Chapter Text
The thing about sailing under a constant sun that drunken sailors that sang shanties always forgot to mention is that being under it for long could fry anyone’s brain and make the wisest man go crazy. The sun at sea is killer indeed and that is why Dabi would much rather get his trip done with as soon as possible.
Him and the crew of the Vanguard have been sailing for what feels like ages before they finally, finally, see the sight of the biggest royal ship on those waters.
The Endeavor stands tall, all mahogany and dark wood, sails impeccably clean and cutting through the waves as if they were butter.
The sight of the ship makes dabi smile, getting his telescope to focus on the enemy commander and smirking when he catches sight of his second hand man, a body familiar to his eyes that stands out like a shore thumb with golden hair and a navy blue uniform.
Dabi rises a hand and calls up Twice, looking at the Endeavor one last time before giving out a clear order
“Ready the cannons”
————————
To say Hawks has had better days would be a huge understatement. In fact, it had been being a wonderful day until certain pirate asshole decided to take the piss and actually fucking fire at his ship. Well, technically Captain Todoroki’s ship but he was the right hand man, it was practically his too.
And Dabi had just decided to be an asshole and get his cannons all over the place, successfully damaging the Endeavor enough that it had been a miracle another ship from the royal flock had found them before they drowned and became yet another treasure buried under the sea.
And the fact that Dabi had decided to cannon his ship the same fucking day they had a meeting scheduled was just the cherry on top of the horrible day he’s had.
As soon as Hawks gets cleared from the medic and is set free to go he sets off to the part of the port where no one dares to walk through thanks to the rumours of it being hunted by mermaids or sirens. Just the thought of the urban legend makes the blond scoff at how paranoid sailors can get.
It takes him longer than he would have liked, after all he Is injured and his side hurts like hell thanks to the mast almost falling on him and crushing him to death and the help he had given to get everybody to safety.
When Hawks finally arrives he knows he’s late. He crosses the many umbrals and descends three sets of stairs until he gets to the portal of an abandoned store, fearing for a moment that the man he is supposed to meet has grown tired and gone home or to a tavern already.
But by the light smell of gunpowder and leather that he gets when he crosses the threshold he isn’t alone and he didn’t just walk half across the city for nothing.
By the light of a couple of burning candles, Hawks thinks Dabi might as well be the oddest pirate captain he’s ever seen. He doesn’t stand tall for instance, instead slouches and makes himself smaller, something Hawks suspects is to give the people he talks to a false sense of confidence. He wears a long black coat that has definitely seen better days, with silver buttons and an ornate pattern on the sleeves and back. Under it he has a lousy white shirt with a cut low enough that it allows anyone who wants to see a great look at the man’s burn scars, extending all across his chest and some going under the shirt and what Hawks suspects is also the abdomen and maybe back, all held together by different silver earrings that look just about ready to come loose any second.
Dabi wears black pants and black boots and numerous earrings as well as the ones holding together what looks like half of his burned off face. Hawks tries not to look at the golden earring that has a bright red feather hanging off of it, a difficult task since the pirate seems to fancy never taking off the damn thing.
The blond doesn’t even bother to look for a weapon, he knows that he won’t be able to find it but the black haired man is definitely carrying one, after all so does he, strapped to the inside of his boot.
Dabi looks at him with a look too lazy to be anything but completely staged when he raises an eyebrow, leaning back against the wall and speaks in an almost bored tone.
“You’re late, I thought you military types valued punctuality”
Hawks tries to keep a neutral face as he shallows a scream and smiles at the other man, taking a step forward. “You see, I had a whole schedule and everything but the funniest thing happened today”
Dabi nods solemnly and trails his eyes up and down the soldiers figure.
“Does it have anything to do with those bandages and the fact that you look like you just rolled out of a mine?”
Hawks nods and leans against a wall, sighing loudly “you see, we got attacked by the ugliest creature I’ve ever seen”
Dabi raises an eyebrow and smirks, tilting his head “oh?”
He just continues “yeah, absolutely horrendous, ugly as shit and with the same sense of keeping their informants alive as a giant squid”
The black haired man just nods solemnly “I’ll try and keep it in mind for next time we set sails, then. I wouldn’t want to encounter anything like that”
Hawks huffs and checks the pirates face for any sign of an explanation, sighing when he finds none and raises his eyebrows.
