Hawk searched that open space that now existed within him, looking for Hero. How he knew that’s what he was supposed to do was almost instinctive. His heart skipped as a thought occurred to him. He looked down at his hands, imagining a mirror that would let him see what he feared the most…

His demon self.

He inhaled sharply at what he saw, his hands beginning to shake. What he saw wasn’t what he once was, but how he was now…but somehow different. He was mortal, his skin clear of scars and marks, his eyes no longer a golden amber, but a bright blue, his red hair still long but not as dark.

“Hawk?”

He turned and saw Hero standing there, looking just as he was outside. Wavy blonde hair, red eyes, pale skin, smooth features, lean and fit. He was wearing the same clothes, too. Why he expected otherwise, he couldn’t say. His own strange appearance was now completely forgotten at the sight of the beautiful young man before him.

“Hero…”

“What is this?”

Hawk shook his head. “I—don’t know. How are you here?”

Hero looked around him as he drew closer. “You tell me. One second I’m watching Chainsaw Man, the next I’m here. You asked me to come.”

Hawk stood where he was, confused. “I did?”

Hero nodded. “So tell me…what the hell is this?”

The demon swallowed. “Maybe we should talk later. Outside of this. This—” he waved his hand around him, “---is way too strange.”

Hero tilted his head, his eyebrow cocked. “You look different. I mean, you’re the same but…not.” He reached out, intending to touch Hawk’s face. Instead, Hawk took it in his, suddenly worried that if Hero touched him, he would change. The one thing he felt for certain, the one thing he had to make sure never happened, was Hero seeing him as the demon he actually was. He knew Hero would leave if he did, if he knew the truth. In fact…

He looked around him and saw a door just beyond Hero, wrapped in chains. He sighed with relief and let go of Hero’s hand. He knew what lay beyond that door and knew it could never be opened. Not if he wanted Hero to stay.

Hero frowned. “What?”

Hawk shook his head. “Hero…can you do something for me? Without asking any questions.”

Hero hesitated before saying, “Sure.”

“Trust me.”

In that moment, the space around them began to close in, becoming darker. Hero was disappearing right before his eyes. He reached out but his hand went right through.

“Hero!”

“Hawk, what—”

Hawk’s eyes snapped open as he jolted forward, gasping for breath. His fingers were clutching the carpet in a death grip, as though he were afraid he would fall off the face of the earth. He looked up at Hero who was staring down at him, eyes wide and questioning, a flash of fear crossing his face. Hawk shook his head; he had no answers as to what just happened. 

He felt a hand on his left shoulder and he spun around to see two pairs of eyes gazing at him with concern.

“Are you okay?” Elaine asked. “You looked like you were having a nightmare or something.”

Definitely an “or something.” 

“Yeah,” he said. “Just a really strange dream, I guess. Sorry.”

Jordan frowned. “It’s okay, dude. I’m guessing you both were just really tired ‘cause you were out almost instantly.”

Hero leaned forward, his head in his hands, eyes on Hawk’s hand on the floor. It was shaking badly. That wasn’t a dream…

Hawk turned to Hero. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

Hero lifted his eyes to Hawk, almost relieved to see those beautiful amber eyes looking right back at him, scared and worried. “Are you?” he whispered back. 

Hawk looked down at the floor between him. Releasing his grip, he flexed his hand before tracing four letters: STAY. 

Hero gave a single nod and Hawk flattened the carpet out, erasing the word.

Hero sat up and smiled at the two on the couch, Jordan’s arm over Elaine’s shoulder, holding her hand. “Sorry, it’s been a busy couple days. I’m not used to working like that.” 

Elaine smiled at him. “It’s fine, hon, don’t apologize. To be honest, I’m getting pretty tired, too.”

“Want me to take you home?” Jordan asked.

Elaine nodded. She looked back over at Hero. “How ‘bout you? Are you ready to go?”

Hero and Hawk exchanged a glance before he said, “Um, no, not really. I kinda want to hang out here a bit longer if that’s cool.”

Elaine gave him a sly grin. “Fine by me. Just be quiet when you get home, I’ll likely still be asleep.”

“No worries.” 

They all stood and Hawk saw them out. Jordan thanked them for having them over, driving slowly away a minute later.

Hawk walked back inside, hands in his pockets. Hero was leaning against the far wall in the living room, arms and ankles crossed, eyes on the floor. He looked up as he heard the front door gently close behind Hawk, who leaned against it, staring at Hero. Neither of them knowing what to say, both of them unable to explain what had transpired between them.

