Fire and Feathers

Dabi spun around the corner, a long feather flying through the air embedded itself into the concrete, barely missing his foot. "You missed bird brain." But shit, he was getting closer and Dabi was starting to get tired. This was the most running he had done in the last few months.

He pressed himself against the brick wall, wondering where his little feathered friend had gone to now. The mocking voice answered from above him. "Well I'm not trying to kill you, only slow you down."

Dabi glared at him, shooting a column of blue flame into the air. Again, a laugh rang out and then Hawks leaned over the top of the building. "Missed me blue balls, you've got to be quicker than that!"

Dabi took off again down the alleyway, dodging behind a dumpster, hoping for a good opening. What the fuck? Was flying easier than running? He shook his head. It was his own damn fault, spending his nights drinking and smoking and slacking on cardio. Well if he got away from bird brain, he'd fix that problem.

A sudden change of air pressure alerted him he was under attack again. He dove to the ground and rolled, feeling the slight brush of a wing down his back. Hawks landed on the nearby fire escape but this time Dabi was ready for him. He unleashed twin streams of blue flame directly into his direction.

There was a panicked squeak as Hawks tried to dodge and half flew, half fell to the ground. The air filled with the unmistakable smell of something burning. Now it was Dabi's turn to laugh. "Ha! Is that the scent of singed wings?"

Hawks fluffed his wings, feathers rustling in agitation. To Dabi's knowledge, he was the only one that could get him that pissed off and every time it happened, he loved it. He took this slight opportunity to jump to his feet and reverse out of the alley but not before calling behind him. "You know you look like a pissed off chicken when you do that!"

"Damn it! Dabi, would you just give up already?"

Dabi looked around desperately for some escape route. Why did he have to get spotted in this neighborhood? He skirted around another corner, almost tripping over trash. "Never bird brain!"

What he needed was to take away his pursuer's advantage. He needed something that would force him to the ground, so he could get the upper hand. He ran past a door and skidded to a stop. A rusted sign hung from it proclaiming "Subway – maintenance entrance". Perfect! He kicked the door and nothing happened. He kicked it harder and it only rattled, the rusted padlock and chain still holding it securely in place. What the hell? Had his luck turned to total shit? He heard the sound of his little feathered friend getting closer and hit the door with a ball of blue flame. Finally, the chain broke, falling into a smoking pile at his feet.

Hawks swooped down, landing lightly in front of the open door. Now where had he gone? He glanced at the door and sighed, subway, really? He could just fly away and forget it but he was having fun. It was almost like old times. He folded his wings tightly to his back and slipped inside the darkness. He had better than average night vision but nothing like an owl's sight. He had to be careful.

He was standing on an old, rickety, metal staircase that felt like it might crumble from his weight at any second. He cocked his head to the side and heard a soft foot fall a few flights down. Okay, we are going to play in the dark. If Dabi thought that would stop him, he was wrong.

Dabi stopped, out of breath again and then he heard it. The sound of footfalls above him. So, he was still coming. Shit, didn't he ever get tired? He dove down the staircase, not trying to cover the noise anymore. He just had to get some distance in between them. The metal rang out above him and he knew Hawks had the same idea.

The stairs ended abruptly and he almost fell flat on his face. It was total darkness now. Shit, he had to use his flames, even if it would make him a target. Blue fire darted across his fingers and he saw the tunnels split into three passages. He took the middle one at random and ran, hoping he didn't trip over anything or knock himself out by running full boar into a wall.

Hawks hit the dirt ground and cocked his head again. Dabi had gone down the middle one. He could vaguely make out some shapes but that was it. He sighed and started to jog himself. This had to be the stupidest thing he had done lately.

Dabi couldn't run anymore. The stich in his side now felt like a meat cleaver. He stopped and moved to lean against the wall but his outstretched hand didn't touch anything. Was there another tunnel? For the first time the thought of him getting hopelessly lost in these tunnels flashed through his mind. That would just be the cherry on top of the fucking Sunday wouldn't it?

