He tried to take her hand, but she yanked it away and only curled up tighter.

He tried to scoot forward to comfort her, but was met with weak, flailing blows to his face.

He tried to take her in his arms and whisper reassurances, but she cried garbled nonsense and scratched at the wall behind her like a dying rat trapped in a cage.

And so Dabi sat there, watching as Chizue looked at him like he was a stranger, trapped in her own mind, perhaps delirious from the hunger and stress.

He slapped her, hard, and the screaming stopped abruptly as soon as his palm made contact with her cheek. Chizue froze, but for the first time since awakening she was staring at him with, eyes slowly growing clarity; the mark on her cheek burned a bright, angry shade of red.

"It doesn't matter. Sick or not, it's entirely possible she can't hate me anymore than she must."

"I...where…?"

"About time you woke up."

Without warning, the tears started falling again.

"I...I was-I didn't recognize you Dabi, and-and Big sis and Yuudai, they were…" Chizue looked around wildly, as if the visions left traces in the dingy apartment, but all she could see were shadows and unfamiliar surroundings. "They...and my house was burning...it was all burning and I couldn't breathe. They were already dead, I was choking on the smoke, I had to-!"

Her words died as she struggled to breathe; Dabi said nothing. What was there to say?

"She woke up thinking I was a burnt corpse come to life from a nightmare."

"How long was I…?"

"Almost twenty four hours."

Chizue nodded absently, wiping the left over wetness at the corners of her eyes. "I...I never thought it would end."

Dabi sat back on the bed. "Well, it's over now."

Chizue nodded once, looking down at the faded surface of the mattress. Dabi sighed and started to rise.

"I'll get you some water."

It wasn't the same as before, but he found that Chizue felt just as soft as she had the day they ended up stuck together. The main difference was how much more fragile her body seemed as she launched himself into his chest, one of her hands coming to grip his shoulder.

"Wait, don't-! I don't want-what if I fall asleep again?!"

Chizue held Dabi there like he was a lifeline, head buried into the fabric of his shirt, her fresh tears already making a wet spot he could feel on his skin.

"You gotta calm down. You need to at least drink some water; you were probably having such a rough time in your sleep 'cause you're dehydrated and stressed."

Despite his words, Dabi didn't move a muscle to dislodge her, keeping his hands to himself; he knew if he even reached out to pat her back, it would just end with him bringing her closer.

But right now he couldn't let his urges get the best of him.

"She can't be mine if she's dead after all."

"Shit, I...sorry." Chizue lifted her head away from his shirt and used her own sleeve to clean off her face, desperately hoping the waterworks were over with, at least for the time being. "Dabi, where are we?"

"My place. Shigaraki asked me to get you somewhere safe so you could recover. Too risky keeping you around the base."

"Now I feel really sorry." Chizue chuckled wetly, letting her grip fall from Dabi's arm. "You know, I haven't cried like this since I saw that movie-the one with the couple and they both die at the end over something stupid. It was so stupid, I was laughing right there in the theater and got kicked out."

"I thought you said you were crying?"

"I was, but then I realized how dumb I was getting so upset over a dumber movie. Now I'm crying over a nightmare."

Dabi got up reluctantly to get the one cup and fill it up in the tap. "This will taste like crap, but it's better than nothing. I'll go out later and get stuff for you to eat."

Chizue took the cup gratefully and took a small sip. "How long were you watching over me?"

"The whole time. Can't risk you dying, can I?"

"Thank you. I appreciate this."

"If you mean that, stop calling yourself dumb. It's not doing any more to help than crying."

"Man, you're something else." Chizue grinned faintly. "But I can't help it. I feel like a kid, getting upset over nothing, and then you having to look after me doesn't help."

"Getting worked up over a movie is one thing, but your nightmare wasn't something you fabricated. You were remembering something painful." Dabi leaned back on the oven. "Not that feeling sorry for yourself will make it better; the good thing is you realize that."

Chizue took another sip; the water tasted borderline polluted. "...It's been years. I thought I forgot, but then out of the blue, two people I care about end up dead. Two deaths that could have been avoided if I-"

"And blaming yourself is a cop out too. Dammit Chizu, will you just shut up and drink?"