“What did you actually call me here for, Captain?”
The other man shrugs but Hawks can see the smallest frown on his face.
“There’s been rumours, not only the Vanguard, but the League has also heard of the Government setting expeditions to find rather… unusual creatures.”
Hawks can’t help but tense. The Government Had been talking about some top secret stuff but he wouldn’t have expected for them to actually look into the tales of mermaids, sirens or lord forbid the Kraken. But what worries him the most is that Dabis ship as well as the main one of the pirates flock had heard about it.
The Vanguard knowing about it is one thing, after all Dabi frecuents these seas and is closest to the information as well as having Hawks feed it to him from time to time, but the League having found out? If Shigaraki knows about it then that means there’s an obvious leak on the Government, someone on a higher position than Hawks himself that had been privy to the information before he had.
These thoughts cross his mind in a matter of seconds but he decides to ignore them, stash them to tell his handler with the rest of the information he gathers from Dabi, and puts his best “I’m definitely not bullshitting you” smile.
“Well, there hasn’t been an agreement about it yet” he makes a point to roll his eyes and look at the pirate
“You’ve sailed all over, you better than anyone should know the amount of bullshit the tales are. I doubt the Commanders and Generals are dumb enough to set sail in search to find anything like that”
The look that Dabi gives him is, well, unimpressed. He raises his hand to slowly caress the feather on his earring as if it were a short of habit when the man thought hard on something, smirking as he walks pass Hawks and out of the door, his words barely a whisper in the wind as he disappears into the night.
“Perhaps it's you who hasn’t sailed enough, little bird”
————————
The next couple of days are an erratic mess that Hawks simply has to force himself through. Repairments on the Endeavor are his top priority since Captain Todoroki has been busy with meetings on the higher levels of the city ever since they came back. Hawks has barely seen him, which makes him wonder more and more about Dabis claim of a deal to start looking for more… exotic creatures. He would never admit, but it has been plaguing his thoughts ever since their conversation came to an end. He even considered using his Voice to try and persuade a lower guard to tell him everything they knew about it since it had been clear to Hawks it was only him that had been excluded from the negotiations for obvious reasons.
But the ships repairs keep his mind busy, and when he isn’t needed or the crew insists that he takes a break, a walk through the stalls make do.
That’s his favourite part of cities, all the different smells and voices, products people sell and are scammed for. Hearing people speak different languages, wear clothes from far away places always made his heart ache and long for something more, but his duty is with the Governor and this part of the sea as well as keeping it safe.
It’s on his stroll through the market that he catches sight of what he knows are some of the Vanguards crew mates. One is tall and wrapped in bandages, with a mask that hides his face and reminds Hawks of the plays people put up on the festivals. The man chats excitedly and waves a necklace for a tiny blond haired girl to see. She takes it and they both jump excitedly, making hawks tilt his head slightly, after all, it was unusual for a ship crew to have actual friendships outside of work, wasn’t it?
He decides to stop watching the pair before any of them notice what he’s doing but he makes sure to keep track on where they are and how they seem to head to one of the shadiest taverns in town afterwards.
He’s about to head back to the ship when he notices a new stall, not uncommon, that has an odd enough selection of items that make him walk closer to inspect.
All over the table he sees what are claimed to be mermaid scales, sea serpent fangs and even a coin that supposedly belonged to Davy Jones.
But by far it’s the siren feathers that make him want to laugh out loud the most.
They’re of a dull brown colour and look like they’ve been plucked out of a dead bird or a very dirty seagull.
The lady on charge of the shop eyes him and opens her mouth, probably to try and make him buy some of her oddities but she doesn’t have time to before a kid that’s eyeing the supposed eyes of a revived eel takes one and starts running, making her chase after and leaving him to look closer at the objects.
Hawks simply decides to ignore the complete buffoonery of the whole thing and walk away, after all he knows what a siren feather looks like, he has to see one dangling from a certains pirates ear every time they meet.
————————
That night he decides to actually listen to his crew and take it easy, heading to the zone on the port where most taverns are.
