou was nice. She was Dabi’s friend. She was-

Wait.

Her pocket. He almost missed it but… that was dried blood.

As if in slow motion, Shinsou tensed, her eyes drifting towards where his own were looking and then… she laughed. A light, airy little giggle. It was cute. It was unendingly creepy. It made Jin feel like he was just doused in freezing ice water.

Her eyes stopped glowing.

Jin felt something sharp pierce his leg. He let out a pained gasp, stumbling backward.

“Dabi had another friend, you know,” she said, huffing out another laugh as she pulled out what looked like a picture. It was old, bloody, and Jin couldn’t quite make out anything else. “I never really cared enough to learn their name. It was never them I was interested in. It never is, really. It’s their quirks and the genetics behind combining different ones that does interest me.”

Jin just… stared, his heart pounding. Yume squirmed in his arms, almost seeming to sense his panic.

“I used to work for the HPSC,” she whispered. “I was a scientist. They fired me - my work wasn’t good enough. Helpful enough. They like brute force… They like being able to mould heroes to their liking and obviously, I could never offer them a way to do that. My job did them no service. I was useless.”

Jin couldn’t breathe . He clutched onto Yume tighter, backing up with wide eyes. He wouldn’t let her go - couldn’t let her go for her sake. For Dabi’s sake.

Shinsou looked up at him, a manic grin on her face. “But then a while ago,  I got my hands on Trigger and I thought huh, if this can temporarily strengthen even the weakest of quirks to the extreme, what would happen if this powerful drug was used on a being just as the quirk factor begins developing?”

She paused. “And it worked. I kidnapped a woman buying a pregnancy test from a store. Her quirk was weak fire manipulation. Her husband’s quirk was a mutation - his arms were covered in useless bits of feather.”

Yume sobbed into his shoulder.

“Their child,” Shinsou said. “ Oh, their baby eventually died from burn complications, but it was beautiful . She was born with wings bigger than Hawks’, and they weren’t just normal wings. They were made purely of fire. A quirk like that at birth is virtually unheard of let alone that powerful, and it was then that I decided I needed to enhance Trigger to further my experiments.”

She laughed. “So I did, and I recruited Trigger addicts with promises of giving them better, stronger trigger in exchange for them bringing me pregnant people - typically, these pregnant people were already addicts too. All of them are just so desperate for the fucking drug, it’s hilarious.”

Suddenly, she scowled. “Until one of them managed to escape just as they went into labour.”

“Dabi’s friend,” Jin whispered, horrified.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “And you see, Yume here is almost guaranteed to have a strong quirk. So I’ll be taking her down with me and placing her with my other precious babies until they’ve gotten their quirks. Then… then I’ll contact the Commision.”

She stepped forward, pushing him to the floor. Yume screamed, terrified.

“And then,” she smiled. “My work will finally be appreciated as it should. ”

The only thing Jin could think as the knife burrowed itself in his chest was how much it hurt . And still, he clung onto Yume as much as he could, desperate in his attempt to stop Shinsou from taking her. But it was futile.

She left with her wailing in her arms, leaving nothing behind but an old photo on the floor, just out of Jin’s reach. Still, it was close enough for him to see.

A much younger, less scarred, and very flustered looking Dabi side by side with a grinning, happy looking person absolutely brimming with excitement. They had their arms slung over his shoulders, forcefully pulling him closer to their body as they threw up a peace sign.

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~

“Dabi, lets take a photo together!”

.

It looked like Ronin had actually kept that stupid photo after all.

~

Chapter Text

The more time Dabi spent around Hawks, the less he hated him and the more he just…found him to be generally annoying. The fact that their lives had intertwined so much these past few months were making for some completely uninteresting revelations—Dabi had no need to know what Hawks’ favourite colour was, or what his favourite foods were, and yet… He knew them. Fuck, he could probably recite more information about the guy than his entire dedicated fanbase. And that really wouldn’t have bothered him if not for—

Hawks was learning more about him too. About parts of him that Dabi hadn’t shared with anyone since he was sixteen and living on the streets with Ronin. And it wasn’t like Hawks was prying in some sort of manipulative, HPSC-sanctioned manner—Dabi was quite literally just offering this personal information up. His hands played with a couple of strands of his hair absent-mindedly, and Dabi frowned.

White hair.

Like everything about his old life, it used to cause him to feel an insurmountable amount of rage. And, like with Shouto, Dabi could no longer reach that anger. “Fuck,” he muttered. It all came back to her, now. His daughter. Because Yume looked quite a bit like Shouto, and Yume had white hair. All of these characteristics he used to look at and hate—sometimes even in the mirror staring narrowed-eyed at his reflection, weren’t just a product of Endeavor and his mother’s genes anymore. It wasn’t about quirks with how he felt about Yume. It was just… her. She didn’t need a powerful quirk or a certain appearance for Dabi to look at her. She didn’t need to be anything for him for Dabi to want to make sure she stayed a happy, healthy little girl.

