Memories

The silhouette of rustling branches through the window danced across the room, the sun's shining rays streaking along Jun's half-asleep form. While murmuring slightly, one hand balled a clump of sheets into her fist as her lids slowly creased open to reveal a wrinkled yet empty spot beside her. Judging by the neatly folded blankets perched on the living room couch, Hawks didn't come home last night. Or the night before. Inhaling contently, Jun knew he was alright. Her heart skipped erratically over recalling what happened the other night – what she had done, how he reciprocated so eagerly, and the simple act of affection that followed soon after.

This feeling… it was so beautiful, yet so terrifying.

There was no question that Jun and Hawks were both learning to navigate this new feeling of affection. It was new territory for the both of them. But damn if it didn't feel wonderful. It was a powerful drive that made Jun all too eager to give it her all, even if it was exhausting. Even if it meant waking up alone.

Jun rubbed lazily at her eye while stepping into the lounge, only to pause immediately in place upon spotting something unusual near the balcony.

What the heck is that?

A box the size of a plastic bag sat innocently on the floor. On it was decorations of feathers hastily scribbled in pen tied in a simple red bow with a small note hanging on the front. Like a homemade present. Hawks was planning to not be home for a while, and he got the bright idea to make a quick pitstop to his house between shifts, Jun figured.

Confused yet curious, she opened it in surprise to find a burgundy-colored throw pillow, along with a note – scribbled on it is a picture of Hawks with his eyes closed and upturned in delight while one hand held up his middle and pointer finger, giving a victory sign, that he likely scribbled himself, along with the message:

'Hey, baby!'

'Night's been crazy. Not sure when I can make it home. Wanted to leave you this in the meantime. After all, I've seen that ironing board you call a pillow. Give this one a try – and give it a good fluff or two to find out what makes it so special~'

'Back soon~'

'Still your Number One Hero,'

'~Hawks'

The red velvet pillow was stuffed to the brim with what Jun deduced as molted feathers of her cocky friend – boyfriend?

Chuckling in amusement, she took out her own scrap of paper and jotted something down out of fun, leaving it on the kitchen table in its place. It simply read:

'You're a punk.'

'Signed, your Number One Fan.'

'P.S. - Thanks.'

Upon setting down the note, Jun felt a mysterious tap against her left shoulder. She gasped, half expecting some creep to be there to snatch her up, only to her confusion, no one was even there. Then that same eager tapping on her right shoulder. Screaming in pure terror, Jun leaped in that direction and shielded the pillow up to her chest in self-defense. Then to the left of her, laughter struck.

"Ahahaha! N-no way, it worked!" Hawks bellowed, his hand slapped over his forehead. "You just fell for the oldest trick in the book, babe!"

"Do you feel as though your life is in danger? Cause it is!" Jun tackled Hawks into a hug, causing him to take one step back from the impact. His laughter died down as his arms wrapped around her and squeezed her closer in response. He couldn't stay long, Jun knew, but every second spent with him was precious in her eyes. Even though the humiliating laughter echoing in her mind for falling for the easiest prank out there was sure to haunt her dreams.

His stubble began grating against Jun's cheek, prompting a tiny "ow" to escape her lips.

"Hm?" Hawks peeked his eyes open. "Somethin' up?"

"N-no, it's nothing. No worries about it."

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I started back from where I left off, right?" Pulling Jun back to him, he then rubbed his cheek deliberately against hers, making sure to cause as much friction as possible.

"Ow, Hawks, you jerk!" One of her hands were placed against his cheek, creating a small wedge between the two as Jun pushed against his face to try coyly to escape his playful assault all while he laughed, his cheek bulging from the force of her palm.

"Where're you off to? I thought you said it was nothing!" he jokingly defended himself while she continued to push his face.

"What – uhnf – are you doing here anyway? It's the middle of the day, there's no way your day's over."

"Ah, right." He finally showed Jun mercy and stepped away from her squirming form. "I'm looking into a case for the agency. I swooped by to grab a few things that'd sure to help."

"Case?" she asked with clear curiosity in her eyes. "You don't mention that every day."

"Probably 'cause it's confidential, dove. I gotta get go-"

"Hold on now, this is new. Usually your cases go straight to your sidekicks. What's so special about this one? You can let me in on it! Who would I even tell? Right?"

At Jun's unusual enthusiasm, Hawks chuckled. "Alright I'll spare some details, for your effort."

His smile then vanished, and his expression morphed into a stern one. As if she kicked on his professional side.

"Lately there's been multiple reports of suspicious activity with certain businesses that seemed to appear out of thin air. The families of employees reported them acting strangely zombie-like, acting even more miserable than normal industry workers."

