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Within the river of time.
Hawk sat immersed in the current, cross-legged and seemingly motionless—yet the waters of time washed over him like a rushing stream.
From the outside, it looked as though he were swimming upstream against time's flow.
But Hawk wasn't moving.
Time was.
The Mind Stone blazed within his Cosmo, its golden radiance interweaving with the Reality Stone's crimson glow.
The Time Stone hovered level with his brow.
As Hawk continued his immersion in the temporal stream, something extraordinary happened. Within his Cosmo, the Mind Stone's golden light touched the Reality Stone's crimson blaze—and where they met, a single thread of aureate brilliance sparked into existence.
The moment that first strand of gold appeared within his Cosmo—
His entire inner universe seemed to tremble.
Because this golden light...
It wasn't gold. It wasn't yellow.
It was—
The radiance of a Gold Saint.
...
Within the river of time, Hawk continued collapsing and closing the loops of his personal timeline.
By now, Jean, Wanda, and Pietro had been relocated to HYDRA's deep-sea facility.
Jean was two years and three months old.
Wanda and Pietro had gone out, leaving two-year-old Jean home alone.
The moment Hawk appeared, Jean—sitting on a floor mat by the fireplace—lit up with excitement. She scrambled to her feet and ran toward him.
"Daddy!"
Hawk caught her as she threw herself into his arms.
"Daddy."
"Mm."
"Why can't Mommy and Uncle see you? I keep telling them you visit every month, but they think I'm lying."
"Because the time hasn't come yet."
"When will it come?"
"When..."
Hawk carried Jean to the couch—identical in layout to the one at 521A Palm Street—and sat down with her.
"When Daddy stops coming to visit, all you have to do is think of me. The phoenix will bring you to wherever I am."
Jean's arms wrapped around his neck. Her big eyes blinked.
"Really?"
"Of course."
"When will that be?"
"Soon."
"Okay."
Jean didn't push for a specific date. She settled comfortably in Hawk's lap. He raised his right hand, and the children's book from Jean's room upstairs materialized in his palm. Just like every other visit, he began reading her a fairy tale.
Hawk read quietly.
Jean listened quietly.
Time seemed to stand still in this moment.
In reality, time's flow remained constant—but whenever the temporal current reached Hawk, it parted around him automatically, as if deliberately avoiding him and the child in his arms.
To outside observers, perhaps ten minutes had passed.
But in Jean's perception, an entire morning had gone by.
That was why whenever Jean told Wanda about these visits, Wanda never believed her.
Hawk had no intention of revealing himself to Wanda.
He was here to close the loops in his timeline—to collapse past, present, and future into a single unified thread where all three were him.
Only this way—only this way—could he master his own time.
Most importantly.
He wouldn't know what to say to Wanda even if he did appear.
Not in the past. Not in the present.
Actually, Gwen's complaint to Sharon had been spot-on.
From a certain perspective, Hawk had deliberately gone into seclusion the moment he returned from the Atlantic precisely because he didn't know how to handle this situation.
His thinking at the time had been simple.
'Current me doesn't know what to say? Fine. I'll meditate, and future me can deal with this mess.'
And now—
Hawk desperately wanted to travel through time, find his past self rushing home to meditate, and slap some sense into him. Handle your problems before going into seclusion, you coward. Stop dumping this garbage on me.
Too bad.
The past cannot be changed.
As for the future?
The future must not be viewed.
...
Soon.
When Wanda and Pietro returned home, Jean—having enjoyed a lovely nap in Hawk's arms—perked up immediately. She ran to them and announced, once again, that Daddy had just visited.
As always, neither believed her.
But this time was different.
Pietro listened to his niece's story with a grin, scooping her up.
"How about you ask your Daddy to show himself and get us out of here? Otherwise, you might end up with a little brother or sister."
Jean blinked in Pietro's arms, then instinctively turned to look at Hawk rising from the couch.
Hawk smiled and pressed a finger to his lips.
Wanda and Pietro followed Jean's gaze toward the couch.
But the couch was empty.
Soon.
Jean returned to her room. The moment she was gone, the smiles vanished from Wanda and Pietro's faces.
Scarlet Chaos Magic surged between Wanda's hands, shrouding the entire room in a privacy ward.
As the crimson energy swept past Hawk—standing silently to one side—Wanda's heart skipped. But she showed no outward reaction.
Pietro's expression darkened.
"Damn Strucker. He's treating you like a breeding factory."
