Top pic credit: unknown. Tell me if u know

"Ari.......Ari, come on.....wake up." I heard someone say faintly, causing me to barely regain consciousness.

"Hmm..." I groaned out weakly, not wanting to wake up right now.

The person lightly began smacking my cheek now, clearly trying to bring me back into the real world.

"Good, there we go. Now, you're getting there. Ari. I'm gonna need you to open your eyes, kay? Can you do that for me? Just-fwoop! Flutter 'em open. C'mon. You can do it." The person said in my ears, their voice coming out fuzzy.

Huh. That sentence sounded so familiar. I swear I've heard it before. But where?

"Open your eyes, Ari. Open them big and wide for me." The person whispered to me, lightly caressing my face.

Again. So familiar. Where have I heard that before-

The boy.

That's right. The boy who saved me, all those years ago. He's the one who told me that-

Open your eyes, Ari.

The angel in the sky. I see him.

Wake up.

I finally remember what he looks like.

"Wake up." The person uttered into my ear gently, rubbing my shoulder.

The shoulder rub. The words. The voice.

The face.

That mysterious silhouette from all those years ago was finally starting to come to light, within my mind.

There he was....I could almost make out his face.

My angel in the sky is here, and it's-

"HAWKS!" I gasped out, snapping my eyes open.

I immediately tried sitting up, only to feel two hands rest on my shoulders. My head immediately began throbbing in pain, as I realized I was finally conscious again.

Huh. It was just a dream.

"Woah. Hey, it's just me. It's Hawks. You're safe." Hawks said to me gently, softly lowering me back down.

"W-What...?" I mumbled dazedly, feeling his hands rub my shoulders in a soothing motion.

"You're alright. The fight is over. Endeavor beat the Nomu." He quickly explained, before another loud groaning sound interrupted him.

"Barely. I wouldn't call that an absolute victory. I was a slow starter." Endeavor scoffed a few feet away, holding a drenched bloody towel to his face.

Endeavor? How did he get here?

As if sensing my dazed confusion, Hawks quickly explained.

"Endeavor crash landed conveniently close to where you landed. I gathered the two of you up, so I can keep an eye on you guys, until the ambulance gets here. Sorry." He said sheepishly to Endeavor and I, flashing a small smile.

What the hell is he apologizing for?

"I'm still standing. There's nothing to be sorry for." Endeavor nodded, before lifting his fist into the air weakly.

"Hey, that's All Might's pose. So, is that gonna be the official number one hero pose then?" I rasped out in weak excitement.

"Right!? That's what I said. It is All Might's pose, isn't it?!-" Hawks started saying, before Endeavor quickly cut him off.

"LIKE I SAID BEFORE, ALL MIGHT RAISED HIS OTHER HAND!" Endeavor snapped, fighting the unconsciousness that obviously threatened to take him soon.

I felt a stinging sensation underneath my eye now, finally starting to feel the warm blood that was trailing down my face.

"Ah. It's bleeding again." Hawks mumbled to me, quickly pressing a towel underneath my eye.

He adjusted my position slightly, making me realize that my upper body was actually being propped up in his arms. He was basically holding me in his lap.

"Here. I can stand up." I mumbled, weakly attempting to shuffle out of his arms.

Hawks quickly tightened his hold on my body, preventing me from moving.

"No way, little chick. You took a pretty bad fall back there. I saw the whole thing from the sky. You went through a building. When I came to you, you were lying in a pool of your own blood, unresponsive as a rock. You had me worried there for a minute, until right now when you finally woke up. I'm propping you up because your cheekbone is bleeding...and when you lay flat, the blood goes into your eyes." He explained, caressing my uninjured cheek with his hand.

He was being very touchy right now. Maybe, it's because I almost died.

But, I had to admit....it felt very nice. I didn't want him to stop.

I couldn't help the soft moan that escaped my mouth from his touch. It wasn't a sexual moan, or anything like that. His coaxing caresses just relaxed me.

As much as I was hoping Hawks didn't hear my little sound....he did.

"Heh. You seem to like this, huh?" He mumbled in gentle amusement, slowing down his touches on my face to soothe me even more.

Normally, I'd come up with some smart ass comment to deflect from this soft moment with Hawks. But, being as dazed and tired as I was, my inhibitions were a little more...honest, unfortunately. I think Hawks was currently experiencing the same thing, as I don't think he'd normally just start caressing my face in the middle of the street. Him and I just went through something. We were exhausted, and it was showing.

"Yeah. I do." I breathed out, absentmindedly leaning my face into his hand.

Hawks lightly hummed in response, gently trailing his fingers back and forth on my skin. He pulled me closer against his body, only making me feel more relaxed.

"Hey, I never got a chance to thank you for what you did back there. You saved my life, chicky. Thanks. But, please....next time if you and I are both in danger, save yourself. Seriously, it's okay. I want you to." He stated, pushing my sweaty hair out of my face.

I laughed lazily at his words, resting my hand comfortably on his thigh.

"Oh please, bird boy. You're not the only one who gets to save lives around here. It was simple. You put your life in my hands, and I put mine in yours. Isn't that what heroes and sidekicks are supposed to do?" I retorted in amusement, purposely mimicking his words so he would know I was listening when he first said them.

Hawks chuckled softly, trailing his fingers down to my jaw now.

"Hey, maybe I just got hit in the head too hard, but it almost sounds like you actually listened to something I said." He teased, now tracing his touch from my jaw, down to my neck.

"Nah. You just got hit in the head too hard." I whispered, feeling my head fall back against his chest as I began falling asleep from his touches.

