Chapter Text
Keigo sat on the couch, staring at the laptop balanced on his knees. He had been researching intensively whenever he had a spare moment over the last few days but all the blogs, medical websites and advice columns were telling him the same thing. He grit his teeth; given their experiences with Garaki, he and Dabi were heavily pessimistic about taking Asuka to any doctor, but it was looking inevitable at this point.
As if on cue, the door swung open and Dabi stepped in. He offered Keigo a brief smile, looking down as he side-stepped out the way, Keigo following his gaze. Slowly, Asuka appeared, shuffling forward on his knees, wings fluttering as he looked around the room curiously.
"You gotta get up and walk at some point in your life, y'know that, right?" Dabi drawled, cocking an eyebrow at his son.
The toddler glanced up at his father, then carried on his treck without any further response, determined to get to where he wanted to go without standing up. The look on his face made Keigo crack the tiniest of smiles, vanishing as Asuka made his way over to his feet, sitting on his legs to pull at Keigo's trousers. Their eyes met and his son held up his arms silently.
"No carrying, Asuka," Keigo said, shaking his head, "I'll give you a hug, but we're not carrying you."
Asuka's little face fell, his wings drooping. He made a sad squawking noise, rocking forward onto Keigo's legs to pull more insistently on his trousers.
"See? I told you so, you gotta walk yourself," Dabi said to their child, circling around him to sit heavily at Keigo's side. He glanced at the laptop, saw what his husband was looking at and immediately slammed it shut, snatching it off Keigo's lap despite his protests and depositing it to the side. Dabi gave him a look, his hand coming up to flick the frown on Keigo's forehead, "Quit worrying so much. You're stressing yourself out for no reason."
"He's nearly two, Dabi, and he still can't walk," Keigo retorted, worrying at his lower lip, "What if there's something really wrong?"
"Bird!"
Both of them looked around to find Asuka, sulking after his father's refusal, had made his way over to the open balcony door. Plonking himself down on his bottom right on the edge of the living room, he was pointing through the space at a pigeon cooing on the railing.
"Daddy - bird!"
"We see it, baby boy," Keigo smiled tiredly, "Say hello."
Asuka nodded as if he understood, turning back to the avian, his babbles filling the room, occasionally punctuated by actual words. Dabi smiled at their son automatically, a fact that never failed to warm Keigo's heart, before turning his attention back to his husband.
"You know it's just because he learnt to fly first, right? He'll get it when he's ready," Dabi's blue eyes narrowed, "I get that you're worried but you're letting your paranoia about being a good parent mess with your judgement."
"Can you blame me? Neither of us exactly had great role models . . ."
"Which is why I know we're unquestionably better," Dabi replied, his voice strong with the kind of self-confidence Keigo wished he possessed. Parenting was quite different to Hero work and, in many ways, had higher stakes; it wasn't nearly so easy to be confident at.
"We need to find a better place to live," Keigo muttered, shifting to lean against Dabi's shoulder as the ex-Villain held out an arm invitingly, "Somewhere with a big garden. If he's anything like me when I was a kid - hell, like I am now - he wants to be outside, even if he doesn't realise that's what he wants. The extra space should help him to develop his motor skills, too."
"Or he'll just fly up into a tree and not come down again," Dabi snorted, one hand carding through Keigo's hair, "I'd wrangle the league of idiots into building him a treehouse but that'd be askin' for troub -"
Keigo fell sideways into the cushion Dabi vacated, smelling smoke as the couch was scorched, Dabi using his flames to propel himself across the room as fast as physically possible. The ex-Hero picked himself up, turning to gape as Dabi grabbed hold of Asuka, who had fluttered up on top of the railing next to the pigeon and was a split second away from leaping off the seventh story, his little wings spread and his face alight with curiosity at the view below.
Asuka shrieked at how forcefully Dabi grabbed him, yelping in protest as his father staggered back into the living room, slamming the balcony door shut so hard the glass rattled in the frame.