He looked back the way he had come. He couldn't hear anything anymore. He had to chance his flames one more time. He hoped Hawks had taken the wrong passage or had just completely given up already.

Hawks was pressed against the brick wall himself. He had heard the noises in front of him stop and he had frozen. Come on dumbass, give me a target, come on. A flicker of blue light came and went within seconds but it was enough for him to get a mark. He took off again, this time trying to move as quickly as possible without making any sound.

Dabi's brief light had shown him a much older passage littered with fallen bricks. He'd take this one and see if he couldn't lay low until bird brain gave up. He started advancing carefully, moving very slowly and trying to be as silent as possible.

Hawks had him now. He could almost touch him, just a little closer. Suddenly the ground shivered beneath their feet, an odd rumble coming from all around them. It was okay, this was a subway passage after all. That had to be just a train passing by in one of the neighboring tunnels. The shaking grew worse, the noise louder, this wasn't a train, it was a fucking earth quake. He felt more than saw the roof of the tunnel begin to give way and instinct took over.

"Dabi, watch out!" He jumped, wings unfurling.

"What?!" Dabi half turned, blue light illuminating the corridor clearly. Hawks hit him squarely head on, sending them both rolling across the dirty ground as the top of the tunnel crumbled around them. The ground shaking angrily and growling.

As the noise died away and the dust began to settle, he looked up, opening his eyes. Somehow, he had landed on top of Dabi, pinning him to the ground. His brown eyes locked with very pissed off blue ones. He felt Dabi shift underneath him and as the blue flames erupted from both his hands, he did the first thing he could think of. He quickly pinned both of Dabi's wrists to the ground. "Truce!"

The fire faltered as a look of confusion spread across Dabi's face. "What?"

Hawks shrugged still pinning him to the ground. "Truce?"

"Really? You aren't fucking with me right now?"

Hawks nodded backwards towards the direction they had just come. "You did notice the earthquake, right? The one that just collapsed the tunnel and I'm pretty sure just trapped us here."

Dabi cocked his head to the side. "So, you are going to place nice and not try to kick my ass?"

"Well that's the idea. What's the point of fighting with you if we're trapped down here."

"Okay. You going to let me up then?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Hawks got up letting go of Dabi's wrists and then standing. He bent down offering his own hand to Dabi.

Okay this was the strangest damn day he had ever had and he wasn't sure if his luck had just gotten better or worse. He shrugged his shoulders, might as well just go with it. He grabbed the outstretched hand and let Hawks pull him to his feet.

Hawks hit him in the arm. "Okay Zippo boy, a little more light so we can see what we are dealing with here."

"Whatever bird brain." Still he increased the flames and held his hand higher so the light illuminated more of the area.

"Real original Bunsen burner."

"Shut up big bird." He looked behind them, the way they had come was indeed sealed shut with a fall of broken bricks and dirt. They turned and walked forward. The area opened up in front of them, delicate flying arches supporting a tiled ceiling. The blue light threw it into a strange dreamlike glow.

Hawks whistled beside him. "Well lookie there, we have found ourselves an abandoned station." He leaned forward taking it all in. "Which was thoroughly bricked up sometime in the past, awesome."

Dabi was also intently studying the area. Okay, his luck had gotten worse. The old tracks were sunken in the floor in front of them, now rotting away and empty. Both sides of the tunnel sealed with heavy stone, forming a cathedral like room. He turned to the side and pointed. "Hey, at least we got a place to sit."

Hawks reached out and grabbed his jacket, pulling him. "Might as well Todoroki."

Dabi shrugged him off. "Don't call me that, ass bird."

"That insult didn't even make any sense. What, would you rather I call you by your super creepy villain name?" He made his wings flutter. "Ohh Dabi, I'm soo scared."

