The new team had gathered around Miss Martian talking and chatting for awhile now, but it was Batman that pulled me aside first.
"I believe you know Hawkman," he said, directing my attention to the winged man in question. I nodded.
"Then I'll let you two get acquainted." He said, and then he was gone. Like, disappeared from the room entirely. I looked around for a minute, wondering what had happened, but Hawkman had cleared his threat and brought my attention back to him.
"You seem to be...settling in well," he started, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. I nodded again.
"It's nice in the Flash's City," I replied, feeling a bit awkward just standing here. I looked over at my friends, who were laughing about something I didn't know. Maybe they were laughing about me…
"Well, that's nice," Hawkman's words reached my ears and I once again struggled to pay attention to the bird man.
"Do you think that we can move there?" I asked, a hopeful smile growing on my face. Hawkman was silent for a second.
"'We'?" He asked for clarification.
"You know, me, you, and Hawkwoman," I explained, then added, "as a...a family."
That seemed to surprise him. I wondered what I was doing wrong to make him act like he didn't want to be around me. Did I say something wrong? Do something wrong? Or was it just because I was a clone, created by Cadmus? That didn't seem fair, I hadn't done anything to him and yet he treats me like a traitor.
"Well, we can um, we'll work something out." He turned away and excused himself, heading for the Zeta tubes. Now I was starting to get frustrated.
"What have I done wrong?!" I shouted at him, balling my fists. He stopped walking and the room suddenly got deathly quiet, but I was too angry at him to care at the moment.
"Why do you treat me like a...a bad guy? Why don't you want anything to do with me? Am I not good enough for you? Is there something wrong with me?" All of my questions from earlier came flooding out in one breath. I was legitimately hurt now, and still Hawkman just stood there, silently, his back to me.
And then he faced me. His expression behind the helmet was unreadable. I was afraid I had accidentally crossed a line somewhere.
I steeled myself, fighting the instinct to run as Hawkman drew closer. He raised his gauntlet-clad hand like before, at the Cadmus remains, only this time he did something different.
He pulled me into a hug.
It was an unsure, awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless. I returned it after the shock from the action had worn off.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. All of The anger had washed Seat at that moment, and tears began welling up in my eyes. I shut them to prevent the tears from falling. And I knew why he had acted so defensive now.
I was a clone. Born from DNA stolen from him, from them. Grown in a lab beneath their very noses, shielded from their eyes. And then I was brought into the light. Cadmus's secrets revealed, and they rejected me because I was a part of the bad guys. But now I wasn't. I was good, and I was going to stay that way.
I broke the hug first. I stepped back, wiping my face with my hands. Hawkman was still frozen standing there. I'm not sure even he knew what he had just done.
"Thank you," I stage-whispered, and I could've sworn I saw a brief smile cross his face before it returned to his normal scowl. He did give me a nod, which was also progress, I guess.
"Training starts at seven o'clock, sharp at the Hall of Justice. Don't be late."
And with that, he turned and walked into the Zeta tube, disappearing in a flash of golden light. I turned back to the new team, wanting to get back to the conversations we were having before.
Everyone was looking at me now. Most of them were grinning, but Superboy was wearing the meanest-looking scowl I ever saw. He didn't try to hide it in the slightest. And then I remembered that he was a clone, too. Of Superman.
"Superboy…" I began, not quite sure how to finish. He turned away from me and didn't speak.
We didn't speak for the rest of the day.
I thought it was worrying, seeing as how he seemed like he was warming up to me yesterday and this morning.
Others tried to talk to me, but I didn't feel like making small talk. I just went to my room and sat on my bed.
It was pretty empty, as I had nothing but Kid Flash's gift clothes and my white tunic and pants from Cadmus. I didn't even know why I brought them here. Memories, I guess.
I went to bed early, wanting to get a full night's rest for tomorrow. Robin showed me how to set my alarm clock to wake me up tomorrow morning, so I laid down and tried to go to sleep.
