Cabbage Brings Back a Wild Boar

It was five in the afternoon.

New York, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or JFK International Airport.

Police Captain George Stacy of the NYPD's 19th Precinct, feeling like he was about to go crazy, paced back and forth near the arrival gate.

This is the end of the world.

The little cabbage he had painstakingly raised was finally being eyed by a wild boar from outside.

And not just any wild boar, but a truly wild one.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was, from the current situation, it seemed, it appeared, that the little cabbage he raised had actively gone looking for that wild boar.

George found it hard to understand, but that also wasn't the point anymore.

At this very moment, George had only one thought in his mind.

He wanted to shoot the wild boar that had taken his little cabbage away.

Just then.

The flight that had taken off from Haggs Field Airport in Maryland and arrived in New York began disembarking passengers.

George, who had been pacing, took a deep breath and stood at the arrival gate, looking inside.

The next moment.

His breathing hitched again.

Jesus Christ.

What was he seeing?

His precious daughter was holding hands with some handsome wild boar he didn't know from who-knows-where?

George's face instantly darkened.

The other people waiting to pick up passengers nearby seemed to sense a chill and instinctively glanced at George, then naturally moved away from him.

Finally.

The couple, who had just gotten off the plane and had only recently become official, also felt the intense coldness coming their way.

Gwen instinctively glanced in the direction of the chill, then her small hand made a splat sound as she let go of Hawk's right hand. "Shit, it's Dad."

Hawk also saw Captain George Stacy at the arrival gate immediately – dressed in a black suit, exuding righteousness, but currently radiating an icy aura.

Their eyes met.

He could see the wariness and scrutiny in Captain George Stacy's gaze as it fell upon him.

This was understandable.

Hawk thought that if it were him, and his daughter ran off without a word only to bring back a man, he would probably be even angrier than George Stacy.

Breaking the wild boar's legs would be considered light.

What?

The wild boar was him now?

Oh.

Never mind then.

Hawk thought to himself.

But he was still a bit curious how he and Gwen had reached the point of holding hands.

His memories were jumbled.

But...

He was happy.

As he said before.

It wasn't that Hawk hadn't thought about dating, especially dating Gwen Stacy, the most publicly recognized girlfriend in Marvel.

But before, he hadn't had the confidence.

But now he did.

Not only did he have it, he had a lot of it.

Once he collected the Meteorite next, got the Vibranium from Wakanda, and put together his Phoenix Cloth, he would have even more.

So!

Hawk watched as Gwen, who had already jogged ahead to George Stacy and was now holding his arm, showed no change in expression. Maintaining eye contact with George, he walked up to him and extended his right hand first.

"Mr. Stacy, I'm Hawk. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"..."

George didn't speak, nor did he shake Hawk's hand. He merely glanced at him, then ignored Hawk and looked at Gwen beside him.

"Let's go, Helen is still waiting at home."

"Dad!"

"It's okay, Gwen."

Hawk calmly retracted his right hand and said to Gwen, "You go back with Mr. Stacy first."

He understood George. At this point, George wouldn't even shake his hand, let alone attack him. He would just dodge and not fight back.

After all, he was the one who turned into a wild boar.

So...

After speaking, Hawk smiled slightly at Gwen again, then bid farewell to George, saying "Goodbye, Mr. Stacy," and left on his own, not wanting to make Gwen uncomfortable.

An hour later.

Hawk returned to his apartment in Queens' Bridge Park.

He turned on the lights.

He had expected the room to be covered in dust after being away for over twenty days.

But...

There wasn't much dust. Even the pair of shorts he had hung outside the window before were folded neatly on the sofa.

There was also an envelope on top of the folded shorts.

This must be the letter that Dr. Connors had asked Gwen to deliver, as mentioned on the phone earlier.

Hawk thought to himself. He sat on the sofa, picked up the envelope, and took out a handwritten letter from inside.

It was a letter of recommendation from Dr. Connors to New York University.

Hawk then remembered that Dr. Connors' doctorate was indeed from New York University.

"Hiss!"

"This gift is quite substantial."

Hawk blinked.

To be honest, the weight of this gift was indeed considerable.

Although with Dr. Connors' reputation, it was merely adding icing to the cake, it was still icing, and others would likely struggle to obtain such a letter of recommendation.

After all, in the West, a letter of recommendation was essentially a form of transactional favor.

So...

If Hawk hadn't awakened his Cosmo before, he would have been overjoyed to receive this letter of recommendation.

But now.

Hawk no longer cared whether he could attend New York University.

However, he hadn't considered dropping out of school entirely. It was more that his mindset had changed.

"Fortunate if I get it, destined if I don't."

After all, he had already seen a different, more vibrant future.

But...

Despite his thoughts, he still felt he should at least call Dr. Connors to express his gratitude for the letter of recommendation.

Hawk turned the envelope over. Gwen's handwritten number for Dr. Connors was on it.

He took out his phone from his pocket, looked at the black screen, and chuckled. He stood up from the sofa and walked into the bedroom.

In the bedroom.

Hawk connected his phone to the charger and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for it to boot up.

Then, his peripheral vision caught the photo frame on his bedside table, which seemed to have been slightly moved.

Hawk raised an eyebrow, reached out, and adjusted the frame's position, angling it back towards his bed.

No reason other than...

He liked to sleep on his side, and with the frame positioned like this, there was a seventy percent chance he would see it immediately upon opening his eyes each day.

Done.

After repositioning the photo frame, Hawk smiled slightly and looked at his phone, which had just finished booting up. He dialed Dr. Connors.

The call was answered quickly.

"This is Curtis..."

"Dr. Connors, it's me, Hawk."

Hawk introduced himself and apologized for his recent trip, explaining that he had only just returned and had therefore only just seen the letter of recommendation.

Dr. Connors on the other end of the line sounded very happy.

After chatting with Dr. Connors for a couple of minutes over the phone, Hawk casually asked, "You sound very happy, Dr. Connors. Did your experiment succeed?"

Dr. Connors chuckled.

"Soon, a lab rat has given me a glimpse of victory."

"...Alright, congratulations in advance, Doctor."

"Thank you. That's all, Hawk, I need to get back to work."

"Okay, you do that."

"..."

Have a great weekend, please collect, please read, please give me everything!! I'll be updating explosively tomorrow!!!