He glanced over at Hero and his breath caught in his throat. This was the first time he was seeing him in the light of day and he was struck by how absolutely beautiful Hero Grace was. His blonde hair shone like gold, his red eyes like rubies, his pale skin revealing a faint tan he hadn’t noticed before. He even saw a small dimple in the corner of his mouth as he smiled, admiring the sunrise. Hawk had seen some pretty incredible things in his life, but in this moment, they all paled in comparison to Hero coming alive in the soft glow of an early morning sunrise. 

He had become a flame, a spark that ignited within Hawk’s soul, warming him within. He was the dawn, the first light to shine on Hawk’s dark world, pushing aside his shadows and completely clearing out that fog of darkness that had overtaken him. 

Please…don’t ever leave.

He hoped Hero didn’t feel that thought…especially as he created a box within himself to store next to the chained door, and placed this feeling within it. It wasn’t just for his own sake he was forcing this act of concealment, but for Hero’s as well. He couldn’t allow himself to feel anything more for Hero beyond what was starting now. If he did, he would only end up hurting them both and he refused to do that to Hero. 

Hero’s shoulders drooped and he covered his mouth as a large yawn escaped him. “Sorry,” he said, with an apologetic grin as he looked Hawk’s way. He froze as his gaze fell upon Hawk, his heart leaping into his throat. 

Hawk’s golden eyes were fixed on him, gazing at him with such intensity, Hero blushed. His dark red hair hung in his face, waving gently with the morning breeze, highlights of brilliant flame appearing as the sunlight surrounded him. His features were even more striking, making him even more sinfully gorgeous than before. His full lips were parted slightly, almost demanding to be kissed.

Hero’s hand lowered to the ground and his body turned slightly toward Hawk. Hawk’s hand was right next to his, their fingers dangerously close to contact, something they knew they had to avoid, yet neither of them wanted to. Whatever the dawn was awakening in them, it was also drawing them deeper into their space, numbing all sense of time and place. They were getting caught up in a whirlpool of their own creation, tendrils of energy spiraling around them, wrapping them within their tingling embrace, drawing them closer to each other. 

All around them were glittering stars, iridescence, a gentle humming sound drowning out all other sounds, weaving a spell they couldn’t escape from.

Hawk found himself slowly crawling over Hero who leaned back on his elbows, one knee bent. Their breath was heavy, ragged and loud in their ears, their hearts pounding in their chests, synchronizing to a steady rhythm that caused a literal shock to go through them. Hawk flinched, his hair brushing Hero’s face as Hero’s neck arched back. His eyes found those deep red rubies again, not daring to let go as his face lowered, Hero’s breath warm against his lips.

Hawk pulled in his lower lip, releasing it slowly. Hero’s hand reached out, his fingers brushing through Hawk’s hair before coming to rest at the base of his neck.

“Hero…” Hawk breathed as their energies drew in tighter, moving faster in a dazzling light display that neither of them could control.

“Hawk,” Hero whispered. “I want—”

A dark blur shot out of nowhere, colliding with Hawk’s head, knocking him back with a yelp of pain. He grabbed his face with both hands as he sat up on his knees, the trance broken, both of them hurled back into reality. Hero fell back, panting as the world spun around and beneath him. He could hear the rustle of leaves as the wind blew threw them, and the songs of birds as they flew by. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, smell the grass beneath him as he clung desperately to the earth, trying not to fall off.

He could also hear Hawk cursing as Toji meowed and hissed angrily at him.

“You fucking little bastard, what the hell were you thinking?” he yelled. He pulled his hand away, streaks of blood dotting his fingers. Hero sat up and got to his knees in front of Hawk. Careful not to touch him, Hero examined him, judging the injuries not to be life threatening. 

“I’ll get you a paper towel or something,” he said, getting to his feet. Disappointment was shared on both sides of the link as he walked away. As soon as he was sure Hero was out of earshot, Hawk turned on the cat sitting before him.

“What the fuck, Toji!?”

“You were both getting lost in the Veil, what did you want me to do?” Toji hissed back.

“What are you talking about? The Veil is a whole different plane of existence,” Hawk said, shaking his head, his hand over the scratches on his cheek. 

“Where do you think soul connections are formed, dumbass?”

Hawk stared at him blankly.

Toji glanced at the house quickly before saying, “You more than anyone know how endless the Veil actually is. You don’t have a century-long war in there and not notice that. Everywhere there are billions of souls connecting and disconnecting, dying and living. When you two drifted into your link, you were drifting into your personal section of the Veil, where your souls were formed together.”

“That’s—not possible,” Hawk said, sitting back on his heels. “I’m ageless…and…a demon. I don’t have—”

“You do.” Toji paused for another moment before saying in a softer tone, “Hawk, believe it or not, there’s actually things I know that you don’t, and the secrets of the Veil are top among them.” They heard Hero’s steps as he neared the door. “I’ll tell you everything I can over time. For now, trust me…you two aren’t ready to go there. Not yet.”

Hero walked over to them, Toji’s tail flipping back and forth as Hero knelt before a stunned and speechless Hawk, a folded damp paper towel in his hand. “Here,” he said gently, holding it out for Hawk to take. When he didn’t even move, Hero frowned. “Hawk? Are you okay?”

Hawk snapped back to himself, shaking his head slightly to clear the spots that were forming before his eyes. “What?” he said. “Yeah…yeah I’m okay.” He took the towel and pressed it against his face, his eyes averted. 

“No, you’re not,” Hero said, sitting back on his heels. 

Hawk sighed, lowering his hand to his lap, three thin red lines showing on the towel. “No, I’m not. But it’s nothing I can talk about, Hero. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Hero said, wanting to reach out but knowing he shouldn’t. He folded his hand into a fist on his lap instead. His eyes roamed Hawk’s face and he gave a shy grin. “If it helps, the scratches aren’t deep so you’ll still look as charming as ever.”

Hawk barked a laugh, putting the towel to his face again. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Do you know what happened back there?” Hero asked. “It was like our energies were mixing or something.”

Hawk nodded and glanced off toward the horizon. “We almost completed our connection, apparently.” He swallowed. “We almost got lost.”

Hero wasn’t about to ask for an explanation; the wall was already up and Hawk was shutting down. Something had happened between the time he went inside to now, and it had affected Hawk pretty badly. 

“I should take you home,” Hawk said, turning back to him, the small smile on his lips not reaching his eyes. 

Hero nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting late. Elaine might be getting worried.”

Hawk chuckled. “I doubt it, honestly. She and Jordan were pretty cozy last night.”

“This is true,” Hero said. They both stood and headed toward the house, Toji darting past them the second the door slid open. 

In the truck on the way back into town, Hero finally said, “I wish he hadn’t interfered.”

Hawk didn’t reply for a long time. It wasn’t until they reached city limits that he said quietly, “Me, too.”

-*-