"It could've been a random grab."

"Highly doubt that. Carissa's father said she sincerely yelled out, 'He's here'. She knew her attacker."

"Where was the parking guard during all of this?"

"He claimed everything suddenly went black during his shift. Didn't see anything. He swears he didn't fall asleep."

"Security cameras?"

"Office ones show everything was fine. Garage ones were freshly disabled."

A detective walked into the office with a plastic bag, Carissa's phone contained in it. "They just looked through the phone. Ms. Lockhart received a text from an unknown number yesterday afternoon before she disappeared."

The phone was removed from the bagging and opened, the text app opened and showing an unmarked number on the screen.

Unknown Number: You know what I think? You need a more thorough vacation. I'll pick you up tonight.

"So this was be a premeditated attack."

"Possibly."

"By someone she knew."

"The number's not labeled. And the father says she wasn't a very social person."

A detective gave the phone back to the officer. "Was this number traced?"

The officer nodded. "Burner phone. No luck."

"Alright, thanks." The officer was told with slight disappointment, allowing him to leave the room.

"Lockhart could've been being stalked and had been aware of it." One person pointed out. "It's a common occurrence in many cases."

"Witnesses say she seemed nervous the past few weeks. Her father and his girlfriend say the same. That she had been acting weird during recent outings."

"So why not say anything? I mean, she was with her dad during the outings."

"The father said she was a workaholic. Maybe she didn't want to believe the stalking was too big of a deal cause it would distract her from her job."

"Or she was too scared to talk."

All eyes landed on Detective Waterson, who sat at his desk looking at both his computer screen and papers on his desk. He was silent the entire conversation until now. "It's possible she was too afraid of her kidnapper to say anything."

"You got something, Waterson?" A fellow detective asked.

"No. Just throwing it out there." Detective Waterson said, still looking through his stuff. "Still trying to find a suspect. She didn't have a social life. If she was by herself a lot, whoever her attacker is might've approached her knowing she'd be alone."

"Good point. But the question is: who is it?" Another detective asked while giving his hand a quick wave, motioning the confusion of this case.

"And why would she be afraid of them?"

"A villain?"

"Maybe. Could be blackmail." Someone said. "If the League of Villains broke into her department to gather information, they could've been blackmailing her into giving them something else, like more information from her job."

"I don't think so. Why not just break into the building again?"

"They might've forgot something. Maybe they didn't want to risk getting caught since they broke in once already."

"But what would they blackmail her over? Was this woman hiding something?"

"Find something."

Detective Waterson paid attention to the other detectives, but had to be careful with his words. An idea was gnawing the back of his head, but he couldn't bring it up. He stared at the computer screen, looking through the social media with skeptical eyes. Though he had a few social media accounts, only once in a blue moon did he ever really visit them. The detective could relate to the whole workaholic thing. That was probably why he never noticed the social media rumors spreading about Hawks and Carissa.

A hiker named Gage Walker posted on his social media account a picture of Hawks and Carissa on a hiking trail in some woods next to a local park. They were in a position that strengthened Waterson's suspicions. Carissa was on her back, looking flustered and shocked while staring up at Japan's number two hero Hawks, who stared down at the woman with a grin. He looked happy. Carissa did not. Through the social media, this photo was connected with another photo that was taken not too long after this was posted. Someone by the name Zack Kent posted another photo of Hawks and Carissa together in a mall by the coast. Their lips were connected. While Hawks appeared to be enjoying the kiss with his eyes closed, holding onto the woman. Carissa's eyes were wide open, once again in shock. There were no real given explanations for these photos. Just sightings and seamy descriptions made about the two possibly in a beginning relationship, followed by mostly contemptible comments from viewers.

The middle-aged man leaned back into his chair. Detective Waterson did not plan to jump to conclusions. It was early to consider this, and this was a hero he was thinking about accusing. But with this new evidence and no other suspects, it was difficult to ignore.

