Bang—!
Hawk opened his right hand, his body motionless, steadily catching the Vibranium Shield thrown at him by Captain America.
Just like how the Winter Soldier caught Captain America's shield last night.
In the next second.
Hawk shook his right hand, throwing the Vibranium Shield back to Captain America: "Be careful, Captain. The first time was an accident. The second time I'll assume you're doing it on purpose."
Those who have faith deserve respect.
Especially those willing to die for what they believe in.
Regardless of what their faith is.
Judge the actions, not the intentions.
Captain America swiftly caught his shield, looking at Hawk with alertness: "Who are you?"
Standing nearby, Natasha reacted, though puzzled why Hawk was here, she stepped forward to introduce the two.
"Captain, this is Hawk."
"Hawk, this is Steve Rogers, Captain America."
Prior to this, Hawk and Captain America had never met.
After all…
Hawk lived in New York City, and although Captain America's hometown was also New York City, after his revival he moved to Capital Washington, so the two had actually never met.
But…
"You are Hawk."
Steve listened to Natasha's introduction and looked at Hawk: "Thor and Tony have mentioned you to me, so you are our friend, not our enemy."
Hawk chuckled.
"Not necessarily."
"Oh."
"To Natasha, I am not an enemy, but to you, Captain, if you disapprove of me killing, we might become enemies."
"…"
Natasha listened to Hawk's words, her mind recalling the scene of a place in Wakanda reduced to white ash.
And Steve, hearing Hawk's words, his expression became somewhat serious.
"But you only kill bad people."
"At least I've never gone out of my way to kill anyone."
Hawk spoke the truth.
Steve instinctively looked to Natasha beside him.
He was unfamiliar with Hawk, but very familiar with Natasha.
Natasha recalled seriously, it seemed that apart from Hawk's first trip to Quantico, which was an intentional provocation, several incidents afterwards were really not initiated by Hawk.
So…
Meeting Steve's gaze, Natasha nodded.
Seeing this, Steve then looked at Hawk, laughing: "I'm an old relic, but in my time, if you killed bad people, you were a good person."
Upon hearing this, Hawk looked at Steve.
"You're not quite what I imagined, Captain."
"I slept for seventy-some years."
Steve shrugged, relaxed his combat stance, and joked self-deprecatingly: "History books even say I never smoked or drank."
Hawk also recalled the introduction of Captain America in history books, chuckled, and looked curiously at Captain America.
"But you drink?"
"Yes."
Steve nodded with a smile, then extended an invitation to Hawk: "Once we're done with what we're doing, maybe we can grab a drink together."
Hawk shrugged.
"Sorry, I'm under twenty-one. I can't drink yet."
"…"
Steve's expression was somewhat stunned, again instinctively looking to Natasha.
Natasha took a deep breath, remembering Hawk's age at this moment: "Yes, Captain, Hawk is only nineteen this year. He's a freshman at New York University School of Law."
Steve looked at Hawk in surprise, exclaiming.
"Wow!"
"But if you insist on drinking, Captain, we can go elsewhere, like London, where the law allows drinking at eighteen."
Hawk said with a smile.
The Federation prohibits drinking under the age of twenty-one.
But in London, you only need to be eighteen.
So…
In the Federation, drinking is illegal, but in London, it's completely legal.
Rules are dead, people are alive.
Just like when he and Thor went to Mars for a duel before, after the fight they still drank on Mars, then drove drunk back.
Federation law is long-arm control, but Hawk doesn't believe it could reach Mars.
Steve, hearing Hawk's words, responded, laughed, then nodded.
"Okay, once we're free, I will certainly invite you to London for a drink."
"Alright."
Hawk nodded too, accepting the Captain's invitation.
Nearby Natasha, seeing this, looked at Hawk and got to the point: "Hawk, you're here for…"
Steve, upon hearing, also looked at Hawk.
Hawk said nothing, his gaze sweeping past the two, falling on the old computer monitor behind them displaying an electronic figure.
His gaze fell on the electronic face of Zola on the computer screen, his lips slightly raised: "Zola, I've been here for so long. Has your broken algorithm calculated what I'm here for?"
Zola's server console hummed noisily.
In the next second.
Zola's electronic voice echoed.
"Alexander Pierce told you that I am the mastermind behind Hydra testing you."
"Correct."
Hawk smiled brightly: "Then do you know what I came here for?"
Zola's electronic voice remained unchanged.
"To eliminate me."
"Smart."
"This isn't intelligence."
