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It had been a quiet day for you, contrary to what others may believe. Working in the same city that Endeavours hero agency resided in raises many questions from friends and family.
‘Have you ever been attacked by a villain?!’
‘Have you ever seen a Nomu?’
‘You’ve seen Endeavour right? He’s so cool!’
‘And have you met Hawks before?’
And contrary to popular belief, the answer is always no.
No, you haven’t been attacked before. No you haven’t seen a ‘Nomu’. No, you’ve never seen Endeavour and NO you’ve never met Hawks.
Such things were glorified in the eyes of others, many thought it was a common occurrence, which it was to an extent, for the city to be attacked. Yet you were never caught in the middle of it.
Why?
The answer was simple.
You just never happened to be there. Maybe you were lucky or maybe it just didn’t happen as often as others believed, whatever it was, you were fortunate enough to avoid any petty crimes that took place in the city.
Until today.
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“Yeah, yeah I like my coffee sweet, if I drank it black I think I’d die.”
Hawks pulled the phone away from his ear as the man on the other end nagged him through the receiver.
This was the third time this week he had disappeared from the Paranormal Liberation Front without saying where he was going, though it should have been obvious to them.
He was still a pro hero after all.
And so he absentmindedly flew through the city, patrolling the immediate area as he was shouted at through the phone, though something caught his eye.
A truck had come hurtling down the road at an unusual speed, it swerved as it stayed on its messy course and Hawks muttered a brief goodbye before hanging up.
Just as Endeavour has done in the past, Hawks immediately made it his mission to reach the potential site of an incident before it happened.
They didn’t call him the fastest for nothing. Though this time it didn’t seem like it would be enough and for some reason, it got his heart racing.
It wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be possible. Was it because he had been distracted up until now? Whatever it was, it may cost him.
For some reason that shook him, and as his eyes landed on the lone woman crossing the street, that mundane daily patrol became something more.
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Standing at the crossing, you pushed the button and waited patiently as you tucked your work folder into your bag along with your phone before sighing outwardly to yourself. It had been a long day for sure and you could not wait to get home and relax for the short time you could allow yourself to.
The sound of beeping reached your ears and you took a brief glance on both sides of the street.
Just to make sure. Just like you usually do.
And yet as you crossed, the sound of screeching reached your ears, raising your head you immediately spotted the truck that seemed to be hurtling toward you.
There was absolutely no time to react.
All you could make out was the manic grin of the driver who seemed to hit the gas at the sight of you as he attempted to make his getaway from the pro heroes that were already pursuing him.
Your heart lept into your throat and your body froze up in anticipation for the collision.
And it was unlike anything you had ever felt before. The force sent you flying and you couldn’t tell if it was excruciating or not, the pain was bearable, not in the way you expected.
Once your body hit the ground, you grimaced and clenched your teeth expecting your head to hit the ground hard but it didn’t.
Instead you heard someone yelling at you, what were they saying? You were scared to open your eyes because there was no way you could have survived that.
“Hey! Are you okay?!”
Eyes snapping open, you peered at the face in front of you, one filled with panic. It took you a moment to take in the scene but looking behind the individual on top of you, you caught sight of the truck crashed against a pole, the driver being pulled out and arrested by the heroes that had been pursuing him.
Looking back at the person before you, only one thing registered in your head.
“I didn’t get hit?”
Eyes widened as they stared at you in disbelief. As though they couldn’t believe that was the first thing that left your mouth and yet it made perfect sense.
“No you didn’t. You barely got away with your life, that’s why I’m going to ask you again, are you okay?”
You realised you were panting, perhaps you had held a breath in without realising and had just now released it.
Or maybe you had been doing so from the beginning but you had finally put two and two together.
You had been hit but not by a truck. It made sense, a human body colliding with another would surely hurt and send one flying. Especially at a high speed.
And with none other than the fastest pro hero alive on top of you, asking if you’re okay, you could easily deduce that he had saved your life, though it didn’t hurt any less.
“H-Hawks?” You breathed out, the name coming out in a whisper and he shivered slightly at it. It was new to him, hearing his name said in such a way. He couldn’t tell if he liked it or not, though he definitely wouldn’t complain.
“Yes?” He answered, the word coming out in barely a whisper too and he only realised after it left his mouth. He internally mocked himself for being affected by such a small thing.
Though that was short lived once your arms were thrown around his neck, pulling him into a hug, feathers bristling against your arms as his heart picked up pace once more, for a different reason entirely.
Frozen for a moment it took him a while to wrap his arms around you too, he told himself he was comforting you just like he would any other victim but for some reason, this felt different, he felt like something may come out of this.
Those daily patrols were always mundane. But not this one.
And he couldn’t help but thank that driver, as stupid and as selfish as that may sound.
”You’re okay, I’ve got you.”