"SHOTO!" Enji snarled, turning his attention to the man with anger fueling him. The teen was repelled across the street, a strangled choke of pain escaping his lips as his back hit concrete, his left arm searing in agony, all the way up to his neck. Enji turned his attention back to the figure, hoodie now partially burned away as light blue in cased his semblance.

Deep, purple, grotesque scars kept together with industrial staples he wore. Mad and pained turquoise eyes gave him his vision. "Dabi...?" Hawks breathed out as he lowered to the ground.

He stepped back. Visibly shaking. "I... I didn't.... You... You-you- YOU MADE ME DO THAT!" He screamed. It was directed towards Enji. Toyomitsu had ran over to Shoto, Tamaki and Momo following desperately. Tokoyami and Kirishima were about to strike when Hawks stopped them.

"Let me talk to him." Enji lowered his fist, anger growing by the second, but he was compliant with his partner. He sounded as if he knew the ins and outs of this guy. "Just... Let me calm him down. I know him."

He cautiously stepped forward, dropping the feather he once had intentions to use. He put his hands up to show he had no other weapons. "This is ridic-"

"Shut up! It will work. Trust me dammit."

Toyomitsu yelled from Shoto's spot, the teen unconscious in his arms, wrapped in a fire blanket, that Momo had made to douse the flames and protect his wound. "I'm getting the kid out of here! He's outta commission!"

"Take him to the hospital then. Its not far." Enji ordered, a snarl complementing his features.

"WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP!?" Dabi gripped his deep red locks harshly. He stepped further back, unknowingly getting closer to the other students.

"I-its okay Blue Jay. Just calm down. Can you do that for me?" Hawks drifted his gaze to Tokoyami. "Fumi, I want you to go. You too Red Riot. He's in a dangerous state right now."

"But we can-" Kirishima started to argue but was cut off.

"Go! We are are your superiors so listen!" Enji filled in the blanks.

"I won't be gettin' a earful from Auntie or my brother when they hear I let you become a rotisserie chicken. Go. Get the civilians to safety, that you can do." For a second the two stayed there, and then they ran.

Toyomitsu and Momo began their journey on foot to the closest emergency room. Kirishima, Tamaki, and Tokoyami began their loud orders of evacuation.

Now that they were gone, Hawks could proceed. "Move back, Endeavor." He was about to protest when Hawks sensed it. "He doesn't like you. You'll make matters worse." He begrudgingly complied.

"W-what!? You're a coward now, huh!? Gonna hide behind the birdie!?" Dabi stepped up an inch but Hawks stilled. He kept his guard.

"Blue Jay you don't need to do this. Remember our talks? I thought you wanted to cha-"

"MOVE ASIDE!" More flames shot out. He was definitely emotion driven. His flames soared as his thirst for revenge and anger was boasted. "I have to do this! He's the cause of it ALL!" He screamed, more flames rising. Blue danced across his skin, seeping from his scars, creating new scars. The smell of burning flesh became abundantly clear as time passed.

"The cause of what?" The avian was calm. He had to be so it'd rub off on the other.

"T-the-the-the... The cause! The cause!" Dabi stuttered. His flames began to douse. Only a little but at least it shrunk in size.

"Explain to me what he's done to make you so upset. Please let me help you. What's he the cause of?"

Dabi hunched as blue covered his arms. "H-he did things! He hurt her! He's a FUCKING LIER!" They grew again.

Hawks looked over his shoulder for a hot second, seeing Enji trying to contain himself. This wasn't exactly the man's usual behavior. He was so... Amenable. Calm and focused what the other had to say. He turned back to Dabi.

"What'd he lie about then?"

"You don't know!? That b-bastard said we were a family! That was a fucking facade of course!"

Hawks narrowed his eyes behind his visor, perplexed.

He could feel orange flames radiate heat onto his back. "Wha-"

"I WANTED TO PROTECT THEM! BE THEIR HERO SO YOU WOULDN'T HURT THEM!" He lurched forward, yelling at Enji. "BUT THEN YOU DROVE HER FUCKING INSANE! THEN SHE TRIED TO KILL HERSELF! YOU'RE THE CAUSE OF IT ALL!"

Enji's own combustion lowered. He stepped forward, giving off a nonexpressive aura. Hawks just couldn't place what the man was thinking or feeling. He had a clean slate of a face. Lips relaxed, eyes fixated on the screaming man.

"ARE YOU READY THEN!? ARE-"

"Touya...?" His voice was... Low? Full of, what was that? Worry? "T-"

"Touya Todoroki is dead!" Dabi grabbed hold of his head again. "He's dead, he's dead, he's dead! And you killed him!"

"Son-"

"YOU WERE NEVER MY FATHER!" Hawks was confused. He didn't have a clue of what was happening. He just... Stood in the middle. Taking it all in.

He got closer. "Touya calm down. Let me treat your burns son-"

"No! Shut! Up! I hate your damn voice!"

Miruko hopped into the scene with Bakugou and Backdraft close behind. "The authorities are on the way!" Miruko informed. "What's going on here anyway!? Hawks?"

