The morning felt so welcoming, a large breath of air filling Carissa's lungs as she awoke from her slumber. She stirred, nuzzling into her pillow before lifting up. Letting out a loud yawn while stretching out her arms. Knowing she could finally quit her job this morning felt a lot more amazing than she realized. Slipping her legs out from under the covers, the young woman got up and grabbed her phone off the nightstand before leaving for the kitchen. She got her coffee machine going before scrolling through her contacts for her work number. It was too early to be calling, but maybe someone would be available now. Carissa put the phone to her ear to call the reception desk.

"…Can I help you?" A blunt, feminine voice answered the line.

"Good morning. Is Mr. Baxter in?"

"…Who is this?"

Carissa paused for a moment. They should have her name on file with her phone number. "Carissa Lockhart." She answered.

"And how are you associated with this establishment?"

"Um…I work there. Mr. Baxter's my boss." Carissa answered, sounding confused. "Is he there? May I please speak with him?"

What was going on? Was this a new reception clerk?

"Miss, I need you to come down to the building as soon as you can."

Carissa's face crinkled in confusion. "Is something wrong?" Did she do something? The thought of having to go back to that building made her body tremble. "Um, ma'am, I really don't want to come in. Can I please just speak to Mr. Baxter?"

There was a pause from the other end. "Ms. Lockhart, Garrett Baxter is dead."

Once again, the business was surrounded by police and heroes. Some bystanders stood outside the building, having heard there was a murder and were curious to catch view of the local heroes. Many of them were in the building at this time, however, investigating what occurred last night. All of the employees were present as well, those who were either working today or had the day off were called to come in and provide information.

It was a rather strange case in appearance. With lack of evidence, many were assuming the League of Villains decided to come back and end Mr. Baxter's life. It was odd because they could've just done that when they were stealing away what they wanted from the office. Perhaps it was because Mr. Baxter did not stay late at work that night and wanted to come back when he did? But then why not just go to his home and kill him there? Why make two trips and risk being caught?

Or maybe it was discovered Mr. Baxter realized something and they wanted to get rid of him for it?

Either way, it was still tragic for someone to be murdered.

Though, even Mr. Baxter's death was kind of unusual.

The League of Villains was known to brutally slaughter their victims. The deaths they caused were horrendous. Butchering, burning, complete decaying out of existence. That wasn't the case here.

Carissa stood in the doorway of the office, staring at the dangling dead body who was once her boss. The sturdy cables held him by the neck from the ceiling fan. She couldn't see his face, though she wasn't sure she'd want to right now. Carissa didn't know how to feel about this. She certainly wasn't happy. Sure, now he officially couldn't harass her anymore. But seeing him dead like this…well, you can't sugarcoat death. She felt sorry for him.

A hand wrapped around her shoulder, causing Carissa to turn and see a local hero standing there, his face holding sympathy. "Oh miss, you don't want to look at that. Please come back over here." He said.

Carissa obeyed without question and let the hero bring her away. She was led back over to the desks, where she reluctantly sat down at hers. Irritation and pity jabbed and rubbed her heart. She wasn't supposed to be here. She should've quit by now, over the phone, gave Mr. Baxter a piece of her mind and hang up on him if he gave her shit. Well, all of that was out the window. Now that Mr. Baxter was gone, a new person would likely take over the team. There wasn't exactly too good of a reason to quit now. Hopefully they'd all be put on paid leave until someone new took over, at least. Take some time off from this place.

Feminine whispers hissed in Carissa's ear. She looked out through the open part of her workspace but saw none of her female coworkers. They must be somewhere behind the walls. Her eyes scanned the tops of the walls for any leering gazes. She saw something that was not a coworker, but the tops of two large red wings turned to the side. Her whole body went cold, a chill running up her spine. Carissa knew who it was, but something about seeing those wings suddenly brought an uneasiness to her. They slightly moved, their owner speaking to someone regarding the murder. She could hear him. Her eyes remained on them, her body freezing for a moment as the wings started moving. To no surprise, they were getting closer to the entrance to her office space.

Carissa gritted her teeth, holding in an uncomfortable groan as she turned her computer on. She occupied herself with something else while waiting for it to load.

"Oh, baby bird…"

Hawks's voice rung in her ear.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your boss."

