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Fuyumi had been coming over more and more often, and had been volunteering to babysit and entertain Hotaru almost every time. Dabi didn’t quite understand why someone who worked with kids all day would want to see another one on her off time so often, but he and Hawks both were always welcome for a break.
Fuyumi leaned over baby Hotaru as he was laying on his play-mat. She was playing peek-a-boo with him, except every time she revealed her face, she also let a small amount of snow fall from her hands onto his face. He scrunched up his little face and laughed with delight every time.
“That was something Mom used to do.” Dabi mostly murmured to himself.
Hawks wrapped his arms around him from the back and rested his head against Dabi’s shoulder, watching his sister and child play with him. “You could still always talk to her, you know. She’s hospitalized, not dead.”
Dabi felt every muscle tense at the statement, but forced himself to relax. Hawks meant well.
“I don’t think I’m ready.” It was said in a small voice.
Hawks tilted his head towards his. “Will you ever be? Or if you are, will it be years before she gets to meet Hotaru? He deserves to meet the one grandparent he’ll have.” He rubbed soothing circles on Dabi’s stomach. “Besides, she deserves to know you’re alive, Hotaru or no Hotaru.”
He knew he was right, but how did Hawks not get that his mother also deserved a son that wasn’t a well known villain and a horrendously scarred one at that? That maybe a dead beloved son was better than a living disappointment?
But Hotaru changed things. Maybe an adorable grandchild would be enough to balance out a grotesque son. He did want his mother to meet Hotaru. It was just a matter of if he could stomach meeting her as Dabi in order to do it.
Before Fuyumi left he pulled her aside.
“Hawks wants me to tell Mom.”
Fuyumi blinked for a moment before breaking out in a huge smile. “You should.”
“What, that’s it? No ‘Mom’s in too fragile of a state’ or ‘your ugly mug would scare her’?” Dabi raised a skeptical eyebrow.
Fuyumi laughed and it sounded like their mother’s. “No, Touya. None of that.” She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. “Mom’s been doing better these past couple of years. She’d be delighted to see your ugly mug.”
She let go to fix his shirt absentmindedly. They were twins, but sometimes she felt so much older than him. More mature, at least. “Besides, you can say sorry for not showing up sooner by bringing the cutest baby in the world. It works wonders.” She winked.
They hugged and said their goodbyes after that.
As Fuyumi was walking out the door she turned back for a moment. “Oh, also, Touya? You should visit Mom soon. I think Natsuo and Shoto are getting a bit suspicious and I can only tell them I’m getting baby things for ‘a hero’s kid Rumi’s babysitting’ so many times. I know you want her to know before the boys. Bye!”
She shut the door before Dabi could yell at her to stop being so obvious. He was still mad, but Hawks burst out in a laugh that got Hotaru giggling and babbling, too, so he couldn’t stay angry for long. He leaned in and kissed Hawks on the mouth before kissing both of Hotaru’s cheeks.
“So?” Hawks tilted his head with a smile. “Did we convince you?”
Dabi groaned and ran a hand down his face. “Is Mr. Hero really encouraging me to break and enter into a medical facility?”
Hawks rolled his eyes and bounced Hotaru. “Oh no! The most nefarious deed! A family reunion.” He dramatically gasped for added effect.
Dabi refrained from calling him an asshole in front of the baby for fear of another earful.
A couple days later and Dabi was standing on a fire escape in the middle of the night holding a sleeping Hotaru.
He could still turn back. He could even lie to Hawks and say he’d gone through with it to get him off his back. He could sit right here for a little while and it would even seem like they’d had a reunion. Maybe he’d tell him it went terribly and she never wanted to see him again.
But Fuyumi would know. She actually talked to Mom.
He sighed and pushed open the window with the hand not cradling Hotaru to his chest.
The room was dark, and only a small reading light was on next to Todoroki Rei’s bed. To his surprise, she was awake, and looked towards the noise immediately.
“Who’s there?” She sounded a bit wary, but not worried enough for Dabi’s preference. Anybody could break in and attack the number one hero’s sick wife. There should be more security in this place.
His feet couldn’t move. He couldn’t say anything. He just stood, feeling slight relief she couldn’t see him shrouded in darkness.
Then Hotaru sneezed, waking himself up in the process and beginning to sniffle. Desperate to stop him from crying, Dabi began bouncing him softly and walked forward in the process, muscle memory taking over.
He froze when he hit the light and his mother gasped.
He expected her to start screaming any second. God he didn’t think this through. This was a terrible idea. He was a wanted criminal, and burned beyond recognition. Of course she’d be afraid.
“Uh, Mo-”
“Touya!” She spoke over him, without hesitation. Tears welled up in her eyes and she looked a second from leaping from her bed. Instead, she held out her arms, beckoning him closer.
He walked to her like she was a magnet and he was helpless to her pull.
“My baby boy oh you’re alive! They told me you were dead but I knew it couldn’t be true!” Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she pulled his face down with both hands. “Oh I knew it! I didn’t tell anyone but I saw you on TV and it was so grainy and you were so far away but I thought it just had to be you!”
“Mom-” Dabi choked on his words. He couldn’t cry anymore, but his throat still got stuffed with mucus.
He tried to push her away but she just held on tighter. “Mom, I did really bad things.”
She pulled his head against her chest like she used to when he was young and stroked his hair. “Oh darling I know. It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” She hummed. “It’s gonna be all okay now. I’m so glad you finally came to visit your old mother.”
