Work Text:
Drip
Sniff
Drip, drip, drip
Why was she even crying right now? She abandoned him, she left him to the hands of the Commission and allowed them to do what they wished to him. She let them take her successor and twist him in their weapon, and now look what happened to him, look at what they had done to her sweet little brother.
Kaina wiped at the tears in her eyes as she cradled the broken body of her little hawk, her dove, her brother. “Oh Keigo…” Her voice was shaking as she carefully, gently, wiped under his eyes to clear the blood from them. She had to be gentle, he was in so much pain, his breathing was labored and slow, sometimes it slowed enough that she was sure he had died. But he didn’t. Because Keigo had always been a fighter even when they were kids and barely hanging on, he was always fighting to the very end and she had to admire it.
His lips moved, opening to try and talk and probably tell her that he was okay and didn’t need to be fussed over but she was quicker than him. ‘Not quick enough to save him though’. “Sh sh, you’ve done enough talking, my little hawk…You did enough, I promise. You’re okay, you don’t have to say anything now. I know, I know, Kaina knows, I’m here, I’m here. Sh sh sh.” She choked on her words, cradling his head and wiping at his face almost obsessively, trying to clear away the blood from those golden eyes. She was terrified that talking would speed up the process, that if he wasted his breath on words then she’d watch the last one come and go too soon and she wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t ready to watch those eyes flutter and fall shut, to see his chest fall for the last time and never rise again.
She couldn’t let it happen, couldn’t see those eyes shut for the final time and never hear that voice again. She couldn’t. He had to survive, rescue would be coming for him soon, right? Her brother remembered to call for backup, right? He had to have, he was smart, he wouldn’t be dumb enough to not call for backup….right?
She had to stay with him until they arrived, then she could leave before they saw her, that way her brother could get the help he needed without being accused of helping an prison escapee flee the scene. She just needed to know they would take care of her brother before she went anywhere, needed to make sure he wasn’t going to die here. He was trying to talk again, she realized, his mouth moving but no sound escaping him as his dull gaze searched her face for comfort, trembling hands coming to wipe his face again and coo at him. “It’s okay.” She whispered, barely believing it herself. “You’ll be okay, I’m sure they’ll come any minute now, they’ll find you, and you’ll be good as new, soaring through the sky just like you were meant to…” She swallowed around the lump in her throat, forcing herself to smile at him and once again assure him that he was going to be fine.
She could hear the heroes now, a booming voice was shouting for Keigo, for an answer. If she strained her hearing enough, she could even hear the scrape of Mirko’s metal foot against the ground when she hopped, her blood stained hands wiping Keigo’s face one last time as she leaned down to kiss his forehead. “It’s okay now, dove, they’re here for you.” She whispered against his forehead.
They were closer. The voices were closing in on her. She had to go.
Forcing her body away, Kaina felt her heart tear as she gently laid Keigo down on the cold, cold ground and stood up, wiping her hands on her dress. What was she doing? Why was she leaving him? Her brain screamed at her, begged her to stop and stay with him. Heroes be damned that was her brother! She was supposed to protect him!
“HAWKS!” Voices echoed behind her as she stepped across solid air and skipped across rooftops, finding a good perch for herself to peer back into that dirty alleyway. She watched as Mirko rushed over to the broken body of Hawks, purple eyes gazing tiredly over the scene, halfhearted smiling when she saw the giant awkward body of Endeavor fumbling with the thin frame of her brother.
‘ Fly free, Little Dove, free yourself of the cage. ’