Trust Falls

Friends in Low Places

It took every bit of self control that Dabi had to keep his expression frozen in the moment that he realized who exactly was tied to the chair in front of them.

Shigaraki had been going on and on about a guest that Toga had grabbed on her way home but the asshole hadn't given a name. Just a play by play description of which body parts he was going to decay first. Which, you know, gross.

At the time, though, Dabi was in a bad enough mood that he was looking forward to having some one on one information gathering time with whoever it was. It would be a good distraction from the burning sensation in his chest at having to watch Izuku walk out of that front door. It would be a good distraction from Izuku and that entire situation in general, really.

Now, though? His mood was exponentially worse.

Briefly he wondered if he should have found a way to warn Eraserhead or the rat principal that Izuku damn near needed a leash to keep him out of trouble.

The amount of times he'd had to drag the kid out of stupid situations by the back of his hoodie were beyond counting at this point. Even after the kid had made a name for himself in the underground he still managed to stumble his way into stupid situations. Why had anyone let him out and about unsupervised clearly hadn't known him that well or for very long.

Oh, right! They hadn't.

Obviously even his precious Kacchan didn't know better than to let the kid wander off on his own.

So now he was in this predicament, watching as Shigaraki approached the teenager. Even from where he was sitting, Dabi would see that Izuku was testing the bonds on his wrists even as he glared up at the silver haired man child.

None of this was going to end well.

If Dabi had to guess it was going to end with someone bleeding and at least one room of their brand new hide out on fire.

"I'm glad you could join us. I have some questions for you." Shigaraki rasped as he stopped in front of Izuku, his entire posture and tone smug. As if he'd done something here instead of happened upon an opportunity.

This was a comedy of errors that could only come out of stupid, random, chance and the universe's hatred of Dabi's peace of mind.

Izuku seemed to take in his words before slumping as much as he could in his bonds and rolling his head back against the chair. He was the picture of teenage sass, eye roll included as he picked his head back up and motioned as exaggeratedly as he could with his hands bound.

"You see, when a psycho mommy and a sociopath daddy hate each other very much..." The teen began pausing to scowl up at Shigaraki through his bangs. "....well...I honestly don't think you need to know the rest, buddy, since it won't apply to you. No one's going to want to kiss that ugly mug anytime soon. Might I suggest some chapstick?"

Scratch that, the entire damn building was going to be on fire.

If Dabi were less self aware he'd wonder what he'd done to deserve this hell. He'd done a lot of bad in his life but really? Did he deserve this?

How did he get stuck with this kid? Out of all of the dumbass teenagers he could have pulled out of a river it had to be this one who had no self preservation, a flair for the dramatic, and chaos etched into his very being.

He was pulled out of his musings, though, by the snarl that left Shigaraki at the teen's words. Every hair left on Dabi's arms raised and he found himself watching in slow motion as the man began to strip off of the artist gloves he'd begun donning after Kamino. Shigaraki's entire frame screamed murderous and that did not spell good things for the subject of his ire at the moment. Especially since Dabi knew for a fact that Izuku had no weapons on him and no way out of his bonds.

He very obviously had a choice to make here. He could protect the kid and go against Shigaraki which would have lasting repercussions for his plan to destroy his father. Even as much as Izuku protested, this group had been the best way he could find to get the attention he needed for his plans. Who was going to listen to some random thug screaming about the newly minted number one hero? Nobody, that's who.

His entire revenge plan hinged on the attention this group could garner. Even if the leader was a giant man child.

His only other option, though, was to let Shigaraki beat and possibly kill the closest thing he had to a real and honest relationship. Dabi hadn't spent two odd years keeping the gremlin alive to just sit here while someone put their hands on him. As if he could, if he was honest with himself. He remembered the blind rage that had settled in his gut at the sight of the bruises around Izuku's throat.

There really was no choice, here.

Earlier, in the safe house, he'd offered to kill the former number one hero for the kid. What was Shigaraki compared to that?

The entire world had narrowed down to Shigaraki and Izuku, Dabi's vision tunneling down until he couldn't even hear what the crusty villain was ranting about. All he could see was him looming over Izuku who was refusing to look to him for help. He was terrified, Dabi could see it in the way that his hands were curled around the arms of the chair in an attempt to keep his nerves from showing.

And yet he refused to look at the one person in the room that would possibly be willing to help him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Izuku had a feeling he'd fucked up royally when the gloves Shigaraki were wearing started to be peeled away. It wouldn't be the first time his quirk had been used on him but by god it was the scariest.

There was a feral light in Shigaraki's eyes that did not bode well for Izuku. It wasn't one that he was familiar with seeing in the silver haired man and briefly Izuku wondered if he'd miscalculated. It didn't usually take this little to set him off this badly.

Something was very, very, wrong and Izuku didn't have enough information to figure out where he'd mistepped here.

"You stupid little bastard." Shigaraki growled, throwing one glove down onto the ground and flexing his fingers as he took another step closer to Izuku. "What makes you so special, huh? You'll be dust just like anyone else if I wrap my hands around your neck."

