Part 3

Present—Commission Corrections Facility

Hawks woke up sitting in an uncomfortable metal chair with his head, arms, and legs restrained. Pain radiated from his back and the faint smell of blood filled the air, making him feel nauseous. He shifted slightly and the pain doubled as the metal chair grated against his bare, bloody wings. They'd taken his feathers. They'd knocked him unconscious and pulled out all of his feathers and strapped him in the chair to wait for—corrections? Reprogramming? Either was terrifying, but Hawks had a bad feeling that he was in for something much, much worse.

He tested the restraints, but quickly gave up. They were too tight for him to escape, and he still had some of the drugs in his system. Plus, every movement felt like someone was plunging a knife into exposed, bloody wings. They weren't supposed to be exposed. Even when he was low on feathers, his wings were never bare like they were now. The feeling of wrongness coupled with the blood loss from having all his feathers ripped out and the drugs left him lightheaded. He swallowed queasily.

Stay calm. He was still alive. Help may or may not be on the way. The situation wasn't totally hopeless.

Somewhere behind him, a door opened and footsteps approached. Hawks waited tensely, but nothing happened at first. Then, quite suddenly, a pressure began building up in his head. It was just uncomfortable at first, but it kept growing and squeezing, before slowly dragging him down into unending agony. His vision went white.

Hawks blinked and suddenly a man in a medical coat was in front of him. Something was pressed to his nose, then his ears, then held up for inspection. The white handkerchief was stained dark red and Hawks realized sluggishly that blood was dripping down his face and that it was hard to breathe.

That… wasn't good.

Horror flooded him, overwhelming his system. He started struggling uselessly, fear and adrenaline flooding his system. He knew what this was. They couldn't do this—!

It had happened only once to someone Hawks had known. One of the other 'operatives' in the training program Hawks had been close with disappeared one day for a week and come back with no memory of him. No memory of anything. There'd been nothing left of her, not even muscle memory. She hadn't even known how to use a spoon or dress herself afterwards. A few days later, she disappeared from her room. Hawks never saw her again.

Mental quirks were tricky things. Once a mind was damaged, it was almost impossible to repair the damage, which was why the abuse of a mental quirk had the strictest punishments, almost always resulting in a one-way ticket to Tatarus. Naturally, that meant that the Commission had an interest in powerful mental quirks and often used their faulty 'operatives' for live practice. It had only happened to Hawks once. He only knew because a doctor told him, once he'd recovered enough to understand words again.

He couldn't breathe. They weren't just going to kill him; they were going to take everything that made him who he. They were going to destroy him and use his body for whatever they wanted. "Don't do this, please don't do this-"

It hit again and this time there was no build up, just pure, unendurable agony. He came back to himself confused. Why was he here? Why did everything hurt? Hawks realized that he'd been crying and begging incoherently but couldn't remember why. His vision went white.

The pressure started again. And again. And again.

Hawks blinked his eyes open and realized that his body was seizing.

Again.

He tried to fight it. Tried to hold onto who he was. He was Hawks. He was—what was his name again? They'd taken so much from him already; he wasn't going to let them his name too. He refused to lose who he was. He'd forgotten his name.

Pain—Pain—Pain.

He blinked awake again and had just enough of himself left to know that his mind was slowly being crushed. He swallowed with difficulty and realized that he'd been drooling, but was too emptied out to care.

"Hawks?" A voice said. "Are you back with us?"

It took him a minute to realize the voice was talking to him.

"If you can hear me, try to move your fingers," The voice said, sounding almost cheerful.

He blinked in confusion. Tried to move his head to find the voice, then panicked when he couldn't. After an embarrassing amount of time, he finally managed to wiggle his fingers. "H-h."

"Fascinating. He still has motor control, while over subjects at this point in the process are already completely reset and ready for programming," The voice said.

"H-he… h-elp…" Hawks wheezed, voice raw from screaming. When had he been screaming? He couldn't remember. He could barely remember anything.

