Carissa didn't know how to feel. Her face scrunched up, squirming at the rough flooring beneath her. A cold breeze hit her face. Wiggling around a bit, a thick cloth was draped over her. The scent of the ocean only did so much to return her to her senses. She felt lightheaded, like she wasn't supposed to be up yet. Seagulls could be heard chirping overhead. Humming, she tried opening her eyes, only to squint at the rays of the morning sun hitting her face.

"You're already awake, honey bird?"

Hearing the voice to her right, she turned her head to see Hawks. He was sitting next to her feet, looking surprised yet he smiled warmly at her still. An orange glow reflecting off his face and the dark-blue, shimmering night sky behind him indicated the morning sun was upon them. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and bags were under his eyes. Carissa would've freaked out had it not been for her body in such an abnormal state. Noticing he lacked his coat, she glanced down at her body to see it blanketed over her.

"You're not supposed to be up yet." Hawks mentioned lightly, still smiling as he turned his face out of sight to grab something.

Carissa tried to speak, to ask where they were, to ask what the hell was going on, but no words came. Her throat was dry and only raspy noises scratched out. Sounds of liquid sprinkling came into her ears. Hawks leaned over her body and gently pressed a soaked cloth into her nose and mouth.

"We're not there yet." Hawks said. "You can wake up when we are."

Carissa weakly tried to fight as a familiar smell entered her nose. Dizziness overcame her as her head fell back, whimpering from the confusion and fear. Hawks removed the cloth and set it aside. Having heard that little whimper, the winged man lifted Carissa up by the shoulders while shifting his body in her direction. He laid her head on his chest and held her in his arms, stroking her hair as she drifted off completely.

"It's okay, sweet bird. I'll protect you now."


It was still raining, but not as bad as the night before. Police and nature control were both on the scene, clashing repeatedly when it came to cleaning streets. While cleaners needed to get the roads cleared for oncoming traffic, police needed to search the premises for any signs of evidence. Police car sirens lit up the inside of the garage and sides of the building, heroes and cops speaking while searching the area.

A detective in his mid-thirties checked in with police on scene before heading toward the location of the witness. Not far, he could see an older gentleman with silvery-white hair sitting on the higher concrete with a blanket wrapped over him. He looked on the verge of bursting into tears, palming the side of his face while looking at the ground. A brunette woman around his age sat next to him, trying her best to console him as she rubbed his neck and shoulders. The detective was told it appeared to be a kidnapping, with the victim's father having heard it over the phone.

Detective Waterson had been working in the force for a decade, and one thing he learned while on the job was to take what citizens say with a grain of salt. He'd run into his fair share of those who were confused and those who'd lied to his face. People who lacked knowledge in different fields could accidentally mix up their story into believing it was something else and others tried to intentionally twist everything around to have it supporting their side. It was exhausting the first few years around, but the middle-aged man got used to it.

The approaching detective caught the older couple's attention, who both looked up at him.

"Mr. Wade Lockhart?"

"Y-Yes."

"My name is Detective Morgan Waterson." The detective said, showing him his badge. "I just want to let you know we're going to do whatever we can to find your daughter." He said, keeping in mind the older man was still shocked over what he heard over the phone. "I'd like to ask you questions."

Mr. Lockhart nodded. The brunette stayed by his side, still holding him by the arms.

"What is your daughter's name?"

"Carissa Lockhart."

"Is this location where she works?"

Wade nodded.

"At around what time did this happen?"

"…It was after eleven."

The detective nodded, the timing consistent with the phone records. "Do you know why she was here so late?" He asked, having noted all the employees, even the boss, left long before Ms. Lockhart did.

"She said she was asked to fill in for another employee who called in sick."

"I've checked your daughter's previous schedules and timestamps from a few weeks ago for nearly a year. Even though she was scheduled to leave between five and seven, she had been leaving at late hours such as ten and eleven." Detective Waterson mentioned.

"Her former boss made her stay very late hours to do work." Wade explained. "I told her to complain about it to HR or at least quit, but she didn't seen too interested in dealing with it."

"Her former boss, Mr. Garret Baxter?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why he made her stay late?"

"She claimed he thought she was very good at her job and took advantage of that. I've always been skeptical about that reason, to be honest." Wade explained before shaking his head. "I don't think she was even getting paid for those extra hours."

