In the River of Time.
Hawk was immersed in it, sitting cross-legged, seemingly in place, but the Water of Time washed over his body like flowing water.
It made him look as if he was swimming against the current in the River of Time.
But Hawk did not move.
Instead, Time was moving!
The Mind Stone in his Little Universe glowed with a brilliant yellow light, reflecting the fiery red light of the Reality Stone.
The Time Stone floated level with Hawk's brow.
And under the flow of the Time Stone, as Hawk continuously immersed himself in the River of Time, at the moment the Mind Stone's yellow light and the Reality Stone's fiery red light touched in his Little Universe, a wisp of golden-yellow light burst forth.
With the appearance of the first wisp of golden-yellow light in the Little Universe.
His Little Universe seemed to vibrate.
Because of this golden-yellow light!
It was neither gold nor yellow.
It was—
The golden light of a Gold Saint.
In the River of Time, Hawk was still closing and contracting his timeline.
At this moment, Jean, Wanda, and Pietro had already been transferred to a HYDRA Base deep beneath the sea.
And Jean was now two years and three months old.
Wanda and Pietro had gone out, leaving two-year-old Jean alone at home.
As Hawk appeared, Jean, who was sitting on the fireplace mat, her eyes lit up and she ran to greet him: "Daddy!"
Hawk hugged Jean, who had rushed into his arms.
"Daddy."
"Hmm."
"Why can't Mommy and Uncle see you? I told them you come to see me every month, but they all think I'm lying to them."
"Because it's not time yet."
"Then how long do I have to wait?"
"Wait until…"
Hawk held Jean, sitting on a sofa identical in layout to 521A Palm Street: "When Daddy stops coming to see you, you just need to think of Daddy in your heart, and Phoenix will take you to Daddy."
Jean, who was clinging to Hawk's neck, blinked her big eyes at his words.
"Really?"
"Of course."
"When will that be?"
"Soon."
"Okay."
Jean, seeing that she didn't get a specific time, wasn't discouraged. After sitting in Hawk's arms, Hawk then opened his right hand, and the children's books from Jean's room upstairs instantly appeared in his hand. As usual, he read the fairy tales in his hand to Jean.
Hawk read quietly.
Jean listened quietly.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
In fact, the flow of time was still the same, but when the torrent of time washed over Hawk, it automatically diverted, as if avoiding Hawk and Jean in his arms.
In the eyes of outsiders, only about ten minutes had passed at most.
But in Jean's perception, it felt like an entire morning had passed.
This was why Wanda never believed Jean when she told her about Hawk's visits.
Hawk also had no intention of revealing himself to meet Wanda.
He was here to complete the closed loop of his timeline, thereby contracting to achieve the three-in-one state where he was in the past, he is in the present, and he will be in the future.
Only this way, and only this way, could he control his own Time.
The most important point.
He wouldn't know what to say if he met Wanda.
Whether in this past or in the present.
Actually, Gwen was right about one thing when she complained to Sharon.
From a certain perspective, he did indeed go into seclusion after returning from the Atlantic Ocean and taking Gwen home, because he didn't know how to handle the situation.
Hawk's thought at the time was simple.
He didn't know what to say now, so he would simply go into seclusion and let the future Hawk deal with it.
Now… Hawk really wanted to travel through the River of Time and give his past self, who rushed home and went into seclusion, a big slap, telling him to solve things before going into seclusion, and not to leave the mess to him.
Unfortunately.
The past cannot be changed.
As for the future?
The future cannot be observed!
Soon.
When Wanda and Pietro returned home, Jean, who had already enjoyed a good nap in Hawk's arms, her eyes lit up again and she once again ran to Wanda and Pietro, telling them that Daddy had just come to play with her again.
But as before, neither of them believed her.
However, this time was different from before.
Pietro listened to his niece Jean's words, smiled and picked her up: "Then tell your Daddy to show up quickly and take us out, okay? Otherwise, you'll have another sister or brother."
Jean, hearing this, instinctively turned her head in Pietro's arms to look at Hawk, who was getting up from the sofa.
Hawk smiled and made a shushing gesture to Jean.
Wanda and Pietro also followed Jean's gaze to the sofa.
But the sofa was empty.
Soon.
Jean returned to her room, and Pietro and Wanda's smiles instantly vanished after seeing Jean go back to her room.
Wanda's scarlet chaos magic surged in her hands, covering the entire room.
Just as the scarlet chaos magic brushed past Hawk, who was standing quietly to the side, Wanda felt a stir in her heart, but she didn't show it.
