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Clone human.
Clone Saint Cloth.
Hawk thought about what HYDRA might be attempting and let out an unconcerned laugh. With a thought, he dismissed the projection of his Cosmo.
But both Sharon and Tony were still staring at the space behind Hawk, as if they were still mesmerized by the universe he'd just displayed.
As for Gwen, This wasn't her first time seeing it.
Though, Gwen thought back to the Cosmo Hawk had just projected and murmured quietly, "I feel like it got bigger."
The last time Hawk had shown his Cosmo had been on the snowy mountain at Kamar-Taj.
But it had been a long time since that trip.
Hawk nodded, looking at Gwen. "Still not at the limit yet."
Even though he'd used the Reality Stone, the Four Creation Elements, the Ancient One's Time Stone, and later received Tiamut's life energy to aid his training—
His current Cosmo still hadn't reached the maximum potential of the Sixth Sense Silver Cosmo.
But the gap was closing.
Gwen didn't fully understand what Hawk meant by "not at the limit yet," but seeing the relaxed expression on his face—completely free of anger—she made one final confirmation. "So even if HYDRA actually succeeds in cloning you, there's no way they could defeat you?"
Hawk let out a short laugh.
"Of course not."
"Swear it. On Anya's name."
Hawk looked at Gwen's serious expression and understood what she was worried about. He didn't hesitate. "I swear on Anya's name. There. Happy now?"
Gwen's face finally relaxed into a smile.
She believed Hawk might hide things to avoid worrying her, but she also believed he would never swear carelessly on his sister Anya's name.
So, HYDRA's plan to use a cloned Hawk plus a cloned Saint Cloth to defeat or kill the real Hawk was pure fantasy.
After getting Hawk's oath on Anya's name, Gwen finally let go of her worries completely.
But relieved or not, one fact remained unchanged.
HYDRA was actively trying to clone Hawk.
With that thought, Gwen's disgust for HYDRA deepened. She turned to Sharon. "Can you find Dr. Merrick?"
Sharon glanced at Gwen, her consciousness gradually returning from the mesmerizing display of Hawk's brilliant Cosmo. "We're still searching. But we can confirm that the underground HYDRA facility at Rhyolite Ghost Town isn't their cloning facility."
The underground base at Rhyolite was a cloning facility, sure—but for cloning Hawk's Saint Cloth.
Probably because the Cloth cloning was part of the larger plan to clone Hawk, the computer system at that base had contained keywords related to Hawk's cloning.
That was how SHIELD had discovered HYDRA's cloning project in the first place.
Unfortunately, they still had no leads on where HYDRA was actually conducting the human cloning.
They'd notified Hawk immediately after finding the keywords.
After all, they were terrified of the possibility that HYDRA might successfully create a clone with Hawk's power but completely aligned with evil.
But now—
Hawk's answer put them somewhat at ease.
Though only somewhat.
After explaining, Sharon looked at Gwen and Hawk. "Commander Hand received the news and has ordered all SHIELD resources to concentrate on finding Dr. Merrick as quickly as possible."
Hawk wasn't worried about the "what if," because he was absolutely certain HYDRA couldn't possibly clone his Cosmo along with his body.
But SHIELD was worried.
To prevent the emergence of an evil Hawk clone, not just SHIELD but even the World Security Council, after learning about this, had panicked and immediately ordered SHIELD to locate Dr. Merrick as fast as possible.
Bottom line:
Hawk wasn't worried.
But SHIELD was.
Hearing that SHIELD had cast a wide net to search for Dr. Merrick, Gwen nodded. "Find him quickly. This plan is too evil."
Hawk also spoke to Sharon. "Call me when you find him."
Sharon nodded. "Don't worry. We'll notify you the second we locate him."
Even if Hawk hadn't said anything, they would have informed him immediately upon finding Dr. Merrick anyway.
After all, this concerned Hawk directly. And maintaining open, transparent communication was the most effective way to prevent any friction between SHIELD and Hawk caused by misunderstandings.
Unfortunately—
By the time Hawk and Gwen's first semester of sophomore year ended, SHIELD still hadn't found the hidden HYDRA cloning facility suspected of conducting experiments on Hawk.
During that time, SHIELD—armed with the Security Council's "shoot first, ask later" authorization—had struck all over the world, taking down several HYDRA bases hidden in remote corners of various third-world countries.