Hawks planned to go and get a couple of drinks, he swears, but when he sees the familiar sight of one of the Vanguards crew members getting inside a worn down building, he has to follow, if only, the music and laughter coming from inside only helps him to it.
He is glad that he discarded his uniform for a simple white loose shirt and black pants because otherwise he would have probably been gunned down for being part of the Royal Guard as soon as he entered the pub, filled to the brim with pirates from all ships.
Hawks sees the captain of the Overhaul, the Gentle and even catches a glimpse at what might be the goliath the League had recently came across.
But he doesn’t find who he had hoped to see so he simply stalks over to the bar and orders himself a drink, sitting as quietly as he can and hoping that none of the men around him recognise his face out of uniform. He should get out and find any other place to drink, however, Hawks has never been a smart man and there’s something that keeps him from standing up. He hears the loud music and multiple sailors sing an old pirate song, some even drunkenly dancing on the middle of the tavern where some tables have been cleared.
He watches the dancers move for what could have been minutes or hours, lost in his own mind and trying to memorise every song before a hand on his shoulder wakes him from his trace.
Hawks first instinct is to turn around and deck whoever it was, but his hand is caught by another hand, with slimmer fingers, golden rings and scarred skin.
Dabi stands tall over him with a raised eyebrow, black coat missing and only a black baggy shirt on his upper body, same black pants as he wore the last day as he still hold Hawks fists in his hand. He smirks and sits down at the stool by his side, which Hawks could have sworn was occupied just a minute ago.
“Do you usually punch everyone that approaches you, birdy?”
He scoffs and looks at Dabi, focusing on their joint hands for a second too long.
“Usually no, but you’re an exception” He wiggles the hand that’s under the pirates a bit “are you planning on returning it? I’m quite fond of it”
The black haired man tilts his head and closes his eyes for a moment, looking like he’s deep in thought before squeezing the hand tighter and starting to rub his thumb slowly over it
“Actually, I think I’ll keep it. I’m one of the bad guys, remember? Stealing and taking what isn’t mine is my whole thing”
He frowns and leans forward, not even bothering to retrieve his hand back
“Are you drunk?”
Dabi shrugs and leans forward himself
“Perhaps. You look like you’ve drank a bit yourself” he looks toward the centre of the room and then back at Hawks “perhaps not too much to not be able to move, I hope”
The blond makes a double take on the other man’s expression, making sure there was no joke in his eyes before he groaned
“You know what? I’m drunk enough to accept a dance with a guy that will most likely just steal my wallet”
Hawks stands up and tugs a smirking Dabi up to the dance floor, filled with drunken dancers and gives out a little Yelp when the pirate tugs him hard enough for their chests to collapse before he is moving again at the songs rhythm.
The blond is pretty sure he’s never heard the song playing, nor the next one or the ones after that. But as he an Dabi dance through the night, interlocked hands never letting go, he forgets who he is. He forgets he’s Hawks, the navy admiral sent to spy on one of the most dangerous pirate crews, the sacrificial pawn everyone involved knows he is.
While they dance he is simply Hawks, a man dancing with the guy that has been making him feel sea sick for months now.
At some point in the night Dabi takes him to a more secluded place of the tavern where they keep dancing to the shanties the band plays and Hawks finds out that the black haired man’s singing voice is low and rough like sandpaper or a storm at sea and the pirate is able to hear Hawks genuine laugh that he rarely gets to use.
The moon is high in the sky and some patrons are passed out on top of the tables when the door opens and Hawks sees two people, a man and a woman, dressed with the colours of the military. As much as he will deny it, the effect of the alcohol he took is long gone and he knows that if he’s seen with someone like Dabi he will be hung, let alone what will happen to the actual pirate.
Hawks makes up his mind the second the guards start looking around, quickly making their way to where they are.
He grabs the collar of Dabis shirt, earning him a confused look before he tugs and covers the others lips with his own, wrapping his arms around the pirates neck, who stays rigid for a second before hugging Hawks waist with his own hands.
They only kiss for a moment but when they part Hawks feels like he’s got the air knocked out of him.