Hawks was desperate. He needed to deescalate the situation, Dabi's flames were rampant. Backdraft jumped into action but Dabi was quick to act. He flung some fire in his direction, the water hero falling to the ground.

"Touya stop this. Now." His tone was bland. Devoid of any particular emotion. Although, it was clear that he was struggling to keep his anger at bay.

"NO!" He jumped forward, engaging the other in a fight. But Enji refused to participate. Hawks flew out of the way, caught off guard.

Miruko ran in to mediate with a kick but was stopped before she could even start her attack when Enji yelled, "Stop! I can handle him!" Enji pushed the other away, staring into his angry eyes; the same as his own. To him, it was just himself and Dabi. Faced against each other. Except he didn't want to fight. He wanted answers more than anything. Its all he wanted.

He needed to know how. Just... How was he here? Alive...

Dabi huffed for air as the flames grew around him. "DO YOU HAVE NO REMORSE!? HUH!? YOU CAUSED SO MUCH SHIT! HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITH YOURSELF!?"

Memories flashed through his head. Twisting his mind with his past conflicts.

'YOU CAUSED SOMEONE TO ALMOST KILL THEMSELVES, YOU STUPID OLD FART! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY!? YOU HAVE NO REMORSE!?'

Flooding his consciousness, he almost drowned. He pushed it down. Far down.

"You made me feel like shit!" Dabi prepared an attack. "I can't believe I fucking admired you once!"

'Dad look! I drew you and me as a super cool hero team! That's me, the hero Inferno!'

He scowled as he erased those thoughts. "Calm down! Now Touya!" He reached a hand out to grasp the other's shoulder to stable him, but it was grabbed. Burning pain shot up his arm, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

'I'm sorry I burnted the wall again. I didn't mean it dad.'

His blue was much stronger than his orange.

'Dad it hurts a lot! Why's my quirk hurting me?'

He became submerged in the pain and his memories of his once young and docile son. His vision blurred as salty tears prickled at his eyes.

'He's walking! Rei he's walking!'

He once did love his son. But it all changed when his attitude spiraled out of control and it seized him. He lost it all when All Might finally took the spotlight and he was left in the shadows. Jealousy and petty revenge drove him.

'DAD PLEASE! HELP ME!'

Dabi let go. Enji fell back. He looked on at the man he barely recognized as his own flesh and blood. Horror was present. He did cause this.

Sounds of sirens in the distance filled the air, and Dabi took that as a sign to leave. He turned and ran. He ran fast. Bakugou was about to go after him but Miruko stopped him, instead instructed to help her with Backdraft, saying it was too dangerous. Hawks was far off. He watched it all unfold. He didn't know what to do. So he sat back. How could he help?

Soon the ambulances came, police too. They loaded Backdraft into one of the emergency vehicles, while Enji refused. He insisted he was fine. Said he's had burns before from overuse. But they were never of this magnitude. From his right hand to his wrist was burnt severely. He insisted he'd walk to the hospital, to clear his head, alone. He could endure the pain on the way.

He sat on the curb as the paramedics continued to convince him to go with them, when Hawks came over. He asked the paramedics to leave so he could possibly get him to go.

He sat down beside the man, looking down at his boots instead of Enji. "I... I didn't know he was your son. He never told me." He said quietly, no easing in on the small talk. He just got to the point.

Enji chose his words first then spoke. "What is he to you then?"

Hawks stuttered a second before straightening himself out. He cleared his throat, "We, uh.... We dated..." He gulped nervously.

Enji looked over with narrowed eyes, bottom jaw pushed out. "You were dating my son?"

"Woah hey! Look! You should get in that ambulance over there!" He tried to shift the subject elsewhere. Enji rolled his eyes and got up.

"I'm only going because my arm hurts to hell and back." He said as he walked towards the vehicle, holding his injured appendage.

A few days had passed by, sluggishly albeit, but they passed. Enji's burn was treated quickly. He was okay for the most part, a scar was no big deal. He already had one over his eye. He was released earlier that day from the burn ward. Except he didn't leave. His room was only a few doors down from Shoto's. And that's where he was. Sitting in front his youngest's hospital room. He had no courage to go in there even if he could.

He turned an old keychain over in his palm. It was made of clay that was slightly chipping away from age. On one side it had "#1" shakily engraved, the other side had his name sloppily written. It was attached to an old keyring that had small amounts of rust accumulating on it; he really needed to change it out but he just doesn't want to. The entire thing held much more significance than one would think, especially since after what had happened. Just after seeing him makes it seem so much more important than it really is.

"Why are you still here?" Enji quickly stashed the keychain away in the breast pocket of his shirt, dressed in his casual wear after his daughter had brought him some new clothes. He followed the direction on the voice and found Hawks standing before him. "What was that thing?" So many dumb questions right off the bat.

"What are you doing here?" He answered with a question of his own.

Hawks shrugged. He pulled out a small white teddy bear with red spots scattered around its body, it was holding a heart that read get well soon. "Fumikage and his classmates asked me to bring this over for little 'Roki. By the way, I think he's married to this green haired kid? He called him his husband... And also his son....? I don't understand kids anymore these days..."

