When dealing with enemies, be as merciless as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
But when it comes to friends, you must be as warm as spring.
Anna is his friend.
And besides Gwen, the first friend he verbally acknowledged.
Therefore...
Condemning Anna to stay forever in the Pure Land, having to care for these flowers, is her punishment for keeping secrets.
Anna listened to Hawk's words, then felt the power falling upon her, and looked at the flowers inside and outside the flower shop.
She could feel that as long as a suffering soul in the Nether Prison received a flower, any soul could be liberated from it.
Anna instinctively glanced at Hawk, who was smiling at her and couldn't help but speak up.
"Is this a punishment?"
"Of course."
"No."
Anna shook her head, locking eyes with Hawk: "This is a gift."
Hawk chuckled.
"No, this is your punishment for keeping secrets."
"It's not..."
"Hey."
Hawk raised an eyebrow, looking at Anna, who insisted on arguing whether this was a punishment or a gift, and with a stern face, he said, "Who is the boss here?"
Anna opened her mouth.
"It's you."
"That's right. I say it's a punishment, so it's a punishment. Even though you are my friend, it's work time now. During work, remember to use my title, call me the Netherworld King!"
"..."
Anna looked at Hawk's stern face, was silent for a while, then her smile blossomed, and she knelt down on one knee: "Thank you, Lord Netherworld King."
Hawk saw this, did not stop Anna from kneeling, and after Anna spoke, he let her get up again and then waved at Anya, who was watching not far away.
Anya's eyes lit up, and she ran over while calling "brother."
Hawk then introduced the two women to each other.
"Anna, this is Anya, my sister. When I'm not around, help me look after the Pure Land."
"Anya, this is Anna, my friend. When I'm not around, you can ask her to chat with you, but respect her; she is one of your brother's few, and the very first, friends."
Indeed.
The four years had surely been tough for brother.
Anya listened to her brother having few friends, pondered silently, and then extended her right hand to Anna with a bright smile: "Hello, I am Anya, brother's sister."
Anna glanced at the smiling Hawk and shook hands with Anya with a smile: "Hello, I am Anna, your brother's friend."
Hawk watched this scene, smiled slightly, then turned around, and as he did, his mind left the Little Cosmos and returned to reality.
Upon returning.
Both Gwen and Peter, and even Sharon, were intently watching him.
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"Where are Felicia and Dr. Zhao?"
"They took the kid to the lounge for lunch."
"Dr. Zhao had something to do and has already left."
Peter and Sharon said.
Gwen looked at Hawk.
"How was it, Anna said it's Hydra's doing, isn't it?"
"Yes."
Hawk nodded, looked at the young red-haired girl still asleep on the sofa, and suddenly recalled forgetting to ask Anna the girl's name.
If it were a boy, he might make a guess.
But a girl...
He couldn't guess at all.
Forget it.
He thought to ask later.
Hawk thought to himself, then withdrew his gaze, looked at the three waiting for answers, and laughed: "Strucker."
"It's him again."
Gwen frowned, remembering Hawk mentioning the guy who took her Mind Gemstone.
"Who is this?"
Peter was puzzled, completely clueless about who this was.
"We've been looking into Strucker's whereabouts too."
Sharon listened to Hawk say the name and wasn't too surprised: "But he hides very well. Our trail went cold in Sokovia, and he seemed to have vanished into thin air."
The task of hunting down the remnants of Hydra has been completely transferred to the Avengers led by Captain America.
After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. has many tasks and can't afford to waste most of its energy on Hydra.
As it happens.
Captain America Steve Rogers wanted to find Hydra to locate his good buddy, Bucky.
And Iron Man Tony Stark learned his father was a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., so he helped out while having free time.
Thor thought there'd be drinks after the fight.
Meanwhile, Black Widow Natasha and Hawkeye Barton gave just cause for the Avengers' actions.
After taking over the Hydra case, The Avengers indeed achieved notable results.
But two Hydra leaders still hadn't been found.
Baron Zemo and...
Wolfgang von Strucker, whom Hawk referred to as Strucker.
Gwen curiously looked at Hawk.
"Did Anna say where they are?"
"She doesn't know."
Hawk knew what Gwen wanted to ask and simply described Anna's experience.
Gwen and Sharon fell silent after listening.
