Remember all that fluff? Well... there's less of that. This is gonna start building up more and more to the Overhaul arc so tension will build. There will still be fluff and happy stuff, but a lot more angst for a while too. Just so you know!

Recovery Girl lends a hand

Hawks does not like Chisaki

Or himself

The UA Staff likes Hawks

Friends are nice

Eraserhead is scary

Hawks really, really hates Chisaki

-00-

The Starting Line of Regret

-00-

"Heeey, Recovery Girl," Hawks peeked into her office.

"Hello, Hawks," she smiled, turning her chair to face him. "What can I do for you, dear?"

"Well," Hawks side-hopped in, holding out a tiny cactus in a cute flower print pot, "I got in a bit of a scrape yesterday and I was wondering if you could help a guy out?"

The burns he would have let heal on their own, but the throbbing fracture in his arm was going to be a problem. He could always go to Teruko but, well…

Teruko worried. If he could handle it on his own he would.

"Oh, how sweet," Recovery Girl slid off her chair as he approached. He handed her the cactus with a sheepish grin.

"I didn't know if you were a plant person. Or a flower one. Figured this would be a safe bet."

"I love it," she said, setting it on the edge of her desk. "And I appreciate it, but you don't need to bribe me into helping you, Hawks. Take a seat."

Hawk sat on the little bed and flashed through a million-and-one memories that got locked away the moment they appeared.

Recovery Girl stepped next to him and he held out his hand, palm down, with a cheeky grin.

She laughed, accepting it easily. At least someone appreciated his jokes.

Hawks blinked as he felt his energy drain away, but his arm started feeling great. "Thanks."

"No problem," Recovery Girl patted his hand and slid a lollipop into it. It was strawberry flavored. "Go get something to eat, you'll need it."

Hawks saluted her, unwrapping the candy and popping it in his mouth. It wasn't as good as his usual strawberry candies but it wasn't bad. "I'm on it. I think Hizashi left a whole bowl of his Curry Doria in the fridge."

Hawks drooled a bit just thinking about it.

She laughed again. "Go enjoy that. Have a good day, Hawks. Thank you for the gift."

"See you," he waved, strolling out and down the corridor. Now he was ready for anything the night had to throw at him.

-00-

The first set of coordinates led to a tree in a small run-down park.

Hawks spread his wings wide, feathers lifting to take in all the nearby vibrations. There didn't seem to be any electronics nearby, so no bugs or cameras. The case at the base of the tree looked exactly like the ones he usually delivered. What was so different about these jobs?

Hawks kept his wings spread, twitching them to the left or right to keep an eye out for him while he clicked open the case.

Several vials, but they were empty. Syringes and several different sized needles. This wasn't delivery, this was gathering.

Hawks cupped the lower half of his face while he thought, scanning over the objects coldly. He'd had his suspicions about where they got their blood but nothing concrete. Chisaki always made it seem like the people Hawks met at the pickups were the ones donating the blood, but was that really all? Doubtful. These jobs could give him a huge look into what Chisaki was doing, or even what he was trying to figure out with all these samples.

He could go to the locations in the folder and find a hidden place to observe. Watch how they did it and from who they drew the blood. If it wasn't as consenting as Chisaki had subtly tried to make it seem…

Hawks bit his lip. To get more information, to get further into Chisaki's good graces, he wouldn't be able to interfere. Chisaki would know, immediately, that it was him and it didn't matter if it was as Raven or as Hawks he would cut ties with him. He would even run the risk of jeopardizing his chances with the League if anyone from the two groups met up. Chisaki might warn them about him if they strike up a deal and then he'd never get in.

He pulled out his phone, sending a report to his handler. As he expected, the response came back shortly with the same idea. So long as an innocent wasn't about to be murdered he was not to interfere and act as an observer.

There were a lot of things that could happen before murder.

Hawks breathed out heavily through his nose. This… this is what he'd trained for. To take on situations like this so that other heroes didn't have to. Cold, rational choices were necessary sometimes. He knew they were, and if he could make it so that he was the only one enacting those choices then he would be the only one that would need to carry that guilt. Other heroes like Rumi, Edgeshot, the staff of UA, any of them… they didn't need to do things like this because Hawks would do it for them.

Hawks steeled his determination. One of the coordinates was two cities over and the designated time was in an hour. He wasn't one to waste time. He had his resolve, he didn't need to wait.

The flight was shorter than he wanted it to be. Hawks circled once from high above, scouting out a good position. One of the buildings overlooked the entire street and had a good vantage on the majority of the alleyways. It would do.

Four men were waiting in an alley right next to it. Hawks spotted them the second he landed on the roof.

There was a tension in the air that prickled along Hawks' skin like needles. They were waiting for someone.

He'd hoped (childishly) that the blood he'd carried was either donated willingly by various criminals connected to the Shie Hassaikai or that at the very least the people they took it from were chosen at random. It wasn't great and it still left him feeling a gross coiling spreading from his heart to his lungs but it was marginally better than there being planned attacks. Planned attacks meant targets. Stalking someone until their schedule was known to the point of being able to accurately pin when a person would be completely alone without help. It also meant that these blood samples were being taken to measure something specific. Chisaki being experimental because he had a weird fascination with blood was one thing, but if there were designated targets then it meant he was figuring out something specific.