Except that I couldn't. I kept thinking about Hawkman, about Superboy. It wasn't my fault that Superman hadn't welcomed him with open arms. I didn't decide his actions.
Maybe in a few days it'll all blow over… I thought as I descended into a night of fitful sleep.
The sound of my alarm woke me up the next morning. I glanced at the clock. 6:30. I needed to get up.
Not to my surprise, Kid Flash was already up snacking on something.
"Hey Kid Flash," I greeted with a yawn.
"I told you, call me Wally when I'm off-duty," he was sitting on the couch in front of the big TV box. He folded his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the small table.
"Oh, sorry." I apologized, cleared my throat, and tried again. "Hey Wally."
"That's great Hawkey, but next time, easy on the sarcasm." He said, putting another handful of whatever he was eating into his mouth and chewed loudly.
I returned to my room with a bowl of cereal and ate it sitting on my bed. After that I got dressed. I didn't really have anything else, so I chose the dark green shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, making sure it didn't get in the way of my wings, and set off towards the Zeta tubes. Robin told me last night that the Hall of Justice was in Washington D.C., so I put that into the floating computer keyboard as the voice said my name and number.
Hawkgirl B05
After I stepped off the platform, I realized I had just used the Zeta tubes by myself. I felt proud of myself for doing that.
Hawkwoman was already standing near the platform, and she motioned with her wing to follow. I did.
Neither of us said a word to each other. I was still trying to wake up, and Hawkwoman I was sure had her reasons.
We came up to a place where people were gathering and taking photos. I looked up at the marble building, reading the words engraved on the sides. Hall of Justice.
People tended to notice us right away, but I followed Hawkwoman's lead in ignoring the people that wanted picture and asked questions. I didn't feel like answering questions at the time.
She stopped at a large metal door, where a beam scanned her and the doors opened. I followed in after her, still not speaking.
Hawkwoman led me down multiple other hallways, each looking about the same so I got lost pretty easily. The woman's stride was longer than mine so I had to struggle to keep up.
Finally, we came into a large room, where Hawkman was waiting already. He had his arms crossed like always, and Hawkwoman joined him by his side, the two Leaguers facing me.
"Batman gave us the authority for you to train with us," Hawkman began, his tone serious and not at all friendly.
"We'll teach you how to fight, both in the air and on the ground." Hawkwoman continued. I nodded, understanding.
"First, we'll work on strength." Hawkman stepped forward, his arms lowering. "You need to build muscle mass in your wings so you can use them more efficiently." He demonstrated by stretching his large brown wings and taking off up to the tall ceiling, then floated back down. I wished I could do that.
My wings stretched out at the display, allowing the two Hawks a better look at them. They were still small and weak, but since my liberation from Cadmus I had stretched them out more and they had been less sore during the past few days.
"I'll teach you both hand-to-hand combat as well as armed," Hawkwoman explained her role, brandishing her dangerous-looking mace in one hand. I wanted a mace like that.
The Hawks exchanged a brief look, before Hawkman spoke again. "We'll start slow, but don't expect to take it easy. Fitness is a lifestyle, not a hobby. In addition to our training you'll also have to keep up your work with the team and training with Black Canary as well." I suddenly felt overwhelmed with all of this responsibility thrust on my shoulders, but I nodded nonetheless.
And with that, training with the Hawks had begun.
We started with stretches to loosen my muscles. After I was tired from that, Hawkwoman took the lead to teach hand-to-hand.
"First, let's see what you already know," she said, stepping into a fighting stance. I instinctively mirrored her, the posture strangely not feeling strange or awkward, but natural. I lowered my shoulders, ready for her attack.
She came on fast. Too fast for me to dodge. I brought up a hand to block her fist, but she anticipated that and sent her other fist to my face. My head moved before I told it to, ducking down to avoid her attack.
I felt something on my leg and suddenly I was down on the ground, my wings pressing uncomfortably into my back.
"You fought well, but neglected to track all of my movements, allowing me to surprise you. You need to be able to focus on more than one thing at a time in combat." She explained as I got up. "Again."