Dabi looks down at him, gaze trailing down to Hawks lips before going back up to stare at his eyes with his hypnotising blue ones. He bites his burned lip as he looks at Hawks and then behind him to the stairs that go into the upper floor. His breath comes out stained when he says:
“I have a room upstairs”
Without looking to see if the soldiers have yet to spot them, Hawks doesn’t hesitate to follow.
——————————————-
As soon as the door behind them is closed Hawks back slams against the wall, Dabis hand holding him up as the pirate kisses his neck.
He bites his lip and wraps his arms around the scarred neck, tugging Dabi closer until they’re kissing again, earning a small hiss from the pirate when he bites at the piercing on his lip softly.
With much, much reluctance, Hawks leans away and puts a hand between them, chest rising and falling quickly.
“Stop, you’re drunk as a kite.”
Dabi looks at him like he’s lost his mind and then groans, putting Hawks back on the ground, hands never leaving his waist.
“I’m not drunk, Hawks”
The soldier frowns looking up at him and opening his mouth to retort when the other man continues. “I don’t drink, alcohol burns like a bitch on open wounds and I’ve had enough burns for a lifetime”
Hawks opens and closes his mouth, left without words before he settles in: “so you just walk around covered in open wounds? Gross”
Dabi rolls his eyes and looks behind him to the closed door “Whatever you say. You reckon the soldiers will have left yet or are still snooping around?”
The blond tenses for a moment before sighing. Of course the pirate had seen them too, there was no other reason for him to have kissed Hawks back otherwise. He relaxes his body and shakes his head “Probably still downstairs, if they’re on night patrol in this part of the town they’ve probably just been paid off to stay here and not check the streets”
Dabi chuckles and walks away from Hawks to sit on a small bed by a window, letting the cold air get to the other man who simply stands there at the door, unsure of what to do.
The pirate gets rid of his boots as well as the dagger hidden on them, setting it all aside before stretching and looking at Hawks with a bored expression.
“So? If those assholes are going to stay you’re gonna have to stay here too or they’ll wrap a nice knot around your neck, you can come closer, I don’t bite.”
The expresión on his face makes clear that he can and will bite if prompted. But Hawks is a bit of a fool and hasn’t really fully recovered from the whole “being pinned against the wall” thing so he approaches and sits down next to the black haired man, stretching before slouching and turning to see Dabi sit against one of the walls with his legs crossed.
His gaze follows down from the man’s chest to his abdomen and his legs, wondering how much of it is burnt to a crisp. He is only thrown out of his train of thoughts when Dabi shifts slightly and speaks
“Careful with your look or I’ll think the stunt you pulled earlier wasn’t just for show.” Hawks doesn’t mention that, while it had been for show, he really wouldn’t mind repeating it just for both of them. “Unless it was only to get me naked?”
The soldier huffs and looks at Dabi with an unimpressed look
“What’s this, a question game? I’ll go too. Why do you have those scars anyway?”
Dabi frowns and leans forward
“I don’t know, why bother giving gifts to a man you’re supposed to be spying on?”
Hawks doesn’t flinch at the fact that the other man knows his intentions, instead continues with a question he’s had for months now.
“Why would said man keep it and wear it as jewellery?”
Dabi frowns and raises a hand to caress the feather dangling from his ear, focusing a moment later and scoffing.
“You gave me something quite valuable, I don’t think you even know what it is asides from a “lucky charm”. You wouldn’t know a Siren if it hit you in the face”
Hawks blood boils for a moment as he gets way closer than he should to the black haired man, snarling at him.
“I know perfectly well what a siren is, Dabi. Perhaps is you who wouldn’t even know one if you made out with it.”
The pirates eyes widen and.
Oh
Perhaps the alcohol effects hadn’t passed as much as Hawks had thought, huh?
He stands up quickly and marches to the door, ready to make the quickest exit of his life and run to the governor's house to say that his mission is over but the door won’t bulge no matter how much he strives to open it.
Dabis voice comes from behind him
“It’s closed, birdie”
Hawks turns to frown at him, finding the other man has taken his earring off and is now holding the feather in his hands, inspecting it with a new found curiosity.
He sighs and resigns to stay on the same room but sits on a wooden chair standing near a table covered with pieces of parchment.