A woman turned the corner and the men shifted in preparation. Hawks knew his irises were nothing more than pinpricks with how focused on the unfortunate woman he was.

They wouldn't kill her. They wouldn't. If they were going around killing people for these samples, with how many there were, then Hawks would know about it. People would think there was a serial killer going around. If they just mugged someone, drawing blood in the scuffle, then they could get away with it frequently. It would be smarter to attack, draw blood, and retreat with their target alive.

They wouldn't kill her. And if they tried Hawks wouldn't sit back. He was positioned behind them, he could take them out before they really saw who attacked. They would never know who it was.

Chisaki would probably figure it out.

Hawks shook his head, unblinking as he tracked the woman's path down the dimly lit street. She was dressed in nice jeans and a puffy red jacket. Not something he'd expect to see in this part of town so late at night. What was she even doing here? By herself no less. She looked so relaxed, did she have any self-defense training?

She yawned, reaching up to pet at her hair absently. Hawks followed the movement, frowning. Something seemed off about her hair-

Hawks felt his heart stop.

It was Uwabami. Her hair was down, a knitted cap over the top of her head with her snakes curled sleepily against her neck. Uwabami's Agency wasn't far from here. Hawks knew she liked to walk home, no matter when she got off. She said it was the typical time women would get attacked on the streets so she would either be able to stop something from happening or draw attention to herself away from people who were less equipped to defend themselves. It was like a last-minute patrol before she turned in for the night.

She had a knife and handcuffs in her purse, another strapped to her waist beneath her jacket. Any drunk idiot dumb enough to try his luck would be caught very much unaware.

The four large, sober men waiting for her to get closer most likely knew about the weapons. If they had her path down this accurately they would have seen her use them. She rarely went a night without having to file a police report on her way home. Hawks had seen her various reports submitted every week when he crawled through the police database on slow patrol days.

She'd saved a lot of people. And now it was being used against her.

Hawks licked the backs of his teeth. He couldn't… he couldn't let this change his approach. If they didn't' try to kill her, Hawks was supposed to hang back. To observe and learn. If he interfered, his in with Chisaki would be up in flames. He'd already accepted the guilt and crushing feeling of worthlessness that would come from simply watching someone get attacked and just letting it happen. He'd accepted that. Knowing who was being attacked shouldn't change that. He couldn't let his fondness for Uwabami get in the way of learning more about the Shie Hassaikai's plans and power levels. Especially now that he knew they were specifically targeting heroes. That was a huge risk, and Chisaki wasn't the type to take such risks without an equal payout. If he thought this was worth the risk then Hawks needed to figure out why.

'I'm so sorry,' Hawks blinked rapidly, the bridge of his nose burning as Uwabami passed the opening of the alleyway. 'Fuck, I'm so sorry Uwabami. Kick their asses.'

Hawks flinched forward when they pulled her into the alley, talons digging into the edge of the roof so harshly that they poked through the thick fabric of his gloves. His heart pounded against his chest, desperate to join in when Uwabami hissed at the man that grabbed her shoulders. Her snakes bit him harshly and she pulled out the knife in her jacket as smoothly as water.

Hawks cheered her on when she threw him over her shoulder and turned the blade on the others.

It wasn't enough. Hawks knew it wouldn't be, but she got so much further than he thought she would.

It took all four of them. One less person and she would have won. This really had been as carefully planned as possible.

Hawks bit through his lip when they stabbed the needle into her arm after hitting her hard enough to disorient her. The biggest one, the one that had first grabbed her, punched her across the right side of her face. It was easy for them to finish withdrawing the blood. They took her purse, one of them pulling out a small knife and drawing it swiftly over the area the needle had broken skin.

Fucking Chisaki. That was why Hawks hadn't found any linking reports about blood being drawn during any muggings when he'd tried to track the blood source. They waited until their target was too disoriented, unconscious, or in pain to notice the prick and then they covered it up with a knife wound.

It was smart. And it made Hawks' blood boil as he clenched the rooftop impossibly tighter.

Uwabami stumbled drunkenly to her feet with blood in her hairline and a bruise already blooming across her eye. The men should leave now and Hawks could call in an anonymous tip to get help to her faster.

One of the men stepped towards her. He was smiling as he reached out-

There was a knife through the man's hand before Hawks even processed that he'd thrown it. He screamed, the other three jumping. When they looked up Hawks spread his wings, glaring down at them. He didn't move towards them but his black visor was up and he knew what his eyes looked like at night. He tilted his head at the angle that made his handler sweat, wings arching.

They ran.

Uwabami tried to follow and Hawks thought he felt a crack in his heart because of course she would try to follow. Of course she would refuse to let people like that go, even if she could hardly see out of her eye or walk straight.

Hawks' fingers wouldn't listen when he tried to pull them away. They were stuck, stress gripped far worse than they had in over a year. Hawks scowled, fierce and angry as he ripped his left hand along the rough cement of the roof lining. His talons scraped across it so sharply the tips of his index and middle finger chipped.

Uwabami was leaning against the side of the alley, pressing a hand to her head and breathing shakily.

She sobbed, cursing aggressively under her breath.