He could hardly admit it to himself, but Dabi had feared for an instant Chizue had been driven to insanity, or perhaps more accurately, whatever sanity she did possess had disappeared entirely. Even now her voice remained somewhat shaky and cracked in between syllables; parts of her clothes were clinging to her from sweat. No matter how many hours she had been sleeping, Chizue looked no more well rested than she had before.

Dabi picked up a torn wicker basket from the side of his bed; inside was a clean shirt and a pair of shorts. He waited until Chizue dutifully finished her water before he handed them to her.

"The shower works fine. Clean up and change into these; I'll go get us some food."

Chizue took the basket tentatively and scratched her head. "Are you sure about this? Me staying here? I mean, don't you…?"

Dabi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I mean, I'm sure Shigaraki doesn't care too much exactly where I stay; I can go somewhere else."

"My place is the most inconspicuous; besides, I don't mind. We're comrades, aren't we?"

"Does this mean you trust me?"

"Yeah."

Chizue gave him the first sincere smile she had been able to muster in weeks; Dabi had to look away. He had his own doubts that needed to be absolved.

"Does it bug you? I mean, not knowing my real name?"

Chizue was thrown off momentarily. "I guess not. I am curious, but...a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, right?"

Now Dabi was confused. "You're even more out of it than I thought. Did you just compare me to a flower?"

"No, it's from that movie I saw." Chizue stood up as if she was just learning how, holding the empty cup firmly in hand. The sink seemed so much farther away than she realized. "It means a rose could be called something else, but it doesn't change how it smells. So it doesn't really bother me if you don't want to tell me your real name when I know I can count on you-whoa!"

Chizue's left knee gave out on her just as she was halfway to the sink; the cup fell from her hand as she reached out instinctively. The space was so small, Dabi barely had to move forward two steps to give her something to grab onto. Chizue's fingers dug into the front of his jacket; she couldn't help laugh.

"See?" she gingerly stood up straight, testing out one foot and then the other; she couldn't tell if her lapse of coordination was from being in a motionless state for so long or whether she really was that weakened. "I really should eat something. At this point I'll trip in the shower and die from the fall. Talk about a slip up."

Dabi chanced letting a half smile appear on his face, hoping Chizue didn't see how elated he really was. If he let himself go too much, it would impossible to allow her to go one step further.

It was so surreal, so alien; it was as if there was this bubble, this light, soft thing threatening to burst forth like a rose from the ground, and all it took was one word of reassurance.

"Clean your teeth while you're in the bathroom. There should be a spare brush in the medicine cabinet." Dabi propped her up carefully. "Your breath stinks."

"It's not like I can brush them in my sleep." Chizue reminded him, but the shadow of her familiar teasing grin was still etched on her lips. "Why do you have a spare brush?"

"It was a sale. Why do you ask?"

"I thought for a second you had a girlfriend." Chizue looked around once more. "This place could use a woman's touch, that's for sure. Or a bucket of bleach."

"I'm not in the habit of entertaining guests." Dabi shot back dully. "Just go wash up and change. I'll lock the door behind me, and I'll knock before coming back inside."

Chizue raised a hand to her forehead in a mock salute as he made his way out to get them something for a late dinner; she didn't seem to be the least bit concerned about the possible consequences of being naked and physically impaired at a strange man's apartment.

"Well, not that we're strangers. Chizu knows she can rely on me."

If nothing else it was a good sign that at least Chizue was getting some of her energy back if she was able to expend effort goofing around and cracking jokes.

"Or she's still did she ask if I had a girlfriend? Was it because she was surprised or-?"

It was more likely Chizue wouldn't have wanted to intrude on a shared space, seeing as how she felt guilty enough over him needing to monitor her. A small part of Dabi was allowing himself to presume Chizue's more relaxed state was because he was there providing her with a pillar of stability when she was at her most vulnerable. It was like he was seeing a whole other side to her; Dabi definitely wouldn't have pegged Chizue as someone who went to see sad romance films unless she had a voucher for all the popcorn she could eat.

"A rose huh? Even if she's sick, who just says sappy stuff like that?"

Maybe it was more wishful thinking, but Dabi sincerely hoped movies and reality weren't too likely to mirror each other.