Hawks would've loved to view the sunrise in a different country, but unfortunately the skies were completely covered with thick clouds here. He hummed in slight disappointment, his bottom lip quirking to the side and his bushy eyebrows slightly furrowing. The smell of the ocean was pleasant, however. The male's golden eyes glanced down, staring at the gray ocean. Due to the wind, the waters were thrashing around. The boats on the marina rocked more as a result, those who occupied their own forcing to tie their ships to the docks with thick ropes in fear of them getting ripped away from where the boats were parked. Something bright flashed by Hawk's vision, whose eyes followed the thing. It was seagulls squawking, flying by and making a sharp turn to head for the ocean.

It wasn't raining today, but Hawks could easily smell its fresh scent. Rain in the distance blended with the clouds, showing a facade of thicker clouds touching the ocean water but it really being more rain coming down. The weather's been like this since they got here yesterday. He'd heard Seattle was like this the majority of the year, but he was so used to the sunny skies back in Japan. Even with cold degrees, the atmosphere was so nice.

Speaking of Japan, Hawks should've left with the others last night. He made an excuse to stay back one more day to double-check the city for any signs of villains. Technically there had been a few local villains, who he assisted the American heroes in arresting. Others were some petty criminals trying to get their 'fifteen minutes of fame' as best they could. He was surprised anyone would be trying to commit crimes in this weather, but then again they were probably used to it.

Hawks' gaze went to the building in the distance. The one him and the team investigated yesterday. They were open during this time. Hawks checked their schedule, so he knew the woman he spoke to yesterday was there. It was a Friday and she had the weekend off, thankfully. Poor thing had been working nearly twelve hours for the past five days. Hope her boss paid her overtime for that. She looked so tired when he saw her for the first time.

He couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about her. Beautiful creature, she was. A completely average-looking human, no sign of animals or alien features held in her looks. Quiet, harding working. Too hard working. Her office desk didn't look decorated at all. Did she always focus on work? Hawks didn't know the woman all that well, but he could tell she seemed tense. He was curious to know more, so curious it actually overrode his decision to head back to Japan with his comrades. It wasn't like him to do that. The handsome hero ran into so many beautiful women before, but never felt the urge to stick around and neglect his duties for one. Hopefully after he satisfies his curiosity, he will be willing to go home and help take down the League of Villains. It was important that the world be brought to peace.

"Why did he speak to you?"

Nicola's agitated voice caught her off guard. Carissa didn't bother glancing at the other woman as she continued to work on her papers. "What're you talking about?"

"Shut up! You know what I mean. Why did the number two hero from Japan talk to a half-baked loser like you?" Nicola spoke more snidely this time, like some snobby high school girl.

"Beats me." Carissa sounded blunt and disinterested.

"Damn right, it beats you." Nicola scowled right away. "No way would he go out with a pathetic dud like you."

Carissa's eyebrows twitched. A flame in her heart caused a boldness to ignite in her throat. "At least I don't try to sleep with every man I meet." She muttered loud enough for her coworker to hear.

Within a half-second, a stinging pain radiated from Carissa's cheek, followed my an array of several slaps to her face, head and shoulder. Carissa had to raise her hands and defend herself, shielding her body with her arms while also trying to stop Nicola's assault at the same time.

"How dare you, you rustic bitch!" Nicola spat, continuing her assault on Carissa. Thankfully she didn't possess a quirk either, but her attacking like a lunatic still physically hurt.

Coworkers stepped in to intervene, and the commotion caused Mr. Baxter to step out of his office. Confused and aggravated by the fight, he raised his voice at the two women. "Both of you, knock it off!" He demanded, not even bothering to question what just happened. Nicola was pulled out of Carissa's workspace and told to go outside to cool off. Mr. Baxter just told Carissa to continue working while he go and talk to Nicola about what just happened.

