Marvel: The Enlightened One#59+60: Let the Hulk and the Abomination Grieve Too, A Gift from Anna

A cold fury settled over Hawk's features. His normally calm blue eyes now burned with the inferno of vengeance as the memories of that night—September 10th, 2009—resurfaced.

Gwen watched the inferno in his eyes, her own expression unreadable.

She didn't seem surprised by his reaction.

In fact, she already knew. She had asked her father, George, for a small favor and found Anya’s name on the list of victims from the Hulk's battle with the Abomination.

The photograph had been taken right after Hawk started at Midtown.

But Hawk had never once mentioned the girl in the picture. That silence led Gwen to suspect the worst. Combined with the undeniable family resemblance between Hawk and Anya...

She was a smart girl, and with a police captain for a father, finding the records had been tragically easy.

But.

...

"Abomination is dead, Hawk."

Hawk didn't answer.

He thought of the movies, where Abomination was still alive and well—even getting sprung from prison for some underground fight club. He hadn't seen what came after, but if things followed the usual pattern, Abomination would eventually get a redemption arc.

If it weren't for what had happened that night, he wouldn't have cared. Redeemed, unredeemed—it was all the same to him. But now, the thought of it filled him with a visceral, gut-churning revulsion.

It was sickening. Utterly, fucking, sickening.

The fire in his gut churned, but he forced it down. He rubbed his face, erasing the rage, and when he looked back at Gwen, his expression was calm once more. "So, what's up, Gwen?"

The inferno in his eyes was gone, as if it had never been there.

Gwen looked from the avenger of one second ago to the easygoing friend before her now, a flicker of worry in her eyes. But she could tell he was shutting the door on the topic, so she didn't push.

She offered a small smile of her own. "The recruiters from NYU are at the school today. Mrs. Snow couldn't reach you, so she called me."

"NYU?"

"Yeah." Gwen nodded. "Mrs. Snow said today's the day you have to make a decision. We should go."

Hawk was about to agree, but his eyes fell on the golf bag he had left on the ground nearby. He looked back at Gwen. "You go ahead. I have a meeting. I'm selling something."

Gwen, who had already started to stand up, followed his gaze to the golf bag, then looked back at him.

Their eyes met.

Gwen’s smile was soft, understanding.

"Alright. I'll wait for you by the trail, and we can walk back together."

"...Alright."

Hawk held her gaze for a moment longer, then nodded. He watched as she turned and walked back down the small, wooded path.

Only when she had disappeared from view did he let his gaze fall away, his eyes drawn back to the smiling face of his sister in the photograph on the headstone. For some reason, it seemed to him now that her smile was tinged with a hint of worry.

Hawk smiled faintly, as if speaking to her, or perhaps just to himself. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"And so will you... Wait for me—"

"It won't be long. I'm going to tear open the gates of Hell itself and bring you home."

After speaking the words, Hawk took a deep breath, exhaling the last of his turmoil. His expression settled back into its usual calm resolve. He got to his feet, hooked the golf bag with his foot, and caught it smoothly in his hand. He turned and walked away without looking back.

Abomination. The Hulk.

He wouldn't spare either of them. And when he was done with them, he would find a way to get his sister back.

...

After leaving the cemetery, he saw a woman standing a short distance away.

She had a wild, untamed grace, her blonde hair in an elegant chignon. Her ice-blue eyes seemed to dissect everything they saw, set in the face of a woman with a statuesque figure.

As he looked at her, she seemed to sense his gaze and turned.

A silent, instantaneous understanding passed between them.

Hawk gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

The woman's eyes lit up, and she walked toward him, extending a hand as she approached. "Anna."

Hawk took her hand, feeling the calluses on her palm. "Hawk."

He released her hand and swung the golf bag from his back, setting it down in front of them. Under Anna's watchful gaze, he unzipped it.

Anna's eyes widened as she saw the five Chitauri energy weapons nestled inside, their power cells still glowing with a faint, eerie light.