Zola refuted Hawk's compliment, his electronic voice steady: "This is the most likely outcome I have predicted based on all your past actions. Thaddeus Ross provoked you, and you killed him. Bruce Banner provoked you, and you killed him. Wakanda provoked you, and you annihilated their entire clan. Now I've provoked you, and you have no reason to spare me."
Hawk's smile widened: "Once again, you're very smart."
Steve, listening to Dr. Zola's words, appeared somewhat shocked. He glanced at Natasha, his tone tinged with disbelief: "Bruce Banner is dead?"
He really didn't know. After the battle in New York, Bruce Banner had gone abroad, so he always thought Banner was still overseas.
But in truth, all this information had been concealed by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Natasha opened her mouth, met Steve's gaze, shrugged, and shook her head: "It's a long story. I'll tell you when I get the chance."
Steve nodded, looking at Hawk, who was directly engaging with Zola, realizing why Hawk had earlier warned him that if he disapproved of Hawk's killings, they might become enemies.
Hawk heard the conversation between Captain America and Natasha, turned his head to look at Natasha: "Hydra in New York S.H.I.E.L.D. has already been eliminated by me. Aren't you two planning to head over there?"
He recalled the original plot where Captain America and Natasha were delayed by Zola and faced missile attacks.
Even though there were no missiles now, what if they come later?
So...
"I heard Victoria Hand is planning a counterattack at Three Feathers to reclaim S.H.I.E.L.D. control. Aren't you going to join them?"
"What?"
Natasha looked at Hawk in shock: "New York S.H.I.E.L.D. has been reclaimed?"
Hawk laughed.
"Why do you think I'm here? It's because this electronic man sent subordinates to my house, threatening my fiancée to hand over Sharon."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Natasha was shocked again, but this time she looked at the electronic Zola on the screen.
Hiss!
Sending people to Hawk's house, threatening Hawk's fiancée.
Impressive.
Natasha originally thought that the Project Insight mentioned by Zola was already quite bold.
But unexpectedly—
Such a daring move existed.
How could you dare, the last one who did such a thing to his fiancée ended up with annihilation.
Wait, what am I sympathizing with?
I should be happy about it.
Natasha's mind quickly turned, and then, thinking about the reclaimed New York S.H.I.E.L.D., she said to the Captain beside her: "Captain, we need to hurry to New York S.H.I.E.L.D. to tell Commander Hand about Hydra's plan."
Captain America frowned.
"But what if…"
"Hawk has confirmed it. I believe there are no more Hydra spies in New York S.H.I.E.L.D. now."
Natasha said this with confidence.
Because if Hawk was personally involved, any S.H.I.E.L.D. agent suspected of being Hydra would have been sent to Hell by Hawk.
So!
The current New York S.H.I.E.L.D. is certainly pure.
Steve saw the confident Natasha urging to head to New York S.H.I.E.L.D. and instinctively looked at Hawk.
"Hawk, what about you..."
"I still have some things to discuss with Zola. You two go ahead."
"Alright!"
Thinking about the ultimate goal of Project Insight mentioned by Dr. Zola, Steve didn't hesitate, nodded, and followed Natasha to leave.
But just then.
Thunk!
As Zola's program operated, a heavy steel plate suddenly fell, blocking the only elevator to the ground.
Natasha and Captain America were stunned.
Hawk turned his head to see this, finding it amusing as he glanced at Zola on the screen.
He didn't speak to Zola but instantly moved between Natasha and Captain America, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
In the next second.
With a thought, Hawk disappeared from Zola's computer room with Natasha and Captain America, and when they reappeared, they were under the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan.
Having gone this far, he might as well send them further away.
After delivering Natasha and Captain America under the Brooklyn Bridge, Hawk smiled slightly at Natasha, then turned and disappeared once more.
Captain America looked up at the familiar Brooklyn Bridge, opening and closing his mouth.
"This is..."
"It should be instant movement."
After Hawk disappeared, Natasha came to her senses, looking at the shocked Captain America: "This is the superpower Hawk revealed after the battle of London."
Captain America nodded thoughtfully: "Thor told me he frequently had duels with Hawk on Mars. I originally thought he was joking. I didn't expect..."
Natasha looked at Captain America, her expression serious.
"Captain."
"Mm."
"The giant pit on Mars, discovered by scientists recently, far larger than Victoria Pit, was formed by their fights. Hawk said it was created by Thor hitting down, and Thor said it was made by Hawk. Pepper told me once on the phone."
"..."