Carissa just cleaned up her workspace and continued working like nothing happened. Maybe what she said was uncalled for, but Nicola was good at yanking on people's nerves sometimes. She didn't get why Nicola had to be so rude to her. It wasn't like Carissa ever tried to interact with her in the first place. The only thing she could do was push what happened into the back of her mind and continue getting work done. She wanted things to be done by the weekend so she could experience some time off.

Mr. Baxter came back and told Carissa to go into his office. She obliged and followed him into this space, sitting down in the chair.

"The hell's going on?" Mr. Baxter asked rather unprofessionally. Hardly anything he did was professional for being the boss, in Carissa's opinion.

"She asked me a question and I answered. She got snippety, so I got snippety back. She attacked me for it." Carissa answered.

"Really, Carissa?" Mr. Baxter asked, swiping his hand away from his head. "You're better than that."

"She approached me, sir. Can't I just be moved to a different department? I'm tired of her being a jerk to me for no reason."

"Absolutely not!" Mr. Baxter practically snapped. "I talked to Nicola, but you shouldn't speak to her like that, either. I don't have any other people to fill your spot, and you're one of the best in here. I need you in here."

That's not the only reason. Carissa thought with a mental eye-roll. This guy just won't leave her be, either. "Shouldn't the cops be called? She assaulted me." She mentioned.

"You know I can't do that. Tell you what-I'll pay you extra if you don't call the cops." Mr. Baxter said.

Carissa was becoming more annoyed than she was. He didn't offer this when she had to do all that extra work for no reason. Obviously it was cause she rejected him again, but she found it funny that the man who had a crush on her was unbothered by the fact that one of his employees assaulted her and he wasn't as mad about it. Wouldn't call the cops, wouldn't even fire the woman. What was up with that? Unless that little rumor she heard going around about Mr. Baxter and Nicola possibly sleeping together was true.

Her lack of an answer gave Garrett an opportunity to check her out again. Her eyes were shifted away, deep in thought. His brown eyes looked over her body and face, his body becoming ecstatic until noticing how tired she appeared. The woman sat sluggishly in the chair, her head slightly dipped and bags under her eyes. Her fingers twitched, weakly gripping the arm rests. Maybe he had been giving her too much work. The weekend was coming up and he hoped to try asking her out again, but she didn't look like she was up for much.

"Considering all the work you've been doing, I think I'll give you the weekend off of paperwork." Mr. Baxter said.

This surprised Carissa, who shifted her gaze back to him. "…Really?" She asked in wonderment. Or was this another attempt to coax her?

"Yeah. You've been doing such a good job with everything. I now see you are in serious need of rest, so I'll let you off work without anything to do over this weekend." Mr. Baxter said, smiling.

Carissa felt uneasy at his sudden chipper voice. Her body grew stiff for a brief moment before relaxing. "Okay, thank you." She said, trying to sound grateful.

"But I want you to be ready next week to do more stuff." Mr. Baxter added in.

Whether he meant her doing extra paperwork again or going out with him, it didn't matter to her. Even if she said no, he wouldn't fire her. Carissa nodded in response and he excused her, allowing her to return to her desk.

By some stroke of luck, Carissa was able to get her work done early today, earlier than her given clock out time. After checking in with her boss one more time, he actually allowed her to leave early. She wanted to go home at first, but with the lack of rain outside and extra time, Carissa decided to walk by the marina. Despite the cold air, it felt nice being able to walk through the city without having to worry about work.

The salty ocean air put Carissa at more ease than she expected. Somehow her body temperature felt like it measured out with the climate's cold weather. A light groan of relaxation escaped her lips, her eyes closing halfway as a cool breeze whipped past her. The air blew in her ears, bringing coolness to her inner, heated ears. There was rain in the distance, its smell blowing in her direction. But it wouldn't be here for a little while, so she wasn't worried about getting wet. Her father used to take her here all the time when she was a kid. Him and her mom would rent sailboats and ride them on the ocean during the summers when it wasn't so cold and rainy. Before she was born.

