"D'you know how much I hate you?" Dabi sneers, wiping a hand over his mouth- one of his piercings snag against a suture and he lets out a soft string of curses. Blearily, he watches as the figure enshrouded in darkness raise their shoulders before letting them fall back down.

"Here I thought that we were getting along so well, Dabi." He can only narrow his eyes as Hawks steps forward into the blinking street light. Dabi feels his stomach roll at the sight and is forced to look away. It seems that these days, there's always that small and irritating tickle in the back of his throat. He had hoped that drinking would poison the flowers inside of him but they only seem to surge back up at the mere sight of the winged hero. He absolutely hates it.

"You ruined e'rything." His gaze is still averted but he can hear the smirk in Hawks' response. Dabi grits his teeth at this and tries to calm his swaying.

"Oh my god, are you drunk?" He snaps his glare back at the hero and points a finger at him, it slowly veers to the left before he focuses it back to Hawks.

"Wassit to you?" Hawks raises his hands in surrender and takes a small step forward, wings slightly quivering.

"Holy shit, you're plastered. How did you even get out here, stumbling all over the place like some sort of deranged zombie? I've half a mind to arrest you for public intoxication. I can imagine it now, the greatly feared infamous murderer and kidnapper: Dabi, finally caught because he was drunk off his ass. I could finally retire early from the bounty the hero agency put over your head." Hawks' tone is light and airy but it drags Dabi's mood further down.

"Wouldn't you like that? Fuckin' typical ass hero. Get outta here." Hawks tilts his head down and tugs of the hem of one of his gloves.

"So," He glances up at Dabi with a confused smile. In this light, Dabi can see a dimple forming on Hawks' right cheek- it disgusts him, "You called me at three in the damn morning just to tell me that you hate me and then order me to leave? Bro. I got work in like two hours, thanks waking me up for this." Dabi only glowers and tries to take a step forward but nearly trips.

"Fuck you."

"Damn Dabi, remind me to never take you out on a night of bar hopping. You're even more unbearable when you're drunk." Dabi subconsciously activates his quirk and tries to throw a small ball of blazing blue fire at the man before him, it wildly misses but Hawks lets out a squawk nonetheless.

"Jesus! What's wrong with you?"

"You're the one that's wrong with me!"

"Is this because I saved you from dying in that alley? Look, how was I supposed to know that you were gonna hurl all over the place?! What kind of villain gets motion sickness anyway?" Hawks lets out a soft and nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Dabi tries to summon another ball of fire but it sputters out.

"I don't give a flyin' fuck 'bout that. Jus' leave. You can kiss The League good bye 'cus I'm done. Go back to doing your stupid hero shit."

"Whoa, hold up D-" In a burst of rage, Dabi ignites himself on fire- the crackle of his flames and smell of burning clothes fill the air around them.

"Fucking leave." Hawks stays still for a moment and Dabi's fire pulses, closing the distance between the two men.

"Okay, damn. I'm leaving. Don't get your panties in a twist." Hawks sends him an unreadable glance before spreading out his wings. They obscure the street lamp and throws a reaching shadow towards Dabi and his fire. With a sudden powerful flap of his wings, Hawks is launched into the air where he sighs- looking down at Dabi with pity before flying back to his apartment. Dabi's shoulders finally relax and allows his fire to dissipate. He slumps down to his knees and clenches his fists tightly.

"Fuck!" This was not at all what Dabi was planning on saying to Hawks but he supposes that's what he deserves for wanting to talk when he's drunk. He tells himself that it's for the best anyway to get that pesky bird out of his life and thusly, out of his head. Out of sight, out of mind. Even with his half assed reassurances, he still can't stop the tears when they finally dribble down his face.

Dabi stands back up on shaking knees and begins his walk back to the hideout before an idea hazily swirls in his mind. Instead of going back to the hideout, he turns down an abandoned street and towards a sleazy bar that he knows operates outside of closing hours. A perfect place to pick up strangers with no strings attached.

As his head hits the thin pillow and he stares up at the man above him, he tells himself that if drinking can't get rid of his feelings- maybe this can.

It does not.

