Inside the VIP ward of New Amsterdam Hospital.
After only an hour of sleep, Sharon Carter refused to close her eyes again. With Gwen's help, she leaned against the headboard, gazing out at the night sky beyond the window.
Her face was tense with worry.
Gwen sat beside her, offering a gentle smile. "Sharon, don't worry. If Hawk said it, he'll do it. He never goes back on his word."
Everyone knew it.
If Hawk said someone would die, they died.
No exceptions.
His reputation guaranteed it.
Sharon turned from the window to Gwen, forcing a small smile and shaking her head. "That's not what I'm worried about. I'm wondering if I need to find a new job."
Gwen blinked. "What?"
"Do you really think S.H.I.E.L.D. will still exist after Hydra's second uprising, even if this is all settled?"
"Uh…"
Gwen froze, pondering the question.
At that moment, Hawk appeared in the room, catching Sharon's words as he arrived. He chuckled. "That's definitely impossible."
Gwen's eyes lit up at the sight of him. "Hawk!"
Sharon also turned, her lips parting as if to speak.
Hawk knew what she wanted to ask. "Victoria Hand is fine. And your command center? I've already taken it back for you."
Sharon's heart surged with relief. "Thank you."
"No need. We're friends. What happens next is on you."
He smiled lightly.
Once again—Sharon was his friend, just as Anna was. Anna had even promised to vent his fury by torching Japan's shrine.
So…
Once he shut down Zola, Hawk intended to return home with his fiancée, relax, and watch from the sidelines.
"By the way," Hawk said suddenly, arching a brow. "Didn't Captain America train at a New Jersey base before the super soldier serum?"
Sharon nodded instinctively. "Yes."
"Do you know which one? Where exactly?"
Hawk's knowledge of Marvel's past, present, and future events was broad but not complete.
He knew Arnim Zola had converted himself into digital form and hidden for years inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s earliest server rooms.
But he didn't know where that base was.
Movies and history books didn't record everything.
But Sharon Carter, kin to Captain America, surely knew.
As expected—
"Camp Lehigh, Third Army Base. About thirty kilometers east of Jersey City. But it was shut down in the '90s. Why?"
Hawk just smiled. "How are you feeling now?"
Sharon tilted her head, still curious, but answered. "Much better."
"Good." Hawk nodded—then turned sharply toward the door.
A knock followed.
Gwen stiffened. "Hydra?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D.," Hawk replied calmly. "Come in."
The door opened. The female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Hawk had seen earlier, accompanied by a male agent, stepped in.
She addressed him politely. "Mr. Phoenix."
Hawk nodded.
On the bed, Sharon craned her neck. "Martha!"
Relief flashed across the woman's face. She rushed to Sharon's side. "Sharon, thank God you're safe."
"How's Commander Hand?" Sharon asked.
Martha smiled. "Like you—receiving a transfusion. Don't worry, she'll be fine."
Sharon's tension melted away. "I want to return to the base, to be with you all."
Her eyes drifted toward Hawk.
He laughed. "I'm not Hydra. You're not my prisoner."
Joking, but true. Then he glanced at Gwen. "Alright. Sharon's people are here. Let's go home."
He still had to drop his fiancée off before pulling Zola's plug.
Gwen nodded, turning back to Sharon. "We'll head out then."
"Thank you, Gwen," Sharon said softly.
Martha added politely, "Thank you, Ms. Stacy."
Gwen smiled, waved goodbye, and followed Hawk out.
A black Audi A8 sped through Manhattan, pulling into the garage at 521A Palm Street in under twenty minutes.
In the living room, Gwen flicked on the lights and smiled. "I'm home. Now go do what you need to."
Hawk raised an eyebrow at her.
"You can't fool me," Gwen teased. "Sharon may not know you, but I do. You never ask questions without reason."
Hawk gawked at her in mock shock. "Nothing escapes my fiancée's eyes."
"Stop it." She rolled her eyes playfully. "Go on. I'll make us something to eat. Come back soon."
"Yes, ma'am."
He snapped a mock salute, then appeared in front of her in a blur, stealing a quick kiss before vanishing again.
Gwen covered her lips, smiling despite herself. Shaking her head, she turned on the TV and headed for the kitchen to start on supper.
Meanwhile, Hawk descended upon the long-abandoned base east of Jersey City.
Overgrown grass choked its grounds, but his eyes quickly locked on one building—an ammunition warehouse.
Not because he remembered Captain America once noticing something odd there, but because…
Every other building was locked tight. Only that one stood open. Hard to miss.
Clearly, someone had beaten him to it.
Hawk's mind clicked.
The events of The Winter Soldier unfolded over just three days. Hydra's second uprising had begun yesterday. Today was day two.
Which meant…
Captain America and Natasha Romanoff should be here right now.
With a step, Hawk vanished, reappearing at the warehouse entrance, then again inside.
Thud!
Steve Rogers stiffened, glancing up toward the ceiling.
Beside him, Natasha's eyes widened. She followed his gaze. "Cap, what is it?"
"Someone's here," Steve said grimly.
Natasha drew both pistols instantly, scanning the shadows.
All around them, outdated servers whirred at maximum power. On the screens, Arnim Zola's digitized face flickered among cascading data streams.
Natasha frowned at the AI's strange behavior. Steve turned toward it as well. "Zola. What are you playing at?"
The digital face didn't answer—busy calculating.
But no matter how hard he processed, Zola couldn't explain how Hawk had found him so quickly. Garrett hadn't known his location.
Unless—
Pierce's signal gap… Ten minutes missing…
Impossible.
Just then, Steve's eyes caught the ripple of space at the elevator shaft.
He didn't hesitate.
Boom!
With a twist of his waist, the Captain hurled his shield at the figure silently materializing there—Hawk.
The shield spun like a buzzsaw, its force enough to slice a man clean in two.
…
(End of Chapter)
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