Chapter 4

Hawks winced as the boot came down hard on his shoulder. Dabi's blue flames licked at his skin, and it burned. But this is what he had asked for, this was the only way out of this. His intercom cracked, indistinct voices on the other end.

"-awks! -port! -aw-!"

They could still hear what was happening around him. He had to be careful. The commission had taught him to be a spy first, and a hero second. So, he did what he'd always done when in a dire situation: deflect.

"Is that the face of someone who has just lost his friend?"

Dabi's face froze for just a second, enough for Hawks to notice that the question had served its purpose. Stall time. Get information for them, make them think he was still fighting.

"My tear glands were burned do I can't cry." Dabi's voice was void of any emotion. The perfect, grinning face of a villain.

But the sentence cut something deep inside of Keigo, it snapped and his heart rate picked up.

"I'm sad, I'm really sad." It sounded so mocking, but Hawks believed every word Dabi said behind that mask of indifference. The boot pressed down harder on his shoulder and he winced. It was so hot.

He had imagined the heat, but this was much worse than anything he had come up with before. And it wasn't even enough.

He could see through the flames that Dabi's left hand was trembling. Anyone else might not have picked this up, but Hawks knew that sign: Nervousness. Fear.

"Th-the league… I looked up your information, I couldn't find anything about you or Shigaraki." Keep him talking. Let them know more useless information. But he needed to let him know that it was okay. That he was safe from them when this was all over. That their plan didn't leak in the days between the rooftop and here.

The heat was rising, and Hawks bit back a scream. The loose feathers were nearly all gone by now, and the flames licked at his flesh.

"You know, I think the world can change because of a single obsession of just one person. There are no such things as real heroes in this world. Kill the fakes, I am the one who will carry out Stain's will!" Dabi's eyes were wide, his grin borderline manic. His words were a party invitation to the commission, Hawks knew that. But they were also a battle cry. Their battle cry.

Put an end to the cruel practices of the heroes, all covered up in the name of justice. All those people suffering because the elite few remained in power. The children, the families, torn apart. Hawks swallowed hard. The pain of their family histories was a shining example of this corrupt system.

"Who… the hell… are you!?" He needed to keep talking. There were black spots entering his vision. The boot pressed down harder, but Hawks felt a slight tremble in the muscle of Dabi's leg. Or was he the one trembling? He didn't know. It was so hot.

His arms started shaking under Dabi's boot, the pain was nearly unbearable, and he was whimpering now. Who would have known that it took so long for wings to burn. Or was he holding back?

Hawks looked up, and behind the wall of flames and the smoke rising from Dabi's skin, he met his eyes. It felt like time would stop for a moment as the blue of the flames reflected in the blue of his eyes, making them shine.

Dabis mouth moved, but Keigo couldn't make out the words. He could only see the blue of his eyes, shining brighter the more the blue flames roared around him. He tried to focus on that, tried to push the pain back to a corner of his mind where his consciousness couldn't reach it. Tried to focus on anything else, but-

Toya's mouth moved again, and this time he could make out the words.

"I love you…"

Hawks felt the panic rising, felt his breathing quicken as his vision became blurry from the heat, from the tears that threatened to spill, from the pain that kept growing and growing until-

He screamed.

The flames had reached his back, melting the flight suit into his skin. The stench of burnt feathers mixed with fabric melting into flesh. They were gone. He could feel nothing, only the searing heat that seemed to grow with every heartbeat and he screamed until there was no air left in his lungs, only fire.

Before the darkness took over, he could hear Toya's voice. Quiet, strained, as if it hurt him to speak: "Goodbye, Hawks…"