Feathers and Flame // Dabi x Reader x Hawks

37: Flame

The world around you quieted.

All you could see was him.

Bright, beautiful eyes that burned with the same heat of his flames. That cruel, twisted grin you never wanted to turn on you. The soul beneath that was tortured and broken, yet still flickered with life.

But the fire in his eyes had extinguished just as quickly as the flames he tortured Hawks with the moment you threw yourself between them.

The game had come to an end, and all you were left with now were the broken pieces of this fragile lie of a life you'd come to love.

"Stop." There were tears in your eyes as you looked up at him. "Please."

Dabi stared down at you, his expression completely devoid of any emotion. Of any feeling. Disbelief, you would assume. But no, it wasn't that. His expression darkened, his lips curling into a grin so uncaring and cruel it broke something vital in you.

And then he laughed.

This was no longer the Dabi you had come to feel for. This was the creature that lurked beneath — the villain. Manic, twisted and so very, very sad.

"I didn't want to believe it." Despite the pain laced between his words, that grin never left him. "I wasn't surprised by him but you." Those bright eyes commanded you not to look away. "Orphaned. Only known name — Nyx. Raised as a covert agent from age six—"

This was the moment your heart would break. "You knew?"

Dabi's gaze never left you, and how it burned. "—confirmed kills — 129." His grin only grew. "Was this what I was to you, princess? Were you going to kill me too?"

Hearing that number felt like a knife to the gut. Maybe in the end, this was your punishment.

"How long?" Your voice cracked. "How long?"

Dabi ignored you, wisps of blue crackling at the tips of his fingers. "Did you think you could fuck me and bury a knife in my back? And here I thought heroes were supposed to be the good guys."

There was hate in his eyes. Pure, unfiltered hate. It was then you realised how real this was. How you'd tricked yourself into believing this day would never come. How you'd been living in complete fucking denial of it.

And here it was.

The moment when your heart finally broke. When you realised all those times before you thought it would were merely cracks on its surface. But this, this was what breaking felt like. And it fucking hurt. So fucking much you thought it might kill you. In the end, you only had yourself to blame.

Behind you, Hawks' pained whisper reached out to you, but even he could not stop the agony tearing you apart. "Dove."

Dabi's gaze flicked to Hawks' crumpled form behind you, fury another spark of fuel to the hate-filled fire burning in the pits of his eyes now. "I guess I'm not the only one you fucked."

"I didn't— It's not..." The words died in your throat. "Dabi please."

"I owe you nothing." Venom laced his words. "You are nothing. If you want to stand there, be my guest. I'll—"

"Burn me?" You were standing now, tears running freely down your cheeks. "You're as bad a liar as I am."

Before you could blink, his hand reached out and gripped you by the throat, his fingers pressing into the soft skin of your neck. But you didn't so much as flinch, not even at the dangerous heat rising in his touch.