Dabi wakes up alone in a bare room, the clock next to the bed tells him it's half past four in the afternoon. His body is sore and his head is throbbing from a hangover; throwing an arm over his eyes- he groans, trying to work up the motivation to get up. Gingerly, he sits up and gets dressed. Passing a cracked mirror on his way out, he grimaces at his reflection. He's certainly seen better days. There's no denying the disheveled state of his hair and the haggard look in his eyes, he tiredly wipes away the remaining signs of sleep in his eyes. Shuffling to the bathroom Dabi at least tries to look like he doesn't have one foot in the grave he's dug himself in.

He may look slightly better but all the ice cold water in the world can't help fix the feeling of his heart as it wrenches painfully in his chest.

He doesn't make his way to the base, instead, Dabi continues on his new life long mission in seeing how drunk he can get before he keels over from liver failure. For the most part, he's left alone. Anyone in their right mind would avoid his crudely thrown scowls. Unfortunately, there's one bar patrol that's tired of Dabi's mood dragging down the entire bar and picks a fight with him.

Drunkenly fighting is a hell of a lot harder than being sober and after he crashes into a table, the bar owner freezes both of them.

"Get the hell outta here, both of you. Don't come back." Then sends them hurtling through the front door. Dabi's back glances off of a fire hydrant and he lets out a low hiss. Standing up he glowers at the man and tries to lunge towards him but his legs don't move.

Behind the man, stands Hawks with a frown. Dabi's eyes narrow and he dusts off his jacket.

"You're not worth wasting my time." He growls and turns away from the angry drunk and the approaching hero. He isn't sure which one he was talking to but decides that it could be for both of them for all he cares. Dabi hears Hawks saying something to the man but continues on his trek for another bar, not interested in their conversation.

A hand clasps his shoulder and he whirls around to see who dares to touch him. Preparing for round two with the brawler. Coming face to face with Hawks makes the insult die on his tongue and he can only stare into Hawks' eyes. They're wrinkled with worry and under the fading sunlight, they look like honey drops on a bright summer day. Dabi thickly swallows and shrugs off his hand.

"You reek of alcohol."

"What d'you care for?" Hawks sighs and idly motions with a hand.

"Because I don't want to clean up the mess you'll make. Go home," Hawks keenly studies Dabi, "'Sides, you're bleeding. You're going to end up dead if you keep this up." If only he knew, Dabi thinks, if only he knew that he was the reason for all of this. Hawks is the sole reason why Dabi is tumbling head over heels down a rabbit hole with no end. His head is swimming, suddenly dizzy- he throws up, some of it splashes onto his shoes and Dabi just blinks down at it.

"Okay, uh, gross." Hawks takes a step back to avoid being in the splatter zone and wears a disgusted expression. Dabi feels his stomach turning and before he can throw up again, he swallows it back down.

"That's... even more gross dude. You're a walking disaster, go home before you pass out." Dabi suddenly feels exhausted from his two day long drinking binge, fighting and now throwing up. He plops down next to his puddle of vomit, still studying the drying splatter on his boots.

"Too tired." It comes out as a whine and Dabi rests his head between his knees, trying to control the spinning world around him.

"Well, I'm not flying you around like a personal Uber driver. Especially since you still haven't paid for my dry cleaning fee," Hawks chuckles and squats down a good few feet away from Dabi, "Can't you have someone, like, pick you up?" The thought of being stuck in a moving car only makes Dabi's stomach complain more and he shakes his head.

"I can walk, it's not that far of a walk." Hawks stands back up and carefully moves towards him, extending a hand out.

"Well, if you insist." Dabi decidedly doesn't take the offered hand and stumbles up to his feet. Hawks pulls his rejected hand back and rubs it, looking like he wants to say something. Instead, he stands in silence as Dabi begins his staggering walk of shame back to the League's base.

Dabi sluggishly digs through his sparse room, looking for his first aid kit. He slurs out a few choice curse words when he finds it empty. Instead of asking for help like a sensible human being, he heads next door to Shigaraki's room. He knows that the man gets injured more frequently than the Allstate guy so he's bound to have at least something in his room for patching up injuries. He fumbles with the doorknob, fingers still slick with blood. After a trying moment, he manages to open the door and openly stares at the complete disaster of Shigaraki's room. Dabi mutters to himself that Shigaraki should take up The Tasmanian Devil as his villain name because that's the only title befitting for him.

Regardless, he steps over piles of old newspapers and strewn books and misplaced game cases that had probably lost their discs long ago. A crunching under his foot only makes him hope that Shigaraki won't miss that particular game.

