Of Wings and Flames - Dabi x OC x Hawks

Drown the Sun [34]

I quickly dialed a number on my phone, smiling softly as Dabi's ID flared up on screen. I brought to my ear and immediately heard his low, gravelly voice. It had my skin tingling.

"How's it going Doll," Dabi purred on the other end, his voice calm and casual as usual.

"Hey Dabi, I know it's late but could you meet us by the usual spot? It's about Maven," I said a little strainedly, glancing towards Keigo. Dabi sighed on the other end, as if he was frustrated.

"Yeah, I figured it was about that chick. By 'us,' do you mean that Kentucky Fried Jerk is there?" I giggled a bit like that, glancing over to Keigo. He glowered, his features far from overjoyed.

"Hmph, yes, Hawks is coming and you will behave," I chastised, earning a tired groan from the other side.

"Alright cutie, I'll meet up with you soon. Stay safe," he warned, and hung up. I sighed, smiling at the encounter I had with Dabi. I tilted my head up to look at the sky, eyes softening as I gazed at the sparkling lights in the distance. Stars were always beautiful.

"The sky is pretty tonight," I observed, and he merely grunted in response. I frowned slightly at this. He seemed to have been in a mood since we set out tonight, looking to make contact with Dabi. I sighed, shivering as the cold nipped at my bare arms and legs. I tapped my chest and warmth crawled through my veins, easing up the night's chill. "I don't like patrolling at night because I'm a little weaker, but I'm glad I got to see this."

He remained silent, almost brooding. I didn't like that one bit. I nudged him playfully, trying to get his attention, but he simply glanced upwards before looking off to the side. "Hey," I spoke a little sternly, walking around in front of him. He stopped and tilted his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "When I'm talking to you I don't like being ignored. Are you going to tell me what's got your feathers all ruffled? Or do I have to go meet Dabi alone," I threatened coolly, and the daggers he shot from his eyes cut deep in my heart.

"Might as well just tell me you love the guy," he growled, walking past me. Ouch, that was cold. "I'm not going to pretend that this just isn't an excuse to see Dabi. We know he lied about Maven, she had more abilities than what he had disclosed. I shouldn't have trusted him to make the right call," he seethed. I took a step back, my eyes widening. Oh, it was that. "I'm not sure why you think this meeting is necessary."

"What do you mean you're not sure? He could have just not known, perhaps he wasn't watching her at the time? We're human, we make mistakes, Keigo."

"Yeah but that guy is a villain, Josie, or have you forgotten?" I blinked in shock, before storming up to him. My heart thrummed with flames, my hands glowing brightly in the dark. I shoved a finger against his chest, quickly taking it off when I saw the fabric smoking.

"If I recall correctly, it was you that wanted me to meet him in the first place. It was you that wanted to take that chance and convince him to become a hero. Don't blame me for trying to do exactly what you wanted!" I huffed, curling my lips over my teeth and shaking my head, glancing off to the side. "I didn't think you were so childish to let jealousy get the best of you. Looks like I was wrong."

He snorted bitterly, his amber eyes glinting dangerously in the dark. "Jealous? If you think I am just jealous, firebird, you've got another thing coming. I've watched that man be all over you since I first introduced you two. He doesn't pull any punches when it comes to you and now when you're in his vicinity you're like putty. Easily malleable and tricked, manipulated to think that he could possibly become a hero. You're deluding yourself, Josephine." I shook my head in disbelief, glancing at him up and down.

"I'm not sure where all of this is coming from," I started slowly, gritting my teeth. "But I am the same with you, dumbass. I can hardly think straight around either of you. I lose my cool every time, when either of you do anything my heart is set on fire, my body feels like it's submerged in sparks, and I can't control it. My flames have never been so hot, and that's because of you both." He laughed darkly, his wings ruffling and expanding. "It's not just him. You make me deluded too." My feelings were genuine, my eyes softening. I touched his arm and he shrugged me off, snarling.

"Right right, after all, you still can't choose between us, right?" His words were vicious and snide, and my face fell, stepping back. Targeting my insecurities, my doubts... He really was bothered by this. On the edges of his features were tiny black marks, crawling across his jaw. Suddenly all of his actions made sense, and I was filled with an intense rage. My palm filled with a bright light from the pool I had accumulated before and I slammed my palm into him, purging whatever shadows had gripped him. His eyes widened, his senses finally coming back to him as he stumbled back. As though that darkness in his mind had finally been broken. He grabbed my shoulders, his expression pleading and guilty. "Josie, I'm sorry I-" I cut him off, pressing my hands against his chest. Even if it wasn't him saying these things, those were still worries and fears and stresses that I had to address.

"Why can't I just choose both?" I croaked, my throat closing up on me. "I care for you both so much it makes my head spin, I never know who I'm supposed to watch out for because you both knock me off of my feet. How is it fair at all that I have to choose between the two people that have made me the happiest I have ever been..." I began to chew on my thumbnail anxiously, my heart pounding in my chest.

He remained silent while I rambled, his face growing grimmer and grimmer, guilt lining his features. He opened his mouth to interrupt, but his interruption was cut off by a familiar voice.

"You're fine Doll," Dabi cooed, stepping out from the shadows. A cigarette was lit in his mouth as he spoke, causing plumes of smoke to puff out along with his words. He nodded to Keigo, wandering over to me. "I don't mind having the extra competition, in fact it makes this all the more enticing, so please, continue." I flushed scarlet and he chuckled, pinching my cheek with a kind smile on his features. He twisted his head towards Hawks, his face turning serious. "So, is there a reason why we're meeting up? I should warn you that I've been looking all over the place for Maven but... She got away." My stomach dropped, and the panic must have shown on my face because he rested a palm on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "It's nothing I can't handle Doll. I always find my quarry."