Wanda's eyes flickered briefly toward the spot where her magic had met slight resistance. She turned to comfort her brother.
"We don't exactly have the right to refuse. Besides, he promised to help us deal with Tony Stark, remember? We can't take on Stark alone. He has a friend who's basically a god."
Pietro rubbed his head in frustration, looking at his sister—who was somehow comforting him.
"Why are you the only one getting pregnant?"
"Strucker said Jean's father exists on such a high life tier that ordinary women can't bear his children."
"I'm seriously starting to think this guy and Strucker are working together."
"..."
Me?
Strucker?
Working together?
Hawk stood off to the side, listening to their conversation. He couldn't help but stare at Pietro, genuinely curious how this guy with the messy hair had reached such a ridiculous conclusion.
Wanda shook her head.
"He's not."
"Hm?"
Pietro turned to her.
"You sound pretty sure."
Wanda thought about the woman who had appeared in Sokovia, trying to take Jean away. She spoke while watching her brother.
"That woman clearly knew him. I could sense that she only wanted to take Jean—she had no intention of hurting her. I could feel she wasn't lying. If he found out about Jean's existence, he would be furious."
Pietro frowned.
"But Jean's two years old now. He still hasn't found out?"
"He probably has."
"Huh?"
"Why else would Strucker have moved us from the castle in the middle of the night? I think he was coming. That's why Strucker relocated us and hid us in this deep-sea base—wherever the hell we are."
"...Good point."
Pietro nodded thoughtfully at Wanda's analysis, then looked at her.
"Strucker must be terrified of him. We've been here for months, and Strucker hasn't left once. It's like he's afraid to step outside."
"That means he's actively hunting for Strucker. The moment Strucker shows his face, he'll find him."
"Damn."
Pietro sucked in a breath, confused.
"If Strucker's so scared of him, why does he keep making you pregnant?"
Wanda's gaze drifted unconsciously toward Jean's room on the second floor. Her voice turned hollow.
"He probably thinks one child isn't enough leverage. He wants more bargaining chips."
Pietro swore under his breath.
But just as Wanda said—they had neither the power nor the standing to refuse Strucker.
Setting aside the nanobots in both their bodies, they couldn't resist for Jean's sake alone.
Hawk had heard enough. He turned to leave.
Just as he departed from this point in time, Wanda's gaze flicked toward the spot where he'd vanished.
Pietro noticed.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
Wanda snapped back to the present, shaking her head.
...
Over the following months.
As Hawk continued visiting Jean and collapsing his timeline's loops, Wanda's belly grew steadily larger.
He witnessed Billy and Tommy's birth a second time.
Late at night.
Hawk materialized silently in the master bedroom. He stood beside the crib, gazing down at Billy and Tommy lying side by side.
Unlike Jean—who had sensed him from the moment of her birth—
Billy and Tommy showed no awareness of his presence.
After all—
He had already issued his Divine Decree. Only children born of his blood and Gwen's would be worthy and capable of inheriting his power.
Hawk studied Billy and Tommy in the crib. He reached out, gently touching each of their foreheads, then turned to leave this point in the timeline.
At that moment.
Wanda's voice stopped him just as he was about to go.
"They're your children. You should give them names."
"..."
Hawk froze. He turned around.
What he saw—
Wanda sat upright in bed, Scarlet Chaos Magic swirling in her eyes.
This magic—capable of rewriting reality without even needing the Reality Stone—had helped her pierce through the veil of reality itself. She could see him.
Their eyes met.
Hawk's brow furrowed slightly.
His first meeting with Wanda was supposed to be after he destroyed the undersea base. Not now.
What the hell?
Had the timeline glitched?
Hawk's mind raced.
The next second.
A memory surfaced—the look in Wanda's eyes when he'd first seen her at the underwater facility. She hadn't flinched. Hadn't tried to hide.
And—
Her eyes back then had looked exactly like they did now.
Scarlet Chaos Magic churning in her gaze. As if trying to see through him completely.
Wait...
Hawk's eyebrow rose. Something clicked. He looked at Wanda sitting on the bed.
"When did you first see me?"
"Last month. When I was in labor. You were comforting Jean."
"But you and Pietro—"
"I didn't tell Pietro. I don't know why, but... you're not really here, are you?"
"...Fair enough."
Hawk's thoughts churned. He shook his head with a soft laugh, then met Wanda's eyes.
"..."
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