ROCKETEER

Chapter 14: Thank God for Latin

               "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided." - J.K. Rowling

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I got released from the hospital the next morning and went straight to the address Hawks sent me. I ended up at a huge apartment building in the middle of Kyushu.

I walked into the lavish lobby and got on the elevator. Hawks lived in the penthouse, so I pressed the top floor. When the doors opened, I walked into the most awesome living room I'd ever seen.

Floor to ceiling windows lined the back wall, and expensive leather furniture littered the pristine wooden floors. A brick fireplace sat in the corner, with a flat screen TV hung over the top. Blankets and pillows scattered the floor, shaped in a circle, almost like a-

A nest. I chuckled.

"Hola, chica!" Hawks waltzed into the room from a hallway to the left, wearing a t shirt and sweats. Draco trotted happily beside him, and when he noticed me he ran and jumped up on my legs.

"Hey, bud! You miss me?" I knelt and Draco licked all over my face. I hugged him tight.

"Sure did. He sat at the window all night long and whined." I kissed Draco's nose and looked up at Hawks.

"Thanks for saving him. How can I pay you back?" I stood up, grabbing my wallet out of my pocket.

"No need, chica. It's been fun, babysitting." Hawks stuck his hands in his pockets. "So, think of a way to get out of the wedding?"

"No, I'll just have to endure it. Shindou isn't a bad guy, just sort of... boring, I guess." I sighed. "Marina takes more and more of my life everyday."

"Yeah," Hawks scratched the back of his head. "Hey, I don't know if you know yet, but Melody's missing."

I jerked my head. "What?! When?"

Hawks shrugged. "She was supposed to get released from the hospital with you this morning, but when they went to check on her, she was gone."

My mouth fell open. I had forgotten all about Mel being in the hospital with me, I was so eager to get to Draco. I'm a terrible friend.

"You don't think she was kidnapped, do you?" I felt tears welling up.

"We don't know if she walked out or what - hey, it's okay, chica!" Hawks walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me. I froze, for only a second, before the tears started spilling out.

"Sh-she's my best f-friend, Hawks," I cried, burying my face in his shoulder. "I can't t-take it to lose her t-too."

"I know, I know." Hawks whispered, rubbing my back.

I shouldn't be hugging him. This is unprofessional.

But he's so... warm, and his wings are soft-

I jerked back, out of Hawks's embrace. I wiped my face, sniffing.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"You're fine, chica. Want some water?" Hawks flitted over to the attached kitchen, with all the fancy new silver appliances.

I hugged myself. Mel's missing, she was right beside my room and she went missing.

Could she have walked out? No, she would have waited to see me.

I pulled out my phone, clicking Mel's contact. The phone rang a couple of times, then disconnected. I called again, same thing. I opened my messaging app.

Me:

hey, Mel, i just heard u ran away from the hospital. Please be okay, and call me when u can. love u

The message sent, and Hawks was there holding a glass of water. I took it and drank a couple of gulps, my hands shaking.

"Hey, she'll be fine, okay? If I know Mel, she's one badass hero." Hawks said, and I smiled, more tears threatening to spill.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?"

Hawks nodded enthusiastically. "She's probably beating whoever took her with a metal pole, right about now."

I laughed, wiping my dripping nose. Ew, why am I crying in front of Hawks? Get yourself together, you're supposed to be a badass bitch, just like Mel.

Then, a thought occurred to me.

"Hawks, you don't think the League took her, do you?" I set the water down on a side table.

Hawks tightened his mouth. "I can't say. It would be awfully coincidental if two heroes went missing around the same time and were kidnapped by different people."

My phone dinged. I whipped it out, and a message flashed.

Mel Bell:

Location link: Kamino in Yokahoma City. love u, quaere et invenies sceleratus

I must've looked shocked because Hawks came to look over my shoulder.

"Kamino? Why is she all the way over there? And why is she typing gibberish-"

I smacked his mouth, silencing him. He shook my hand off his face.

"Hey, I only like that in bed."

"Shut up, I'm trying to think." Quaere et invenies? What does that mean? Something tickled in my memory.

"Seek and you shall find!" I gasped. "It's Latin! And sceleratus means villain. " I looked up at Hawks.

Hawks looked at me quizzically. "And why do you know Latin?"

"It was a hobby me and Mel picked up when we were younger, it's a dead language so not a lot of people can read it, Mel you're a genius!" I rambled, and Hawks held his hands up.

"Okie dokie, so what does that have to do with her being missing?"

I looked at Hawks, a smile spreading across my face.

"It means she just sent us a location straight to the League." 

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