Somewhere along the way, he started associating the things he used to hate with all the good things he liked about Yume, and now Dabi felt as though his flames had been extinguished. He didn’t give a fuck about most of his family. It was only Endeavor that continued to fuel the flames of his hatred, but even then…

Dabi couldn’t even bear to muster up any hate for him at the moment. He just wanted to see Yume. His face twisted imperceptibly, body freezing minutely in slight shock.

He didn’t—

But oh, he did. 

He unconsciously prioritised Yume over his goal of ridding the world of Endeavor. The one thing he swore would never happen, and yet it did. And yet… he couldn’t. Even if he wanted to.

He couldn’t throw his entire purpose away for her. He wouldn’t just give up on his own goals like that—on the league itself. Twice, Spinner, Shigaraki, Himiko, and Compress… he’d grown to care for them a tiny bit—had gotten used to Spinner and Shigaraki’s explosive arguments over video games he had no understanding of, of Compress’ weird obsession with all things tea, of Twice’s speaking habits and his and Himiko’s bright personalities. Dabi didn’t know when it happened, but they had integrated themselves so deep into his life, he wasn’t sure if there was life without the League. Without both them and Yume.

“I didn’t know you played with your hair,” Hawks grumbled, fervently rubbing his eyes as he woke up. Dabi… observed the motion. For so long, he hadn’t been able to get past the fact that Hawks was… well, Hawks, but he had learned things about him too. Had seen the man kill for him, even when they both vehemently claimed to dislike each other immensely. Hawks was becoming more human to him instead of just another hero. And Dabi… didn’t hate him anymore.

Fuck.

“I don’t,” Dabi found himself offering up blandly—quietly and so uncharacteristically him. What the fuck was he doing? “I used to fucking hate my hair.”

Hawks blinked. 

“It started going white when I was…I don’t fucking know, four or six? Right when my quirk started hurting me. I hated it.”

“Huh,” Hawks said. “I…get that.”

It was Dabi’s turn to blink. “You what ?”

“When I was really little,” Hawks began hesitantly. “I… lets just say I didn’t like my wings for a good reason.”

Dabi rolled his eyes. “Traumatic backstory I haven’t unlocked yet?”

Hawks grinned. “That’s level ten friendship at the minimum. You’re sitting at a solid five, Hot Stuff.”

“ You consider me a friend?” Dabi blurted, then internally winced at the tone of his voice. Hawks snorted.

“You’re kinda annoying and mildly infuriating, but I did…um. You know, kill a woman to save your life and I wouldn’t just do that for anyone—ooh, also, you were nice to me and we’ve had some good conversations so sure, you’re a friend now.”

Bullshit, Dabi thought.

“ Conversations?! Do you mean trying to murder each—you know what, I don’t fucking do friendship,” Dabi glared, even though that was beginning to feel like a lie the more he said it. “And you said you disliked me…not even that fucking long ago.”

“Well, I do somewhat like you,” Hawks winked. “You’re an intriguing person, Dabi. And I consider myself an expert at forming friendships, so I can help you out—teach you how to be a good friend and all that jazz.”

“Wow,” Dabi deadpanned. “I’ve never been so excited in my entire life.”

Also, a friendship between a villain and a Commission spy sounded like it was just doomed to fail and blow up in both of their faces. Two people on opposite sides of a fucking conflict don’t mix like that.

“ Oh, come on,” Hawks groaned. “Just say you accept my offering of friendship.”

Offering friendship… or something with alternative motives?

Dabi didn’t want to start this stupid fucking back and forth thing again.

Dabi trusted Hawks to some extent. Actually…he kind of trusted him a fair amount now, but only for what logically made sense. Part of him still felt the need to keep him at a distance, and he wasn’t willing to analyse in depth why he felt that way. Hell fucking no.

“No.”

“One-sided friendships aren’t a thing, Dabs.”

“Don’t call me that,” Dabi hissed half-heartedly. “And apparently they are.”

“We’re friends, Hot stuff. We helped each other out, we bicker, and we have semi-actually-kind-of-really-deep conversations. We even got nicknames for each other.”

“I’m pretty fucking sure friends don’t force each other to be friends.”

Hawks grinned. “How would you know, Mr ‘ I don’t fucking do friendship’?”

Dabi glared. “ Hawks, I need to leave.”

That wasn’t a lie. He needed to get back to Yume. He had to make sure she was fine.

Hawks fake-pouted. “You mean you’re breaking up with me?”

“Oh, fuck off,” Dabi said, directing a rude middle finger at Hawks as he walked briskly out the door. But then he froze. Ah. Fuck.

Hawks started cackling. “Is there something you need, Dabs?”

Oh for the love of fucking god. “ Fuck.”

“Sorry,” Hawks said, cupping his ear. “I didn’t quite hear what you said.”

Dabi gritted his teeth. “I need you to fly me back.”

“I didn’t hear a ‘please’ or a ‘ my dearest friend’ in there—“

“I will burn you to fucking ashes and flush them down a god-damn toilet,” Dabi snapped back.

Hawks raised a brow. “That’s not a ‘ please’.”

“Fuck— fuck. Fine,” Dabi hissed impatiently. He would pick and choose his battles wisely, and this was not a hill he was willing to die on. “ Please.”

Hawks laughed even harder. “ Awwww, there you go. Good b—”

“Finish that sentence and I will actually fucking kill you.”

