Hawks's stirring body caused Carissa to awaken, still locked in his arms. She felt this heavy soreness weighing her down and instantly remembered what happened last night. Her head was tucked snuggly under Hawks's neck, so she could feel the large breath of air sucking into his lungs before letting out a yawn. Hands rubbed against her arms and back. It made her want to wither away.

"Morning, honey bird." Hawks lovingly muttered the second he noticed she was awake.

Carissa didn't respond. Her eyes pointed in a random direction.

Hawks lightly sighed and unwrapped himself from her. Carissa glanced toward Hawks's direction, shuddering as an instinctive fear took over. She braced for the worst, only for Hawks to remove his hands, dramatically stretch and slip out of bed.

"I'm going to make coffee. C'mon, let's get up and get some, sweet bird." Hawks said, his pointer finger motioning for her to follow.

Carissa didn't move. Her throat was dry and scratchy from all the noises she made last night. Her body might as well have been paralyzed. Her skin felt numb, not even feeling the comforter.

"I said, get up."

Carissa turned at the sound of his low-tone voice. He was slightly frowning at her. Shivering at the thought of what happened last night, she feared of what he would do if she didn't behave. Forcing down a cry in her throat, she shakily moved under the sheets and put her feet on the floor. Her body only allowed her to stand for a moment before she crumbled to the floor. Her body was so sore.

Hawks's face fell, quickly kneeling to his lovebird's side. "Baby bird, are you okay?" He asked, putting a hand on her back.

Carissa couldn't bring herself to speak. She shivered from the closeness of her kidnapper. Her attempts to get up were unsuccessful, letting out a moan of dull pain. Hawks's hand rubbed her back, seeing Carissa's tired expression.

"You're still tired, huh?" Hawks asked. He gave her a gentle look before smiling and adjusting his arms around her.

Carissa hummed uncomfortably as Hawks lifted her off the floor bridal style.

"It's okay. We'll just cuddle."

She was laid back down on the bed and covered with the comforter.

"I'm gonna prep the coffee. Be right back." Hawks said, softly smiling at her.

Carissa only stared back with dull emotion. After a moment, he left the room, leaving the woman alone.

Hawks closed the door and walked down the hallway. A strange wetness on his face made him stop. After bringing his hand up grazing his cheeks with his fingertips to see liquid, the birdman went over to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Tears were spilling from his eyes. He frowned at his own reflection, again taking some of the tears with his fingers to look at him. Like what happened when he went to get fried chicken for him and Carissa the other day, except it was worse this time. He was spilling tears, yet he wasn't sad. Why was he crying?

Shrugging it off, Hawks wiped his face with a towel and continued to kitchen.

A few weeks passed since the incident. That morning the ship had left Greece for the new destination. But not long after, a missing person's report from the captain was posted all over the ship. Posters of Felice Marino were on boards all over, asking for anyone to give any information of his whereabouts. He had apparently boarded the ship alone, so there was no specific person to approach about clear knowledge of where he could've went. But the man had socialized with other passengers and said his last stop was supposed to be Italy. When he did not board that night, the cruise was forced to go. When staff checked his apartment, they reported all of his stuff still being in the apartment.

Carissa had been submissive toward Hawks since what happened that night. She couldn't bring herself to disobey. Every time she considered it, this narrow but concentrated wave of fear flowed through her veins. Afraid of the winged hero of what he could be capable of if she tried to do something that would upset him again. So she complied to whatever he told or asked of her.

But to no surprise, Hawks hadn't noticed her changed behavior. In fact, he almost seemed happier to see she was finally doing what he wanted. That morning she couldn't move because of the soreness, but afterward when she was able to walk, Hawks started letting her out of the hotel again. Carissa did not try to fight him and he caught on pretty quickly. He had them go around the ship, talking about stuff. Whatever Hawks would say to her, she would acknowledge.

Hawks was acting as if nothing had transpired. As if he didn't impale an innocent citizen. As if he didn't rape her that night. The hero continued his happy, go-lucky personality as if there was nothing to be shameful over. It was chilling.

Carissa was hunched over the toilet, ferociously throwing up the contents she had only eaten a couple hours ago. Her stomach went nuts out of nowhere when she and Hawks returned from another one of their outings. She was really emptying herself, her body refusing to process anything. Carissa was hoping it was the stomach flu. Hawks had been by her side witnessing this, and after waiting for her to finish and putting her in bed, he left the hotel room and returned with something Carissa dreaded. Water and pregnancy tests.

