Top pic credit: unknown. Tell me if you know

My jaw dropped in pure, blank shock....causing an unchewed piece of sashimi to fall out of my mouth.

"Is that a...." I trailed off, watching this giant monster flying full speed at our window.

"Oh. Shit." Hawks mumbled, popping up from his seat at lightning speed.

I quickly grabbed a handful of edamame off the table, before shoving it into my mouth.

I don't care where I'm at, or what's happening. There's no way I'm gonna let some good food go to waste-

"Really? Are you serious right now?" Hawks retorted at me in calm disbelief, as he saw me shove the edamame into my mouth.

Hah. For once, he was the one getting annoyed with me. That's a nice change.

I felt him yank my arm roughly, dragging me out of my seat and away from the window.

Before I even had time to blink, Hawks shot one of his feathers out at our waitress who had come into the room with our check.

His feather hooked onto her shirt, quickly dragging her towards him. Obviously, she began screaming now, not understanding what the hell was going on.

"Brace yourself, Ari." Hawks stated to me calmly. He held me tightly against him in one arm, quickly grabbing the waitress and holding her in his other arm.

His strong, crimson wings immediately came down in front of our bodies, shielding us from the ear piercing, shattering explosion that now rang through our ears.

A blood curdling, inhumane shriek filled the room, as the monster glared at us.

"What the hell is that?!" I exclaimed in panic, feeling a little scared now.

If I were being honest, the thing that scared me the most was the fact that now we were probably about 80 stories up in this building, with no glass window to protect us anymore.

"Looks like a Nomu. Only stronger!" Hawks called out over the chaos.

"You two, evacuate the building!" Endeavor yelled to Hawks and I, before sending a giant fireball at the monster Nomu.

"Roger that, Endeavor!!" Hawks yelled, before quickly turning to me.

He placed his headphones around his ears, quickly floating a feather onto my shoulder.

"Ari, listen up! You'll evacuate from the ground. This fight's gonna get ugly, real quick. Stop the pieces of debris from falling onto the citizens below, get them out of this area, and stop danger where you see it. Okay?" Hawks commanded, showing me his serious side for the first time since I've known him.

Not gonna lie, it actually put me a little on edge...seeing Hawks like this. But, it also made me want to do this right.

"Roger that! I know you don't have time to fly me to the ground, so I'll take the stairs!" I exclaimed, about to make my way to the stairs.

He quickly grabbed my arm to stop me...telekinetically wiggling the feather that was on my shoulder.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out an extra pair of aviators, along with some earplugs, and placed them on my face and ears.

"You're right. I don't have time to fly you to the ground. But...you trust me, don't you?" Hawks asked firmly, his golden orbs burning into my own eyes.

Shit.

I already knew what he was about to do.

Let me just say, I felt like I was officially going to shit my pants.

Too wrapped up in my own panicked thoughts, I was never able to give Hawks an answer to his question, as I quickly felt myself yanked backwards.

"Get it done, Ari! I know you can!" Hawks yelled to me confidently, as my feet went over the edge of the shattered window.

My body was thrown from the building, as I began free falling from the skyscraper.

Instinctively, I couldn't stop myself from screaming my head off, as I flew through the air....Hawks' feather being the only thing to keep me from splattering onto the floor like a cracked egg.

His feathers allowed him to hear sound vibrations, in order to listen to conversations and find those who needed to be rescued. So, I'm sure he could hear my yells of fear.

Remembering this, I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth, forcing myself to stop yelling...mostly because of my pride. I didn't want him to think I was incapable of doing this.

I bit my lip, as I continued free falling through the air...realizing I was traveling at least forty miles faster than our waitress, who he also sent out the window.

She was floating peacefully down to the ground, while I was practically sky diving without a parachute.

Thanks a lot, Hawks. You fucking asshole.

I had to remember that Hawks was probably trying to get me down to the ground faster than everyone else, so I could evacuate and protect them. I was his intern/sidekick, after all.

...and even though he hasn't actually seen me in combat yet, he still seemed to put so much faith in me. His words echoed in my head:

"Get it done, Ari! I know you can!"

Full confidence. He said those words with full confidence. Yet, I couldn't even give him an answer when he asked if I trusted him.

"A hero and a sidekick are supposed to trust each other, fully. They put their lives in each other's hands, and trust each other to get the job done."

Ugh. More words of wisdom from that bird brain. While I didn't think of Hawks as a mentor, I couldn't deny that he gave me solid advice. He also definitely practiced what he preached. I could tell he trusted me. Best Jeanist trusted me, too....but, understandably, I could always tell he placed more trust in his actual sidekicks. Not me, his low level intern.