“You can’t,” Hawks said, smirking. “You need me.”

————

Dabi hated flying. Hawks evidently loved it—he sported a bright smile on his face as they soared high up in the air, completely covered by clouds. Occasionally, he’d let out a little laugh—almost a giggle, as if nothing more than this could ever make him so happy. And, quite honestly, Dabi had never seen Hawks look so naturally content before—he was always smiling, whether it be for photoshoots or pictures with fans, but it never quite looked like this. Eyes wrinkled, mouth stretched wide. Dabi couldn’t really pay attention to him for that long, though.

He really hated flying. 

Hawks let out another laugh. Meanwhile, Dabi had his eyes screwed shut and fists tightly clenched onto Hawks’ jacket all while fighting the urge to vomit all over himself and the fucking bird.

“You’re fine,” Hawks said after Dabi let out a particularly embarrassing yelp. “Stop acting like a damsel in distress—“

“Hard to do that when I’m in fucking distress,” Dabi snapped. Hawks just snorted in reply. “Are we there yet?” I hate doing this .”

“ Jesus,” Hawks droned. “With the way you act, you’d think I’m a horrible flyer and not, you know, the winged hero—“

“ Just answer the fucking question!”

“Yes,” Hawks said as he began to descend. “I’m gonna set you down now, and then I gotta head to the Commission to, you know, tell them about your least favourite foods and other very important things to help arrest you and the League—by the way, what is your least favourite food?”

“Fish,” Dabi said shortly as his feet finally, blessedly touched the ground. “ Anything with fish.”

“You seem like a fishy sort of guy though,” Hawks said, mouth twitching. 

Dabi crossed his arms, glared, and deadpanned: “ hilarious.”

Hawks waved a hand dismissively. “I know. I’m extremely funny.”

Dabi begged to fucking differ. “You’re painfully unfunny.”

“Oh come on, develop a better sense of humour.”

An image of Yume in her ‘my dad is my number one hero!’ shirt flashed in his mind. He had a feeling that if Hawks knew about her, he’d appreciate the hilarity of it. And— well. Speaking of Yume, he really wanted to get back to her. “Fuck off now, birdie.”

Hawks saluted. “Aye aye, boss.”

Dabi scoffed. What a fucking dumbass.

He resolutely decided to ignore the way his mouth had twitched, and quickly strode over to where the League’s current hideout was hidden, swivelling between different alleyways and pulling his hood further over his face to hide his identity.

————

Dabi couldn’t breathe.

He stood frozen, shell-shocked, at the sight he had walked into. His breathing picked up, rapidly turning into quick little huffs and pants and his arms stood limply at his side, hands clenching and unclenching in a desperate attempt to stop himself from bursting into bright blue flames.

Twice laid sprawled on the floor, mask off and body spasming, eyes widened with pure unbridled terror. It knocked any remaining breath out of Dabi’s lungs, left him wheezing for air. Fuck. Fuck.

The blood. It pooled underneath him, staining the carpet. 

Not again.

Not again.

“D-Dabi,” Twice gasped, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so— sorry—“

“ No!” and Dabi had meant for that to sound more like a growl— had meant for that one single word to encompass anger and a need for revenge, but upon realising just what Twice was apologising for…

Suddenly, he felt like Touya. Like he lost everything that made his life good for a second time, like he had lost the only source of love he had in this world and god, it was hitting him now. Pricked his skin like a thousand fucking needles. He had taken so much of it for advantage—and oh , how he regretted pretending that Yume was more of a nuisance than anything else purely because Dabi had goals, had dreams. 

And Dabi still had those dreams—still wanted revenge on Endeavor. But Touya just wanted his daughter.

“ No!” and it was all boiling over now—all those emotions he pretended he never had, locked away and kept them far away from anyone’s view. All those emotions he let simmer under his skin, eating him alive from the inside out. Dabi’s knees hit the floor with a thud next to Twice’s body. His hands hovered over the wound in the middle of his chest, unsure what to do. How to fix this.

“Shinsou— she said she was your friend, I—“

A chill ran it’s way through Dabi’s bones— up his  fucking spine .

Shinsou.

Shinsou Emiko.

Whisper. The woman with a fucking brainwashing quirk. And she had used it on Twice. He must’ve broken through it, then… he must’ve tried to fight her for his daughter. He did what he and Hawks had never quite figured out how to combat against yet.

Dabi was so fucking angry . Rage flowed through his blood—through his very veins, but there was something else there too. He looked at Twice and his heart panged. He knew it then: there was nothing he could do for him. And it fucking hurt.

Dabi wanted to scream.

He wanted to cry like he used to when he was Touya, but his tear ducts were burned shut all those years ago, so blood fell from his eyes instead, staining his cheeks an ugly crimson red.

“You did good, Twice,”  Dabi said shakily, absolutely trembling with rage . “I’ll find her, and I’ll raze her entire fucking organisation to the ground.”

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” Twice gasped out, hand shakily reaching for the knife in his chest, and Dabi quickly took his hand in his own, keeping it away. “Dabi—“

Dabi stared at him. “You’ll bleed out faster that way. The league—”

“—Won’t be back on time.  Yes they will. The earliest they might be back would be by tomorrow.  Just- just take it out please. Fuck.”

