Chapter Text
Hawks was right that the weather would hinder his speed as he arrived at the given coordinates a good fifteen minutes after he had first set out. Thankfully though, by the time he had reached his location, the rain had all but ended with the only remnants of the storm being the cloudy sky and muddy ground.
The coordinates led him to a clearing, one of the many that were connected by the main forest trail. Despite the dots of light that shone from what looked like a good fifteen officers' flashlights, the area was cast in a plethora of shadows as there was still another half hour or so until the sun would peak out above the horizon. Not like that made finding the area any harder for Hawks, what with his keen eyesight even in such overwhelming darkness as well as the coordinates he had leading straight to where he needed to go.
Catching sight of what looked like the main man in charge as he soars above the large group, Hawks slaps on a charming smile as he swings down and lands in front of the stern-looking man who was barking out orders to the others around him. At Hawks’ arrival a good few of the officers stopped to gawk at him with wide eyes before the man Hawks had rightfully deemed the leader of this search party snapped them out of it with a louder-than-necessary greeting to the hero.
“Good morning Hawks!” The man doesn’t quite shout but instead pointedly says loudly in a stern almost grumpy voice, only lowering his volume when the other officers sputter out of their shock and continue on their way, “I heard you would be called in but I gotta say, didn’t expect such a high-level hero to help with some silly search party at bumfuck in the morning.”
Although it’s not completely fake, Hawks forces a laugh as he responds, “Well why call someone else when I can do the job better? Besides, it’s not that far out, no trouble for me to just pop on by and lend a helping hand.”
The officer raises a brow, “We’re almost sixty kilometers out from your agency in Fukuoka.”
Hawks tilts his head playfully, making his smile grow coy, “And? They don’t call me one of the fastest heroes for nothing.”
The officer huffs out what was probably his version of a laugh with a shake of his head, “Whatever you say. Then am I right in saying you’re here to find the person responsible for the unregistered quirk usage?”
“If you mean the ones who made half the trees in the forest a good 30 feet taller, then yes. Yes I am.” Hawks answers while nodding his head out in the direction he saw said trees that were way too tall to be normal.
“And feistier too.” The man says with a huff, an annoyed one this time rather than an amused one. That little addition makes Hawks raise a brow but the man continues on, “You’re just in time then. We just got word that one of the Western search groups came in contact with the one responsible for the quirk usage.”
The man’s face grows tense as he speaks, a quick turn from his earlier amusement, and Hawks can’t help the dread that drips into his stomach.
Making sure that he keeps up the mask of cheerfulness that his persona calls for, Hawks allows for as much seriousness as he can to show, “You sure it’s the guy we’re looking for?”
The officer nods, “Report says it’s a group of three, two girls and one boy, possibly more, and that one of them manipulated the plants to allow for the group of them to escape so it’s definitely them, but…”
Hawks finally let the mask fall when the officer hesitates, “But?”
“They’re kids man.” The man spits, confusion and sadness overtaking his features, “From what it sounds like none of them are more than fifteen years old, and they were scared. No one in the search team was quite able to understand what they were saying when they ran but they all reported the same thing; they were young, they looked all kinds of roughed up, and they were scared. Hell when they first made contact with one of them, one of the girls, she screamed and the other girl shouted something before using her quirk to grow and manipulate vines to help them run away.”
Hawks takes in the information with ease though he makes an empathetic face at the officer’s distress. The situation easily looks bad when you think about it, a group of scared kids who had been alone in the middle of the woods and acted terrified when faced with a stranger despite the police attire. Not to mention that they had no idea how long the kids had been here. Sure the power fluctuation and report of quirk usage came in around three that morning, but what if they had been here before then, what if they had been out here alone for days?
But while Hawks could see the horrible connections to be made, he couldn’t let himself stew in the emotions that came with them.
Instead, he listed out the facts.
Group of at least three, thought it was highly likely there were more within the area. With that many people his feathers should be able to find them easily, no group could be quiet for long.
The one with the plant quirk seemed to be the one in charge, or at least was the powerhouse who protected the others. She’s the one who gave the orders to leave and the others followed suit. If the need arose she would need to be the first priority to take down.
