You gingerly opened the cabinet door and inside was a very smug looking Hawks, cramped up and contorted with his head bend sideways so he could fit.

"Hey, baby." He said in his silky smooth voice, "You found me."

You couldn't take his flirty seriously for the life of you with the way he was cramped up in there and burst out laughing, wiping tears from your eyes as he tried to hop out.

"How long were you in there for?!" You asked as your laughter died down.

"Uhhhh... 'bout a half hour." He said, stretching his back and rubbing his neck as he kinked it side to side before running a hand through his hair and winking at you.

You looked away, 

"Thanks for last night." He said lowly and your eyes widened. There was a pause, than he spoke again,

"You okay, chicken?" He asked gently

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" You asked, glancing at him then looking away and turning to your desk.

"You, uh... just look like you've been crying." He said as he followed you and crouched down across the desk so he could see your face. You glanced at him again before looking away.

"You know I'm always here for you, baby." He said softly.

"I know." You replied, matching his soft tone.

"My office door is always open for you." He said with genuine kindness, "If you need me just stop by, yeah?"

You nodded and hung your head.

"Did you wanna talk about it?" He asked tenderly and you shook your head. "Alright." He said with a gentle smile.

"Unfortunately I have to go now, but come up if you need me." He added as he stood up and turned slowly to leave. He was hoping that you would call out to him and ask him to wait, or maybe even not to leave. But to his dismay, you didn't.

He left, his face falling slightly as he walked. She still doesn't trust me... Not that I can blame her, but I really thought that we were making some progress. Hawks thought as he got to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button.

She might be shy but man is she strong! Not once has she caved and told me what's going on. He smirked to himself, Definitely one of the qualities I like about her.

He got to his level and hopped out, casually strolling down the hallway to his room.

I still wonder why she was upset...

As he approached his door, his feathers picked up the presence of somebody inside and paused with his hand on the door handle.

Oh, it's the boss. He thought smugly.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Hawks asked in a bored tone as he entered the room. The council president stood at his desk and dropped a stack of papers onto it.

"We're making some good progress on apprehending the lexical quirk users." She said briskly, looking at Hawks with annoyance.

"Seeing as you've been absent for most of this mission, I've brought you the paper work to catch up on. We'll be catching the rest of the family tonight." She finished in a passive aggressive condescending tone.

She was less than impressed that Hawks hadn't been helping with the mission as much as he should've.

"Ah... you must get off on giving people work, huh?" He replied as he sauntered over and flopped down into his office chair.

The president stiffened but bit her tongue. "We expect your help with the next part of the mission. Understood?" She said, watching him intently.

"Yeah, I got it." He replied as he slumped his cheek into his hand while holding her gaze to show that he wasn't the least bit rattled by her.

She cleared her throat and turned to leave, "We expect ALL of them to be apprehended, Hawks..." She said over her shoulder and he scowled as she walked out of the office, shutting the door behind her.

This bitch...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in your office you couldn't concentrate on anything. You felt sick to your stomach and completely stuck on what to do.

Maybe if I text Hawks to come down? I might just need some company. You thought.

You reached into your bag for your phone, feeling around casually. but when you couldn't find it, you started to panic and started searching a little more frantically. Then you remembered.

Oh no, It's still plugged in at home! The dread set in. Now what were you going to do!?

You sat there a little longer, paralyzed, before finally standing up.

Screw this, I'm going to Hawks, he's a hero, he knows me, he'll believe me when I tell him I've done nothing wrong. And although my father is an Asshole, he's done nothing wrong either. If I explain the situation calmly to him, maybe he'll help me out.

You got up and walked to your door, made your way up to his level, and started down the hallway to his room, your heart rate increasing as you got closer.

Oh god, maybe this was a bad idea... You paused outside his door and held your hand up to knock. You pulled a face, debating on whether to go through with this or not when a voice suddenly called to your from the inside.

"Come on in, chicken!" He called.

You reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

"I-I keep forgetting about the feathers..." You muttered sheepishly as you looked at him, "Who-Whoa! hold on- wait- what!?" You stammered when you saw the state of him.

Hawks was sitting in his chair, his jacket just off his shoulders with a few of his smaller feathers deployed and holding up sheets of paper as he chewed on the end of a pencil thoughtfully.

"Oh, hey." He said with a friendly smile, "Don't mind me, just doing some paperwork." 

"What is this??" You asked with a small chuckle.

"This is how I do work." He said with a wink.

"Well, don't let me stop you." You said softly.

"What brings you to the hawk's nest baby?" He asked lowly as he directed some of the sheets aside to look at you with those intense golden eyes.

"I-I just needed some company." You replied.

"Oh." He said with a bit of disappointment in his voice, "So your not here to help me 'relieve a bit of tension'?" He asked suggestively, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips.

"Oh my- no!" You squeaked, covering your mouth with embarrassment.

He chuckled, "I'm just messing, baby." He said as he looked back at his papers, "Do you want a cup of tea or something?" He asked, nodding to his kitchenette in the corner of the room. "Help yourself."

"Actually, I might, if that's okay?" You asked softly.

"Of course, chicken, help yourself!" He said with a smile, "Would ya mind making me a coffee while you're there?"

"Not at all." You said as you headed over.

"Oh~ man!~" Hawks sighed loudly, "Got a tough case here." He said pointedly as he watched your fill the hot water jug and plug it in.

"Yeah?" You asked.

"Yeah. Tracking down a quirk user for the government." He said, casually looking back at his papers but observed you from the corner of his eye.

You paused slightly as you pulled two mugs out of the cupboard. "Uh... What- What quick?" You asked softy.

"Lexical translation." He said bluntly.

Your hand slipped in fright and you dropped one of the mugs into the small sink, making a hell-of-a racket.

"Sorry, sorry!" You yelled.

"You good?" He asked calmly.

"Y-Yeah, s-s-sorry. I'm o-okay." You stuttered.

He kept watching you discreetly as he continued,

"The government's been after them for months." He said loudly, "They've got the father, and now they're after the daughter."