Long minutes pass before Dabi speaks up again, back to the bored tone he usually uses.
“I guess that explains your eyes and those weird ass pointy teeth of yours. Never mind the fucking nails, no wonder you just scratched my back to hell, those are probably claws”
Hawks huffs but closes his eyes and combs his hair out of his face with his fingers, the stiffness of his shoulders relaxing slightly.
“They’re not claws, they’re just a bit sharp”
Dabi hums and lays down on the bed, putting his hands behind his head as he closes his eyes.
Hawks frowns and looks at dabi from top to bottom.
“You took that… surprisingly better than I thought you would”
The pirate opens an eye and moves his head slightly to signal for Hawks to get closer.
“I told you, I’ve sailed through some rough waters, a siren doesn’t scare me”
Hawks stands up and reluctantly sits by Dabis side, yelping as the pirate grabs his arm and tugs him down to lay down as well, earning a low “asshole” from him.
He stares up at the ceiling for long moments, hoping that the man at his side can’t hear the loud beating of his heart and trying to ignore all the places both of their bodies touch.
After a long silence Hawks speaks up, without getting his eyes off the ceiling to avoid the distraction of wanting to trace all the piercings on Dabis face.
“I don’t think I count as a siren anymore, if that’s any consolation. I can’t fly and my voice doesn’t quite work anymore, I tried to use it on you once and you didn’t even bulge”
The other man huffs and Hawks feels him move on his side, feels the second those blue eyes start inspecting him and he moves his head to stare back at Dabi, who appears to be analysing him before he frowns slightly and says:
“We pirates have a code, you know?” A lot don’t actually follow it but it’s there and-“
“Aren’t you supposed to be the rebels of the sea? Why would you have a code?” Hawks interrupts
Dabi frowns and punches Hawks arm, earning a “hey!” Before continuing.
“As I was saying, we have a code. An eye for an eye.” His eyes look straight into his own, their usual genera misfit look more calm now as he appears to stare into Hawks’s very soul. “A secret for a secret, if you would”
The blonde raises an eyebrow “are going to tell me your actual name that isn’t made up?”
Dabis face tightens and his body stiffens for a second before he forces himself to relax again “no, fuck off. Guess I’ll just have to show you”
In a mere second Dabi secures a dagger from the inside of his sleeve and points it at Hawks throat, who has already started to move to take a hold of it and twist the positions in his favour before the pirate twirls the weapon, offering it to the soldier.
“Stab me”
Hawks simply looks at him like he’s lost his mind.
“For fucks sake, Hawks, just stab me”
He looks at Dabis face to make sure he really isn’t drunk before taking the dagger, not making a move to use it.
The pirate sighs and sits down, taking Hawks’s hand on his and pressing it on top of his heart, right where he has a scar that forms a giant X.
“Just trust me, birdie”
The blond just huffs
“How am I supposed to do that when you’re telling me to kill you, asshole?”
Dabi groans “it will be fine just do it. Or are you too scared to do it? Has the bird never actually stabbed someone? That would be too embarras-“
Hawks stabs him right over the scars that covers his heart.
Dabi gasps and falls back against the bed, gasping for air as he clutches his chest and Hawks is at his side immediately, face drained of any colour and completely livid.
“What the fuck, Dabi, what the fuck.-“ he stands up and heads to the door again before realising it’s still locked up and hurrying back to the beds side where dabi is now limp.
“The door is closed, I can’t go get help you fucking moron oh my god don’t you dare die on me, I-“
There’s a low chuckle from under him and Dabi sits up, brushing the hair out of his eyes before looking at Hawks with a bored expression.
“Seriously? You kill me and the first thing you try to do is go get help? Not even a tear shed for me?”
Hawks stares at him with his mouth wide open. He knows there’s a knife sticking out of the other man’s chest and he knows he probably shouldn’t punch him straight in the face, but he does it anyway and gets a little satisfaction over Dabis groan as he does.
“What the fuck, Hawks?”
He gets close and snarls at him.
“What the fuck yourself! Why aren’t you dead?!”
Dabi rubs his face and pulls the knife out, the lack of blood making it shine against the couple of candles that provide light on the room.