Pietro said with a dark expression: "Damn Strucker, he's treating you like a breeding machine."
Wanda glanced out of the corner of her eye at the spot where her magic had encountered a slight obstruction, and comforted Pietro: "We don't have the right to refuse, and besides, he also promised to help us deal with Tony Stark, didn't he? We can't deal with Tony Stark alone, he has a divine friend."
Pietro couldn't help but rub his head, looking at his sister who was comforting him in turn.
"Why are you the only one pregnant?"
"Didn't Strucker say that Jean's father's life level is too powerful, and ordinary women cannot bear him offspring?"
"I seriously suspect this guy is in league with Strucker."
"…"
Me?
Strucker.
In league?
Hawk, who was standing quietly listening to their conversation, instinctively looked at Pietro, really wanting to know how this Pietro with somewhat messy hair came up with such an outrageous answer.
Wanda shook her head.
"He's not."
"Hmm?"
Pietro subconsciously looked at Wanda: "Are you so sure?"
Wanda thought of the woman who appeared to take her daughter away when they were in Sokovia, and while speaking, looked at Pietro: "That woman should have known him at the time. I can actually feel that she just wanted to take Jean away, without any intention of harming Jean. I can feel that the woman wasn't lying. Once he knows of Jean's existence, he will definitely be furious."
Pietro frowned.
"But Jean is two years old, and he hasn't found out yet?"
"He should have already found out."
"Hmm?"
"Otherwise, Strucker wouldn't have rushed us away from the castle late at night. I feel like he was coming, and that's why Strucker moved us and then hid us in this deep-sea Base, wherever it is."
"...That's true."
Pietro listened to Wanda's analysis, nodded thoughtfully, and looked at Wanda.
"Strucker must be very afraid of him. However long we've been here, he's also been here that long, as if he's afraid to go out."
"This means he is looking for Strucker. As soon as Strucker shows himself, he will find him."
"Hiss!"
Pietro gasped, a little puzzled: "Since Strucker is so afraid of him, why does he still want you to get pregnant again?"
Wanda subconsciously looked towards Jean's room on the second floor, her gaze distant: "He probably thinks one Jean isn't enough to threaten him, so he plans to add more leverage."
Pietro cursed.
But just as Wanda said, they didn't have the ability or the right to refuse Strucker.
Not to mention the nanobots in him and Wanda, just for Jean's sake, they couldn't resist.
Hearing this, Hawk chose to turn and leave.
Just as he left this timeline, Wanda glanced in the direction Hawk had left.
Pietro noticed Wanda's gaze and also looked at the place Hawk had left.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Wanda came back to her senses, withdrew her gaze, and shook her head.
In the following months.
While Hawk accompanied Jean and continued to contract his timeline, Wanda's belly also grew larger little by little.
He once again witnessed the birth of Billy and Tommy.
Late at night.
Hawk appeared silently in the master bedroom, standing beside the crib, looking at Billy and Tommy lying side by side in the crib.
Unlike Jean, who could sense him immediately after birth.
Billy and Tommy seemed not to have sensed his arrival.
After all… he had made a divine vow before this, that only his and Gwen's blood descendants had the right, and only the right, to inherit his power.
Hawk looked at Billy and Tommy in the crib, extended his right hand, stroked the foreheads of the two little ones, then turned to leave this timeline.
Just then.
Wanda's voice sounded the moment he was about to turn away.
"They are your children, you should name them."
"…"
Hawk paused, then turned to look.
In his sight.
Wanda sat on the bed, scarlet chaos magic flowing in her eyes.
The scarlet chaos magic, which could modify reality without the need for the Reality Stone, helped her break through the boundaries of reality and see Hawk.
Their eyes met.
Hawk frowned slightly.
His first meeting with Wanda should have been after he broke the undersea Base, not now.
What's going on?
Is the timeline messed up?
Hawk's mind stirred.
The next second.
He recalled seeing Wanda after he broke the undersea Base, and her gaze, which he didn't try to avoid.
And… Wanda's eyes at that time seemed to be just like now.
Scarlet chaos magic flowing in her eyes, as if trying to see through him.
Wait.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, seemingly having thought of something, and looked at Wanda sitting on the bed.
"When did you see me?"
"Last month, when I was in labor, and you were comforting Jean."
"But you and Pietro…"
"I didn't tell Pietro. Although I don't know why, you don't seem to be here."
"...Alright."
Hawk's thoughts churned, he shook his head and chuckled, then looked at Wanda… (End of Chapter)
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