Hawks doesn't have any sidekicks and he's much younger, so maybe that's why he treats me as more of an equal, than Best Jeanist did. But either way, he has faith in me to carry out his orders and keep things safe from the ground. That's why he's trying to get me there so quickly. That's why he was okay with having him and I split up in the first place. He takes care of the air, while I take care of the ground. That's his plan. He's putting his life, and the lives of others, fully in my hands. So now...

It's time for me to do the same in return.

I forced myself to turn around in the air, so I could see where I'll be landing.

The inside of my cheek began bleeding, making me realize that I had been clamping down on it to keep myself from screaming.

"Calm down, Ari. Come on. You can do this." I whispered to myself, watching the pavement come closer and closer.

All I could do was trust right now. I had to trust that Hawks had enough control and awareness over his feathers, to realize how fast I was plummeting to the earth. I had to trust that he would be able to stop me from crashing in time.

I saw the citizens screaming, as they looked up at me...probably thinking I jumped out of the window freely or something.

The wind was flying into my face at an unforgiving speed, making me thankful that Hawks gave me his extra pair of aviator glasses and some earplugs.

Almost at the ground, and I haven't slowed down yet. But I'll trust you, Hawks.

The feather on my shoulder suddenly directed me away from the street pavement, over to a soft grassy park instead.

Hah. He knows I still suck at landing. He's probably trying to lighten the blow for me.

I began slowing down quickly now, still seeing the people below screaming and running for their lives.

Huh. That's weird. Even though my fall has noticeably slowed down, everyone is still screaming in fear.

Unless....

They aren't actually screaming at me.

I quickly hit the ground, once again not landing onto my feet. While Hawks slowed my fall at the end, it wasn't enough to create a peaceful, graceful stop the way I had hoped for.

I groaned in pain as I harshly stumbled onto the ground, laying flat on the soft grass.

That's when I realized, the people weren't screaming at me. They were screaming at the giant pieces of flaming building that were now coming down to the ground.

Ah. I see. That's why Hawks was trying to get me to the ground so quickly. He was trying to help me beat the debris pieces to the ground, so I could try and stop as many as possible.

Smart bird.

I sloppily shuffled to my feet, sprinting over to the chaos.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." I mumbled, outstretching my hands to the air.

I'm only able to debilitate three things or people, at a time. So, I needed to choose wisely here. What needed my immediate attention, and what would cause the most damage.

Luckily, I've spent almost three years at UA, perfecting skills and scenarios, such as these.

I saw a piece of concrete heading directly for an apartment complex, causing me to immobilize it in the air immediately.

Okay. My forty five seconds for that particular piece of debris start now.

The feather that was still resting on my shoulder began frantically tapping me in the face to get my attention.

"What?! What, is it Hawks!?" I called out, watching the feather move me in a certain direction.

I saw a person free falling from the skyscraper, without a feather attached to their body. Hawks was telling me to help them.

"I see the person. I'm on it!" I exclaimed, quickly stopping the person from falling in mid air, gently lowering them to the ground.

It seems this feather on my shoulder will be here to stay. It's the only way Hawks and I can communicate with each other. Even if I can't hear him speaking, he can hear me, and he can show me what he wants.

I quickly moved the piece of concrete that was hovering over the apartment complex, gently setting it on the ground.

A car swerved out of control from the chaos, heading right towards the crowded group in the crosswalk.

I geared my quirk towards the car, stopping it in its tracks.

The panicked crowd of citizens looked at me in shock, not moving from their spots.

"I can't hold it forever!! Get out of the way!!" I yelled at them, counting the seconds in my head, as to when the car would start moving again.

Hopefully, the driver would be able to contain themselves since I basically just gave them a second chance.

It required more energy to move objects and people, than it did to simply stop things in motion. A lot more energy.

That's why, I couldn't move every single thing I immobilized. I needed to simply usher people out of the way, at times.

"Hourglass!!" Someone called out, causing me to turn around.

It was Endeavor's sidekicks.

"We need to evacuate the people on the ground! We'll take the west side of the city, while you take the east. Alright?!" They explained to me, already running off.

"Got it." I started saying, running through the panicked group of citizens.

"Woah!!! Look, it's Hawks!!" Someone exclaimed, pointing up in the air now.

I looked up seeing Hawks and his majestic wings, standing on the edge of the 80th floor of the building.

In the next instant, he flipped from the ledge, before quickly whizzing through the air.

Holy shit!! He's so fast! I've never actually seen Hawks in action before. I couldn't deny that he had me intrigued.

My eyes widened as I saw him charge head on towards the Nomu, trying to give Endeavor a hand.

He's going to fight it!?

The feather on my shoulder was stagnant, making me realize that Hawks was completely focused on his own task at hand right now. Which means I should be doing the same.

I watched him shoot his feathers at the Nomu, fast as bullets, before quickly turning my attention back to my own job.

Come on, number one and number two. You can do this, heroes.