Flea

Chapter Sixty Nine

"Still keeping up the public image?" he asked sarcastically, pausing before his next swig.

"Oh, my managers think I need to lean more into the fuckboy angle, actually," Hawks smirked, performing an even more detailed sweep of the street than normal with his feathers. No villains other than Dabi, just as he'd suspected. Hawks had already diverted a couple of love-drunk teenagers who'd almost stumbled into view of the scarred thug. Nobody who saw them together could live.

"My dad was an alcoholic. I don't trust myself to stop if I ever started; if there's something I want I take it. It's in my nature," Hawks replied, finding the candour oddly refreshing. Any mention of his life before the commission was strictly forbidden, even ignoring the criminal aspects.

"How fun. My dad was not an alcoholic. I trust I couldn't stop if I tried."

With that, Dabi took a long draw from the spirits without breaking a stride, dropped the near-empty bottle into a sagging doorframe so that it spun like a top, and pushed open the side door leading to a dilapidated warehouse.

Hawks didn't know what he'd been expecting, but an empty room felt somehow more unsettling than one with prisoners, or even corpses. If he was going to be double-crossed, here was where to do it.

"You said you had them," Hawks said calmly, grip tightening on the sabres. His back muscles tensed, ready for fight, flight, or both.

"I do," Dabi smirked, pulling out a fabric bag from under his coat and shaking it so that the contents rattled against each other with clicking sounds.

"Close and barricade the doors. Stay on your guard, they'll be a bit feisty and it's unclear what all their quirks are."

Hawks obeyed with a few feathers. This whole night was purely for Dabi's enjoyment and some sadistic test for him. The villain could have easily cremated the Kurano's condensed forms, he assumed. Less suffering for both them and him.

Dabi picked out one of the marble-like creations and held it against light streaming through a hole in the ceiling. He examined the bluestone with a neutral expression, almost serene. In that small moment, like a portrait, Hawks caught a glimpse of the man who could have been. Alive only in Maeve's sketches. Then a shutter closed over the softness behind his eyes, the villain tipped the bag's contents onto the floor, and Hawks felt pity well in his throat for the girl's naïve compassion.

Because the only thing more deadly than a lunatic who hated you was one who did not.

Kurano bodies tangled over themselves in a pile, kicking and clawing each other in desperation to find an escape. Most staggered to the apparent exits, blind to anything else. However, one with extensive jewellery and a worn leather jacket noticed Hawks standing to the side and his face transformed through tears to painful hope.

"We'll come quietly, officer. You need to understand it was an unfortunate accident, but we can discuss that when I have a lawyer present..."

He broke off in shock and his mouth worked unpleasantly when Dabi merged from the shadows to stand beside Hawks. The man bolted towards the nearest wall and began climbing up its sides like a spider towards the open air. Scarlet feathers were already waiting for him and plucked the man by the collar to slam him back to the floor. He landed awkwardly, ankles pushed into unnatural angles. Others threw their shoulders against the flimsy-looking door with the realisation they were running not only for their freedom but their lives, unintentionally sending the bottle of vodka flying. What they weren't aware of was that feathers held rotting wood firmly in place, even lining above and below to soundproof their cries from the street.

Dabi tilted his head to the side, and Hawks took that as a signal to create order. A scarlet flurry embedded themselves in wall studs, along with the Kurano's clothing, so that nine men were securely nailed into mouldy drywall. One body lay unmoving on the ground, but they were still breathing at least. The winged hero recognised Machete Man and Finch, who stared at him with wide-eyed horror. Oddly, it was always villains who were the most disgusted with his double-life.