Hawk and Dove

"Origin Story"

When Dan came to, he recognized the inside of a hospital room. It was not the infirmary at his facility, nor was he dead. Then it all came back to him: the creatures, Trafalgar Square, the explosion. And he bolted upright.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said a voice beside him over the obnoxious beeping of a heart monitor.

Dan looked over, not settling back down. It was a woman he didn't recognize. She wasn't dressed like a nurse, in fact she wore a plaid shirt and jeans and a beanie. Her hair was blonde and cropped short, save for the fringe that hung nearly to her chin. Dan tried to place her, but couldn't. "Who...?" he started, but his throat ached and he stopped.

"Take it easy, tiger," she said with an American accent, gently placing her hand on his shoulder and easing him back down on the bed, "You're pretty banged up. Your leg was bitten right through to the bone, your clavicle and a couple ribs are broken, and you lost a lot of blood from your head. Also, you have a concussion and multiple bruises. Not to mention I think they took out your tonsils."

Dan stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"Just kidding about the tonsils. Everything else is true though," she said with a grin. She held out her hand. "Hannah Hart, one third of the American Trifecta."

Dan reached out with the arm that wasn't in a sling, and shook her hand. His grip was weaker than normal. The American Trifecta... he remembered the name vaguely. "I'm-"

"Dan Howell, I know," said Hannah, nodding her head, "You're international news, Dan. Well, you and your friends. Stopping the experimentation of our people, exposing a corrupt government agency? Dude, that's nice."

This was already moving too fast for him. His head ached. She produced a Styrofoam cup of water, and he gulped it down gratefully. Once he could think again, he spoke up. "Hannah, can you tell me why I'm not dead?" he said. The car had exploded, with him right beside it. It really should have killed him.

Hannah nodded. "Oh, easy. You're practically made out of fire, as you know. Usually people die in car explosions because of burns, not because of the actual impact. And you can't be burned; fire comes out of your skin. I mean, the explosion didn't help, but it didn't exactly hurt you much either, besides the collarbone," she replied with an easy smile.

Dan nodded slowly. He was a little taken aback at how lightly this woman was taking things. "So," he started, "What the hell happened after I was... indisposed."

Hannah leaned back in the plastic hospital chair. "Well, let's see. That's when we showed up, some of the Trifecta and I. Like I said, you were fine, but your wolfy friend was toast. After that, we helped the rest of your team take care of the other creatures –pretty creepy, by the way- and send them back to their creators. Parliament is holding MI5 responsible for taking care of them however they see fit, the things just can't stay in the city. Also, I think you have a new acting prime minister now. They kicked the old one out, or made him resign, or something. Not sure how those laws work. Anyway, he won't be hurting any of us ever again."

"Jesus," Dan sighed, hanging on her every word.

"Exactly. Now, anyway. After we settled that, we found the rest of your team and after a few conversations with the mayor declared London safe again. Laws against mutants are already starting to be brought up for change. The press has been waiting for days for you to wake up, so they can ask you questions and whatnot," Hannah concluded.

Dan's eyes widened. Days? "Where's Phil?" he asked quickly.

"Most likely asleep, or at least I hope," she replied, "It's about 7 am. I took the last shift of waiting for you to wake up, but Phil has the longest one. He's amazing, cares about you a lot. A couple of your other friends have been watching for you to wake up as well. I'm actually covering for someone."