Five o'clock in the afternoon.
New York, John Fitzgerald Kennedy—JFK International Airport.
George Stacy, captain of the New York Police Department's 19th Precinct, who felt like he was about to lose his mind, paced back and forth near the exit.
This was a disaster.
The little cabbage he had painstakingly raised had finally attracted the attention of an outside boar.
And it was a wild boar, at that.
But that was not the point.
The point was that, judging from the current situation, it seemed, apparently, that the little cabbage he had raised had gone looking for that wild boar herself.
George found it hard to understand, but that was no longer the point either.
At this very moment, George had only one thought in his mind.
He wanted to shoot the boar that had abducted his little cabbage.
Just then.
The flight from Haggs Field Airport in Maryland to New York began letting passengers off.
George, who had been pacing back and forth, took a deep breath, stood at the exit, and looked inside.
The next moment.
His breathing involuntarily quickened again.
Jesus Christ.
What did he see?
His precious daughter was holding hands with some wild... handsome wild boar from who knew where?
George's face instantly darkened.
The other people waiting to pick someone up seemed to sense a chill in the air. They subconsciously glanced at George, then instinctively moved away from him.
Finally.
The couple who had just gotten off the plane and had only recently confirmed their relationship also felt the intense chill rushing toward them.
Gwen instinctively looked toward its source, then let go of Hawk's right hand with a slap. "Shit, it's Dad."
Hawk also immediately spotted Captain George Stacy standing at the exit in a black suit, looking righteous yet radiating waves of icy menace.
Their eyes met.
He could see the wariness and scrutiny in Captain George Stacy's gaze as it landed on him.
That was only natural.
Hawk thought that if it were him, and his daughter had run off somewhere without a word before returning with a man, he would probably be even angrier than George Stacy.
Breaking that boar's legs would be getting off lightly.
What?
The boar was him now?
Oh.
Then never mind.
That was what Hawk thought.
Still, he was curious how he and Gwen had somehow reached the point of holding hands.
His memories were a mess.
But...
He was happy.
As he had said before.
It was not as though Hawk had never considered dating, especially dating Gwen Stacy, Marvel's universally acknowledged number-one girlfriend.
But before this, he had not had the confidence.
Now, he did.
Not only did he have it, he had plenty of it.
Once he gathered the Meteorites, got the Vibranium from Wakanda, and put together his Phoenix Cloth, he would have even more.
So!
Hawk watched Gwen jog ahead to George Stacy, take hold of George's arm, and walk toward George without changing his expression, maintaining eye contact with him. He stepped forward and offered his right hand first.
"Mr. Stacy, I'm Hawk. I'm sorry for making you worry."
"..."
George said nothing and did not shake Hawk's hand. After one glance, he ignored Hawk and turned to Gwen beside him.
"Let's go. Helen is waiting at home."
"Dad!"
"It's okay, Gwen."
Hawk calmly withdrew his hand and said to Gwen, "Go back with Mr. Stacy first."
He understood George. At the moment, let alone refusing to shake his hand, even if George wanted to hit him, Hawk would at most dodge and would not fight back.
After all, he was the boar.
So...
After saying that, Hawk smiled slightly at Gwen again, said goodbye to Mr. Stacy once more, and left on his own without making things difficult for Gwen.
An hour later.
Hawk returned to his apartment in Queens Bridge Park.
He turned on the lights.
He had originally thought that after being away for more than twenty days, he would find a room covered in dust.
But...
There was hardly any dust, and even the pair of shorts he had hung outside the window had been folded and placed on the sofa.
There was also an envelope on top of the folded shorts.
This was probably the letter Gwen had mentioned over the phone, the one Dr. Connors had asked her to deliver.
Thinking that, Hawk sat down on the sofa, picked up the envelope, and pulled out the handwritten letter inside.
It was a letter of recommendation from Dr. Connors to New York University.
Only then did Hawk remember that Dr. Connors had apparently earned his doctorate at New York University.
"Damn!"
"That's quite a gift."
Hawk blinked.
To be honest, the weight of this gift was indeed considerable.
Although Dr. Connors's reputation could at most be considered the icing on the cake, icing was still icing. Other people probably could not get this letter of recommendation even if they wanted one.
After all, in the West, letters of recommendation essentially meant a favor transaction.
So...
If Hawk had received this letter of recommendation before awakening his Cosmo, he would definitely have been delighted.
But now.
Hawk no longer cared whether he could attend New York University.
That did not mean he intended to stop studying altogether. It was simply that his mindset had become more balanced.
If he got it, he was fortunate. If he did not, it was fate.
After all, he had already caught sight of another future—one different and far more dazzling.
Still...
Thoughts were thoughts. At the very least, he still needed to call Dr. Connors and thank him for this letter of recommendation.
Hawk turned the envelope over. The number for Dr. Connors, handwritten by Gwen, was on it.
He took out his phone, looked at its black screen, laughed, stood from the sofa, and walked into the bedroom.
In the bedroom.
Hawk plugged his phone into the charger, sat by the bed, and waited for it to power on.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed that the photo frame on his bedside table seemed to have been moved slightly.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, reached out, and adjusted the photo frame's position, angling it toward his bed again.
There was no special reason for it.
He liked sleeping on his side, and with the frame positioned like this, there was a seventy percent chance that when he opened his eyes each morning, it would be the first thing he saw.
Done.
After putting the photo frame back in place, Hawk smiled faintly. Then, as he watched his phone finish powering on, he called Dr. Connors.
The call was answered quickly.
"This is Curtis..."
"Dr. Connors, it's Hawk."
Hawk identified himself, then apologized that he had been away traveling recently and had only just returned, which was why he had only now seen the letter of recommendation.
Dr. Connors sounded rather happy on the other end of the line.
After chatting with Dr. Connors for a moment, Hawk casually asked, "Dr. Connors, you sound very happy. Did the experiment succeed?"
Dr. Connors laughed heartily.
"Almost. One experimental mouse has given me hope of victory."
"...All right. Congratulations in advance, Doctor."
"Thank you. All right, Hawk, I need to get back to work."
"Okay, please carry on."
"..."
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