And Dabi did , grimacing as his hands wrapped around the handle and yanked. Twice groaned, but thanked him when it was out. Blood spurted from the wound, and despite knowing that it was futile, Dabi reached out to put pressure on it regardless.

Not again, he thought in denial. Not again. Not like this.

He was so fucking stupid to pretend that he didn’t care for the League. So goddamn dumb.

“You know,” and oh, Twice’s face had slackened. There was no more pain, no more worry. “The only thing I’m sad about is no longer being able to see you, and Yume, and the League.”

What.

Dabi paused. “ Me?”

“We care about you too. No we don’t! ” Twice whispered. “You don’t make it easy, but I finally felt like I was beginning to—to get closer to you. You were finally beginning to open up and now—now I’ll never get to know you well.”

Dabi was a fucking idiot. Suddenly, he felt the desperate urge to try to make up some of what he had missed the opportunity for. It was stupid, it was fucking soft. It was—Touya couldn’t help it. Fuck. Fuck. “Twice.”

Twice’s eyes fluttered open, staring up at nothing. “Yeah?”

“Don’t mistake this for me being fucking soft or whatever.”

Twice’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“Todoroki Touya.”

Dabi blinked despite himself. It felt… weird, hearing that name. Hearing himself say that name.

“I… don’t understand,” Twice’s breathing was growing slow. So, so fucking slow. And laboured.

“That’s my name.”

“…Holy shit . Wait, so the kid with the red and w— oh.”

“Shouto?” Dabi tried to scoff. “He’s… my baby brother.”

“He…looks like your…daughter.”

Unfortunately. It made finding the urge to want to kill him a hell of a lot more difficult ( impossible)  than before he had Yume in his care.

“W-when Yume grows up,” Twice breathed, sounding a bit frantic, like he was fighting to say it. “Tell her about me and Magne?”

“…Of course,” Dabi whispered quietly.

But Twice was already gone—far away where he couldn’t hear his answer. Never would .

Everything boiled over now—losing Yume, losing Twice, feeling like he was Touya again, split at the seams between monster and painfully human.

And Dabi broke.

Chapter Text

Dabi remembered when he first met Yume—how his nose had wrinkled in disgust, how he took her in purely out of spite. He remembered the way she cried as a newborn, and all those sleepless nights where he held her in his arms and came so very close to killing her. It would’ve been easy—he wouldn’t have even needed to use his quirk. But he didn’t. He claimed he was doing it out of respect for Ronin, but eventually that was just… no longer the case.

Because Dabi remembered all those bad nights, but he remembered the good nights, too. He remembered hearing Yume’s first giggle, watching her play for the first time, realising that her eyes were lighting up at the sight of him. He remembered those nights where she kept him company, happily babbling as she laid on his chest. All those nights where he was given the opportunity to be something more than a monster—something he hadn’t known he’d missed. But now he knew. God, he knew and it stung.

He had lost his family for the second time. And Dabi was fully aware he had shattered now, had become frayed at the edges because fuck, the guilt was eating him alive, and it wasn’t just Yume flashing in his mind anymore.

Natsu, Fuyumi, Shouto , Yume.

He thought of them and did not hate them. 

He thought of them and in turn, thought of himself as Touya.

No, he thought viciously. Touya died—

But he didn’t. He never did. Dabi never succeeded in squashing that part of him. He was always there, reappearing when Dabi didn’t want him to—making him weak. No better than the little boy he used to be—the one who used to sit in front of a mirror and sob until his eyes were swollen at the sight of his white hair, the one who would sit on the couch and stay up way past his bedtime in the hopes of a small conversation with his father only for it to never happen. The one who lived and loved like it kept him alive—wearing his heart on his sleeves for the world to see and take advantage of.

Touya breathed as Dabi breathed, walked as Dabi walked, cried as Dabi cried. And he hated it.

He hated it even when he thought of Yume and realised he could never hate her, almost as if that rule was written in the stars from day one. As if it was simply inevitable for Dabi to—

His eyes caught on it. The photograph of him and Ronin. And that was it for him.

The world dissolved into bright, bright blue and pain. Fire licked at Dabi’s skin as he screamed, turning everything around him into ash. The League’s hideout was gone, and so was Twice’s body and yet—

Dabi still wasn’t done. There was more to burn. As long as his daughter was missing, nothing was off limits to him. And oh, he now knew just how far he’d go for her. He’d burn every inch of his body, scorch the entire fucking world if it meant getting her back. 

His fire wouldn’t go out.

It wouldn’t stop .

And suddenly he didn’t just feel like Touya, he wasn’t split at the seams between monster and painfully human, he was just Touya—thirteen years old and burning up on Sekoto Peak because his emotions got the better of him. Pathetic little Touya, always a crier. Never strong enough for dad. For anyone. Defective Todoroki Touya, who failed to be a good father to his daughter. Who let his ambitions get in front of what he had right in front of him. Like father, like son, a part of him whispered.

Shut the fuck up, he told himself harshly.