"New place. Got it," Dabi said laconically, holding Asuka tight as their baby bird tried to wriggle from his grasp.
***
Spinner and Shigaraki were delegated to babysit while the two of them travelled to Osaka to speak to someone at the new Hero Ministry. It made their flesh crawl to even consider taking their toddler back to the city where everything came to a head, the memories of blood, amputations and mortal terror still seared into their minds. The disaster that was their last road trip was also a factor; they hadn't even bought a new car seat after Asuka melted the last one.
Both of them were tense and on edge the whole journey, their feeble attempts at conversation petering off quickly. Keigo - or Hawks, as he still was to these people - had kept in touch on the phone, updating them on the status of their Commission Agent hunt, but neither of them had been physically in the city since they took the job. They parked as close as they could get but still had to walk a bit. Dabi kept his eyes forward, barging past people who stopped in their tracks to gawp at him as if he didn't see them. Keigo kept a tight grip on his hand, nodding at anyone brave enough to make eye-contact with him, his sensitive wings picking up on the whispering behind their backs.
It was moments like these that provoked visceral memories of training, of doing visible Hero work, of being followed by fans who didn't really know him, when he was a different person - or rather, when he was pretending to be someone he wasn't. The reaction had been much the same back then, only much more positive. Somehow, he preferred this new status quo. Even if being notorious wasn't something he particularly liked, it still came part and parcel of a much happier, more honest situation in life; how could be begrudge it?
The sensation got worse as they walked into the office of the Commissioner and found Best Jeanist sitting behind the desk.
"Hawks. Dabi," he greeted them politely, gesturing at a pair of seats, "Do please sit down. I was quite surprised to hear you wanted a meeting. I hope all is well with your mission?"
"We've haven't had a problem with the bastards. We need a place to live," Dabi said bluntly, still not letting go of Keigo's hand, slouching in his seat as if he owned the place.
"Yes, I heard the last one burnt to the ground," Best Jeanist eyed up Dabi reproachfully.
The fire-starter stared him down, face stoic even as his fingers tightened around Keigo's. The ex-Hero squeezed them back, holding his tongue.
"Have you found nothing yourselves? That cabin hidden in the mountains must have been difficult to come across," Jeanist addressed Hawks, who felt his feathers twitch in embarrassment, "Couldn't you pull something like that off again?"
"Nah, that was a once in a lifetime find, I think. Especially in terms of its privacy; it was so remote that no one was gonna stumble on it by accident. You understand our concerns about the possibility of any remaining Commission agents targeting our son? Especially with us actively hunting them down."
The former number three Hero nodded, hands steepled in front of his chin in a pose that reminded Hawks too much of numerous Commission officials he had been forced to deal with over the years.
"I see your dilemma. It just so happens that we can solve two problems simultaneously," his eyes flickered to Dabi, "You've heard of Nabu Island, I take it? You and League escorted a dangerous criminal who laid waste to it?"
"Vaguely," Dabi shrugged flippantly.
Best Jeanist's eyes narrowed at the ex-Villain's answer, but he continued unabated, "One of the new policies of the Hero Ministry is to have our workers stationed in various locations on a long-term basis, housing them semi-permanently. Due to the obscurity of the Island, we have had problems trying to find people who would be willing to relocate there, often citing obligations which I suspect would not be an issue for you two."
"What's on Nabu Island that's so important?" Dabi interrupted, eyes narrow.
"Nothing really. It's a small area with a population of only a thousand. Quite peaceful, the last place any Commission agent would expect two extremely dangerous people to be living. If what you want is privacy, there is a secondary part of the island connected only be a thin trail of -"
"The place the UA kids faced-off with Nine's mercenary group," Hawks interjected, "I'm familiar. One problem - didn't it get totally trashed with all the fire, ice, explosions, etcetera?"
"The ecosystem is recovering without too much interference," Bes Jeanist concluded, "We could put our resources towards building suitable accommodation for yourselves and the child."
