Yes.
George Stacy.
His future father-in-law.
However, George Stacy in this timeline looked a bit green, as if he had just joined the New York Police Department not long ago.
Hawk thought to himself.
He remembered that Gwen once said that when George first joined the New York Police Department, he wasn't in the 21st Precinct, but serving as a patrol officer in a precinct in Brooklyn.
As for the person next to George, who looked like an older partner, it wasn't Ben Urich.
Ben Urich was George's mentor and partner after he joined the 21st Precinct's Major Crimes Unit.
This… Hawk had no impression of this person.
He stood aside, like an outsider, watching the crying blonde woman. After hearing the whole story, she looked at her younger self and her younger sister in what appeared to be a second-hand stroller.
The reason young George came to the door was simple.
The blonde woman's husband had died.
Three hours ago, he was found dead in an alley about three blocks from here.
The blonde woman tearfully asked her neighbor to look after her son and daughter, and then left with George and the others.
When the blonde woman returned home that evening, her eyes were swollen from crying, and she held a shopping bag from the police department.
The shopping bag was blood-stained and crumpled.
Three cans of formula.
Two sets of clothes, one for a boy and one for a girl.
Hawk stood quietly to the side, watching the blonde woman take things out of the shopping bag, and frowned slightly.
The next second.
The surrounding light and shadow reversed. Hawk was now standing under a street lamp, not far from a church he was very familiar with—St. Paul's Church, which had adopted him and his sister.
The blonde woman, after deeply kissing his and his sister's foreheads, placed them at the church door, then knocked on the church door, and quickly left without looking back.
But she didn't truly leave. Instead, she hid under a street lamp of a building until she saw the church door open, the priest checking around fruitlessly, and then carrying him and his sister back into the church. Only then did she turn and leave, her expression both sorrowful and relieved.
Hawk watched the blonde woman walk further and further away, finally disappearing from sight. With a thought, he raised his right hand, and a tear that had fallen from the blonde woman the moment she turned to leave appeared in his hand.
The tear was crystal clear.
Hawk felt the emotions in this tear, watching the direction the blonde woman had left, his mood not fluctuating much.
It was still the same saying.
Abandonment is due to nothing more than two reasons.
One is not wanting.
The other is not being able to afford.
But no matter which one, these were all in the past, and Hawk no longer cared.
So… Hawk clenched his right fist, looked at St. Paul's Church not far away, took a deep breath, and withdrew his gaze.
He already knew the story that followed.
He didn't want to recall it, after all, there was nothing good to remember about being adopted by the church and the community.
Especially the day of his sister's Death in 2008.
He didn't want to experience that again.
Therefore!
It was time to get down to business.
Time needed to be a closed loop.
Hawk remembered what Ancient One had just said, and with a thought, when he reappeared, he was already in an ancient castle in Sokovia.
HYDRA's castle.
"Push!"
"Come on, it's almost out."
"Effort!"
"Ah… wow, wow, wow!"
A HYDRA Agent carefully wiped the newborn Jean dry, wrapped her in a swaddle, and then handed her to Wanda, who was equally sweaty on the bed.
Although Wanda looked a bit weak, her eyes were excited and nervous as she took Jean in the swaddle.
Hawk looked at Wanda, who was leaning on the bed, and despite her weakness, she was still looking at Jean with a peculiar gaze. In his mind, the image of the blonde woman holding him after his birth, with that same gaze, appeared.
Time slipped away.
In a room in the old castle.
Pietro and Jean met.
Pietro, who had just undergone Strucker's superpower experiment, looked a bit tired, but was still happily playing with Jean in the swaddle.
"By the way, Wanda, have you thought of a name?"
"Mm."
Wanda, who was sitting on the sofa holding Jean and feeding her, nodded at the question, looking at Jean in her arms.
"Jean."
"Jean?"
"It means God's grace."
"…Alright."
Pietro listened to Wanda's explanation, looked at Jean in the swaddle, and said to Wanda, "I thought you'd just hand this child over to Strucker after she was born."
"She is my daughter."
"Although her birth might be a mistake."
"But…"
"She is my daughter, my Jean."
Wanda, who had just given birth, heard this, her face radiating maternal glow, and she spoke to Pietro earnestly, then continued to look down at Jean in the swaddle, smiling and playing with her.
Pietro looked at his sister, paused, and then joined in the playing.
Hawk watched from the side like a spectator.
However, when night fell, he silently appeared beside the crib, looking at Jean sleeping in it.
