Third Person
The sun had long fallen over the horizon of the city, with the skyscrapers and office buildings now painted with a dim moonlit glow. August's apartment building was no exception, the shimmer of the moon dancing through the closed glass door separating her bedroom from the rest of the world.
He had originally departed from her residence two hours prior, after what was admittedly one of the most fun nights he had had in awhile. Now, with returning just moments before, Hawks sat on the edge of the brick balcony. With one leg dangling within the encased terrace and the other resting atop the edge to his right side, his golden brown eyes diligently observed the young woman as she slept.
The poor girl was slumbering away as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Knowing what she'd just endured, that was most likely the case. If August had ever managed to catch even a moment of shut eye in that place, it would've been a miracle.
With her arms resting at either side of her head, her chocolate brown locks gathered themselves around her baby blue pillow underneath her head. She'd long since changed out of her white crop top and denim shorts that seemed to hug every single curve just the way they intended. Now, August donned a lavender colored tank top, with her choice of bottoms being concealed by the duvet that matched in color to the pillows cushioning her head and neck. Every once and awhile, a seemingly pained expression would grace her delicate features; her thin eyebrows would furrow, her eyes would grimace and tighten, her perfect looking lips would purse together. But as Hawks would always ready himself to come to her aid, she'd relax. Inhaling deeply through her nose would cause her chest to rise, then as she exhaled, her chest would simultaneously lower back down. And within seconds, a more relaxed breathing pattern would begin anew. Even though August was only merely sleeping, Hawks was lost in her beauty. Everything she did, every action that her body carried through, whether it was voluntary or not, he felt hypnotized. Despite everything she has endured, from her assault to her kidnapping, something about August caused a calm coolness to radiate from her. That was what was so perplexing about her.
She should be traumatized, untrusting of the world and everyone, everything within it. She would have this kind of wall built around her, for fear that she'd be hurt again. If anyone else had been through what she had just experienced, they would isolate themselves, never wanting to allow someone new into their lives. Again, for the fear that something from the past would be repeated. However, albeit with Jake giving her a slight push, August seemed to take her new surroundings in stride. It seemed as though that, along with her worldly possessions, she was perfectly settled into her new home. And even with just experiencing yet another traumatic event, she allowed Hawks within her new space and acknowledged him, spoke to him, and admittedly, created a memory with him that she was sure to never forget. He definitely would never forget it.
A smile formed across the winged hero's lips as he recalled it now.
Just moments after alluding to her favorite villain, albeit in a teasing manner, Hawks found his arms weaving themselves around her thin body. The white fur lining of his coat met her exposed midriff, his gloved hands fastening themselves together. From his peripheral, Hawks could still see the faintest shimmer of a blush radiating from August's cheeks. The sudden yet gentle contact, from his chest pressing against her back to his strong arms being wrapped loosely around her, must have flustered her. Given everything he'd read from the report, Hawks deduced that this must have been some of the most gentle human contact she'd received in weeks. Remembering this small fact, he made sure not to make any sudden moves that would have the chance of startling her, accidental or otherwise.
Just after clasping his hands together, Hawks ceased all movement, awaiting August to make the next gesture. Badly, he wanted to rest his head against her shoulder, to reassure her that everything would settle back into a new normalcy that she go grow comfortable with. Instead, Hawks remained frozen, waiting for her to make any sort of movement, even if it was small. After several seconds, her thin, pale arms raised slightly, guided by her small hands.
Those small hands broke through his own, undoing the loose grip he had retained on her. As she took several steps forward, Hawks could briefly hear her mumble, "I hate this song," Hawks watched for a short moment as August hurriedly glided through the kitchen doorway. Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine had begun playing. Snapping back to reality, Hawks hastened through the doorframe and looking to his right, he saw August crouched down in front of the television stand. The song had already ceased, the speaker had silenced as August sped through the playlist using the fast forward button. Damn, I like that song, Hawks thought, looking down towards the ground for a split second. But soon following that thought came an even better idea.
