She was trying to keep it together, but the pain was becoming so unbearable. Her swollen stomach was being battered from the inside. Her lower half felt like it was about to split apart. She felt this sticky wetness between her legs and the smell of blood filled her nostrils, making her nauseous.

"Shit…" The voice of a large shadow towering over her hissed under his breath.

Tears of pain spurted from her eyes as she breathed heavily, unable to deal with the pain anymore. She started crying out in pain and sadness, losing the will to go on.

A hand stroked once over her head, making her look up at the shadow. His eyes were the only thing she could see. Glowing, yellow eyes filled with conflict. They met her gaze, and she swore she saw them grow slightly soft.

"I…" The shadow's usually smooth, narcissistic voice quivered. "I'll figure this out."

She didn't believe him. It was too late for her. She would die, and her daddy would be all alone like she feared.

Her eyes were closing, darkness surrounding her.

"No, don't black out!" The shadow suddenly demanded. "Stay awake!"

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. The darkness consumed her, no matter how much the shadow yelled. He suddenly grabbed her shoulders, shaking very violently.

"Wake up!"

"Wake up."

Carissa jolted awake, the feeling of familiar hands firmly gripping her shoulders. She blinked toward her right, seeing Hawks looking down at her with concern. Those golden eyes of his soft.

"Dove, are you alright?"

Her heart was racing. Beads of sweat came down her face. Little kicks from her stomach vibrated in her belly.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm fine." Carissa stuttered to him before looking down at her stomach, calming the baby down by rubbing where she kicked.

Hawks looked down at his lovebird's stomach as well, his own hand palming it before returning his eyes to Carissa. "Had a nightmare?" He asked.

Carissa nodded, and was pulled into Hawks's chest as he hugged her protectively.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No, it's fine." Carissa answered, nuzzling into him. She was curious to know how he would react to such a nightmare, but decided it was best not to tell him.

Hawks held her for a little while, rubbing her back comfortingly and pecking her head every minute. He waited for her heart rate to return to normal before finally releasing her. "Wanna go out today?" He muttered in question.

"Mmm." Carissa nodded. "Sure."

Hawks gently smiled.

They were still at sea at this time, so there was no land to step on. But it didn't matter. The ship was big enough to explore and the ocean was calm today, so there was no issue on adventuring through the ship. The weather was perfect today, too. Very few puffy clouds floating in the sky while the bright sun shined down. Both Hawks and Carissa got used to being on the ship. The smell of the ocean was calming. They held hands while walking around. Hawks made sure to stay on the edge side of their path when walking beside the cliffs of the ship, despite being fast enough to catch Carissa if she were to fall off but not wanting to stress her out in any way possible. They spent the day together, not fretting over anything but enjoying life at sea for the time being. At one point they spotted the sun setting and decided to watch it go down before heading to a place to eat. While watching the beautiful sun set in the distance for the night, the song Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish.

After eating dinner, they returned to the hotel room and turned in for the night. After dressing up in their sleeping attire, they got on the bed to watch television. Hawks had his back against the pillows, which sat crushed between his wings and the wall. Carissa rested between his legs with her back against his chest. He had his arms wrapped around her, looking at the television screen over her shoulder.

"Oh." Carissa let out a small noise of discomfort. A small, yet hard kick from the baby interrupted her. She glanced down at her stomach and rubbed where the kick was.

"You okay?" Hawks asked, his feathers puffing a little as his arms tightened around the woman.

"Yeah. She just gave a hard kick." Carissa replied.

A wave of relief that came over Hawks was soon demolished. His beautiful angel was already eight and a half months pregnant and the baby was becoming more reckless. It was sending him over the edge, the thought of the day when Carissa's water would break. They did everything the doctor suggested and more, but it was still making his insides twist and turn.

Carissa turned her attention back to the television before a moment. Hawks's arms unraveled as his bare hands slipped to her stomach. They detached from her as his fingers curled so his nails were touching the fabric on her stomach. They suddenly moved back and forth in all directions, an attempt to tickle the baby. It worked as the baby replied by moving around and delivering little kicks to where his hands were tickling.

Carissa giggled. "She's telling you to stop."

Hawks chuckled, stopping his little tickle attack on the unborn infant. He kept his hands where they were, his palms resting against Carissa's swollen belly while looking back at the lit screen. Warmth rested over his hands, his golden eyes looking down at them. Carissa rested her hands atop his, giving them a gentle graze before leaving them there. Hawks felt his heart flutter and his cheeks warm up. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and planted a deep kiss into Carissa's cheek, who leaned into his touch.

"I love you."

Carissa's eyes widened at Hawks's words. That was the first time she heard him say that. His tone held meaning in it, the words were sincere. Her own heart fluttered as she rested her head against him. Her heart cracked a little, finding the voice to say her response.

"I love you too."

They went to sleep shortly after watching a bit more of the show, holding each other in their arms.

Carissa was doing her best to keep a straight mind in captivity, knowing that letting her guard down and allowing Hawks's attempted brainwashing could make her lose herself start believing this was normal. But now she wasn't sure. Despite not being allowed to leave him and the few instances of violence, Hawks had been nothing but nice to her. Sure she had to keep her guard up, but something about this was slightly confusing.