Hotaru babbled and all at once his mother let go and he reeled back, suddenly remembering there was someone else there, too.
“Oh!” Rei exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth, eyes wide.
“Uh, Mom.” Dabi sniffled, trying to regain his composure. “I want you to meet Hotaru. Your grandson.”
“Oh my god...” Her voice was soft and cracked with emotion. Her eyes softened looking at him.
“Do you want to hold him?”
“May I?”
He bent down and handed Hotaru to her gently. Hotaru looked up at her with big glossy eyes before breaking into a grin and beginning to babble incessantly. She laughed.
“Aren’t you beautiful! You look just like your Daddy when he was your age! Except for the eyes, of course.” She lifted him higher, much to his delight as he started flapping his little wings in excitement. “Oh! That’s a bit different too, now isn’t it?” She laughed again.
“He, uh, well he got those from Hawks.”
Rei looked back at him suddenly. “Hawks?” Her brows knit in confusion. “Enji has a coworker with that name, this wouldn’t be the same feathered hero would it?”
He tried not to wince at Endeavor’s name, just pushed through and nodded.
“How surprising!” She focused her attention back to little Hotaru, but kept talking to Dabi. “It’s a bit romantic for a villain and a hero to fall in love, isn’t it?”
That stopped Dabi in his tracks a bit. Out of the few people that had found out about him and Hawks and Hotaru, his mother was the first to say something like that. He didn’t think of them as any kind of Romeo and Juliet. Just two idiots that had gotten themselves in way over their heads.
His expression softened watching his son play with his mother happily. “I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but... I suppose it is a bit romantic.” He picked at a staple on his face. “I, um, well I thought you’d be happy to hear I haven’t really done much villainy with Hotaru and all.”
She raised an eyebrow with a small smile. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean babies take a lot of time, it’s not like Hawks can take off from hero work as easily as I can and...” he scratched the back of his neck. “And it’s too dangerous. I wouldn’t want to leave Hotaru without one of his dads.”
“That does make me happy to hear. I always worry about you and Sho.” She kissed Hotaru’s forehead before handing him back. “But there was a reason you started down this, right? There’s some reason you were a villain just like there’s some reason little Sho puts his heart into being a hero. Did you finish what you had to do? Or make peace with letting go?”
Dabi felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He’d been reunited with his mother for all of one night and she could still see through him as easily as when he was a child hiding burns.
“No, Momma. I don’t think I have, just yet.” He looked down at the floor. How could he tell her it was all to kill her husband, his father? How could he tell her he’d stopped for the moment because he didn’t know how to do it without killing himself, but that he didn’t know if he could truly let go - could let his child grow up in a world with that man sitting comfortably at the top.
She was quiet for a moment. Then she placed a hand on his arm. “You know I love you no matter what, right?”
Dabi sniffled again. “Yeah.” It was barely a whisper.
“I wanted for a long time to love your father, too.” Dabi tensed. “I thought it’d be best for you and your sister. And then I thought it’d be best for the three of you. Then the four. And then I hurt baby Sho and I -” Her voice broke with tears she was barely managing to hold back.
“Mom you don’t have to-”
“No, I do. Touya, I’ve apologized to the rest of your siblings, and it’s time I apologized to you, too.”
“Mom, it wasn’t your fault.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked into his eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Touya. I should’ve been a better mother to you. I shouldn’t have let him do all those horrible things to you or to Shoto. I should have never tried to love him. I should have taken you all and run.”
He put his hand over hers. “It wouldn’t have worked,” he muttered quietly.
“I should’ve tried.” She let out a shaky breath. “It’s in the past now, but Touya?”
He looked back up at her. “Yeah, Mom?”
“If you figure out a way to kill that man without putting yourself or Hawks in danger...” She looked ashamed for even saying it, but swallowed hard and steeled her gaze. “Then you’ll be doing what I should’ve done years ago.”
Dabi let out a shaky breath of his own. “Mom...”
She wiped some tears from her eyes and smiled. “Thank you. Really. Thank you for letting me see him. And you.”
“Of course...” His voice cracked, and he felt like a kid again. “I’m sorry, Mom. For not coming sooner.”
“It’s okay, baby.” She patted his arm. “I’m so happy.”
“I’ll visit again, I promise.”
“I look forward to it.”
When he got back home, Hawks didn’t ask how it went. Somehow he could tell.
He looked up from his laptop that was shining a little ray of light on his face in a dark room. “I’ve started to get people to use some connections my agency has to look at legal pathways to start looking for ways to get her released.”
He rubbed his eyes. He looked tired, but smiled up at Dabi as he came to stand next to him.
“You...” Dabi didn’t know what to say.
“I’ve actually been at it for a little while, but it’s a little slow going and I didn’t want to get your hopes up over nothing. But it looks like the visit went well and I’m making a little headway so-” Dabi cut him off by pressing his lips against Hawks’ suddenly.
It was deep, long, and warm. Dabi felt safer and happier than he had since he was a child and his mother was brushing his hair, humming softly. When he finally moved away, their lips brushed just once more. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Of course.” He smiled up at him and Dabi could feel his heart against his ribs like it was about to burst through. “You ready to put the little one down and head to bed?”
“Yeah. It’s been a long night.” It wasn’t that long ago that Dabi never admitted weakness, even something as trivial as a long night.
“I know.” Hawks stood up and pressed a kiss to Dabi’s forehead.
Maybe his mother was right. Maybe everything will be okay.