Hawks ripped off his other hand. He pulled out his burner phone, shoving it into his right hand in a way that made sure his talons didn't touch and potentially damage the screen. He couldn't uncurl his left, the thickness of his glove the only thing protecting his palm. He used his knuckles to type in the emergency text.

Uwabami slumped against the wall, sinking to her knees. Hawks licked the back of his teeth before jumping down. She was disoriented, her eyes wouldn't focus properly. Hawks made sure his face was fully covered, flicking his visor back down. He picked her up carefully.

"Sorry," he grunted when she flailed and nearly punched him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm moving you to the street. Help will be here soon."

Uwabami didn't believe him but he hadn't expected her to. He was just glad her snakes weren't biting at him. He could dodge wavy punches, he didn't think he could dodge all the fangs. They hissed at him, tongues flicking out over and over. They never attacked though.

Hawks went over the nearest lamp-post. Using his wing to support her back so he could gently fend off her attacks, he set her down so she could lean against it.

A siren pierced through the air. Hawks left her there, jumping back to the roof. Soon a patrol car was pulling up next to her with an ambulance not far behind.

Hawks left.

She'd have a black eye for sure. A possible concussion. Scrapes and bruises, but otherwise she came out of that relatively uninjured. Which was… it was smart. If they seriously attacked anyone then they'd garner attention they didn't want. They couldn't afford to do more than knock someone around a bit.

The one that had reached for Uwabami at the end… he might not have done anything. The cold, dark part in his brain hissed that he'd risked everything.

Hawks closed his eyes. 'What if's' were useless and he didn't regret it anyway. It didn't matter. They had what they needed, they didn't need to stay. If Chisaki had a problem with it he could use the fact that he'd stayed back when they first attacked. He didn't actually interfere with the blood draw. He could work with it.

Feeling sick to his stomach he sent his followup report in.

'Good work. Keep us informed.'

Hawks laughed, bitter and sharp.

Good work.

Sure.

-00-

As a master repressor, it was scarily easy to lock all thoughts and worries into a box and just chuck it straight out a window.

Also as a master repressor, Hawks knew the thoughts would come back to bite him in the ass if he didn't focus on something else while he did so.

Hawks twirled his pen between his fingers a little clunkily with his gloves on (he wouldn't be taking those off any time soon). He was in the staff lounge, chilling at the desk he'd shoved right next to the window so he could stare at the sky when he started to get a headache. No one had been around when he dropped in, and he had been counting on that. It was late but needed something to keep his nerves settled. The security system recognized him when he came in, but he was a staff member. He didn't need to worry about any alarms.

The plan for his chicklets next week was to start building their 'Agencies'. Nezu had already approved his rough draft, asking Hawks to work out a few more of the kinks before he fully accepted it. It was their big 'term project' (working on small goals to a big achievement was a cool idea, Hawks needed to send his penpal teacher a gift basket) and he'd smooth-talked the Gen-ed teachers into accepting so it should be relatively smooth sailing from here.

He hadn't actually been planning on making it too big of a deal. Just a group of hero class students with a handful of Gen-Eds, giving them some scenarios to work through that a normal agency would have to deal with. The excited gleam in their teacher's eyes and the spark in Nezu's, though, when he brought it up made him feel like this had the chance of being more important than he thought.

Could this be a good breaking point of the tension between hero-course and Gen-Ed? If Hawks could get them working together, could make them actually understand why each of them played an important role, it could change the dynamic situation he'd observed.

That was huge.

He already had all the build-up planned. The subjects to cover, how to organize it, and how to start building rapport between the different classes before the final project application day. It was just the application day he needed to finish planning out.

He should make one of his days off be on application day. His classes were usually at the end of the day so if they ran long it wouldn't get in the way of the other staff. If the kids wanted to hang around it would be cool. Maybe he could have Cementoss make some fake agency buildings? The kids would love that. Ohhh, he could put it in the different training grounds like a real city setup! He should get all the Gen-Ed student's profiles so he could pair them off appropriately. Maybe the other teachers would help him supervise, it would be kind of hard to keep track of so many kids over such a large area while also keeping track of the lessons they were supposed to be learning.

The teachers could act like sidekicks. That would be sweet. Including the Gen-Ed teachers that should be enough for every 'agency' to have an actual adult with them to wrangle in the crazies. Should Hawks join in that too? No, it would be better if he could fly between and check up on everyone.

Which teacher should go with who though? Aizawa would need to go with Bakugo of course, he was the only staff member the kid actually showed any kind of deference to so he would cool his jets enough to be effective in the project. Aizawa would be pissed about it though.

Hawks snickered, drawing out a plan.

Mic would go with Jiro. There was an absolutely adorable teacher-student bond there just waiting to flourish, Hawks was sure.

Midnight could go with Kamakiri. The kid was always embarrassed around her so it would help curb his own near-Bakugo levels of aggression if someone annoyed him. Hopefully.

Cementoss would love to watch over Rin, those two gave off similar vibes sometimes.

Would Nezu join in? Probably. He'd think it was fun. He should go with Kaminari. Hawks loved the kid but the little light zapper definitely needed a subtle guiding hand to reach his full potential.

Thirteen had a fond spot for Uraraka.

Yagi would do wonders for Monoma's 'holier-than-thou' approach. No one was holier than Yagi.

