Authors Note: I'm sorry that Hawks isn't in this chapter, (which is why I'm posting a second chapter right after this one for the lack of Hawks)! But this chapter really got me emotional. I adore it, (especially if you've ever had a loved one, or someone you know suffer from a terminal illness that you wished you could help) :( And you will need to remember this chapter as well! Foreshadowing in so many different ways ;)

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You woke up groaning. You had slept HARD last night. Passing out the minute you rolled over from checking your phone.

And even though you had a deep sleep... you still felt a little drained.

Maybe it was your nerves. Because tonight... was your date with Hawks.

You rolled over in bed, only to feel something brisk against your cheek.

You reached down - and you could feel that small feather necklace around your neck - the chain felt cold against your warm skin in the chilly morning air around you.

You swore you had put the feather back on your nightstand...

"You sneaky little bird brain." You chuckled as you rolled the quill in between your index finger and thumb.

You stretched your arms over your head, as your legs followed suit - only for your phone to buzz with a text.

You reached for the device, only to scrunch your nose at the message you received.

Joyce (Hospital)
7:54 AM
"Y/N! Sorry to text you at the last minute, but we're a bit short today. If you can come in just for a few hours, that would be awesome! If not, that's totally okay."

You sighed. If going to the hospital would help save a few lives instead of Hero work... then so be it. You couldn't say 'no' to an opportunity of helping someone - especially if they were injured.

And besides... it was only for a few hours, and Hawks mentioned that he would be picking you up at 7 PM. Plenty of time to spare. At least this way - you wouldn't have the entire day of working yourself up and overthinking about tonight.

So replying to the text message; saying that you would be in shortly - you got up, took a shower, and got dressed in your scrubs.

And before you headed out the door - you looked down to the feather resting upon your chest.

With a devilish smirk - you took the chain off, and set the feather on the kitchen table.

"Serves you right for sneaking into my bed last night." You exclaimed as you pointed a reprimanding finger at the crimson quill.

And with that, you walked out the door.

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The hospital wasn't too bad when you had arrived. More like an organized chaos. Things were in order... just not enough hands.

"Thank you so much for coming in, Y/N." Joyce exclaimed as you both stood behind a check-in desk - flipping through patient files.

Joyce was an older woman, probably in her mid 50's. Has been a nurse working in this hospital for 30 years. She was one of the few nice ladies that you even bothered speaking to. Her experience was admirable. And plus - her past hospital stories kept the long shifts tolerable at times.

"No worries!" You smiled. "Seems we're short on doctors too?"

"Yeah, now that Doctor Vance was fired." Joyce chimed.

You stopped rummaging through papers as you looked up to question what Joyce had said. "Fired? Doctor Vance? Really? Uh... what happened?"

"You didn't hear this from me." Joyce continued as she lowered her voice. "But apparently the Number 2 Pro Hero, Hawks showed up here late last night." Joyce paused before she let out an exaggerated sigh. "Gosh, I wish I could've seen him. I didn't even get to see him when he spent his time visiting a patient here just days ago. He's so hot!"

"Joyce! What happened?" You cut her off; glad that the media hadn't figured out that it was actually you that he was visiting.

"Not a fan of Hawks?"

"Not really."

Joyce raised her brows in surprise as she continued. "He requested to see security footage from yesterday. Wanted to see the time frame in between 8 AM and 11 AM." Joyce mumbled on as you subconsciously inched closer to her with interest. "Very weird request, as Hawks seemed to know exactly what he was looking for. As he had a time frame and date. But you know Heroes... probably a case he was working on. Anyway..."

Joyce flapped her hand in front of her, animating her story as she continued. "After Hawks viewed the footage he had requested - he stormed out of here looking pretty pissed. Shortly after that... Doctor Vance was fired."

You then dropped the stack of files you were holding - the clutter scattering to the floor as you quickly began to pick them up.

