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"For real?"
"It was a success?"
Hawk hung up the phone after his call with Dr. Connors, a feeling of genuine surprise washing over him.
After all, he had assumed that in a world with the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man but no Andrew Garfield version, Dr. Connors's regeneration experiment was doomed to fail.
But it seemed…
Hawk stood up and walked out of his bedroom, his mind replaying the conversation.
Dr. Connors had been ecstatic, so he'd shared a few more details with Hawk.
During the latest trial with the lab mice, they had expected the same result as all the previous attempts: failure.
But then, something unexpected happened.
One of the lab mice, after being injected with the lizard serum, had flatlined. But a few minutes later, its life signs had reappeared. Not only that, but the tail it had lost during an escape attempt last month began to regrow at a visible rate.
The discovery had left Dr. Connors absolutely thrilled.
Hawk thought it was fascinating.
But the feeling only lasted for a moment.
He sat down at his folding table, opened the secondhand, "gently-used-by-a-pretty-girl" laptop he'd bought from Skye for five hundred bucks, and pushed the thought of Dr. Connors's success to the back of his mind.
He was far more interested in the situation at Quantico.
Soon, after a quick search online, Hawk's expression grew strange once again.
No intrusion...
Only a training exercise.
A D.C. newspaper had reported on the alarms at the Quantico base.
But in the article, a base spokesperson denied any such intrusion, stating that it had simply been a routine training exercise. Unfortunately, during the exercise, a building had unexpectedly collapsed, and a dozen soldiers had been tragically killed.
Yep. Quantico was covering it up.
It was to be expected.
This was Quantico—home of the US Military, right next door to the FBI Academy, a stone's throw from the CIA's headquarters in Langley. Under those circumstances, there was no way in hell the military would ever admit that one of their most secure bases had been breached.
As for anything else—
Hawk searched, but found nothing.
There were no reports about the body of the young driver he'd killed.
Either he hadn't been found yet, or his death simply wasn't newsworthy.
After all, a lot of nobodies died for a lot of reasons every single day. A nameless, faceless punk disappearing without a trace wasn't going to make the headlines.
Hawk shook his head, closed the laptop, and went back to his bedroom to sleep.
...
The next morning, Hawk was woken up by his phone.
He opened his eyes, saw the familiar picture frame on his nightstand, and then reached for the phone, which was still charging.
"Hello?"
"Come downstairs."
"..."
Hawk's brain took a second to reboot. He sat up, pulled on a t-shirt, and walked to the living room window. He looked down and saw her, standing across the street next to her yellow Corolla, waving up at him.
Gwen.
Oh, right.
His girlfriend Gwen!
It still felt unreal.
Let me say that again.
Gwen Stacy is my girlfriend!!
Hawk thought to himself, a slow smile spreading across his face. He waved back, then hung up and headed for the door.
A few moments later.
He emerged from the building, crossed the street, and walked up to her.
"What's up?"
"Are you free tonight? My mom wants you to come over for dinner."
"Uh..."
Hawk's mind raced. He looked at the hopeful, expectant look in Gwen's eyes and, after a moment, nodded.
"Okay."
"So, what are you doing now?"
"Um, probably head to the library. Do some reading."
"..."
Hawk saw the look on Gwen's face—a gentle, knowing smile—and let out a small laugh. "No, for real this time. I'm actually going to the library."
School started tomorrow after all.
Senior year. The last year of high school. If things went according to plan, the admissions officers from NYU would be coming by this semester for final interviews and to confirm scholarships.
He might have acted like he didn't care if he got into NYU or not.
But if he could, he still wanted to go. It had been his dream, before all of this, to study law at NYU, to become a prosecutor, maybe even a judge.
And he had worked his ass off for the past three years to make it happen.
Gwen studied his face for a moment, then her own broke into a brilliant smile.
"Then let's go."
"Where?"
"To the library, right? I have to go too. We can study, and then I can give you a ride home. But first, you have to come with me to Oscorp."
"Get in."
Hawk watched as she walked around to the driver's side, opened her door, and gestured for him to get in. He didn't hesitate, pulling open the passenger door and sliding into the seat.
Just as he'd said, he really was going to the library to study today.
It was all about work-life balance.
Deep within his Cosmo, the Phoenix star chart glowed, a spectral phoenix shimmering within it. The brilliant, chaotic energy of the Gammanium he had absorbed from Quantico swirled through the constellation.
The Phoenix was still working, improving the raw power.
They spent the entire day together. After a quick stop at Oscorp, they went to the library and studied in comfortable silence.
He was aiming for NYU.
She was aiming for Berkeley.
They were both working toward their futures.
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