Hound Dog could go with… Pony-chan. That was a hilarious match and would hopefully inspire a little more confidence in Pony.

Snipe would be good with Tetsutetsu. That kid needed a different kind of chill pill.

Ectoplasm had a handle on Kuroiro last time he helped 1-B.

Of the strong quirk users in the staff that just left Power Loader. Tsuburaba? Or maybe-

The door slid open.

Vlad stared at him with a look of tired acceptance he usually wore around the kids. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What the hell are you doing this time?"

Hawks froze, pen lifted so he didn't leave a stain on the paper.

"Uh, working?"

"It's two in the morning," Vlad stressed.

Hawks shrugged.

Vlad stomped over, looking down at his work. "You have until the end of the week to finish this and it looks practically done. Go to bed."

Hawks leaned back, eyebrows raised. "Gee, Dad, but I have so much to do."

Vlad wasn't amused. He turned to the door. "Eraser-"

Hawks was out of his seat and to the window in a heartbeat.

No luck. Cloth wrapped around his ankle and dragged him back.

"Come on, man," Hawks whined as he was turned into a cocoon. "I'm not even tired!"

"Everyone is tired. Always." Aizawa glared down at him. It was a soft glare, which was weird considering the time.

"Don't you patrol soon?" Hawks grumped, wiggling futilely. Vlad picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. This was the worst kidnapping ever. He made sure to hit Vlad in the face with every twitch of his wings.

"I'm leaving now," Aizawa rolled his eyes, following behind.

"Have fun. Be safe. Leave innocent birds alone." Hawks told him robotically. He stuck his tongue out when the bindings only tightened in response.

Hawks wiggled his toes as they entered the dorms. The lights were all off, but he was pretty sure Ectoplasm was around somewhere in the dark. Hawks debated on ratting him out so he could sneak away.

They stopped in front of a door that was certainly not Hawks'.

"Thirteen," Vlad knocked.

The door cracked open just a bit, Thirteen peeking out, radiating guilt. "...Yes?"

"Go to bed."

They sighed, deflating. "Okay. Goodnight. Sorry you got caught, Hawks."

"...Are you two, like, some kind of weird sleep patrol? Cause that's one of the most hypocritical things I've ever heard. Aizawa, I could sleep in your eyebags and still have room to stretch."

Aizawa ignored him.

"Nezu's put a new mental health system into place," Vlad informed him helpfully. Hawks looked at Aizawa pointedly. "He is concerned that with the traumatic events we have all been through, as well as the ever-growing stress UA is put under, that it would be wise to create a system that encourages a rested mind, cared for body, and free spirit."

"Uh," Hawks said. "Not to make fun of your very impressive emotionless announcer voice, but I'm gonna have to call bull shit. I didn't get any emails about this."

"Certain staff members, due to their unique struggles with self-care, will be exempt from trade-off responsibilities until they are in a place where they feel comfortable doing so but will still be affected by the support. If you are receiving this email you are designated as part of the support staff and will switch off every week to encourage staff bonding and leadership skills. Please check in on your fellow staff and make sure they feel safe and rested. Speak with me if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your hard work."

"I'm impressed at your dedication, good touch with the email-read-aloud bit, but I still say no. Aizawa is here. There is no way Aizawa made it onto this 'support staff' thing. He's way worse than me."

Aizawa reached out and flicked him. Hawks grinned mockingly.

"I wonder about that, sometimes," Vlad muttered. "He's not on the list. He was leaving soon anyway, if he helped me catch you then I wouldn't lecture him for two days."

"Ugh." Hawks went completely limp (his wings getting in one last good smack). "Don't you need to sleep too?"

"I do," Vlad stepped out of the elevator, Aizawa slumping behind and messing with the trailing ends of the capture weapons between his fingers. "And I will. As soon as all of you idiots go to bed. I got the lucky draw of having the first week be mine."

"Cementoss wouldn't force me away from my work," Hawks sighed wistfully.

"No. He would guilt you out of it."

"Oh. Yeah. That would be worse."

Vlad opened the door with his free hand (Hawks was light, but come on man), and tossed him in. Aizawa pulled back his capture weapon.

"Stay." Vlad moved his index and middle finger in the 'I'm watching you' gesture.

Hawks gave them both a lazy thumbs up.

The door clicked shut.

Well. He could read, he guessed. There were some science books he hadn't started yet.

Someone knocked on his door.

"It's open," Hawks called, not bothering to leave the floor. He was looking at the door upside down when it opened.

"Hawks?"

Hawks smiled easily at Yagi as his heart leaped into his throat. Of all the people to see tonight, after what he'd done. "Hey man, what are you still doing up? Vlad's on patrol apparently, you might want to hide soon."

Yagi returned the smile, holding out one of the two mugs in his hands. "I just passed him. Unfortunately, my medicine makes sleeping for extended periods of time difficult. I was making tea for everyone that seemed to be struggling to sleep. Would you like some?"

The bridge of Hawks' nose burned.

"I would. Thanks, Yagi-san."

He pushed himself up, crossing his legs and accepting the mug. It smelled delicious.

Yagi shuffled on his feet. "Ah, Hawks. I don't wish to overstep any boundaries, but I would like to ask…"

Hawks looked at him over the rim of his mug, eyebrow arching high. "Something wrong?"

