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Afternoon.
Hawk drove Gwen to the Stacy apartment to pick up some things Helen had prepared for them to bring to Gwen's Grandfather tomorrow.
Originally, Helen had been planning to leave George home to watch the two kids, then go to Forks with Hawk and Gwen.
Except. There was a case.
And apparently, it was a big one.
The reason for "apparently" was because George hadn't said anything. Helen had deduced it based on how busy George had been lately—so busy he barely came home.
Even with George buried in work, she could have taken the kids to Forks with her.
But Helen didn't feel right about it.
Even though if something happened to George, she wouldn't know until uniformed officers with white gloves showed up at her door—
If something did happen, being in New York meant she'd know faster than if she were in Forks. And she could get to her husband immediately.
So, Helen decided not to go. She'd wait until George finished this case and had time off, then they'd take the kids and visit separately from Hawk and Gwen.
So tonight's visit had two purposes: mooch dinner, and pick up the things Helen had prepared to send to Grandpa.
Soon enough—
Hawk, whose left arm had instantly returned to normal after exactly one hundred days, executed a smooth parallel parking maneuver and slid the car perfectly in behind Helen's family minivan.
Gwen stepped out of the passenger side, then looked at Hawk—who had ditched the outdated and very pointed cowboy outfit in favor of the black casual suit she'd bought him recently—and spoke cheerfully. "Hawk, seriously, I wasn't lying. If Mom saw you in that cowboy outfit, she definitely would've complimented you. Enthusiastically."
Hawk glanced at Gwen, who had quickened her pace to loop her arm through his, a suspiciously gleeful expression on her face. "Could you at least try to hide that schadenfreude while you're saying that?"
Gwen caught herself and straightened her face, looking at Hawk.
"My apologies."
"Too late. I already saw it."
The corner of Hawk's mouth curved upward.
He wasn't an idiot. He'd bought that outfit on a whim a while back when he and Peter had passed a discount store.
Hawk had only bought it to mess with Gwen. He'd never actually planned to wear it to meet her grandfather.
Come on.
Knowing that Gwen's grandfather used to be a plantation owner, and now the plantation was gone—showing up in a cowboy outfit would be like twisting the knife in the old man's chest.
He wasn't that stupid.
A few moments later—
Helen opened the door, saw her daughter and future son-in-law standing there, and warmly invited them inside. Then she noticed that today, Hawk's arm was finally no longer in a sling. Her smile brightened even more.
"Your arm healed?"
"Yeah."
Hawk smiled, glancing at Gwen beside him, then turned to Helen. "Thanks to Gwen taking care of me. Honestly, I wish I could've stayed injured a few more days."
Helen let out a laugh and rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't say things like that. Who curses themselves with injury?"
"Mom, that's exactly the kind of person he is."
Gwen looped her arm through Helen's and looked at Hawk, her face dead serious. "He wanted to stay sick longer so I'd keep taking care of him."
Helen patted Gwen's shoulder.
"Hawk is your fiancé. If he's sick, shouldn't you take care of him?"
"Thank you, Mom."
Hawk jumped on Helen's words before Gwen could react.
He and Gwen were already engaged. Sure, they hadn't registered yet—because they weren't old enough—but Hawk had been calling Helen "Mom" for a while now.
So saying "thank you, Mom" came with zero psychological burden.
Of course—
He didn't use it when George was around, since George hadn't given permission yet.
But that wasn't because Hawk couldn't say it.
It was because he, Gwen, and Helen had agreed that, for the sake of George's blood pressure, they should hold off on that particular change for now.
Gwen watched her mother fully transform into Hawk's mother and opened her mouth, then shot Hawk a glare.
Hawk responded with a brilliant smile.
He'd originally thought George might come home for dinner tonight, but he didn't.
Clearly—
The case really was a big one.
Hawk thought about George's absence as he ate, though he wasn't particularly concerned.
After all, he had his Underworld.
To put it bluntly—even if George died, his soul would go to Hawk's Underworld, not Mephisto's Hell.
And honestly, If George really did die and ended up in the Underworld, it wouldn't be to suffer. There was no way Hawk would send George to experience the Eight Prisons of Hell he'd created.
Because if he sent George to the Prisons, Gwen would find out and immediately kick him to the couch.
