It's still that same apartment.
Vane is also here.
However...
At this moment, Vane is obediently sitting on a chair, occasionally wiping the sweat from his forehead, while looking at Hawk, who is opening the apartment refrigerator not far away with his back to him.
At the same time, the corner of his eye also glances toward the blonde beauty nearby, who is not only pretty but has a particularly distinctive demeanor.
Just then.
With a thud.
Vane shudders, looking at Hawk who closed the refrigerator door. He collects himself and continues talking about the information he knows about Amy Chloe.
Hawk listens quietly.
After he sent Amy Chloe to New Amsterdam Hospital for VIP treatment, he went to the Osborn Biotechnology Industry Building to find Gwen.
Gwen is also aware that during the process of Hawk using the Time Gemstone to enhance his abilities, he found his biological parents.
Just as Hawk said.
He holds nothing back from Gwen.
That's right.
After S.H.I.E.L.D. found Amy Chloe, Hawk brought Gwen here.
Gwen is currently looking at a yellowed photo in her hand, her gaze falling upon the baby crib that doesn't fit in with the rest of the room.
The 30-square-meter apartment was already quite cramped, and even though it was tidied up very cleanly, no matter how tidy, it still appeared a bit crowded.
Except for that baby crib, which still maintained its original appearance.
However...
The baby crib has no baby.
Gwen pursed her lips, also looking at Vane, who was sitting on the chair wiping sweat while recounting his story.
Initially, Vane's words were quite trivial.
But as he spoke and realized Hawk hadn't chosen to evaporate him from the start, he gradually calmed down.
Hawk leaned against the bar, his expression calm.
Actually, Vane didn't know much information, either.
The information about Amy Chloe, he also learned from the previous apartment manager.
Although he was a gang member, he still hoped to have his own property apartment if given the chance.
This is why he didn't resist when his boss assigned him to collect rent and management fees here.
Compared to fighting and killing, he preferred these trivial matters that had a lively atmosphere.
After a while.
Vane racked his brains, ensuring he had shared all the information he knew about Amy, then cautiously looked at Hawk leaning against the bar.
"Boss, that's all I know."
"Hmm."
Hawk nodded expressionlessly.
Vane swallowed nervously.
"Then can I..."
"Go ahead."
"Thank you, boss."
"Thank you."
Hearing Hawk's words, Vane's initial surprise was apparent. He jumped up from the chair excitedly, speaking as he moved toward the door.
But at that moment.
"Wait a minute."
"...Boss?"
With one foot already out the door, Vane felt a jolt in his heart and looked nervously into Hawk's eyes.
He feared Hawk's eyes would suddenly turn golden.
Hawk looked at Vane calmly.
"You said you wanted to have a property of your own?"
"Uh..."
"I'll help you fulfill that wish."
"Gel."
Hawk glanced at Gel standing at the door, somewhat familiar as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent: "I'll leave it to you guys."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Gel responded without hesitation.
"Alright, Mr. Phoenix."
"Thank you."
Hawk said his thanks, then waved at Vane.
Vane was slightly stunned.
Gel had already taken Vane out, accompanying him as the apartment door closed again.
Hawk's gaze once again scanned the surroundings of the apartment, then looked at Gwen standing in front of the baby crib and smiled.
"I'm a kind person."
"I know."
Gwen smiled slightly, then joined Hawk in looking at the baby crib, clearly more than twenty years old, then turned to Hawk beside her: "Hawk, your mother had no choice when she abandoned you and Anya."
Hawk quietly acknowledged this.
An orphan attending public school, without any special skills, and having a heart condition not suitable for intense labor, a woman weak of heart, after her husband's death, with two diaper-wearing children, results in her demise, leading to the children's entrance into the adoption system.
This was inevitable.
Most importantly.
One of the children also inherited her heart disease.
Entering the foster system, at least, they could have surgery for free, truly free, without any need to repay when they grow up.
But if left by her side, the hospital would certainly demand money first.
So...
Amy left Hawk and Anya at the church doors, seemingly abandoning them, but it was a choice made among the worst possible options.
If she had continued to keep Anya by her side, it was uncertain whether Anya would have lived past ten.
Hawk thought of Anya, who had undergone heart surgery at the ages of three, seven, and nine, and his gaze slowly turned to the photos on the wooden cabinet.
The next second.
He looked at Gwen: "Actually, I saw her when I was a child."
