The moment Hawk returned to New York City, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed discreetly near 521A Palm Street received the signal—and silently withdrew.
In the backyard, Gwen was kneeling in the garden with a small shovel, digging patiently, when suddenly everything went dark. Warm hands gently covered her eyes.
A deep, slightly raspy voice sounded behind her.
"Guess who I am."
"Mojo Jojo?"
"Mojo Jojo… who's that supposed to be?"
"A lunatic who wants to rule the world."
"Oh, that's not me. Try again."
"Drakken?"
"Drak… who?"
"Blue skin, blue robe, evil genius bent on world domination."
Gwen shrugged playfully, going along with the little game her fiancé had started.
Hawk's mouth twitched.
"So that's how you see me? Some villain trying to rule or conquer the world?"
"Mojo Jojo's from Powerpuff Girls, and Drakken's from Kim Possible," Gwen said with a teasing smile as she turned around to face him. "Mojo Jojo may want to rule the world, but he's not evil—he just craves Professor Utonium's attention. And Drakken? Too radical in thought, not truly wicked. My Hawk isn't bad at heart, and his ideas aren't extreme. Right?"
Hawk looked at her—those sparkling green eyes that always spoke more than words—and shook his head.
"You're only saying that to make me happy."
"Yes."
She smiled, slipping off her gloves, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him lightly. "So, are you happy now?"
Hawk looked up, pretending to think, then met her gaze.
"Yeah. I am."
"Then I'm happy too."
She grinned and kissed him again—then, feeling his hands start to wander upward, she passed him the small shovel. "Help me dig."
Hawk glanced down at the shovel in his hand, then at Gwen's expectant look. He chuckled, shook his head, and crouched down to dig beside her.
Meanwhile, Gwen slipped her gloves back on, sitting on a little stool while sorting the plants she'd shipped back from her grandfather William's garden.
"Don't worry if you didn't catch Dr. Merrick," she said calmly. "You can fail a hundred times—but the moment he fails once, you'll get him."
"Merrick's dealt with."
"Then the clones…"
"Also dealt with."
"Uh…"
Gwen had already sensed something was off the moment Hawk covered her eyes. He only played games like that when he was in a mood.
She'd assumed the Merrick mission had gone wrong.
Apparently not.
She looked over at him. "Then what's bothering you?"
Hawk shrugged. "Alexander Pierce. I swear, I could grind his soul to dust."
"Alexander…" Gwen blinked. "Didn't he die?"
"Yeah. His soul's still suffering in the Frozen Hell of the Underworld—along with Merrick now. Their punishment is eternal."
"Then why—"
"I gave him another chance. Asked him where Anna was being held. Hydra's cloning project failed completely, but do you know what he said?"
"He refused."
Gwen smiled faintly. "If he'd told you, you wouldn't be wearing that expression. Why, though?"
Hawk frowned. "I think it's connected to Strucker."
"Strucker?"
"Wolfgang von Strucker. The one I chased to Sokovia—only to find he'd vanished. Old-school Hydra."
"Reason?"
"He's probably got another plan involving me. And if I'm right, Anna's with him. That's why Pierce kept quiet—he's still clinging to false hope."
"He's willing to die for Hydra. Makes sense."
Gwen analyzed coolly. "But another plan? I thought you suspected Merrick and Strucker were working together. Didn't Merrick confirm that?"
Hawk snorted. "No. Merrick was just a gullible fool. I swore to God I'd spare him if he told me everything—and he believed me. Guess he forgot that his God already picked a fight with me."
Even if Hawk hadn't used trickery, Merrick would've died anyway.
God himself had chosen to provoke him—so Hawk would've been delighted to break a divine oath if it meant drawing that so-called deity out.
"But before dying, I asked Merrick if he knew where Strucker was. He said no. So it's clear—they weren't allies."
"Maybe he lied."
"He's too stupid to lie well. He believed my promise. Trust me, he didn't have the brains for deception."
"Fair point."
Gwen nodded, conceding. If she were in Merrick's place, she wouldn't have believed such a promise for a second.
"So you think Strucker has his own plan against you?"
"It's the only explanation."
Hawk jabbed the shovel into the soil, gesturing. "Anna's probably with him too. That's the only reason Pierce kept silent—even after seeing Merrick end up in Hell."
Gwen frowned. "So Strucker's experimenting with your blood too?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"I suspected that at first. But Merrick's cloning tech was his alone. Even the clone he made to deceive S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't possess it."
That was why Hawk's instincts had warned him not to let the clone replicate Anna's body.
If he had, he wouldn't have gotten a perfect vessel—he'd have gotten a grotesque lump that only looked human from afar.
So—
"Strucker's not cloning. He's doing something else."
"Something else? What could he even use your blood for?"
Gwen frowned, thinking. "Extract your DNA, identify weaknesses, and make a DNA bomb?"
Hawk shook his head. "I'm immune to toxins, love."
"Sweetheart, I meant a DNA bomb. A biological weapon that targets a genetic flaw—not a virus."
"Still impossible."
He looked at her. "I've stood at ground zero of a nuclear detonation and walked away. Radiation can't even make me sneeze. You think their little DNA bomb can outdo nuclear fallout?"
"Fair point. Nothing harms DNA like radiation does."
Gwen sighed, still trying to imagine what Hydra could do with his blood.
Cloning? Impossible.
Bioweapons? Useless.
The only other possibility was framing him.
Planting his blood at a crime scene, making it look like his doing—forcing the world to turn on him.
But that would never work.
Because Hawk actually killed people.
That kind of setup might destroy someone like Tony Stark or Steve Rogers—or even Natasha. But Hawk? It'd just save him the trouble of pretending to be a hero.
Gwen shook her head. "I can't think of anything else they could use it for."
"Then stop thinking about it."
Hawk grinned. "You know why I didn't obliterate Pierce's soul, even though I wanted to?"
"You want to catch Strucker—and see Pierce's face when you do."
Exactly. Why crush Pierce now, when letting him linger meant he could savor that moment of terror later?
It wasn't love—it was satisfaction.
Hawk's grin widened.
"Merrick's cloning plan failed to hurt me."
"The results proved it."
"Strucker's will fail too."
"No matter what he's scheming."
"Like I told him back in Sokovia, during that projection meeting…"
"He'd better hide for the rest of his life—and pray I never find him."
"Because if I do…"
"He'll die horribly."
Truth was, Hawk wasn't angry at Strucker. His anger came from missing his friend Anna.
Even if Strucker still held the Mind Scepter he wanted so badly—he wasn't in a rush.
Because—
Success thrives on secrecy.
Failure spills from words.
He'd made that mistake once—mentioning the Scepter to Pierce, mistaking him for Anna.
That slip had led Strucker to vanish with it.
But the same trick never works on a Saint.
Because a Saint never makes the same mistake twice.
"I believe you," Gwen said softly.
She looked at him, smiling gently. "Alright then, let's wait for this worm to crawl out of the dirt on its own. You know what you should be doing now, right?"
Hawk's eyes lit up. "Sleep?"
"No," she said, laughing. "You should take off that S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt. We're going to my parents' place."
"We brought gifts back, remember?"
"…Oh."
(End of Chapter)
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