Irhaboggle Pride (2022) Gaylor Swift's Version

Right Where You Left Me

Friends break up, friends get married. Strangers get born, strangers get buried. Trends change, rumors fly through new skies, but...

The scars, physical, mental, and emotional, were all still there. They were well-concealed, though, behind bandages and a mask of cool indifference. Hawks tried to tell himself that this was nothing new. For his entire life, especially his time spent as a hero, fight and flight were all he knew. He'd seen friends, enemies, heroes, and villains come and go. Some were strangers, some weren't. Some he saved, some he killed. But no matter how the trends changed, or what new rumors flew through the skies that he no longer could, some things felt like they stayed the same.

Maybe he was frozen in time, or maybe it was just a coping mechanism; denial was always Hawks' strong suit. In any case, it didn't matter how many secrets Dabi unearthed, whether about himself, his father, Hawks, or his father, it all felt...distant to Hawks, now. He tried again to tell himself that this was nothing new. His greatest wish was that heroes had more free time to do nothing, so it stood to reason that the reality was the exact opposite. This level of betrayal and heartache was just part and parcel of being a hero, right?

Now here he was again, at one of his and Dabi's old haunts. It didn't matter what Dabi had done to him, or that Dabi had known his bluff since day one, there was still a tiny part of Hawks frozen in time, stuck in the past. Blue fires burned in his memory, one after the other. The story blurred in Hawks' mind until the pages stuck together. Scars were earned and lessons surely learned after Dabi's attack and betrayal, but all Hawks could think of was the Dabi he'd come to know and care for, not the one who hurt him so viciously.

Their time together hadn't been all business, there was some pleasure in it, too. In moments like those, Hawks could see shades of the man Dabi used to be, and the person he could've become. Those were the memories Hawks just couldn't move past. They were both on the cold and snide side, even though Hawks was always savvy in the art of charming and social interaction.

Perhaps that was why they felt all the more compelled to only go out in public with each other. They were the only ones they could really tolerate. For all their differences, Hawks had seen a kindred spirit in Dabi. Was it wishful thinking, or an astute observation from a bird brain, that Dabi might've felt the same way at some point, even though he claimed otherwise?

Today, though, Hawks was out and about alone. Unsure of what to do, since he was still healing up, he could only wander the city aimlessly, letting his subconscious drive him forward. That was when he found himself at one of his and Dabi's old haunts. On almost instinct alone, Hawks went inside and took a seat in the back corner, as if waiting for Dabi.

He felt unusually self-conscious today. It wasn't normal for him, but even his strongest attempt at denial was weak. He felt as though every eye in the restaurant was turned on him, pitying and curious. Who is that sad little man sitting all by himself in the corner?

I swear you could hear a feather drop! Hawks tried to joke with himself and lessen the tension in the air, but it was of little use. Instead, it only reminded him of the last time the air felt so thick, tense, quiet and heavy. That, of course, was the day Dabi outed both of them before viciously attacking Hawks and leaving him stranded.

That was when the moment stopped, a piece of Hawks' life shattered on the cold, hard ground. It wasn't just his body that broke after Dabi's madness and fire consumed him, but some of his heart as well. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised that Dabi, of all people, would've been suspicious of him since the very beginning, but somehow, some part of Hawks' guard slipped around the other man.

To hear that everything Dabi had ever said to, or felt for, Hawks was nothing but a ruse of his own had hurt Hawks even worse than he thought it would. In a way, it almost hurt worse than Dabi's flames. Those were so hot that they quickly destroyed the nerves underneath his skin. The emotional wound, though, was one Hawks could still feel, cutting him deep to the bone.