Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 93: [] - S.H.I.E.L.D Protects World Peace, Not One Family’s Peace (Bonus)

Chapter 93: [93] - S.H.I.E.L.D Protects World Peace, Not One Family’s Peace (Bonus)

<><><><><><><><>

The text message from Anna was brutally simple.

It contained only a name.

Betty Ross.

The moment Hawk saw the name, he knew exactly who it was.

Thaddeus Ross’s daughter.

Bruce Banner’s wife.

Yes.

His wife.

He remembered seeing it at the beginning of the semester.

The Daily Bugle, in its infinite dedication to gossip, had run a story, complete with a photo of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross registering their marriage at New York City Hall.

Peter had brought him the paper. It was one of the few perks of his part-time job at the Bugle—a free copy every day.

Hawk had only glanced at it at the time, not giving it a second thought.

His war was with Thaddeus Ross, not his daughter.

Just as it had been with the Hulk.

He had killed the Hulk but spared Bruce Banner.

He went after the one responsible, not the entire family. Hawk didn’t believe in collective punishment. At least, that’s what he used to think...

Now??

He understood!

Just then, his phone rang. It was Anna, following up on her text.

He answered. "Hello."

"Hawk, sorry, this took a little while. The account that paid Daven Simmons belongs to a well-known information broker on the black market. It took our people some time to find him, but he gave up his client."

"Betty Ross..."

Hawk didn’t care how Anna had gotten the information, only about the result. "Are you sure it was her?"

"Positive. Betty Ross’s bank account shows a transfer of two hundred thousand dollars to the broker five days ago. The broker then contacted Daven Simmons. My people also recovered the call recording between Betty Ross and the broker. Do you need it?"

"No. As long as you have the right person."

"There’s no mistake. It was easy to track. I’ve sent you Betty Ross’s address."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

Hawk thanked her again and hung up. He glanced at the address in the text, then put his phone back in his pocket, his expression calm.

He was a fast learner.

And this was a hard lesson.

Before, he’d lived by a simple rule: an eye for an eye. And the result? Betty Ross trying to have Gwen kidnapped.

If he hadn’t just awakened the Draco constellation, if his Cosmo hadn’t been strengthened by both the Dragon and the Phoenix, if he hadn’t finally found the door to his Sixth Sense—which had blazed to life the moment Gwen was in danger.

If his Sixth Sense hadn’t warned him, what would have happened?

Hawk couldn’t bear to think about it.

Even if the worst had happened, he would have stormed Hell to bring Gwen back.

But what if he couldn’t?

And so, a lesson learned from a critical mistake. Better late than never to fix the problem after damage is done.

From now on, this would never happen again.

...

The old philosophy was dead.

In his mind, he replaced "I only hold the guilty responsible" with a new, colder, and far more absolute creed.

An attack on my family is a war on theirs.

He walked out of the administration building, his mind clear, his purpose set.

Peter, who was waiting outside, was about to go up to him, but then he felt it—a wave of pure killing intent washed over him. His Spider-Sense screamed, every hair on his body standing on end.

Hawk saw him and reined in his aura. "Peter? You’re still here? Where’s Mary Jane?"

Peter snapped out of it. "Mary Jane went to find Gwen."

"And you?" Hawk descended the steps and fell into pace beside him, walking toward the school gate.

"I was going to ask if you needed my help. But... it looks like you don’t. You already know who was behind the kidnapping, don’t you?" Peter asked.

Hawk grunted in affirmation.

"Alright. I’ve got to find Harry—he called yesterday and didn’t sound right." Peter said.

Hawk was curious. "Harry? I thought he had successfully taken over his father’s company"

Harry Osborn had shown up at the beginning of the semester too, but only to request a leave of absence. With his father Norman dead, he needed to take over the company. Hawk remembered him mentioning that with Felicia Hardy’s help, the transition had gone pretty smoothly.

"Who knows." Peter shook his head. "I’m going to go. Call me if you need anything."

Hawk smiled and nodded. "Alright. We’ll talk soon."

"Yeah." Peter waved goodbye and jogged toward a small cluster of trees. Moments later, Spider-Man came swinging out on a web line and vanished into the distance.