Hawks simply states.
The pirate discards the knife and pats his chest, where there’s no trace of ever having a dagger sticking out of it just mere moments before.
“I am dead”
Hawks frowns
“You should be, I just stabbed you on the heart”
Dabi sighs and frowns, rubbing his temples and looking around, likes he’s trying to organise his thoughts.
“No, no I shouldn’t. Because I’m already dead, I’ve been dead for fifteen years and a corpse cannot be killed again.”
His frown deepens as the pirate turns and starts buttoning his previously unbuttoned shirt, obviously not happy with the reaction as he blows away both candles, only leaving the moonlight that comes through the window as a light source.
Hawks sits on the bed again and lets the minutes pass between them before sighing and starting to get his shirt off, feeling Dabis eyes on him as he does so. He turns to the other man and holds one of his hands to guide it to his own back, turning his torso so he isn’t facing the pirate.
Hawks makes sure to leave Dabis hands on top of where he knows his scars are, crossing his shoulder blades. He knows where they are by heart, he has spent countless nights inspecting them and longing for a time before they were there.
Dabis hand stay still for a moment before they move slowly, tracing the scars on his back with a care that Hawks would have never guessed he had. Hawks gets goosebumps as cold fingers carefully inspect his back.
They both stay like that for long moments before he speaks softly.
“They got rid of them when I was seven, sewed me back up. They never grew back”
Dabis response comes in a whisper but Hawks can hear the anger behind it and can almost feel the fire in the man’s eyes.
“Who?”
He chuckles and turns his head to look at him.
“My handlers. They found me abandoned when I was small.”
He sees Dabis jaw clench and his frown deepen but his hands don’t turn any rougher against his skin. He lays his hands flat against Hawks back and stares at the scars before speaking.
“You can stop pretending to be clueless around me, that act got old a while ago”
Hawks sighs and rolls his eyes “is that so?”
He nods “yes. You’re not as much of an airhead as you make everyone think you are”
Dabi grimaces, making the metal keeping his face together tug uncomfortably.
“I know you know they didn’t “find” you, Hawks. The military, they’re all the same”
Hawks fully turns to look at him, tilting his head but not interrupting.
“I told you I’m dead but I didn’t tell you why.”
Now it’s Dabis turn to strip of his shirt as he gives his back to Hawks, giving him the opportunity to see all the scars littering his body as well as… tattoos?
With a gentle hand, Hawks puts his hand on top of the rough shape of what looks like a compass signaling North at the same time Dabi talks again.
“My father tattooed a map on me and then cursed me so only him could kill me and his masterpiece wouldn’t get buried five feet under.”
Hawks exhales slowly and traces his thumb over the metal holding the other man together, making him chuckle and continue.
“Fucker didn’t even bother to pay a proper witch so she only made it so people with my same blood could kill me. Turns out I’m pretty good at leaving scars”
Hawks frowns and inspects the burnt skin closer, speaking in a whisper as his fingers hover over the edge where it meets the tattooed skin.
“You burnt yourself so no one could see the map”
Dabi just nods and chuckles, closing his eyes
“Now only I know where that stupid ass treasure is”
He hums and leaves a lingering kiss between Dabis shoulder blades, right on top of what looks like a sea serpent. “A lot of people would kill for that information”
The pirate just gives out a dry laugh.
“I don’t worry about that, after all only blood can kill blood and I don’t intend to go without a fight”
——————————
The next morning Hawks manages to sneak out of the room, having searched Dabi for the Keyes the other still slept, and as quietly as he can makes his way over to change into something that doesn’t strongly smell of gunpowder, leather and a weird new sense of camaraderie he really doesn’t want to think about. He puts his regular uniform on, white pants, a navy blue jacket and a red scarf around his waist that definitely doesn’t make him remember the ghost sensation of fingers exploring his back.
He heads back to the docks, ready for another day of overseeing the reparations of the Endeavor while having only slept a grand total of three hours before a nervous looking rookie approaches him with a parchment that calls for his presence at an important meeting on the highest level of town.
Hawks frowns but gives his thanks to the boy, definitely not older than sixteen and with an unruly green hair, who bows and sets off running, probably to fulfill more errands.