"Scoot over a sec," Hawks smiled as he approached the girl. Her dark blue eyes looked up at the man through her long bangs, scuttling to the side to allow him room to kneel down beside her. Using the main button on the speaker, Hawks established a blue tooth connection between his phone and the device. The moment the connection was secured, August watched as he flipped through his own playlist, fittingly titled, "Good Vibes." Raising an eyebrow, she questioned, "Just what do you think you're doing, birdy?" As his characteristic smirk spread across his lips, the man continued focusing on searching his music library, merely answering, "You'll see, kid."
Keeping an eyebrow raised, August mumbled, "Only a year younger than you," Despite the fact she intended on keeping her volume lowered, Hawks' smirk widened at her words. Finally finding the selection he had been looking for, he pressed the little triangle to play the track. Through the front of the speaker came Sparklehorse's Piano Fire. A small smile appeared across her lips, with her briefly remembering Dan playing this throughout the booming speakers of Lush.
Taking advantage of her being lost in her own thoughts, Hawks stood from where he had been perched down beside her. In a flash, his tan colored white fur lined coat, his gloves, and his headphones and visor had found themselves tossed carelessly aside on August's dark gray sofa. Now, only donned in his black and gold rippled shirt, matching tan pants and boots, the winged hero found himself obnoxiously and horribly dancing atop the girl's coffee table, similar to how her brother had been just several hours prior. As she looked over her shoulder at the winged man, August's smile widened. "You are ridiculous, get down!" Her words betrayed the giggles slipping from her lips as she stood, her small hands pulling feebly at the end of Hawks' shirt. Only ceasing all movement for a moment, Hawks huffed and jumped downwards to reunite with the brunette.
"If you insist, I'll just keep dancing down here!" He exclaimed, his authentic, heroic grin widening. Hawks' ridiculous bouncing caused his already wild, feathery locks to dance around his head. This caused several long strands to claim homes on his forehead, with small beads of sweat dampening the skin. Endless giggles and soon, full on belly laughs ripped through August's throat, causing her cheeks to pinken up and joy filled tears to well up from her eyes. Through his absurd dancing, Hawks watched the young woman near him laugh her heart out, the mere sight and sound bringing the feeling of pure elation through him. The emotion became so overwhelming that his bare hands had met her own, fingers quickly intertwining and forcing their palms to connect.
Due to the fact that August was simply blinded by her own laughter, Hawks had somewhat of an upper hand, swinging the girl carefully and quickly to his right, twirling her petite form and guiding her with his right hand that remained connected with her own. With her now emptied left hand, August wiped the laughter born tears from her eyes and did her best to remain in time with the hero's movements.
After twirling her around in place, she faced the hero once more and the moment her eyes reunited with his, Hawks forced their hands to reconvene. Her laughter slowed, allowing her to regain her composure. And almost as quickly as the song began, it ceased. Through her haze of tears, August now saw the hero standing before her, mere centimeters of open space separating their heaving forms. Through hushed giggles, Hawks heard two words from her lips, "Thank you," Stepping just half an inch closer brought his damp forehead against her own.
Bringing his volume close to a whisper, Hawks asked, "What for?" The pair continued fighting to regain their breaths, and as August did so, both of her small hands squeezed his. The tiny action brought the tiniest flutter to Hawks' heart. Through the ridiculous few minutes of his laughable dancing, somehow, he'd gained enough of her trust for her to not pull her hands from his grasp. This could also be caused by her laughter induced exhaustion from his absurd dancing. However, Hawks liked to think that the first thought was the cause. Before August gave her explanation, Foals' Spanish Sahara begun playing through. Sidetracked from thinking about a proper reply, her gaze turned briefly towards the direction of the music before reuniting with Hawks'.
"This is on your good vibes playlist?" August asked briefly, a small shimmer glinting through her irises. Hawks' eyes stayed trained onto hers, a small shrug rolling off of his shoulders. Another small chuckle emitted from the girl's lips. For a small moment, Hawks felt as though their thoughts intertwined, thinking the same exact thing.
Their hearts accelerated and synchronized.