Hawks then pinched his chin between his pointer finger and thumb in serious contemplation. "What's more – what really matters, is that these employees have a high missing-persons record. My sidekick's been on the case for a while now, but the trail's getting cold. My one lead is said to have worked there years back without complaint outside of typical corporate stuff. Since lives are at stake, can't rely on the runner-ups to be quick on their feet, so I'm here to pick up the slack."

Jun blinked for a few moments in a surprising delight. Who new that mystery cases could be so intriguing?

"Y-you know, I've been getting better at this heroing thing. There's even some winter festival happening nearby. Maybe after we solve the case we could 'discreetly' check it out. If you let me come, I could-"

"I'm sorry, baby. There's no time for festivals or training today." He turned to grab what he needed before cocking his head to the side with his eyes shut in reassurance. "Another time, 'kay?"

Without another moment to spare, he was gone.

Pfft, whatever. I had plans anyway…!


Luckily Hawks crashing by reminded Jun of an appointment she had within the hour. The hospital that mended the wound on her chest directed Jun to visit for a periodic checkup to ensure it was healing properly.

Jun sat in the waiting room, bored out of her mind and poking at the outdated magazines on the counter, counting the seconds that scraped by – until distant frantic yelling caught her attention. A man moaning on a stretcher rolled in soon after, with doctors and nurses swarming him in an instant.

"What's the report on this one?!"

"Severe head trauma. Get him to the Emergency Division. Now!"

Huh. I wouldn't want their job, that's for sure.

After her checkup, the reports indicated that she was fine, though recent rigorous physical activity had shown that it was at risk of reopening. She was given the 'OK' to leave as long as she let off on the training and exercise. Yeah, right.

Upon approaching the exit, Jun overheard voices mumbling. It sounded like the doctors from before. On a whim she decided to eavesdrop – what happened out there just sounded too morbid to walk away from now.

"Reports claim that a female family member of the man showed up to his work. There was a brief altercation between the two – all while the woman shouted that 'he'd changed' and demanded that he'd wake up and come home. The family member pushed him out of frustration upon not getting a response, and he toppled over and struck his temple on a wayward pipe, causing delirium. Record that he is in critical condition."

The nearby nurse tapped her pen against her lip. "But the claims say he acted delirious before the altercation. Is that correct?"

"That's correct. Write in the report that the family member described him as 'zombie-like' before things got physical."

'Zombie-like'

Zombie-like…

..

Zombie-like?!

Jun's eyes shot open at the strange coincidence.

There's just no way…!

.

And yet… I wonder…

Slowly Jun's feet tip-toed around the nurses and entered the next room – the one the man was being treated in. No one was in there at the moment, and silently she approached his slumbering form.

Is – is he okay? Maybe I could…

A light green glow accompanied Jun's thoughts as her hands switched on to the idea of being there in case he needed her to save his life.

No, no! Stop it, Jun. Don't get all soft and fall into that trap again, just because someone else now knows-

A harrowing noise forced Jun out of her thoughts as the man reawakened with a disturbed gasp. His hysterical eyes darted around the room while making garbled babbling noises as she took a few startled steps back. That's when Jun realized that she really weren't supposed to be there. On her way out, the man calmed down and muttered something that stopped Jun in her tracks –

"This… this isn't right…? I was just at – no. My – my head. Mind – control?" His voice grew louder and every syllable as his hands grasped frantically at the bandages on his head. "False memory? Ugh… get – get out. Get away from my head! It isn't real. None of this is real! I don't work at that damned festival! I never did! Stop!"

As the man curled inward and mumbled to himself, thoughts were racing in Jun's mind as well.

Mind control? False memory?

Then, it hit her.

The – the festival! HAWKS!

The automatic slide doors barely opened in time before Jun squeezed out with a sprint. Her hands were busy at work to text the one contact in her phone about the discovery.

In the meantime, Hawks had just finished the interrogation of his one lead, only to come up completely cold – that is, until his phone went off. He glanced at the words on the screen once before his hands went to work without a second of hesitation.

'You want a lead? A guy working at that place is in the hospital complaining of false memories and mind control. He insists that he's not working -at the festival- anymore. Meet me there, pronto.'


The bustling crowd below stopped to admire the No. 2 hero as he perched on a nearby beam. He took the opportunity to scan the group until he made distant eye contact with Jun. There was no time to waste. While on his phone he flew out of sight to dial her number and arranged a meetup behind closed doors.

Jun informed him on the details of what had transpired in the hospital, and he seemed genuinely surprised at her sharp deduction skills. Impressed by her ambition and determination to help, Hawks finally agreed for Jun to lend a hand – as long as she could keep up.

Jun didn't have to worry about being spotted by the media. The festival was so crowded anyway. There was no way they'd be able to spot her from the crowd and follow up by giving chase.