But after JARVIS collected and analyzed the computer data from those bases, they found nothing. Not just no Dr. Merrick—there wasn't even a shadow of the word "cloning."
Moreover, when the captured HYDRA operatives were interrogated using every method SHIELD had—even when asked about cloning experiments—their previously terrified eyes would transform into the blank stare of a clueless college student.
Clear and stupid.
These captured HYDRA operatives knew absolutely nothing about any cloning.
But SHIELD kept searching anyway. And as time passed, they seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated.
After all, knowing there was a hidden HYDRA cloning facility out there meant HYDRA remnants still existed.
And if HYDRA remnants existed, that meant their cleanup operation wasn't finished.
So—
Search.
Keep searching.
Even if they had to dig three feet underground, they would find HYDRA's cloning facility.
But compared to SHIELD's growing frustration, Hawk showed no concern whatsoever. He didn't put HYDRA's cloning project on his radar at all.
A fake is a fake.
A sparrow will never become a phoenix, no matter how high it flies.
Still—
Sharon, Commander Hand, and Director Hill—watching Hawk continue attending classes without a care in the world—felt their sense of urgency ease slightly.
The more indifferent Hawk acted about HYDRA's cloning project, the more it confirmed what he'd said was true.
HYDRA's cloning work was futile.
However, SHIELD still maintained weekly phone calls with Hawk... actually, with Gwen, updating them on the latest developments.
Hawk frequently forgot to bring his phone.
This was common knowledge. Fortunately, as long as Hawk was in New York City, finding Gwen meant finding Hawk.
...
The first day of winter break.
Hawk was sitting on the living room couch, applying antifreeze to the cast on his left arm, when Gwen came down the stairs holding her phone.
Just as Gwen was about to tell Hawk that SHIELD had found another HYDRA base last week but still no cloning leads, she reached the living room and froze. Her expression turned strange as she watched Hawk rubbing antifreeze into his cast. Her eyebrow twitched involuntarily.
"What are you doing?"
"It's cold outside. The cast is cracking. I figured I'd apply some antifreeze to maintain it."
Hawk answered without looking up.
Gwen's mouth twitched. She jogged over and snatched the bottle of antifreeze from beside him.
Hawk looked up.
"Hey, that's my antifreeze."
"Today is day one hundred and one. I told you last night—the hundred days are over. You don't need to wear that thing anymore."
"Uh..."
Hawk looked at his left arm, then up at Gwen, his expression full of reluctance.
"Can we extend it another hundred days?"
"No!"
Only God knew how many times over the past hundred days she'd regretted that decision.
Now that it was finally over—
He wanted to add more time?
Ha.
Dream on.
Gwen flatly refused. She grabbed the antifreeze and headed toward the garage, not even looking back as she spoke. "Besides, did you forget? We're going to see Grandpa tomorrow. Are you really planning to meet him with your arm in a cast and wrapped in bandages?"
Hawk blinked, remembering.
Except—
What did that have to do with his cast?
Hawk tried one more time, calling after Gwen as she headed for the garage. "Would that really be a problem?"
Gwen didn't turn around. She opened the garage door and walked in. "My grandpa's old-school Southern."
The words hung in the air.
Hawk went silent.
Gwen didn't pay it any mind. After putting the antifreeze back in the garage, she turned and headed back into the house—and found herself witnessing a magic trick.
One second ago, Hawk had been sitting there with his left arm in a sling, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Now he was dressed in a burnt-orange leather duster, tight-fitting jeans, tall riding boots, and a cowboy hat.
Hawk pulled his left hand out of his pocket, flicked the brim of his cowboy hat with one finger, lifted his chin slightly toward Gwen, and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"
The only reason he wasn't holding a cigarette was because he didn't really smoke—and he hadn't had time to buy any.
Otherwise—
Saying that line while holding a cigarette would've completed the look perfectly.
Gwen stared at Hawk, who had spent a hundred days playing an injured patient and apparently wasn't done role-playing—now he'd jumped straight into Wild West cowboy mode. Her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Where did you even get that outfit?"
"A store. I've been keeping it in the safe room in the basement."
Hawk smiled. "I was planning to surprise you. So? Surprised?"
Hearing those words, Gwen's entire expression froze.
But she recovered quickly.
Not only did Gwen's face light up with a smile again—
Her smile grew even brighter.
"Hawk!"
"Yeah?"
"You look so handsome. Let's go."
"Go where?"
"I can't wait for Mom to see your outfit and compliment you."
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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