Dabi awoke with a start at someone's surprised shriek before the sound cut off sharply. The headquarters was silent once more.

Dabi had a horrible feeling in his gut. Something was wrong.

Hawks.

The villain threw himself out of bed and sprinted to the basement, cursing silently at the unlocked door. Maybe, just maybe, one of the League members had gone down there for something.

Dabi took one second to catch his breath before hurrying down the stairs.

"Shit," he cursed at the sight of Hawks' empty chair. The handcuffs were hanging off the arms of the chair and laying on the floor, still connected to the legs of the chair as well. The gag was folded carefully on the seat.

A frayed feather laid on the floor innocently.

Of course, he can control those and make them sharp and stiff...

Of course Dabi had forgotten about that. Just his luck.

Dabi bit his lip and exited the basement.

"Da-" Toga's voice called out, but cut off sharply once more.

The blue eyed villain's eyes snapped to the front door where he caught a glimpse of a struggling Toga before the door snapped shut.

Dabi's eyes widened as he hurried to the door, ignoring the growing pain in his lungs. He was sick and tired of these shitty lungs, if they gave out now he'd probably be thankful.

Dabi struggled with the locked door and lunged for the keys on the coffee table, returning and shoving the key into the lock angrily, twisting it and tearing the door open.

Toga's struggling form was being pulled around a corner when Dabi ran after her.

She was struggling against virtually nothing, like Hawks had been the other day.

Dabi ran after her but the pain of his lungs finally made his legs give out.

"Damn.... lung-s..." Dabi wheezed as he crawled forward slowly, desperately trying to pull himself to his feet.

He couldn't let Toga get hurt. Whoever that was had managed to catch Hawks off guard, and the villain knew that wasn't easy to do. Dabi would be damned if he let Toga get hurt.

Finally the villain rose to his feet and took off again, but he wasn't able to find Toga.

~

Dabi was almost back to the League's headquarters, distressed and angry, when he saw an unwelcome sight.

A certain blonde hero with bright red wings had just landed in front of the League's Headquarters. Anger and betrayal coursed through Dabi at the sight of the hero and he felt a burst of adrenaline course through his body.

"Coming back here was a stupid idea, bird," Dabi growled.

Hawks whirled around at the sound of Dabi's voice. He looked relieved, if a little scared. "Dabi, Toga she's-"

But Dabi didn't hear what Hawks had to say. Everything clicked into his mind at once. This person had caught Hawks off guard... no way. Hawks and this person had planned it. Hawks was supposed to get himself caught, he was supposed to be taken somewhere so that Dabi wouldn't think it was Toga when he heard the shriek. The person would take Toga away and Hawks would come here acting like the hero, when in reality he was the one who had been planning this from the beginning.

"You asshole," Dabi spit.

"What?" Hawks took a step back at the livid look on Dabi's face.

"Where did you take her? Where is she? She's a little kid- she doesn't deserve this!" Dabi lunged forward, startling Hawks.

The hero just managed to dodge. "What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Dabi roared, sending fire directly at Hawks' chest.

The hero flew up quickly and got out of the way. Why isn't he going on the offensive?

On second thought, Dabi didn't care. If Hawks wanted to make this easy for him then okay, that was his problem. This time, Dabi wouldn't hesitate to kill a certain blonde bird bitch.

"Dabi, I honestly have no clue who 'she' is!" Hawks said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Dabi hesitated, the fire in his palm dissipating slowly. "Why are you here?" he hissed under his breath.

Hawks paused. "You have to hear me out. Entirely." he clarified.

"If you talk fast, maybe I will."

Hawks nodded. "I got away from here and I- I went to the Commission and I-"

"Of course," Dabi interrupted angrily. "Of-"

"Listen to me!" Hawks demanded. "Please, Toga's in danger!"

That shut Dabi up. It genuinely sounded like Hawks had no idea that that particular League of Villains member had just been kidnapped. "From what?" Dabi asked quietly.

"I don't know exactly... but Kenji has something to do with it."

"Kenji?"

"He's a Commission member. Been there for ages, ever since I was little."

Dabi nodded slowly. "Okay, what does Kenji have to do with anything?"

"He has all these notes on glamours... how to make them, what to do with them... everything. He's got notes on Toga and her quirk. Her blood type. Do you remember what I told you about-"

"You said the only way for glamours to not be 'crazy addictive' was if they come from human blood. And someone who's under thirty-"

"With a quirk that changes appearance." Hawks finished.

"Toga," Dabi said, anger coursing through him once more. "How am I supposed to know you aren't working with Kenji?"

"I would never do that." Hawks said, voice firm. "He-he forced me to take one once. To train. It was... horrible. They were all I could think about for about a week after."

Dabi looked at Hawks in surprise. "He took her. Or... someone took her."

Hawks stared at Dabi a moment before nodding slowly. "I think I can find Kenji." Hawks said. "But taking too many League members is really risky. If he's where I think he is... I think I could only get one of you guys in."

Dabi narrowed his eyes. "That'll be me."

Hawks smiled, the quirk of his lips slightly sad but also slightly relieved. "I was counting on that.

Before the hero could take a step closer to Dabi, the villain took a step back. "How can I trust you?"

Hawks looked at the floor. "You can't," he mumbled, before looking back up. "I have no right to expect your trust. But I promise you, no matter how little those words may mean to you when coming from me... I will not betray you."

Dabi stared at him for a moment before nodding once and allowing the hero to fly him out of the area, the wind whipping around his face almost angrily and only one thought in his mind.

I might love you, you might be one hell of a dangerous drug... but if Toga gets hurt because of you... I'll be damned if you get out of this alive.

~

This is in no way, absolutely NO WAY Dabi x Toga. Please don't perceive it as that. Their relationship is purely platonic in this fanfic, but in it Dabi and Toga are super close, almost like brother and sister.

Okay? Okay.

Here's your quote for this chapter:

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated." -Maya Angelou

(1212 words)