Substitute Nightmare

Chapter 7: Keigo Needs Cuddles

Hawks let out a low whistle as Ryan came out of her bedroom wearing leather pants, and an electric blue halter top that showed off her back. On her arm she carried a leather jacket, and did a little spin to indulge him before slipping it on and tossing her hair over the collar.

"Wow, it's been awhile since I've seen you in this." He took her hands and placed kisses on them. "Mmm, a personal favorite of mine."

"Well don't look too much into it. It just so happens that this outfit is also a personal favorite of mine, and is perfect for driving my ride." She dangled the keys and snagged her purse from the counter. "You ready?"

"Born ready…" He started to wrap an arm around her. "I was thinking we'd go to that bar where we met..."

"Oh no," she shrugged him off and held up a finger. "No, no, no this is not a walk down memory lane. This is not a let's drag up old feelings and get intimate and sentimental. We are going somewhere new, where it can just be two friends having a good time. The last thing I need is the media getting a whiff of this little…" she motioned the distance between them. "...whatever this is."

"Stingy…" he puffed out his cheeks, but then shrugged it off. "Alright, alright, how about dinner? There's a family bar here in town that I'd like to try out."

Ryan snapped her fingers.

"Sounds great, let's do that." She quickly opened the door and he laughed as she motioned him to hurry out the apartment. "Come on!"

"Geez you're pushy." He strolled out, and waited for her to close the door and lock up. "Will you relax?" He took her hand in his and laced their fingers. "It's just us… no cameras, no mics, no interrogation. I made you a promise didn't I?"

"Yes you did, but you also work for the most suspicious and nosy government in the world. So forgive me if I seem a bit tense." She wriggled her fingers free and stuck both hands in her pockets.

"This coming from the woman who used to work for the CIA." He pointed out as they got into the elevator and rode it down to the parking garage.

"Okay so maybe every government program is nosy and suspicious… except for Australia, they're always so relaxed and carefree down there." She shrugged it off. "What's their secret, I wonder?"

"Heck if I know… surfing?" He shrugged and stepped out when the elevator doors opened. He let out another whistle when she untarped her motorcycle. "Wow, you really went all out."

"Hey they offered to do modifications so I took them up on their offer and made them pay through the nose." She slid a hand over the sleek metal before pulling out her helmet and tossing him the spare. "Are you riding or flying?"

"I don't normally do ground transportation, but for you, kitten, I'll happily clip my wings for a night." He put on the helmet and folded his wings firm against his back.

"You just want an excuse to put your arms around me." She slung a leg over and scooted up so he could do the same.

"Guilty." He pressed firmly against her back and wrapped his arms close around her. "Is it so bad though?"

No, Ryan thought, glancing over her shoulder at him, it really wasn't.

"Just don't distract me or we'll both regret it." She thrust her leg, the motorcycle bouncing a little under them from the kickstart. The engine purred with life, and Hawks had an insane urge to moan as the vibration hummed through their bodies.

"You might be asking a bit too much of ME, WHOA! WOOHOO!"

His words reverted to shouts of excitement as Ryan sent the motorcycle speeding off. With absolute ease she melded into the bustling traffic and maneuvered through vehicles and streetlanes at high speed.

Nothing beat flying freely, but he had to admit that this method of transportation came a close second. Everything was so fast, and the wind whipped at their jackets making them billow like capes. He was pressed so close to Ryan that he could hear her rapid beating heart, and catch the scent of her perfume. He found himself closing his eyes, and just enjoying the intimacy, and absolute freedom of the ride.

"Wanna tell me what direction I'm going in, fly boy?" Ryan shouted back at him and snapped him back to reality.

"Oh right… shoot we passed it." He turned a little, jerking his thumb. "It was back on Dune street."

"Stop spacing out, bird brain or I'm gonna call this little excursion off." She popped a quick U-turn, jerking her body in the opposite direction so they wouldn't tip over. She drove back down to Dune street and spotted the family bar in question. She pulled into a spot right up front and pulled off her helmet tossing her curly locks around.