We repeated the exercise over and over, and every time I was kicked down. But I was learning and adapting, which Hawkwoman noticed.
"You're adapting, good," she threw another punch, which I dodged. "But so am I."
With that, she grabbed my wrist and forced it between my shoulder blades, which made my bad shoulder explode in pain. I cried out as she released my hand.
"You favor your left hand too much. Keep each side in check as you fight." I was starting to get annoyed, while she remained cold and professional facing me. Well exc-use me for being injured in the line of duty!
The sparring session went on for about thirty more minutes before we had a break. I sat down on a bench, drinking from a water bottle and panting heavily. And I still had to build my wing strength up.
After a few more minutes. Hawkwoman had the gym, her work done, as Hawkman took over training me to use my wings.
He was even stricter than Hawkwoman.
I pumped my wings up and down, trying to put the power into my downstroke like he instructed, and yet I still could get barely a foot off the ground.
I collapsed on the ground, thoroughly exhausted. Hawkman stood above me like a mountain, his hard gaze not making me feel any better about my situation.
"Again," he commanded. I struggled to get back up, every limb shaking like leaves in the wind. "Synchronize your wingbeats to get more power from your downstroke."
I tried to follow his instructions, and managed to get about a foot and a half off the ground. I stopped trying to fly, and crashed on the ground. I tried to get up again, but my arms gave way and I stayed there, panting and sweating on the floor.
I heard Hawkman breathe out a long sigh. "That's enough for today. We'll start again tomorrow, same time." And then I heard him walking away while I still lay there, tears escaping from my eyes and mixing with my sweat.
Eventually I had laid there long enough for some strength to return, and I managed to stand with every muscle in my body burning. I wasn't used to this much physical activity, at least not yet. I walked out the door and realized that I was lost within the Hall of Justice.
Well, this is it, I thought with despair as I fell to the floor, barely propped up on my elbows. My throat was on fire as I tried to take in air.
I heard a voice to my left. Were they a part of the Justice League? I couldn't see. I was rolled on my back, my wings being moved so that I can lay comfortably, and I looked up at the face of Xavier.
"Wha…?" What was he doing here?
"It's okay, my uncle's on his way. He'll take care of you," he consoled. But how could his uncle help?
"Whoa," I heard him say, and felt something press against my feathers. My wing twitched, unused to the touch. "Sorry…" Xavier pulled his hand back.
I heard the footsteps of another person before they came into my line of sight. He was older than Xavier, but he had the same messy dirty blonde hair.
I groaned in pain as my tired body was lifted off the floor and carried to who knows where. I heard words, but I couldn't make them out.
Oh no, I'm not passing out again! I willed myself to stay awake. I was laid carefully onto a bed. I felt a prick in my arm and turned my head to see a silver needle sticking out of my arm. I started to freak out at the sight.
"Hey, hey, it's alright, you're safe now," Xavier's voice spoke beside me as he held me down.
"You're really lucky we were there at the time," I guessed the voice was Xavier's uncle. I still had very little idea of what was going on.
I knew I was now in a bed, with a curtain separating my place from another. There were white walls, one had a TV box on the side while the wall to my right had a window.
I turned my head to the other side to see Xavier and his uncle watching over me. Xavier's uncle put his hand lightly on my good shoulder.
"You'll be okay, just rest now," he instructed in a soft tone. I nodded slowly, and watched as the two left through the door.
My breathing steadied as I felt my strength returning. I wasn't really in the mood to walk back to the Zeta tube and explain my training day with the team and Batman, however, so I stayed in the bed.
Soon, my mind drifted into a deep sleep.
A/N: I really, really, really debated on whether or not to write this in the Hawks' points of view. But, I had a first-person theme going on, so I stuck with that. I hope you enjoyed it, though!
TBH I think the Hawks are some of the most underrated characters in the Justice League.
As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are more than appreciated.
Still don't own anything Young Justice or DC-related.