His teacher once told him you should never a hundred percent believe what anyone says, no matter how well-known they are or how much you like them in general. No being on this planet was perfect and even the best person in the group could have skeletons in their closet. It was rare, but that included heroes. His teacher had proven right on a few occasions. In the past a few years 'good' well-known people, including heroes, were exposed for corruption and having turned into villains. The reasonings were different. Some believed in an illegal way to make the world better. Some got too greedy and used their fame to get what they wanted.

This was the number-two hero of Japan, the next in line to be the number one of a foreign country. Just thinking about this was the first step into dangerous waters.

The detective hid the page as soon as someone walked by. He would have to investigate this matter independently.

"Here you are, sir."

Hawks smiled at the young cashier who had his order packaged and ready to go. He stepped forward, carefully taking the food. He could smell the fried chicken already, his mouth watering from the delicious aroma. It felt good to know they got the food together so fast and he could tell it was so fresh. "Thanks, kid." He said brightly, stepping backward to get space so he could go.

The cashier smiled, but it slowly dropped when staring at the winged man. "Sir, are you alright?"

"Mmm?" Hawks hummed in question, raising a bushy eyebrow.

The cashier brought his hand to his own left eye, his fingers nearly gazing against his face. "You're…crying." He mentioned.

Hawks tilted his head, putting the plastic bag handles in one hand while reaching his own fingers to his eye. The number two hero did not have his goggles on, so it was not hard to touch the corner of his eye. Hawks was disguised right now-no one knew it was him with his regular, citizen attire. Being in the open with his usual hero appearance would attract attention and he certainly didn't want that. He didn't want to spoil him and his new girlfriend's beginning vacation.

Hawks blinked in surprise. It was indeed wet below his eyes. He pulled his fingers back and examined them, blinking at the clear liquid reflecting sunlight off his flesh. Though confused, the disguised hero simply continued to smile. "Well, look at that. I'm crying." He said like it was no big deal. "I must really love this chicken."

The cashier awkwardly laughed at the joke. "Have a nice day, sir."

"You too."

Instead of flying, Hawks walked away. Though in disguise, he didn't want too many people catching sight of his wings. He was kind of pushing it just appearing out in the open. When he was out of sight of the cashier, he looked down at his fingertips again. Why was he tearing up? He wasn't sad, he was happy. Ecstatic, actually. He finally had his beautiful songbird. They were together, and it could stay that way.

Hawks shrugged his shoulders, smiling while dropping his hand and picking up the pace. His songbird needed to be fed.

Carissa could not get out.

She did some investigating. Hawks did not lock the bedroom door, so she was able to exit that room. The bedroom was a minority space compared to the housing she was placed in. From the looks of it, the enclosure appeared was very large hotel room. There was a lot of space, including stairs and some other rooms as if a large family could live in here. But it held a hotel scent. Everything was clean, new and appeared expensive. It had to be a penthouse. What she figured was the front door was locked. All the windows were covered. She couldn't even see the outside.

While in a random room, the sound of a door opening jolted her in surprise.

"Honey bird, I'm back!" Hawks's voice called.

Carissa mentally freaked out, trying to remember how to get back to the bedroom. If he caught her out of there, he might get mad. The woman fact paced in one direction for the room. However, four feathers appeared out of nowhere in front of her face. They pointed at her, one staying in front while the other three flew out of view. The back of her arms were tickled by two feathers while the third gently poked her in the mid-back, motioning for her to move. Hawks must have heard her moving around.

She was led into the kitchen area, finding Hawks preparing two plates of food. The smell of fried chicken filled her nose.

The winged man smiled seeing Carissa enter. "Hi, sweet bird. Were you exploring?" He asked.

Carissa didn't reply. The feathers made her sit at the kitchen table. Hawks came over and slipped the plate and a glass of water in front of her.

"Here you go. Enjoy."

Carissa stared nervously at Hawks before glancing down at the food. It looked good, admittedly. The smell was tempting. Hawks sat down across from her, already digging into the food. Carissa watched him and looked down again. Her stomach rumbled, proving Hawks told the truth about her not having eaten in a while. As appetizing as it looked, the guy could've drugged it.