I nodded, breathing in deeply to ease my aching chest. "While that's a whole other issue... We've discovered something." Keigo fished through his pocket and pulled out the picture of the marked man, his features still twisted in a maddened craze.

"This man claimed that Maven gave him some powers," he explained, handing over the photo. Dabi's brows furrowed, his teeth grinding on the filter of his cigarette. He pulled it out and threw it to the ground, stomping on it in frustration.

"Fucking bitch," he seethed, kicking away his cancer stick. "She's always got something more up her sleeve. All I've been doing is just talking to her, learning about her and studying her, fuck she was in my head at one point and yet while she knows everything about me I know next to nothing about her. For someone as unhinged as her, she's real clever. This isn't going to be your ordinary villain," he warned, crinkling the photo in his fist.

"I know," I spoke softly, wincing as I remembered Saadie's bright smile. "She's a Noumu." My mind trailed back to that fight with Endeavor and Hawks, how easily I was skewered and sent flying away. I couldn't afford another mistake like that. I didn't have another life, there would be no ashes to rise from. Even cats only have nine lives.

"No, even then that's underestimating her," he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "She's been a pet project of Shigaraki's for years, even before his time. She's not just your regular high-end Noumu, she is a fully functioning humanoid capable of conscious thought and feelings. Shigaraki couldn't even get a hold of her like the other Noumu's. Somehow she's created her own goal and meaning to her life." I closed my eyes, shaking my head.

"So she's a failed experiment," I theorized, and Dabi shook his head.

"Not at all. The only thing she failed at was not being shackled to another man's will. But for her, it's a success. She's incredibly dangerous so long as we don't know her intentions." I opened my mouth to answer when a shriek split the air. I whirled around on my foot, my eyes wide.

"Dabi, Hawks let's go!" I didn't bother to see if they had followed me, I just ran. When I arrived I tripped over my own feet as I stopped, my eyes widening at the sight. "Holy shit," I cursed, looking around me. Civilians with tears in their eyes were scrambling to get away from hobbling creatures with black marks over their bodies, their eyes blank and devoid of emotion, just acting on one need; hunger.

I pulled one off of a person and slammed him into the ground, but instead he groaned, his arms desperately trying to grapple my head. When I gripped his hand and twisted it, it fell off, a gush of black blood pouring on to the concrete. I stumbled back into the clutches of another one of these monsters, and just before it bit me a vermillion feather sliced through, freeing me. I backed up into the boys, my eyes wide.

"What the hell is this?" I shouted, kicking away another man. I used my fire to remove the creature from another innocent person, watching as his grey flesh smoldered and burned away with just a touch of my fire. "It's like they're dead."

"That's because they are dead, or they were," Dabi grunted, holding out a man with snapping jaws, his black marks squirming. His cheek was hollow, his gums blackened. "If they weren't dead before, they are now."

"Look, they've got the same markings as the ones you cured before," Keigo noted, and I ground my teeth. Was Keigo almost felled by this? How did it get so out of control, how did I not notice? While I was sure I could cure these ones, it took a lot of energy without any light, and there were too many of them. Besides, if they were dead...

"So what, Maven can raise the dead now?" I ground out.

"More like control," he amended, blue flames engulfing another one of the monstrosities.

"Fucking hell, I can't cure all of them," I hissed, putting a bolt of fire through another (zombie?)'s head and watching as it crumbled to the ground. Headshots always worked, but it went against who I was as a hero.

What the hell, they were dead anyway. Time to light them up. I turned to Keigo, my golden-hazel eyes glowing with determination. "Hawks, you need to go and get help," I ordered, piercing another one of the zombies with my flames.

"The hell are you on about? I'm staying right here," he ground out, punishing another one with his feathers. They were stained with black ichor, the sharp edges clumping together. "I'll be fine, watch your own end."

"No, you stupid chicken nugget," I hissed, swinging my leg and clearing out an army that seemed to collectively target me with a wave of fire. "Fire works best against the undead, don't you know that? It's literally in every single movie, video game, book- you fucking name it. You need to go and get help. You'll be the fastest out of all of us. Me and Dabi can handle it, so go!" My heart began to beat wildly, flames coursing through my veins. "Don't worry Cluckers, I'll be alive when you return."

His eyes softened at the nickname, and he clenched his fists. "Fine, Dabi," he turned towards him, and cerulean eyes connected with amber, "If she dies, you'd best know that you're following."

"I wouldn't have it any other way birdbrain," he managed, blue flames spilling from his palms. His attacks were weak, but that was so he didn't burn himself alive. "Go quickly, be too fast for once. It'll be in our favour."

He tsked, prepping for flight. I lightly tapped him, gifting him a gentle smile. "Hawks," I said softly, my eyes shimmering. "Thank you." He nodded his head and launched himself into the air, leaving a cluster of zombies to raise their hands to the sky. I grinned, pulling out my own wings. They flapped into the air and I watched as all of the zombies in the area raised their heads to look at the bright shiny bird in the sky. "Burn baby, burn," I crooned with a devilish smile, my hands glowing with embers. I swooped down and let out a burst of flames, swallowing up the creatures with a simple sweep. Some of the civilians cried out as my flames nearly landed on them and I grimaced, making my attacks more precise.

I glanced behind me to see a wall of sapphire flames tear through the numerous ranks of undead and I grinned, doubling back. "Dabi," I said over the wind, "watch out for the unafflicted." He cursed, sweeping his flames. I grinned, almost feeling good about this.

Almost.

I was still mowing down the dead. What people had considered to be their loved ones. I was essentially forcefully cremating them. I tried not to think about it too much, the scent of burnt flesh already stinging my nose, causing me to gag. I shifted my flames into another scythe, gripping it tightly.

This was going to be a long night.