"And he can still talk!" The voice said. "It must be because of his quirk. Really, I must insist that I have the body once he expires. His brain is truly fascinating."

"That can be arranged," A second voice said, sounding vaguely familiar. "How much longer until we can begin programming him?"

"Hard to tell," The first voice said. "We need a blank slate before introducing new memories, otherwise there's a chance old memories could resurface. He still has most of his memories intact, which is unheard of. I wish you could allow me access to his brain now. We could learn so much. At any rate, it could be several more hours before the process is complete."

"Keep me informed," The second voice said, stepping into view. It was the Commission president. "I have a special mission for him. The sooner he's operational, the better. And try not to erase everything. We need his combat abilities for his assignment."

"Understood."

Something shook the room, sending the man in the white coat stumbling. Someone cursed behind him. Alarms went off, blaring painfully in his ears.

"Continue the process. This intrusion will be dealt with shortly." The Commission president said.

He didn't even have a chance to wonder who would be crazy enough to invade a Commission building before the pressure was back and he was pulled under by a great swell of pain.

Past—Immediately after the Sports Festival

"Hawks!" Tokoyami shouted.

With a sigh, Hawks turned and plastered a smile on his face. I'm too tired to people right now. "Congrats on coming in third! You earned it."

Tokoyami scowled and glowered at him. A rather impressive glower too, considering that Dark Shadow was out and hovering next to Tokoyami's shoulder. "I did not. You let me win."

"Huh?" Hawks frowned, feigning confusion. "Have you switched bodies with Bakugo? Did you get hit on the head?"

"I am not Bakugo! Todoroki chose not to use his fire, but he still did his very best with that limitation. You lost on purpose." Tokoyami growled, folding his arms.

"So?" Hawks said, then instantly kicking himself. He hadn't meant to say that, but he was finding it difficult to muster up the energy to act like he cared. "I mean, uh… I really did give it my all. One hundred percent." He winced at how fake he sounded.

Tokoyami was unimpressed, expression darkening. Hawks was pretty sure Dark Shadow was silently judging him from where the quirk was looming in the shadows.

The smile slipped from Hawks face and he ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. "I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself," He finally said, deciding for something that was close to the truth. "It will be easier for me to operate in the future if I'm not well known, so placing any higher would be problematic for me."

"That's your reasoning?" Tokoyami scoffed, clearly unsatisfied by the answer. "I would have thought that someone like you would love the spotlight."

"Guess you don't know me as well as you think you do," Hawks said, his smile undeniably bitter. "You deserve your win, so let's just drop it here, yeah? Besides, you were holding back too, you know."

Tokoyami frowned. "No, I wasn't."

"You were," Hawks said with cheerful certainty.

"I wasn't," Tokoyami repeated forcefully. "What could possibly have given you that impression?"
"You weren't flying," Hawks said, rolling his eyes, then pausing. "Wait… you can fly, right?"

"Theoretically," Tokoyami said, turning away. "I don't see what that has to do with anything-"

"You've never gone flying?" Hawks demanded, stepping forward eagerly. "Flying is the best thing in the world! Come with me!"

Tokoyami stared at Hawks in disbelief, stepping backwards in mild alarm. "What?"

"I know! If you're so upset because you think I was holding back, come flying with me. If you still feel that you weren't holding back afterwards by not flying yourself, I'll fight you again for real during gym, if Aizawa agrees," Hawks said with a grin. "Unless you're… chicken."

Tokoyami's eyes twitched and Hawks laughed, he couldn't help it.

"Come on, I promise I won't drop you." Hawks crossed his heart with mock seriousness.

"…very well," Tokoyami said at last, shifting uncomfortably.

"Great!" Hawks grabbed Tokoyami's hand and dragged him out of the hallway to the nearest exit, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Wait, now?" Tokoyami exclaimed, clearly flustered.

"You've been stuck on the ground for too long, Tokoyami," Hawks said, not quite sure why he was so excited for Tokoyami to experience flying. Who was he kidding, it was flying. That was reason enough. "Us birds are meant to be in the sky."