"Uh... yeah." You stuttered. "What a coincidence!"

"I only assume that Doctor Vance had to do with something illegal." Joyce carried on; watching you pick up your mess. "Not surprising though. Doctor Vance gave me the creeps. It was just... the vibe he gave off."

"Heh. You have no idea." You snickered.

"Anyway, thanks again for coming in. I'll take on these patients. I'll leave the rest for you to choose from." Joyce motioned towards the files you cleaned up off the floor. "They're mostly the changing of IV bags, or simply checking in on them."

"Yeah, no problem."

You then plopped down into a receptionist chair, your face blank and deep in thought.

'Hawks came here because of me.' You thought to yourself. 'It was his feather. He sensed that I was in distress. His feather even reacting and coming to my defense.'

You pondered over this for a moment. You were actually quite flattered of Hawks' over protective behavior. But... you could really take care of yourself.

You didn't want him to think that you needed someone to take care of you.

You smiled anyway, but then a file you held caught your attention.

You pulled yourself from your personal thoughts when you scanned over the paper - the words, "Cancer" and "11 years old" burned into your irises.

You read further into the file, seeing that this young 11 year old boy named, Thomas suffered from stage 4 brain cancer. This child was on their death bed.

You sucked in your breath; gripping the file as you noted what room and floor he was located. You didn't know what you could possibly do for him... but you wanted to try.

After finding the boy's room, you peered inside from the window. The curtains blocked most of the view, but they were open enough for you to peek inside.

There sat a family. A family in complete and utter distress as their child laid propped up in the hospital bed.

The amount of IV's and monitors that hooked to his body was unworldly - as this boy could now barely move his own limbs due to his rapidly progressing illness.

A tear almost escaped the brim of your eye as you watched the parents force a smile for the sake of their child - and what looked to be his sister, whom was just a tad bit older than him, already broken from what trauma she was witnessing at such a young age.

And as the family exited, you took your chance to slip inside Thomas's room.

"Hey, there, Thomas." You smiled. "I'm Y/N - and I work here as an assistant. I thought I'd stop by for a minute to check on some things."

"Well hello there!" Thomas's tone caught you off guard - as he beamed with a smile.

You cocked your head slightly, not sure how to react. "How..." You cleared your throat. "How are you feeling today?"

"Eh... besides the pain that comes and goes... not too bad!" Thomas continued. "They give me some good pain killers, so I think I'm set. I guess I also get a pretty nurse today." He chuckled.

You couldn't help the squinting of your brows, but your amused smile never faltered.

"Assistant." You reminded him; still smirking. "I... I'm sorry to be so blunt but... you're quite happy right now."

Thomas giggled. "I know what you're gettin' at." He mused. "It would be really pointless to just be sad all the time, right?"

"I suppose."

"We all die, man. So... the goal isn't to live forever, right? The goal is to create something that will. So I think my smile has landed on many. See? You're smiling!"

You just about choked on a sob - as this 11 year old boy who possibly could not see the light of tomorrow was accepting his fate... and making you smile in return.

That's it. You were going to help this little boy.

"Are your parents going to be back any time soon?" You asked.

"Probably not for another few hours. Why?"

"Can you trust me for just a few minutes?"

Thomas eyed you, but his amused little smile never left his lips. "Ah, sure! What do I have to lose?" He joked.

You turned around and closed the thick curtains tightly - also shoving a chair under the door handle; preventing anyone from coming in.

Thomas watched you - more curious than anything.

And as you came to stand just next to his bedside, you softened your face. "I... I have a Quirk that could help you. Will you let me?"

Thomas blinked a few times, but gave in to what you had to offer. "Sure thing."

"Shield your eyes. It may get really bright in here."

Thomas used one hand to partially cover his eyes, but still peeking out at you.

You took a deep breath, as you had never healed anyone to this extent before. In your world, you had healed cuts and scrapes... your biggest ones being gunshot wounds. And those took a lot out of you. So in this current situation - the repercussions that you would suffer were unknown. But... worth it in your eyes.