"I'm the fury in your head,"
Both of their smiles receded as their noses brushed together.
"I'm the fury in your bed,"
His hands met the small of her back as her own connected with the back of his dampened neck, with both sets of arms pulling forward.
"I'm the ghost in the back of your head, cause I am,"
As the same few lines repeated through the climax of the song, August found her arms securing themselves in a lock around the hero's neck. All the while, Hawks' body acted on autopilot, holding the small of her back gently within his grasp as their lips connected.
It wasn't the sort of kiss that was heated in the sensual, lustful manner; this was the sort of kiss you shared with someone that you hadn't seen in years, despite the fact that Hawks and August hadn't known each other for longer then several weeks, perhaps two or so months. It was the physical connection you shared with someone you never expected to share one with, but now that you were in the moment, you had no idea how you lived without it for so long.
Throughout the remainder of the song and into the next, which had been Syd Matters' Obstacles, their lips danced together, and the longer the kiss had stretched, the more it seemed as though the world around them was disappearing. It also seemed as though that the more Hawks held her, letting his hands gently roam her back, he never wanted to let her go.
And as August allowed her hands to become tangled within his feathery gold locks, she realized she never wanted to be let go. That was the only thought present within her mind at the moment.
After what seemed like hours of being lost in each other, their lips finally parted from each other, with the pair being breathless once more. Her hands remained entangled in his golden locks while he kept his hands resting comfortably on her waistline. Considering some of what her past trauma stemmed from, Hawks didn't dare move them in anyway she would be uncomfortable.
Reconnecting his forehead gently with her own, Hawks couldn't help but keep his gaze fixed with her own. Throughout the heated kiss, her cheeks regained the rosy hue that caused his heart flutter.
Before either one of them could utter a single word through their heaving breaths, Disney's We Don't Talk About Bruno started blaring through the front of the speaker. At the mere first syllable of the first line, a loud snicker burst through August.
Leaning his head back in an exasperated manner, Hawks exclaimed, "It's an awesome dancing song, so don't talk shit!" His words caused her head to rest against his broad chest, another fit of laughter spilling from her lips.
Releasing her hold on his hair, August rested her hands upon his shoulders, exclaiming, "I wasn't talking shit, calm down!" The same smile reverberated across Hawks' lips as he chuckled along in harmony with her giggles. His bare hands connected with either side of her face, retaining a gentle grip as he witnessed a slight grimace cross her features.
With a slight head tilt, his smile faded as quickly as it had appeared. August, noticing the disappearance of his signature grin, quickly ceased all giggles and turned her gaze away. Using the same gentleness he'd used a moment before, Hawks held her chin in between his thumb and index finger.
"He hurt you, didn't he?" Hawks whispered to her through the rhythms and beat of the Disney tune. August's stare reunite with his for a moment, and as she witnessed the glint of genuine compassion cross his eyes, tears welled up in her own. Upon the first appearance of the tears, Hawks took his hand and instead rested it upon her head, allowing her forehead to reconnect with his chest. As his chin rested atop her head gently, Hawks promised himself something; that he'd never let anymore harm cross her again.
Despite the fact that it had ended with tears spilling down her cheeks, Hawks loved every single moment that had transpired before that. In a matter of about forty five minutes or so, he'd gone from teasing her about her favored villain to passionately kissing her in a way he'd never kissed anyone before.
Upon recalling every single solitary second of those forty five minutes, a genuine smile stretched across the number two hero's face once more.
August Hadley
My heart raced at an inhuman speed, one that would've surely put me into cardiac arrest. But the cause of the accelerated heartrate was a good one.
My hands tangled themselves willingly in his gold locks, my lips working to memorize every single tiny detail of his. Meanwhile, his hands travelled wherever they desired, avoiding any spot that would perhaps trigger an awful flashback. Despite the fact I hadn't told anyone where I'd been hurt, where that criminal had abused me, what spots he had used for his own sick pleasures or experiments, Hawks managed to avoid every single one of those areas. And even though just moments before he had been teasing me in a flirty manner, he was acting like the ideal gentleman at this moment, all the while maintaining the heat that every girl craved with a kiss. The romance and the heat were matched, at equal and it was bliss. Just like that one night several weeks ago, before my life turned upside down for the second time, my heart felt as though it was glowing.
