Still in the living room.
But the one sitting on the sofa isn't Anya anymore.
Anya went to the kitchen to cook, but she occasionally turned her head, looking at her brother and Natasha sitting on the living room sofa at this moment.
Hawk looked at Natasha, who, after sitting down, was so focused on looking at him that she seemed to forget to speak, and he chuckled.
"Weren't you looking for me? Well, I'm here, so what's next?"
"You..."
Natasha snapped back to reality, met Hawk's gaze, and slightly furrowed her brows: "You look a lot like the Hawk in my memory, except you don't have the Mind Gemstone on your forehead."
Hawk smiled faintly.
"You also resemble the Natasha I know."
"So, you're not from our universe?"
"Ha ha."
Hawk laughed at this, looked at Natasha, and calmly recounted some experiences he had shared with the Natasha before him.
Even though Anya had explained before, Natasha still held a bit of doubt about Hawk being 'a tree that blooms two different flowers.' But at this moment, under Hawk's narration — only something he could know if he personally experienced it — the remaining doubt in Natasha's eyes gradually dissipated.
At this moment, Natasha confirmed one thing.
"You are truly Hawk!"
"Definitely, not a fake."
Hawk spread his hands, smiling.
The next second.
Natasha asked the final question.
"So, are you led by the Hawk from our universe, or the one who came to our universe?"
"They're both me."
"There should be a primary and a secondary."
"There isn't."
Hawk shook his head: "You could see it as two streams, and at the moment of arrival, the streams merged into one. My past is my past, and likewise, my past here is also my past, undistinguished, inseparable."
Hearing this, Natasha nodded thoughtfully.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Will you help us then?"
"No!"
"..."
Natasha was silent for a moment, looking at Hawk who refused decisively: "You just said..."
Hawk interrupted with a smile.
"I know what I said, and I also know why you came here. My answer is no, but not because I don't want to; it's because I can't."
"Why?"
"I have my reasons, but I'm sorry, I can't tell you. Because once I do, what I want becomes impossible to obtain."
"What do you want?"
"Heh heh."
Hawk smiled slightly, looking at Natasha: "Once more, I can't say. All I can tell you is that what I want is different from what you want, and there won't be any conflict. So, I can't help you, and likewise, you can't help me."
He clearly understood what the Avengers here wanted to do.
But he couldn't help.
After all...
If he were to step into the river of time here, he would be exposed to the sight of this universe, and his plan to smuggle here from the Quantum Realm would fail.
So, Hawk couldn't help the Avengers here.
Whether it's within a month or after a month.
Even after a month, if he understood the Eighth Sense of Life, he still wouldn't be able to go back to the past with them.
Once again.
Hawk's past is already fixed.
The past cannot be changed.
However...
Seeing Natasha's expression change after he finished speaking, Hawk thought for a moment, then looked at Natasha: "There is one thing I can tell you."
Natasha raised her eyes to look at Hawk.
Hawk smiled slightly: "Follow your plan, and you'll get what you want."
Natasha was initially stunned, then her eyes lit up.
"You mean..."
"Shh."
Hawk raised a finger to his lips: "Just knowing is enough, don't say it. Saying it might make it ineffective."
Natasha frowned, then looked at Hawk's mysterious expression, pursed her lips, and nodded.
"Thank you."
"Once again, you're welcome."
Natasha got up from the sofa, ready to return to the Avengers' base.
Hawk didn't invite Natasha to stay for lunch or anything, and instead got up from the sofa as well, accompanying Natasha to the door.
Very quickly.
Natasha opened the door of her sports car, and then looked at Hawk, who had accompanied her to the roadside. As she was about to get in the car, she looked at Hawk: "Can I ask one last question?"
Hawk put his hands in his pockets.
"Of course."
"You say both Hawks are you, so which do you like more, Gwen or Wanda?"
"..."
The smile on Hawk's face froze.
It's well known.
The smile doesn't fade, it just shifts.
Natasha smiled at Hawk, said goodbye, then got into the car. The engine roared, and she drove towards the outside of the Palm Community.
In the blink of an eye, Natasha and her fiery red sports car disappeared from Hawk's view.
Standing by the roadside, Hawk closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked up at the clouds in the sky.
There was only one thought in his heart now.
Hawk prayed to finally step into the Eighth Sense of life in this cosmos, achieving the fundamental transformation that defines his life.