"I'm sensing a catch here," Dabi drawled, "What do you want in return? We ain't doing Hero work - your lot made a deal with us to clean up after the Commission's shit, not to help old ladies with their shopping."
"I'm starting to think you have an issue with the elderly," Hawks remarked, raising an eyebrow, trying to interject some levity into the situation, "What do you have against old ladies?"
Dabi snorted, giving him a fond look.
"We would like you to continue your work against the former agency," Best Jeanist disregarded their tangent to continue, voice a little strained, "Police headquarters have been established on the island, they will take care of the day to day issues and would only go to you for severe issues, terrorist attacks and such things of that nature. Are you interested?"
Keigo caught Dabi's eye, giving him a sheepish smile, "I've been there before; it's a nice place. Where Jeanist wants to put us has no people at all. Just some castle ruins and wooded areas."
"Sounds nice," Dabi conceded, knowing full well with a glance at his face that Keigo really liked the idea, "I especially like the no people part. Fine, we'll take you up on it."
"There is another issue," Best Jeanist reached into his inner pocket.
"Knew it," Dabi snorted, an eyebrow going up in surprise as the former Hero placed a piece of paper on the desk, pushing it across the surface.
Dabi went rigid beside him. Keigo's eyes flickered from his husband, to Best Jeanist and back to the paper. On it was written, "Fuyumi Todoroki" and then a series of numbers.
"After the battle of Osaka and the clemency granted to you by the governement, the Todoroki family was very much hoping to hear from you. Your sister gave me this for when I next saw you."
"And you've just kept it in your pocket for nine months?" Dabi demanded suspiciously.
"I take my promises seriously."
The two of them stared across the table at each other, blinking periodically but otherwise not moving a muscle, each waiting for the other to give. Keigo, gave them a full minute before ending the stalemate himself, plucking the phone number off of the table to put it in his own pocket, pulling Dabi back to his feet.
"Thank you," he said courteously, gripping Dabi's arm tight, "We look forward to hearing from you."
"And I hope your sister will hear from you," Best Jeanist replied pointedly.
Dabi opened his mouth on a snarl but let it go as Keigo steered him out of the room. Perhaps scenting danger, the people on the street kept well out of their way and were far more discreet about their whispering. Keigo tugged Dabi towards the passenger seat, taking over the driving to get them out of the city as fast as he could. They were fortunate that it was not peak traffic time, so they reached the outskirts very quickly. Keigo found a quiet road and pulled off to the side, rolling down his window for a bit of air before he unclipped his seatbelt and turned bodily to face his husband, who hadn't moved, face twisted in a grimace, his arms folded across his chest.
"Okay. Talk."
"What is there to say?" Dabi growled, his teeth visible in a tight grimace.
"Whatever it is that's bothering you - don't give me that look. I know what your problems with your family are but I want to help you through it, not let you bottle it up and drive yourself crazy."
Despite the situation, Dabi couldn't help but crack a strained smile at that, "Bit late for that, pretty bird."
They lapsed into silence as the ex-Villain collected his thoughts, leaning into Keigo's touch as the ex-Hero shuffled closer, running his hand up Dabi's arm to bury his fingers in his spiky black hair. His white roots were starting to show; they were talking just the other night about getting more dye but Dabi hadn't been concerned at the time. Keigo fully expected that attitude to change now.
The fire starter sighed, his head rocking back against the headrest, eyes falling closed as he began to talk, "She's always been like this. Trying to patch up everybody's wounds and make peace - but never . . . never in the right way, you get me? She just wanted us to be a happy little family and all get along, so she ignored whatever was wrong. Swept it under the rug and hoped that if she didn't look at it, it couldn't hurt her and that we would all just follow her lead."
"Yeah, that was never gonna work with you," Keigo said wryly, twisting a strand of Dabi's hair around his finger idly.
"Hell no. Not then and God knows not now. Why can't she just leave it alone? I already compromised, I gave up over a decade of work, I let that flaming piece of shit live without so much as a punch to the face for my family."
