A few days later.
Hawke drove his black Audi A8, repaired by Co-Prosperity Insurance, to JFK International Airport with Gwen.
Today was Gwen's flight to California to visit Berkeley University.
George had originally wanted to drive her.
Last night at dinner, George specifically brought it up, but Gwen immediately refused the suggestion.
After parking the car, Hawke took a suitcase from the trunk.
Gwen then naturally took Hawke's arm, and the two walked towards the entrance not far away.
"Is someone picking us up over there?"
"Don't worry, there's a representative from Berkeley to pick us up."
"Okay."
"If you're worried, you can come with me."
Gwen glanced at Hawke and blinked, saying, "There might be a kidnapper trying to kidnap me over there too."
Hawke didn't speak, quietly looking at Gwen.
After a while,he looked away.
"No, not over there."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Hawke's tone was very certain.
This incident involving Betty Ross was the first, and it would also be the last.
As everyone knows.
The same trick is ineffective against Saints.
So after accompanying Gwen to get her plane ticket, and while waiting for her flight at the gate, Hawke took a slip of paper with a phone number on it from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Here."
"What's this?"
Gwen took the slip of paper, flipped it over, and saw a string of numbers on it. She looked at Hawke curiously: "What's this for?"
Hawke smiled and said, "She's responsible for protecting you while you're in California, but you should be able to see her after you get off the plane."
Gwen's eyes widened, then she chuckled.
"I was just kidding, Hawke."
"I wasn't."
Hawke's expression was serious, and his tone was earnest: "Although California isn't that far, it's just in case."
Gwen frowned slightly.
"I thought this kidnapping case was over."
"It is over."
Hawke smiled slightly: "But there's still an uncertain factor, so let's deal with it in advance."
Betty Ross was dead.
But Bruce Banner isn't dead yet.
And Bruce Banner is the uncertainty he mentioned.
Gwen frowned, looking at Hawke's shifty eyes.
"Hawk."
"Yes."
"Promise me you won't get agitated."
Gwen held Hawke's hand, looking tenderly at him sitting beside her as they boarded the plane, and said softly, "At least for now, Bruce Banner is innocent, isn't he?"
The NYPD has closed the case.
To be precise, it wasn't the NYPD that closed it; the FBI stated that during the arrest of a police officer's adversary, they killed him and discovered connections to Gwen's kidnappers in his home.
In short,the mastermind behind the attempted kidnapping of Gwen was shot dead by the FBI.
The NYPD was stunned when they heard the news.
George was too.
But Gwen knew the inside story because Hawke hadn't hidden it from her, so she knew about Betty Ross's plan to infiltrate the scheme.
Gwen had mixed feelings after hearing the news.
However she felt a variety of emotions, but no sympathy.
Again,she was kind, but not a saint, at least not to the point of ignoring the murderer who tried to kill her.
Ultimately, throughout the entire incident, Hawke was acting in self-defense.
If Thaddeus Ross hadn't attacked Hawke, would Hawke have attacked Quantico?
The same thing happened this time.
If Betty Ross hadn't attempted to kidnap and assassinate Gwen, would Hawke have killed her?
The answer is no.
If she hadn't been lucky enough to have Hawke appear in time to save her, she would have been the one to die.
Therefore, Gwen had no sympathy for Betty Ross.
In short, she deserved to die.
But Bruce Banner?
When Gwen listened to Hawke recount Betty Ross's scheme involving herself, and heard about Betty Ross's plot against Bruce Banner, she had only one comment:
"Bruce Banner is so pitiful."
Yes.
Pitiful.
Because in Gwen's view, if Betty Ross truly loved Bruce Banner, then she should have wanted Bruce Banner to be happy.
Not like now, where the so-called marriage, the so-called love, were merely a scheme to manipulate Bruce Banner.
Hawke regretted his words and considered taking Bruce Banner with him.
Gwen stopped him.
Gwen's reasoning then was the same as now.
"Betty Ross deserved to die."
"But Bruce Banner was just a pitiful man who was manipulated by Betty."
"Don't let your heart be agitated, Hawk, and once again, try to be a man with a clear conscience."
"Of course."
"If Bruce Banner really falls for Betty Ross's scheme, then I definitely won't stop you."