As Hawks put it, "It'd be almost too easy to lose 'em."

Nobody paid any mind to Jun as she rushed through the crowd below, chasing the hero darting through the sky directly above. If anything, there were plenty of people doing the same thing just to catch a glimpse of the winged hero himself. This was a great way to avoid suspicion, Jun mused to herself between labored breaths and struggles to keep up.

At times Hawks slowed without completely stopping to observe the occasional carnival ride or clearly rigged prize booth before darting to the next one. Jun had always dreamed of getting to be ripped off by one of those games, but she was there with serious business. While Hawks investigated the festival from above, she decided to split up and snoop around the theatre.

Immediately something was off upon steeping foot into the deceitfully zestful space. Despite there being people around, it felt too quiet. Employees would occasionally go behind a supply curtain in the back where a beep could be heard, but they never came back.

Then, she saw him.

There he was - the man who Jun had stumbled into at the hospital an hour before – with his uniform on and back to work as good as new.

But – but how? If they couldn't heal my chest that fast, then there's no way they'd heal a head injury!

Meekly, Jun approached him, unsure on how to start such an awkward and potentially compromising conversation. She gulped at the sight of him wiping down some old movie display with ominously sluggish and inhuman movements. "H-hey… hey! Do you… remember me…? How're you feeling-?"

Almost robotically he turned around and responded. "I don't know what you mean. Is there something I can help you with, shall I direct you to the snacks?"

"Um, I'm good. Just ate."

Not another word was spoken before Jun booked it out of there.

Reporting her findings to Hawks, he replied that he was onto something too – his feather traced and picked up on rustling and unusual human activity deep inside the theatre she was just in. He also discerned a way in by ID cards held by employees exclusively. Jun got the message just in time to look up and notice the ring toss with an employee whose eyes looked just as soulless as the one before, then peered up even further to find Hawks perching nearby.

It wasn't like he could just swoop down and inspect the booth further - he'd get jumped and harassed by fans in an instant! With that, Jun hatched a plan, and peering up at the hero one last time, he could tell from the determination in her eyes that she had an idea.

Hawks received a message shortly after –

'Cut one of the strings and make off with one of the prizes. Give this guy a real workout.'

To which he replied keenly,

'Copy that'

Hawks did what she asked and cut the string off one of the stuffed animals with a feather as it floated away with the toy swinging off its stem. As expected, the employee chased after it. While everyone was distracted by the mysterious floating doll, Jun took the opportunity to go behind the booth and were compelled to snatch an employee card tucked behind the counter.

Looking up at the hero, he immediately understood that she was onto something. She tilted her head toward the theatre, silently instructing him to follow suit.

The back door was unlocked using the card, and quietly the two of them crept inside. Eventually they both arrived at a fork in the path, and it was agreed that Jun would be in charge of handling the right while Hawks investigated the back way. He truly was too fast for his own good. He was so full of anticipation in the way he moved. He was close to discovering something and wrapping things up that he went ahead without hesitation.

The right fork led to an elaborate hallway and stairs that revealed a hidden corridor deep in the bowels of the theatre. In it was a line of people, each standing completely still. No one twitched or coughed, not a single hair flew out of place. They stationed eerily like zombies, and in just the next room over a conversation could be heard about "troops for the merger of the League," and how none of them "will remember a thing."

Next thing she knew, one person trudged out, their eyes glassy, almost lifeless as they stoically grabbed a broom to head downstairs leading to the main lobby of the theatre. Jun's eyes widened in realization that this was some kind of cult branching off the League's forces, extracting people's memories and keeping them quiet and complacent… as if waiting for something. Waiting for orders.

Just then, a lone crimson feather floated by, indicating Hawks' intent to check on her. It stopped upon recognizing her voice pattern as she whispered what she thought was going on, missing how stiff the feather got upon mentioning the League.

Just then, another employee trekked out from the curtains, and Jun and the tip of his feather quietly watched him leave to the main area. Only, this employee looked different. He looked fierce – he had actual emotions inside. Hawks' feather then pointed back to Jun, silently instructing her to stay out of line and to follow that employee.

"I think I get it. Distraction, right?"

His feather darted around Jun in swift, excited motions before brushing its supple bristles lovingly to her cheek, as if Hawks were praising and delivering a proud and affirmative peck from afar.

"I'm on it."

Following the employee led Jun downstairs where she saw who appeared to be posing as the manager. He glared at her stomping ungracefully down the steps. Panic consumed Jun, thinking he was onto Hawks, until she thought about how he always handled these things –

Act casual.