“Stop,” Dabi hissed desperately, trying to snuff out his flames. His skin was burnt and horribly damaged, but he was beginning to feel his fire, and that was not a good sign. Healthy skin was starting to redden, began to blister and no, no no no— “No, fuck. Stop!”

His flames grew in strength instead, and Dabi began to panic in a way he hadn’t since he thought he was dying at thirteen. “ Fuck, stop! God damnit—“

And just like when he was thirteen, it didn’t stop.

He still had the clarity of mind to curse Endeavor for never teaching him how to turn the heat down in stressful situations. 

‘ I don’t wanna die!’ He vividly remembered saying all those years ago as skin fell from his body and smoke stole away his vision and ability to breathe . Dabi wasn’t quite sure, but he thought he had just said it again now. He felt childishly afraid . Terrified, even.

Dabi was always meant to die like this . By his or Endeavor’s final blast of flame. But not Touya.

Touya didn’t want to die.

He wanted to find Yume and kill Whisper.

He wanted to hold her in his arms. He wanted his daughter safe and sound.

He wanted to live on to see her say her first words and take her first steps. He wanted to see her grow up. He wanted to be there for when she still loved him so he could watch her and hope that all that he gave her would be enough for when inevitably, she discovered the hell he took part in creating. When inevitably, her eyes would darken in contempt upon looking at him—a broken, shattered, mere remnant of someone that was meant to be more.

Dabi was weakened by the part of Touya that lay dormant, slowly awakening deep in his soul, and he hated that he wanted to listen to that part of him that still cared just as much as he was thankful for it in the moment, despite the burns that littered his body and the blisters forming on the few patches of semi-healthy skin.

Yume. 

He needed to get Yume back. And that primal need to see his daughter safe and sound was what made him appear to be more human than what he actually was.

But human was what he needed to be right now.

For the first time in years, Dabi took one long look at himself—squeezing his eyes shut and picturing not exactly himself but rather Touya in all of his glory—bright blue eyes, soft healthy skin and wavy white hair—and he embraced the idea of him. Of being like him.

He didn’t want to fully become him again, though. Even when his mind screamed that he still was him.

Touya didn’t deserve to have his hands bloodied. But Dabi did, and he had zero issue with killing without a second thought.

That was enough to put a stop to the fire. His emotions were by no means stable, but Dabi wasn’t incompetent—he said he’d raze Whisper’s entire organisation to the ground, and he’d do it. No questions asked. And definitely no mercy.

Rage simmered underneath his skin, just waiting for the right opportunity to boil over again. And Dabi would let it happen when the time came—after all, he was intimately familiar with how to make things burn.

And… in a way, so was Touya.

For one brief moment, they weren’t so different after all.

For one brief moment, the lines between Dabi and Touya—monster and human blurred.

Chapter Text

Hawks was intimately familiar with pain. But not like this. Never like this.

The Commission, for all its… loveliness, had never physically hurt him before. They had hurt him multiple times when he was younger—had left him blindfolded and devoid of any physical stimulation until he learned how to master his quirk, but that was a different kind of pain. This pain left him so shocked that he hadn’t once thought that maybe he should retaliate or say something about it. He stayed on the floor, breathing harshly as he watched blood drip from his face instead. Huh, his handler hit hard. Hawks certainly never would’ve thought he could with his small stature.

Anger would make people do unexpected things, Hawks supposed. Maybe he should’ve expected a reaction out of him after purposefully not doing his job right.

But fuck, whatever happened to using kind hands?

“Get up,” His handler—a bitter man by the name of Takahashi hissed. “Get the fuck up. You’re going to cost me my job? You can at least apologise on your feet.”

Hawks laughed, wiping away the blood on his lips. “Cost you your job? I did what you asked me to do. I gave you information on the League to give to the President—”

“—You told me he thinks you consider him a friend,” he yelled. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that, eh? That’s useless, Hawks! Do you think the President is going to be happy when I go to her and tell her you’re one step closer to getting in his pants? No! She’ll fire me for my inability to keep you in line and just chastise you for your mistakes with Dabi until she gets you back under control. For the love of fucking god, can you think of someone other than yourself just this once? Some of us have families to feed!”

Hawks narrowed his eyes at him. “ Some of us would have a family to feed if they weren’t bought from them when they were a kid.”

He froze. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Takahashi waved a dismissive hand at him. “Oh please , I was there. You signed a contract.”

“I was six.”

“Whatever,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That’s unimportant. Look, I won’t apologise for punching you. I think you deserved it, to be honest. But I do apologise that it had to get to this point. Just get me some good, useful information by next week and we can forget about all of this, alright? I can keep my job and you can go back to being a normal daylight hero. You can forget about the spying and the other bullshit, I’ll make sure of it. I swear it.”

“ Forget about it?” Hawks said incredulously. “Do you have any idea what I’ve done? What you and the HPSC made me do? I did it without complaints, I’ll do it again if you need me to. But I won’t just forget.”