"Sorry, I was enjoying the ride." He pulled the helmet off. "It's not often I indulge in this kind of transportation."

"Yeah well when you can fly, what's the point in keeping your feet on the ground?" She smirked. "Aren't you the one that says those with wings should always find a way to fly?"

"Indeed I did," he handed her the helmet, their fingertips brushing. Something ran hot between them… an instant spark of attraction that both of them were all too familiar with. "Hey Ryan-"

"Oh my god! It really is him! Hawks over here!"

"Hmmm?" Hawks turned and waved to the citizens who recognized him. "Oh hey, how's it going?"

"Can we get a picture?" they held up their phones, sheer excitement on their faces.

"Sure, if you don't mind my date being in the shot."

"Date!?" The two looked at Ryan as Hawks hooked an arm around her shoulders.

"Shut up, don't get me involved in your paparazzi shot." She elbowed him hard in the ribs and offered a smile. "I'm not his date, just his charge. Pretend that I'm not even here."

"So you're not his girlfriend?" They looked relieved

"Not anymore…" she glanced back at Hawks, the two sharing a serious look. "Take your pictures and then let's eat."

"Sure... ladies?" Hawks forced a smile and hugged the girl's shoulders while leaning his face in for the group selfie.

"Ever the ladies man…" Ryan shook her head and turned her back to them in order to check some things on her phone.

Hawks finished the picture and gave the girls a polite wave. As they left, he took in the sight of Ryan's silhouette against the bright lights of the diner. His fingers itched to touch her again, to feel that instant spark. It had always been like that, ever since they met right after his Top 10 debut…

~Flashback~

"CONGRATULATIONS!" A group of young heroes clinked glasses together as they celebrated. The bar was packed with people. Women clung to Hawks as his invigorating presence overtook the room.

"The youngest hero to grace the top ten! Way to go Hawks." Fleet, one of his neighboring heroes, handed him another glass of champagne. "I don't know how you did it, but you did it!"

"Thanks, I'm glad to see all the hard work has been paying off." Hawks grinned leaning back in the booth and letting the girl's just flaunt all over him. "I gotta say I'm enjoying the attention."

"Eat it up while you can, because starting next week you're gonna be taking calls like crazy." Fleet agreed and clinked glasses with him again. Hawks lifted the drink to his lips and paused when the door to the bar opened and a lady in red walked through the door.

She was a vision, bold and vibrant. The dress she wore was a tight smooth fabric that left little to the imagination. Her silhouette was made of curves and angles, sharp and intense on the face, yet soft and smooth in the body.

"Hey Hawks… you're drooling." Fleet snickered and tossed a napkin at his head. "Don't you have enough ladies taking up space?"

"Eh I've got some room on my lap." He smirked, and nodded his head to the pouting females. "Pardon me ladies, I'm just gonna go see if the pretty foreigner would like to join us."

He stood up as Ryan approached and he waved a hand at her.

"Hey, how's it going?" He stopped her path, and caught the irritated look in her eyes before turning up the charm. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but notice that you're alone. Why don't you join my friends and I for a drink?."

"No, thank you." Ryan spoke in English,the sound of her voice sending little jolts of pleasure up Hawks' spine. "I'm meeting someone."

"Wow, American huh? Must be pretty lonely being so far from home" He reached out, snagging a lock of hair. He watched her cheeks go flush and their eyes met. "You sure you don't wanna join us?"

"No, I'm sorry it does sound like fun, but I'm rather busy." She tried to step aside but he gave her hair a tug stopping her, in her tracks. "Please, I'm very late."

"You say no, but I get the feeling you really wanna say yes." He felt the heat and surge right in his gut now. He'd never been so instantly attracted to a woman before. He could tell he wasn't the only one that felt it either. Something in her eyes let him know that she was just as attracted as he was. "What's stopping you?"

"Look. Boy. " She said it more firmly now, and smacked his hand away. "I said no… and in case you don't understand English." She spoke sharply in Japanese now, those cat-like eyes practically glowing with intensity. "MOVE."

Hawks heard the command… and numbly stepped aside. Ryan lifted her head high and proud and briskly rushed past him.

