"More than Twice...More than anyone...You should have been keeping both eyes on me..."

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't lift myself up from the ground. My sight was warped, and my ears were ringing like church bells. Not to mention I felt like I was going to be violently ill.
"D..Dabi...T..Toya...You're...Todoroki Enji's son, right..?!"

My voice had become a rasping mess, but he had heard me. The way his shoulders went rigid told me that my observation had been a big mistake, but that was fine. It had been my intention. Anything to get his attention away from Hawks.

When he turned back to face me, his entire right side lit up in flames, eyes stabbing into me like the sharpest of knives.
"You really wanna join your brat, don't you..?" His half-chuckle tore away any thick skin I had left, the pain of his words seeming to seep directly into my blood.

"(Y..Y/N), don't..! Shut up..!" Hawks hissed out at me, but I ignored him, dragging myself into a sitting position.
"N..Natsuo...Fuyumi...Shoto...You really want them to suffer..? They already m..miss you..." I only knew for sure that Natsuo missed him, after what I had heard the night of Ending's attack, but I was ready to use whatever I could to distract him. To buy us some time.

Dabi started back towards me, easily avoiding Hawks' hand, which reached out to try and seize his ankle. There was murder in his eyes, and on his mind, that much was for certain.
"Natsuo and Fuyumi have nothing to do with this. Shoto, though? Shoto can perish..!" His boot flew up, connecting with my chest and pinning me back against the wall, but not hard enough to stop me breathing again.

Just a little longer...then at least maybe Keigo can get out of here...Somebody will come...

"I never gave a flying fuck about the League...A single person, with a single conviction, has the power to change the world." As he spoke, the flames began to creep down past his hip, trailing the length of his leg towards me. "There are no true heroes. I plan to make Stain's will a reality...no matter who I have to destroy..!"

"G..get away from her..!" Hawks' shouting was muffled beneath the fierce crackle of those flames, the colour near blinding me. My face felt like it was beginning to melt, and the contents of my stomach shot up into my throat. I had felt that particular feeling before, which scared me to the core.

Just as the flames began go lick at my cheek, they dulled down, shrinking until they snuffed out, the smoke curling into the air around us. Dabi was smirking at me, but his eyes were wild. There was nothing stable about that man.
"You, though? You're hardly even a hero...You couldn't even save one little thing..." He removed his boot, taking a single step back to bask in my absolute terror. "Why should I waste my time on you?"

I couldn't keep up with my own mind. If I couldn't keep his attention away from Hawks, then he'd be killed, but that was easier said than done. What else could I do?

No...I have to fight...Keigo is who people need...not me...

Wincing, I began to raise myself off the ground, using the wall behind me as a support. Dabi just watched me, amused by my struggle.
"We...have a score to settle..." I muttered, only just loud enough for him to hear.

"What, because of the kid? You really think this world would've been kind to it? That a hero and a reject whore could make good parents? I did it a favour." What he was saying made my skin crawl, and my eyes well up, but that was exactly what I wanted.

Hawks had managed to climb to his knees, but he was struggling to move, and I met his eyes for a brief moment. In that moment, we shared our thoughts as though we were speaking out loud. Shouting. Screaming.

He wanted me to let him take the villain's attention so I could run, but I wasn't going to listen. Losing him would end me. Losing anybody else would destroy me from the inside out. I was sure he felt the same about me, but I was stubborn. We both were, but it all chalked down to who had the ability to take and keep Dabi's train of thought.

"J..just because your parents failed you...doesn't mean you have the right to talk..." I growled, finding my legs and leaving the wall I had used as a crutch. Scoffing, Dabi shifted so he had one arm towards me, and the other towards my husband.
"All parents fail. I know all about you, and all about him. This society needs to be sterilized until things are how they should be! Your dead brat is another step closer to a better world!"

You...

Holding back my tears was harder than I had expected. She could've been great. She could have had her father's eyes and my (H/C) hair. She could have been a hero, or a villain, either way I still would have loved her. Dabi had been the reason she never had a chance to live whatever life she was destined to.

