Chapter Text
It had been a sudden flash of light that shook her to her core. Sending her flying backwards, as though she was completely free falling. Incapable of catching on to anything, as if the alley itself disappeared, until it as suddenly as it had happened stopped, and she was met with the abrupt, and painful, greeting of concrete beneath her. It took her a few seconds to orient herself. Staring up at the shining blue sky, as she tried to ignore the throbbing pain in the back of her head.
Something was definitely amiss. She was currently staring at the light blue sky of daylight shining down on her. Entirely divorced from the murky damp evening night that she had occupied just a moment ago, the nobody villain she being facing, nowhere to be found.
What in the world kind of quirk had they used on her?
Did she pass out, and that is why it was now morning? Would make sense. Maybe that “fall” had just been her brain playing tricks on her, and it had actually been hours since their fight. But why wouldn’t they just have finished her off if that was the case? No. It felt incomplete. Like she was missing pieces of the puzzle. “Eurgh.” And now wasn’t the time to think about such things.
Maybe it was the impact of the ground that made her head feel like it was splitting open, or maybe it was just her body acting up again. She had taken a few painkillers before heading out, but maybe it hadn’t been enough, and her body was only now starting to stir.
She knew this pain well enough. It was something that had become an oh too common occurrence after her “resurrection” at the hand of the kind doctor. One that she couldn’t be sure of if it would result in her passing out, or just her body refusing to cooperate. Confining her to a bed for the rest of the day. Whatever it was, she couldn’t stay in this alley. Too many could be’s could happen to her by staying here.
She needed Hawks.
Slowly she moved her arms to place them flatly on the ground. Pushing herself with all of her strength til she sat up, while moving herself to sit up along the alley wall. Her head was already spinning, and her breath was getting ragged and shallow with each passing second. This was definitely one of the bad ones. She reached into her pocket and fished out her phone. Looking sluggishly through her phone until she found the red feather in her contacts.
She pressed the call button as the phone started to ring. and ring, and ring, and ring… It went to voicemail. This was strange. She’d always pick up her calls on the second ring whenever she called. It wasn’t like her to not pick up at all. She sat there and waited for a bit. Thinking maybe she’d just call her back when she saw she missed a call, but it didn’t. It was ever so slightly unnerving. The only explanation that she hadn’t called her back would be that she had her hands full with a villain. But even then, that usually didn’t stop her. She waited a bit more before she called the number again. Hearing it ring a few more times before it eventually went through.
“Hello?”
“Goddamnit Birdie. You almost gave a scare there. I thought something might have- Anyway. I need you, stat. My body decided that it was gonna act up while I was outside hhahhhh and I am in no shape to get myself back to the apartment. I need you to come get me.”
“.......”
“...Hey? You there?”
“I think you might have gotten the wrong number.”
“Don’t give me that right now. I can’t deal with your jokes right now, this is serious! I can barely move my body as is, and I can feel that I’ll probably pass out any second now. So, just get over here, and I’ll indulge your jokes later.”
"Wow, wait. What do you- Where are you? Who- There are too many things going on here.”
“I’ll send you my location. Just get over here as fast as you can.”
“That doesn’t really answer my-”
She moved the phone away from her ear as she copied her location and sent a message to him. She would be more than willing to explain and reassure him more, but she couldn’t really afford the energy right now. “There we go…. Come… Quickly…….” It was the last thing she remembered saying as her eyelids felt heavy on her face, as the world turned dark around her.
He was completely lost for words and dumbfounded as he stared down at his phone, his wings flapping in place, completely still. The phone call was still on, but he had a strong suspicion that the person on the other end had passed out. But that wasn’t really his biggest concern right now, okay it was pretty alarming but he was trying to push that back in his mind, what was currently in the front of his mind was:
How did someone get his personal number?
He couldn’t even really say it was because they had the wrong number, because it was clear they knew who he was. "Birdie…." Such a familiar sounding nickname. Why would someone use that to refer to him? What was their relationship with him?............