Hawks made her drink a whole bottle and they waited. While Hawks was eager to find out, Carissa was sweating bullets.

Her bladder became full and she went to use it. A plus sign became visible on the stick, showing she was positive for being pregnant.

It took a moment to sink in. Carissa had a feeling this was it. Her chest did not feel right. Something was opening, like a black hole started sucking in huge amounts of air into her lungs.

Knocking erupted from the bathroom door. "What is it, songbird? What does it say?" Hawks asked from the other side, sounding excited.

This was it. She was dead.

When she didn't open the door, Hawks used his feather as a key to unlock the door. He walked in saw Carissa on the floor, her back against the wall. The pregnancy test was on the floor. He picked it up and saw the symbol. Golden eyes brightened instantly at the answer. The stick dropped from his fingers as he pulled Carissa into his chest, planting loving kisses.

Chunks of grief became anger as Carissa very roughly pushed Hawks off her. "GET OFF ME!" She yelled.

Hawks became shocked as he was pushed back, landing on his backside while his hands palmed the floor. He stared at Carissa's angered face. She was seething, tears forming in her eyes. "Sweet bird?"

"Don't call me that!" Carissa snapped.

"Honey bird, are you stressed? Don't be. It's not good for the baby-."

"I HATE YOU!" Carissa screamed.

Hawks's eyes popped at that statement. She hated him? Where did that come from? His eyes closing, a long sigh released from his throat. Was she really going to behave like this at the news of their baby? Hawks started to get up, his own anger starting to boil within him but keeping it concealed. He approached Carissa while using his feathers to help her up.

Carissa swatted at the feathers, tears coming down her face. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She yelled.

Hawks glared down at her. "Honey bird…" He said with his warning tone. He was really hoping it was the pregnancy hormones making her behave this way. If she was really going to spoil this news for the both of them…

"I CANNOT HAVE CHILDREN!" Carissa confessed, her voice cracking in the process.

There was a moment of silence, Hawks blankly looking down at her while Carissa closed her eyes and dipped her head.

"You're pregnant." Hawks's tone was flat. He didn't get it.

Carissa's slapped her hand against her forehead rather harshly. Her throat was closing up, but she had to explain before he did something. She could feel his feathers pinching her clothing as they pulled her up. "I'LL DIE IF I HAVE A KID!"

Hawks stopped moving completely. His body, his feathers, they all stopped. His golden eyes fixated on the woman who started crying, hugging herself. "…What're you taking about?" He asked. Despite believing she was lying, his face blanched at what she could be referring to.

Carissa shook her head, unable to look at him. "My mother died giving birth to me. She had a frail body. When I was eighteen, I went to the doctor. They said I took after her. That if I were to have a child, there was a strong chance I…"

She broke. Tears became waterfalls as she bawled, collapsing to the floor once again. Her hands palmed her lap as the cries echoed in the bathroom.

Hawks kneeled there, processing Carissa's words. His songbird would die if she had a baby? He wanted to believe this was an over exaggeration, but… Examining her, she appeared and sounded honest. Sobs tore through her as if so much she'd been holding in was coming out. Regardless, it broke him to see her like this. He came forward and wrapped his arms around Carissa, who struggled but eventually gave up.

Carissa was too weak to fight. There was no point in fighting anything anymore. She most likely had only eight or nine months of her life left. She would be forced to leave her father forever and he would be heartbroken.

The woman continued to sob in Hawks's arms, who held her and tried to calm her down. He cupped her head, pushing her face into his neck. Hawks could feel the strength of her crying, trying not to break himself.

He had to be sure.

Before the ship got there, Hawks made a doctor's appointment over the phone at a hospital in Sicily, Italy. He forced Carissa to stay in bed and relax until the ship docked at the marina. Once they were there, he flew both of them to the hospital and checked in with fake identities to not give themselves away. Hawks sat the whole time with Carissa, rubbing her back and watching her, a protective wing wrapped around her body. It pained him to see her looking so sad mixed with anxiety. The more and more he watched her, the more it sunk in she might be telling the truth after all.