"But not her family," Keigo murmured, "Betcha she thinks if you'd make that decision for me and Asuka, you could be persuaded to make it for them."
"You and I both know how wrong that impression is," Dabi tilted his head to the side to meet Keigo's eyes. They fell silent as the echoes of a conversation that had nearly ended their relationship rocked through both their minds. Dabi caught Keigo's hand, pulling his fingers out of his hair to kiss them insistently, "I don't regret it, y'know. Sometimes I think of that pile of burning garbage still alive and kickin' and it makes me so angry I think I'll explode. Then I remember what I nearly lost chasing after him and that feeling is so much worse that it overrides my anger totally."
"I'm proud of you, Dabi," Keigo said, letting his husband capture his hand, shifting so he could trace the staples under Dabi's eye with his thumb, "I'm proud that you're my husband, that I'm married to someone I know would go that far for me and our son. I don't think I could ever love anyone else as much as I love you. Except -"
"Asuka," they said in unison, smiling at each as they registered what they had done, letting the moment settle over them like a warm blanket.
"Just because I feel like I owe my mother something doesn't mean the same is true of you and your siblings or your mother," Keigo said gently, "If anything, I envy your ability to walk away from them unscathed."
"Not exactly unscathed," Dabi frowned, the severity of the expression lessening as Keigo traced over his brow gently, "There's things I kinda wanna scream at them. And things I'm sure they wanna scream at me. But - it scares me, the thought of actually confronting them, after all this time. Of what they'll say. I think of Mother and I - have enough nightmares about an empty cradle to empathise with her. She thought I burned to death on my own flames. If Asuka ever . . . I don't think I could live with myself."
"We're a long way off from that."
"Are we?" Dabi asked, his blue eyes wide and worried, "You saw what he did to that car seat. I thought the thing with Conduit was just a fluke caused by fear and survival instinct but then he did that."
". . . Well, if nothing else, we've learned that his feathers are fireproof. That's more than you had," Keigo murmured, "The rest we have no option but to deal with as it comes. And Asuka has one more advantage you didn't have."
Dabi cocked an eyebrow, looking like he suspected he was being baited into something, "And that is?"
"Two fathers who would give up everything they have just to take care of him," Keigo reminded him, jerking forward to steal a kiss as Dabi rolled his eyes.
"You're so sappy, you never warned me about that before I fell in love with you," Dabi kissed him back, a tiny smile on his face as he flicked Keigo across the nose, "False advertising."
"I know, I'm ashamed of myself," Keigo drawled sarcastically.
Dabi chuckled lowly, reaching out to cup his husband's jaw and draw him into a much more prolonged kiss.
***
It was late afternoon by the time the pair of them arrived at Spinner and Shigaraki's temporary home, on the outskirts of the rural town the heteromorphic man had once lived with his biological family. Dabi eyed up the worn farmhouse with some envy; no one would venture this close to the woods, especially once word of who occupied it got around. Last year, they had depowered the town's most prominent Hero and left the small community in the grip of terror ever since.
The couple followed the dirt trail around the back of the house, their pace picking up a little bit as they could hear the cow mooing, accompanied by Asuka's quiet, bird-like cooing. As they lived in a city apartment, Spinner and Shigaraki had begrudgingly volunteered to take custody of Mira the cow and the brood of chickens who had once called The Nest home.
Asuka was sat in Shigaraki's lap, the leader of the League of Villains perched on the ground cross-legged. They both watched intently as Spinner, kneeling beside them, drew kanji in the dirt with a stick, explaining what each one meant. Asuka ruffled his feathers in interest when he was done, squirming until Shigaraki put him on the ground, then tried to copy what Spinner had done with his fingers, managing much better fine motor control that he had with Dabi's ash, back in the ruins of the Paranormal Liberation Front's mansion, even better than he had the last time his Daddy did it with him, less than a week ago.