Peter, blending in like a foolish spore, blinked his eyes, then turned and left the office.
He didn't know who Strucker was, or even who Anna was.
Since that was the case, why stay here? It was better to go to the lounge and find Felicia, maybe watch his son having lunch.
If he was lucky, he might snag a bite.
Besides,
Even if he knew, he probably couldn't help much.
After all, Hawk's enemies are either world-destroying organizations or aliens.
His enemies? Thieves, robbers, the most powerful one being Dr. Lizard.
Can't compare, can't compare.
So...
With this in mind, Peter left the office happily, without any psychological burden or feeling excluded.
The sound of Peter closing the door awakened Gwen and Sharon.
Gwen looked at Hawk: "Just as you guessed, Anna was imprisoned two years ago."
Hawk shook his head: "It's not imprisonment, it's likely that Anna was on the brink of death, but Strucker kept her alive with a life-support device until now."
Just like those brain-dead patients in hospitals.
In a way, they're dead, but sustained by medical technology to maintain basic life.
Simply put,
They can't come back to life, but they can't die either.
Listening to Hawk's words, Gwen said: "Same, Strucker doesn't want Anna to die because once Anna truly dies, her soul will enter Hell. Although they don't know about the Netherworld, they know you can go to Hell."
On the side, Sharon added, her gaze falling on the red-haired girl on the sofa: "But now this red-haired girl somehow escaped Strucker's control, got out, and now you know about it. So for Strucker, continuing to keep Anna alive serves no purpose. That's why they unplugged Anna's ventilator."
Hawk listened to the combined analysis of his fiancée and the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. First Agent, nodding thoughtfully.
But just as he was about to express his opinion.
Hawk noticed the red-haired girl's movement on the sofa and turned to look.
In sight.
The red-haired girl, after sleeping for about an hour, blinked her eyelashes and then opened her eyes.
The next second.
The red-haired girl looked at Hawk, who was watching her, broke into a happy smile, and with a swoosh, leaped from the sofa into Hawk's arms again.
"Daddy!"
"..."
Hawk held the red-haired girl, instinctively looking at Gwen.
Sharon couldn't help but look at Gwen as well.
Gwen met Hawk and Sharon's gaze, smiled, ignoring their looks, walked to Hawk, and took the red-haired girl into her own arms.
The red-haired girl glanced at Gwen and did not resist, instead happily accepting.
"Auntie Gwen!"
"Auntie?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow, looking at Gwen, and quickly spread his hands.
God as my witness.
From the first moment he saw this girl until now, he's been with Gwen.
Standing aside, Sharon didn't want to miss this drama, so she minimized her presence as much as possible.
Gwen looked at Hawk's actions, her gaze swept past Hawk and landed on the red-haired girl in her arms: "You, know me?"
The red-haired girl nodded, her smile bright: "Yes, Daddy showed me your projection, Daddy said you're gentle, smart, and the best woman in the world."
Hearing this, Gwen's eyes swooshed back onto Hawk.
Sharon, who was minimizing her presence, also immediately looked at Hawk.
Hawk remained expressionless: "Not the past or present me."
Though he wasn't sure about the circumstances,
But probably, it was the future him who borrowed the Time Gemstone from Kamar-Taj and traveled back to meet with this red-haired girl.
Speaking of which...
This shouldn't be happening.
The timeline can't be disturbed, the Supreme Mage said so, actually, the Supreme Mage should stop him from doing this.
Hawk thought to himself.
As Gwen listened to Hawk's words, her eyebrows furrowed just as she was about to say something.
Suddenly.
The alarm sound blared instantly.
Sharon, who was trying to lower her presence, received the information from outside at that moment.
"Officer, someone has entered."
"Wha..."
"Bang!"
Just as Sharon was speaking with the agent outside, the office door was suddenly slammed open.
Gwen only felt her arms lighten.
By the time she reacted, looking at her now empty arms, she gasped: "Where's the little girl?"
"...in"
"...what!"
Sharon and the agent's conversation finally completed.
But...
After her initial shock, Sharon looked at Gwen's empty arms, then frowned.
"Hawk is gone too."
"What?"
Gwen instinctively looked up.
In sight.
The spot where Hawk was just moments ago was now empty.
...