Chapter Text
This had gone too far.
Hawk’s little double-agent schtick had gone too far.
Dabi had known from the beginning. The bird wasn’t as good an actor as he thought. Dabi could see right through him. He always could.
Dabi was walking through the current warehouse the League was using as a base of operations. The Meta Liberation army freaks had wanted the League members at their base, but Shigaraki had refused.
Thank the gods , Dabi thought. Unfortunately, the barter was the League operates on its own, but it’s base is open to any higher level Meta soldiers.
He hated what this had turned into. Not enough to leave, but-
It hadn’t taken long for Dabi to realize that the League was riding on Stain’s fame, not his principles. But this was a direction. It was a path he hadn’t thought he would be able to walk. Forward. Towards revenge. Towards whatever sorry excuse for closure the universe was going to allow him.
He didn’t need to be sidetracked. Distracted . That damn bird had swooped in and become Dabi’s responsibility and he had gotten attached. He needed to reorient himself.
Revenge.
Closure.
Those were things he needed. Goals he had worked towards. He hadn’t felt peaceful in so long he hadn’t known what to call the emotion the first time he and Hawks had met on a rooftop in the city and stayed for hours after they had exchanged updates just- talking.
Distraction.
Around the next corner there were lowered voices behind one of the doors. Dabi frowned, hands still shoved in his pockets, he stepped closer. There wasn’t any planned meeting or debrief tonight. It was far too late for it anyway. It had to be past 2 a.m. He crept closer.
“I can’t believe he was conscious for that long.”
“We may have taken that too far, he’s an asset.”
“Not anymore.”
Dabi recognized the voices, though he didn’t know their names. Both were Meta Liberation members. One had a quirk similar to Shigaraki, except instead of being reduced to ashes, victims would essentially melt. The other had a quirk that allowed them to change the composition of any liquids so long as they knew the chemical make-up of it. They specialized in poisons, but Dabi remembers them rivaling Toga in their obsession with knives, for no other reason than he liked to hurt people.
Dabi tried to keep an eye on them at all times, he didn’t think they would be here tonight though.
The voices continued as he got closer.
“Let’s just leave him here.”
“What if he dies?”
“Who the fuck cares?”
Who was in there with them? Dabi heard some movement and shuffling, and ducked into a doorway in time to not be seen when the two emerged from the room and went the other direction down the hall, headed for the back of the warehouse.
There was no sound coming from the room. After being sure that there wasn’t anyone coming back, he moved towards it.
The first thing he saw was blood. So much blood. Now he knew what they meant when they said they couldn’t believe whoever it was had stayed conscious for so long.
Before he crossed the threshold of the door he saw indents in the blood, small, scattered-
feathers...
Dabi was going to kill these Meta Liberation bastards.
Dabi moved fully into the room and found Hawks propped on a chair next to some crates in the corner of the room. He wasn’t even tied up, just slumped unconscious over the back. Dabi knelt in front of him quickly, looking over the deep cuts that covered Hawks arms and legs. He had lost so much blood. Dabi took a breath to steady his nerves. Hawks was still alive, he could feel his heart beat in his wrist. He just needed to stop the worst of the bleeding.
He looked up at Hawks’ face. He still seemed to be unconscious, but his face was twisted in whatever pain he had felt before he finally passed out.
“You may want to stay knocked out a little longer, birdie,” Dabi whispered.
He held up Hawks’ arm and triggered his quirk, lighting the end of his finger and using the flame to cauterize the worst of the wounds. Repeating the work on his other arm, and the deep cuts on his legs.
Dabi picked Hawks up when he was sure he wasn’t losing any more blood.
Hawks’ apartment wasn’t far from here. Dabi knew that. Hawks had been nervous when he was taken here for the first time. Dabi had tailed him afterwards. It had crossed his mind that Hawks’ had known, and let him follow anyway.
Hawks didn’t need to be here when he woke up. Dabi moved through side streets and alleys, making his way to the fire escape he had climbed once before. He tried not to think about how easy it was to carry Hawks without the extra weight of his wings.
~
Dabi stepped into Hawks’ apartment, shifting the bird in his arms to hold him higher against his chest. He still hadn’t woken up. That was probably for the best.
He moved to the bedroom to lay him on his bed, and took a moment to sit and think about what had just happened. Hawks was the number 2 hero. How could he have gotten caught by two criminals not even good enough to be called villains? The second he knew Hawks was okay, he was going to burn those two alive. It was no secret on the base that Dabi and Hawks had established something resembling a friendship. Did they think he would appreciate …?
Doesn’t matter. He didn’t care why they did it. They were dead the next time he saw them.
On the bed, Hawks was starting to stir.
Shit.
Dabi went to sit on the bed next to him, and tried to figure out how best to calm him down when he finally opened his eyes.
He could see the moment when Hawks was conscious enough to feel his wounds. Confusion flicked across his face before it twisted in pain. Hawks' eyes opened suddenly, and upon seeing Dabi’s silhouette above him, he tried to back against the headboard before crying out at the pain the attempt caused him.
“Hey, it’s me,” Dabi held his hands up, letting flames dance around them lightly to light up his face, “you’re safe, Hawks.”
“Dabs? What- ah, fuck ,” Hawks had moved back enough for his back to drag against the bed.
“Birdie, sit up,” Dabi reached out for Hawks to take his hand, pulling gently and wrapping his hand around his waist to help him.
“What happn’d to me? Dabi, I can’t-” Hawks’ grip tightened around Dabi’s arm, “my feathers- I can’t…”
Hawks breathing was getting shallow and quick, his eyes darting back and forth.