Dabi nudged Keigo's shoulder, jerking his head at the scene with a smug "I told you so" look on his face. Keigo whacked him in the face with his wing before striding forward. "Asuka, we're back!"
Their toddler looked up, a smile splitting his face as he recognised them, flapping his wings in joy so hard he lifted himself off the ground, hitting it a second later with a little "Oof". Shigaraki snickered at the sight, standing up to intercept them.
"Shiggy!" Asuka protested, "Play!"
"In a minute, kid," Shigaraki called over his shoulder, exchanging a nod with Keigo on his way to meet Dabi, "How'd it go?"
"They're getting us a place on Nabu Island," Dabi replied without preamble.
Shigaraki's red eyes narrowed in thought, "That's really far away."
"Maybe if you ask nicely they'll give you two a plot of land too," Dabi drawled, half-mocking, half-serious.
"Ha ha," Shigaraki rolled his eyes, "You're hilarious. Did they say anything about Endeavour?"
Dabi's face hardened, "What about him?"
"He's found a few leads on some Commission shitheads that he doesn't want to share with us," Shigaraki scowled, "I'm not happy with the deal we made but it's all we got unless you wanna start grubbing in shadows again, so it pisses me off that he's pulling this stunt."
"Shiggy! Come play!" Asuka whined plaintively, pausing as he used Keigo's hand to draw a few lines vaguely resembling the kanji. "Pease pay!"
"Please play," Dabi heard Keigo correct him gently, trying to distract him by pointing out the birds in the trees. He spared a smile for his family before focusing on what his friend was saying.
"This feels like a concerted effort. Best Jeanist just gave me my sister's phone number. Apparently they've gotten tired waiting for me to talk to them."
"Were you ever gonna?"
"No, obviously not. But I'm gonna have to if they're gonna screw us over, aren't I?" Dabi scowled.
"Sorry, Dabs," Shigaraki said quietly, pulling out the extremely rare nickname, "Want me to kill him for you?"
Dabi laughed, the sound tainted with an edge of bitterness, "Nah, I made my bed and I gotta lie in it, don't I?"
"Shiggy!" Asuka wailed. They turned to look just in time as, fed up with his uncle ignoring him, Asuka pulled himself to his feet by grabbing Spinner for support, glaring at Shigaraki as he put one foot in front of the other, finally taking his first few shaky steps. He managed four in a row before toppling over, Keigo lunching forward to catch him.
"Shiggy - wanna play!" Asuka said reproachfully.
There was a moment of stunned silence. It didn't last.
"HA HA HA HA!" Shigaraki crowed in psychotic triumphant, turning a crazed grin on Dabi, "Did you see that?! He walked to me first! Take that, you bragging fucking cock! I win!"
"Tomura!" Spinner barked, aghast.
"Fuck you, you fucking asshole!" Dabi yelled back, unable to restrain his language
"Oh for -!" Keigo yelped, slapping both of his hands over Asuka's ears, "Are you two finished?! It's not a competition!"
"Yes it is!"
Spinner, watching the way Asuka's mouth moved as he tried to copy the adults, jumped in with, "He means chicken, Asuka, it's another word for chicken. That's what Shiggy is calling Daddy, a chicken, okay?"
Asuka, for his part, stopped glaring at Shigaraki as he watched the situation unfold. He blinked in confusion, his head moving in his father's grasp as his blue eyes roved over the farmyard, landing on a cockerel pecking at the ground not too far away. He looked back at his other father and uncle, visibly confused.
"Daddy not chicken," he said, his words a little slurred together but still clear enough to understand, as he turned slightly to point at Keigo's wings, "Daddy chicken!"
Shigaraki laughed so hard he hit the ground, curling up in the foetal position. Dabi's betrayal broke like a wave on the sand at his son's innocent correction, laughing until he felt sick. Spinner mouthed "Sorry" at Keigo, who just sighed without commenting. Asuka for his part just observed all the chaos, perplexed at how grown-ups could be so strange.