He didn’t even ask what Hawk was planning to do. He didn’t need to. Hawk was going to kill someone.

It was inevitable. And Peter got it. If anyone had tried to kidnap Aunt May, he would have killed them too.

No exceptions.

Just like he had killed the man who murdered his Uncle Ben.

Once again, this was the original Spider-Man, the Bully Maguire version. He might be a good person, but he was no naive idealist!

Hawk watched the Spider disappear and smiled. He walked out of the school gate and hailed a cab.

"Jersey City."

"Lincoln Park."

"You got it." The cab driver glanced at Hawk in the rearview mirror, his face lighting up when he heard the destination. He nodded and hit the meter.

In the back seat, Hawk watched the scenery fly by, his eyes narrowed.

...

About forty-five minutes later, they arrived at Lincoln Park, on the easternmost edge of Jersey City.

Hawk paid the driver and got out. He stood at the entrance to the park for a moment, then turned, his gaze instantly locking onto an apartment building across the street. It wasn’t flashy, but it was clearly high-end.

The next second, his phone rang.

Hawk pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and put it to his ear.

The moment he answered, a crisp, authoritative female voice came through the line.

"Hawk, this is Victoria Hand from S.H.I.E.L.D. We need to—"

"FUCK OFF."

Hawk didn’t let her finish. He cut her off and hung up, then started walking toward the Lincoln Park Apartments.

According to Anna, after marrying Bruce Banner last month, Betty Ross had moved from Washington D.C. and settled here.

Bruce Banner had apparently joined a lab at Stark Industries.

As for Betty Ross?

She didn’t seem to be working. She had been living a quiet, reclusive life in her new apartment.

...

S.H.I.E.L.D. Command, New York.

Victoria Hand, dressed in her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the glaring red "CALL TERMINATED" message on the main screen. The corner of her mouth twitched. She pulled out her personal phone and dialed Maria Hill.

"Yes?"

"We have a problem. Hawk has found Betty Ross." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"That fast?"

Maria Hill’s voice, coming from the Triskelion, was laced with a mixture of shock and frustration. "Weren’t you supposed to be watching her? Keeping her from doing something stupid?"

Victoria Hand sighed. "We thought she’d given up. It’s been two months. She’s been a model citizen since she moved to Jersey. And her bank accounts are with Stark. Tony’s still in recovery, we haven’t gotten the updated authorization codes yet."

Maria Hill felt a headache coming on. "Where is Hawk now??"

"He’s already on his way up to her apartment."

Hiss.

Maria Hill drew in a sharp breath and shot to her feet, her voice cracking slightly. "Betty?"

"She’s home."

"And Bruce?"

"He’s at the lab."

"..."

Maria Hill was silent, not knowing what to say.

Victoria Hand frowned. "What do we do now? Just stand by and watch him kill her?"

Maria Hill just laughed, a bitter, humorless sound. "Can we stop him? Besides, since he found her, it means he already knows. Betty made the first move."

"But he killed Thaddeus Ross..."

"And Ross made the first move then, too." Maria Hill took a deep breath. "This is just an endless cycle of revenge. There’s no point in getting involved."

She decisively cut off that line of thought and, after a moment, made her decision.

"Stand down. Let it happen. S.H.I.E.L.D is not to intervene."

"Ma’am...?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D protects world peace, not one family’s peace. Hawk has been living a normal life since he returned from Quantico. Betty Ross started this. I am not going to risk S.H.I.E.L.D by picking a fight with a powerful being who lives by a code of—don’t tread on me."

"..."

Victoria Hand listened to Maria Hill’s reasoning and, after a moment, had no counterargument.

No matter how you spun it, Betty had started this.

...

While the two female heads of S.H.I.E.L.D were on the phone, Hawk reached the tenth floor of the apartment building and stopped in front of Betty’s door.

He raised his hand, about to force it open.

In the next instant, the door swung open from the inside.

<><><><><><><><>

If you’re interested, you can read advanced Chapters:

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

~# Bonus Chapter every 300PS!!

~# If you like the story, please leave a review.

~# Add to Library!