The doctor called them in and introduced himself as Dr. Agosti. He did the common procedures for the first half hour, getting Carissa registered and doing little examinations to make sure everything was fine (checking ears, height and weight, drawing blood). Carissa faintly noticed Hawks twitch in his seat, his hands tightly gripping his knees. He was jealous of the doctor touching her, trying not to show it. Once the little checkups were through, Dr. Agosti said he had to do examinations using X-rays.

After several hours of examinations and waiting, Dr. Agosti privately spoke to them and confirmed there was a chance Carissa might not survive during or after the birth of this child. Hawks's breath was caught in his chest. Carissa was trying not break down again. However, before leaving, the doctor made several suggestions of how to slim the chances of this problem occurring. Hawks used his feather as a writing tool, literally dipping it into some ink the hospital happened to have and wrote down every single thing the doctor said in a journal, like how they did it in the olden days. It would've been funny if the situation wasn't so dire.

Carissa broke down again when they returned to the ship. They were both sitting on the bed. Hawks knew it wasn't a good idea, but he held her in his arms. His feathers draped a blanket over her as Carissa's face was pressed into Hawks's chest, crying. She was too mentally tired to fight him. Hawks cupped her head and pressed his cheek into it, trying not to break down himself.

"I'm sorry, angel… I'm so sorry."

"Please don't hate me…I…"

He felt like such an idiot. This could've been avoided if he had just done a thorough check of Carissa's hospital records. At first he thought she was playing hard to get. Then he thought she was being stubborn. It was hard for anyone to resist him. He could win over anyone he wanted and for some it required harder work than others. But Carissa, the person he found himself actually falling for…she was a one-in-a-million.

He knew a piece of why now. However…

Hawks frowned, still holding Carissa and trying to comfort her. Her cries slowly died down, eventually becoming a steady rhythm of breathing. She fell asleep. Hawks gently laid her in bed and tucked her in, sadly staring at her still puffy and tear-stained face. Grazing his thumb over her temple, he kissed her forehead and left the room.

The winged hero paced around the room, his movements speeding up and going down the more he thought about the whole thing. As he started thinking about the whole situation and looking back on Carissa's actions, he reflected on the way he behaved as well.

Hawks originally went to Seattle with his fellow heroes to investigate that break-in, where he met Carissa. However, after the investigation, that should've been the end of it. His mind kept wandering to Carissa and he felt an urge to remain in Seattle, convincing himself that villains could still be lurking in the city. So he stayed, but he found himself watching over-.

No, not watching over. Stalking Carissa. Almost everywhere she went, he followed. Found out where she lived, shopped, spent her off-time, even her father's home and work as well. Along the way, for some reason he told himself he was in love with her, and that she was in love with him.

When he saw Carissa's former boss, inappropriately touching her and snapping at her, this familiar yet foreign anger sparked in his chest. Hawks knew what it was like to be abused, but the normal thing he would've done if witnessing that is apprehend the person and send them off to jail for sexual harassment. He didn't do that this time. Hawks felt his blood run cold as he fully realized he attacked Mr. Baxter when he was alone and killed him by breaking his neck, hanging him up in his office as a display for Carissa to show she didn't have to worry about that abuser anymore.

Hawks tried to get closer to Carissa, to show his 'love' for her. But she fought him every step of the way. For some reason, he just wouldn't take the hint that she didn't want to be romantically involved with him. He was acting like Mr. Baxter, in fact. Not only was he behaving inappropriately, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.

When Carissa told Wade they were not in a relationship, which they weren't, Hawks felt even more loose. He'd convinced himself Carissa was just confused or in denial that she loved him. That the workload was overpowering her mind. So Hawks decided they needed more private time together. It took time, but he was able to book them a trip on this cruise so they could spend plenty of alone time together. When she still refused, he threatened her father's life.

Hawks cringed, not needing nor wanting to think back on what happened next.

This was not like him.

Why was he showing such devotion to this random woman? Sure, he found Carissa to be very beautiful. He encountered so many beautiful birds in his life. A few he went out on dates with. But that wasn't enough to make him want to stick around their hometowns and pursue the hell of out them.

Squinting in suspicion, Hawks went over to the kitchen and opened a drawer at the edge of the counter. He found his phone. He turned it off after he kept getting calls and texts from Endeavor and the HPSC. Another thing he never did. After giving it some thought, Hawks turned the phone on and called the one person he was usually comfortable speaking with.