Carissa didn't look at him. "Yeah, it's a pity."

There was a moment of silence.

Carissa nearly jumped and gasped as she felt a pair of gloved hands slip around her body. She froze in place as Hawks wrapped his arms around her, hugging into her side. He even wrapped his wings around her, one of them blocking the view of her computer screen. His face pressed into her temple, a grumbling coming from his throat. As if he was purring. "It's okay, sweet bird." He muttered into her.

Carissa blinked in confusion. The guy was acting like she was in tears about it. He inhaled her scent, his hands rubbing her arm as if to comfort her. Eventually he pulled away, catching Carissa's attention. His golden eyes were filled with certain things: pity, comfort and something else as he smiled gently.

Her cheeks warmed. "Um…thank you?" Carissa said.

His smile became a soft grin. "Anytime, baby bird." Hawks said.

Another pause passes, Carissa staring blankly at the winged hero. He just stared at her as if he were some statue, those golden eyes so close and holding this intensity that nearly made her shiver. Carissa nearly asked why he wasn't leaving when the birdman finally moved on his own. He slowly backed off, his touch lingering as if he didn't want to let go. That gaze watched hers as the man slowly stepped out of the office space. It was like all time stopped. No noises were heard. It wasn't until Hawks finally broke the eye contact that Carissa could finally move.

Carissa's body returned to life. Everything was back to normal. She could hear things again. It was almost like she was broken out of some kind of spell. Her heart rate was higher than normal and was only now slowing down. The young woman shook her head and started reluctantly working on her next assignments.

It wasn't long before she started hearing her female coworkers begin speaking to Hawks again somewhere outside her office, all giggly and sweet. Even though he was supposed to be working, he was flirting with women. Carissa could make out Nicola's voice amongst the little crowd, talking to Hawks in this almost sickening-sweet tone. Carissa rolled her eyes and shivered alone at that.

"Quick question. Um, why're you talking to her~?" Nicola asked in that stupid sugarcoated voice.

"Ms. Lockhart? Just wanted to see if she was alright. She did just see her boss's body, after all." Hawks replied, his voice gradually becoming sympathetic. "I'm sorry for what happened to him."

"Oh, it was so awful to see Mr. Baxter hanging there~." One coworker, Daphne Green, sorrowed.

"Why would someone do that to him~?" Another, Roxie Gallagher, cried out.

"He was such a good boss~." A third, Emily Nibs, muttered with 'tears'.

It didn't take a genius to know all of their tragic voices were completely fake. They never gave a damn about Mr. Baxter. They disliked him, if anything.

Yet for some reason, Hawks didn't detect it. Or maybe he did and knew they just wanted his attention. Hawks was very popular with the ladies and had a crapload of fangirls constantly chasing him whenever they spotted him.

"Oh, you poor girls." Hawks said with sympathy.

Carissa listened to his voice, but wasn't sure if he was really sorry for them or not. Suddenly all four of the women giggled.

"Your feathers are beautiful." Emily pointed out.

"Do you girls want one?" Hawks asked.

"Oh yes, please!" Daphne cheerily said.

"Here you all go."

"Thank you!" All four women said in unison.

Carissa frowned a little, the women's giggles and small talk deafening from her mind. Not that she cared, but she didn't recall Hawks ever offering her a feather.

Well, hopefully he would finally back off, or didn't show as much of an interest in her as she thought. Carissa shrugged and went back to doing her work.

Something red came into her view. Thinking it was Hawks, Carissa reluctantly glanced to her office's entrance. Only to see Nicola, who she technically never saw yet today. She was in her favorite red dress, lacking a bra as her nipples poked through the fabric. She flashed Carissa this conceited grin while waving the large red feather around.

Piss off. Carissa thought as she looked back at her computer.

Nicola should've known by now that her actions wouldn't make Carissa react in any way. So why did feel like she had to best Carissa at every turn? With this most likely regarding Hawks, Nicola had nothing to worry about. That slut could keep the birdman, for all Carissa cared. Who had no interest.

With that aside, Carissa had to think about whether she'd stay at the job or not. She wasn't supposed to deal with this crap anymore, but now things shifted. Looks like she had to tell her dad about what occurred in her work building again this time, and it wouldn't regard any random boss drama.