“Hawks,” Dabi said, letting go of his arms and putting his hands on either side of his face, “look at me, I’ve got you.”
Hawks’ eyes found him.
“Dabs, my wings- are gone wh- why are my wings gone?”
“Hawks, I- I don’t know what happened. Two meta liberation freaks got you and-”
He stopped talking when Hawks’ eyes fell to his arms, seeing the burns running down both forearms. His face hardens, looking back up at Dabi with an unreadable look.
“What did you do to me?” He whispered.
Dabi shook his head, “no, I didn’t-” he was cut off by Hawks weakly shoving him away.
He cried out again. Dabi looked behind him to see flakes of red that had peeled off Hawks’ back and were littering the sheets. That villain’s quirk melted anything it came in contact with. What it left was similar to hardened candle wax. Hawks hadn’t noticed yet.
“Hawks,” Dabi started, careful to keep his voice level and firm, “can I take you to your bathroom and clean your wounds properly?”
When Hawks didn’t respond, only stared ahead, he continued.
“You were bleeding out when I found you, I used my flames to cauterize the cuts they made enough to slow the bleeding and get you somewhere safe. You’ve lost so much blood. Fuck, you need to eat something.”
Hawks' eyes flickered over to the desk against the wall of his bedroom. Dabi followed his eyes to see-
"Rich ass heroes," Dabi murmured under his breath, moving to the mini fridge and opening it. There was nothing but protein bars and juice, ironically useful in this situation; a sad excuse for meals in almost any other.
"Do you eat actual food?" Dabi said, moving back to kneel in front of Hawks, "like ever?"
Hawks shook his head so weakly Dabi almost didn't notice. So Dabi just sighed, taking the snacks he had grabbed (a sorry excuse for a breakfast bar, it was almost all chocolate, and a small bottle of apple juice) and shoved them into his pocket.
"Birdie," he said quietly, hoping Hawks' eyes would focus back on him instead of staring off into nothing, "hey, can I take you to the bathroom and fix up-" he stopped himself from pointing out any of the gory details. "Fix you up? You need some bandages... a lot of them."
After at least a minute of silence, Hawks nodded slowly, moving to reach for Dabi. Dabi met him more than half way, whispering ‘come here, pretty bird’, slipping one arm behind his back and another under his knees. In the bathroom, he lowered Hawks onto the long counter next to the sink.
“Are you okay here?”
Hawks nodded silently again. Dabi moved to get the large first aid kit he knew was in the bottom cabinet, but stopped when Hawks let out a whimper and reached for him, losing his balance and beginning to slide off the counter. Dabi stood up in time to stop Hawks’ fall, Hawks catching himself with his arms around Dabi’s shoulders. Dabi helped him back onto the counter, moving again to get the kit, this time keeping a hand touching Hawks.
They stayed there for a moment, while Dabi made sure Hawks took at least a few bites of food, and sipped on the juice. He really couldn't have him passing out again. Finally, he moved Hawks’ left hand to grip his arm.
“This is gonna hurt, birdie,” Dabi murmured, “squeeze as hard as you need to, okay?”
Another nod. Dabi tilted the bird’s chin up.
“Look at me,” he whispered, “I’ll do this, just watch me instead.”
With that, Dabi turned Hawks’ other arm over to show a long gash down his forearm. He took a bottle of alcohol from the first aid kit, moving Hawks’ arm over the sink and slowly pouring it over his forearm. Hawks hissed, and Dabi felt the grip on his arm tighten painfully. He didn’t let it show. He used a warm cloth to clean the dried blood off his arm, wrapping it snuggly before repeating the process on the other arm. When both his arms were wrapped, he turned Hawks on the counter so he could bandage his legs. He turned Hawks gently back to let his legs hang off the counter when he was done.
“Thank you.”
Hawks said it so quietly Dabi almost didn’t hear him.
He hushed him, and didn’t resist when Hawks pulled him closer, instead letting his hands rest on the counter on either side of Hawks hips. Their foreheads pressed together, and Dabi kept his eyes open, watching Hawks for any sign of- well anything. Hawks looked like he was about to pass out, or fall asleep. His weight was starting to press more into Dabi.
“You’re almost done, birdie, I promise.”
He didn’t move far away, only leaned over to get a clean washcloth. He had been avoiding looking into the mirror in front of him, but he did now. Luckily, Hawks was too tired or in too much pain to turn and look for himself. There were long streaks of waxy crimson running down his back. Some had already begun to flake off. Dabi didn’t want Hawks to see any of it, he’d have to clean it off the bed before he brought him back. He took the cloth, wetting it with warm water.
“Hey,” he leaned down a bit to look into Hawks’ eyes, “you’re okay, okay?”
Hawks responded by wrapping his arms around Dabi’s shoulders and pulling him closer.
“I don’t know what happened,” Hawks said quietly, “I don’t remember anything after the meeting earlier, I don’t know- how they-” he stopped before he had to acknowledge it.
“Look at me,” Dabi said, firmly enough that Hawks obeyed without a word.
Dabi had never seen Hawks look like this. The number two hero had always been strong, casual, confident. Beautiful . He still was. There wasn’t anything anyone could do that would change that.
“You don’t have to think about this right now,” Dabi looked into Hawks’ eyes. Distract him. “You were in a battle, you need help getting cleaned up, that’s it.”
Hawks looked confused for just a moment, before the exhausted look came back. He nodded.
“Besides,” he said, slowly running the cloth over Hawks’ back and watching waxy red come off in layers, “they’ll grow back. They’re almost as stubborn as you are.”
He feels a quick rush of air from Hawks’ humorless laugh.