Detective Waterson paused for a moment. Mr. Baxter, the former boss of Ms. Lockhart's department who was recently found dead in his office. His death had been under investigation for almost a month now and they still didn't have a suspect. Some suspected the League of Villains killed him to cover undiscovered leads, but the detectives and heroes focused on that case kept reaching dead ends. Mr. Baxter's schedule showed his hours being between ten and eleven as well. Some days he did stay that late, other days he left early while Ms. Lockhart stayed behind.

"Mr. Lockhart, do you know if your daughter and Mr. Baxter were in a relationship of any sorts?" Detective Waterson asked. "Other than the boss-employee type?"

Wade looked up at the detective, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Is it possible Carissa and Mr. Baxter were…intimate in any way?" The detective asked, implying if the two had been sleeping together before Mr. Baxter's murder. He half expected the older man to get upset. Mr. Lockhart looked perplexed at first, but then shook his head.

"No, as far as I'm aware." Wade replied, his tone holding confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"When Mr. Baxter was murdered, we first suspected the League of Villains, but had difficulty pinpointing the reason of why they would murder him. As a precaution, we asked several people in your daughter's office department if anyone had any reason to murder him. Apparently there were rumors Mr. Baxter might've been in a sexual relationship with a few women. Your daughter was one of those women mentioned."

Wade stared up at the detective, his eyebrows slightly furrowing in bewilderment. "I don't believe my daughter had any romantic interest in him. She never spoke about him unless it was about work." He said. "I don't think she even liked him."

"Is your daughter in a relationship with anyone to your knowledge?"

"No. She's never dated anyone."

"Does she have any friends we can talk to?"

"My daughter's never been a very social person. She's kind of a workaholic." Wade admitted.

"…What about…?"

Wade's girlfriend, Priscilla, spoke up in a soft voice. Detective Waterson noticed the older man's eyes shift to her. No words were exchanged, but he could tell they were sharing the same thought.

"Him?" Wade asked Priscilla. "Carissa said they weren't anything."

"Who?" Detective Waterson butted in. "Any information could be relevant."

He meant that. Even the smallest detail could be worth it.

Both Wade and Priscilla looked back up to the detective, both sharing puzzled expressions. "I mean, my daughter interacted with that fast fellow from Japan a few times recently, but that's about it." He said.

"A hero?" Detective Waterson guessed.

"Yeah. That Hawks guy. Him and several heroes from Japan were here over a month ago to investigate stolen documents. She said they spoke a few times after that. But the guy showed up unexpectedly during our outing together a few days ago. Carissa didn't seem too happy to see him." Wade explained.

Detective Waterson raised an eyebrow. "What happened during this encounter?"

"Hawks said they were friends. He was about to mention something else, but…Carissa said they weren't anything." Wade said. "I tried asking her later what the issue was. All she said was he was a jerk to her, but wouldn't give any details."

Detective Waterson hummed in thought before asking Wade for more details, who explained further without issue. He was informed some time back about that dangerous villain group from Japan had come to Seattle and stole information from this work building. Japanese heroes came to investigate with a squad from his department, but Waterson wasn't a part of it. He wasn't informed of someone from Japan staying back to search for villains lingering, however. Despite the guy being a famous hero, the detective didn't know too much about Hawks, either. Not all heroes were super hospitable towards everyone, even innocent civilians. Still, hearing that a civilian called a hero a jerk was automatically questionable as heroes were super famous and loved.

"Has Carissa had problems with anyone else?" Detective Waterson asked.

"Not really." Wade replied. "She sometimes complained about coworkers harassing her, but that's it."

"Mr. Lockhart, you told the police that when you were on the phone with your daughter, at one point you heard her scream, 'He's here'. Can you think of anyone she could've been referring to? A male coworker? A neighbor? Anyone?" The detective asked. While he was just told about a male hero having possibly harassed her, he had to keep that in the back of his mind to get any other suspects on his list.

Wade shook his head. "N-No, I'm sorry, I…" The guy looked like he was about to break. Priscilla held him as tears rolled down his cheeks. "S-She sounded so s-scared. I-I couldn't get here on t-time. I couldn't save her…"

"It had to have been someone she knew." Detective Waterson tried, but the older man broke down into quiet sobs, still shaking his head. He ended the conversation by assuring the father of the victim he would do everything he could to bring his daughter back.

Unfortunately, a lot of times the victim was not so lucky. Detective Waterson had been involved in several cases where the missing person is found dead, or worse, is never seen again. No closure for the victims' families. It couldn't get any worse than that. Family members constantly calling, asking where their loved one was while the police were working on other cases for new victims. It was a massive buildup sometimes and heartbreaking, but the middle-aged detective had grown numb from it these past few years.

Detective Waterson could already sense something strange in this case.