A thud sounded from his phone, immediately snapping him out of his spiral. What was he doing? Someone is in need of assistance, and he’s here freaking out like this? This person needs help! And how can he call himself the number 2 without acting on it? Although…… He was not reckless enough to just trust someone so unknown just like that.
Quickly he wiped an earpiece out of his pocket, and put it in his ear. Calling up Endeavour is the best idea. He normally patrolled in [place name], so calling him for backup for something that could potentially be dangerous was a no brainer.
Come on pickup pickup. “Hawks? What’s the matter? You usually don’t call me on this frequency. Something dangerous going on?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. I need you to come to this location.” He punched in the location he received before to Endeavour. “Someone seems to be hurt there, but…..”
“Go on son. Take the time you need.”
“They had my personal number, and they seemed to know who I was. Might be lying in wait, but, the person also sounded like they were in a rough state, so-”
“You wanna make sure that you can help this person, even if it might turn bad for you? I get it, I’m on my way.”
Hawks breathed out a sigh of relief. It was very reassuring to have him take part in this. He wasn’t really sure what he was walking into, but knowing he had backup was a nice feeling. This was gonna be fine, he was gonna make sure of it.
It didn’t take him that long before he was hovering on top of a narrow alley. It was difficult to see exactly into it with all the hanging air conditioning units, but she could see the silhouette that did resemble a person laying down on the asphalt. It did seem like it was just someone passed out, which if true, was really tying a knot in his stomach.
“Hawks!” He heard the unmistakable sound of Enji’s voice, as he came flying in next to him. “That alley’s the place?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well. Lets go.” They hovered down carefully as they landed in the middle of the alley. It didn’t seem like there was any living thing hiding around, except for the person on the ground, who was swimming in the oversized coat they were wearing. Hawks detached some of his feathers, burrowing down under the coat and flipping it over, only to be completely shocked with what he saw.
Hawks was a hero. The number 2 too boot, and if he’d say so himself, pretty good at what he did. So he had gotten used to many horrible situations and visages, but this… What was laying in front of him was what could barely be referred to a living person. Giant patches of deep purple scar tissue, only broken up by what he could describe as garish metal hooks holding it together with what little healthy skin showed. Looking at their face he could see more purple scarring, swarmed in a sea of black raven hair, only broken up by a patch of missing hair that made out a side-cut.
He’d seen some pretty bad outcomes to villain fights that went out of hand, but this was something else. How much suffering must this person have gone through to come to this point?
“Hey, Hawks.” He tensed up for a moment before coming to and realise where he was. “It’s not good to freak out right now. We have someone here in a critical state, and we need to stay focused!”
“Right.” It wasn’t time to freeze now. He had to act! “I’ll take them to the hospital. My wings will get us there the quickest.”
“Hawks.” Enji put a hand on his shoulder. “Not that I don’t believe you, but you seem a bit too shaken up about all of this. Let me do this for you.”
He took a few steps backwards to give Enji space, allowing his senior to take the reins on this one. Enji stepped forward to the passed out body, and reached down, picking the limp body up. They already looked small, thin, when they were laying down, but seeing them in Endeavour's arms really emphasised it.
They both stood still for a moment…. and then….. What was holding him up? “Erhm, Endeavour? Are we heading out?”
He tensed for a short moment. Shaking his head as it seemed like he returned to normal. “It’s nothing. Seems like I miss saw something. Let’s go.” He activated his quirk in front of Hawks, propelling himself up with his flames, turning in the air towards the hospital.
“Alright.” He extended his wings and made a large flap with them up and following Endeavour. Whatever this person knows, it’s better to have them treated at a hospital, and figure things out afterwards.
There was a banging in her head as her consciousness was returning. Little by little, she was coming to, although she kinda wished she wasn’t. Her head was hurting, her mouth felt dry and chapped, her limbs were heavy and didn’t want to move, and her nose was assaulted by a horrible smell, a combination of air fresheners and sterility of cleaning supplies.