She instinctively reached for one.

Hawk zipped the bag shut before her fingers could touch them.

"Money."

"One moment."

Anna didn't miss a beat. She smiled, then pressed a hidden earpiece, murmuring a command in flawless French.

A minute later.

A tall, imposing man in a black suit and sunglasses appeared, pushing a 20-inch carry-on suitcase.

Anna held up a hand, stopping him from approaching. She walked to him, took the suitcase, dismissed him with a nod, and returned to Hawk. She pushed the case toward him. "One million."

Hawk took the suitcase with one hand while passing the golf bag to Anna with the other.

With a sharp click, he opened the case.

The sight of it—a million dollars in crisp, neatly stacked hundreds—was staggering. He'd been poor for so long that the sheer, physical reality of that much cash made his breath catch in his throat.

But he recovered quickly. He didn't bother checking for counterfeit bills. He figured she wasn't stupid enough to try and cheat someone who had a source for Chitauri weaponry.

Hawk snapped the case shut, stood up, and looked at Anna, who had just finished her own inspection.

"Well then..." Hawk spoke first, extending his hand again. "Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Anna."

Anna smiled, a genuine, dazzling smile, and shook his hand. "Please, just Anna."

Hawk's own lips curved into a slight smile.

"Alright. Pleasure doing business with you, Anna."

"And you, Mr. Hawk. And by the way, this makes us friends now, doesn't it?"

"Sure." Hawk said, the word dripping with indifference.

Anna's smile only widened. "Excellent. As a friend, I've prepared a little gift for you, Mr. Hawk. I do hope you'll like it."

"..."

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

Gwen sat in her car across the street from the cemetery gates, a worried expression clouding her features as she stared at the entrance.

She knew that Hawk's sister had died during the battle between the Hulk and the Abomination back in 2009. She had even guessed that this was the driving force behind his relentless, almost desperate need to become stronger.

The method itself was absurd—getting stronger just by throwing punches every day, to the point where he could kill the Lizard with a single slap. It defied all logic and science.

But that didn't matter anymore.

What mattered was that guessing the truth and hearing Hawk confirm it himself were two entirely different things.

But—

This was the Abomination and the Hulk she was talking about.

The Abomination was one thing, he was already dead. But the Hulk? Could Hawk actually beat him? And besides, the Hulk had fought alongside the Avengers. If Hawk went after him, the Avengers would almost certainly try to stop him.

Could Hawk win against all of them?

Gwen's mind was filled with a gnawing anxiety.

She wasn't worried about trying to convince him to let go of his anger. She wasn't going to preach about love and peace.

This was his sister, the only family he had in the world.

If he was supposed to just give up on revenge, then why did the U.S. government launch a full-scale retaliation after being attacked? Weren't they all about love and peace? So why strike back?

And if love and peace were the actual goals, would the government still be stirring up trouble and starting conflicts all over the globe?

Gwen scoffed internally, rolling her eyes.

She wasn't some naive idealist brainwashed by the public school system, she was a product of an elite private school education, a pragmatist who had earned every scholarship she'd ever received.

Just as her thoughts began to spiral, a figure emerged from the cemetery gates: a tall, stunningly beautiful woman with a regal bearing, her face hidden behind dark sunglasses.

It was Anna.

But she looked nothing like the woman who had been smiling and chatting warmly with Hawk just moments before. Now, her perfect face was cold as ice, and she walked with an aura of raw power.

Behind her, a bodyguard in a black suit followed, carrying a golf bag that clearly wasn't for golfing.

A moment later, the roar of an engine echoed down the street. Anna’s flame-red Porsche peeled away from the curb and vanished like a streak of light.

The bodyguard got into a black Chevy SUV and drove away from the cemetery.

...

A little while later, Hawk appeared at the cemetery gate.

Gwen tore her eyes away from the rearview mirror, where the Chevy had just disappeared, and got out of her car as Hawk approached, pulling a rolling carry-on suitcase behind him.

