"Sorry I'm late." He apologized, tone tinted with seriousness. "There you are, Hawks. Shut the door, we're about to begin." Madam President instructed.

'Hawks?!' Your eyes widened a tad, unsure if you could believe what you had just heard. His voice was deeper than you remembered, but that should have been expected. 'Is he really here?' You risked a glance. Sure enough; you'd recognize that mess of honey blonde hair anywhere. Hawks's piercing gold eyes met yours for a moment just as you looked away, but there was no discernible change in his expression. He took his spot behind the President, standing only a few feet away from you but staring sternly at the projector screen.

'He saw me. He definitely looked right at me.' You allowed your fists to unclench, but your jaw remained tightly locked. Now wasn't the time to be distracted. Whatever you were here for, it was important.

One of the Commission employees stood at the front of the room beside the blank pull-down screen. "Thank you all for coming. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Eiji Saito." He began. "I understand how stressful things have been lately. I'm sure everyone here can feel the effects. There has been a great deal of tension growing in our society recently with all that's been happening." You glanced down at Stiller who was nodding his head solemnly. Obviously, he knew what this guy was talking about. You, on the other hand, were clueless. You knew of current events in America, but international matters weren't something your caretaker thought necessary to update you on. Not even if there was a chance of you getting wrapped up in them, apparently. 'Need-to-know basis, I guess.'

The speaker continued: "I wish I could tell you we were here to help put your minds at ease. Unfortunately, we must admit... we do not have the issue as under-control as we had previously thought…" Though you tried desperately to pay attention as the man droned on, your mind wandered to the winged hero beside you. You could see from the corner of your eye that he wasn't looking at you now, and the one he gave you before- it held almost no emotion. You began to fret once again. 'Maybe he doesn't remember me.' You thought in an attempt to soothe yourself.

"As the truth of just how grave our situation is came to light, we thought it best to seek help from our foreign allies." Saito gestured towards Stiller and yourself. "This is Captain Henry Stiller, he's worked alongside us for a considerable amount of time and allowed us to keep ties with the US military. He was kind enough to offer (H/N) as aid. Some of you may remember them, they're a long-time HPSC trainee."

Welp, that gave you away. If Hawks didn't recognize you before, he definitely knew who you were now. Still, he didn't even flinch. His face held the same bored expression it had when he arrived, eyes glued to the presentation in front of him. The projector clicked on and Saito continued his briefing. An unfamiliar face appeared on the screen in front of you. A skinny man in a black jacket with the hood pulled up over his grey-white hair. It wasn't the most high-quality image; in fact, it looked as though it was taken from a bit of security footage. You zoned out again.

'He has to know by now. This guy literally introduced me by name and he didn't even so much as look over.' Worry washed over you as the next slide was shown. You did your best to make a mental note of the second suspect despite your wandering mind. 'Shadow man, got it.' Back to your internal monologue.

'Is he angry with me for leaving so suddenly without saying goodbye? He has to know I wasn't given an option. He knows these people as well as I do, maybe even better by now.'

Next slide. 'Lizard Guy; noted.'

By now, you had given up on actually paying attention to any of the information. You'd figure it out later.

'Does he hate me? I did leave him here all alone, but- no, I wasn't given a choice.'

Next slide. 'A… school girl?'

'Maybe he just doesn't remember. Maybe he took everything so badly that they got someone with a memory-erasing quirk to make him forget. That sounds like something they'd do, right?' You began to shake again.

Next slide. 'Oh, come on, that one's got a mask on- I can't even see his face. Screw it, Black-and-White-Mask Guy.'

'Or maybe he just doesn't care anymore. It has been ten years… maybe he's just not as caught up in his own problems as I am. Maybe now I'm just a colleague, someone he's inconveniently being made to work with.' Your heart sank. Even if it was just in your head, and even if it was just for a little while, Hawks gave you that long-lost feeling of hope that came with friendship. 'Maybe… they finally got to hi- JESUS, WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT GUY?!' The image had changed once again and the sight of the man before you caught you off guard: spiky black hair and striking blue eyes who's penetrating leer seemed to be focused almost intentionally into the camera. His most prominent attributes by far, however, were the deep purple burns scars that stretched from his ears, over his jaw, down his neck, and across his chest. Two others dotted his lower eyelids and you were sure you saw even more on the parts of his arms that stuck out of his tattered black overshirt. You had seen corpses with more mangled features, but never before had you witnessed a living person with that much mutilation. Whatever had caused him to become so disfigured, it must have been a miracle that he survived it.