It was a bit too familiar a smell, and as long as she had her eyes closed, she wouldn’t have to acknowledge anything. If only the world allowed her such futile hopes.
With difficulty she opened her eyes, only to be assaulted by the bright light of the overhead lamp. She instinctively closed them again, groaning in annoyance from the certain splash of light. Waiting a second, she started prying them open little by little, til she was ready to see, and what she saw was a sorry sight.
A hospital room.
Her worst nightmare made manifest. The fuck did Megumi think?! She should just have taken her to her place, or the league, or anywhere else. So why did she take her here?! Did she want her to get arrested? Was this her not so unsubtle way of showing her real colours? No. She wouldn’t have done it this way. This isn’t her style……. Can’t be….
She rubbed her face as she tried to calm her heart down. She was getting too emotional because of an ill-fitting situationship. They were both using each other, and she shouldn’t be surprised that this is how things ended up. This was always a possible outcome……
The door clicked open, as fffftcftvyughvjghyvujhkn Endeavour??!!!???!!!!!
With little hesitation she scrambles in the bed, as she jumps to her feet, or tries to at least. Because as she tries to get away, she is caught on the wires attached to her chest, as well as the iv in her arm, that is yanked in her direction, as the metal pole falls on her.
"Oh no." He hurried over to her as he lift the pole of her. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. Didn’t even know you were awake.”
She was staring dumbfounded at too big man, as her breathing was trying to catch up with beating heart, or was it the other way around? didn’t matter much, she could just feel her breathing and heartbeat going out of control. Why was he acting sooooooo….. casual.
Here is the villain who attacked his masterpiece on their camp outing, who antagonised him in Fukuoka, who have been on his tail for weeks, was the one who gave him that scar-
Where the fuck is his scar?!! That isn’t something that can just be removed, even with the most powerful healing quirks, not on such a short time! And… it’s not the only strangeness. Since when did he have a wardrobe? That wasn’t his normal hero outfit, actually, he has never worn anything like that! And his face is….. worried? And not strain or upset, a real, genuine, concerned look.
It looked wrong.
What the hell kinda X-Files, Black Mirror, Twilight Zone shit is this?!!!
“I really only came in here to check on you. You seemed really…. rough….” He trailed off as he put the metal stand to the side again, and looked at her eyes. Really taking it in now, he looked off. It was the same face, but somehow… smoother? As though he was younger, but he wasn’t younger, the same wrinkles were there. It just looked… content??!?
All of it was like it was the wrong person wearing his face.
“How do you-”
“Who the hell are you?” She caught him off with a voice that was too shaky. It would mortify her on any other day, but none of this felt real or proper, so she wouldn’t concern herself with it right now.
“I am-” He cleared his throat. “I am Endeavour! I thought it might-”
“No you’re not.” She’d stopped looking at him. Instead descending to stare straight ahead at the feet of her bed. The reality of the situation was too strange to comprehend, and not one she wanted to give credence to yet. “What are you? Some kind of bootleg copy of him? A poor cosplayer trying to imitate him? Is this one of Twice’s stupid games? What is your plan by acting like this?! What do you hope to gain? What are you trying to pull putting on this act, Todoroki Enji?!!”
A moment of silence fell over them. Dabi’s eyes were filled with a seething anger she had been forgetting somewhat. She didn’t like to watch him looking so well put together.
It didn’t fit him.
His face changed to a more neutral one, as he cleared his throat, and seemed to weigh his words carefully. “I wanted to wait a bit, and let you come to yourself after waking up.” He closed his eyes as he took a small breath, opening them again with a kind smile. “You’ve been unconscious for a week. You were in a very rough state when we found you. I’m not gonna go through them, because I don’t wanna overwhelm you with all of that, but I did want to inform you on this at least.”
“That’s all? I could’ve told you that myself without a check up, also feels pretty redundant considering the very visible markers.” She said with little regard for anything. Laughing dryly with a cavalier attitude.
