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If anyone ever found out the real reason why Hawks had darted out of the meeting, he would have been good as dead. Heroes fraternizing with villains wasn't exactly looked at in a positive light, after all. Of course, Hawks had long stopped caring about that little thing.
To start at the beginning of the incident, Hawks had been forced to attend a regular meeting with the other top heroes and the HPSC, where all the information, if it could have even really been called that, could have easily been summed up in an email.
Villain capture rates, popularity poles, business ventures between one another. It was the same every time, and it dragged on for hours. Hawks had taken to considering it psychological torture training.
He had been zoning out starting on the third hour, when he felt it.
"It's broken," he gasped under his breath. Mirko gave him a glance, but he ignored it. Dabi was in trouble. Hawks pretended to press a com in his ear that wasn't there and put on a fully alert look that had more gazes drift to him.
Hawks pushed away from the table, standing up quickly in a smooth motion. "Sorry," he said to the room, moving to open a window with a carefree smile. "There's been an incident, I have to go."
"Do you need help?" Kamui Woods asked.
"Nope, thanks though." Hawks gave a wave and shot out the window before anyone could ask any more questions. Once he was far enough away, he let his smile drop, fully focusing on the last location of the feather he had given Dabi.
He had broken Hawks' feather, and he would have never done that unless he was backed into a spot he knew he couldn't get out of.
Hawks pushed himself to go faster, he didn't know what had happened, but something told him he would barely get there on time.
Maybe he should have just left, not like the consequences would be that much different regardless.
The old warehouse that he had traced the feather to was heavily smoking on one side. Hawks flew in regardless. It was a good thing, because there laid Dabi, alone on the floor, clutching his feather.
Hawked rolled him over, taking stock of the situation. He was badly injured and unconscious, but he was alive. Closer to the fire, there was a group of badly burned people sprawled across the floor. They had clearly been the ones to hurt Dabi.
The building was creaking, and parts of the walls and ceiling were crumbling down. It was going to collapse at any minute. Hawks knew he should have dragged the other people out, but he didn't care about what happened to them. Instead, he gently picked up Dabi in a bridal carry.
There was a league safehouse not too far. It wouldn't be as well stocked as either of their main apartments, but it would do.
Hawks took precautions to avoid detection, including backtracking as much as he dared with Dabi in the condition he was in. He didn't want to encourage anyone, hero or villain, to follow him and take advantage of their current predicament.
Hawks placed Dabi onto the bed in the safehouse. Usually, when the flame villain was asleep, he looked peaceful. This was not one of those times. Hawks sent out his feathers to cut off Dabi's clothes and grab the medical grade first aid kit, so he could start cleaning and patching up his wounds.
Dabi's burns were all further aggravated, and there were multiple cuts and large gashes littering his body that were bleeding sluggishly.
Hawks took a rag and started to wipe Dabi down, eliciting a pained sound as it passed over a particularly bad cut on his healthy skin. A flicker of fire danced across Dabi's fingers before Hawks took ahold of his hand.
"It's just me."
Dabi blinked, not saying anything and just looking at him for a long minute. "You actually came." There was a hint of disbelief to his voice.
"You needed me."
Dabi swallowed and looked away.
They didn't speak anymore as Hawks finished applying salves and dressing the wounds. He even replaced a few staples, making sure nothing would catch and cause more injuries than Dabi already had.
Once Dabi was in clean clothes, and more of his body covered in bandages than not, he looked back into Hawks' eyes. "Thanks," he said.
"It wasn't a big deal, really."
He was sure Dabi didn't fully believe him, but he didn't call him out on it. That was the nice thing about him. He didn't need explanations. He weirdly understood. Dabi put a hand over his.
It wasn't luxurious, the two of them in the ratty little safe house, but it was peaceful. Hawks let out a soft sigh. Something told him the little piece of the world they had carved out for themselves wouldn't last, but he would still take advantage of it while it existed.