Did he do something to upset Yagi? God, he hoped not. He didn't know if he could handle that on top of everything else tonight.

"How are you?"

Hawks blinked.

He laughed. "I'm fine? Jeez, Yagi-san, you made me think you were about to ask something serious there."

Yagi flushed. Then frowned. "That is serious."

He shuffled on his feet again, big hulking frame bent low to take up as little space as possible. Hawks felt the feathers closest to his spine tense when he closed the door.

"Hawks," Yagi said seriously. "Please, tell me if I am overstepping, but of everyone here, I feel as though I most understand what you are going through as a top-ranked hero."

Hawks curled his wings around his shoulders so that they rested along his legs. "...Okay?"

Yagi wrapped his fingers all the way around his mug. The lines in his face tightened and Hawks could see All Might so clearly it startled him.

"You do regular patrols, teach here, run an Agency, and hold a vast amount of public attention wherever you go. This is a great deal of pressure to place upon anyone's shoulders, let alone someone so young. I have noticed you sleep and eat about as much as I do. And I am more than twice your age and missing vital pieces of my body. I have been keeping my distance from you after lying to you for so long, but I felt I had to come forward to speak to you about this. As a friend."

"Um," Hawks held up a hand, pausing Yagi in a rather comical open-mouthed look. "That's a lot to unpack there, big guy. Let's just, start at the end there. You were avoiding me?"

And Hawks hadn't noticed? To be fair, he was kind of avoiding Yagi as well but that was due to Commission guilt and germs. Yagi was not a subtle man. Quiet, yes. Not subtle.

Although… now that he thought about it. When was the last time he had a full-on conversation with him?

Huh.

"I, well, yes," Yagi flushed even more, All Might melting away. "I know you said you were not, well, hurt by my keeping the truth from you. But you are also a very kind person and I did not think you would admit such feelings to my face. I wanted to give you space, in case you were upset but did not wish to show it."

Hawks covered his face with his hand.

God damn it. How was he supposed to keep the ice in his bones when everyone was so hell-bent on melting it?

He shook his head and stood up. "Yagi-san."

Yagi wilted.

Hawks tilted his head back to look at his ceiling, because how was it that this man of all people thought Hawks would ever be upset with him. For anything. Ever.

"I'm not mad at you. Or hurt," Hawks told him again. "When I said I understood, I meant it. In your shoes I would have done the exact same thing, you made the right choice! And honestly, that kind of information is completely your business. It's cool that you trusted the staff so much, but no one could- should- get mad at you for wanting to keep it secret. That's your personal life."

Yagi was still looking at his cup. Hawks was struck with the sudden realization that the Symbol of Peace, the man Hawks had watched hold up a nation single-handedly, was one of the most insecure people he had ever met.

The cold, analyzing part of his brain wondered what that meant for hero society.

For him.

He shook it off. He could think about that later.

"Yagi," he dropped the honorific, letting the rudeness startle Yagi into looking up. He tapped him on the shoulder with a wing. "I think you're a cool guy. And I'd literally kill for your tea. If you're that worried about it, just keep supplying me with your weird drug liquid and call it even."

Yagi spluttered out a laugh. "Hawks-kun, it's not- it's not a 'drug liquid'."

"Uh, I beg to differ," Hawks waved his empty cup in the air. "I have tried to recreate this multiple times. I've tried other teas too. Nothing has even come close to this. I know you put something special in your tea, but your secret is safe with me."

Yagi laughed, softer than All Might but filling the room all the same. "I really don't do anything special. It's just tea."

"Hm, yes, tea," Hawks nodded along, wings flapping softly behind him. "With drugs."

Yagi laughed, coughing this time. "I would be a very poor hero if I laced your drinks with drugs."

"But you'd be in the best position to get away with it! Come on, who in their right mind would imagine All Might drugging tea? No one! You'd get away with everything!"

"No, no," Yagi tried to sound serious but he was still laughing. "I would never-"

"That's what makes it the perfect crime!"

Hawks grinned, poking fun until Yagi forgot all about the other concerns he'd walked in with. He got it, he could see where Yagi was coming from, but he really didn't need to worry.

And Hawks really didn't want him worrying about his time schedule when he was out at night doing un-hero type things.

By the time Yagi walked out with the empty cups his mind was miles away from what he'd wanted to talk to Hawks about.

Hawks bid him goodnight with a smile.

He stayed in his room for the rest of the night, reading. When the sun peeked out he went back to work then flew to his apartment to crawl through police reports. He didn't go to see the kids.

He wasn't ready to face them.

-00-

Hawks flew over Uwabami's Agency, the sun having just dipped below the horizon. He could see her, at the doors, wringing her hands and talking to herself.

He ignored the painful clench of his stomach.

"Pardon me, ma'am," Hawks dropped smoothly on the pavement right in front of the door. He made his voice deeper, mimicking the actor Rumi had called suave and bitchy from the one Rom/Com night she refused to repeat (Hawks had liked it, but he enjoyed fairytale endings). "I must ask. May I have the honor of escorting you home tonight?"

He crossed one arm over his waist, extending the other out and spreading his wings dramatically behind him as he bowed his head.

