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Hawk had originally assumed Dr. Merrick could genuinely create life.
That was the whole reason he'd been willing to give Merrick a chance in the first place.
If the doctor could actually do it, Hawk wouldn't have minded letting bygones be bygones. He'd have welcomed Merrick as an honored guest, treated him with respect, made him comfortable.
After all, once his Cosmo fully manifested in reality, it would need life to populate it.
If Dr. Merrick's technology actually worked, then Hawk's manifested universe could develop its own native lifeforms at an accelerated rate.
But instead...
This was it?
What a letdown.
Still, Hawk didn't have any intention of killing Merrick.
At least, not right now.
After all, the original reason he'd been searching for Dr. Merrick wasn't because the man could create souls from nothing. It was simply because Merrick's cloning technology could use his sister's DNA to create a brand-new body for her.
Hawk's thoughts settled as he looked at Merrick, whose expression had turned ashen after having the true nature of his clones exposed. The scientist clearly thought his days were numbered. Hawk spoke up. "I can still let you live."
Merrick's defeated eyes immediately rekindled with hope as he turned to Hawk.
"Really, Mr. Phoenix?"
"As long as you clone a body for my sister."
"But my clones... you just said—"
"I only need the body. I don't need your soul imprinting."
"No problem."
Merrick's eyes lit up. He agreed without hesitation.
Hawk smiled faintly at that response but didn't bother engaging with Merrick further. Instead, he turned to Natasha. "He's all yours. Just don't let him die."
Natasha looked at Hawk with curiosity as he prepared to leave. "You're not taking him with you?"
She knew why Hawk wanted Dr. Merrick. After all, if Hawk hadn't been hunting for the doctor, HYDRA might have stayed underground for who knows how much longer.
But now Merrick had been found, and judging by Hawk's tone, he wasn't planning to take the scientist anywhere.
Hawk heard Natasha's question and smiled.
"You want the real answer or the official one?"
"There's an official answer?"
"I told Sharon I was just borrowing Dr. Merrick. So technically, he's still yours."
"Uh-huh. And the real answer?"
"I don't have the money to build a whole cloning lab like this. Plus, Gwen and I are heading to Georgia to visit her grandfather tomorrow. Not exactly convenient to drag Merrick along."
"Got it."
Natasha's expression cleared with understanding. She nodded. "I'll get him back to headquarters safely."
Hawk hummed in acknowledgment and turned to leave.
But—
Just as he was about to vanish, something stirred inside him. He stopped, turned back around, and locked his gaze directly on Dr. Merrick.
For a single moment, Hawk's eyes flashed with a piercing intensity, as if he could see straight through the man standing before him—body, mind, and soul laid bare under that scrutiny.
Dr. Merrick felt his blood run cold under that stare.
But just as quickly, Hawk's gaze softened. He said nothing.
Natasha glanced at Hawk, then signaled two SHIELD agents to escort Dr. Merrick out of the room.
Only after Merrick had been taken away did Natasha turn back to Hawk.
"What's wrong?"
"When you get back, have someone give Dr. Merrick a thorough examination."
"Why?"
Natasha's brow furrowed.
Hawk didn't respond right away. His mind was racing.
He'd been ready to leave. He'd already mentally checked out. But the moment he turned to go, an inexplicable sense of unease had welled up inside him—a prickling irritation that refused to be ignored.
Hawk knew better than to dismiss it. That irritation wasn't random. It was his Sixth Sense sounding the alarm.
As for why it was warning him—
Naturally, it had to do with his thoughts about Merrick cloning a body so his sister could finally be resurrected.
Which meant the problem wasn't with his sister. The problem was somewhere else.
And if his Sixth Sense was going off, there was only one possibility left.
Dr. Merrick was the problem.
Hawk's first instinct was that the man standing in front of him wasn't the real Dr. Merrick at all.
But—
He'd just scanned Merrick thoroughly with his Sixth Sense. He could confirm with absolute certainty that the man in front of him wasn't one of those soulless clones he'd just incinerated.
Yet his Sixth Sense didn't make mistakes.
Ever since he'd awakened it, his intuition had been frighteningly accurate. Every warning had been precise, every hunch validated.
Hawk trusted that implicitly. Which meant Dr. Merrick definitely had a problem.
After all, sometimes the absence of a problem was the biggest problem of all.
Hawk's eyes glinted as he turned back to Natasha. He didn't bother hiding his suspicion.
"This Merrick is wrong."
"What?"
Natasha blinked, momentarily thrown. Then understanding dawned. "He's also a clone?"
Hawk shook his head.
He'd already seen what Merrick's successfully activated clones looked like.
Sure, to the average person, they could pass for real. The illusion was convincing enough.