Hawk opened the trunk and lifted the suitcase inside.

Gwen watched as the car's suspension dipped noticeably under the weight. "What is that?"

Hawk stepped aside. "Take a look."

Gwen glanced at Hawk, then reached in and unzipped the suitcase.

Instantly, her eyes went wide.

She drew in a sharp, audible breath. "Hiss..."

"Yeah," Hawk said with a small smile. "That was my reaction too."

Gwen quickly zipped the suitcase shut and shot a nervous look around the street. Seeing that no one was watching, she turned back to Hawk, her eyes wide.

"Where did you get this?"

"I traded five weapons for it."

Hawk shrugged, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "You should know which five."

Gwen froze for a second, then blinked rapidly. "I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Gwen."

"Hm?"

"My acting might be bad, but your tidying-up skills aren't much better."

"..."

The photo of him and his sister, Anya, on the nightstand.

The weapons under the bed, wrapped in a bedsheet that was clearly not folded the way he'd left it. She must have found the weapons, opened the bundle in shock, and then forgotten how he'd wrapped it in the first place.

Gwen's mouth opened, then closed. She looked completely busted.

The next second, she slammed the trunk shut, her expression suddenly all business. "The people from NYU are here. We need to get back to school. Now."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and marched toward the driver's side door, refusing to even look at him. But as she turned, Hawk noticed the tips of her ears were a faint shade of pink.

It was kind of cute.

Hawk watched her hasty retreat with a small smile. He didn't press the issue, just opened the passenger door and got in.

Gwen stomped on the gas, and the car peeled away from the curb.

On the way back to school, Gwen was a silent, focused driver, still stewing in her embarrassment. She kept her eyes on the road, refusing to look at him or give him an opening to speak.

Hawk, for his part, just sat in the passenger seat, thinking about what Anna had said before she left.

A gift?

What gift??

...

The forty-five-minute drive was completed in a record thirty, thanks to Gwen's uncharacteristically aggressive driving. As they pulled into the school parking lot, she hung up a call with Mrs. Snow.

"The NYU rep is already in the office."

Hawk nodded and got out of the car.

Gwen got out as well and called after him, giving him a quick thumbs-up. "Good luck, Hawk."

"Thanks."

He walked toward the administration building. Gwen didn't follow. This was his NYU interview, not her Berkeley one. It was a formal process, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to be there.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

"Mrs. Snow."

Hawk entered the office. His eyes immediately fell on a man in a perfectly tailored suit sitting on the sofa, then shifted to Mrs. Snow. "You wanted to see me?"

Mrs. Snow waved him in. Once the door was closed, she introduced the man, who had just stood up. "Hawk, this is Mr. Gary Cooper. Mr. Cooper is an admissions officer from New York University."

The man stood up as Mrs. Snow continued, "Gary, this is the young man I was telling you about. Hawk."

Hawk quickly extended his hand.

"Mr. Cooper."

"Hawk."

Gary Cooper shook his hand, a brief, professional smile on his face that quickly faded back into a neutral, evaluative expression. "I've reviewed your scholarship application. I have a few questions for you today. Please, have a seat."

Hawk nodded and sat on the sofa opposite him.

Gary sat back down and picked up a notepad. He looked at Hawk, ready to begin.

This was both an evaluation and an interview. If he made a good impression, an admissions officer with Gary's seniority had the authority to give him an on-the-spot acceptance.

Of course. That was only if you were exceptional.

...

An hour later.

Gary Cooper closed his notebook. He looked at Hawk, then at Mrs. Snow's hopeful, expectant face. A genuine smile finally broke through his professional demeanor. He stood up and extended his hand again.

"Congratulations, Hawk. Welcome to NYU."

"Oh! That's wonderful!"

Mrs. Snow gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

Hawk was stunned for a second, then quickly stood and shook the man's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Cooper."

"You can thank my colleague, Anna," Cooper said with a knowing look. "She's the one who put your file on my desk."

"..."