He twisted a bit at her comment, as a profoundly sad expression spread on his face. “I suppose you’re right.”
Her smile fell as it changed to an annoyed scowl. “You’re no fun.” It was silent for a bit, as she waited for someone to come and interrupt them, so she didn’t have to stew in this awkwardness. “Hahh. You gonna tell me what this is about? Because I believe I know, but I also don’t wanna spend brain cells on figuring it out.”
Dad took in a deep breath as he steadied himself. “We’re not sure. Your blood work gave us all quite the… surprise*, to say the least.* We have a few working theories, but I don’t wanna burden you with those right now. You should just rest for now. There are a lot of procedures you should go through, so I’d rather wait.”
“Hold up! What procedures? I didn’t consent to shit!”
“We need to run through a few things to make sure we know what’s wrong with you.”
“I think pretty obvious what is wrong. Unless you want to know how I basically can’t eat solid foods. There you have that as an extra fun fact. Didn’t even need a doctor to let you know that.”
“I’m- I’m just trying to make you feel at ease. You don’t have to be so on edge. You’re safe here.”
“Yeah right, clone. That’s the theory I’m gonna go with. Don’t know whatever theory you heroes have, but that’s what I’ll believe.”
He raised his hands to his hips as he let out a deep sigh. At this point she must be trying his patience, and he’ll break out of whatever roleplay/clone/shapeshift-shenanigans he was doing. “Let’s start somewhere else, shall we?” The both of them were startled out of the poor assumption of a conversation this was, with Hawks speaking up from the door. Or, someone wearing her face, because something felt even more off about her. “I’ll lead with an obvious one, that I’ve been thinking about, what do you remember before you called me?”
Something was really really wrong. She was talking way too professionally for her liking. This was exactly the kind of hero performance she put on when interrogating villains, or speaking with heroes during missions. It felt sickening to hear her speak like that to her. “Someone jumped me in the alley, activated their quirk, felt like I was tumbling in a dark void, and then I fell on the ground, and it was daytime.”
“It was night where you were?”
Ignore the rising feeling of distress Dabi. “Yeah…”
“Doesn’t seem to be time travel… unless, how old are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“Please just answer.”
She is slightly jolted by the bluntness in Hawks’ voice (she refuses to refer to this thing as Megumi, but because it clearly isn’t her), she wasn’t used to her being so matter of fact with her. “23.”
“So, not some weird future thing. Then….. still doesn’t make sense to me.” She saw Hawks look exasperated, as she held her hand to her forehead.
“Even if it seems like a propoustous idea…. There aren’t many possibilities, is all I’m saying.”
“Sure, but I still think we should think everything through before we jump to alternate realities.” Ahh, there it was. This is why she doesn’t like being ahead of people. Her intuition is usually correct….. Although, it does make Hawks’ cold demeanor less painful.
If only a bit.
“It’s not like I find the idea appealing.”
For crying out loud. “You know, your whispering isn’t really a whisper. If you’re gonna be disappointed with me, at least go and do it in a place where I can't hear you.” She was sure she was trying to scowl at him, but at the same time, it didn’t feel like it mattered.
Endeavour actually looked shocked when he saw her speak up, and if she didn’t know better, it’d almost seem like he was about to cry. Although, right now she doesn’t actually know better, right? She doesn’t know how this place works. What the people here have gone through, or haven’t. What a pitless bummer this was.
“That’s not what I- I’m sorry, I’ll try to-”
“Forget it!” She raised her voice, only to immediately calm herself down. Moving her head away from looking at her not-dad to stare at the bed in front of her. “Just leave. I have nothing to say to any of you.” They seemed to want to protest what she had just said, with them standing for a bit before they finally felt like walking away, and out of her room. She didn’t feel like doing anything. The whole idea of there being a reality like this. One that was so radically different from her own. It wasn’t like it made her sad, not really at least, and she wasn’t envious or anything. It just….
It all felt meaningless.