A/n: TW (suicide, mental illness)
Please read this chapter at your own discretion.
WEEK 2 IN CAPTIVITY
Hands softer than silk caressed your cheeks as you gazed into eyes brighter than any precious ruby or crimson sun. Your heart swelled with love as you fiddled with the diamond on your ring finger, the hands that once held your face now following suit.
"I'm so happy I found you." That raspy voice you all but worship launched your heart into a flutter of butterflies, his very presence in this world reminded you that good exists. After living half of your life feeling nothing but loneliness, anxiety, fear...finally having Katsuki Bakugo in your life made it feel worth living. This constant chase after his light and smile was what tethered you to the notion of waking up each day.
And the warmth of his arms was the only sense of security you had.
"I'm finally your wife...took you long enough to ask," You smiled, tears falling down your cheeks despite your cheery expression. Katsuki suddenly looked concerned as he wiped your tears. He appeared so much more mature than his teenaged self...and it made you love him even more.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
It was as if those words opened a rift, and your heart suddenly felt like it was being torn apart.
"I don't know." The tears spilled even faster and you completely lost control. Despite your confusion, you felt like your soul was pleading, begging for you to hold onto Katsuki. You reached for his hands but no matter how far you lunged, you couldn't reach him.
"Don't go Katsuki! Please! Don't leave me here! I can't do this anymore! I can't hold on!" You pleaded for him with everything you had and more...and he was reaching for you, but like you, there seemed to be an everlasting distance between the two of you. "KATSUKI! I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!"
You couldn't hear what he was yelling back to you...but just as he vanished completely, you heard another voice.
A voice layered in years of hatred...a voice that laughed at you pain for the last two weeks.
"No one is coming to save you."
You woke up after someone shook your shoulder, soaked in your own tears as an empty feeling greater than any hunger haunted your malnourished frame. With your eyes still bound and blind, you simply laid limp on your prison cot with defeat settling deep in your bones.
The days began to melt into one another for you.
You were stuck in neverending darkness for almost two weeks now and if you didn't have Eri to talk to, you would have been on the brink of insanity. Each day was agony to live through...with your time in the cell being spent on the brink of starvation and every moment outside of the cell was immersed in excruciating experimentation or just straight up torture. You've never been through something like this in your life...and honestly you didn't have the strength to carry on with it anymore.
Sleep only carried you off into peace for maybe three to four hours each day until the rumbling of your stomach or aches in your bones woke you up. Exhaustion and soreness made each movement of your body exhausting for you...and so you didn't even try. Your first few days were spent trying everything you could to figure out to escape...but you were underground with no regular patrol, no key slot to pick, no guard to bribe. Thanks to the constant torture sessions and experimentation, your body became too weak to fight back.
But Eri has been untouched since your arrival, and the little girl was one of the only things keeping you alive at this point.
Eri and Katsuki.
He appeared every night in your dreams, almost like a reminder to keep trying each day...to keep waking up...to keep breathing... and you have been succeeding because of it.
For some reason though...today it was even harder to try and pull air into your weak lungs...to draw breath and keep going. You just wanted this pain to stop...you wanted this all to stop. You didn't care if the villains won at this point...you just wanted to feel nothing at all if it meant you wouldn't feel pain.
"(y/n)? Are you awake?" A small voice called out for you, and you couldn't even expend the energy to reply. Sweet little Eri...sweet Eri...how cruel of a world you have been living in...how have you had more strength to bear with this pain than I? What do you keep living for? For what reason do you wake up each day? "(y/n)...there's a new guard here...he asked me to wake you up."
The scent of smoke and flame engulfed one of the only senses you had left...and for the first time in your life, smelling that familiar stench of ash brought you intense joy.
"Dabi?" You called out his name as you weakly sat up, Eri helping to prop you up on the bed as you gasped in pain. Eri's round red eyes looked up at you in worry, the little girl doing everything she could to help you. She saw how thin you've gotten since your arrival...how your cheeks began to become hollow and your once smooth skin was covered in bruises and scars. Eri lived each day in fear that the Doctor would take you for an appointment and you would never come back.
"Hey sweetheart. Can't say I'm digging your new diet...it isn't a good look for ya," The cerulean eyed villain watched you with an irritated expression on his face. Eri helped you stand up and walk to the cell door where you gripped the iron bars with all your strength. Toya Todoroki was not an empathetic person by any means...and he wasn't necessarily your biggest fan either...but he did feel an odd comraderie with you.
Playing with you was like a fun cat and mouse game...one that he never seemed to win and yet he always returned for more. There was this sense of freedom he could exhibit around you since you knew his true name and origin...he didn't have to pretend. The tension created from your history filled him with some foreign sense of excitement and fulfillment...but now it just felt confusing. He should be thrilled you were behind bars...in pain...weak...broken...
But it infuriated him.
Someone interrupted his game...and now the target that was usually on your back has been shifted to the unwelcome player.