Dabi glared at him. "You're the one that called a truce. Like your hero name is any better, mister originality."

They walked side by side to the old leather bench that stretched along one wall. Hawks folded his wings back and flopped down, a small cloud of dust rose up and he waved it away. He patted the seat beside him. "Come on hottie, sit down with your old friend."

Dabi shook his head, raising one eyebrow. "You are hopeless." But he sat down anyway.

Hawks leaned over the bench suddenly spying something on the floor. "Hey an oil lamp!" He picked it up and shook it. "Still half full too." He removed the glass chimney and held it out to Dabi. "Light her up."

Dabi gave him a shitty look but mellowed his flames until the wick caught. Hawks replaced the chimney and adjusted the wick until they had a decent circle of warm yellow light. Dabi let his fire die down.

Hawks suddenly fished in his pocket, pulling out his phone. "I know this is probably pointless but might as well check." He sighed. "Yup, no service." He turned to Dabi. "What about you?"

Dabi slid a hand into his pocket, pulling out his own phone. "You son of a bitch, you cracked my screen."

Hawks leaned over to look, smacking Dabi in the top of his head with one wing. "How do you know I did it?"

Dabi spit out a mouth full of feathers. "Every damn time, why can't you learn to control those things?"

The feathers fluffed, making his wings look bigger. "I can control them just fine, it's not my fault your head is always getting in the way."

"And yes, you did crack it, most likely when you landed on top of me."

The brunette folded his arms. "You mean when I saved your ass. It's an old phone anyway"

Dabi glared right back. "Well I liked it." He pushed it back into his pocket. "By the way I've got no service either."

"So, I guess we are stuck here for a while."

Dabi leaned back on the bench, their shoulders touched and he could feel the edge of one wing pressing into his back. If there wasn't the danger of imminent death, it would almost be like old times. He smiled in the half light, thinking back to the carefree days of their youth when they had done all that stupid shit. He studied the other man out of the corner of his eye and felt his chest tighten at the old familiar pull. Yeah, they had done a lot of stupid things together.

Dabi fished in his shirt pocket pulling out the pack of partially crushed camels. He found one that was still intact and snapped his fingers lighting it.

"You think you are so cool."

Dabi took a deep hit, blowing out a stream of smoke. "It used to impress you." He held the cigarette out, offering it to Hawks.

"I quit years ago."

Dabi took another hit and shrugged. "Pussy."

Hawks made a sound of annoyance and snatched it out of Dabi's fingers. He took a long drag. "Oh God, that's good. I missed that." He passed it back.

"Just like old times huh bird brain? When we used to steal my dad's cigarettes and sneak behind the house."

Hawks leaned over him, taking it back, the top of his wing smacked Dabi in the head again but this time he didn't say anything. "Now those were the days."

"Of course, then dad caught me and beat the crap out of me."

He leaned his head on Dabi's shoulder and blew smoke rings at him. "Endeavor has always been a dick and he was always looking for an excuse to hit one of you."

He took the last hit and flicked the butt away into the darkness. "You got another one?"

"No, that's the only one you didn't break in your heroic rescue. Why are you working for him now?"

Hawks looked up into the blue eyes. "Not for him, with him and not by my choice. I do piss him off every chance I get, if it makes you feel better."

Dabi half smiled. "A little." He took one finger tracing the top of the wing that was pressing into him. Hawks shivered slightly under his touch.

"What are you doing?"

Dabi didn't answer him, he just let his finger trail along, following the bones under the soft plumes. He'd forgotten how delicate they were, forgotten the strength and power of the hidden muscles that lay just beneath them. He came to one of the long flight feathers, holding it carefully between two fingers, he applied steady pressure until it pulled loose.

Hawks audibly inhaled, his breathe catching as his whole body trembled. "Don't!"