Carissa sighed sadly, her behavior toning down to a depressive state for a moment. Sometimes she really wished she knew her mom. She seemed so nice in the video recordings. A bit short-tempered, but nice.

"Why're you so glum, baby bird?"

Carissa nearly jumped out of her skin, earning laughter from the same source. She zipped around, shocked to see the winged hero from yesterday making landing in front of her. He held his stomach while cupping his mouth, trying to muffle his laughter.

"What're you doing here?" Carissa asked. "I thought you returned to Japan."

"I figured I'd stay out here a little longer. Keep a look out for our fugitives and all." The man, Hawks, replied. "I happened to notice you and wanted to say hi."

"Oh." Carissa said bluntly. "Hello."

Hawks chuckled. "What're you doing out? It's cold."

"I just wanted to walk. I was able to get off work early since I got my work done." Carissa answered.

"Cool." Hawks said, raising his eyebrows as if surprised. "Can I join you?"

Carissa raised her eyebrows in surprise. No. "Um…sure…?"

Hawks held back another chuckle. "Great." He said, fast pacing to her side as she turned around to walk. A sharp chill made his body shake despite his warm clothes. "Is it always this cold in Washington?"

"Most of the year, yes. It has its warm moments, though." Carissa answered.

"I'll bet it's even worse when it snows."

"Yeah, but it's gorgeous when it snows." Carissa countered, recalling the times she played in the snow as a kid. The beauty Seattle held during winter. Like a winter wonderland.

"Hmm." Hawks hummed.

"Does it snow in Japan?"

"Yeah. It does get beautiful, too." Hawks said.

"I love it when it snows." Carissa mentioned without thinking. "I used to play in it all the time when I was a kid. Did you?"

Hawks was quiet for a moment. This made Carissa glance at him. He looked deep in thought, a small frown displayed on his handsome features. "I did, but it was rare." He finally answered, his frown going away.

"Oh." Carissa acknowledged.

"Lived here your whole life?"

"Pretty much. Lived in Japan your whole life?"

"Mmm-hmm."

The two of them continued to speak while walking alongside the marina. Though there weren't many people out, those who were glanced and pointed at them as they passed. Most likely at Hawks, Carissa guessed. Even being from Japan, he and several other Japanese heroes were well-known in the United States. It was globally rumored that Japan held the strongest ranked heroes, ironically resulting in the most dangerous villains living there as well. It had to be quite shocking for the locals here to see him here.

Seeing all them look in their direction, watching their faces shift from shock to confusion. It made Carissa wonder.

"Hawks?"

"Mmm?" Hawks hummed, a smirk on his face while looking forward.

"Why are you talking to me?"

Still smirking, Hawks turned to the woman. "What do you mean?" He asked. "I just flew by to say hi."

"Okay…but why?"

"We didn't get to talk properly yesterday, since we were so rudely interrupted." Hawks said.

"But…" Carissa started, but dropped it. "Okay."

As much as she disliked Nicola, she did make up a good question. Why was he talking to her of all people? Weren't there several others who wanted his attention? Carissa was certain other people he communicated with yesterday wanted to talk to him. Couldn't he go to one of them instead? Given how Nicola confronted her earlier about being approached by the hero, Carissa was sure Nicola wanted to interact with him again. Though Carissa wasn't so sure she'd want him getting involved with that woman, either. But Hawks didn't appear to understand what she was getting at, so she let it go. He would be out of here at some point soon.

After some more talking and walking by the marina, the two decided to part ways. Carissa was tired and wanted to get back home. Hawks actually offered to fly her back home. Carissa didn't want to, making the excuse that she still had her car in the garage. Something whizzed through Hawks' eyes when she said this. Carissa noticed it, but calmed down when he smirked and agreed before biding her goodbye. Carissa returned the kind gesture, even wishing him a good time in Seattle.

She walked away, feeling a strange sense behind her head.