But not to Hawk.
He wielded a fragment of the Law of Life and Death. Which meant that even if a clone could fool everyone else, in Hawk's eyes, it was just a soulless puppet—a walking corpse with no true spark of existence.
If Merrick were a clone, Hawk would have spotted it instantly.
But Merrick wasn't.
At the very least, Merrick had a soul. He was nothing like those empty shells.
Unfortunately for Merrick, Hawk wasn't the type who needed hard evidence.
He trusted his gut. Just like he didn't judge his friends based on which side they were on.
Take Anna, for instance.
Even now, her original phone number was still saved in his contacts.
So, Hawk's thoughts clicked into place. He turned to Natasha. "Run a full workup on him when you get back. If nothing turns up, have him clone something random and see what happens."
Natasha studied Hawk with curiosity.
"You can't tell what's wrong with him?"
"Not specifically. But my instincts are screaming that something's off."
"..."
If anyone else had said that, Natasha might have dismissed it.
But coming from Hawk? That only meant one thing.
Dr. Merrick really did have a problem.
Natasha's mind started working through the implications. She looked at Hawk. "If this Dr. Merrick is compromised, then that means we didn't find this place because we got lucky. Someone wanted us to find it."
After all, their discovery of Dr. Merrick had seemed almost too convenient.
First, a HYDRA agent defected.
Then they noticed supply discrepancies at a warehouse.
Then they just happened to run into HYDRA agents leaving the base.
One word for it:
Smooth.
Everything had fallen into place like clockwork. Too smooth. Too natural.
But what if that smoothness wasn't luck? What if it had all been orchestrated?
What if HYDRA had deliberately let them "Capture" Dr. Merrick—feeding SHIELD a fake to make them think they'd caught the real one?
And the reason HYDRA would do that was easy enough to figure out.
Hawk might not be worried about clones of himself. But SHIELD absolutely was. Which meant SHIELD had been relentless in hunting down Dr. Merrick.
More relentless, even, than hunting HYDRA itself.
You could sum it up in one sentence: Until Merrick was caught, SHIELD wouldn't rest.
In the time since they'd learned HYDRA was trying to clone Hawk, the number of HYDRA bases destroyed had skyrocketed beyond anything they'd managed before.
In the past, SHIELD had hesitated when dealing with suspected HYDRA operations.
But now?
Sorry. If you're suspected of being HYDRA, you're getting investigated.
If they were wrong, they'd apologize later. They had agents with Japanese heritage—they could make it work. A formal bow, a public apology, problem solved.
Point being:
Because of Merrick, HYDRA had been under constant, crushing pressure for weeks. Every base that hadn't been raided yet was living in constant fear.
Under those circumstances, HYDRA absolutely needed to find a way to ease that pressure.
And what better way to do that than to return Dr. Merrick to SHIELD?
If they couldn't return the real one, a fake would have to do.
Natasha laid out her theory step by step. "...If this Dr. Merrick isn't the real one, that would explain why we had such a lucky break finding him in the first place."
By the time she finished speaking, her tone had shifted from skeptical to certain. Their "good fortune" hadn't been fortune at all. HYDRA had wanted them to find Merrick. So they'd made it happen.
But, Hawk's suspicions didn't need evidence.
SHIELD's suspicions did.
Natasha nodded decisively. "Understood. The moment we're back, I'll have him run through every test we've got. Soon as we have results, you'll be the first to know."
Hawk smiled. "No rush. I'll be gone for a bit anyway. You can tell me when I get back."
Natasha caught the key phrase in that sentence.
"When you get back?"
"Yeah."
Hawk nodded, smiling at Natasha. "Tomorrow—actually, today. Today, Gwen and I are heading to Mystic Falls. If everything goes according to plan, we'll probably be spending Christmas there this year."
That was the plan.
If he hadn't managed to bring his sister back from Hell, he'd have spent Christmas the same way he always did—keeping Anya company.
But this year was different.
His sister was safe in his Underworld. Which meant he could go anywhere. And Gwen was really looking forward to visiting her grandfather.
Natasha nodded. "Alright. Once we finish all the tests and confirm everything, I'll let you know."
Hawk honestly wanted to say he didn't care whether this Dr. Merrick was real or fake. It genuinely didn't matter to him either way.
But looking at Natasha's determined expression, he could only nod. Then he prepared to leave.
"Sounds good. I'm out, then."
"Safe travels."
Natasha smiled warmly. "See you."
Hawk returned the farewell, then turned and vanished from Natasha's line of sight.
The next second, he reappeared...
Natasha blinked at Hawk, who had apparently forgotten something and come right back.
Hawk smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, right. Could you—"
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