Marvel: The Awakened One

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The next day. Early morning.

Knock, knock.

”Coming.”

Anya walked to the door, opened it, and saw Natasha Romanoff standing on the porch. Black Widow.

Anya’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. ”Natasha?”

She knew Natasha well. After Hawk from this universe fused with the Mind Stone, the Avengers kept him under strict observation. As part of the deal, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers erased Anya’s records completely.

Anya had also fought in the Civil War, siding with Cap and Natasha. After the Blip, Natasha stayed at the compound, doing her best to keep the Avengers together. Meanwhile, Anya moved to 521A Palm Street and tried to live a quiet life, just like Tony Stark did.

Natasha worked hard to keep her found family together.

Anya was doing the same in her own way. She struggled to adapt to life without her brother... Because of this, she and Natasha hadn’t seen each other since the Snap.

Seeing Natasha now was a big surprise.

”Good morning, Anya.” Natasha offered a tired but warm smile.

They had planned to come over last night, but it got too late. So this morning, she and Steve split up. Cap took Scott to visit a retired Tony Stark and talk about building a time machine. Natasha came to Palm Street to find the multiversal Hawk.

Anya already guessed why she was here. She stepped aside, letting Natasha in, and closed the door. ”You’re looking for my brother?”

Natasha turned to her. ”...Yes.”

”You just missed him. By about half an hour.” Anya glanced at the wall clock and shrugged. ”He left thirty minutes ago.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. ”Where did he go?”

”I don’t know.” Anya shook her head. ”He didn’t say.”

Natasha pressed her lips together, noticing how easily Anya called him brother. ”Anya, Scott told me this Hawk came from the multiverse. So, technically, he isn’t your...”

”No. He is.”

Anya cut her off immediately and looked at Natasha with a serious expression. ”He is my brother. He has his face. He has his aura. He remembers every secret we shared. So yes, he is my brother.”

Natasha was fascinated by her certainty. ”He remembers things only the two of you knew?”

”Yes.”

”How...” Natasha frowned. ”Didn’t he come from an alternate reality?”

Anya smiled. ”Hawk explained it like this: it’s one tree growing different flowers. The flowers might look different, but the roots are exactly the same.”

Natasha opened her mouth, still looking a bit lost.

Anya smiled, led Natasha to the sofa, and sat down with her. She explained the ’Hawk is Hawk’ idea and then, as if it was normal, shared the multiverse gossip that Hawk’s wife was Gwen, not Wanda.

She left out the complicated details of the soul fragments. But when it came to her brother marrying Gwen instead of Wanda, she described it in detail.

Natasha was floored. ”Who is this Gwen?”

”I’ve seen her.”

”Wait, you’ve seen her?”

”Not in person. But I’ve seen her.”

Anya meant the visions she saw in Hawk’s River of Time. She looked at Natasha. ”How should I put it? She really looks like the perfect wife and mother.”

Seeing Anya’s expression, Natasha had only one thought.

”Good thing Wanda got Dusted in the Snap.”

”Yeah.” Anya nodded absentmindedly.

Anya didn’t really understand Hawk and Wanda’s relationship in the other universe. But she was sure of one thing: if this universe’s Wanda found out Hawk had a wife and it wasn’t her, things would get ugly.

The two women sighed in mutual understanding and exchanged a look.

The next second, Natasha snapped back to reality. She remembered she wasn’t here to gossip. She had a mission.

”Anya, we really need to find Hawk as soon as possible.”

”I really don’t know where he went.” Anya threw up her hands, thinking about his last words. ”He said he was going to see an old friend. He didn’t say where.”

Natasha frowned. ”An old friend? Who?”

”Tiamut!”

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Deep within the Earth’s core.

Hawk materialized high above the Pacific Ocean, then teleported straight into the planet’s mantle. He found himself face-to-face with the slumbering Celestial, Tiamut.

Hawk looked at the golden life energy pooling around the colossal entity.

After Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe, the energy keeping Tiamut alive was also cut in half. Now, the huge Celestial looked like a beached whale on a dry riverbed.

But Hawk wasn’t here to siphon life energy. He was here for Tiamut.

With so little energy, Tiamut was stuck in a deep sleep.

Hawk reached out with his Seventh Sense, searching every part of the Celestial’s metallic shell. His mind found a tiny opening and slipped through, diving deep into Tiamut’s thoughts.

At that moment...

A voice echoed in Hawk’s ear.

”Hawk Phoenix.”

”...”

In the physical world, Hawk floated silently with his eyes closed. But his consciousness was standing inside Tiamut’s core. A burst of golden light flashed, and a human-sized, miniature projection of Tiamut appeared before him.

Hawk smiled. ”Tiamut. I thought you were going to ignore me.”

”If you hadn’t started siphoning off my life energy, I would have.”

Hawk smirked and mentally shut off the siphon, leaving the drained energy pool alone. ”My bad...”

”I know why you’re here,” Tiamut said.

”Then give me the answer.” Hawk fixed his gaze on the golden projection. ”Tell me, and I’ll leave right now. No games.”

He had come here hoping Tiamut could pinpoint Gargaratus, the fugitive Celestial hiding in this universe. That way, the very instant he shattered the gateway to the Eighth Sense, he could move straight into killing Gargaratus.

But...

”I’m sorry. I can’t give you the answer you want.”

”Can’t? Or won’t?”

”Can’t.”

Tiamut’s voice was androgynous, though it leaned more feminine.

Celestials had no gender by nature. The first three certainly did not. But the newer ones gradually took on traits from the dominant lifeforms of their home planets. Since Earth was her home, Tiamut had developed a more feminine personality.

Tiamut said calmly. ”A Celestial only inherits the collective memories of the host upon true emergence. I have not been born yet. Therefore, I do not have your answer... And I do not wish to emerge.”

”Why not?” Hawk said.

”My emergence requires the destruction of this planet. I do not want that.” Tiamut really wasn’t like the others.

Half an hour later.

Tiamut slipped back into hibernation. Hawk withdrew his consciousness from her mind.

The whole trip felt pointless.

But it didn’t matter much. Once he awakened the Eighth Sense, he couldn’t go home right away. He would have to stay longer and find Gargaratus himself.

So be it... He would stay a bit longer.

Gwen wasn’t home anyway. The truth was, a place only felt like home when your wife was there. Without her, it was just somewhere to sleep.

With that in mind, Hawk gave Tiamut’s massive body one last look. Then he turned and vanished from the Earth’s core.

Suddenly, reappearing above the ocean, Hawk adjusted his bearing. With a sonic boom, he fractured into a beam of golden light, rocketing straight back toward New York City.

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Meanwhile.

Back at Palm Street.

Having confirmed Hawk wasn’t there and Anya was clueless, Natasha got ready to leave.

Steve had just called. Tony had refused to join the Time Heist. They were on their own.

Stepping out onto the porch, Natasha turned to Anya. ”If Hawk comes back, please let me know.”

”I will.”

”Thank you.” Natasha gave a grateful nod and turned around.

A moment later. The air a few feet away rippled like water. A tall, muscular man with defined features and a well-cut suit stepped out of thin air. Hawk.

Hawk looked at Natasha and smiled faintly.

”Looking for me?”

”...”

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