You then laid your hand upon Thomas's arm; open palm - full contact.

Your veins then began to glow blue, and your wings sprouted across the room.

It was as if your wings pumped with the blood of magic as the black coloring within them slowly began to fade into the purest of white.

Your feathers then stared to illuminate brightly - the white light almost blinding as Thomas squinted through his fingers.

The boy felt a comforting warmth surround his entire body, and as soon as it started... it was over.

Your wings retracted and disappeared - along with the blinding pearl light.

Thomas looked around, only to not feel a single ounce of pain.

He began to sit up on his own, flex his arms up and down, and took a deep breath of the fresh oxygen around him... something he hasn't been able to do for a long time.

His smile was nothing like you'd ever seen before - and regardless of your clenching jaw, blood running from your nose, and your skin coated in sweat... you couldn't feel more happier than you did now.

You reached down and cupped Thomas's cheek. "Keep this a secret, please." You whispered.

For the first time in a while, Thomas erupted into tears of joy. "I'll just say..." his voice cracked. "That it was an Angel."

You just about collapsed as you gave the boy one final smile before running out of the door and into the nearest bathroom.

Thank goodness it was a single bathroom!

You instantly hovered over the toilet, only for you to vomit up what felt like your entire insides.

It was excruciating pain. Some of the most painful feelings you had ever felt.

Your bones screamed in agony, your insides on fire, and your muscles just about gave up on you.

It took everything you had to not scream in pain, and you thanked whatever higher entity that existed that you didn't wear Hawks' feather today.

This was the price to pay when you changed the seeds of fate. That boy was meant to die. And disrupting the cycle of life came back 100 fold.

The basic structure of the universe is balanced on a razor's edge for life to exist. And when that balance is lost... you get cut as a consequence.

So after about only god knows how long of your own personal Hell... you finally stood from the tiled floor and looked into the mirror.

Blood had made its way to the whites of your eyes, and your face stained in red from the crimson liquid that had poured from your nose.

You were a fucking mess - and if anyone here saw your condition, they would deem you an emergency.

"Fuck." You spat as you began to run water from the sink.

You washed your face, and tried rinsing the stains of blood on your shirt the best you could - as your eyes finally faded into a light pink hue.

As you walked out of the bathroom - low and behold... Joyce ran directly into you.

"Oops! Sorry, Y/N! I didn't see you come out of there! I was goi-..."

But Joyce stopped mid sentence when she caught a glimpse of your current state.

"Are you okay, Y/N?! Do you need a Doctor?!" Joyce's panic rang through the hallway.

"Yeah." You faintly chuckled. "Just an allergic reaction. I'll be fine."

"Go home. Now."

"You don't have to tell me twice." You mused. "I'll see you next shift."

Joyce pat you on the back, made sure you were definitely okay, and headed off.

You turned to exit, but a huge commotion caught your attention.

You turned to see Thomas's room - the curtains now wide open.

You slowly walked towards the room; now witnessing why you felt the immense satisfaction of helping others.

Thomas's family was jumping with joy. Tears streaming down their faces uncontrollably as a crowd of Doctors and nurses packed the space. The baffled and yet amazed expressions on their faces - as Thomas's mom shouted. "MY BABY'S OKAY?! THE CANCER IS GONE?!"

"Yes." Was all the medical officials could say - as they stared wide eyed at x-rays and diagnostic sheets.

They obviously already took a recent CT scan - probably within the time that you were practically dying in the bathroom.

It was deemed a miracle.

You were hunched over; gripping your stomach as Thomas himself looked over at you - giving you a smile that you already imprinted within your brain forever as he mouthed, 'Thank you.'

You smiled and nodded as you then left the Hospital to go home.

You had a lot of cleaning up to do if you were going on a date tonight.

Your work here for today... was done.