Jun put on her best poker face and followed in the stepping patterns of the last brainwashed employee before her, grabbing a mop as she passed by the manager in what felt like slow motion. To her relief, he seemed to fall for it and resumed overlooking the lobby - but while still side eyeing her suspiciously. A flash of a red feather darted by the back room as Jun passed by, catching her attention. Followed by another, and then another, indicating that Hawks had found his mark. The unusual vibrant crimson color of the otherwise bleak surroundings of the back room also tipped off the manager as his head crept in the same direction. Jun gasped, sensing that they both were too close for him to be caught now.

Without any forethought, Jun stepped toward the mini arcade attached to the lobby and began mopping, looking around for something to cause a distraction. If she wasn't so preoccupied with the risky task at hand, Jun probably would have noticed that she was effectively mopping up the carpet.

What… what else can I do?

Jun's hands then acted on their own accord, choosing tounceremoniously whack an arcade machine with the mop before bringing it back close to her body and hugging it with both hands.

*THUMP*

What the hell am I doing?

*THUMP*

Another meek whack against the machine and still no attention.

C'mon, over here. Don't make me look like a damn fool for no reason!

One last feather flashed by, prompting the manager to step toward the back room.

N-no!

*WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK*

Jun's hands, fueled by nerves, began whacking incessantly at the machine, over and over. Until the obnoxious hollow banging sound finally grabbed the manager's attention.

"Hey!" he said in a booming tone as he charged over to her.

Remember Jun, she chanted and leaned against the mop. Act casual!

"Hey," she said. "C-can I help you find something?"

The man glared, unamused. "I'm your boss."

"Hm. That's cool. How's… the… w-weather…?"

While stalling, a lone feather passed by from a distance, reading the vibrations in Jun's body and voice as Hawks exhaled in delight from deep within the chamber.

"That's my girl. Keep stalling 'em, baby."

Jun's distracting allowed him to infiltrate deeper and conclude the same findings that she found. This place truly was a cover to generate artificial members for the League – no, the Liberation Army.

"I won't ask you twice. Why the hell are you mopping the carpet?"

"Ah, you know, the rug just looked so, dirty, yeah."

Casual, casual!

"It needed a fine wash - doesn't look like it's been cleaned since the placed opened, heh, am I right, boss?"

The man only glared at Jun. Judging from the hesitation in her voice along with the forced, lopsided and misplaced smile, he wasn't buying it.

"Who are you, and what is your ID badge number."

He wasn't asking. He was demanding.

"My number?" she muttered as slowly as possible as her eyes darted back and forth at the back room. "Is… um, twenty…two?"

Unsatisfied by her response, the man's eyes began to glow a threatening red as he approached, forcing Jun's back against the wall. "You. You're not one of us, are you," he growled and snatched her hand. "Come with me, now. You'll see what we do with spies. Unless you're just –"

And then, it clicked -

"You're just distraction. No!"

As the frantic man released Jun's hand, he dashed out to the back room, likely to tell the head boss…

…but Hawks had beaten him to it.


Sirens and police cars lit up the winter evening as dozens of cult members were led into mobile holding cells. It didn't matter if Jun received no credit for the cultist's capture. Outside the gates she sat and watched Hawks consult with officers and detectives. He explained how the villain's plan was to draw in as many people as possible during the festival and sap their brain power and energy as fuel for something bigger.

It made her heart race seeing that side of Hawks speak so formally.

"If they were involved in an investigation into another gang," he nodded towards the thugs, "then I'm sure the rest of them will be discovered shortly. I'll make sure of it."

He looked so serious, and proud, as if he absolutely loved what he does. The whole ordeal had caused the festival to close early, but seeing the joyful expressions of the workers being reunited with their families made it more than worth it.

As the crowd dissipated, a familiar hand rested on Jun's shoulder as she sighed and peered up at Hawks, basking in the glow of their combined efforts to solve the case. It would have been the perfect time to rub the victory in his face, but the way he gazed down at her so proudly at what she did for him, and how she was able to keep up – it filled Hawks' heart with unbounded joy. With that look, he told Jun – they made excellent partners – both in business, and in intimacy.

A moment later, the his eyes and smile lowered slightly, as if something was on his mind.

"Listen, babe. About what I said back home. I hope you didn't think –"

"Hey, like I said, don't worry about it," Jun interjected happily. "I just like to prove you wrong once in a while is all."

The warmth in his chuckle was enough to send another warmth in Jun's cheeks.

"This must be how you feel every day, isn't it?" she beamed, taking his hand offering to help her up.

"It's a start," he grinned, rubbing his thumb affectionately over Jun's knuckles. "Ready to head home, partner?"

"Hmmhm." She nodded contently as he wrapped his arms around her waist, preparing to take flight. Jun's hand stowed to the small of his back as she clasped his for a moment, the warmth of his skin making her feel like she could float off into the sky. "Oh, and Hawks? When we get home…"

"I have something to ask you."