There were very few things that the Commission hadn't been able to take from him, such as his name, his sense of humor (though it had come out a little twisted), and his love of flying. Nothing they did had ever been able to steal that from him. And they'd tried. They'd definitely tried.

He couldn't imagine someone else not feeling the same way. He figured Tokoyami had never tried before, so he didn't even know what he was missing. Good thing Hawks was around to show him.

Once he and Tokoyami were outside, Hawks glanced up at the sky and grinned. It was perfect flying weather. "Okay, I'm going to pick you up."

The skeptical look Tokoyami gave him was a little insulting, but Hawks let it slide. Hawks was practically vibrating with excitement, wings twitching at the change to escape into the endless blue sky.

"Won't I make flying more difficult?" Tokoyami asked, stiffening as Hawks grabbed him under the arms, and sprang into the air with an easy flap of his wings. "Whoa!"

Hawks grinned as he gained altitude, going a little slower than normal to give Tokoyami a moment to adjust. "Nope! Just one of my feathers would be enough to lift you."

It didn't take long for Hawks to level off a few hundred feet above the stadium. The view below spectacular. They clear view of the UA campus and the Sports Festival stadium, with the city a beautiful, sprawling backdrop. The audience from the Sports Festival was still slowly trickling out, looking like tiny ants in the far away parking lots and streets. Hawks circled the stadium twice and then flew off in the direction of a nearby park that he visited sometimes after school. It wasn't long before they were flying over water. Hawks flew in lower, so close that he could have reached out a hand to touch the water, and increased his speed. He could see the outlines of his wings reflected in the water, the vibrant red of his feathers glinting in the setting sun.

"You doing okay?" He asked, glancing at Tokoyami. The wide-eyed expression and wonder struck smile on Tokoyami's face had Hawks grinning even broader. "Ready to go faster?"

"You can go faster?" Tokoyami asked breathlessly.

Letting the sudden burst of speed be his answer, Hawks started ascending again, regaining altitude in a tight corkscrew. He came out of the corkscrew with a flip, laughing as Tokoyami let out a whoop and spread out his arms. "H-Hawks, this is amazing!"

"Right? Doesn't it seem like a waste?" Hawks said, slowly turning them back toward UA. "Who wants to be stuck on the ground when you could be flying!"

On a normal day, Hawks could have kept flying for hours, even with the added weight of flying with Tokoyami. But he was running on two hours of sleep and he was in pain; the Sports Festival had added more bruises to the ones that he'd collected from the Commission over the past weekend, leaving him aching and breathless. They landed back where they'd started from a few minutes later, the landing a little rougher than Hawks had intended.

Hawks sagged against a nearby wall, wincing as the bruises on his back were jostled. He ran a hand over his face and took stock of the pain radiating in his body before glancing up at Tokoyami. "Well?"

The look on Tokoyami's face said it all. "What did you mean by a waste?" He asked, moving over to sit down beside Hawks.

Hawks flopped his head back against the wall, gathering his thoughts. "You've been pushing yourself to grow stronger at short range combat, but don't you think you're ignoring your natural strengths?"

Tokoyami stared at him.

"You'll be far more effective as a hero if you're proficient at both long range and short-range combat," Hawks continued, detaching a feather to fiddle with it absently. "Stop holding yourself back and let yourself move freely. Plus, you're a bird, aren't you? Birds were meant to soar."

They were quiet for a while as Tokoyami processed what Hawks's had said, but it was a strangely comfortable silence, considering that Hawks's hadn't interacted with Tokoyami very much in the past. He caught his eyes drooping as a wave of fatigue hit him and forced himself to sit a little straighter. He wondered if he'd be able to sleep for a few hours before the Commission came to collect him for a review of his performance at the Sports Festival if he went home now.

The silence lasted for a few minutes longer, before Tokoyami at last turned to him and said, with utter seriousness, "What about penguins?"

