Yes.
George Stacy.
Her future father-in-law.
However, in this timeline, George Stacy still looks somewhat inexperienced, as if he had just joined the New York Police Department not long ago.
Hawk thought to himself.
He remembered that Gwen once said George was not initially in the Twenty-First District when he joined the New York Police Department, but served as a patrol officer in a precinct in Brooklyn.
As for the older-looking partner next to George, it was not Ben Urick.
Ben Urick was George's mentor and partner after he joined the major crimes unit in the Twenty-First District.
This...
Hawk had no particular impression.
He stood aside, like an outsider, watching the crying blonde woman. After hearing the whole story, he looked at the young versions of himself and his sister in what seemed to be a second-hand stroller.
The reason young George came was quite simple.
The husband of the blonde woman had died.
Three hours ago, he was found dead in an alley about three blocks away from here.
The blonde woman, crying, asked a neighbor to watch over her son and daughter, then left with George and the others.
When she returned home that evening, her eyes were swollen from crying, and she was holding a shopping bag she brought back from the police station.
The shopping bag was stained with blood, crumpled and wrinkled.
There were three cans of milk powder.
Two sets of clothes, one for a boy and one for a girl.
Hawk quietly stood aside, watching the blonde woman take things out of the shopping bag, and frowned slightly.
The next second.
The surroundings reversed in light and shadow. At this moment, Hawk stood under a streetlamp, not far from the church with which he was very familiar—the Saint Paul's Church that adopted him and his sister.
The blonde woman, after deeply kissing the foreheads of himself and his sister, placed them at the church's doorstep, knocked on the church door, and quickly left without looking back.
But she didn't really leave. She hid under the shadow of a building's streetlamp, watching until the church door opened, the priest looked around in vain and took him and his sister back into the church, before showing a look of sorrow mixed with relief as she turned and left.
Hawk watched the blonde woman walk farther and farther away, eventually disappearing from sight. With a thought, he raised his right hand, and a teardrop that had fallen at the moment the blonde woman turned to leave appeared in his hand.
The tear was crystal clear.
Hawk felt the emotions within that tear, looking at the direction the blonde woman had left, with no significant emotional fluctuations.
After all.
Abandonment boils down to two reasons.
One is not wanting.
The other is being unable to take in.
But regardless of which, all those are in the past, and Hawk no longer cared.
So...
Hawk clenched his right fist, took a deep breath while looking at Saint Paul's Church nearby, and then withdrew his gaze.
He already knew what happened next.
He didn't want to remember anymore; after all, there was nothing worthwhile about recounting the experience of being adopted by the church and the community.
Especially the day in '08 when his sister died.
He certainly didn't want to relive that.
Thus!
It was time to take care of business.
Time needs to close the loop.
Hawk recalled what the Ancient One had just said, and once again found himself in an ancient castle located in Sokovia.
The Hydra castle.
"Push harder!"
"Come on, it's almost out."
"Keep pushing!"
"Ah... wah, wah, wah!"
A female Hydra agent carefully dried the newborn Jean before wrapping her in a swaddle and handing her to Wanda, who was also sweating profusely on the bed.
Even though Wanda looked weak, her eyes were filled with excitement and nervousness as she took the swaddled Jean.
Hawk observed Wanda, leaning against the bed, still looking at Jean with a certain indescribable gaze despite her weakness, and he recalled the way the blonde woman looked at him after he was born.
Time slipped away unnoticed.
In a room within the castle,
Pietro met Jean.
Having just undergone Strucker's superpower experiment, Pietro also looked quite tired, yet he still happily played with the swaddled Jean.
"By the way, Wanda, have you decided on the name?"
"Yes."
Sitting on the sofa, nursing Jean, Wanda nodded upon hearing the question, gazing at the little child in her arms.
"Jean."
"Jean?"
"It means God's gift."
"...Alright then."
Listening to Wanda's explanation, Pietro looked at the swaddled Jean and said to Wanda, "I thought you would hand this child over to Strucker right after she was born."
"This is my daughter."
"Even if her birth might have been a mistake."
"But..."
"She is my daughter, my Jean."
Wanda, having just given birth, responded with the glow of motherhood, earnestly addressing Pietro, then she continued to look down at the swaddled Jean, smiling as she played with her.