Uwabami made an odd, explosive sound before she slapped a hand over her mouth. It had sounded like a mixture of a revving motor and a pig snort.

Hawks looked up with a cheeky grin.

"Is that a yes?"

Uwabami's face was red as she choked on her laughter, hunching over. Hawks focused on the tears in her good eye instead of lasering in on the horrible molting bruises all along the right side of her face that made the eye on that side swell closed.

"Oh god," she wheezed, flapping a hand at him as though to wave his words right out of the air. "I wish I had that recorded! Do you know how much money people would pay to have a recording of you saying that?! You'd be fulfilling a thousand fantasies with two sentences alone!"

Hawks' mouth dropped open. His wings puffed up behind him even as he drew them in so it was less apparent, his eyes wide and the tips of his ears burning.

"I," he pointed at her, scandalized, "finally follow through on the 'walking you home' request, and you make fun of me?"

Uwabami snorted again, her snakes twirling and twining to see Hawks better with their little tongues darting in and out making hissing noises he was pretty sure constituted as laughter. "Hawks, I appreciate what you're doing- and don't think I don't know what you're doing- but I'm fine. Really. I can take care of myself."

"Of course you can," Hawks shrugged, nothing but honest because she had kicked those guy's asses in jeans with only a single knife in hand. "But I heard you were down an eye and figured I could lend you mine until it's back in working order."

Uwabami's face softened (at least, the half that could soften). "That's… that's very sweet of you Hawks. You didn't have to but-"

"Oh, you bitch!"

They both turned to see Rumi shooting down the street to land next to Hawks.

"Uh, hi?" Hawks raised an eyebrow at her.

"Mirko?" Uwabami asked.

"Hey," Rumi waved at her, turning her open hand into a singular pointed finger that she poked repeatedly into Hawks' chest. "I was supposed to get here first, you dumbass! I had a whole line planned and everything! You know that shitty Rom/Com we watched with that suave bitch and the 'May I have the honor' shit?"

Uwabami covered her mouth again.

"I didn't know you were even coming!" Hawks defended himself. "And I already used those lines, so get your own."

"You little-"

"Ah, it looks like you both had it covered," another voice sighed.

All three of them turned to look at Edgeshot as he zipped down from the roof of Uwabami's Agency.

Uwabami covered her entire face with both of her hands.

"Apologies, Uwabami, for dropping by unannounced," Edgeshot told her right before Rumi pulled him into a bruising headlock.

"You assholes are stealing my ideas!"

Hawks hopped away from them before Rumi could grab him too. She only needed a single arm to choke them out, he wasn't going to give her a double kill. If she wanted to take him down she needed to work for it.

Rapid-fire chime noises drew his attention back to Uwabami. She dragged one hand down over her mouth, the other pulling out her phone. Whatever she read made her uninjured eye tear up. Hawks stared at her ear instead.

"That's quite a look," he stretched a wing out to brush her shoulder. "Bad news?"

"No," she breathed, rubbing at her eye. "No, it's very sweet news, actually. Apparently you three aren't the only ones that were planning on being here."

Hawks thought about it. "Late night patrollers? Ohh, let me guess. Fatgum. Uhh, it's Tuesday so Ryukyu? I don't know if he has your number but I bet Mr. Brave sent you something on the hero forum. He's a big fan."

"Oh, he is?" Uwabami smiled, sliding her phone back into her pocket and stepping down the last few stairs. Edgeshot was scrambling to knock Rumi off but he wasn't using his quirk so Hawks doubted she was choking him too badly. "I've only worked with him twice for minor evacuation emergencies."

"He's got one of the keychains," Hawks drew a tiny circle in the air. "With your snakes. It's an old one, from three years ago I think."

It had been a quick flash of a moment, when Hawks came flying in to help with an arrest that was taking just a bit too long. He'd flown off before the other hero could really talk to him, it had been a high crime day, but Hawk's had seen the little keychain slip out of his pocket.

"Aw, that's so cute," Uwabami smiled. "Although I do wonder how everyone figured out about the attack so quickly."

"I scan through the list of heroes injured on duty when I can," Rumi said casually, Edgeshot held between her forearm and bicep. He wasn't struggling anymore, just accepting his fate. "Helps me keep track of the bird brain over there."

Hawks shrugged. Most of his injuries didn't even make it on that list- he was supposed to look as untouchable as possible- but it was nice to know she cared.

"I snoop sometimes," Hawks grinned charmingly. "And I heard some people over at the Commission talking about it when I dropped by earlier."

"Suki told me," Edgeshot sighed, staring at the ground from his position.

"Oh, Suki!" Uwabami lit up. "How is she? How's her Mom?"

Hawks and Rumi shared a look. Uwabami caught it and clasped her hands together.

"Suki is an old sidekick of mine! She had to move to help her mother so I recommended her to Edgeshot's Agency since it was closer."

"She's a wonderful sidekick," Edgeshot praised. "Very hardworking. She's made several friends with the others as well."

"That's a relief, she was always so shy."

Rumi finally released Edgeshot. The man straightened easily, deadpan.

"Are we just going to talk this whole time or are we actually gonna go somewhere?" Rumi demanded as though she wasn't part of the problem. "I've got shit to do."

"The new episode doesn't drop for two hours," Hawks rolled his eyes, smirking. "You've got plenty of time."