Hawks stared at him for just a moment in astonishment, before bursting out laughing. Tokoyami's lips twitched in amusement and he let out a quiet chortle.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Tokoyami," Hawks said, impressed. "But seriously, we both know you're a raven, not penguin. If you have the ability to fly, you should. No need to keep your feet stuck on the ground."

"You really love flying," Tokoyami said, staring up at the sky. "I can see the appeal."

"For me, flying is the ultimate form of freedom," Hawks admitted, twirling the feather in his hands. "If I could, I would fly off and never let myself be shackled to down again."

Flying was freedom, but in the end, that freedom was only an illusion. He would never be free of the Commission. They owned him until he was dead. It was the first lesson he'd learned, all those years ago when they'd first taken him from his family. But despite knowing that with a horrible, inescapable certainty, he still couldn't keep from dreaming about freedom, even if it was only when he was flying.

"It seems I've misjudged you," Tokoyami said quietly. "You always seem so fake when you're interacting with others, except for maybe Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka. I had thought you shallow, disinterested, and… well, patronizing. I avoided you, despite your efforts at being friendly. I see now that I was wrong now. My apologies."

He's way more observant that I gave him credit for, Hawks realized. Tokoyami was right, in a way. He was fake—or at least, he had been. Things had been changing since he started hanging around Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka more often. The lines had started to blur. It was getting more difficult to separate his personal feelings with the reality of his mission, but that wasn't all. 'Learn All Might's secrets.' It had seemed like such a simple thing, back when he'd first received the assignment. He'd never been particularly fond of All Might, especially with the Commission constantly comparing and pushing Hawks to be more like him. Or their idea of him, at any rate. He'd thought it would be easy to spy on him, because he'd had no personal feelings or attachments that could interfere with the mission.

Then he'd met him and not long after, USJ happened. He'd found out All Might's secret. His two secrets. And suddenly, Hawks had known that the Commission could never be told. He didn't have to try and imagine what they would do, he knew. Maybe that was why he'd let himself get so close to Midoriya and the others. He was already risking his life for them by keeping One for All and All Might's true form a secret, so letting himself get a little attached couldn't bury him any deeper, right?

"I think I'm tired," Hawks said, not just speaking physically. Exhaustion went deep, deep into his bones. He was tired of lying, of going back to the Commission every week and leaving hurt and drained, tired of feeling so alone. He wondered how much longer he could last before something slipped or he stepped over the line one time too many. No matter how he looked at it, he could only see this going to end badly for him. He had no idea how to stop it from ending in his corpse being found in a river somewhere. Or being incinerated. He grimaced and put his hands over his face.

What are you going to do? Tell someone? They won't believe you, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to do anything. The Commission is Hero Society itself. Nothing can be done. Hawks wasn't selfish enough to ask for the fall of society just for his sake. And if he told someone, and they actually believed him, that would simply mean that they knewand still didn't take action. Hawks couldn't live with that. At least this way, he could still pretend that someone would at least try to help him. That Aizawa, All Might, Midoriya, and the others cared.

"Hawks?" Tokoyami said, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Sorry," Hawks said, resisting the urge to flash him a fake smile. Tokoyami, at least, could tell the difference. "It's been a long day."

"Are you going to join the rest of the class for ramen?" Tokoyami stood and offered him a hand.

Sleep called longingly to him, but he could sleep when he was dead. He wouldn't have chances like this for much longer. "I wasn't planning on it, but… sure, why not?" Hawks grinned. "Everyone's going to be so riled up it's going to be sheer chaos."

"Indeed," Tokoyami said, smiling slightly. "I wouldn't miss it though."

Maybe it's okay to play pretend, Hawks mused, following Tokoyami to the front gate, where everyone was supposed to meet. Just for a while longer.

The rest of the class was waiting for them when they arrived at UA's entrance and Hawks felt a tension in his shoulders ease as a strange, bittersweet feeling settled over him. It felt a lot like resignation, but still… Hawks was going to enjoy this time with them while he had the chance.

"You know, Tokoyami, I didn't think we had much in common but maybe we're actually birds of a feather," He said, grinning as he walked over to where Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida were waiting for him.