"Is there a reason for why you're in my room, getting blood all over the place?" Being caught red handed in Shigaraki's room would make any lesser villain tremble at just the mere thought. Dabi on the other hand, can't be bothered.

He doesn't answer Shigaraki straight away, even taking shallow breaths hurts the massive bruising on his back and the thought of talking right now doesn't sound very appealing so all he manages is a noncommittal grunt and a vague wave of a hand. There's a long pause in the room, it's not necessary uncomfortable but Dabi can certainly tell that Shigaraki's patience is slowly starting to unravel as he continues to sift through the mountainous mess of junk on his desk.

"You tracked puke in my room. You're disgusting." Shigaraki mutters.

Something thuds against Dabi's back, jolting him from his delirious thoughts. He hisses at the sudden pain that flares up and he turns around and sees a travel sized first aid kit next to his feet. Its deep red cross stares back up at him in a stark contrast against the pale white of the rest of the box. In that moment, just beholding the vibrant red makes his stomach lurch forward and he inwardly winces as he splutters out a cough.

The simple act of reaching down to pick up the box, makes his aching body scream at the same time the flowers begin to bloom forth like cherry blossoms on a warm spring day. Dabi hurriedly snatches the box up and flips it over, breathing in relief when there's not a drop of red to be seen.

He continues to cough into the crook of his elbow as he skirts around a now bemused Shigaraki; before he can make his great escape, a hand shoots out and takes a firm hold around his elbow.

"Would you care to explain all of this?" Dabi tries to come up with an excuse for his current state and can only tell his boss that it was a recruitment gone bad. Shigaraki's bored and unimpressed expression tells him that he didn't quite buy Dabi's lie.

It wasn't exactly a full lie, though. More of a white lie. He was working on recruiting Hawks but that turned out to be a catastrophic failure on his end.

"Hmm," Shigaraki hums quietly, his vice like grip still on Dabi's elbow. For a fleeting moment, Dabi wonders if he can piss off Shigaraki enough to make him disintegrate him. That would solve all of his problems, "Somehow I feel like you're not being totally honest here." Dabi's fingers curl tightly over the small medical kit and he slowly turns to face Shigaraki.

"That's your problem then, I always tell the truth." Shigaraki laughs- it comes out as a huff of air through his nose and he doesn't take his eyes off of Dabi.

"You? Tell the truth? I wasn't aware that it was opposite day. Isn't your whole existence just a giant lie? Running around with a fake name, pretending that who you were doesn't exist anymore? The fact that you're in here, drunk and spouting lies to my face isn't going to work well in your favor, Dabi." Having this conversation with Shigaraki is starting to sober him up, sending him in a rather foul mood.

"Who I was is dead. There's no lying in that. I am who I am now because who I was died a long time ago." Shigaraki finally lets go of Dabi but his unblinking stare keeps him rooted to the spot.

"You're an enigma," Shigaraki lazily wafts a hand around and tilts his head to the side as if he's studying a specimen for a science experiment rather than having a casual conversation with Dabi, "I don't appreciate this, you know. You're supposed to be my second in command, the leader of the vanguard, and all you're doing is stumbling around like a dumbass. Not exactly professional."

"We're villains!" Dabi's voice rises, the kit in his hands starts to buckle and crack under his grip, "There's no need to be professional in this field." Shigaraki crosses his arms and taps a finger patiently, a frown forms on his pale lips and he takes a step closer to Dabi. They're almost the same height but Shigaraki has a few inches over him and makes that clear to him.

"We are the most feared organization in Japan. We obliterated the Yakuza and other smaller criminal rings and cults. Everyone's faith in the heroes is crumbling because of us. I'd say that there is a need to be professional. Especially from its leaders. Unfortunately, that applies to you too. You're letting yourself spiral out of control and it's embarrassing. We're going to end up as a laughing stock pretty soon if you keep this up." Dabi says nothing and directs his glare to a cluttered corner of Shigaraki's room, he has the distinct feeling of being scolded like a little child and he hates it.

He hates that Shigaraki is right too.

"Get yourself fixed up. You're a mess." Shigaraki turns on his heel and stalks over to his desk searching for something and mumbling to himself, Dabi only picks up on a few words and grits his teeth together when he overhears Shigaraki calling him pathetic. Instead of picking another fight with him, Dabi leaves the room totally sober.