He won’t forget about the life he took. He won’t forget about how Dabi helped him through it and all that he had hidden these past few months in order to keep more kids from ending up like him. That was something that won’t ever leave him no matter how long he lived afterward. He’d make sure of it. Even if it meant waking up screaming at random hours of the night with the image of his victim fresh in his mind. Even if it meant looking down at his hands and never not seeing them absolutely drenched in crimson red blood.

Hawks would do it again—it was what he was trained for. But he couldn’t pretend that it didn’t hurt him either.

“Don’t forget about it then,” Takahashi replied tiredly, offering him a hand. “I don’t care, do what you want. Just as long as you do your job, because my job relies on that.”

Hawks stared at the outstretched hand in front of him. He wanted to laugh right in his face for it. Seriously? Was he supposed to… be thankful? Pretend that his face wasn’t going to bruise, that his cut lip didn’t sting? That he was just Hawks, trained Commission pet and not partly a traitor?

He stood up without his handler’s help, brushing himself off. “Fine. You’ll get your information, Takahashi. Don’t worry.”

He was partly a traitor. Not fully. The Commission would get their precious spy back once he and Dabi took down Whisper, but not a minute before then. As for whenever it would finally happen… Dabi would probably try to shut him out again, probably notice that something had caused him to switch back to their earlier dynamics, but Hawks was nothing if not persistent.

His handler’s face twisted at the obvious rejection, but he sighed in relief. “I haven’t heard an apology from you yet.”

Hawks turned to him and offered him a small smile. “It seems like we do get what we deserve after all.”

“You’re an adult, Hawks, so act like it, ” Takahashi hissed as his face reddened. Hawks focused all of his energy on not scrunching his face up at the stray split flying out of his mouth. Ew. “This isn’t the time for some stupid teenage rebellion. Enough with the—“

Hawks’ phone started ringing. Humming disinterestedly in response to his handler, he left the room without another word or glance, spreading his wings as he threw himself off the balcony. Distantly, he could hear the sound of Takahashi losing his shit back in his office, kicking and throwing a bunch of clutter around.

Well, that was going to be rough to clean up. How unfortunate for him.

Hawks was one hell of a petty bastard though. He hoped it took all day to fix.

His eyes roamed over the screen of his phone as he tapped it— answer . Dabi was calling him. Of course he was, the only other people who called him were the Commission, Rumi, and occasionally Aizawa. But why would he be calling him if they just went their separate ways…?

“Hot Stuff, it’s been far too long,” Hawks drawled sarcastically, lips twitching upward as he waited for a smart-ass retort from Dabi.

He got something he didn’t anticipate instead—something far, far worse.

“ Help me,” Dabi gasped out. “Fuck—Hawks, help.”

The frigid feeling of cold rushed over his body like a bucket of ice water, threatening to drown him in it. Hawks froze in mid-air, eyes widened. It was like being punched again, hearing Dabi sound like that. So demanding and yet beneath all of that… he heard it clear as day: the pleading and the all-encompassing fear in his voice. Up until today, he wouldn’t have even thought it possible for Dabi to sound so vulnerable .

Something had happened. 

No.

Something bad had happened. Something that succeeded in shaking Dabi up enough to not only force him utter the words ‘ help’, but to utter them to a hero— to Hawks.

“What do you need?” Hawks urged, mind snapping right into his hero headspace. “Dabi, tell me what you need help with. Are you hurt?”

“I’m not—“ a sound escaped from his mouth bordering on a growl. “She killed him and took—fucking bitch!”

Hawks frowned. “Who killed who and took… what exactly?”

“ Whisper fucking killed Twice!” Dabi snapped. Hawks blinked—he genuinely sounded hysterical . Insane. Far from the methodical hot-head Hawks was used to speaking with. “And she took something important to me and I need to get h— it back.”

“ What?”

“I’m gonna kill her,” Dabi laughed. “Ohh, just you fucking wait. I’m gonna take my time, start with burning her fingertips and slowly make my way to the other parts of her body. I’m gonna make her fucking feel every inch of her body turning to ash like she fucking deserves—“

Hawks gaped at him. “Jesus Christ.”

Right. Okay. 

What the fuck. Hawks’ brain flailed a bit—did a couple of backflips or something. He wasn’t sure how to get a read on Dabi and the situation at hand. Everything he thought he could apply to Dabi went right out the window because in that moment, he was gone. Completely fucked up. Insane would be a word fit to describe the way Dabi was acting—cackling as he fantasised about burning Whisper to a crisp.

So he did the next best thing he could come up with:

“Dabi,” Hawks tried. “I need you to calm down so you can explain what you want me to do to help you out.”

And it failed. Horrifically.

“ Calm down?!” There was a loud crash on the other end of the phone. Hawks flinched. Maybe he should have worded that a little better. “Are you fucking— we need to take Whisper and her entire fucking organization down now and we don’t know where the fuck she’s set up. Oh my fucking god, how am I supposed to—“

“Dabi—“

Another loud crash. Hawks’ jaw dropped. Dabi was losing his shit and he didn’t know what to do—didn’t know what to say. He never thought he’d have to deal with an emotional Dabi of all things. He was pretty hell-bent on never allowing Hawks to see anything of himself below the surface so this was… so incredibly new. And really goddamn terrifying.

So Hawks decided to try out a new tactic.