Dabi twirled the feather in his fingers. He brought it up to his face, slowly licking the length of it. He turned to find the brown eyes locked onto him. He held it out and brushed it over Hawks' face, smiling as the other man's eyes slid closed. "Why? You always liked it before." He leaned closer, his lips brushing his ear. "Looks like you still like it." His tongue darted out and ran up the outside of his ear. He was rewarded with a soft whimper as Hawks leaned into him. "Want me to do it again?"

Hawks grabbed his arm and yanked. Dabi yelped as he suddenly fell forward into nothingness but Hawks caught him with his other hand and pulled. Dabi ended up straddling him, their noses touching. Dabi laughed. "You still have no sense of foreplay, do you?"

"Shut up." He reached out, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him into a rough kiss.

Now it was Dabi's turn to whimper. He put his arms around Hawks' neck, opening his mouth. Their tongues touched, sliding over each other, hot and wet. He could feel the hard length pressing into his ass and he moaned, pressing his ass down, grinding against him.

Dabi pulled away, breaking the kiss. Their noses bumped, foreheads touching. "Do the thing." Hawks tried to kiss him again but he pulled away. "Do the thing."

"What thing?" He looked at him with pleading eyes.

Dabi took one hand and slowly brushed the dirty blonde hair back. "You know."

Hawks pouted. "If you really want me to."

Dabi's other hand tightened around his neck. "Do it!"

Hawks lifted his wings up, and then stretched them out to their full length, each flight feather unfurled. Fully extended, the wingspan was almost twelve feet across, the mellow lantern light caught each color and highlighted it. As the wings moved, the golden browns and yellows seemed to flow like a living rainbow.

Dabi smiled. "That is so sexy."

He folded the wings forward, enveloping them both in a feathered cocoon. "Now will you kiss me?"

Dabi nodded. "I'll do more than kiss you." His eyes closed as their lips met again, more passionate, more desperate. Dabi wished they could stay like this forever but he knew that any minute Hawks would completely lose it and push him down. It was always over to soon and this time he just wanted to savior it.

The ground trembled lightly and Dabi's eyes snapped open. Had that just happened? Sure enough, it rumbled again. There was a soft sliding sound to his left. He pulled away. "Did you feel that?"

Hawks opened his eyes, they were lit with a burning desire and were slightly unfocused. "What?"

"Did you feel that? The Earth moved."

Hawks smiled. "That good huh?"

Dabi shook his head. "No idiot, I mean the Earth really moved, as in an aftershock." He stood up. "And I heard something. I think the tunnel might have cleared."

The wings drooped. "We were just getting started!"

"I know, I know but I think I'll take freedom to a good lay any day." He reached down catching his arm and pulling him to his feet. "Come on."

They walked back to the tunnel and Dabi held up his hand, blue flames leaping to the ceiling. Sure enough the slight aftershock had caused the slide to slip further and now there was a foot and a half gap at the top. Maybe it was his lucky day after all. He grabbed Hawks' hand and pulled him.

They carefully climbed up the sliding dirt and stone and slid down the other side. Dabi kept a ball of flame going, lighting their way to the old staircase that led up to the real world. At the base, Hawks pulled him back. "Now what?"

Dabi leaned in again with a sly smile. Their lips touched and Hawks immediately melted against him. Dabi's hand trailed from his shoulder, down his arm, to his wrist. There was a loud metallic click.

Hawks' eyes snapped open and he tried to pull his arm away. It stopped after only a few inches. "Dabi, what the hell?"

Dabi skipped up a few steps and then shrugged smiling. "To be honest, I was going to use your handcuffs for something else but what can I say, you won't be catching me today after all."

"Dabi!" Hawks pulled at the cuff only succeeding in making it tighter.

Dabi leaned over and placed a light kiss on his nose. "Maybe next time bird brain." He took the keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of the winged hero's face, pulling them away at the last moment when he lunged for them. He laughed, tossing the keys in the dirt at Hawks' feet before turning and speeding up the steps. A few extra minutes were all he needed to make his escape.

The End