"Dabi, Dabi, Dabi." Toga tuts, leaning into his doorway with a wide smile that make the corners of her eyes crinkle. He takes a glance over his shoulder and resumes patching up the last of his scrapes before closing the kit with more force than necessary.

"When are you going to learn?" She sighs at the bandages, shaking her head sadly and skips into the room without asking for permission.

"What d'you want?"

"Well," She rocks slightly back and forth on the heels of her feet, "I was thinking-"

"That must be pretty hard for you." He can't help but to retort, he chuckles at her glare.

"Anyway! Like I was saying, since I was so nice and cut your hair for you..." She trails off and Dabi patiently waits for her to continue.

"Maybe, possibly, we could get McDonald's?" He sets the kit down next to him, ignoring the hairline cracks that spider across the plastic and raises an eyebrow up at her.

"We, as in I will have to get McDonald's for you?" Toga fiddles with the sleeve of her over sized sweater and shrugs.

"That was the idea."

"I thought you didn't like McDonald's?" She shuffles forward and sits next to him on the bed and looks up at the ceiling serenely.

"I don't!"

"Then-"

"But the cashier there is really cute!" Dabi runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head.

"Of course," She says nothing, in the corner of his eye he sees her fidget impatiently- her feet kicking idly against the bed frame, "Get your shit on then." Toga bolts up from the bed and runs out the door to get her shoes.

"Are they even open this late?" He checks his phone, it was a little after ten at night when they left but in typical Toga fashion- she would insistently stop at all the little stores that dot the streets to do some window shopping. It's now midnight as they approach the brightly lit golden arches.

"Are they even- Dabi," She shakes her head and peers up at him with wide eyes, "Of course they're open! This is probably the best time for them to make money off of drunks like you anyway." She smugly adds. Dabi's eyebrows furrow and pockets his phone.

"I'm not a drunk."

"You were on a two day drinking marathon."

"Only to drown out my feelings." She pulls a face and stops walking for a second, he stops a few feet in front of her.

"Hey, just to let you know, 2008 called and they want their gross emo outlook on life back."

"I'm not-"

"I bet you even have My Chemical Romance on your phone." He bristles and begins to walk again.

"I do not." He does.

"Then let me see your playlist." She runs after him, reaching for the phone in his jacket.

"Fuck off." She giggles, unperturbed by him.

"It's okay. Sometimes it's not a phase th-" She halts again and blushes, "That's him!" Toga points to a cashier that's scrolling through his phone without a care in the world. She doesn't make a move towards the glass doors and just stands a few feet from the window and smiles.

"Yeah, that's not creepy or anything." He offhandedly mentions, earning himself a soft punch to the side. He rubs his side, her punch grazed a bruise and Dabi sighs.

"Alright, let's roll." Her gleeful smile is almost blinding in the dark as he rolls back his shoulders and throws open the doors with gusto.

They run down a quiet side street with arms full of burgers and fries. Toga's laughter echoes off of the buildings and they take a hard right turn, Dabi loses a burger and it bounces off the pavement and lays with its bun and toppings sadly splayed out.

"Did you see his face?" She yells over her shoulder as they take another turn and skid to a stop at a small park. Dabi finally catches his breath, wishing he had been more serious about exercising when he was younger. He just can't keep up with Toga's unbridled amount of stamina.

"Poor guy, probably shit his pants." He smiles while unwrapping a burger. They stroll over to a park bench that's bathed under a park lamp and she munches on some fries.

"Maybe he had a heart attack!"

"That's a possibility. Anyone would be scared to have a tiny gremlin pointing a knife in their face." Dabi wipes away some of the ketchup that dribbled down his chin and he tilts his head up to the cloudless night sky.

"If I'm a gremlin, what does that make you?"

"Incredibly handsome." He replies and steals a fry from her hand.

"You must be looking in one of those fun house mirrors then." He's about to come back with a comment but Toga stops moving and snaps her attention up from her fries and narrows her eyes. Dabi watches her intently as she reaches down to pull out a hidden dagger.

"Man, what did I say about making messes for me to clean up?" A voice cuts through the tension and Dabi squints to see a figure approaching. He says nothing, not sure what to do. He's never introduced Hawks to the rest of his co workers and has no idea what Toga will even do in this situation.

Then, there's Dabi's other situation and he'd really rather not deal with that in front of the both of them.