Gwen was slightly stunned and looked at Hawk.
Hawk chuckled, recalling fragments of his memory: "It was when Anya and I were five, going to a foster family. At that time, walking in, I felt like someone was watching me, but when I turned my head, I didn't see anyone."
In memory, no one was found.
But...
By compressing his past timeline, Hawk could already move freely in his own past timeline.
So, at the time node of five years old, Hawk saw Amy hiding under a big tree, wearing a faded, old piece of clothing.
Amy at that time was not as skinny as she was when he just held her.
"When Anya and I entered that foster family, she left."
"Probably thought we were adopted by the foster family, so she didn't want to disturb us anymore. After that, she never appeared in my memory again."
"But actually…"
Hawk said up to here, shook his head, and looked at Gwen: "When that family was about to adopt us, their relatives died in a car accident leaving two kids, so Anya and I went back."
Gwen knew that Hawk had never been adopted by any foster family but didn't know about this. She pursed her lips and held Hawk's palm: "At least now you know your mom cares about you and Anya."
Hawk looked at the concerned Gwen and smiled slightly.
His heart was actually undisturbed.
After all, he was a traveler from another time, and he wouldn't have minded having a family if he had followed Amy since he was a child, even if the family was broken.
But he had never seen Amy since childhood, at least until he compressed his timeline.
So...
Hawk did not have that 'mother' feeling towards Amy, at most, he just felt some sympathy for the room's arrangement and Amy, who still lived in the past.
As Gwen always said.
He, Hawk, had a kind heart.
And another thing.
Sister Anya.
It's still the same old saying, although Anya didn't clamor for a mother like other kids after she grew sensible.
But Hawk knew, Anya still hoped for her own mother.
If Amy had abandoned them on purpose, he would never show up here.
But the fact is not, and from a certain angle, it was he who single-handedly created such a past.
New Amsterdam Hospital.
VIP Special Ward.
Amy, lying on the bed, is connected to a breathing tube, surrounded by various monitoring systems, seemingly asleep.
And she seems to be dreaming, and this dream is a sweet one.
Hawk looked at Amy on the hospital bed, clearly only 42 this year, but who looked just like a woman in her sixties, and slowly stretched out his right hand.
A vivid, crystal-clear, miniature, and nimble Fire Phoenix circled once on his right palm, then merged into Amy's body, which although rescued in time, was already riddled with holes.
Gwen stood silently watching this moment.
At this moment.
"Sizzle sizzle!"
"..."
Gwen turned her head to look.
At a glance.
The ward door was gently pushed open, and Sharon was beckoning to her.
Gwen blinked, then looked at Sharon's gesture and walked outside. After closing the door, she looked at Sharon.
"What's up?"
"The Wild Bull Gang is gone."
Sharon said softly: "Tell Hawk we are analyzing Amy Chloe's life experiences and to give us some time to handle it."
Gwen was stunned hearing Sharon's words, then shook her head.
"Sharon, Hawk isn't a Demon King."
"I know."
Sharon replied without hesitation, but saying is one thing, and maintaining the recent expression while looking at Gwen doesn't delay.
Gwen opened her mouth, recalling Hawk's feat of taking on two atop the Atlantic Ocean and nodded.
"Okay, I'll persuade Hawk."
"Thanks, Gwen."
Upon hearing this, Sharon gave Gwen a hug then shrugged: "Actually, I also believe in Hawk, but you know, the Security Council is afraid, so, I'm just an ordinary agent."
Gwen laughed.
"You, an ordinary agent, manage over a thousand agents."
"I'm the top agent, after all."
Sharon also smiled, then spoke about the main matter: "By the way, how's Madam Chloe?"
Gwen smiled: "The doctors acted promptly, the issue shouldn't be much now."
Even if there were issues, there is Hawk, isn't there?
Sharon nodded with some thought, looked at Gwen, thought for a moment, and lowered her voice: "Hawk told me to buy a property for him in West View Town, Jersey City, you knew that, right?"
Gwen thought Sharon was going to say something else, then smiled and looked at Sharon.
"When Hawk told you, whose phone did he use?"
"Yours."
"Then you say, do I know or not?"
"…That's right."
Sharon realized, then looked at Gwen: "You guys are moving to West View Town, your suggestion?"
Gwen laughed.
"Who said we're moving to West View Town."
"That house is for Madam Chloe."
"..."