Tokoyami groaned.

"No, really! I mean, you took to flying like a duck to water," Hawks continued, savoring the pained expression on Tokoyami's face. "And we're both night owls."

"Please stop," Tokoyami said, one eye twitching.

"Don't get upset, Tokoyami," Kaminari said, sliding in next to him and clapping him on the back as the group started walking. "Just let it go, like water off a duck's back."

It wasn't long before the rest of the class caught on and they spent the rest of the trip to the restaurant making bird jokes.

Present—Commission Building

Two hours after the meeting at UA, a large group of pro-heroes infiltrated a nondescript Commission building that had been registered under a shell company, thanks to Yaoyorozu's trackers. They were receiving heavier resistance than Shouta had initially expected upon entering, but they were still making rapid progress through the building. Anger was a good motivator.

Shouta turned a corner, Present Mic at his heels, and rapidly took down three more Commission agents. They were still on the ground floor of the building, systematically checking every room while two other groups searched the basement and the second and third floors.

Present Mic stepped in front of him while Shouta was still searching the agents' pockets for a security pass and released a shout that took out five men that had started charging at them from down the hall.

"Found one," Shouta said, kicking the agent again for good measure before standing up.

"Try this one," Present Mic said, motioning at a door a few feet away. "Were we expecting to find other kids?"

Shouta moved to the door Present Mic was indicating and stared, aghast. The sign over the door read "nursery." He gritted his teeth.

Without a word, Shouta took the security pass and slid it into the card scanner. It blinked green and the door unlocked with a click. "Be ready."

The door swung inward and Shouta could hear something shift inside. Lights blinked on a moment later, revealing twelve bunkbeds crammed into a tiny room with nothing but white paint on the walls, cracked white tiles, with two toilets and a small sink in the righthand corner farthest from the door. There was nothing for privacy, not even a curtain. No toys, books, or memorabilia of any time. It was a cell, not a nursery.

A tiny figure stirred from the top of one of the bunk beds nearest the door A child poked her head out and peered at them with wide, distrusting orange eyes. "You're not one of our handlers." The child said, voice strangely flat.

Shouta stepped into the room as the children got out of their beds and lined up carefully in front of them, far too orderly for a group of children so young. The oldest couldn't be much older than six or seven.

They were quiet and grave faced, dressed in ill-fitting gray jumpsuits with the Commission's emblem emblazoned on the front. Pale and painfully thin, they stared up at Shouta and Present Mic with distrust, dread shining in their eyes. Fury burned in the back of Aizawa's mind, but he allowed none of it to show on his face as he knelt down in front of one of the smaller children and removed his goggles.

"Hello," He said softly, meeting the little girl's wide, hopeful eyes. "What's your name?"

"Tigress," She said, pointed cat ears twitching in agitation. "Are you a hero?"
"Yes," Shouta said, slowly offering up his hand. "My name is Eraser Head. I've come to help you."

The girl's eyes brightened at his name and she reached out and took his hand with both of her paws, his hand dwarfing hers in comparison. "You're the hero big brother talks about!"

Shouta blinked and found himself suddenly surrounded by a crowd of small children.

"You've really come to help us?" Another child asked, stuffing his thumb in his mouth.

"That's right," Shouta said, not sure if he wanted to scream or cry. "Who's your big brother?"

"Big brother Hawks," One of the other children answered. "He said you were the coolest and that- that you were nice and always helped people."

Swallowing hard, Shouta offered the children a small smile. "Does he tell you a lot of stories?"

"Yeah! All about you and UA and his classmates," Tigress said, lips twitching up into what was almost a smile. "He always visits us, but he hasn't come today or yesterday like he was supposed to."

A chill ran down Shouta's spine. "Do you know where he is?"

"I think… I think they took him to the bad place," Another child said. "I passed by his cell earlier and it was empty."

"Can you tell me where the bad place is? I came to help him too," Shouta said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

"Down," Tigress said, shuddering. "You're really going to help him?"