"Nuh-uh uh, little chick. You're not allowed to go back to sleep again. You need to stay awake until you get to the hospital. Stay awake, Ari..." Hawks stated tiredly, before the sound of footsteps cut off his words.

I forced my eyes open, seeing someone coming towards Hawks, Endeavor, and I. It was too smoky and foggy to see who it was, but they were definitely taking their sweet time.

"Hold on just a second, folks. The show's not over, yet." The person said clearly, stepping out of the fog.

My eyes widened when I saw who it was, forcing myself to become alert.

"Dabi. I remember him from Kamino." I groaned out, grabbing Hawks' attention slightly.

"Hm?-Wait....so you two have fought each other?" Hawks asked weakly.

"No. I simply immobilized him for a few seconds so Katsuki Bakugou could escape with his friends. I doubt he even remembers me." I explained, keeping my gaze on Dabi.

Endeavor began shuffling in the corner, trying to force himself up.

"N-No. Stop, you've done enough. I'll.......I'll take care of him." Hawks quickly said to Endeavor. While his tone was relatively calm, the look on his face displayed a very subtle sense of unease at the sight of Dabi.

"Oh, come on now, I don't want any harm. I just want my high end Nomu back...." Dabi started saying, trailing off when he laid eyes on me.

His gaze immediately darkened at the sight of me.

"What? You..." he stated lowly, continuing to glare at me.

I felt Hawks immediately tighten his hold on me, waiting to see what Dabi would do.

This was a horrible situation for all of us. Endeavor and I were too injured to fight, and Hawks had no more wing power left. Overall, we were all exhausted and hurt.

"You're the one who let the blonde brat get away in Kamino. How's he doing, by the way? I'm sure that villainous temper of his is under control, right?" Dabi taunted me, as his hand started to smoke.

"I wouldn't know." I called out to him, before a giant circle of blue fire suddenly surrounded all of us.

"You know....Shigaraki gave me a lot of shit for losing that kid. Not that I really give a flying fuck about that.....but, I guess I'm just mad that you got in my way. Wasn't sure I'd see you again. But I'm sure glad I did. Especially, in this weakened state." Dabi smirked, slowly making his way towards me.

Even though Dabi was clearly coming over to Hawks and I, about to kill us.....Hawks remained motionless, simply holding me in his arms as he watched.

It's almost like he was frozen in place....like he was unsure about what he should do.

After a second, I decided I was the one who needed to make a move, quickly out stretching my hand towards Dabi.

Faster than lightning, Hawks yanked my hand down to the ground, quickly snapping himself back to reality.

"No. Not you, Ari. I'll do it. I'm gonna lay you on the ground, okay? I need to fight him-" Hawks started saying, before a booming sound was heard outside of the ring of blue fire we were currently stuck in.

Everyone whipped their head up to see the pro hero, Mirko, flip into view. She quickly landed on the ground in front of us, more than ready to take Dabi out.

I saw Dabi starting to outstretch his arm towards her. If he shot his fire out, he'd either incinerate Mirko, or Hawks and I, since we were right behind her.

I quickly brought my hand up again, activating my quirk at Dabi.

Hawks inhaled sharply, as he watched Dabi immediately become frozen in place, quickly looking at me.

"Stop drawing more attention to yourself. Don't make him mad." He blurted out to me, before quickly grabbing my hand again to stop me.

I furrowed my brows in confusion at his words, keeping Dabi frozen in place as Mirko was now able to charge at him.

"Why the hell not? He would have killed her. Or us." I pointed out, watching Dabi mutter profanities, as he realized he couldn't move.

"Fucking hell. Again? seriously? Ujiko, get me the hell out of here." Dabi groaned, turning his eyes to me.

"Every time I see you, you end up being a real pain in my ass. So, congratulations...you've caught my interest. I'll see you again, Ari Parker. You too, Enji Todoroki." He seethed lowly, before a cloud of black emerged from his mouth.

Mirko yelled in frustration, as she realized Dabi was being teleported away, only managing to kick the air once he was out of sight.

"Damn it! What a coward!" She spat out at Dabi, even though he was long gone now.

I looked up at Hawks, still curious about what he said earlier.

"Why did you tell me not to stop Dabi?" I mumbled at him, seeing his forehead bleeding from where the Nomu smacked him.

"Because you're really beat up. I didn't want you to overuse your quirk, more than you already have. That's all it was." He countered immediately, giving me a tired smile before quickly looking away.

I was quiet, trying my best to make sense of his words, as the sound of the ambulance sirens came into earshot.

After a few moments, the ambulance pulled up next to Endeavor, Hawks, and I, with nurses and doctors already piling out of it.

Hawks quickly explained the situations, and probable injuries that Endeavor and I had, as I was lifted onto a gurney.

This is unnecessary. Except for the fatigue and headache, I feel fine. I don't need a fucking ambulance.

"Hey. I'll meet you at the hospital in a few hours, okay?" Hawks said to me absentmindedly, rapidly texting someone on his phone.

His focus was clearly somewhere else. It has been for the past few minutes. Actually....now that I think about it, his focus has been somewhere else all day. Ever since we arrived to meet with Endeavor, he's been off.

"You should really get checked out for that cut on your forehead." I suggested, gesturing to the blood that was still running down his face. He's been so busy taking care of Endeavor and I that he never even bothered to tend to his own injuries.

He quickly tried wiping the dripping blood off his forehead, only causing it to smear on his face.

Seriously, what's his hurry.

"I know, and I will. But, there's something I need to take care of, first-reporters, and stuff like that. I'll see you later." He smiled, before quickly walking away.

What?

I narrowed my eyes, as I watched Hawks' fleeting figure...wondering why the hell he's been acting so weird today.

This bird boy clearly has secrets, and I'd like to find out what they are.