As my hands continued becoming lost in his hair, our lips continued bonding together. This was one of the few moments in my life where all of the puzzle pieces were falling into place. Nothing could ruin this moment.
Through the closed lids concealing my eyes, the normally bright light illuminating my living room dimmed. Upon the darkening of my residence, I opened my eyes and found my supposed new lover had vanished.
The slight feeling of my heart dropping resonated through my chest as I frantically searched through the living room and the attached dining room. Along with Hawks, his belongings that had been tossed aside on the sofa had seemingly vanished as well. With how frantically I searched through the apartment, the once exhilarating speeding of my heart had turned anxiety inducing. I could feel the cold beads of sweat race down my temples and my neck as I made a move to begin searching the kitchen.
"Where do you think you're going, dear?"
All my movement ceased at the voice that radiated from where my couch had sat. Every fiber of my being screamed for me not to turn around. But for some unknown reason, I turned my head to peer over my shoulder anyway. The sight that I was witnessing sent horrifying chills through my spine.
"What the fuck are you doing here, you plague mask wearing clown?" I stammered out, attempting to shield myself against the kitchen doorway. Lounging dead in the middle of my new sofa was the same personification of evil I had just escaped from. Wearing the same stupid green bomber jacket, the same idiotic mask concealing the lower half of his face, his golden eyes radiated with evil as he glared through me. Both arms resting along the back of the couch, he tilted his head slightly to one side.
"Whatever do you mean, pet?" The words his voice stringed together in a sentence resonated with sarcasm. He knew exactly what the fuck I was talking about.
"You know what I'm speaking about, don't play stupid!" I raised my voice as I stormed forward, stopping before the coffee table. Keeping his composure, Chisaki hissed, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Before I had the fraction of a second to form a sensible sentence, my coffee table evaporated into mist before me. Replacing it was the form of my newfound love, bright red wings battered and bloodied, both of his eyes were blackened as blood poured from his nostrils, lips and eye sockets, forming a pool underneath his head. Speckling the hardwood floor were countless perfect, bright red feathers, forever stained with fresh blood.
My jaw could have dropped to the ground at the horrifying sight; Hawks lying on my living room floor, half dead, with Chisaki's foot propped atop his perfect ash blonde locks.
"Let him go... Please, I'll do anything," I pleaded feebly, reaching a pathetic hand forward as if I could save him from this monster. "Why would I do that, love? You don't love him." Chisaki uttered, causing me to be taken aback slightly.
"But-" Before I could even think of finishing my sentence, Chisaki continued.
"And what makes you think he loves you? What about your perfect, blue flame wielding savior?" Chisaki almost interrogated, leaning forward, pressing his elbows onto his knees. This action forced his foot harder against Hawks' skull. I fought the urge to lean forward, wanting to rip this criminal's foot off of Hawks and just hold him, not caring if I was slapped, kicked, punched or harmed with whatever he could throw at my direction. As long as, in this moment, I could protect Hawks, I would feel alright.
"But he-" I began once more, before being cut off rudely.
"Who's to say that he isn't just using you to rebound off your friend?" The mere mention of Quinn caused my heart to drop far into the bottomless pit that had formed in my stomach.
"He wouldn't-" I attempted speaking a third time, soon being cut off again for a third time.
"How do you know? How do you know he wouldn't do that, doll?" Chisaki interrogated me further, and with every word, the pit in my stomach that had swallowed my heart only grew deeper, and deeper.
Not knowing what to say, and also not wanting to be interrupted again forced my silence. Waiting for my attempt to reply brought his golden eyes to bore a hole through my soul. Leaning back into my sofa but keeping his strong foothold onto Hawks' head, Chisaki muttered, "That's what I thought, whore." With the last word that dripped from his lips like poison, the heart that had once been stationed within my chest, that now resided deep within my bowels, felt as though it had been stabbed repeatedly with several thousand blades.
