Headcanons -> How they Hide their Identity from you (GN Reader)
With the power of going against his principles. Don hates to lie to you. It goes against literally everything he stands for. He would much rather be upfront with you. But that would put you in danger and distress, and he hates that more than lying.
You know what older half-brothers are useful for? Alibi. I mean, it’s not like they go into battle without each other. So they are hanging out. They’re just not doing golf, or whatever excuse Don managed to stutter out and answer for. Hank will always back him up, so it doesn’t really matter what he says, he just feels bad anyway.
And it’s not like you suspect anything in the first place. Hawk and Dove are known heros, but not ones readily on the general public's radar. They’ve done a few cases that catch public interest, like saving judges from assassination plots, but those are few and far in between. Mostly people in the magical community know about the avatars for the Lords of Chaos and Order, and so unless you fit that category you are less than lilley to bother. The most you probably heard about them is that they joined the Justice League recently, but that’s just pleasant news. More heroes, good for you.
And if you did bother to suspect, your thoughts would quickly turn to another target. Don? A crime-fighting hero in spandex? Never. He can barely handle moving spiders outside of your home safely, because he feels so bad about evicting them. He has tried to convince you before to coexist. Never.
He couldn’t possibly be punching people on the regular, never.
Don could never be the Dove, he’s too much of a pacifist.
With the power of Don Hall, who else? Oh, Don feels bad about abusing his partners trust and using his brother as an alibi, but Hank has no such trouble. He abuses that even when he isn’t going out as Hawk, just because he was stuck in traffic and didn’t want to confess he was late to your date because his road rage was so bad he broke the steering wheel and had to walk. No, his brother is definitely borrowing his car. Doesn’t he have his own? Maybe, but Hank’s got more trunk space. Don’t worry about it.
And like above, if you Hawk and Dove were on your radar at all, it’d be a different story. Unlike Don, Hank absolutely looks like he could be Hawk? Bit of a temper, strong sense of justice, and a propensity to punch first and ask questions later? Sounds like Hank first and Hawk second, really.
What’s really the kicker is that Hank almost reveals himself without even meaning to. He wanted to show off a bit, when the conversation about heroes came up, and he bragged that Hawk and Dove saved his father. Which made you ask, why his dad? Who are Hawk and Dove? Why is that the first appearance of them? What happened? And wow, that’s too many questions, with too many good answers that hit a little close to home.
Best call Don, or hell, even his dad. Irwin could probably explain it in his unbiased way that leaves little doubt that Hank could never be Hawk. Nah, he was too much trouble as a kid to be a hero. Has that logic ever been used before? No, it hasn’t, but it’s what Hank is sticking with.
No, Hank couldn’t be Hawk. Don would never let his brother go alone, and as long as Don isn’t Dove, how could Hank be Hawk?