Because...
He didn't want to go to another multiverse.
As for the last question Natasha posed before leaving?
Maybe later.
The future matters are left for future Hawk.
What Hawk wants has never changed.
Waiting for the Golden Sycamore Phoenix Cosmos to shine on this universe, and then open the portal of the Eighth Sense of life.
As for the rest.
Hawk didn't want to discuss, nor did he care to ponder.
So!
After closing his eyes and stabilizing his inner peace, Hawk opened them again, restoring the deep and calm starry gaze that had been momentarily disturbed, turned around, and walked back inside.
And as he walked back inside, Anya appeared suddenly, like a flash, in front of him.
Anya's eyes were wide open, looking at Hawk.
"So?"
"What?"
"I'm curious about Gwen and Wanda."
"No, you're not curious."
Hawk's mouth twitched slightly, then reached out to pat his sister Anya's head, who was five years older from a time perspective, turning her back to him and pushing her toward the kitchen.
"You're curious that the steak being fried is about to burn."
"Thanks a lot!"
Anya was slightly taken aback, then saw the frying pan on the verge of turning black due to the forgotten fire, and exclaimed, rushing over quickly.
Hawk sat at the island counter on a high stool, holding his wine glass, watching Anya scrambling in front of him, his lips slightly curled.
It felt more alive at this moment.
While Hawk and Anya were having lunch, Natasha, who had left Palm Street, received a message from Captain America and arrived at a burger joint three blocks away from The Avengers' base.
Captain America and Scott had already arrived.
Tony was absent.
At this moment, the fused form of Bruce and Hulk - Dr. Bruce Hulk Banner, who had chosen to reconcile with himself, greeted Natasha with a cheer when she entered the restaurant, then gave her a hug: "So, you went to see the Hawk from the multiverse, is it him, the Hawk from the multiverse I visited?"
Regarding his previous multiverse travels,
Bruce Hulk Banner had always believed it truly happened, yet felt it was like a vivid dream.
He remembers being knocked out after Thanos captured him, waking again during the Wakanda battle, after Thanos snapped his finger.
Bruce Hulk Banner felt that traveling through the multiverse was a relentlessly realistic dream.
The reason was simple.
He couldn't possibly be in two places at once, couldn't help Thor in a multiverse leave the Grandmaster's planet while helping their Thor leave too.
So...
Bruce Hulk Banner had always felt he dreamt an endlessly realistic dream, and others like Captain America and Natasha also thought it was a dream.
Until now.
After sitting down, Natasha nodded to confirm under Bruce Hulk Banner's eagerly inquiring gaze.
"He did mention Gwen."
"It wasn't a dream after all."
Bruce Hulk Banner murmured after receiving Natasha's confirmation.
Natasha then looked at Captain America across from her.
"Captain, how's your side?"
"Tony refused."
"Why?"
Although Natasha had already guessed the answer after not seeing Tony when she arrived, she was still somewhat at a loss after Captain America's confirmation.
Captain America understood why Tony would refuse.
Upon seeing Morgan Stark,
it was a choice between family warmth and the callousness of the battlefield.
Tony chose to return to family.
But Captain America didn't know that Tony actually didn't refuse the adventure solely because of returning to family, but because in private he had simulated every possible way to reverse the situation.
Including...
A time machine.
Night fell.
Hawk and his sister Anya stayed at their home on Palm Street No. 521A, watching TV together.
At The Avengers' base, Captain America, Scott, along with Bruce Hulk Banner who chose to join, and Natasha, worked overtime to build the time machine.
Meanwhile, at the lakeside cabin,
Tony chose to become a stay-at-home dad, completing cleaning the sink, returned to the living room, and sat in silence for a while.
"Friday."
"Sir."
"Export the space-time travel plan."
"Yes, sir."
Accompanied by a projection, the plan that was altered no less than a hundred times, ultimately resulting in simulation failure, was displayed.
Tony thought about the Pim particle characteristics mentioned when Captain America and Ant-Man visited during the day, and sat in silence.
"Let's try it once."
"One last time."
Although Tony had categorized the once countless simulated space-time travel plan as unlikely to succeed, he was still internally persuaded to have Friday modify the model into a Möbius ring structure and include Pim particles.
Then—
The space-time travel navigator succeeded!
...