Toga side eyes Dabi for a moment, hesitating. Her dagger is still held tightly in her hand and he knows that she's looking up at him for any sort of give for their predicament. Dabi sets down his half finished burger and stands up, placing himself in between Toga and the approaching Hawks.

"And I'm pretty sure I told you to fuck off." There's a chuckle and Hawks finally appears under the light of their lamp. He's wearing an easy smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Well, y'know. It's kinda hard to do that when you're always up to trouble on my shifts." Hawks shrugs, his smile dims a little bit and he peers around Dabi, spotting Toga.

"Dabi?" He glances over his shoulder and shakes his head when she tries to stand.

"Not now, kid." Gently, he pushes her back down to the bench and redirects his attention to Hawks. Both men stare at each other for what seems to be an eternity. Dabi swallows down a stray blossom and squares his shoulder back. Hawks sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, look. I'm gonna let this slide, Dabi. Only because you have a kid with you. That's it." Hawks studies them for a second more and pulls out a transceiver, clicking the side button- it crackles to life.

"Negative sighting on the perpetrators. Heading up north for any signs of suspicious activity."

"Roger that." Its reply is immediate and Hawks lets go of the button. Dabi is starting to have trouble breathing, his throat is constricted from stubborn flowers. He still stands his ground and Hawks begins to unfurl his wings. Hawks pauses for a second and sends out a feather that nabs a burger on the bench next to Toga, plucking it from his feather he shoots Dabi a wink and lifts off into the night sky. Dabi keeps his back turned to Toga and can't hold back his coughing anymore.

"Dabs?" Toga stands next to him and tilts her head, her knife and fries are nowhere to be seen. He waves her off with a free hand and lets out a giant heaving cough. Her eyes widen before a large grin settles on her lips.

"Oh my god," She breathes out, "It's him!"

"God dammit." When he mumbles into his hand, a soft petal lands on his bottom lip.

"Dabi and Hawks sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Toga sings to herself, skipping as they make their way back to the base. She dumped the remaining food in Dabi's arms so she can skip happily with her arms swinging by her side.

"If you tell anyone, I will burn everything and everyone that you love down to the ground." He warns, she pauses mid skip and beams at him.

"No you won't" She sings out, a playful lilt in her voice. Toga lets Dabi catch up to her and she starts walking next to him.

"So-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"So," Toga continues- ignoring Dabi, "What are you going to do?"

"Maybe have Shigaraki kill him." He won't ask that of Shigaraki because knowing him, he'll be all to happy to take down the Number Two hero.

"That's no fun! Where's the romance? The drama?!"

"There is no romance and there sure as hell won't be any drama."

"I bet he likes bad boys."

"Okay." Toga giggles and pokes his side.

"Come on! Aren't you curious?"

"Nope." He keeps his eyes glued to the sidewalk in front of him, wishing that the earth would open up and swallow him whole.

"Don't be in denial!"

"I'm not."

Toga lets out an exasperated sigh and throws her hands up in the air.

"Then prove it." He side glances her, quirking up an eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?" Toga taps her chin thoughtfully and hums to herself.

"Because I triple dog dare you."

"I'm not a kid, triple dog dares don't work on me." She pouts and narrows her eyes up at him.

"That's besides the point! Triple dog dares are sacred!"

"For little kids maybe."

"Dabi!" She whines out, Dabi sighs and wishes that he brought his pack of cigarettes with him.

"It's not gonna happen, Toga. Drop it." She stays silent for a long time before sighing quietly.

"Fine."

A week passes by uneventfully, Toga doesn't bring anything else up but Dabi does catch her and Twice giggling to themselves about something and casting quick looks in his direction. For the most part, he keeps to himself. Each day seems to present a harder challenge to even get out of bed, he can't be in denial with his illness anymore. With even the smallest amount of physical activity leaves him winded as his flowers take up more and more room within his lungs. He's worried that one day he'll choke on them and when that day comes, there'll be no saving him.

Each morning, he glances at Ujiko's number that's left on his bed stand and every day he grows more tempted to call up the doctor.

"Shigaraki says that you have to take me out on a mission." Toga hangs outside his doorway. Dabi rolls over in bed and groans. He's feeling so weak and even the quick walk to the bathroom earlier nearly proved too trying for him. Dabi doesn't bother to hide the flowers anymore, they litter around his bed and pillows. Silent reminders of his inevitable death.