He remained silent until Dabi slowly, eventually calmed down.

“…She left a picture to taunt me,” he said roughly. It was only now that it became evident that his voice was hoarse, almost as if he’d been….as if he’d been crying. Hawks drew in a sharp breath. He couldn’t have been— “It was of me and Ronin when we were sixteen. She couldn’t have gotten that picture unless she… fuck. She killed them, then she came to take the only fucking thing I had left of them and killed Twice for it.”

Oh shit. That was horrible. Hawks winced. “I’m sorry.”

Dabi laughed bitterly. “My life’s been full of half baked apologies that mean jack-shit to me. I don’t want your pity, I want you to fucking help.”

And. Well.

Obviously this was important to Dabi. Either way, Whisper needed to be taken down.

…He could help him. He would. 

After all, Hawks was a hero before a Commission spy. That wasn’t a title thrust upon him until recently.

Hawks hummed quietly in agreement. “Okay. We’re taking down Whisper today then?”

“Oh, Birdie,” Dabi drawled, pure rage fueling his tone of voice. “We’re taking down her entire fucking organization and anyone that has anything to do with it.”

“…Right,” Hawks said. “You do realise we’re gonna need a lot more than us for this, right? You got the League with you?”

————

“—You got the League with you?”

Dabi ran a shaky hand through his hair. Of course Whisper would attack when the League wasn’t able to attack back. Of course she was a fucking coward. “Do you not think I’m capable—“

“I think you’re capable,” Hawks interrupted. “Don’t get me wrong, I think that if you had the time you could do this on your own. But you don’t. We don’t. We’re talking about rushing months worth of work for this operation here.”

“I’ve got you to help me.”

“Thanks sweetheart, that almost sounds like you’re reciprocating my very-real feelings for you” Hawks replied flatly. Dabi scoffed. “Two people versus like… what? Hundreds of people? Does that sound like a good match-up to you?”

Okay, fine.

Hawks had a point. That didn’t mean Dabi had to like it though. “No, and they won’t be coming. What’s the next option?”

Dabi could almost hear the grimace on Hawks’ face. “Yeah… you’re not gonna like this—“

Oh fuck.

Fuck no.

“No heroes,” Dabi spat. “Are you fucking insane? After all we’ve done to hide this shit—“

“ Listen,” Hawks snapped. “I know a hero who won’t turn you in and who won’t say a word about what we’re planning on doing, okay? He’s a pretty sketchy guy, actually. And three is always better than two.”

“Yeah and where’d you figure that out?” Dabi snapped back. “The fucking bedroom?”

Hawks took a deep breath. “ No,” he replied, forcefully calm. “It’s common sense, Dabi. I’m trying to help you. For the love of god, can you please let me?”

Dabi had to let him, but he didn’t like it. It wasn’t like he fully trusted Hawks—heroes were simply of an entity that could under no circumstances be fully trusted. Maybe there were good heroes out there—heroes who cared and wanted the best for everyone, but Dabi had seen more of the bad than the good in that industry. He’d seen gossipy heroes who’s words got other people killed, he’d seen Shouto broken and bleeding on the floor in front of Endeavor. He saw his mother losing her mind. He lived through Touya losing his mind too.

Whisper stealing his daughter in the hopes of selling her and the other babies to the fucking Hero Commision was just the most recent of them all.

So while Hawks had proven that he was somewhat reliable for taking down Whisper, no other heroes had. And, either way, he didn’t want Yume on their radars.

“ Heroes,” Dabi spat. “Are good for nothing fakes who pretend they want the best for everyone and just harm us instead.”

“…Us?” Hawks questioned. “Dabi, did a hero…?”

“Who else?” Dabi gritted his teeth. “It’s always them or our dumb fucking hero society. Always. Just once— ” he froze.

“Just once…?”

It was a vulnerability that he wasn’t comfortable with showing, but it slipped out nonetheless: “I just wanted something to myself without all of this hero shit taking it from me, fuck.”

Dabi had taken the time he spent just being a dad for granted. He missed it. He missed Yume.

“ Oh,” Hawks breathed, sounding shockingly small. “Oh, Dabi. Look, I know you’ve been fucked over by heroes…”

“An understatement,” Dabi muttered bitterly.

“But obviously whatever was stolen from you is important to you,” Hawks paused. “And I hope by now you know I’m not a complete asshole. I’m willing to help, you just gotta give me some more of that trust. Believe that I can and will help you. I’m not your enemy, Dabs, I’m your friend .”

Dabi didn’t want to—he wasn’t a fucking idiot. He knew that trusting Hawks wasn’t ever going to be smart, but the conviction in his voice was something that even he couldn’t ignore. Either way, if he ever regretted doing this… he’d fix his mistakes. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” Hawks murmured. “You fully trust me?”

“Hawks,” Dabi exhaled shakily. “Don’t make me say it.”

“I said I wasn’t a complete asshole, not that I wasn’t one at all,” Hawks pointed out teasingly. “Aw, come on… let me hear you say it!”

“Only if you actually end up helping me,” Dabi grumbled, completely ignoring Hawks’ exclamation of ‘ I will hold you that, don’t test me! ’

 “Tell me what you have in mind for taking Whisper down.”

