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“I will defeat you bad guy! Yaaaa!!!” Y/s/n yelled from the living room. You smiled as you pulled dinner out of the oven. Letting it cool you walked to the doorway to watch your boyfriend of almost a year play with your son. The four year old had Dabi laying on the ground hovering over him with some of his hero action figures clutched in in his hands swooping them down to attack and making explosion noises.
“Oh no... what’s going to happen when I do this?” Dabi asked reaching around and tickling the boy “do I win?”
Y/s/n screamed and giggled then cried out “NO NO NO! You can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Cause you’re the bad guy!”
“So? Maybe the bad guy wins sometimes.”
“NO. The heroes always win.” Dabi had rolled onto his side and was studying your son with a frown on his face.
“Ok boys” you cut in “playtime is over. Time to get cleaned up for dinner.”
“Aaaaaaawww mooom.... I want to keep playing with Dabi!”
“You can play another time love, now go wash up and you can sit by him for dinner.” You watched him run off and turned to Dabi as he finished getting up from the ground “Thank you... for playing with him... you don’t have to indulge him in his little hero games if you don’t want you know. He just...”
“It’s no big deal. He’s just a kid. It’s all innocent fun to him. I don’t really mind, as long as he’s happy.”
“It means a lot to him.” You say as Dabi kisses your temple and you follow him into the kitchen. He couldn’t be here all the time but the days he was here you felt complete. It took some time but he had won over your son, stepping in in a way many men wouldn’t and you weren’t entirely sure Dabi had wanted to at first. You couldn’t tell though, he never mentioned it. Just did it.
You finished setting the table as your son came bounding into the dining room. As dinner went on you reveled in the happy contentment you felt with both of the boys you loved being here together with you. This was nice.
Two weeks later
Washing your hands as you finished in the bathroom, you sighed. It had been a few days since seeing Dabi and you had a stressful day at work. After picking up your son from daycare you were glad to be home. Making your way to where he was watching tv you called out “Hey y/s/n, what would you like for dinner? I can make your favor...” you stopped short seeing your son staring wide eyed at the tv clutching his toys.
The news.
The news had taken over all media and your heart sank. On screen was unmistakably Dabi in the midst of a fight with a few heroes you recognized and possibly other villains. You weren’t sure who the fight was in favor for but you stared at the screen nonetheless.
“Mommy...?” His small voice brought you back “why are those heroes attacking Dabi?” Oh God. His eyes were still wide as they turned to you. “Mommy?” With quick strides you reached your son and turned off the tv. Picking him up you held him. You knew for a long time that if your relationship with Dabi was going to last that your baby would find out what he did for a living but you were hoping not yet and now that he had seen it on the news you had no words to say. So you held him.
“Hey baby, lets eat ok? It’s been a long day. Come on.” Gently you coaxed him to go with you to the kitchen. Your mind was racing but you tried to keep a calm and happy appearance for him. He was quiet, barely talking when he ate. He mostly picked at his food while you tried to distract him from his thoughts.
Bedtime came soon enough. After his bath you sat on his bed and read him his favorite bedtime story about a hero saving the day. “Mommy? Do heroes always win?” He asked you as he was hesitant to grab all his hero toys. A few were of the heroes he saw earlier fighting with Dabi.
“I don’t know baby.” You whispered as you tucked him in. You kissed his head and turned off the light. Shutting the door you went around the house making sure it was secure. Making your way to bed yourself you tried to look up any news about the big fight today. There were plenty of articles but you couldn’t find where any said what the fate of Dabi was.
You must have fallen asleep as you were abruptly awaken by some harsh knocking on your bedroom window. You were up in an instant knowing exactly who it was. Catching sight of the clock as you opened the window you saw it was right after 1 am. Dabi hissed through his teeth when you embraced him and you quickly released him. “I’m sorry! I was worried when I saw there was a fight and... and... oh my god you look horrible!” Dabi had slipped off his coat and you could see his shirt was blood stained in several places. His face and other exposed skin was littered in cuts and bruises. Some of his staples had been pulled and were sticking out. “Oh my god Dabi” you covered your mouth, wanting to reach out to him but unwilling to hurt him again.
After locking the window back he turned to you “I’m ok babe. It’s not as bad as it looks.” He said grinning. “Help me clean up?” You nodded and led him to the bathroom. Fetching the first aide kit (complete with small pliers for stubborn staples) you set to work after he stripped his shirt.
It was quiet for awhile as you washed and bandaged his injuries, only broken by dabis occasional grunts and hisses of pain followed by your whispered apologies.
“You alright?” He asked breaking the silence.