"Take Twice." He croaks out, another cough leaves him light headed.

"Twice isn't even in Musutafu!" Dabi closes his eyes.

"I'm busy." Toga waltzes into his room and kicks at a collection of flower petals on the floor.

"With what?" He rolls back over and cracks open an eye at her.

"Dying." She flops over on his bed and shakes her head with a smile.

"You can do that later, this is important!"

"My death is important. I can't even get out of bed."

"Because you're lazy! Let's go." She hops back up on her feet and starts to drag Dabi out of bed.

Dabi stands a few feet behind Toga, wavering slightly on his feet and he feels feverish. He knows that he should've stayed in bed, their mission turned out to be a bust and Dabi is seething.

"Toga," He rasps out, "Wait." He rests a hand against a cold brick wall and tries to catch his breath. She loops her way back to him with a worried look.

"I'm fine. Just- just give me a minute." A minute turns to two and then five minutes. Toga circles around him, nervously fluttering around like a butterfly- unsure what to do.

"Dabi, we gotta get moving." He hangs his head, now leaning fully against the wall.

"I know."

"I'm going to call Spinner to pick us up. We're sitting ducks here." She starts to pull out her phone when a carmine feather falls gently down and lands on her shoulder. Looking up, Toga puts her phone back in her pocket and waves up at the sky.

"What are you doing?" She doesn't answer, she either can't hear his whispered question or is actively ignoring him.

"You two again?" Dabi snaps his head up at the voice and quickly turns away from Hawks, flowers flooding his throat.

"He needs help." Toga tells Hawks. Dabi scrunches his eyes shut and focuses on his breathing.

"I can see that. What's wrong?"

"Uh," Toga pauses, "I think he's choking."

"Don't you know the Heimlich?"

"I don't even know what that is." Toga simply answers Hawks. There's a shuffle of footsteps and suddenly Hawks is standing behind Dabi with his arms wrapped around his torso. Panic surges through his body at the touch and he feels his face heat up. Dabi tries to weakly push Hawks away but the hero's embrace is tight.

"Hold on," Hawks murmurs, "Don't set me on fire, I'm saving your life here." Hawks constricts his arms and pulls towards himself. From the sudden force, flowers leave his throat and flow out of his mouth. Dabi takes in a gasping breath, holding his throat. His flowers don't stop and Hawks backs away for a second.

"Call your boss!"

"What is Shigaraki gonna do?" Dabi's peers at the two, both of them waving their hands around frantically.

"He has to tell Shigaraki!"

"What are you even talking about?!" Toga throws Hawks a confused look, Dabi turns away again and coughs out another wave of flowers.

"He's gonna die if he doesn't tell him!"

"Tell him what?!" Toga's voice rises a few octaves.

"For fuck's sake, that Dabi is in love with him!" Hawks sounds frustrated, his own voice up an octave too. Dabi mentally kicks himself for ever agreeing to get out of bed and there's a beat of silence before Toga speaks up.

"You idiot! He doesn't love Shigaraki!"

"He- what?"

"Where did you even get that idea from, you stupid bird?!" Hawks splutters and Dabi can feel a soft gust from Hawks' quivering wings.

"Then-"

"It's you! He loves you!" Dabi begins to slip down the wall and can't tear his eyes from the steady flow of white flower petals. There's a long stretch of silence and Dabi buries his face into his hands with a quiet groan.

"I-" Hawks starts, looking from Toga to Dabi with a panicked expression, "Really?"

"Yes!"

"I'm going to kill you, Toga." Dabi grumbles, once again he's left ignored. Hawks squats down next to Dabi. Risking a glance, Dabi sees Hawks' liquid spun gold eyes full of something that he doesn't recognize.

"Is it true?" He can't talk. His can't form any words and is lost in Hawks' eyes. All he wants to do is reach out and cusp Hawks' cheek and tell him everything but he can't. Instead, he only nods with resign. Hawks pulls back as if he got burnt and plucks at his jacket.

"I-" Hawks starts again, looking down at Dabi, "I can't do this."

"What?!" Toga shouts at Hawks, who continues to back away and takes flight in a hurry.

As Hawks flies away, Dabi experiences a new pain.

The pain of a breaking heart.

Toga shakes her fist up at the sky and shouts about how she's going to kill Hawks before turning back to Dabi.

"I'm sorry."

He doesn't respond.