Enji just looked at him with a dead and tired expression. "Can't go in right now. Is there a note with it?"

"Um, yeah. Yaoyorozu, Fumikage, and, I think his name is Koda, well they made him a card that everyone signed. Even Eraserhead." The avian sat down next to the burly man, to which Enji scooted away a few inches.

"Well you're wasting your time. He hasn't woken up yet." He looked away down the hall, mesmerized by the empty nurse's station. "They had to intubate him because he briefly woke up when Fatgum got him here and he went into shock and couldn't breath on his own after passing out again. I'm not allowed to visit because of the severity of his burn. I have to wait until he wakes up."

Hawks put the bear on his shoulder, and in a dumb voice, said, "Mr. Beary says cheer up. Mr. Beary says he'll wake up. Mr. Beary- ACK!" Enji shoved the man down, palm over his face.

Hawks shook it off and immediately returned to bugging the top hero. "Why not go home? You've been here for three days. You need to rest man. I can give you a ride, I actually drove my car tonight. Believe it or not."

"You can't drive. I get car sick easily and your driving doesn't help it." He glared the other down for a brief moment before looking away again, adding onto his sentence. "And plus... I can't." He gave no more insight except for that minuscule information. Hawks decided to push for the answer, knowing he wouldn't get it without working for it.

"Why not? The kids seventeen. He's old enough to be alone in a hospital. He-"

"I don't want him running away." He felt the tension build as the redhead continue to speak. "Or some guy to just take him. Hospitals aren't great places."

Like always, he made a joke, disguising his own saddened worry with humor. A bad coping tactic but it was the only one he knew. "Guess you don't like hospitals. Are you afraid of needles? Big bad Endeavor, afraid of nee-"

"My mother abandoned me here. She left me with an ass. And Touya ran away after bringing him home because of being in a hospital. Its nothing to joke about. Hospitals are bad."

Hawks apologized, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He took his phone out and directed his attention to his gallery, pulling up a year old photo of himself and Dabi. He smirked. "He's not a bad guy." He changed the subject, easing the air around them.

"Who isn't?" He brought the phone into Enji's view.

"Dabi- or Touya- whatever his name is..." He swiped over to a photo of Dabi "singing" into a spatula. "He's a fun guy. He's no villain in my opinion. I was helping him change actually."

Enji took the phone, Hawks having no objections. He continued. "He, uh... He likes to bake. Did you know that?"

Enji swiped over to see Dabi wearing multiple ringpops on one hand, flicking the camera off with his other hand and his tongue stuck out, a paper crown on his head. "No. I didn't know much about him. And I guess i never bothered to. He... Resented me. And there is a reasonable excuse as to why.."

The ash blond looked over his shoulder to make sure the redhead doesn't go through his entire album. "He's really good at it. He wants to open up a bakery." Another swipe contained a selfie of both Dabi and Hawks covered in chocolate batter, eating brownies like they were fine.

"I'll give him his bakery after we find him then." He said under his breath. It was hardly even audible, but Hawks heard it. Enji swiped once more. It was a video. He slowly pressed play, turning the volume up. Hawks smiled as it began.

"Okay, okay! If you had the choice between being reborn as Morgan Freeman or as, let's say, a type of insect of your choice, which would you pick?" It was Hawks behind the camera, struggling not to laugh after asking his question.

"Can I mix the two? Just be a radass ladybug that talks like Morgan Freeman." He deepened his voice, "He's coming. Cover your butt." Hawks began to laugh. The camera shook a bit.

"Was that from the fucking lego movie!? Oh my god!" Dabi began to snort with laughter.

The video ended on Dabi falling over in a fit of hysterics.

Enji stared at the paused image of his grown son, smiling softly- unknown to himself. He missed out on his firstborn growing into an adult. And it was all because of him. He was about to swipe again when Shoto's doctor called down the hall, an intern in tow. Enji shoved the phone back into Hawks's grasp, standing up and straightening himself out.

"Time to check on him. I'll let you know if his condition has changed." Enji nodded. The doctor and intern pulled up their masks and opened up the door, shutting it tightly after entering. They didn't want any germs coming in and causing an infection.

Enji leaned up against the wall, crossing his arms. Hawks stood and handed the bear over, getting ready to leave. "I'll call if Tsukauchi and the chief has any news. See you later fire tit. Night." He saluted as he walked away backwards. As he passed Shoto's door it opened abruptly. The intern peered out, looking in Enji's direction.

"He's awake sir!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I forgot to put a couple pics up at the end of the last chapter, whoops--

His hair is suppose to be super unruly and it goes to his shoulders. His black hair dye washed out and he never bothered to redye it. These are like a month old and I drew these while in a major art block/while sick so excuse how shitty they are.

I also drew a stupid for this chapter too

I used myself as a reference lmao like I took like three different photos of myself and arranged them together. It was freaky to do lol

And if you want context on two of those italicized tidbits/memories, check out "Corrosive"! That's where I pulled them from(sorry for the fuckin plug in)!

Anyway, I can't wait for you to read the next chapter ;)