They appeared young, teenagers, so that meant they would be inexperienced when it came to most things including stealth and combat. While there could be adults who just haven’t been seen, it wouldn’t make sense for the teens to be left unattended, let alone under the command of yet another teenager if there were adults who could take charge instead.
All in all, it was a big group of loud teenagers, and while he only knew one of their quirks, even with the element of surprise their inexperience should leave him with the upper hand.
With that all in mind, Hawks came to a simple conclusion.
“Give me ten minutes.” Hawks says to the officer, both as a reassurance and a report on his abilities, “Now, where exactly were they last seen?”
The officer nodded gratefully at the hero who would, in his eyes, save these kids from whatever they might be hiding from in these woods and give them salvation. The officer then listed out the location and specific coordinates where the search team had made contact, as well as what direction the group had run off in.
Hawks nodded as he memorized the officer’s words and gave a quick wave before flapping his wings and shooting off in the distance, unable to bring himself to speak as the knowledge of the true situation swirled in his mind.
The commission was interested in the situation. The situation that had a bunch of kids without adult supervision and powerful quirks.
If these kids were truely escaping something by hiding in these woods, they were about to find themselves in just another cage.
The thought made Hawks stomach churn, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. As the years went by and his career took off, he learned just how messed up his own situation was. He’d seen one too many families torn apart by abuse and hate as the children sat and took it all, who still questioned why what their parents were doing was bad simply because they didn't know any better. He’d recognized himself in one too many pairs of eyes that looked up at him in wonder but confusion as to why Hawks was asking about their totally normal and loving family despite the bruises on their bodies.
The commission bought him and used him as a tool, and while before he was too young to not only see but understand the horrors that came with that, he could see it clearly now.
But he was also old enough to admit there wasn’t much to be done in a situation like this other than to just hope beyond hope that there was someone who could take care of these kids before the commission got their hands on them.
They ran through the clear path she made in the forest around them, quickly willing the unfamiliar plants back into position behind them to cover their tracks. Glancing at her friends who ran on either side of her, Willow took stock of their condition.
Gus was looking the same as before, generally anxious with a hidden weight on his shoulders that was only made worse with the red that tinted the corners of his eyes from crying. It was a look most of them had, though Gus by far had the worst as he was more free with his tears. Even hours after they had… arrived here, she could still catch a spare tear or two roll down his cheeks, and each one was like a stab in Willow’s heart as she didn’t know what to do-
No, she couldn’t let herself panic. They needed her to stay focused, to take charge.
Sharply turning her head away from the young boy she looked to her other side where Amity was and felt her eyes widen at what she saw.
Or rather, what she didn’t see.
Planting her feet so hard she leaves skids in the dirt Willow turns on her heel and looks around, her heart in her throat for the few seconds it took for her to finally catch sight of the girl who thankfully wasn’t that far behind them.
Glancing back at Gus she stretches out a hand and stops the plants before them from their movement and she watches as the boy stops as well and turns back toward her with a questioning look. She notices his eyes dart behind her and how they widen but Willow is already looking away and running over toward Amity by the time the boy attempts to say anything.
She lets herself fall to her knees when she makes it to Amity. Amity who was on her hands and knees panting hard with every other inhale sounding more like a sob than a breath.
“Amity.” Willow says urgently but not unkindly, “Amity are you ok? Did they hurt you before we started running?”
She reaches her hand out and lets them hover over the girl’s hunched form. Amity doesn’t like to be touched when she’s distressed and she definitely doesn’t like it when people talk harshly to her, so Willow makes it a point to speak clearly but softly while waiting for permission to hold her. It’s tough to stamp down her immediate urge to just pull the girl and a hug, but Willow was better than that, she knew that just because it was what would help her doesn’t mean it would help Amity.
But still, frantic thoughts rampage in her mind despite her strong voice. What if those guys hurt her? Did Willow just force her to run despite an injury? She should have noticed those people sooner why didn’t she notice them sooner? Were they far enough away now or was stopping like this risking another encounter? Would she be forced to move her friend who was clearly panicking and maybe even hurt and oh no what if Amity’s hurt oh Titan is she hurt-
“I-I-I messed up-” Amity stuttered out between breaths, “I just- I saw them and- and I freaked out but they could have- we went out here looking for people but because of m-me we ran and-”
“Hey hey it’s ok,” Willow speaks in a soothing tone, her goal now diffusion and encouragement as she lowers her head to try and meet eyes with the girl. When her golden eyes flicker to Willow’s olive green behind her glasses she sees the girl's shoulders slump as she bites her lip, “And it is ok. No matter what you think you did wrong, I promise we can get through it together. Now, what I need you to do is take a deep breath for me. Just follow me ok?”