"Yeah, but I want to fucking eat at some point, dumbass," Rumi flicked her hair over her shoulder. "All the good places close before then, I need to pick something up before I go home. And how do you even know when it airs? You hate that show."

"Hate is a strong word," Hawks said. "It's the right one, but still. And I know because it's all you talk about for a month whenever a new season comes out."

"The new people are always hot, Hawks."

"Yeah, but they're always new because the last cast dies at the end of every season!"

"It's an action-based tragedy, of course they all die."

"That's a horrible show," Hawks crossed his arms. "Who wants to watch something where everyone just dies?"

"Me!" Rumi laughed. "Plus the action is kick ass. Which is why we should go! Uwabami, where do you live? Uwabami?"

Edgeshot and Uwabami were already halfway down the street, chatting lightly. Hawks and Rumi scrambled after them, Rumi pushing at Hawks' face and Hawks yanking at her arms to pull her back.

"Children," Edgeshot sighed when they caught up. "You two are top heroes."

"He's a bitch, though," Rumi pointed at Hawks.

"She's full of it," Hawks pointed back with a grin.

Edgeshot deadpanned as Uwabami laughed.

"As delightful as this is," she smiled, wincing a bit as it pulled on her face, "you three really didn't need to go out of your way to do this. I'm fine. Really."

"Yeah, duh," Rumi rolled her eyes. "I know pretty much jackshit about you, except from what Hawks' has mentioned when he gossips-"

"I do not-"

"He gossips," Rumi assured them over his affronted gasp. "Like a little old lady. He said you're kickass, so I believe you're kickass."

"Oh," Uwabami looked touched. "That's so sweet."

She smiled when he looked away, thinking he was embarrassed.

Good. It masked his shame well.

"Pardon me for asking," Edgeshot said, "but if that is the case then why are you here, Mirko?"

Rumi punched her open palm, grinning viciously. "That's our deal. Someone messes with one of us, and the other tracks the asshole down and kicks their ass. You're a friend of Hawks, so you're a friend of mine too. I'm here for payback if those losers show their sorry faces again."

Uwabami stared at her blankly. She looked at Hawks, who shrugged (they weren't exactly friends, he just saw her a lot at photoshoots since they were scheduled around the same times), then at Edgeshot who smiled reassuringly back.

Then she burst into tears.

Rumi's ears dropped, her eyes wide. "Oh, shit. Fuck, are you- was it what I said? If you want to kill them yourself I won't get in the way-"

She choked on red feathers when Hawks' hit her in the face with his wing.

"I'm sorry," Uwabami turned away, rubbing at her good eye and hiccuping. "It's not- I'm sorry. You are all so sweet. Thank you."

When she smiled at them Hawks made sure to smile back. His heart cracked and split, guilt oozing out of it like a mist, but he smiled back.

"Thank you," Uwabami clasped her hands in front of her, the smile on her face contrasted with the colors on her face.

Hawks felt sick.

-00-

There was another job scheduled for tonight. After dropping Uwabami off and ducking away from Rumi, before she could drag him with her for a show marathon, and Edgeshot, who wanted to know why Hawks didn't text him after the bomb incident, Hawks had gone back to his apartment to turn into 'Raven'.

He was very much not looking forward to tonight. Now that he knew they were targeting specific people, and heroes were either the whole list or at least part of it, he needed to know who Chisaki was looking into. He needed to go to every single job location.

So he could watch another person get attacked, stabbed, and left traumatized. Fucking great.

This one would probably be even worse. It was the only one that had a little star next to it, and it even had a repeat day. So they were looking into two people in this specific area or they were still gathering information on one person.

Hawks hoped for the second option. With more time to plan and prepare he might be able to find a way to help this time.

For now, though, he was tucked up into a high crevice of the tall office building looking over the area in the picture. Simple business street, which was mostly closed for the day. A noodle stand near the end of the street was still open but they were an all-night kind of place.

Hawks frowned when, at the designated time, no one showed up. No heroes, no random citizen, and more importantly no Shie Hassaikai. The place was deserted except for the chef in the noodle stand and his one drunk patron that had been there since before Hawks showed up.

This had to be someone Chisaki was still looking into. But then why would he put it on the list for 'Raven'? He said these were small jobs he could help with, why give him one that wasn't ready to be done yet?

He waited there for another twenty minutes but nothing changed. So it wasn't a trap for Raven either then. Chisaki would know to look up, if anyone was looking for him around here they would have found him by now. Did it have something to do with the noodle stand? It was clean, as far as he could tell-

Someone landed on the little balcony on the floor below him. Hawks twitched. He'd had his wings tucked in close to avoid drawing attention but he should have been able to feel someone approaching this close (stupid feather dye). Not a lot of people were stealthy enough to move with the small natural breezes in the air instead of against them, and whenever someone managed it Hawks made sure to pay attention.

Hawks very slowly moved his head forward an inch so he could glance down at who had joined him.

He saw the yellow mask and capture weapon and realized he'd fucked up. Aizawa always knew when someone was watching him.

Hawks was infinitely grateful for his job at UA. If he had never met Aizawa beforehand, had never seen the ridiculous gravity-defying tricks his capture weapon could pull off, he would have moved too late.

