Lightning Serenade

Chapter 52: Internship I

A/N: On the adventures of being a lifeguard... I told these two kids to not flip each other over on the tubes in the lazy river. It's a shallow river, and I did not feel like pulling a paralyzed nine-year-old out of the river that day. This kid gave me the fucking Nazi salute the whole way around the river until he could not see me anymore (it was a good bit of river, too, around a bend, even, that he still had a visual on me). The dedication. The gusto. The knowledge of the Holocaust at nine-years-old. At least they did what I said and stopped trying to inadvertently sever each other's spines?

Denki was sore and exhausted. He wasn't surprised that he ended up chasing an impossibly fast Hawks all weekend during his first intern shift; Tokoyami had warned him, after all. He had no reason to complain; he knew what he signed up for. Still, he hissed in pain as he lowered himself gently onto his bed. The hot shower he had taken had provided little relief. He hoped that he didn't have practical training the next day.

Had Denki ever wished for textbook work over applied heroic lessons before? Well, there was a first for everything!

Still, he fell asleep with a smile on his face, knowing that he had gotten Hawks's attention.

When the building collapsed, another disaster caused by the villain Full Throttle, Denki was already close by, so he didn't miss all the action by running all over the prefecture, trying to catch up to Hawks.

It was actually Tokoyami who passed on the message that his group needed help. It had seemed that Tokoyami and Denki had essentially switched internships. Denki was spending his days chasing after Hawks, and Tokoyami took to the skies to be the bird's-eye view for Thirteen and their rescue teams.

Tokoyami had shared with Denki that now he could fly, he wanted to figure out all of the ways that he could use this to better himself as a hero. It seemed that surveillance for rescue missions was first on his list. He just so happened to see Hawks flying nearby right before the building went down, so he offered to request his assistance, and Thirteen readily agreed. It was much safer to send in Hawks's feathers than actual rescuers after all. The less risk, the better they could serve those who needed help.

Denki was a little put out by the fact that he wouldn't be adventuring down dusty, crumbling hallways again, but then he remembered that he only got out unharmed because of the goodwill of a villain. He figured that his boyfriends might revive him just to kill him again if he took such a risk when there was a safer alternative.

As he was walking around the perimeter, looking for anything or anyone that might benefit from his attention, he found a gaggle of kids huddled off to the side, worried looks and tears running down their faces as two adults were trying, and failing spectacularly, to calm them down. When one of the kids bolted, Denki ran after him, waving off the frazzled adults to stay with the other children.

"Hi," Denki greeted when he saw the kid around the corner, huddled against the wall in an alleyway.

The kid startled, backing away with his hands held up, his face paling.

"Woah, it's okay," Denki reassured in a gentle voice, hands up in a placating manner as he stopped his advance. "I'm Chargebolt. I'm a hero student who is interning with Pro Hero Hawks."

"Hawks?" the kid asked, face gaining color again.

"Yeah. You saw his feathers, didn't you?" Denki asked, trying to gauge if he believed him or if he needed more convincing. When the kid nodded, Denki laughed to ease the tension and said, "I couldn't believe when the number two hero wanted me to intern with him. Pretty crazy, huh?"

"You must be good," the boy commented, starting to calm down, unknowingly copying Denki's slower and deeper breathing pattern. "To be recruited by Hawks."