At least, Hero couldn’t explain it. “Hawk, I need answers.”

Hawk said nothing.

“You asked me to trust you and I’m willing to, but you need to tell me the truth.”

Still no answer.

“That is the third time I got lost in you, this time way more intensely. What is this, Hawk?” Hero demanded, his face twisted in anguished confusion. “I barely know you and yet there’s something between us that’s so strong and so crazy and I don’t understand it at all! Help me understand!”

Hawk gulped, not sure what to say. How exactly was he supposed to tell him that fate had them bound together and not make himself sound like a lunatic? He looked down at Toji who was sitting at his feet, staring up at him. It’ll make more sense than telling him I have a talking cat, at least.

“I can’t…”

Hero put his face in his hands, groaning, sliding to the floor.

“...without sounding crazy. But you have to trust me, Hero, and understand that I never asked for this. I never meant for this to happen. Apparently I’m—” he cleared his throat. “This has never happened to me before, either.”

Hero buried his head in his arms. “Just tell me what this is,” he said, his voice muffled and weak. “I don’t care how crazy it sounds. It might even make it all make sense.”

“He’s got a point,” Toji whispered. Hawk nudged him with his foot, shutting him up. One strange thing at a time…

Hawk took a deep breath and clenched his fists. Please don’t laugh…that’s all I ask. Just don’t laugh and run away.

“It’s a soul connection.” 

Hero’s head came up slightly, exposing his eyes. He didn’t look up.

Hawk gulped and continued, “Fate, or whatever you want to call it, has determined our lives are…that we are meant to…fuck…” He put his hands over his face then ran them through his hair, pressing them against his neck as he gazed down at Hero, desperate for the right words to come out, but making no sense even to himself. How could he make Hero understand if he couldn’t even explain it in a way that he himself would?

Finally, his arms relaxed back down to his sides and he sighed. Hero had said he didn’t care how crazy it sounded, so what the hell…

“We’re destined to live a life where the other is involved, whether we knew it or not,” he said, his voice flat and low, as though he were confessing to some long held secret. “I don’t know what it means, though, and that’s the truth. I don’t know how we’re meant to be together, I just know that we are. And, if I ever needed proof of that, I got it tonight when your energy flowed into me and calmed a really volatile part of myself I’ve had trouble keeping under control for a very long time. I wasn’t trying to use you to make myself feel better. Fuck, I didn’t even know what was even happening until it did!”

He folded his arms across his chest and looked out toward the glass door and the open air beyond. Hero wasn’t moving and it was making him nervous.

“I don’t understand any of this, Hero. I have no idea how to handle this, having someone be this close to me. I don’t make connections, I can’t afford to. But this is something I have no control over and neither do you.” He shifted his weight and stared down at the floor. “What I do know, and what I can’t deny is that I need you. Don’t ask me to explain why, I just…need you to trust me, even though you have every reason in the universe not to.”

Hero sat there, motionless and silent, his hair falling in his eyes. He had no clue how to even process any of this. Hawk was right, he did sound crazy. But it was the insanity of it all that made absolute perfect sense to what had been happening between them. Since the first moment he and Hawk first laid eyes on each other, he knew their destinies were intertwined. It took that first touch to seal that bond, that moment on the cliffside to cement it, and the pull into that strange place to recognize it all for what it was. 

Hawk was being guarded about it, Hero could sense it all very clearly. He was locking away a ton of secrets behind a chained door. It wasn’t just his past he was hiding away, it was his feelings, his heart. Hero didn’t have to look into his soul to see the thick wall that Hawk had built for himself, to protect himself from inevitable pain and…

He drew in a sharp intake of breath.

Madness.

That wall was there to protect not only his heart but his mind. Why? What madness was he facing if he let someone in? What would happen if he allowed that wall to fall and let Hero deeper in?

Hawk stiffened. “Stop it.”

Hero lifted his head, catching the fear in Hawk’s eyes. 

“I can feel you trying to get into my head, stop it.”

“I wasn’t trying—”

Hawk stormed past him and out the door into the darkness. Hero stared at the empty place where Hawk had been, bewildered. Wait, was I really trying to read his mind? He shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t reading his mind…he was searching Hawk’s soul and he did it unconsciously.

Soul connection…this is so much bigger than just mere soulmates.

-*-