Well, that little encounter just made all the warning bells in his head go off. Perhaps it was just his hero training that was making him suspicious… but there was something more to this woman than what his eyes were telling him. He wanted to know who she was meeting, and why it was so important. As Ryan brushed by, he slipped a feather into the purse hanging on her hip and wandered back to his table.

"Pretty foreign, indeed." The blonde girl in his group pouted as Hawks rejoined them. "What was her problem? Is she too good to hang out with us, or something?"

"Nah, it's nothing like that. She's just meeting a friend." Hawks sat back down, tilting his head back to eye Ryan, smiling at the bartender. With his wings closed he had a hard time hearing their conversation… everything was a whisper and it was difficult to mix out the noises of the bar… but he could just make out what they were saying.

"You took a big risk coming directly to me." The Bartender warned, his thick hands casually wiping out a glass as Ryan leaned in closer to whisper.

"Big risk often means bigger reward." She casually lay her cheek into her hand. "Besides, I don't trust anyone else to handle this case, but me."

"Whatever you say, Hellcat."

Hellcat? Hawks had to smirk at the codename. It definitely suited her, and her feline presence. Except for her eyes, there weren't any physical feline traits… but the purr in her voice, that slinky walk, and coy little smile all reminded him of a cat that had a mouth full of canary.

"Do you at least have the payment?"

"Of course… I never come empty handed." She reached for her purse, and scowled as she found the feather. Ryan snagged the envelope and buried the feather deeper in her bag. She pulled out a pen and paper along with the envelope and wrote something down on the path. "What time do you get off tonight? We can go for a coffee once we're done with business."

"Coffee?" He eyed the note, and his jaw tightened a little. "I'm not really a fan. I wouldn't mind tea though."

"Perfect. Why don't I meet you at that late night cafe? It'll be my treat." She slid the money across the counter all the way.

"Sounds perfect." He reached into his pocket and slid the USB drive in the same nonchalant manner. "I'll see you then."

"Pleasure doing business with yah." She slipped the flash drive into her bra rather than her purse then slid off the barstool. "Tootles."

She slunk out the bar, her and Hawks meeting eyes again but this time with considerable more heat. She didn't want to cause a scene so instead she kept walking out the bar and circled around to the alley.

The nerve of that second rate hero poking his nose into her business. She was gonna have to punish him for his insubordination. She pulled the feather out of her bag and eyed the small nub on the end. She was right… It was a listening device.

"Amateur…" She spoke directly into it. "If you really want to know what my business is, birdboy, I suggest you meet me on the roof of the building so we can have this out. I'd rather not have any witnesses to what I'm about to do to you."

"Hooo…" Hawks smirked into his drink, and gave a little shudder. Now he was both aroused, and intrigued. "Things just got interesting." He stood up. "Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to call it short."

"Why, where are you going?" Fleet asked with a raised brow. Hawks answered by placing a finger over his lips and winking.

"It's a secret." He saluted and walked briskly out. He took a moment to collect his breath then flew up to the roof, his eyes scanning for the lady in red. "Hmmm?"

"So how exactly does this work, I wonder?"

Hawks shuddered and did a quick spin around. He realized she was still talking directly into his feather. She was nearby, he could sense his feather moving but the sensation of her hot breath brushing the tip made it hard for him to focus on exactly where.

"Is it a microphone? A camera? Or is it just you listening to me right now? There's a purpose for this little nub isn't there… and I'm rather intrigued on figuring out exactly what it's for and why you insisted on using it to spy on me,"

"Speaking in Japanese now? Maybe you're not as foreign as I thought." He laughed, but felt sweat dampening at his temples. "Come on out so we can talk. Otherwise I'll need to report you to the HPSC."

"No need… they already know why I'm here." She stepped out of the shadows. The dress discarded for a full body costume. The black Ops uniform put him at ease, as did the CIA badge she held out to him.

"That was a quick change." He took the badge, and read the name. "Ryan Clark, pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, I suppose. You're not the only one who moves fast, Mr. Hawks." She accepted her badge and lifted his feather up, tickling his nose with it. "Though I'd work a lot faster if noobs like you wouldn't poke their nose into my business. I was speaking with an informant, and now the information is compromised because you put a listening device into my purse. Not cool."