Pietro stared at his sister, paused for a moment, and then joined in the playful interaction.
Hawk stood by, observing like a spectator.
But when night fell and the world was silent, he silently appeared beside the baby crib, looking at the sleeping Jean inside.
Yet the moment he arrived, Jean in the crib seemed to sense his presence, opened her eyes, and smiled radiantly at Hawk with her chubby little face.
Originally, Hawk had just wanted to see his bloodline daughter up close.
But...
Seeing Jean beam at him, Hawk also smiled slightly. His right hand traversed the present into the past, gently tapping Jean's little nose as he greeted, "Hello, Jean!"
As his words fell, a phantom shadow of a Fire Phoenix seemed to emerge in Jean's large, bright eyes.
Jean, seemingly aware of something, happily moved her limbs.
The next second.
The light was turned on.
Wanda, who turned on the light, looked at Jean in the crib and smiled gently, lifting Jean out and holding her in her arms, softly humming a Sokovian lullaby.
Jean was initially very excited, but gradually calmed down with Wanda's lullaby, one small hand clutching Wanda's hair tip while the other seemed to grip a finger outside the bed.
Hawk's finger.
He watched Jean gripping his finger and then glanced at Wanda, who, while lulling Jean to sleep, also lulled herself to sleep, and couldn't help but smile.
When Wanda suddenly woke with a start, it was already morning.
Wanda instinctively looked at her arms first, then at the crib and relaxed upon seeing Jean inside.
But quickly, she hesitated, subconsciously looking back at her arms.
Standing beside the crib, Hawk watched Wanda, seemingly lost in thought, and a phrase flashed in his mind.
A woman's wits dull for three years during pregnancy.
But...
Hawk merely glanced at Wanda, then turned to look at the crib, at Jean staring with wide eyes seemingly able to see him, and smiled slightly, "See you next month!"
For Jean, still swaddled, maybe it was a month.
But for Hawk, it was merely a moment.
Hawk accelerated the flow of time to ensure he appeared in Jean's monthly timeline.
Because Jean had told him he would come to see her every month.
So!
The timeline needed closure.
Soon.
When Hawk reappeared, another familiar face showed up.
Anna!
Long black hair.
Black leather.
Mmm.
Indeed, it's Anna.
At this moment, Wanda was holding Jean, her face wary, retreating into a corner.
"Don't take her."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt her."
"I promise."
Anna crouched down, her voice gentle, her gaze tender as she looked at Jean in the swaddle, then looked to Wanda, "But she must leave here; otherwise, we will all die. Believe me, the Demon King's wrath, we cannot bear."
Standing silently by, Hawk heard Anna's solemn words and couldn't help but touch his nose.
Is his anger that terrifying?
Not at all.
Hawk introspected.
At this moment, Anna extended her hands towards Jean in the swaddle.
But Wanda was still unwilling.
Seeing this, a Hydra Agent directly activated the nanomites within Wanda. With a muffled groan from Wanda, Anna took Jean, then turned to the Hydra Agent, her voice furious.
"What are you doing…"
"Boom!"
While Anna scolded the Hydra, sensing her mother was hurt, Jean also erupted. A powerful Phoenix Power burst from the swaddle, demolishing everything, directly reducing five Hydra Agents under Strucker, except Anna, to ashes.
As for Anna...
Being closest and first in line, Anna did not turn to ash, only being slammed against the wall by the Phoenix Power, then with a thud, fell to the ground, entering a near-death state.
This was not because Anna had a special constitution.
It was because Hawk stepped in.
But just when Hawk reflexively thought Anna was protected by his friend, he realized it.
Alright.
This finally explained his question upon hearing Anna's story.
Why was Anna, being so close, not killed on the spot?
So...
He acted, shielded Anna, preventing her from dying outright, thus allowing Anna to emerge in the Netherworld only much later, and letting him discover Jean's existence much later?
Hawk pondered.
At this time, startled hydra agents rushed in from outside.
Including Strucker.
But once Strucker led the hydra agents in, their eyes couldn't help but contract.
Because—
They saw a Fire Phoenix.
Though small and seemingly mini, it was indeed a fiery Fire Phoenix, wings enveloping swaddling Jean, slowly descending into Wanda's embrace under the shocked gaze of everyone and equally astonished Wanda.
...