ROCKETEER

Chapter 5: Mistakes

"Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision." - Winston Churchill

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I froze. Hawks's eyes narrowed in concentration, his feathers quivering. I watched him until his eyes opened wide again, and he pointed in the direction of our visitor, towards the hallway that led to the spare bedroom. 

Hawks pointed at me and mouthed "Stay," before proceeding to levitate and creep towards the bedroom. 

Me, not being the dog he thinks I was, decided to go with him. I used the artificial light from the overhead to create small wings that vibrated and allowed me to float as well. I silently followed Hawks, coming up behind him when he stopped at the closed bedroom door. I hovered right behind him, watching the door. 

He looked over his shoulder and gasped, not realizing I was standing so close. I widened my eyes and covered his mouth before thinking. He threw my hand off and glared at me, turning back to the door. I stuck my tongue out at him. 

Hawks sent a few small feathers under the door to scope out the room before we went in. He listened for a minute, and held up two fingers. Two people. 

He listened for a moment longer, before his eyes opened impossibly wide. His face became frantic, and he silently pushed me back hovering down the hallway. 

"Go, go, go!" He whisper-yelled, ushering me faster. I stopped in place, refusing to go any farther. I turned around, facing him, and he shoved his hand in my face to make me go back further. Excuse me?!  I spit, pulling his hand off. 

"Hawks, stop! Who's in there?" I demanded, and he shushed me with his finger. His pupils were blown wide, almost engulfing his usually pretty hazel eyes with fearful black. His breathing was short and shallow. 

"Someone dangerous, we need to move." He whisper-yelled, continuing with trying to push me out of the apartment. In his panicky movements, his feet accidentally landed back on the floor. 

"I doubt it's something we can't handle." I whispered back, before maneuvering around him and hovering towards the door. I reached it before he caught up with me, and I slowly twisted the door knob and cracked the door open. I barely stopped the gasp that escaped me when I looked in. 

Sitting on the bed like they lived there were villains Toga and Dabi, chatting it up like no tomorrow. Dabi froze mid-sentence and snapped his head to the door. 

We made eye-contact for a full second, both surprised to see the other, before everything burst into chaos and movement. 

Blue flames darted at me, and I shut the door to catch them. I opened the door all the way and charged into the room, looking around for Dabi, knowing Hawks would handle Toga before she got far. Plus, his wings weren't a great defense against fire. 

On the other hand, wings made of light were. I darted through the room, following Dabi's shadow in the rapidly growing haze. The room became impossibly hot, and sweat slicked down my forehead into my eyes. Dabi's figure stalled for half a second, giving me time to pounce from my position in the air. I landed on his back, grabbing his signature trench coat and shoving him to the floor. The carpet below us burst into flames, but I didn't release my hold on him. 

A slight scream told me that Hawks had found Toga, and was on his way to retaining her, if he hadn't done so already. I held tighter to Dabi as he tried to shake me off, although the temperature of his coat scorched my palm and fingers.