"Yes," Shouta said, giving her paws a gentle squeeze. "And all of you as well."

"We don't need help!" One of the older kids exclaimed with a suspicious glare. "We're heroes!"

"You are," Shouta said slowly. "But even heroes need help sometimes."

The children all stared at him doubtfully, but Shouta reached out to Tigress and picked her up. She stared at him curiously, her body stiff in his arms, as if she wasn't used to being held.

"How would you like to get out of here?" He asked, holding her just a bit tighter.

Thirty minutes later, all of the children were safely escorted out of the building and taken to the medical tent they'd sent up in advance of storming the building. Best Jeanist and Endeavor were already leading a team down to the basement in search of Hawks, with reports coming in of more children being located. Some were in groups. Others were found in cells, with nothing but a tiny cot and a tiny sink and toilet inside. The oldest was seventeen and the youngest was four or five.

Shouta was itching to join Best Jeanist in searching the basement, but he was loathe to leave the children he and Present Mic had found. Tigress was a fast learner and was now very comfortably situated in his arms, with her head tucked into the crook of his neck.

Present Mic was kneeling on the ground a few feet away, trying to sweet talk one of the children into letting one of the medics come closer. He was smiling pleasantly, but Shouta could see the strain on his face.

The most difficult cases always involved children. That never changed. As an underground hero, Shouta had dealt with a disproportionate number of cases involving the trafficking of young children. Today they had arrived in time to save them. It wasn't always the case.

"Eraser Head," Best Jeanist said through Shouta's earpiece. "We need you down here. We've run into someone with a mental quirk."

"On my way," Shouta said at once. "Tigress, I have to go help Hawks, but you'll be safe here, okay?"

The little girl nodded and allowed herself to be pulled from Shouta's arms without a struggle. Shouta allowed himself a moment to pat her head gently before he turned to leave.

Present Mic glanced up, a questioning look in his eyes, but Shouta shook his head. The children needed him more.

He ran all the way back to the building. Heroes were streaming in and out of it now, some escorting more children out, others dragging unconscious prisoners to the waiting police.

Still no sign of Hawks.

He's here. Shouta told himself, refusing to believe that he'd already been moved without their knowing, or worse, had already been killed by the Commission for disobeying orders. Why didn't you just tell me?
He took the stairs down, since the elevators had been disabled shortly after they entered the building. It didn't take him long to find Best Jeanist and Endeavor, who were both holed up in a corridor a few feet away from a set of double doors.

"They managed to push us back and seal the door. Endeavor is going to make an entrance for us through that wall," Best Jeanist said, pointing. "It's a strong quirk, so our take down has to be fast."

Shouta nodded and placed his goggles over his eyes. "I'm ready."

Endeavor stepped forward and with a yell sent a jet of fire at the righthand wall beside the double doors, hot enough to completely blast through the metal. "Go!"

He was already moving, Best Jeanist and two other heroes right behind him. Shouta sprinted through the still melting hole in the wall and launched his capture weapon. Pain exploded in his head. He glanced at a man in a white coat, but kicked him out of the away when the pain didn't disappear. In his peripheral he saw a familiar blonde figure strapped to a chair, but he forced himself not to look yet and instead focused his gaze on the only other person in the room; a thin, bald man with a collar around his neck. The pain ended abruptly.

"Got him," Shouta said, wrapping his capture weapon around the man.

Endeavor dashed forward and knocked the man out with a heavy right hook. "I'll secure him. Check on the boy."

Shouta didn't need to be told twice. He reached Hawks side at the same time as Best Jeanist, hands shaking as he reached out to check for a pulse.

"Is he…?" Best Jeanist trailed off, placing a hand on Hawks's cheek.

"He's alive," Shouta said gruffly, taking in Hawks's condition with growing dread.

