Fine Line~Hawks

𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖚𝖊

𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. He'd walked through it hundreds of times through his life, possibly even thousands, walking because they outlawed flying inside because someone flew into the glass paneling and broke it to pieces. And I know what you're thinking but, it wasn't Hawks. (It was.)

The Hero Public Safety Commission Building or, HPSCB for short -- Well, they didn't call it that but it would be cool if they did. Acronyms always made things cooler than they really were. The HPSC was many thing but cool was not one of them -- was square, had way too many stairs, and  was somehow every shade of gray at once. 

The almost always full front lobby which was way too white and pristine and had few to none plants and a very annoying receptionist who always flirted with Hawks, was always the same. 

(He still flirted back with her, don't get him wrong. But that was more out of politeness than anything.) 

But the whole process got old quickly. Very quickly.  So he avoided being in here as much as possible. Most things with them could be done over email. (He didn't check his by the way. Like. Ever.) But still, or just a simple phone call. Besides, in this century who even did in person conversations anymore? 

The Hero Public Safety Commissions apparently.

Even at his own agency, Hawks never called in person meetings unless absolutely necessary. People just did their work and texted him when needed. And he texted them memes over their group chat like a pro and since he was their boss they couldn't block him. Hah. But with the HPSC he just had to send them memes and annoy them over email like a crazy person. What was this, the 1990's? Hawks still had meetings with his agency but they were always fun, had chicken nuggets, and didn't last over forty-five minutes.

The meeting today at the HPSCB could be for anything. The HPSC was very closed off about what information got out and to whom. Enough that Hawks had absolutely no idea what it was. And it better be worth twenty minutes of uncomfortable flirting in the lobby.

Hawks knocked on the door, leaning against the cement brick wall. The door swung open, the familiar face of his least favorite person greeting him.

"Hawks."

"Subaru."

"That's not my name."

"I know." Hawks smirked, pushing past him into the room, accidentally -but not really- hitting the bald man with his wings.

Honda Akria was a painfully boring man. His last name, which Hawks made fun of constantly, was about the only thing interesting about him. And no, he wasn't related to the car company or the creator of the company or literally anything cool. He was just old, boring, bald, and mean. His ties always matched his monochromatic suits and he never had any facial hair. That's about as much Hawks knew and he'd known the man for half his life. Some people were exactly how they looked on the outside. Honda was one of them. 

Hawks gave a short whistle, dropping into one of the conference chairs at the large oval table. He scanned the room huffing as the other old men stared at him. He knew about half of them and none of them were worth talking too. There weren't any donuts either. Damn. 

"Gentlemen." Hawks snapped his eyes up towards the front, watching as a tall stranger with short buzz cut hair stood at the head of the table.

"We're here today to discuss Mission QS16 and how our very own Hawks will be infiltrating and conducting this mission." 

Hawks' eyes widened, completely unaware of what was happening. "Uh, what?"

The boss ignored him, despite the whole mission involving the now annoyed bird man, and gestured to a screen. A large blue file with pictures and records projected onto it. The man pointed to it with a laser. 

"This is Fukuda Rin. He doesn't look like much but he knows and has connections to almost every gang, villain organization, and yakuza in Japan." A few of the men let out a low whistle, Hawks himself included.

Damn. Every one? The guy looked like he could barely break a twig. Wait, he's kinda cute. In the close to homeless, ruffian, wild dog kind of way. But cute nonetheless.

Now what was this about Hawks going undercover?

The man at the front clicked the next slide, beginning to speak but stopped and sighed. "Yes, Hawks?" 

Hawks smiled, dropped his hand and stood up, everyone's attention on him. He clapped his hands together. "Yeah, hi. I'm Hawks, for all you who don't know me. So, what's happening? Cause from what I can tell I'm like a major part in this but I still have no clue what's going on so if you could tell me that'd be great. Thanks." Hawks gave a fake smile before dropping back into his chair, resting his chin in his hand. 

The man at the front sighed. He was getting too old for this. "Hawks, you're to infiltrate and make friends with Fukuda. It doesn't matter how or when but you've got three months to get him to confess on tape or get physical evidence of his knowledge of any of his allies' planning. He has connections to every criminal organization and it'd be a lot easier than bringing him in and arresting him and making a big deal out of everything. Then there's more paperwork and shit I don't want to do. But if you can't get anything within those months then we'll take him in. Full process. Okay? You'll get a more in-depth file after this." 

Hawks nodded and huffed. So, he'd be a spy for the Hero Commission. Yay. Oh joy. He could barely contain his excitement. 

Spy work was boring. He had an agency to run and things to do, villains to beat. Being the youngest hero with your own agency didn't just happen you know. But a break would be nice. He had gotten thrown into a car last week and by the popping noise in his ribs when he moved, something was definitely wrong.  

And who knows, maybe this guy would be fun. And single. Or both. Both were good. Based on the alleged crimes Fukuda had committed this guy was worth a meet. Thirty accounts of alleged arson? Has that ever even happened before?! 

Hawks cocked his head, dropping it to one side as he looked at the board. 

Maybe... maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

He could get the case done in a month or two, leaving whatever time he had left for himself. And if he could get this Rin guy to confess that would mean less criminals, less criminal activity, and more time for heroes to sit back and enjoy themselves. A better city for the citizens who lived here. 

Of course, on a much smaller scale he had absolutely no clue how to do it but he'd play it by wing. Get it? Wing? Eh, he's hilarious. But in and out, month or two tops.

What could go wrong?