"Don't you see?" Dabi laughs maniacally- he feels the sutures around his mouth rip free, striding towards Endeavor with blood dripping down his face, "I am the people. I am the storm. I am the riot and I am the swarm." He presses a boot against Endeavor's throat and smiles down at him. Endeavor weakly grabs at his foot but Dabi's smile only grows and exerts more pressure onto the fallen man's neck.
"It was never supposed to be like this." Endeavor wheezes out, tears starting to prick at his eyes and his face starts to redden.
"Oh, it's far too late to reflect on our past mistakes." Dabi pauses, letting the azure flames breathe to life as he glares dismissively down at Endeavor through narrowed eyes, "I think it would only be ironic to take you out with your own super move. Hmm? After all, didn't you say how unfortunate it was that I inherited my mother's weak constitution? Well, I've grown over these past few years. Maybe it's time to show you. I'm curious, would you finally be proud, ifather/i?" He doesn't allow Endeavor the time to answer. He withdraws his foot and under his breath Dabi mutters "Prominence Burn." The fire around Dabi starts to heat up and with a sudden rush of heat, the windows in the warehouse blow out- glass shattering everywhere as Endeavor shouts out a final time before Dabi releases his pent up wrath, agony and despair and channels it into his attack.
"Remember what I said, Touya." Both of them are bathed in pent up fury of his fire. As he feels his skin start to blister and peel, his ears pop from the heat. Plummeting himself into nothing but a world of silence and blue.
He does not remember what Endeavor said.
Dabi's awakes with fire scorching inside his throat as he gasps and claws for anything to quell the pain. A high whining ring buzzes irritatingly in his ears. Dabi tells himself to take in a breath, only to choke on the ash that hangs heavily in the rubble of the warehouse. Eventually, he feels the searing pain dull down to a constant throb; then, he feels nothing. He still can't hear anything. Briefly, he wonders if he actually died. Ever so slightly, he gains control of his fingers and twitches them, the pain serves as a reminder that he is most certainly alive.
His eyes crack open and everything is blurry, he makes out azure that twists and writhes against the night sky. His fire is too bright and he closes his eyes again as the ringing in his ears fade. Ever so quietly, Dabi hears a muffled voice shouting something. He doesn't bother to listen to the voice because he's already drifting off again.
With Endeavor dead, he decided on an early retirement- his life goal finally achieved. Dabi stands in front of the mirror of his white room and studies himself silently. Over time, he's gained a healthy amount of weight and actually has the time to sit back and take care of his scars. Even though he looks into the mirror everyday, he still feels like a stranger in his own skin. With his staples gone and his scars now faded to a muted purple, he can't recognize the person staring back at him. Dabi tentatively reaches a shaking hand up and touches the flaming red that's starting to peek over his dyed black hair.
"Don't know what you're worried about, hot stuff. You're looking better than ever!" His turquoise eyes shift to see Hawks leaning against a wall with a lopsided smile. Dabi frowns at the hero and Hawks laughs.
"Oh come on! I actually don't wanna upchuck when I look at you now," Hawks pauses and studies Dabi's frown while tilting his head- his own grin falters slightly. "I was just joking, y'know. Don't take it personally." Dabi rolls his eyes and snorts.
"None taken, big bird." He holds out his arms and smiles as Hawks launches himself towards Dabi. He holds Hawks closely to him, taking in the soft smell of his cologne. They stand in the quiet room that's bathed in the golden rays of the setting sun. Dabi can feel Hawks' grip tighten on the back of his shirt and he pulls back slightly to study the winged hero. Slowly, Hawks looks back up towards Dabi- the corners of his mouth pulled down into a frown.
"Guess it's time for me to go back to work, huh." Dabi opts out to say nothing and leans forward, burying his face into Hawks' fluffy ash blond hair.
"Hey, c'mon, you're gonna ruin my flawless 'I just rolled outta bed and woke up like this' look." Hawks chuckles. Dabi reluctantly lets go of the shorter hero and quietly studies him, he's bathed in a near heavenly light thanks to the setting sun and Dabi doesn't think that he's seen a more breathtaking view than the one standing before him now.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Hawks winks up at him and stretches out his carmine wings to their full glory- enveloping Dabi in the stretch of the shadow they create. Hawks preens himself in Dabi's awed silence, shooting him another wink before striking a pose.
"Maybe I should." He murmurs, unable to look away from the man that had so easily stolen his heart. Hawks snorts and tucks his wings back in and looks around for his jacket. A sinking feeling makes itself at home in the pit of Dabi's stomach and he wants to reach out towards Hawks and ask for him to stay a little bit longer. Instead, he sighs quietly and picks up Hawks' aviator jacket that's draped over a metal chair. Holding it out, he can't help but feel the feeling in his stomach start to sour as Hawks gratefully takes the jacket.
"Thanks," Hawks pauses at the downtrodden expression Dabi wears and he tilts his head to the side, "Damn, what's with the long face?" Dabi settles down at the edge of his bed and cards his fingers through his hair.
"Nothin'. You're gonna be late." Hawks smirks and stands between Dabi's legs, pulling him into a hug.
"Since when did you care about my attendance record?" He can feel Hawks' breathy chuckle against his hair and he wraps his arms around the hero's waist.
"Guess I spend too much time around you."
"Well, then there might still be some hope for you then." It's Dabi's turn to laugh, he leans into Hawks' warmth and shakes his head.