"But I'm not-!" I attempted to retort, causing the villain to stand from his seat, pressing his shoe harder into Hawks' head. A harsh wince seethed through his perfect facial expressions as a result.
"You're not?! You're fucking history says otherwise, you cunt!" My legs began to shake, with my right fist reaching towards my heart in an attempt to cease my hyperventilating.
"First boyfriend ever, you were raped and bore a child. Second guy, who also happened to be the one who saved your pathetic ass, you lead him on and kiss another man who just so happens to be your best friend's ex boyfriend. Then, there's me," The words spilled from his throat like toxic vomit, never seeming to end, no matter how badly I wished they would.
"The one who used you, your body, your perfect Quirk," Chisaki rose from his seat, his left hand raising to remove his right glove. Using Hawks' head as a stepping stone almost, his foot pushed off his head, propelling him forward slightly in my direction. The sudden action caused me to stutter back, nearly knocking into my television stand. Chisaki only continued forward, seeming to box me in, his gloved hand slamming itself into the wall beside my head. The action caused my body to nearly jump out of its skin. Nevertheless, his eyes never once tore themselves off of my form.
"Everything about you is ruined now. Your little villain, and now your little hero won't want any single fucking part of you." The venomous words caused the tears to begin to well up in my eyes, threatening to spill over and create sorrow filled rivers down my cheeks.
Head tilted once more, Chisaki asked sarcastically, "What's the tears for, doll?" Keeping my gaze away from his own, I heard a low chuckle pour from his chest. Taking a single step backwards, Chisaki turned back and crouched just by Hawks' head.
"What are you doing?" I managed to stutter through my pathetic sobs and tears. As his gloved hand gripped Hawks' blonde locks harshly, he pulled his head off the floor. As a wince crossed his features, the same action crossed my facial features. Once again, the urge to reach forward and protect the number two hero flooded my being.
With a sinister glint crossing his eyes, Chisaki's cheeks raised from underneath his mask, hinting at an evil smirk. "Here, let me help you get the fucking words out." With his exposed hand, Chisaki gripped Hawks' forehead.
In a matter of seconds, brain matter and blood painted the room, causing my arms to raise to shield my face. Nevertheless, my arms took the brunt of the explosion, along with my newly purchased furniture. As I lowered my arms to witness the aftermath, a scream ripped through my throat, accompanied by a thread of sinister, hysterical laughter from the murderer before me.
The scream continued tearing a pathway through my throat as I slammed against the mattress, throwing myself into sitting up. I had been sweating to the point where it felt as though someone had filled and refilled a bucket fifteen times, dumping it on me repeatedly. My hyperventilating caused the aching in my chest to persist, tears now staining my cheeks and the pillowcase that had once been underneath my head.
"Hey, hey, it's alright!" I heard a familiar voice attempt to soothe me. My glass balcony door had been slid open, and now seated at the edge of my bedside was the one person I definitely needed to see the most.
"Hawks, I..." I sobbed loudly, but only more pathetic whines and sobs escaped me as more tears poured from my eyes. Hawks reached both of his arms forward, with my body instantaneously leaning into him. Wrapping his arms around tightly around me, I continued sobbing into his chest.
Small shushes came from the man's lips as he rested his head gently against mine, and within a few minutes, I ceased crying and sobbing like a two year old. Holding my eyes closed with one hand, Hawks pulled away from me for only a moment.
"What happened?" Hawks asked as gently as he could manage. Feeble sniffles escaped my nose as I held onto the front of his shirt tighter.
"Please, just-" Before I could even finish my sentence, I did a double take, looking up at the hero. Upon receiving a majorly confused look from myself, Hawks gave a slight tilt of the head. "How... Why are you still here? I thought you left before I went to bed."
With one hand, Hawks massaged the back of his neck, a sheepish smile forming across his lips. "Honestly? Kind of wanted to check on you. Glad I did now." His response caused the blood to rush to my cheeks for what might have been the millionth time that night.