"While that sounds kinky, good for you by the way didn't know you had it in you, I'm going to have to decline." Izuku responded out of reflex, mentally cursing himself as the words slipped out of his mouth. "I am still a minor, you know."

The snarl that left Shigaraki's throat was feral and Izuku had a brief moment to wonder if Kacchan and his dads would miss him much as he watched Shigarki's hand in slow motion lift towards his face.

Blindingly fast, a hand came out of nowhere to grip Shigaraki's wrist and stopped the man in his tracks. Izuku couldn't tear his eyes away from the purple scars on his savior's hand for a moment to see the look on Shigaraki's face but the absolute rage in his voice when he spoke painted a clear enough picture.

"What exactly do you think you're doing, Dabi?" The silver haired man practically spit the words at the scarred man, red eyes boring into him with a frightening intensity.

Izuku found the courage to finally look at Dabi and found him in a staring contest with his so called boss, lip curling into his signature sneer as he forced the younger man back a few steps by the grip he still had on his wrist until Izuku's entire field of vision was filled with the back of Dabi's coat.

"Making sure you don't undo three years of hard work, crusty." Dabi drawled, posture relaxed as his grip tightened on the other's wrist. "I can't have you killing him after I've done all this work to keep his stupid ass alive."

"Hey! I did some of the work too, you know!" Izuku sassed, slumping in his bonds a little in relief. "Also, nice timing. Was actually sure I was going to die in the lamest way possible there for a second."

"What is this?!" Shigaraki broke free of Dabi's hold with a sharp yank of his arm, surprising the man who'd turned his attention back to Izuku briefly.

"When two people love each other very mu-"

"SHUT UP."

Shigaraki's scream was full of rage as he ripped off his other glove and flexed his fingers, hands just barely stopping before they curled into fists. His entire chest heaved as he glared at the two of them, rage rising from a simmer to a boil in his eyes and posture.

Dabi's nonchalance fell away, his entire posture changing as his own hands came up as he raised his defenses. Behind Shigaraki the rest of the league shifted, their gazes bouncing between Dabi and Shigaraki like they were watching a tennis match. No one made a move to get between them, though, so Izuku was taking that as a good sign at least.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of metal before a knife was entering his peripheral vision. He would absolutely admit to the yelp of surprise as the knife slashed through the ties holding his arm to the chair, later. A delighted giggle sounded from just behind the chair before Toga stepped into his view and reached for the bonds holding his other hand in place. A glance towards Shigaraki and Dabi told him that neither of them had heard, locked in their own little world at the moment. Izuku and Toga were hidden from sight behind Dabi's back. Neither of them seemed to notice Toga cutting Izuku loose. The teen glanced back at the blonde girl and before he could voice his question, she raised a finger up to her lips and flashed him a demented smile. "You're betraying us for him. Sensei keeps talking about him and asking for him. Even that explosion kid was more focused on him than me! Deku this, Izuku that. What is so special about him that everyone is only paying attention to him?! I don't get it." Shigaraki snarled, hands coming up to scratch at his throat unhappily. "Useless. Stupid. I want to kill him and make all of you choke on his dust." In another world, Izuku would be smart and take this opportunity to disappear. He would let Toga lead him away while every eye in the room was on Shigaraki and his meltdown. Dabi could more than handle himself against the man and would probably follow him eventually. They could meet back up at the safe house later, after Izuku had called his dads and given them the location to pick him up at. Everything would be fine and he could go back to U.A and business as usual. However, that was in a universe where Izuku had just a shred more self preservation. A universe where he was built with a little less chaos in his veins. So Izuku did none of that. Izuku, despite Toga's hand on his sleeve tugging insistently, stepped up so he was peeking out from behind Dabi. One hand on the scarred man's arm and the other waving Toga away behind the taller man's back. "That is the grossest thing I've ever heard you say, Shiggy. Which, you know, congrats because ewww." Izuku could feel Dabi tense in front of him as Shigaraki's eyes landed on Izuku and his face twisted into something terrifying. Blue flames licked at Dabi's hands as Shigaraki took several steps forward, advancing on them with hands raised. The sight of the flames gave him pause and his rage filled gaze trained solely on Dabi again with an intensity that Izuku honestly doubted the man capable of before today."Take one more step towards him and you're going to become Barbecue, crusty." Dabi drawled, letting his flames dance around his fingers to illustrate his point. "Consider this my resignation." "Mine too!" Toga chimed in, leaning out into sight on Dabi's other side and giving a small little wave to the now growling Shigaraki. "I like Izuchan more than you. He's cute and I might get to see him covered in blood again." Izuku couldn't help the hysterical little giggle that left him as he caught sight of Dabi's face after Toga's declaration. It didn't seem to do anything for Shigaraki's temper but he couldn't help it. In the past twenty four hours he'd gone up against All Might and won, been kidnapped, and then been saved by the two least likely people in the building. What else could go wrong?