Willow takes a deep breath, and just like she did with Gus all those years ago when they first met, she holds it all while counting down her fingers before letting it all out slowly. She goes through the motion again as Amity follows and while it takes a couple rounds of breathing, soon the girl is calm enough to sit up with a sigh, though the worried and regret-filled look on her face doesn’t leave.
“Good job Amity.” Gus encourages as he too sits down near them, gaining the two girls' attention, “I know from experience that it’s not as easy as it looks.”
Willow notices Gus making a circle with his finger at his side before there’s a pop that makes them all flinch a little and a second Gus appears beside them, “But it’s just breathing? It’s like, number one on the being alive checkbook isn’t it?” The illusion speaks in a lighthearted tone.
“As if you’d know the first thing about the being alive checkbook.” The real Gus says as he bops it on the head, causing the illusion to dispel in a poof of blue smoke before turning to face Amity, “Just because it’s supposed to be easy doesn’t mean it is. But you got a handle on it, and now we can help.”
“Exactly.” Willow continues, “Just tell us what happened. No matter what, we’ll understand.”
The girl looks into Willow's eyes for a moment before she closes her eyes and takes another long breath, letting it out in a huff as her shoulders slump, “Ok, but it’s still stupid.”
“Why not let us be the judge of that.” Willow says in a chipper tone as she gives the girl a wink.
Amity rolls her eyes but there is a small smile on her lips so Willow counts it as a win, but as soon as it came that brief amusement all but drains away as the girl speaks, “It’s just- I panicked. I saw those humans, their- their uniforms and for some reason I thought- I thought they were abomatons despite it making no sense. We’re in the human realm and they weren’t made of sludge or even the right color but I just-”
“Hey hey it’s ok.” Willow soothes when Amity’s breathing starts to pick up again, “We’re all a little- er, a lot on edge right now. It’s ok to be scared.”
“But they are what we were looking for!” Amity shouts, slamming her hands into the muddy ground, “We came here searching for help, for humans so that they can help Luz and help us find her mom and- and I went and messed it all up!”
“Hey now, let’s get one thing straight, you didn’t mess up anything.” Willow says in a firm tone, “Yes you were scared, and yes we ran away from the humans, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find them again. And hey, now we know what direction to go this time to find them!”
Willow finishes with a smile as she tries to reassure her friend, but there’s still a weight on Amity’s shoulder despite her words, one that refuses to let up despite the girl's very real and valid fear after what her mother put her through not even a day ago.
(It hasn’t even been a day. To think, less than a day ago they were planning on how to fix things, to save everyone, and now… now she doesn’t know if there’s anyone to save anymore.)
Willow quickly pushes herself up off the ground, standing before her friends and holding a hand out for both of them, “How’s this then. We keep going forward, we’re almost back to base so we just continue and meet up with Luz and Hunter. Now that we know where to look, we’ll head back this way with both of them and instead of bringing the humans to Luz, we bring Luz to the humans!”
Gus is the first to grab her hand but he doesn’t pull himself up just yet, instead looking back and giving Amity a reassuring smile. The girl holds his gaze for a moment before taking another deep breath and reaching up to grab Willow’s hand.
Willow can’t help the wide grin that overtakes her features as she grabs their hands tightly and pulls them up, ‘accidentally’ pulling a little too hard and causing the other two teens to stumble slightly on their feet.
“Oops,” She says, not sorry at all and it shows in her voice as she smiles at her friends. She’s even less sorry when Gus shoves playfully at her arm and Amity lets out a small giggle, “Ok, now off to the fort!”
When they both nod at her Willow turns on her heel and leads them forward, now at a more lax pace with a light jog rather than their full sprinting from earlier.
They had a new goal now, a new plan, a new and tangible objective to keep them moving forward.
(They had something to think about besides what they lost.)
But as the three of them continue forward, they do so unaware of the small red feather that lies in the bushes nearby. Unaware of the figure flying far above them. Unaware of the one following their every move.