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Hawk met Wanda's gaze, his eyes calm, and offered a mild smile.
Why should he help Earth? Just because he was born here?
With great power comes great responsibility?
When has responsibility ever really been about power? It's always been about authority.
Aside from being a native Terran, what did Hawk owe Earth? Nothing, he wasn't its elected representative. He wasn't its god.
Hawk thought about all this as he looked at Wanda. "I've already given Sharon the options."
Wanda's eyes narrowed. "The culling option?"
"Do you think that's cruel?"
"Look at it this way. Earth is sick. It has a disease that makes it blow up once the population gets too high. So, there are two choices. First, do a targeted surgery to lower the population. Second, enjoy the time you have left, then get wiped out in the explosion."
"If it were up to you, which one would you choose?" Hawk looked at Wanda's tense expression with a slight smile. He was curious about what she would pick.
Wanda's face froze as she weighed the two options.
Hawk waited patiently. As Wanda struggled with the choice, his thoughts wandered to another problem.
Simply put, Hawk was never one to just wait around. He had promised Gwen he would find her. He had sworn he would cross the multiverse and bring her home.
So, Hawk still wanted to breach the multiverse.
But there was a problem... The temporal traps were out there, waiting for him to slip up. And comprehending the Eighth Sense wasn't something he could brute-force overnight.
He didn't want Gwen to wait too long, as he felt he was at a dead end. However, Hawk understood that situations aren't always as bleak as they appear.
There had to be a way to bypass Time's traps and enter the multiverse.
He just hadn't figured it out yet—
He had a troubling feeling that he already knew the answer, that the key was buried somewhere in his mind, but since returning from the Parasol World Tree, he hadn't been able to pull it to the surface.
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Hawk was absorbed in thought.
Wanda broke the silence, delivering her answer. "I don't know."
"That's normal." Hawk snapped back to the present and smiled. "It was just a hypothetical. Don't let it bother you."
This Wanda wasn't the Scarlet Witch from the other universe. She wasn't broken by losing her parents, shattered by losing her children, twisted by Agatha Harkness, or corrupted by the Darkhold.
She went from the Hydra base underwater straight to a peaceful life in Westview. She had wanted to avenge her parents, but now? The Maximoffs were together again, she had a daughter and two healthy sons, and life was good.
It made sense that Wanda couldn't pick between two terrible choices.
Wanda frowned at Hawk's comforting tone. A notion struck her. "What would Gwen choose?"
Hawk's eyebrow lifted. "Gwen?"
"Yes. If Gwen had to make that choice, which one would she pick?"
"..." Hawk stuffed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Option one, the culling."
"This is concerning survival or total destruction. It's a problem that needs rational logic. When feelings can't help, Gwen would pick reason right away."
Either save yourself. Or be destroyed.
Yes, saving yourself might require sacrificing a continent.
But giving up one continent to save the rest, or sacrificing a minority to let the majority survive, is the best choice from a Darwinian point of view.
The leaders of the world's superpowers, hearing the words "survival" or "annihilation," would choose "survival" without blinking.
As for which continent would they choose to sacrifice? That wasn't a hard question to answer.
Wanda listened to Hawk's assessment, her frown deepening. "Option one?"
"Without a doubt." Hawk nodded, then changed the subject and gave Wanda a small laugh. "But after making that choice, Gwen would ask me if I had a way to cure Earth's 'cancer.'"
Wanda blinked, looking up at him. "And do you?"
"Of course." Hawk shrugged. "A few years ago, I ran into the Celestial growing inside Earth. I took some of its energy, which slowed it down. So yes, I have a way to handle it."
Before, he couldn't. He hadn't been strong enough.
Now, he could.
Wanda listened, stunned for a moment. "That's a third option. You didn't tell me there was a third option."
"It's a hidden option."
"…" Wanda opened her mouth, then closed it again, staring at Hawk's amused smile. She shook her head. "So, will you…"
"No!" Hawk refused right away. He looked at Wanda. "Now, can you guess why I don't want to get involved?"
Wanda met his gaze, her mind darting. The next moment, she came up with an idea, and the more she saw his smirk, the more sure she was.
Wanda snapped out of her thoughts, looked at Hawk's smirk, and realized what he was up to.
Hawk saw her expression and knew she'd figured it out. "Tiamut is different."
"Huh? This Tiamut…" Wanda blinked, surprised by the sudden change. She stared at him.
"That's the name of the Celestial gestating inside Earth." Hawk smiled. "I met Tiamut a few years back. He's different from the other Celestials."
He had the power to prevent Tiamut from ever emerging.
But he didn't want to.
From a certain point of view, Tiamut wasn't an enemy. He was a friend.
The Adamantium.
The Life Energy.
Tiamut had given him those things.
Sure, he had taken the Adamantium himself, but the Life Energy was different. If Tiamut had not allowed it, even in his dormant state, he could have crushed him with ease.
So yes.
Tiamut was different from the rest.
"He understands me." Hawk looked at Wanda with deadpan sincerity. "Therefore, Earth must decide its own future. I will not interfere."
From a certain point of view, Tiamut really was different from the other Celestials, and he really did understand Hawk.
Not that Wanda had ever met another Celestial to compare him to.
Using a sleeping cosmic being as an excuse not to act was exactly the sort of thing Hawk would do.
Still...
Seriously, big brother? That's your excuse?
Then she paused.
No, little brother.
Wanda remembered how old Hawk really was. She blinked as she watched him put on the act of a man torn between his loyalty to Earth and his bond with Tiamut, insisting that he had to remain neutral. She stared at him for a long moment before finally sighing.
"Does this Tiamut know he understands you so well?"
"As long as I know he understands me, that's enough."
Hawk flashed a bright grin.
As everyone knew, Hawk chose his friends based on feeling, not status or affiliation. If he liked you, then you were his friend.
So... If Hawk said Tiamut understood him, then it did not matter what Tiamut himself thought.
Of course, whatever Earth decided, Hawk would respect it. If he disagreed or failed to understand, he would simply keep those thoughts to himself.
Just as he had told Sharon: survival or destruction. The choice was theirs.
Wanda fell silent as she looked at the grin on his face, then turned toward the edge of the porch.
Sharon had already left earlier.
An urgent update had called her back. She was now walking up the steps, which meant she had heard their exchange.
Wanda gave her a polite nod.
Hawk turned around and feigned surprise. "Hey, Sharon. I thought you'd left. Did you just get here? You didn't hear anything important, did you?"
Wanda rolled her eyes.
She did not believe for a second that Hawk had not noticed when Sharon arrived.
Even she had sensed Sharon approaching around the moment she asked whether he was really planning to stay out of it.
Sharon kept her expression neutral and gave a small shrug. "Just now. What were you two talking about?"
Wanda raised an eyebrow.
Hawk shrugged right back. "We were just talking about one of the multiple-choice questions from Anya's homework. She got stuck, and I said even a grade-schooler could solve it."
Wanda shot him a sidelong glance.
Sharon smiled. "Anya only just got back. Give her a little time to adjust. I'm sure she'll figure out the right answer."
Hawk nodded. "I hope so. Anyway, did something happen?"
"Yes." Sharon's expression turned grave. "Tony Stark and Doctor Strange just got back."
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