"What are you doing here?" Your voice broke into his thoughts as he looked at your frail body, propped up by a child and the last of your energy. Scars from a previous burn sat beneath new ones caused by needles. Flames burned deep within Dabi's gut...and it wasn't from his quirk.
"I came to say hi. Buddies of mine want to take advantage of this Overhaul guy so I've been sent to monitor this facility. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of this Doctor guy or Overhaul...so I'm thinking of spicing things up a bit. I already sent a little notification to the outside world about your...current situation. That was fun." Dabi reached into his pockets to grab two McDonalds cheeseburgers he had picked up earlier, not realizing a child was doing to be in the cell with you. "Eat up champ. These are for you." The scent of cheap, fast food beef was a luxury you never thought you would be relishing, but you started to tear up at the gesture.
"Are you serious? Really? W-why?" You whispered the last part as he handed you the food through the bars. Dabi placed his hands back in his pockets and looked down at Eri with a neutral expression.
"Sorry Lil' girl. I'll bring you a happy meal tomorrow or something." Dabi's gaze then flickered over to you as your tearfully started to eat your burger...just happy to have something other than a steamed potato each day. Eri was thankful of Dabi...and in that moment he seemed like a hero to her.
"That's okay mister. As long as (y/n) gets to eat, I'm happy." Dabi nodded at her and kept his eyes on you.
"I don't like this Doctor. I don't like him at all. He has no flair...no sense of style. Just a jealous old man that lives in the past and the Overhaul guy is just a freak in a mask. I mean he wants to get rid of everyone's quirk except for his own. Lemme ask you a question...if everyone in the world is quirkless, except for one guy, what does that make him? I refuse to serve anyone but myself...and there's no loyalty in the world stronger than that," Dabi ranted as he watched you finish your first burger and split in half the second one for Eri to take a piece. The little girl was reluctant but you pressured her into taking it. She bit into the bun with a light glow in her eyes as she enjoyed the treat...instantly craving more.
"Why are you telling me all this Dabi? And coming to feed me? There's so much I want to know," Your voice held no malice towards him for once...and the villain had no idea how to feel about it. the Toya side of his heart enjoyed your thankful expression and wonder...while his Dabi side felt disgusted with himself. The confusion left him feeling sour deep in his gut.
"I...I don't know."
And with that, Dabi sat down on the floor and spent the rest of your time eating in silence...but he made sure you had eaten everything he gave you. You started to feel your strength come back...and Dabi handed you a rather large pill before he left.
"Sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire (y/n). You got thirty minutes." Maybe it was the sense of defeat in your heart...maybe it was your shock that Dabi was helping you...but at this moment, you trusted him without question.
He turned to walk away and you felt your body surge with energy like it used to...your eyes feeling less sore than before.
Your vision was gray...no longer black...light was able to reach through...
And with that, you knew you could see again.
The bandages flew off your face as quickly as you could yank them off as adrenaline ran through your system like a parade of horses. The first thing you did was pick up Eri and try to teleport as far away as you could...but you couldn't. It was like your quirk was blocked. Instead you tried to ghost...and your hand went right through the metal bars.
"Eri..." You released an airy breath as your first spark of hope since you've reached this god forsaken place permiated through your body. Who would have thought the man responsible for the razing of your village would have been the one who inspired you to keep on fighting...keep on living...
...to keep on surviving.
You couldn't feel your weak aching legs nor your protesting arms from carrying the little girl. The hero you was not here...the mercenary you was not here...it was the scared eight year old version of you that ran from the cerulean flames that engulfed the snowy Winter night of your past. Now was not the time for a fight. Now was the time to run as fast as your legs could carry you.
"Don't make a sound Eri. We are sneaking out. I only have a little bit...let's make the most of it," You spoke quietly with your eyes darting from left to right, trying to figure out where to go.
Then you realized how warm your right foot was over your left and a smile curled across your cheeks.
"Leaving a trail for me huh, Dabi?" You whispered to yourself as you took off running as fast as you could. The maze of halls that would have seemed petrifying to you were not an obstacle thanks to Dabi's lingering heat. You followed the trail, occasionally running into guards but you were able to hide in the shadows or phase through walls to escape getting noticed. You had only fifteen minutes to spare when you phased through the final door...the door to the outside world. You could hear the people outside the door, ensuring that they would notice you the moment you walked out of the door.
With a deep breath and no other option, you offered Eri a brilliant smile.
"I'll protect you with my life Eri." The little girl looked up at you with total awe like an infant would her mother as you phased through the door.
"What the hell?!" The first guard noticed, raising alarm for the rest of the gang members stationed around the facility. Like when you were a child and surrounded by lethal wildlife in the forest, you sprinted for your survival. Going right through doors, rooms, and anything else just to try and get outside, but it was like this place was a compound or a mansion. It took nearly ten minutes for you to make it outside of the building and fencing...and by then Overhaul had been alerted and was on the chase.
"If you stop now, I won't kill her!" He yelled out. Eri knew that he was talking to her...and that it was your life he was threatening. Despite this, you didn't even look back and just kept running with fervent focus in your scarlet eyes. Your body was breaking on you, your lungs burning with intense searing pain, your eyes starting to lose their focus...whatever Dabi gave you was wearing out, and you were about to become the weak and crumpled mess you were before the villain had saved you.
