Chapter Text
Hawks soared through the sky at speeds that were once thought to be humanly impossible. The hero receives cheers from the crowds below him. Normally, he would enjoy the attention, however, he had urgent matters to attend to. An important life was on the line. He couldn't let the family suffer any more. His plan was to enter the HPSC through one of the rooftop doors like he normally did. He needed to be stealthy, but not too stealthy. He needed to appear inconspicuous. The Commission had cameras and microphones on every hero for safety. However, they keep the devices on Hawks to monitor him. If he made one mistake, nothing afterwards would be good for him.
Hawks waved to onlookers as he landed on top of the HPSC building. The second he was out of view he dropped his smiley act. He checked the time on his cellphone. The plan was to enter the building a few minutes before guard shifts changed. He didn’t want to look like he was doing anything suspicious. Once it hits 6:15 PM Hawks will have 5 minutes to go into the “Hero Surveillance” room, get the files he needed, and get out. During that time, the room will be empty, and no one would know what he was trying to do. The time was now 6:00. Perfect.
He opened the roof access door and carefully headed down the steep, mostly concrete stairs. Hawks could swear the stairs were made of nightmares from hell. One wrong step and you fell to your death. He could guess that a rooftop entrance was a last minute decision in the building plan. It reminded him of accessibility in buildings. Just an afterthought.
He pushed the thought out of his head as he tred on. He needed to remain focused. If he got distracted for even a second, his life would be at risk. He opened the door at the end of the stairs and merged into the busy hallway. Everyone at the Commission was always working on new cases, and older cases. Hawks began walking in the opposite direction of Hero Surveillance. He had decided that reporting back to the head first would cause less suspicion. The reason he had been at the police station was to get more information on the double missing hero's story. When there was a hero involved with a case, the Commission would hear about it one way or another. It was scary how easily they could get involved and scary how easily they always got what they wanted. Hawks hated working for these guys, but he didn’t really have a choice.
The Heads office was a ways north in the main hallway of the building, making it easy to find, but difficult to actually get inside. With everyone always in a rush, getting into any room was difficult, but manageable. With the Heads office, it was nearly impossible to stop for long enough to knock and open the door. Luckily for Hawks, the head gave him permission to skip the knocking, and walk right in. Hawks followed the flow of traffic until he reached the big glass doors. He put on his best act and swung the door open.
“Heya boss!” He exclaimed energetically. “Guess who is alive and doing well!” Hawks shut the door behind him and smiled widely. The head groaned.
“Hawks, for the love of god, it’s just us. You can drop the act.” She said, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She was sitting at her desk with a pencil in her other hand. Hawks’ smile dimmed into a rough glare. He looked as if all of his bright energy had turned into a low domenor.
“Fine. I have information on the case.” Hawks spoke.
“Well get on with it! I don’t have all day, Hawks!” The woman stood from her desk and glared at the hero. Hawks glared back, his fingers curling into fists. The Head seemed to notice the small movement and put her hand under the desk where a red emergency call button was located.
“Still think I’m dangerous, huh?” Hawks sassed.
“Don’t forget why you're here. Have you forgotten that I OWN YOU!? ” Hawks went silent. He unclenched his fists and stood up straight. “I should have reprimanded you just for that. However, you have valuable information on you.” The man remained quiet, as he stared at her.
The woman regained her composure and began once more. “What information do you have on Eraserhead?” She asked.
Hawks cleared his throat. “He was found unconscious in an alley. I spoke to him when he woke up, but he doesn't remember anything that happened to him. That's all I know.”
His boss didn’t seem too satisfied with the answer, but she didn’t push it. “Fine. Get out of my sight.” She took her seat once again and shooed him off. Hawks left the moment she gave her word. No one cared to stay in that woman's office for very long. She was known for her short temper and her uninviting personality. Everyone disliked her, but there was only one who truly hated everything she was. It wasn’t like Hawks could show his hatred openly, but he still felt it.
The man left the office swiftly and returned to his regular task. Despite stopping in the office, there was still time to steal the body cam footage from security, which was just around the corner. At this time, the room would be empty. No one would be looking at the body cams, not even Hawks’. The commission may run like clock-work, but there were still a few large flaws in the system that only insiders could see.
5 minutes was all the time he had. He moved quickly through the halls, being sure to avoid every possible conversation that could stop him. Hawks managed to make it to the security room without raising any questions. By this time, he would be out on a street patrol. With how unordinary things have gotten in the hero world, Hawks figured everyone thought that his schedule had changed too.
The security room was small, about the size of a fancy walk-in closet. Very few people had the clearance to be in there, and Hawks definitely wasn’t one of them, Because of the room's small size, finding the footage he needed was easy. All he had to do was go to a computer, search “Eraserhead” in the Underground Hero files search bar, and there it was. Every video clip was sorted into months and years. Hawks clicked on the folder labeled “October” and was shocked by the amount of video clips that popped up. The amount of work the man had done was extraordinary. There were hundreds of clips just from one month. Hawks rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a USB drive. He selected all the clips from October 22nd and began the download. There were a few clips taken from after the 22nd, which he also put on the drive.
It was extremely weird, but incredibly lucky that there were clips from after Aizawas disappearance. The upload took 3 minutes. As soon as it was finished, Hawks grabbed the drive, closed out everything, and bolted. He left the same way he came.
“Hey Hawks!” Someone called from behind him. He turned to see the face of the head of security. There was no way he hadn’t seen him leave the room.
“Hey, Sota.” Hawks returned the greeting.
“What were you doing in my office? You’re not supposed to be in there, especially not without me.” Shiiit he saw. Hawks had become an amazing liar over the years, with all the undercover missions, so he had an advantage.
“I was looking for Ito. I have some time before my next patrol starts, so I was going to offer a coffee run, but she’s not here yet. I’m just heading out. Let me know if you see her?”
“She’s not here today. Her father’s sick.” Alright, Hawks could work with this.
“Aww, bummer! Tell her I send them my regards. Have a good shift man!” He walked off before Sota got the chance to say anything else. Taking his usual route, he ended up back on the roof and soared off in the direction of the police station Aizawa was being kept at temporarily. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered the stolen footage. Of course, he had no idea how they would find out, but he was always caught every time he did something against the commission's wishes. He hoped that one day the commission would change for the better, and that someone would expose them for what they really were. As much as Hawks loved being a hero, he’d also like to enjoy having a sense of freedom.