Hawks winced as Dabi jumped on him, trapping him to the floor. Internally he was glad, but his body was struggling, desperately trying to fight. Hawks had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't trying to hurt Dabi- he couldn't even talk either, so he felt mostly helpless.

In his own body.

Suddenly Hawks felt a searing pain in the side of his neck.

Ow, ow, ow- Hawks thought, wincing. But he couldn't do anything except allow his body to struggle against Dabi as it had been. Lucky for him, his usual fighting style was to be fast enough that he never got caught.

Unlucky for him, his fighting style was to be fast enough to never get caught.

Hawks knew he could, theoretically, escape by using his wings to throw Dabi off. Since his brain wasn't connected to his body at the moment, however, this knowledge didn't do anything to aid him in an escape. He just hoped Dabi knew what he was doing.

Sharp tugging of his skin could be felt around Hawks' neck and the hero winced again. It felt like someone had cut open his neck only slightly and was digging though it with the knife they had used to cut it.

"Found it!" Dabi exclaimed, and suddenly Hawks' body went limp.

Dabi scrambled off him and Hawks raised a hand to his neck, his fingers coming back stained with red.

"What the he-"

"You had some sort of chip in your neck." Dabi said, handing Hawks the piece of metal made of the same strange material as the remote and device they had stolen. "I think it allowed Kenji to-"

"Control me," Hawks finished, crushing the chip in his hand. "That piece of shit he probably did that when I was passed out from training at some point and-"

Dabi silenced Hawks by pulling him into his arms and burying his face in his shoulder.

"What are you-"

"Shh, just... let me pretend," Dabi interrupted. Hawks fell silent.

Dabi pulled back and went to searching the table, the side of his hair tinged red with blood. He didn't seem bothered by it.

"Shouldn't we go find Toga?"

"With your neck in that condition?" Dabi asked as he opened drawers, rummaging through them quickly. "No, we'll have to bandage it up first." Dabi stopped his rummaging and hurried to Hawks' side, grabbing one of the hero's hands and pressing it firmly to his neck. "Keep your hand there, I'd rather you don't bleed out or some shit."

Hawks nodded, not saying anything.

Dabi returned to his rummaging and Hawks fought the urge to ask him the question that had started burning in his mind as soon as they first started fighting. There was a certain similarity in the way Dabi fought... Hawks would recognize that style anywhere, he had obsessed over the pro after his father's capture.

"Found it," Dabi said, the second time he had said those words today. Dabi quickly wrapped his injured palm up- Hawks vaguely remembered cutting it with a feather.

The villain returned and removed Hawks' hand, mopping up the blood with gauze pads before pulling out a needle and sterilizing it, threading it carefully and beginning his stitching.

"How did you- I mean, how did you know to fight like that?" Hawks asked, careful to limit his mouth's movement as he didn't want Dabi stabbing him.

"Like what?" Dabi asked nonchalantly.

"Like... Endeavor."

The needle suddenly tugged a lot harder than Hawks thought was strictly necessary and the hero yelped.

"Sorry-" Dabi quickly apologized, resuming his slow progress on the wound. "And I don't fight like Endeavor." He spit Endeavor's name out as though it tasted sour.

"But you do," Hawks responded, glad there was no sharp tug this time. "I would know his style anywhere. That Shoto kid at UA uses it, but that makes sense, Endeavor's his dad. I've never seen anyone else fight like that, except you. I half expected you to Prominence Burn me into an early grave."

Dabi's slow stitching halted for a moment before he resumed, finishing the final stitch before answering. It was almost like he was considering his answer carefully. "Shoto's not his only kid," he said evenly as he reached for some bandages.

"I know that," Hawks answered. "He's got Natsuo and Fuyumi too, but for one, neither of them have fire powers and for another, neither of them are heroes or heroes in training."

Dabi paused again, seeming to debate with himself again.

"They're not his only kids either," he said after a while, resuming his bandaging.

"What do you mean?"

"Endeavor's an ass." Dabi spit. "And I'd rather not talk about him."

Hawks froze, staring into Dabi's startling blue eyes. They were beautiful, honestly, but they reminded him of...

"You're his kid too," Hawks breathed.

Dabi stiffened. "What?"

"You're his kid too. What was he like?" Hawks asked eagerly. Yes he was annoyed with Endeavor, but that didn't change his inner fanboy self. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised by that fact as the pro had saved him from his father.

"I-" Dabi stared at Hawks before answering. "Yes, I am. My name's... not important. Endeavor's an ass. He always was."

Hawks blinked.

Dabi sighed and continued. "He was obsessed with power, Hawks. He wanted to be the next number one hero- he wanted to overthrow All Might. But he couldn't do that by himself. So he had kids. Me, first. I was strong, sure, stronger than him. But my quirk and my body... didn't bode well together."

Dabi gestured at the countless burn scars on his arms and legs.

Hawks didn't say anything, clearly signalling for Dabi to continue.

"So he made more... kids. Fuyumi- a failure. Natsuo- a failure. Until finally, perfect little Shoto came along. He poured all his attention into Shoto and ignored the rest of us. He was an ass, that's it, that's all." Dabi finished, pressing down on the bandage to make sure it would hold.

Hawks didn't know what to think. "I... had no idea."

Dabi scoffed. "Duh, no one did, or does either. He does a good job of covering it up."

Hawks nodded, feeling betrayed internally. Was his hero the same exact person his father was? Of course, he should have known that, should've figured it out. How he should have done that, he wasn't sure. But he should have. He worked with the man almost every day.

"I'm sorry..." Hawks mumbled after a moment as he watched Dabi throw away the bloody gauze pads.

"Why are you sorry?" Dabi asked, glancing up at him.

Hawks bit his lip. "I'm a hero, I betrayed you, I liked Endeavor, I don't know the list goes on."

Dabi was in front of him in a flash, cupping his face with a warm hand.

Hawks blinked in surprise. "Yes, you are a hero. But you never actually betrayed me. You can't help that you liked Endeavor, and the rest I'm sure I could... forgive you for too."

"You-" Hawks cut off sharply not daring to finish his question, not daring to hope.

"Yes, Hawks. I didn't want to. I still don't really want to, but something about you makes me want to risk everything."

Hawks looked into Dabi's eyes, his heart thumping in his chest, ever so loudly. He was certain the man before him could hear it, but Dabi didn't say anything.

He simply pulled Hawks to him and kissed him softly, ever so softly. Hesitantly, as though Hawks were fragile, or perhaps as though he were fragile. Hawks too, hesitantly kissed back, his arms rising to wrap around Dabi's shoulders, his eyes fluttering closed. The movement of his arms tugged at his stitches, but he didn't mind. This was perfect, everything he could ever want.

"Let go-" Toga's shout cut off sharply and Dabi and Hawks pulled apart, the noise reminding them of why they were here in the first place.

Toga was still in danger. 

~

Tada! Hope you enjoyed this update!!

Today's quote:

"All I can do is be me. Whoever that is." -Bob Dylan.

(this quote was a whole mood so I added it lol)

(1371 words)