Everyone is crammed into Spinner's stolen van, Toga sits protectively next to Dabi- still muttering threats to herself. Spinner looks into the mirror and quickly looks away when he meets Dabi's empty gaze.

"We're almost there." Shigaraki breaks the silence, pointing out a rather unassuming building to Spinner, "Go around the back, I'll take Dabi from there."

Dabi leans into Shigaraki, who supports him without a word. They make their way slowly down a quiet hallway. The closer they get to the room at the end, Dabi's heart beats louder and louder in his ears. He's sure that it's filling the corridor with its thundering beats.

"We'll be waiting." Shigaraki tells him and Dabi only nods. The large double doors open and behind them stands a short and portly man sporting a large grin.

"Ah, Dabi. I was wondering when I would get to see you again. Come in, come in." The doctor turns abrupt face and the duo follow him, their footsteps echoing over the pristine white walls.

"Have a seat, Dabi. I'll be with you in a moment, just need to have a quick talk with Shigaraki and then we can begin the procedure. You're lucky you hadn't waited any longer, it might've costed your life." Dabi still remains quiet and slumps down on an uncomfortable plastic chair. He watches as Shigaraki and Ujiko head to a smaller office to discuss matters.

Soon, they come back out and Shigaraki sends him a small nod, sitting down next to him.

"I'll be here. Ujiko says it shouldn't take too long." Dabi hums and gets up when Ujiko motions him forward.

"I assure you, Dabi. You'll be in great care." Ujiko tells him, his grin still on his lips.

Where his world had been saturated in vibrant colors before, now faded to a dull grey once more.

For the first time in over a month, he feels nothing. No panicked beating of his heart or the presence of flowers. He only feels numb and empty. Their ride back to the hideout is even more uncomfortable, Dabi stares blankly out the window watching the now dull trees pass by silently.

He finds himself missing the flowers because this new feeling of nothing is worse.

A soft ping wakes up Dabi and he reaches over to his phone to see a message from Hawks. Beforehand, it would make him smile to himself and the flutter of butterflies would fill his stomach. Now, he only reads the message with no butterflies or a smile.

can we talk?

Hawks paces back and forth in an abandoned parking lot, his own heart is thrumming and he wipes the sweat from his forehead. He turns around when he hears approaching footsteps.

"Dabi, you came." He's surprised, he did a pretty shitty thing the other night and since then- he's been plagued by dreams of the fiery villain. Finally, he thought he was going to combust from everything. He knew he had to reach out to Dabi and tell him everything. He mentally kicks himself for being stupid and running away, he can only hope he didn't hurt Dabi too much. He just needed to get his thoughts straightened out. Now he's ready.

"It's not like I was doing anything important anyway." Dabi's low voice murmurs besides him and it sets Hawks' heart aflutter.

"I wanted to just say sorry," Hawks runs his hands through his hair and nervously chuckles, "I was kinda of a dick the other night." Dabi says nothing and Hawks feels like Dabi's piercing turquoise gaze is staring straight into his soul.

"That, uh, wasn't really the best move but I was panicking and-" Dabi shakes his head, there's a wry smile on his mismatched lips and a coldness in his gaze.

"Don't."

"Dabi-"

"Hawks, it's fine. I got over it." Hawks pulls back and knots his eyebrows together in confusion. From all the reading he's done, Hanahaki isn't something that people can just get over from.

"How?" Dabi sighs and drops the cigarette to the ground, quashing it beneath a boot. He lifts up his shirt and shows Hawks an angry red scar that stretches from the middle of his chest and down to meet his scar from when Hawks patched him up earlier in the month. Hawks is at a loss of words and gapes at the new scar. Dabi lets his shirt fall back down and shrugs, taking out a new cigarette, his azure fire flickers to life and Hawks is lost in its beauty.

"Boss and the others decided that I was too important to let die, so I got all fixed up." His tone is flat. Dabi peers back down at Hawks from the corner of his eye and takes in a puff of his cigarette.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Hawks' eyes go back to the now hidden scar and hesitantly nods his head. Dabi nods as well and starts to walk away.

"Go back to your life, hero." He's frozen to the spot as Dabi is enveloped in the darkness of the night.

There's a small tickle in the back of his throat and he softly coughs. When he takes his hand away from his mouth, there's a tiny bright blue Forget-Me-Not flower resting in the center of his palm.