But the moment he appeared, Jean in the crib seemed to sense his arrival, opened her eyes, and then, as if she saw Hawk, her chubby little face showed him a bright smile.
Originally, Hawk just wanted to take a closer look at this bloodline daughter.
But… he looked at Jean, who was smiling brightly after seeing him, and smiled slightly himself. His right hand passed through the present, reaching into the past, and gently poked Jean's little nose, greeting her: "Hello, Jean!"
As his words fell, a phantom of a Fire Phoenix seemed to emerge in Jean's large, bright eyes.
Jean, as if sensing something, happily moved her limbs.
The next second.
The lights turned on.
Wanda, who was nearby, turned on the lights, looked at Jean in the crib, and also smiled slightly. She picked Jean up from the crib, held her in her arms, and gently hummed a local Sokovian lullaby.
Jean was very excited at first, but with Wanda's song, she gradually calmed down. One small hand grasped Wanda's hair, while the other small hand, facing out of the bed, seemed to be holding a finger.
Hawk's finger.
He looked at Jean, who seemed to be holding his finger, and then at Wanda, who had lulled Jean to sleep and also fallen asleep herself, and couldn't help but smile.
When Wanda woke up with a jolt, it was already morning.
Wanda instinctively looked into her arms first, then immediately looked at the crib. Upon seeing Jean in the crib, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon, she paused slightly, and again instinctively looked into her arms.
Hawk, standing by the crib, looked at Wanda, who seemed to be thinking about something, and a phrase came to his mind.
Pregnancy makes you dumb for three years.
However… Hawk just glanced at Wanda, then looked at Jean in the crib, who was wide-eyed and seemed to be able to see him, and smiled slightly: "See you next month!"
For Jean, who was still in swaddling clothes, it might be a month.
But for Hawk, it was just an instant.
Hawk accelerated the flow of time, ensuring he appeared each month of Jean's life.
Because Jean told him that he would come to see her every month.
So!
Time needed to be a closed loop.
Soon.
When Hawk reappeared, another familiar face appeared.
Anna!
Long black hair.
Black leather jacket.
Yes.
It was indeed Anna.
At this moment, Wanda was holding Jean, her face wary, and she had retreated to a corner.
"Don't take her away."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt her."
"I promise."
Anna squatted down, her voice gentle, her eyes also very gentle as she looked at Jean in the swaddle, then looked at Wanda: "But she must leave here, otherwise, all of us will die. Believe me, we cannot bear the Demon King's wrath."
Hawk, standing silently to the side, heard Anna's serious words and couldn't help but touch his nose.
Was he really that terrifying when he got angry?
No, he wasn't.
Hawk asked himself honestly.
At this moment, Anna also reached out her hands towards Jean in the swaddle.
But Wanda was still unwilling.
A HYDRA Agent, seeing this, directly activated the nanobots inside Wanda. With a muffled grunt from Wanda, Anna took Jean, and at the same time, turned to look at the HYDRA Agent, her voice filled with extreme anger.
"What are you doin'—"
"Boom!"
Just as Anna was scolding the HYDRA Agent, Jean, who seemed to sense her mother was being harmed, also erupted. A powerful Phoenix Force emerged from the swaddle, and in a destructive sweep, it instantly turned five HYDRA Agents belonging to Strucker, besides Anna, into ashes on the spot.
As for Anna… who was closest and bore the brunt of it, she didn't turn to ashes. She was merely blasted away by the Phoenix Force, slammed hard against the wall, and then with a thud, fell to the ground, entering a濒死 state.
This was not because Anna had a special physique.
It was because Hawk had intervened.
But the moment Hawk subconsciously assumed Anna was his friend's doing, he realized.
Alright.
This finally explained a question he had after hearing Anna's account at the time.
Why was Anna so close, yet didn't die on the spot?
So… he was the one who intervened, protecting Anna, preventing her from dying on the spot, and thus allowing Anna to appear in the underworld much later, making him aware of Jean's existence much later?
Hawk thought to himself.
Just then, HYDRA Agents, hearing the commotion, also rushed in from outside.
This included Strucker.
But after Strucker rushed in with the HYDRA Agents, their eyes couldn't help but contract.
Because—
They saw a Fire Phoenix.
Although very small, looking very miniature, it was indeed a Fire Phoenix reborn from fire, its wings enveloping Jean in the swaddle, slowly descending into Wanda's arms under the shocked gazes of everyone and Wanda herself… (End of Chapter)
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