“Obviously, asking some heroes for help is out of the question,” Hawks stated flatly. “Not only are they unaware of how dangerous it would be for the HPSC to discover Whisper’s work, but they would arrest you on the spot. This means we can’t go to the limelight heroes for help—no Endeavor—“

Dabi wrinkled his nose. Thank fucking god.

“—No Ryukyu and definitely no Mount Lady, you get what I’m saying?”

Dabi was growing tired of the back and forth. He needed to find his daughter. “That heroes are stupid and don’t understand nuance?”

“…No,” Hawks paused. “Anyway, what I was suggesting is that we go to an underground hero. They’re not as averse to working with villains to get things done, and this particular underground hero is not a fan of the HPSC at all. He’d keep quiet and he probably wouldn’t arrest you for the time being too. His quirk is also dead useful.”

Dabi furrowed his brow. “Who are we talking about?”

“Eraserhead,” Hawks chirped.

“ Huh?” Dabi said without meaning to. “ Eraserhead? I fucking kidnapped one of his kids!”

“He forgives you.”

“No the fuck he doesn’t.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Hawks agreed brazenly. “But he’ll help out anyway. Hopefully. Hang on, let me just finish merging this call—“

Dabi baulked. “ Hawks, no—!”

“— Hawks, yes!”

“—What the hell is this?” Came another voice that was exhausted and distinctly not-Hawks. “Hawks, I’m checking on 1A right now.”

“Eraser!” Hawks cheered. “So… Dabi has found himself in a bit of a conundrum—“

“Is Dabi on the call right now?” Eraserhead interrupted seriously. “Because if he is, then he’s more than capable of explaining what’s going on and why I’m needed by himself.”

Hawks fell silent. Dabi said nothing—not because he was intimidated or anything, he just didn’t know what the fuck to say.

“I’m waiting.”

Jesus Christ. “Whisper took something important from me and Killed Twice. I need what she took back.”

Dabi hated referring to Yume as a thing, but… fuck, he couldn’t just say that he was a dad.

“And what exactly did she take?” Fuck.

“…Something important to me,” Dabi snapped. “Did you not hear—“

“Oh no, I heard perfectly clear,” Eraserhead interrupted firmly. “Here’s how this is going to work though. I’m willing to help you and Hawks out with little to no nosing around as long as I am confident that what I am helping you with will not harm anyone or be used to commit other acts of villainy. Oh, and you stay away from my kids, Dabi.”

“ It won’t be,” Dabi answered confidently. “Villainy will be kept far away from what I need back. And I have no need to be around your gremlins anyway.”

Except for Shouto, but he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to kill him anymore.

“Hawks, if he doesn’t stick to his word so help me god, your hero career is done for. And you know I can do it.”

Eraserhead did not do bullshit. Dabi could commend him for that at least.

“Dabi—“ Hawks said dangerously.

“Relax,” Dabi interrupted heatedly. “I’ve only got one thing on my mind right now and everyone here knows what it is. Taking down Whisper and getting what she stole from me back is all I want. I’m being honest.”

“ I know ,” Hawks stressed. “But if you so much as deviate a little—“

“I won’t,” Dabi cut him off. “You said I had to trust you earlier and I did, now it’s time you trust me. What I want from Whisper is in your hands just as much as your hero career is in mine now. It’s time we stop the bullshit and just finish what we started months ago. The only person I’m going to hurt tonight is Whisper. You both have my word.”

“…She must’ve taken something really important from you,” Eraserhead mumbled softly, but there was an underlying accusatory tone to his voice—almost as if he knew that what Dabi had lost was so much more profound  than he let on.

“Hm,” Dabi replied equally as soft—there was no point in denying it. It would be obvious the moment their plans finally got put into motion, because Dabi wasn’t going to stay calm or cool.

He was going to burn.

Sometimes, retribution hurt. Dabi knew that—knew it would probably hurt him too.

He didn’t give a fuck.

He would get Yume back, keep her safe and protected, and then… and then what?

He shoved that thought to the back of his mind to think about much, much later.

“Okay, listen,” Eraserhead hissed quietly. “Once it’s dark outside, show up at the gates of UA. Hawks, do not let Dabi near the school by himself. If he’s not with you I will assume he’s acting alone and apprehend him. From there on, we figure out what we’re doing and we keep all of this a secret.”

Silence.

“ Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Hawks said quickly. “I understand . Dabi, are we meeting in the uh… usual alleyway before we head there?”

Eraserhead made a noise. “Too much information.”

“ Not like that!” Hawks squawked. “What the hell —“

“Yeah. I’ll see you in five minutes,” Dabi said before hanging up, resolutely ignoring Eraserhead’s assumption that he and Hawks had… explored each other’s bodies.

Hawks was attractive, but Dabi simply wouldn’t.

————

It was time.

Dabi stood with his hood pulled up to cover his face, leaning against the wall of an abandoned building as he waited for Hawks to finally appear. He was beginning to get antsy, tapping his foot against the ground as he checked the time on his phone over and over again. Minutes passed by—precious minutes that they might need to take down Whisper and get Yume back safely—