So, If George ended up in the Underworld, it wouldn't be punishment—it would be early retirement. One day sooner meant one day closer to living the good life.
With that reasoning, Hawk didn't bother asking what case George was working on. He sat with Gwen, helping comfort Helen, who seemed a bit worried.
Though Helen's worry was pretty standard. She worried every time George had to work overtime on a case.
It wasn't some mystical sixth sense. It was just because Helen loved George.
And if she didn't love him, a woman from a Georgia plantation family wouldn't have followed George to New York City in the first place.
After dinner, Helen brought out the things she'd originally planned to take back to Forks.
There weren't many items. Three, to be exact.
An elegantly wrapped leather belt—for her father, Gwen's grandfather, William Fox.
A beautifully packaged scarf—for her younger sister, Gwen's aunt, Liz Fox.
And the last gift was for Caroline Fox.
Liz Fox's daughter.
As for why Aunt Liz's daughter Caroline also had the last name Fox, Hawk—standing quietly nearby—wasn't curious.
Gwen had already explained it to him.
Here was the thing.
If Helen had been lucky enough to find true love in George Stacy, then Helen's younger sister—Gwen's Aunt Liz—had been unlucky enough to find a deadbeat.
Well, maybe not a complete deadbeat. Just someone who was almost never in Forks, which naturally caused problems in the relationship.
But Helen had heard that her sister was seeing someone new, which was actually the main reason she'd originally planned to go back to Forks with Hawk and Gwen.
On the drive home after Hawk and Gwen picked up the gifts—
Gwen, sitting in the passenger seat, looked at Hawk. "What's wrong?"
Hawk glanced at her.
"What?"
"You're thinking about something."
"You can tell?"
"I'm a cop's—"
"Cop's daughter."
Hawk smoothly finished her sentence, then chuckled at Gwen's smile and didn't bother hiding it. "I'm thinking we should cancel the plane tickets. Helen's not coming with us anyway."
Gwen thought Hawk was getting cold feet.
"Scared? Backing out?"
"You forgot—I have a disaster magnet curse whenever I leave New York City."
"Oh..."
Gwen heard Hawk's words and remembered the analysis he'd given her after returning from Texas. His track record of leaving NYC: four trips, four different disasters.
First trip to Quantico—got mugged outside the airport.
Second trip to Africa—incident before takeoff.
Third trip to London—mid-air hijacking, though luckily Peter was there.
Fourth trip to Texas—encountered the Wind Elemental mid-flight.
Gwen recalled Hawk's self-narrated history, blinked, and looked at him.
"So what's your plan?"
"Fly there."
Hawk looked at Gwen. "And it'll be faster than taking a plane. Georgia's not that far. Carrying you, flying slow—ten minutes, tops."
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Sure. But I'm curious—if Mom were coming with us and your disaster curse actually kicked in and something happened, what would you have done?"
"What could I do?"
Hawk smiled at Gwen. "You know I've never wanted to hide my identity. You and SHIELD are the ones who think keeping it secret is better."
Gwen's expression turned serious. "And that's wrong? Look, one HYDRA organization found out, and they've been secretly trying to clone you. We still haven't found them. If you go public, God knows how many evil organizations will come after your blood."
Hawk quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, what did SHIELD say? Still no word on where Dr. Merrick's hiding?"
"Nope."
Gwen shook her head, remembering the call Sharon had made that morning, and filled Hawk in. Then her expression turned serious again. "Hawk, don't sell your blood anymore."
Hawk nodded repeatedly, looking at Gwen, giving her a definitive answer. "I won't."
At moments like this, agreement had to come fast. Otherwise, only God knew how long Gwen would nag about it.
Sure enough, Hearing Hawk's immediate promise, Gwen's stern expression softened slightly.
Just then, A phone rang.
"It's Sharon."
Gwen saw the caller ID and instinctively looked at Hawk, then seemed to realize something.
Sharon calling at this time—could it mean they'd found Dr. Merrick?
Hawk's eyebrows shot up.
The next second—
Gwen, catching on, quickly answered Sharon's call.
"Hello, Sharon!"
"Gwen, is Hawk with you?"
"Yeah, he's right here. Did you find—"
"Yes. Australia. Alice Springs!"
"..."
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