“I’m not the one bleeding all over the bathroom.” You reply and smirked up at him. He hummed in response and you both continued talking in hushed tones. Having him here and safe was such a relief to you. As you were about to finish cleaning him up you leaned in and kissed him. “ I’m so glad you came home to me.” You breathed.
Kissing you back he grinned saying “ I’m glad to have..”
“Dabi?” A small voice interrupted causing you both to stop and turn and look at your son.
“Y/s/n! Baby what are you doing up?” You asked.
“Hey buddy.” Dabi greeted uneasily. Not sure how your son was taking seeing him covered in bandages, he cleared his throat to speak but before he could
“Are you a bad guy?”
“Y/s/n!” You gasped but Dabi put his hand on you.
“I saw the heroes fighting you today on tv.”
“Yes. I am a villain.” He couldn’t be anything but honest especially to the young child standing before him that he had grown to care so much about. He knew this moment would come but he wasn’t ready for it. “I’m a bad guy.”
For a moment your son studied your boyfriend with a frown on his face. It was clear he didn’t understand. “But you aren’t a bad guy.” He said quietly as tears started brimming his eyes.
“Listen... buddy...” Dabi started but your son raised his hand toward the bathtub. You both turned to look and as you did your son began to manipulate the shadows. Watching you saw a shadow of Dabi lift a shadow of your son in the air. Different scenes appeared of Dabi playing, eating, and caring for your son. He even showed Dabi and you together. You all looked like a family.
After a few minutes your son ran and buried his face in Dabi. “You’re not a bad guy! They’re wrong! You’re my hero Dabi! I love you!” Dabi held him as he cried but he didn’t know how to respond himself. He swallowed thickly then looked to you.
Wiping your silent tears away you gently pulled your son away as he finished crying. “Ok baby, it’s late. Let’s go back to bed. Dabi needs his rest ok? He got lots of owies today let’s let him get better alright?” Your son nodded and let you lead him away after he hugged Dabi again and wished him a good night.
As you left Dabi turned his attention back to the shadows. They had gone back to normal the moment your son had latched onto him but he couldn’t help but stare at them. The story he had watched unfold showed so much love. The boy saw him like a father, a caring father unlike the one he had growing up.
He was still a bit choked up when you came back. “Dabi baby? Are you alright?” You could see the bewilderment in his eyes and knew enough about his past to know that what he saw affected him. He stood up and embraced you, eventually following you to the bedroom.
As he laid there staring at the ceiling he finally spoke “he said he loved me... and that I was his hero...” you watched him but stayed quiet letting him talk “ he doesn’t think I’m a bad guy heh. But I am. What am I gonna do if they come after you and him?” He turned his attention to you “ what would I do? Should I leave?” Your heart clenched at his words “but I don’t want to leave. You two mean so much to me. I love that kid. I love that kid so much.” He covered his face with his hands and took in a shaky breath “and I love you. I don’t want to think about not being with you.”
“Then don’t. Dabi I love you. Y/s/n loves you. We both care about you so much. We don’t want to lose you... so we will take this one day at a time ok? Just like before. Don’t think about all the bad that can happen. Right now you just need to rest. And in the morning we will be here. Together.”
“Alright” he pulled your hand up and kissed your knuckles before letting the weariness of his body overcome him. You brushed his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead muttering some sweet goodnights.
The next morning
Dabi awoke with a start to an empty bed. Though his first thoughts were that his nightmares were true they soon subsided when he heard the sound of laughter coming through the house. Fighting through his soreness he followed the sound through the house to the kitchen where you were getting breakfast ready and your son sat at the table with his action figures.
“DABI! Come sit by me!” Your son giggled and continued his game. Dabi made his way to you first kissing your head wishing you a good morning and your son made a gagging sound “that’s gross” Dabi laughed and sat down by the boy ruffling his hair.
“Good morning buddy”
“Morning” he thought for a minute before picking up one of his hero toys “Hey Dabi, is it ok if hawks is still my favorite hero?”
Dabi shrugged “sure buddy”
“Ok good. Here” he pushed a few heroes in front of Dabi “you can fight all these guys but not these. I like these guys. But you can kick those guys butts if you want. This is hawks” he said waving the winged hero action figure in front of dabis face “you can’t fight him cause he’s my favorite and you would win.”
“I would huh?”
“Yeah cause he has wings but you have fire so your fire would burn his wings. And your fire is blue and blue is my favorite color so really your my favorite but hawks is my favorite actual hero ok.”
Dabi laughed and you couldn’t help the smile on your face. You loved that boy and the man beside him.
“Hey you want to play like hawks?” Dabi questioned and before your son could answer Dabi swooped him up and lifted him in the air flying him around the house. Despite his soreness. Despite breakfast was ready. The screams of laughter and joy were worth it.
Yeah. This was nice.