After a minute, he glanced at her while biting into a piece. He stopped moving completely, not even chewing. Hawks soon removed his mouth from the meat watching the woman intently. He swallowed what pieces were in his mouth. "Honey bird, eat the food." The man said bluntly.

Carissa took a deep breath. The food didn't look tampered. She convinced herself there was no reason for Hawks to drug it since she couldn't get out of this place. She took the water first and greedily gulped it down, soaking her throat before putting the glass down. Grabbing one of the pieces, a fried leg, she brought it to her mouth and sunk her teeth into it. It was hot, but not enough to burn her mouth. The crunchiness of the breading combined with the juicy tenderness of the meat made her mouth instantly salivate, her stomach rumbling again. It didn't taste funny. In fact, it tasted delicious. After chewing and swallowing the piece, the woman fully discovered how hungry she was and took a larger bite.

Hawks smiled in satisfaction as he watched her eat. "See?" He asked, rolling his own piece in his hands. "It's good, huh?"

Carissa's cheeks warmed, still chewing. They ate their food in silence.

Once dinner was done, Hawks told Carissa to take a shower. The woman honestly had no issue with this. She didn't want to be near the guy, and she felt dirty in a hygiene way. Hawks did however make her take the shower in the main bedroom where they woke up. It had a bathroom connected to it, and in the shower she found different soaps available. He also provided her a new, clean blue nightgown and some new undergarments to wear when she got out. Carissa tried not to lose herself when she realized he got the correct size of undergarments. The shower was refreshing. She washed her hair and shaved while she was at it. It almost made her forget she had been kidnapped.

While blow-drying her hair, she remembered her father. Carissa was on the phone with him when she was abducted. He must be freaking out right now, not knowing where she was. Spacing off at the thought of her poor father made her lower the blow dryer. The hot air blew in one spot for too long and she let out a pain gasp, jerking the blow dryer away.

"You okay, sweet bird?" Hawks asked from the behind the door. Was he behind there the whole time?

"U-Uh, y-yeah." Carissa replied.

At least he was giving her privacy.

Once Carissa was done drying herself and fully dressed, she opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. Hawks was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. He was dressed in new bed attire. His wings happily flapped upon seeing her. "There ya are." He said, getting up and coming to her.

Carissa jumped at the sudden contact as Hawks enveloped her, even his wings hugging her. The woman hummed uncomfortably at how he held her. Her mound was tingling at contact of his leg, remembering that moment at the library. Her body tried to move away on its own. Hawks noticed and tightened his grip on her, refusing to let go. His eyebrows furrowed when she tried again. "Stop that." Carissa obeyed but let out a disgruntled hum. Hawks sighed and swept her off her feet without warning, carrying her to the bed. The comforter and sheets were pulled back and she was practically dropped onto the mattress.

As Hawks got in and pulled the blankets over them, Carissa tried to move off the bed. She didn't want to sleep in the same bed as him.

Hawks frowned in annoyance. "Stop moving." He ordered.

Carissa kept trying to move away. A pained yelp erupted as feathers' shafts pinched her back, pressing further in. Yelping a few times, she was forced to move back to the center of the bed next to Hawks.

"I said stop."

"I-I…I d-don't want-"

Hawks sighed in agitation before one of his hands lunged under one of the pillows and pulled out a set of open handcuffs. He grabbed Carissa's wrists and handcuffed one before suddenly pulling both her arms behind him. Carissa exclaimed confusedly as her arms were forcibly wrapped around Hawks's torso, her other wrist caught in the other cuff, practically hugging him. With her secured, Hawks wrapped his own arms around Carissa's struggling form.

"Do you want your dad to die?" Hawks asked, his tone low but harsh.

That worked. Carissa stopped moving, but the direct threat of her beloved father's life made her tear up. She sniffled, very tiny cries breaking from her throat. Hawks lightly hummed in regret and pulled the woman into a hug, rubbing her back. "Just…don't fight me, alright?" Hawks said. He leaned down and planted a good night kiss onto her forehead before resting his head against the pillow. Carissa cried a little more while Hawks rubbed her, watching her even after she fell asleep. He too drifted off, satisfied with her in his arms.

He had her. She was his. They could be together now.