You made it to an alleyway when your knee nearly buckled...and even Eri recognized you had only what must have been seconds left before the medication wore off.
One of us is going to be left behind...I can't carry her anymore...
"Eri...listen to me...I need you to run. Run as fast as you can and don't stop. You have to get away. Okay? Don't worry about me. I'll be okay," A broken croak of a voice that was somehow yours tumbled from your lips.
Without Eri...without Katsuki...stuck in the neverending cycle of torture...there was no way you could survive it. By letting Eri go and be free, you were signing your own death warrant and Eri knew this too.
"(y/n) we can run together okay! I'll hold your hand! We'll go together!" She pleaded with tears pouring down her cheeks...and yet you still set her on the ground with heavy breaths berating your lungs.
"Eri...I can't...I can't run anymore...my body is breaking on me...I can't continue...but you can. Please. Do it for me okay? Run until you see a pro hero...and if you see the hero, tell them you want to see Endeavor." Eri was reluctant but you shoved her away as Overhaul finally was within sight of you. "SURVIVE!" You yelled out, just like your father all those years ago.
And just like you, Eri turned away and sprinted without ever looking back.
"I'm so sorry Katsuki..." You whispered as your legs crumpled to the ground, your vision losing focus, and then the light once again. The vibrations of Overhaul approaching felt like a bell toll...but for some reason, despite your agony and loss, Eri's escape felt like a victory.
"I suppose you think you're heroic," Overhaul's voice called out to you, his hand resting on your shoulder. Death was only a moment away...and yet it still didn't come. Instead he continued to walk forward towards where Eri ran off. "You have only delayed us for the day...and succeeded in separating the two of you. She'll come back to me if I just threaten your life. Toys like that are so easy to play with," Overhaul continued to say.
You smelled smoke and ash...and knew Dabi was following behind Overhaul.
"What do you want me to do with her?" Dabi asked him. If Dabi was interacting so casually with Overhaul, you realized that the League must have definitely joined up with Overhaul's group...but it was clear with Dabi's earlier generosity that it was a betrayal in the making.
"Take her back to her cell...and maybe this time you can keep her company instead of the girl...the girl will be staying with me for now on."
"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!" You screamed out as Dabi picked you up in his arms so naturally. Who knew the heavy sent of fire could have been so relieving? "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU OVERHAUL! DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY ERI!" The threats were desperate just like your rage, almost begging moreso than scary. Overhaul just ignored your screams and made it to the end of the alleyway where young Eri had ran into two young heroes...both of them recognizing the desperate pleas of a woman they hadn't seen in weeks.
Dabi held you within his grasp silently as you wept in his arms, absolutely petrified of going back into the cell. You gripped his leather clad arms as tightly as you could...the two of you out of ear shot of Overhaul and the others now.
"Please don't take me back Toya...please, please, please. Don't take me back. I can't do it anymore. I'm not strong enough...I can't do it anymore Toya please," You sobbed without a shred of pride. His grip tightened just a sliver and with the rock in his throat, even the villain that burned your villagers alive realized there must have been a heart in his chest somewhere.
Hearing his real name like that...begging for him to be the only one to save you...it reminded him of the direction his life was heading so many years ago...
Before hate filled his heart.
"I'm sorry...But the heroes know you're here so just wait a bit longer." Was all Dabi said with genuine emotion in his voice. He wasn't a nurturing man and this whole situation made him really confused. He didn't understand why it bothered him so much that someone else was fucking your life up...why they instilled fear in you so much worse than he ever did. Dabi also didn't understand why he didn't react to you by making you suffer more instead of giving you food and a temporary revival pill created from Eri's quirk itself.
Instead, Dabi sent a warning to Endeavor...flooded the black market with stolen goods from the Doctor to signal Hawks...and volunteered to Shigaraki to oversee this building just to check on you.
Toya Todoroki carried you in his scarred arms back to your cell and finally realized why he felt this way about you over all others. Your bodies matched in scars and bruises...traumatizing childhoods...secrets aliases and the desire to hide your true names...
Despite being his sworn enemy, the two of you understood each other...and maybe that's why you never killed Dabi...and why he laid you down on your cot, a knife prepared in his pocket to slit the Doctor's throat tonight and then burn his corpse.
~~
A/n
(y/n)'s back and Dabi too! I know it wasn't the massive fight that y'all were thinking but don't worry! The squad is investigating (y/n)'s disappearance still!
What do we think about Dabi?
How are we feeling after the depressing start of the chapter? I wanted to put a TW since I know sometimes emotional descriptions could be more upsetting than violence.
Let me know if I can better improve TW descriptions or be more accommodating to you readers...I want to provide a safe place for you guys to read but also enjoy a complex story with the full range of human emotion.
Thanks so much for this lovely art sweet_lavender !!! She is so beautiful!!!
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
-v4k