The cloth coiled around where his ankle had been a split second before as Hawks shoved into the air so forcefully the muscles in his chest twinged.

Aizawa was close behind, leaping after him. Hawks couldn't play off the civilian act with his reaction time, and he really didn't want to risk speaking to Aizawa directly. He was still pretty sure the man was hiding a mind-reading secondary quirk. It would be for the best to get away as quickly as possible

Except Aizawa was terrifying.

The realization that Aizawa had never truly been angry with him and must, in fact, actually like him at least a bit was swamped by the horrifying glare on his face now as his eyes flashed red from behind his goggles and Hawks' wings grew heavy. He could still fly, but his balance was thrown. He used his quirk instinctively when he flew to make his wings lighter, so he could be as fast as possible. The slight weight difference made him slower, wings flapping lopsidedly as he worked to adapt.

Aizawa flung his hand out, capture weapon twined between his fingers as he acrobatically flipped along the rooftops in a way a man of his eternal exhaustion levels should not be able to do.

He also looked just enough like the swamp monster in Rumi's latest horror fixation that Hawks' heart did a little leap in his chest.

And he panicked.

Hawks slammed his wings down as hard as he could, the muscles in his back pulling harshly. The blast of wind from them sent the capture weapon askew and Hawks further up in the air. He did it again for good measure when Aizawa jumped (was he Rumi, how did he get that high?!) to send the man back to the ground.

"Shit, shit, shit," Hawks cursed under his breath, spiral twisting to get as far away as he could. Even when the feeling in his feathers came back all he did was go faster, his wings straining under his tension and fast pace. He didn't even realize how fast he had been going until he got to the balcony of his apartment. Hawks collapsed on it, gasping for breath.

"Hoooly shit," he wheezed, ripping off his jacket now that he could feel the sweat pouring off of him.

That was horrifying. Jesus Christ, the look on Aizawa's face. No wonder he was such an effective underground hero, Hawks thought his heart was about the burst.

"Oh, ow," Hawks groaned as his back spasmed. "Shit. Agh, my back."

This was pathetic. When was the last time he'd hurt his back from flying too hard? He knew he shouldn't have cut his stretches short today. Crap.

"Ugh," Hawks laid there, scrubbing through his hair as he waited for his muscles to chill out.

Fuck Chisaki. This stupid mission was going to kill him.

He shivered. What if Aizawa had recognized him?

No. No, that wasn't realistic. Hawks had stayed far enough away to keep his features indistinguishable and his disguise was good.

Even as he rationalized Hawks couldn't help the tickle of fear down his back. If Aizawa figured out he was Raven, would he be able to stay at the school? He'd worried that the Commission would pull him out, he'd never even though about UA kicking him out.

"Ugh, shut up," Hawks told his brain, forcing himself up towards the bathroom.

He needed to calm down first. Re-center. Reset. He was too shaken by Uwabami and now Aizawa. He needed to focus.

Hawks ducked under the spray of water before it even got warm. He pressed his forehead to the tile, breathing out harshly as the ache in his back grew before it started to slowly fade to a dull throb.

He reached for his soap and froze.

...Was Chisaki tracking Aizawa?

-00-

Hawks is a Jenga tower, slowly losing pieces.

hinatayvonne: Thirteen for the win! Hawks needs a beak at some point. It has to happen. XD I'm glad I could make you laugh, dear!

Jackejsh: Gosh dang, friend! So may reviews! Thank you so much, I'm touched you liked it! And that you bothered to take the time to tell me! Thank you!

Rosto'sGirl: Math minor?! Dang! You go! I believe in you! Everyone needs a Mirko hoodie *nods*. Dabi is done with them, the big purple nerd. He's taking a break XD Best wishes for you and your poor brain! You got this!

Blackdrake: Glad I could make you laugh, dear! *adds to smile jar* :D Dabi has no time for their bullshit today! XD Hawks has very similar questions to you about Chisaki. He has decided 'vampire. Asshole vampire'. XD It's always so nice to hear from you dear! Thank you for always being so sweet, it really makes my day to hear from you!

GrimReaperLaw: The Hawks' dad set-up is completely me taking liberties with the story. And I'm not even ashamed. I'm stuffing as many AU headcanons as I possibly can into this thing, apparently. XD Never apologize for word-vomiting! I love to hear your thoughts! That's some very interesting information! I'll definitely look into that more and see what ideas it spark! T-T You're always so sweet, you sweet bean you. Thank you so much. I'm happy to hear you laughed, that makes me smile :D Look, I can't judge you about Chisaki. I have thought the same. It's those gosh dang eyelashes. Hon, long comments will never, ever be a problem. Whoever told you that, I will absolutely fight them. You are a delight! You stay safe too, dearie!

micieloestrellado: My starry sky, it's always so nice to hear from you! Thirteen is confirmed as a woman in the canon stuff, yeah. I had them be non-binary here cause when I first got into BNHA it was very new still and it had been unconfirmed. I was pumped to think that there might be a nonbinary hero and Thirteen was so cool! I kinda wanted to keep a part of that. So, yup! It's a writer's liberty I took! Thank you for letting me know what you thought about the chapters, you're always super kind and I appreciate you so much for taking the time to tell me what you thought. Thank you, dear!