"I promise you, I'll make this call as soon as I get off the plane."
Gwen spoke softly, soothing Hawk's restless heart, her small hand clutching the note with the phone number, looking at Hawk with a serious promise.
Their eyes met.
Hawk opened his mouth, then shook his head and chuckled.
"Okay."
"Then let's wait and see if he falls into Betty Ross's trap."
Gwen smiled gently at Hawk's promise.
At this moment, boarding for the flight to California began.
Gwen stood up, hugged and kissed Hawk.
"Okay, I'm going."
"Okay."
Hawk smiled and watched his girlfriend board.
Half an hour later.
The flight to Berkeley, California, taxied on the runway, reached decisive speed, and then took off.
Hawke watched the flight disappear into the clouds, then looked away, took a deep breath, and turned to the airline counter: "One ticket to Paris in half an hour, please."
He had checked online yesterday and found a flight to Paris that would allow him to seamlessly connect with Gwen's arrival, then fly to Paris on a private plane, and finally from Paris to Africa.
He had even booked a car online for the airport in Africa.
Once there, he could drive straight to Wakanda.
Soon,Flight 180 from New York City to Paris also began taxiing after boarding was completed.
Meanwhile,in a cemetery in Jersey City, a funeral was being held.
However, there weren't many guests.
But as the saying goes,quality over quantity.
Although the number of guests was small, those who came were all quite distinguished.
"Bruce."
''Pepper."
"My condolences."
Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, who had just recovered from the Extremis virus last month, was wearing a black dress and a veil today.
After the burial, she approached the somber-looking Bruce Banner, hugged him, and said, "Tony wanted to come, but you know, his treatment has entered a critical phase, and Dr. Zhao has strictly forbidden him from leaving."
Bruce nodded, forcing a smile.
"I know, Tony called me last night."
"Again, my condolences."
Pepper said, then hugged Bruce Banner again in farewell.
Stark Industries was busy, and Tony was still in a critical phase of his treatment; she was too busy.
Sharon Carter arrived after Pepper, also offering her condolences as Captain America, Steve Rogers.
"My condolences,"
Sharon Carter said with a wry smile. "The captain had booked his flight, but Aunt's condition worsened yesterday."
Bruce said, "It's alright. Steve told me too, I'm fine, really."
Sharon Carter looked at Bruce's forced smile, opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. She just hugged Bruce again before taking her leave.
Black Widow Natasha and Hawkeye Barton arrived later.
They hadn't been held back by anything else.
However just as Natasha and Barton hadn't exchanged more than a few words with Bruce, a ringing sound rang out.
Natasha and Barton took out their phones, glanced at them, and then looked at Bruce apologetically.
Bruce understood and forced a smile, saying, "I'm fine, really. You can go ahead and do what you need to do."
Hearing this, Natasha and Barton could only hug Bruce again before hurriedly turning and walking out of the cemetery.
Not long after,the funeral ended.
The sun set.
Bruce stood alone beside the newly erected tombstone, gazing silently at Betty Ross's name and smiling photograph, lost in thought.
Suddenly,a dark figure appeared, followed by a voice beside him.
"My condolences."
"..."
Bruce snapped back to reality, looking at the man in the black trench coat and eye patch beside him: "Nick?"
The next second,he realized what was happening and looked back at the tombstone.
"Thank you."
"Too young, too impulsive."
Nick Fury, also looking at Betty Ross's photo on the tombstone with one eye, shook his head regretfully: "I thought she had moved on when she married you."
Married?
Bruce caught the key word, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and remained silent.
Nick glanced at Bruce, sighed regretfully, and patted Bruce's shoulder: "It's just a pity about the baby in Betty's belly."
Bruce nodded mechanically.
Abruptly,he suddenly looked up, his eyes wide, staring at Nick.
"Wait, what did you say? A child? What child?"
"You don't know?"
Nick Fury paused, a look of surprise on his face.
"Didn't Betty find out she was a month pregnant when she went to SHIELD Hospital last week? Victoria and the others didn't."
He stopped abruptly, then his expression shifted to realization.
"That's right, they advocate peace, so it's unlikely they would tell you."
Bruce:
"..."
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