...I hate you...

I prayed that the spot fires surrounding us were enough, and I activated my quirk, fists clenching at my sides when I saw the glow from over my shoulder. My body was weak, and my stomach threatened to spill, but I forced myself to start walking towards the man, teeth grinding together as I fought through the building anguish.

"I'm surprised you're so messed up over it! Isn't trauma what you heroes play on?! Oh, poor us, our brat kicked the bucket! Vote for us in the polls and buy our merchandise to make us feel better! Isn't that what you heroes do?!" As he laughed at me, at us, our pain and our loss, tears began to stream down my ashen face, and I could see that Hawks was almost the same.

He was trying to drag himself towards us, teeth clenched and his undamaged eye bloodshot, but he stopped the moment I looked to him. He knew exactly what was going through my mind.
"Y..you think she deserved that..? Without ever being given a chance..?" My voice just wouldn't raise, but it was fine. The villain heard me loud and clear.

Unphased by me halting directly in front of his outstretched arm, he grinned, teeth gleaming as he held back what I could only assume was maniacal laughter.
"Fathered by the number two hero..? Without a fucking doubt."

Just like I had hoped, it happened.

The delicious sight of Dabi's expression dropping was short lived as my wings began to crackle, soon blinding the both of us with a fierce, scorching light. I barely saw a flicker of cerulean before my quirk blew out of control again, just like it had in Endeavor's office, and I felt his presence disappear as it shot out and created a shockwave of destruction.

Once the heat around me settled, I dropped to my knees, the sour sting of vomit overwhelming my senses as what little that had been in my stomach spilled out over the rubble-dusted ground. Even though the move had overexerted me, and my stomach began to cramp, I clambered towards Hawks, grabbing him and pulling him into my arms.

"C..come on..! We..we have to go..!" Desperately, I tried to slide my arms beneath him, but he seized me by the wrist, his hold terribly weak.
"No...You can't ca..carry me..." He rasped, and I realised his skin was horrifically hot.

"Shut up..! We don't have time! Just let me-"
"No..!" He knocked me away, rolling so he could face me. He was so beat up, burned and bruised. Blood dotted around his many wounds, and his breathing sounded far too similar to bubble wrap. "You just...threw up again..!"

My adrenaline rush was rapidly fading, and I knew I had to move fast. I didn't know how much damage I had inflicted on Dabi, so if I didn't get him out of there now, there was very little chance.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! So what?! I'm not leaving you here!" Again, I tried to get my arms beneath him, but he fought against me, much more urgently than before.

"(Y/N), I'm se..serious! Get out of here, now! I'm not losing you two again! Get away from me, a..and away...from here..!" My body froze as what he said registered in my mind. He was delirious.
"Keigo, I..I'm not..! Just...please, let me save you for once?!"

No matter how hard I tried, he just wouldn't let me pick him up, but even if I had been able to, could I really have carried him on my own? Away from danger? It was highly unlikely. I was about to plead with him again, but my words died in my throat when I heard footsteps, crunching against the rubble and heading towards us.

"So...that's why you were practising out there..? Cute..." Instinctively, I grabbed Hawks and held him to my chest, (E/C) eyes wide with terror when I turned to face Dabi. He was roughed up, his body singed and blood drizzling from his raven hair, but he was still able to fight. Unlike us.

So...this is how we die..? Together, by the same man who killed her, huh?

Smirking down at us, with a violently victorious aura, Dabi extended his hand, fingers flexing in preparation.
"See ya Hawks. Songbird. Your lives are another thing I don't care about..." Unable to close my eyes, I clutched to Hawks for the final time, readying myself for the painful death that awaited us...

...That was when everything went black...

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***I don't know what I'm doing anymore ayeeee

Between violently screaming at my unknown chronic leg pain and other health issues, I somehow managed to finish this in one sitting.

Not many chapters to go, guys.

Next Time: You Married An Icarus***