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Saying that Hawks was mad was an understatement. He was absolutely furious, and he was about to have some words with Dabi.
Last night, he had further confirmed his suspicions that Dabi was in fact Touya after the pyro slipped when he was half asleep and called Hawks 'Kei', something he should have absolutely no knowledge of unless he was his ex boyfriend who was presumed dead 4 years ago.
Hawks had been suspecting it for months now. The first time happened when he first came face to face with the villain and though his eyes were incredibly similar to Touya's. And Hawks should now, not only were those eyes engraved in his memory, but they were also his son's eyes.
The next thing was merely a suspicion. Dabi had come out of nowhere, and up until 3 years ago there were no reports of accidents linked to him.
Next, it was Dabi's clear hatred for Endeavor. He didn't only hate him for being the number one, but clearly he had a reason. And Touya was the only person Hawks could think of that would ever hate the bastard as much as Dabi did.
Another time, he happened to walk into the bar as Compress asked Dabi if he ever missed his family. The man had simply smiled and answered with "Yeah, all the time. Both of them." and then he spotted Hawks and refused to answer any more questions.
There was also the fact that no one, including the league, knew Dabi's real name or his past.
So his name slipping out of the villain's lips was the last piece of the puzzle that he needed.
Hawks had an important meeting in the morning, so he couldn't talk to Dabi before he woke up, and he was just free of work now. But all day, he was in the worst mood. And now, finally the bomb was about to explode.
He made his way into the Leagues hideout, kicking the door open. They were all reunited at the bar, and looked up to see Hawks. He heard Shigaraki starting to bitch about something, but Hawks ignored him as he made his way over to Dabi and pinned him to the wall he was leaning against with his feathers.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, you damn chicken!?"
"What the fuck is wrong with ME!? What the fuck is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell me!?"
"The fuck are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb Touya, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" At the mention of his name, the villain effectively shut up. "Why wouldn't you tell me!? I thought you were dead! You know what it was like? Thinking the only person who ever dared love me back was dead? You know what it was like having to raise Ryu alone!? What was that you said about us figuring this out together? Well, apparently that was bullshit! 4 years, Touya! I've raised our son on my own for 4 years because someone didn't bother telling me they were alive!"
"Kei..."
"Shut up, I'm not done yet!" Hawks interrupted him, "Why didn't you come back? You know how much it hurt the first time Ryu asked where his dad was!? He thinks you're dead too! And if he finds out you're not, he's just going to think you didn't love him and that's why you didn't come back! Is that what you want? For Ryu to think his dad doesn't love him? You know his life is already complicated, and he's 5! You know we promised to give Ryu everything none of us had! But guess what. By not coming back, you just did the same thing your father did and abandoned your son. Is that what you fucking wanted, Touya!? To become that bastard who destroyed your family? You're way better than that, and you know it! I told you the night Ryu was born that you would be a great dad... So why the fuck didn't you came back?... "
Hawks' voice cracked at the end, and before he even realized, he was already crying. Crying out of relief that he was alive, crying out of anger that he didn't say anything, crying because he missed him, crying out of frustration, crying because he and Ryu weren't alone anymore... Crying because his family was complete again.
He called back his feathers, freeing the villain. Hawks was about to fall to his knees if it wasn't for Dabi who managed to catch him in his arms first.
"Why didn't you come back?..." he whispered again, with his face buried on Dabi's warm chest.
"I'm sorry, Kei... I had no idea of what to do..." was as much of an answer as Dabi could offer, gently running a hand through Hawks' hair.
Hawks managed to calm down a little bit, stepping away and taking a moment to just take in Dabi's face. Yeah, those were definitely Touya's eyes staring back at him. How had it taken him so long to notice?
"What the fuck?" Shigaraki interrupted them, and only then did they realize they pretty much just made a scene in front of the entire League.
"You said you had a kid?" Compress asked.
Hawks and Dabi exchanged glances.
"Aaawww, a little Hawks or Dabi! Can I have some of his blood!?" Toga asked, jumping up and down on her place.
"Fuck no. You're not getting anywhere near Ryu, crazy."
Toga deflated at Dabi's words, whining.
"So mean!" Twice said. "You're right, keep the kid away!"
"So, let me get this straight, you two already knew each other?"
Both nodded at Compress’ question.
"Right. And you said you have a son together? And Hawks, you thought Dabi was dead?"
"Yes?..."
"How exactly do you two have a son together? Aren't you both like, 22?" Spinner asked. Dabi snorted.
"It's called 'the condom broke when we were 17'." Hawks hit Dabi in the arm at his answer "Hey, you know I didn't mean it like that! I love Ryu, you know it."
"Do I?" he retorted with an arched brow. Dabi huffed. "Either way, you're coming home with me tomorrow. I'm done with you avoiding your responsibilities as Ryu's dad."