The walk up the town isn’t necessarily long but it is tedious, specially with the hills in which the town had been built on leading to the fort and the military quarters.
He passes a lot of townsfolk that are already used to him and wave at he walks by, always trying to spare a minute to greet them properly.
If that’s to be polite or to simply stall the inevitable long meeting, he can’t tell.
He definitely does. He hates meetings.
When Hawks finally reaches the fort he heads straight to the meeting chamber, realising he’s already late the second he sets foot in the room and every head turns to him.
Captain Todoroki grunts and he quickly walks to take the seat by his side.
The head of the table speaks up and the attention on Hawks disappears.
“We have called you all here today to discuss the matter of the growing amounts of pirates on our coasts and our harbour. Under a lot of investigation-“ Now Hawks is really glad none of this men knew about his mission. -“is the former All Mights treasure.”
A collective hum rounds the table and he inches closer to listen more carefully.
Captain All Might has been a legend, still is, until he disappeared roughly fifteen years ago. With him, the location of the biggest treasure known to any sailor, said to be able to change the fate of the whole ocean if found.
Hawks had always thought it was probably horeshit. No treasure can be that grand, but by the look on the faces of the men around him, they don't share the same train of thoughts.
The head of the tables clears his throat and continues solemnly.
“We have recently come across a piece of information that we believe could help us get started on finding it. We called you all here because we are dispatching a large number of ships to do so. We have chosen yours because we trust you will be able to keep the secret, we don’t want any pirates hearing about our intel.”
The captains and admirals are free to go soon after and Hawks makes sure to scatter to the room assigned for him to keep his paperwork and maps, sitting at his desk and putting his head on his hands.
Of course the meeting wouldn’t be about the hunt for “fantastic creatures”.
Of course they would keep him out of that, don’t even let him know what they’re doing.
If he weren’t so irritated he would laugh at the irony of a pirate captain being the only one who didn’t hide the truth from him.
At the very least, if they hadn’t told him it also meant Captain Todoroki hadn’t been informed either and he could still continue to trust him.
——————————
When Hawks wakes up from having fallen asleep on top of his notes, it’s already close to nightfall.
He gathers all of his belongings, grabbing hold of a couple of maps, stretches and closes the door behind him before making his way through the labyrinthic corridors to get out of the fortress and to a proper bed.
His mind betrays him with the thought of stopping by the same ratty old tavern as he did yesterday, but the ache on his neck from sleeping on his desk helps him decide on skipping the drinking and dancing (maybe flirting? Was that flirting?) for the night.
He’s about to exit the corridor when he hears a loud sound of something being knocked off and he rushes towards it, coming to a stop in front of his Captains office, where the door is opened, letting him peak through it to make sure everything is alright.
Instead, what he finds is Captain Todoroki loudly discussing with his youngest son, a teenager with double coloured hair that looks up to his father like he wants to see him walk the plank.
The captain of the Endeavor is shouting so much that Hawks doesn’t need to make an effort to overhear, and he soon realises that Enji must have thought he had already gone home when he starts talking.
“My ship is unavailable right now, you must finally set sail on your own and get a head start on all the others, Shouto”
The younger one frowns, a disgusted grimace on his face.
“Even if I did, there is no destination. You don’t have a map.”
The captain moves with steps that almost seem to make the whole room tremble.
“I have more than they do. Some islands and directions. The map may have been lost but I kept some parts of it copied down so when your failure of a brother would fail like I knew he would I wouldn’t be completely clueless. And now you must be the one to continue my legacy, Shouto”
The younger boy starts to retort a: “Touya wasn’t-“
One of the parchments Hawks is carrying slips from his fingers and falls to the ground, making a soft sound but enough for both men in the room to freeze, giving him enough time to bolt out of there as fast as he can before any of them see him.
—————————-
That night, Hawks lies awake on his bed looking at the ceiling, thousands of thoughts racing through his head all through the night.
Captain Todoroki talking about a lost map. Dabis completely burnt skin.
The younger son speaking a name.
Touya.
Touya.
Hawks understand Dabis seeming hatred for the Endeavor now.
Only blood can kill blood, indeed.