"My apologies… but your little trick down there put me on edge."

"You wouldn't move, so I made you." She waved him off. "I don't have time for flirtatious heroes with too much time on their hands."

"I won't have much time starting next week. I'm a pro hero now, and the only hero to ever make it onto the top ten while still a rookie." He shrugged. "I'm simply enjoying my spare time while I still have it."

"For a top pro you sure like to make a damn fool of yourself." She crossed her arms. "Are you satisfied with my answers or do you need further divulging of my time sensitive mission?"

"I'd be more satisfied if you'd just smile more, kitten." He teased and had her cheeks flushing.

"Kit-" she growled. "Don't call me that. What the hell is wrong with you? Has your position as the HSPC's stool pigeon completely erased you of all your country's ethics?"

"I'd hardly call myself a stool pigeon." He rubbed his inner ear, playing innocent. "I'm probably more of a lap dog than anything."

"Hardly… you're not so much their pet as you are their tool. I should know, because I'm in the same boat as you. We're slaves to our respective governments."

"I'd hardly call us slaves. We both get paid for our work, or at the very least I do." He pointed out.

"A wealthy slave is still a slave, Mr. Hawks." Ryan lifted her chin. "So long as they have the power to force you to do something you don't want to, you'll never have true freedom."

"...and being an American you know all about freedom, don't you." He gave her a mock salute.

"No… I don't know a thing about freedom, because I've never had it." She turned her back to him. "Stay out of my way, rookie. Top hero or not, I prefer working alone."

"Hey… what did you mean when you said you've never had freedom before?" Hawks followed her to the edge of the roof. High winds blew her hair around, and he found himself staring as she turned her face slowly back to meet his eyes. The look in them, the sadness that radiated from them, made his heart break for her.

"It's a secret…" her lips slowly smile, but the sadness stayed in her eyes. "One I'm not ready to divulge with anyone." She stepped off the roof and he peeked over the edge, watching her elegantly, and soundlessly scale down and land safely on the ground.

"I get the feeling your life is full of secrets, Miss Clark." Hawks' smile slowly formed again. "I can't wait to figure them out."

~Present Time~

"Hawks… Hawks… HAWKS!" Ryan gave his arm a shove. "Geez, snap out of it. What in the hell has you so distracted? You've been staring out into space ever since we ordered. Your food is getting cold." She motioned with her chopsticks down to his plate.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I got lost in my own thoughts." He laughed it off and rubbed the back of his head. He pried apart his chopsticks and dug into his food. "So how does it feel to have true freedom?"

"Huh?" Ryan raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"When we first met you told me you'd never experienced true freedom. After I learned about your past with the military and the government, I figured that's what you meant. Now that you're a pro hero with your own hours and your own rules it must feel great." He stuffed his mouth full of meat and chewed thoroughly.

"Ugh, so that's why you've been so weird and distracted? I told you this isn't about reminiscing, Hawks."

"Well I don't think we have much of a choice there, Kitten. There's way too much history between us to not bring it up." He watched her move rice around on her plate. She knew he was right, which was why she was avoiding answering him. "Do you remember when we kissed for the first time?"

"Yes… but I'm genuinely surprised that you do. You were completely wasted when it happened." She couldn't help it, she cracked a smile.

"True… but we both enjoyed it." He took her hand in his and stroked a thumb over her knuckles. "Right?"

Ryan eyed his hand, and found herself giving it a slight squeeze just like his words squeezed her heart.

"Yes… we did."

~Flashback~

Ryan stumbled into her hotel room with Hawks leaning heavily on her. The guy reeked of the sake he had indulged in, and wished she'd had the foresight to call one of his sidekicks to come pick him up.

"That is the last time I'll agree to have drinks with you." She reached for the light and nearly toppled as Hawks leaned in with her. "Damn it, Hawks, stand up straight or fall on your own. Don't drag me with you." She let him fall to the floor as she closed and locked the door and set her accessories down. She peeled off her leather jacket and slung it over the armchair. "The least you could have done was tell me where you live so I could plop you on your front door stoop rather than keep you here with me. If my dad finds out I brought a man here, I'm gonna get such a lecture."