He looked half dead. He was wearing the same gray jumpsuit as the other children, but his was stained with blood. Hawks's face was utterly devoid of color and his skin clammy, but somehow that wasn't the worst of it. For a horrible moment Shouta thought his wings were gone, but the moment they got the restraints off he saw them; bare and bloody with deep scratches from where they had been pressed awkwardly against the back of the chair.

Together, he and Best Jeanist got Hawks onto the floor and laid him on his side to avoid putting pressure on his wings. Someone called for a stretcher, but Shouta barely heard them, focusing on his student. A quick inspection revealed numerous bruises, several broken ribs, and a mangled, shattered hand, but no other major injuries. None that were visible, at least.

Shouta tapped Hawks's cheek lightly. "Hawks, you need to wake up."

No response. A chill ran down Shouta's spine.

"What were you doing to him?" Best Jeanist demanded, rounding on the man in the white coat.

"You aren't supposed to be here-" The doctor said, trembling.

"Answer the question!" Shouta shouted, cupping the teen's face.

"We were ordered to—to erase his mind," The doctor said, looking like he was seconds away from wetting himself. "So that new memories could be implanted-"

Horrified gasps resounded around the room and Shouta sank to the floor, unconsciously pulling Hawks closer. This went beyond anything Shouta could ever have imagined as a worse case scenario. He glanced down at the blood still dripping sluggishly from Hawks's nose and ears and ruthlessly shoved down his terror into a tightly lidded box. He could deal with his emotions later. Trying to ascertain Hawks's condition and the damage done to his mind was the priority.

He half pulled Hawks's into his arms and wrapped a hand around the teen's wrist, gaging his pulse. It was weak, but steady. Next, he carefully ran a hand along Hawks's wings and felt a flicker of relief when none of the bones appeared broken.

While Shouta was doing that, Best Jeanist recovered enough from his shock to punch the doctor in the face. "How far did you get? What did you do?"

"He was resisting, but we were at it for hours. You're too late," The doctor cried. "Don't—Don't hurt me!"

Best Jeanist cursed and knocked the man out with a single punch. "We're too late…"

"Hawks, wake up," Shouta said urgently, placing both of his hands on the side of the teen's face. "Wake up."

"Eraser Head," Endeavor said, expression grim. "We're too late."

"Hawks, no sleeping in class," Shouta said, using his best teacher's voice even as it trembled just slightly. "Wake up."

Golden eyes flickered open, glazed and unfocused.

"That's right," Shouta said, not daring to hope. "Do you know who I am?"

No answer came for what felt like an eternity. Then a trembling hand grasped weakly at his own. "S-sen…sei."

Relief hit Shouta like a tidal wave and he knew that his eyes were conspicuously not dry at the moment. "That's right, problem child. When we get back to school, you're grounded until you're twenty-one, got it?"

Hawks's lips twisted into a tiny smile before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went lax once more. Carefully gathering him into his arms, Shouta stood. "I'm not waiting for the medical team. He needs help now."

"I'll take him," Best Jeanist said. "We need you to stay in case the guy with the mental quirk wakes up."

Hawks's limp form was taken from him without another word, and Best Jeanist disappeared with him through the hole Endeavor had made. A small pool of blood was the only sign that Hawks had been held in the room at all.

"There's a security camera," Endeavor said, grabbing the cowering doctor by the back of his coat. "If it hasn't been deleted yet, reviewing the footage will give us a better idea of what was done to him."

Not bothering to give an answer, Shouta doubled checked that the man with the mental quirk was still unconscious. "Someone else take him." He said. No one needed to be told twice.

"I got him." Kido, one of Endeavor's sidekicks, offered nervously.

The remaining heroes trickled out of the room, leaving only Endeavor and Shouta. Endeavor was staring down at the chair, a strange expression on his face that Shouta couldn't quite read.

"I want to see the security footage," Shouta said, moving to follow Kido out. "And I want to be included on everything you learn from your investigation."

Endeavor gave a quiet affirmative, eyes fixed on the chair Hawks had been in for a moment longer before he too turned and left the room.

They'd found Hawks. All Shouta could hope was that there was something left of teen they'd been so desperate to save.