"... Will he want to see me though? You said it, if he finds out I'm alive he's going to think I don't love him..."
"I didn't mean that, I was mad. And Dabs, we're talking about the same baby that wanted you to hold him all day long. Even now, Ryu thinks I don't know, but he likes to go through your old stuff."
"You didn't throw it away?"
"I couldn't. So I just... Stored it all in the spare room. He found that scarf you liked so much the other day and hasn't let go of it since. Besides, it's his birthday soon, remember? What better gift than his dad?"
"Right. December 18th... He's almost 6 now."
"You've missed a lot."
"Yeah..."
Toga decided to use that moment to interrupt again.
"Can we meet him!?"
"I don't want any fucking kids running around here. That'd be annoying" Shigaraki answered even before the parents could deny Toga's proposition.
Toga whined again.
"Can we at least know what he looks like?"
"Let me think..." Dabi made a face as if he was actually considering it. "No."
"Daaaaabi! Please! I bet he's so cute!"
"Damn right, he's adorable. But you're crazy, and I have half the brains to know you shouldn't be allowed near him."
Toga pouted, but made her way over to Twice to whine at him instead. She'd probably keep insisting later.
"Don't think you still don't own me an explanation about what you were doing all along that kept you from contacting us." Hawks said, this time low enough so only Dabi could hear him. The rest of the League had all returned to their own conversations now anyway, so no one was paying attention to them anymore.
"I'll give it to you, when you tell me exactly what the fuck were you thinking trying to play doble spy for the Comission by joining the League." Dabi whispered back. Hawks narrowed his eyes. "Don't give me that look, of course I know, birdie. And it was fucking stupid. But unlike you and your dramatic ass, I'll wait till we are alone to scream at you about that."
The rest of the night went by with the League all pulling an all-nighter like it was most usual, and with a couple more questions for Hawks and Dabi. At one point Shigaraki even questioned Hawks about his true motives to join the League. He just answered by saying that he wanted to create a less corrupt society for Ryu, which wasn't a lie, so Shigaraki simply backed off after that, apparently satisfied by that answer.
Dabi accompanied Hawks back to the apartment he had once been all too familiar with when the sun started rising, anxiety filling his chest while Hawks reassured him over and over again that he was going to be fine.
They entered the apartment through the balcony, Hawks flying them both there and now laughing at Dabi's face as they landed and walked into the place.
"So you still get motion sickness."
Dabi answered by glaring at him and holding onto the wall for dear life, trying to recover from the dizziness that took over him.
Hawks laughed again.
"Daddy?" Hawks stopped laughing, turning around to see Ryu standing in the doorway and looking at them, the old blue scarf that used to belong to Dabi sloppily thrown around his neck.
"Little bird, I thought you were still sleeping. You don't get up early on Saturdays. Did we wake you up?" Ryu shook his head.
"Who is he?" he asked, looking at Dabi. He gulped, standing up straight again.
"Well..." Hawks looked at Dabi before returning to look at Ryu, walking closer and kneeling down so he could talk with him. "Ryu, little bird, remember what I told you about your dad? Why he’s not with us?"
"He had an accident when I was a baby."
"That's right. And you know he loved you, right?" Ryu nodded, hugging the scarf to his chest. "And what else do you know about your dad?"
"His name was Touya, and he had a fire Quirk, but it hurt him to use it. That's why my wings can light on fire. He had siblings and his dad was mean to him. And his eyes were blue like mine. This was his favorite scarf because his mom gave it to him."
"Yeah. And... Would you have liked to meet him?" Ryu nodded immediately. Hawks smiled. "Well, then... Ryu, this is your dad Touya. His scars are from the accident he had, so be careful if you don't want to accidentally hurt him."
Ryu's eyes widened as he looked at Dabi.
Dabi stood still, barely being able to breath, and before he could realize, Ryu had used his wings to get to Dabi's height and was now hugging him, hiding his face on his chest. Well, he was definitely the son of the fastest hero.
Dabi wrapped his arms around him hesitantly, immediately feeling amazed at how different it was since the last time he got to hold Ryu. Back then he was definitely smaller.
"Dad...?" Ryu said, still firmly holding onto him for dear life. As if he was afraid Dabi would disappear.
"Yes, Ryu... It's me. I've missed you so much, little dragon..." the nickname earned him a happy chirp from Ryu, and Dabi's heart melted.
Hawks and Dabi had set on calling Ryu 'little bird'. It was their nickname for him, and they were sure it would always be, even after he wasn't a kid anymore. He'd just always be their little bird. However, Dabi had also set on occasionally calling him 'little dragon' instead. It was his personal nickname for Ryu, and a very faint memory in Ryu's mind of a voice calling him that.
Ryu refused to let go of Dabi all day, just like when he was a baby.