"In your dreams, birdie."
"Ah, well. At least I tried." Neither of them pull apart, not wanting to break away. Finally, Hawks shatters the comfortable silence with a soft sigh.
"I really gotta go before they hand my ass to me for being late."
"Can't you just call in?" Dabi doesn't know why he's being so clingy or why he's feeling a strange sensation of dread that's steadily growing with each passing second. He surmises that it's because both of them have been so busy lately and haven't had time to see the other. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know when the next time will be when he'll see Hawks. After the fall of Endeavor, Hawks rose to Number One and his workload has increased ten fold.
"Sadly, there's no sick days for me in my line of work." Hawks cups Dabi's cheeks and gazes down at him with such warmth that Dabi can't help but to offer his lover a soft smile, "Don't worry, I'll be back." Hawks whispers before bending down and lightly kissing him on the lips. Dabi pulls Hawks down closer towards himself and deepens the kiss.
"Promise?" Hawks laughs and gently flicks a finger against Dabi's forehead.
"What's with you, you big baby. Of course I promise. Even if I can't come back tomorrow, I'll visit you in your dreams."
"You're so damn cheesy."
"It made you smile though!" Dabi waves his hand at Hawks and tries to hide his grin.
"Yeah, yeah. You better get going now." Hawks just nods and pecks another feather light kiss on his lips and heads out the door. Dabi watches as Hawks pauses and looks over his shoulder with a soft smile.
"I'll be back with some bomb ass pizza."
"Damn right." With that, the door shuts- leaving Dabi in silence and a room that he suddenly finds too big for just one person.
Dabi jolts awake and clutches at his chest, his fingers dig into the thin cotton of his shirt and he looks around the bareness of his all too white room.
Dabi swings his feet over the uncomfortable mattress and hisses as his feet touch the cold tile of his room. In the second that his feet make contact, the door opens. He swivels his head towards the sound and narrows his eyes as an unfamiliar woman walks in with a silver tray. She doesn't make eye contact, but the lithe man with brown hair in a white jacket behind her does. Dabi warily observes the two as they make their way into his room.
"Good morning." The man greets, he smiles at Dabi but the smile doesn't reach the cold harshness of his dark eyes. Dabi says nothing, in fact, he finds that he can't. His throat feels like it's on fire and that if he tried to speak- his vocal cords would crumble to dust.
In the corner of his eye, he sees the nurse set down the tray softly and exits the room with a stiff bow. With the nurse gone, the man's smile slips off and he makes his way to the table with the tray.
"Would you like to try to talk today?" The man only nods after an uncomfortable stretch of silence, "That's fine. Take your time." He picks up a syringe and studies it before focusing back to Dabi.
"You and your friends caused quite a mess last week, you know." The man pauses, still not moving from his spot at the table. Dabi's eyes catch a glint off of the man's lapel and sees a name tag. Doctor Tucker he silently reads to himself.
"Such a shame on how things turned out, don't you think? Not only have you lost everyone on your side, but we took a pretty big hit too. All of the top ten heroes perished in that little fight of yours. You should be counting yourself lucky that we were able to save you before you died too." Doctor Tucker finally starts moving, making his way slowly to Dabi, "Though if you're asking for my personal opinion, we should've left you for dead," He stops in front of Dabi and a grim smile stretches over his thin lips, "Guess it's for the best that I'm not the one in charge I suppose."
Dabi feels his heart heart stutter and he makes a pained noise. Doctor Tucker's smile only grows.
"Oh yes, you're the only survivor. That nasty quirk of yours nearly destroyed everything." Doctor Tucker holds the syringe up to the light and flicks the tip of the needle as he pushes the plunger flange in slightly, "Even Hawks wasn't spared from that fire that you started." Dabi feels numbness spread through his body as he stares disbelievingly up to Doctor Tucker.
"Let me tell you, it was quite a surprise to everyone when we learned of your relationship with him," Doctor Tucker peers over his glasses at Dabi, "There was barely anything left of him. Oh, don't give me that look. I know full well how it feels to lose a loved one. I lost both my wife and my daughter." Before Dabi can say anything, Doctor Tucker presses the needle against Dabi's arm and injects a cold liquid, "No need to worry though. We were at least able to salvage that serum that your league was researching. I am curious on how you were able to get a hold of such a powerful weapon, that will be a conversation for when you're able to speak again though. Thanks to you, you helped society advance. In addition, you also played quite a significant role in perfecting our own strain of that serum. Now, go back to sleep." The panic that was clawing its way through Dabi's body fades to nothing and his eye lids grow too heavy to keep up anymore. His last vision is that of Doctor Tucker's cruel smile.
"Told you I'd be back!" A sing song voice shouts from behind the door before it swings open, "And look what I got! Even got a discount on it with me being the Number One and everything." Hawks bustles through the door carrying an extra large pizza box and he beams over at Dabi.
Author's Note
Dabi's little monologue at the beginning is just a few lyrics taken from Blood/Water by Grandson, that song is my jam.
I have so many WIPs it's not even funny, this one was a combination of two that have been waiting to be published since like the early chapters of From The Ashes I Rise. I'll get around the publishing the others sometime. Most are Dabihawks but I got one for Shigadabi and a few for The League in general and one random Mob Psycho 100. I'm not sure if I'll publish the last one or not but we'll see.
Anyway, that's it for now.
Reviews are always welcome!