"There once was a boy from Kyushu… a kid nobody knew… his hobbies so far and few." Hawks drunkenly carried a tune, a slurred and offkey one. He crawled along the carpet, his wings spreading and knocking over a lamp. Ryan quickly caught it and huffed.

"Oh so now you're a song bird? Geez you're lame, how come you don't act this way in front of your fans and coworkers?" She laughed at him and dragged his body towards the couch.

"His parents called him Keigo… and left him so low… that he hoped for something new."

"Keigo?" Ryan raised a brow, and hefted him up onto the couch. As she did so, Hawks pulled her down with him and hugged her tight. "What the… HEY!"

"I just remembered… I don't like this song." He murmured to her.

"Yeah, I agree it's kinda lame. Mind letting me go, now?"

"No, no no it's no thatbits lame… it's just… sad." He buried his face in her hair. "Keigo he… he never knew what it was like to be loved by someone."

"Oh… uh well… I can see why you don't like it then." She gave his back a little pat and let out a huff as Hawks snuggled in closer. "Oh good grief."

"This feels nice." He sighed softly and nuzzled into her hair. "I've never cuddled anyone before."

"I kinda find that hard to believe…" she patted his face. "Come on Hawks, let me up."

"It's true." He rolled them over so she was now pinned between him and the cushions. "I've never been cuddled… by anyone. Just like the song, I've never known what it was like to be loved by someone."

"I see…" Ryan's eyes softened and she stroked a hand over his face. "Is that your real name? Keigo?"

"Oh crap…" he lay his head on her shoulder. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Shhhhhh don't tell anyone. It's a secret. No one can know who I was."

"Okay, okay… shhhh…" she patted his back comfortingly. "I won't tell anyone your real name. It'll be our little secret."

"More secrets?" He sighed heavily and pulled back to look into her eyes. "I don't want more secrets… what I want are answers." He cupped her face in his hands. "We live very secretive lives… but we should have someone to tell those secrets to. Someone we trust."

"And you trust me?" She laughed.

"Nope… not even a lil bit." He held his fingers up and squished them together. "...but I want to. I want to know who Ryan Clark is, what she likes, dislikes, her hobbies and what her family is like."

"There's not much to tell…" Ryan shrugged it off but Hawks wouldn't drop it.

"Tell me something… something you've never told to another soul."

"Uh… geez okay…" Ryan tried to think and gave a shrug. "I hate my job."

"That's not a secret, any idiot can tell you hate your job."

"Okay but do you know why I hate my job?"

"No…" he pillowed his head on her breast, liking the way her face flushed in reaction. "Why?"

"I hate authority." She slowly sat up and Hawks sat up with her. "I hate being told what to do, and how to do it. I trained to be a hero so I could have that freedom but I'm constantly being told I'd never make it on my own. That I would always need someone to dictate my actions."

"So what's stopping you from proving them wrong?" Hawks reached up and stroked a hand over her cheek. "Do you doubt yourself?"

"No…" because he seemed genuinely interested, her attraction to him grew. She leaned into his hand. "It's kinda complicated. Basically I'm just waiting for the opportune moment."

"I'd say now is the opportune moment." He cupped her other cheek and leant down to kiss her lips. The soft touch made Ryan croon and she slowly closed her eyes and indulged in the gesture of affection. "Be you, do you, and don't let anyone tell you differently."

"Thanks, I will." She smiled softly, the kiss having stirred her desire for him. "Does Keigo want more cuddles?"

"Yes please." Hawks lay all the way back down on top of her, and buried his face in the crook of her neck nuzzling there. "Though, don't call me that in public. Remember it's OUR secret."

"Okay." She smiled and stroked her fingers through his hair. "Your secret is safe with me."

~Ask Briry~

Bri: sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I was going through hell and needed a breather. Hopefully this was worth the wait.

Next Chapter: My money's on you, kid