According to things Hawks told her during their time together, he didn't exactly have someone else he relied on in his life. By that, she meant someone who was there for him in difficult times when he needed them. Someone to open up to. A shoulder to cry on. His mother and father were not in the picture. He had a few friends in the hero system, but they weren't people he could share true feelings with. The commission didn't sound like people to discuss that with, either.

He had a huge fanbase of those who admired him as the cool and handsome, second-ranked hero in Japan.

There was no one in his life who actually loved him for who he was on the inside, no matter how much they claimed to.

In a way, Carissa could understand that. She only had one person who cared for her and that was her father. Carissa was never a people person. She was never that much of a socializer. Sure when she was young, she'd gained a few friends during her childhood years. But overtime, she found herself losing interest and falling down a path of depression when she learned she couldn't produce a family without risking dying. Those around her tried to cheer her up. Told her not to worry too much about it. But Carissa formed this mental shell around her and blocked the words from her mind. People had enough and gave up on her, cutting her out of their lives and moving on.

She let the darkness consume her, and that was her fault.

Even before meeting Hawks, it had been like that.

But maybe it was a good thing Hawks entered her life and forced her out of that shell. She felt happier than she ever did, even if there was a chance she could pass on after having this baby.

Carissa remembered something her father told her when she was young. The words her mother said after finding out she could die after having the baby.

"I would rather experience a short life and die happy. Not drag through a long and sad one."

Carissa smiled as she remembered those words. She slightly nuzzled into Hawks a little, who hugged her tighter.

…

"Mmph." Carissa hummed uncomfortably.

She felt a strange feeling in her body, like a popping sensation. A liquid poured out between her legs, soaking the bedsheets and mattress. Carissa inwardly gasped and lifted her upper body up, breaking out of Hawks's arms and waking him up. Carissa grabbed the comforter and flipped it off her body, finding the bedsheets indeed wet with a clear liquid.

"Dove?" Hawks asked, still groggy from being woken up.

Carissa turned to him. "My water broke."

It was dark in the living room, every single content holding a shade of red. The closed curtains blocked the sight of the pouring rain outside. The only thing that provided no shade of crimson was the glowing T.V. screen shining in front of a velvet couch. Its cushions were flat from having been completely laid and pushed into multiple times. It didn't seem to bother the naked woman, who sat in the middle of the sofa.

Nicola Towers faced the glowing screen, a smug smirk curled on her face as she swirled the red wine in her glass. She took a greedy sip before refilling it with a Pinot Noir bottle. Afterwards she placed the wine bottle back down on the coffee table, which also held a plate occupying a large piece of red velvet cake. Her green eyes glinted vainly at the screen, which showed a foreign news channel being broadcasted from Santorini, Greece of all places!

A man by the name of Felice Marino had recently awoken from a months-long coma. After being questioned by authorities of how he ended up in Santorini's beach waters, the man foolishly claimed he had been attacked by Japan's number two hero, Hawks. Going as far as to say the winged hero was holding a woman against her will. Ms. Towers grinned when the man gave his description of this woman to the police, a woman with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes.

It was surely Carissa Lockhart. There was no doubt in Nicola's mind. Serves you right for stealing another man from me.

It would teach that bitch not to steal anything from anyone again. Assuming she lived through this, that is.

The woman chuckled, almost lustfully. She mentally boasted to herself about the success of her quirk while sipping her wine. She always knew her quirk was powerful. But she didn't think it would cause a fucking top ten hero to take someone so far into the world, even if he was already from a foreign country.

"I must be more powerful than I think~." Nicola conceited to herself.

The woman used her fork to cut off a piece of her red velvet cake on her plate. She seductively placed the fluffy piece in her mouth before washing it down with more wine. She could hear running footsteps all around the outside of her house, but was unfazed by it. Eventually a clump of them came to her front door, the sound of hard thumps brewing into the door before bursting through the entrance altogether. The woman kept her haughty composure, even as several authorities figures found her in the living room. Men were about to speak when they realized the woman lacked any sort of clothing and looked away.

"Hi, boys. You all want some action~?" Nicola asked in this seductive voice.

"Ma'am, please put clothes on. We need to take you down to the station." One officer said while looking away.

"Aw, come on!" Nicola playfully whined. "A little action won't hurt."

A female officer came forward and roughly grasped the naked woman by her wrist. "Ma'am, get up and put some clothes on now." She ordered.

Ms. Towers scowled at the officer, but obeyed as she grabbed a red house dress hiding behind the couch and slipped it on. Afterward, she was properly detained with handcuffs and told her rights while being walked out of the home.

Detective Waterson stood outside the luxurious house, staring up at it with confusion. He had been to this house before. It was a home he had been to once regarding a repeated case a few years back. The woman who lived here had been charged in relation to three separate cases, but had been bailed out by her wealthy family on all occasions. She must've moved out, because the name 'Nicola Towers' did not ring a bell to him. It had to be a coincidence that the person responsible for his current case lived here.

Boy, was he wrong.

The detective's eyes landed on a voluptuous woman with long brown hair formed in loose ringlet curls. She wore a red dress that easily revealed the outline of her body, her braless breasts bouncing everywhere as she walked. Her green eyes pointed to the detective, a seductive smirk forming on her face. It made Waterson's stomach twist in disgust.

"Morgan!" Nicola called in this delighted, seductive voice. "Still single~?"

Detective Waterson's eyes narrowed dangerously, a growl seething from his mouth. "…Jezel Quade."