The unexpected sensation of something covertly slipping into your hand startled you. 'What the- what… is that?' It brushed gently across your fingers and pressed itself into your palm. The familiar tenderness comforted you and your face, which had been unintentionally focused into a grimace, relaxed. You slowly closed your fingers around the red feather, stroking the side of it with your thumb. This was it. It always had been since you were young: his way of calming you down. Of letting you know he was there for you. When as children you stood nervously in line at training, or afterward when all you wanted to do was curl up and hide away from the world. The caring touch of his plush feathers always managed to bring you back down to Earth. With your brain no longer racked with uncertainties, you could finally focus. You tuned back in.

"...highly dangerous. At the moment, what we need to do is ensure we have the power to overcome the League's Nomus."

'The what now?'

The display on the screen changed again, this time to a bit of news footage depicting some monstrous-looking villains tearing up the city and terrorizing denizens. Their skins were discolored, and their brains protruded from the tops of their heads. One had a massive and muscular build, another bore fleshy wings and talon-like feet. And you thought the last guy looked bad.

"I don't think I need to explain just how dangerous these hybrids are. At this point, we need all the help we can get. At the same time, however, it is imperative that we maintain a feeling of trust and security in our relationship with the public. These attacks are becoming more frequent, and we fear citizens are beginning to lose faith in heroes. That's why we've asked the four of you here." So that was it, then. The HPSC had allowed a villain group, this "League", to become too strong. That was rich. You withheld a snicker, finding the Commission's self-admitted lack of competence amusing. One word did stick out to you, though.

'Did he say 'hybrids'? Someone is making these things, then?' You wished you had paid more attention earlier.

"Endeavor has experienced the Nomus' strength first hand." Saito nodded respectfully in the Flame Hero's direction.

"Yes." Endeavor spoke, arms crossed in front of him. "They're incredibly powerful; I believe most of them had multiple quirks and, as you can see, are quick to cause destruction. If you run into one, I advise prioritizing civilian safety and evacuation. It would be unwise to try and face them by yourself, so just do your best to keep them contained while you wait for back-up." His deep voice resonated throughout the room, sending a chill down your spine. This man was seriously intimidating. Funnily enough, though you had little respect for the man, you took him more seriously than the Commission right now. In a way, he was a lot like you right now: some poor sucker now being tasked with cleaning up their mess. Still, despite how the issue arose, you understood just how crucial it was that this matter be handled. To allow hero society to crumble would be to allow chaos to assume control. Stopping these villains was the key to keeping peace and order. At least, that's what you understood from what little you were able to pick up.

"Thank you, sir. We will notify you all as more information becomes available, but for now, this is what we have to work with. We're going to adjourn this meeting soon, but before we do, does anyone have any questions about anything presented today?"

'Yes. Do you think you could repeat the first three-quarters of all that?' You wanted to say. Instead, you stayed quiet as the others chimed in with their inquiries. You petted the feather in your hand some more, unsure of whether or not you'd get the opportunity to speak with its owner any time soon. If you could just talk to him privately for two minutes, he could probably clear up any questions you had.

Once everyone had had their questions answered, Madam President stood and bowed slightly. "Thank you all once again for coming. We will arrange another meeting once we know more and hopefully then we will be able to form a real defense plan." You felt Hawks's feather swiftly leave your hand, presumably to return to his wing.

One by one, people began to file out of the room; first the two unidentified heroes, then Mr. Saito and the two other commission workers. The heat of Endeavor's flames as he passed behind you made you feel sick. You looked down at the place Stiller and the President sat just in time to see her whisper to him. Stiller nodded and the pair stood abruptly. He pushed in his chair and took a step towards you.

"Stay here for a minute. I need to speak with Madam President and Mr. Takakage in private." Stiller instructed before exiting the room.

You felt your shoulders relax as you were left alone for the first time in 18 hours. Only… you weren't alone. Your eyes moved almost instinctively to the winged man beside you to find that he was side-glancing back at you with a smirk. There was silence between the two of you for a couple of seconds as the door clicked shut.

Then, smile widening, he spoke.

"Hey."