Marvel: The Enlightened One#189+190: Phoenix Residence, HYDRA's Second Rise

New York City.

Manhattan.

Bleecker Street.

521A.

Behind the mailbox—which had "Phoenix Residence" freshly stamped on it not too long ago—sat a spacious single-family home with an attached garage and storage shed.

Gwen woke up that morning and immediately checked her phone. Still no call from Hawk.

She wasn't worried. After all, Hawk had warned her before leaving that this trip might take some time.

So, Gwen threw off the covers, stretched, and padded barefoot toward the bathroom.

A little while later, Fresh from the shower, Gwen towel-dried her blonde hair and tied it into a high ponytail. The first thing she did was put her Andromeda Cloth necklace back on—she'd set it aside while showering. Then she opened the closet, changed into comfortable loungewear, and left the bedroom.

Summer break had officially started. Gwen walked into the living room, flipped on the TV, then headed into the kitchen. She pulled out a few recipe cards she'd copied from her mom's collection a few days ago. She was planning to try making something new today. If it worked out, she'd have another dish ready for Hawk when he got back.

On the big TV in the living room, the lead anchor from New York's local news station was running through the day's headlines.

"News" was a generous term. Most of it was the same old stuff.

Shootings.

Bank robberies.

Welcome to America. Gun violence every day. And in New York? It wasn't measured in days. It was measured in hours.

Gwen multitasked, half-listening to the news broadcast from the living room while preparing ingredients according to the recipe card.

Just then—

"...And now, an update on yesterday's shooting in Times Square."

"According to an inside source at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the shooting was orchestrated by Sharon Carter, a suspected agent from an international terrorist organization based in London..."

"Wait, who?"

"Sharon?"

Gwen, who had been carefully measuring ingredients, froze at the familiar name. She turned around, still holding a kitchen knife, and quickly walked into the living room. She stared at the TV screen.

The anchor's face was displayed in the center, with a photo inset in the upper right corner.

It was Sharon Carter.

"The FBI has officially placed Sharon Carter on their most-wanted list. Anyone with information..."

"Oh my God."

"Sharon's been declared a fugitive?"

"That doesn't make sense."

"Isn't she part of some secret global law enforcement agency?"

Gwen stared at Sharon's wanted photo on the screen, her breath catching in her throat.

Just then—

KNOCK, KNOCK!

Urgent pounding on the front door made Gwen jump.

She turned instinctively toward the entrance.

Sharon's voice—weak, strained—came from the other side.

"Gwen, it's me. Sharon..."

"..."

Gwen stood frozen for a moment. Then she sprinted to the door and yanked it open.

THUD.

Sharon's car sat on the front lawn, engine still running. And Sharon herself—covered in blood—collapsed forward the instant the door opened, falling toward Gwen's feet.

Gwen gasped.

The next second, Snapping out of her shock, Gwen quickly helped Sharon inside, hurriedly shut and locked the door, then half-carried her to the living room. Sharon collapsed onto the rug in front of the fireplace.

Sharon had been shot twice—once in the right shoulder, once in the abdomen. Both wounds were still bleeding.

Gwen rushed to grab the emergency medical kit from the house, then knelt beside Sharon and prepared to stop the bleeding.

But just as she was about to start...

Sharon, leaning weakly against the couch, stopped her.

"The bullets are still inside. You have to take them out first."

"My dad's a police captain, Sharon."

Gwen, who had already grabbed tweezers and alcohol for sterilization, gave Sharon a reassuring look. "You're going to be fine. Trust me."

Gwen didn't know exactly what had happened.

But—

Sharon was Hawk's friend. Which made her Gwen's friend too.

That was all that mattered.

Gwen's initial panic had been because of all the blood—not fear. And she was the daughter of a police captain. After the brief moment of shock passed, she regained her composure. She might not know how to treat every kind of injury.

But gunshot wounds?

That wasn't even homework. That was basic knowledge.

Of course, knowing what to do and actually doing it were two different things.

Still, even though it took some time, Gwen successfully extracted both bullets from Sharon's wounds. Once they were out, she grabbed the suture thread and glanced at Sharon. "We don't have any anesthesia in the house..."

Sharon's pale face pulled into a faint smile.

"It's fine. Just do it."

"Okay."

Gwen didn't argue. As she began stitching Sharon's wounds, she tried to distract her from the pain by asking what had happened.

Sharon, gritting her teeth as Gwen sutured the abdominal wound, sucked in sharp breaths and quickly explained...

Long story short:

HYDRA was making a comeback.

Specifically, HYDRA agents embedded in SHIELD bases around the world had simultaneously launched their second uprising yesterday afternoon at 2:00 PM Washington time.

Gwen heard the word "HYDRA" and nearly lost her grip on the needle. She steadied herself, her eyes going wide as she stared at Sharon's pale face.

"HYDRA?"

"I thought they were wiped out?"

That's what the history books said, anyway.

So hearing that HYDRA had resurfaced—and had been hiding inside SHIELD this entire time—was almost impossible to believe.

Sharon felt the same way.

"I couldn't believe it either."

"But it's the truth. HYDRA never disappeared. They've been parasites inside SHIELD, using the organization's resources to grow stronger in secret."

"Ten days ago, I went to the black site to retrieve Dr. Merrick—the guy we arrested a few years back for illegal human cloning experiments. That's when I noticed something was off."

"The Dr. Merrick in the black site wasn't the same Dr. Merrick I'd seen in the original files."

"But all the digital records said it was him."

"I didn't raise any alarms at first. After bringing Dr. Merrick back, I went to Commander Hand and told her what I'd found."

"Commander Hand realized something was wrong immediately. She contacted Commander Hill through a secure channel."

"There was a mole inside SHIELD."

"Commander Hill was still in Wakanda and couldn't get back right away, so she authorized Commander Hand to start a secret investigation."

"Over the past few days, with Commander Hill's clearance, we discovered that it wasn't just the black site. Items in the secure storage facilities—dangerous materials—had been swapped out too."

"And the timeline went back years. Even Commander Hill found evidence that some of the Vibranium under her watch had gone missing."

"But she couldn't make a move. She was worried about tipping them off. So she secretly contacted Director Nick Fury."

"Because Commander Hill was stuck in Africa, Director Fury—who'd had his clearance suspended—was temporarily reinstated. He used his authority as director to recall Natasha and Barton from Africa, then contacted Captain America and told the three of them to meet up and track down the Vibranium shipment."

"And then..."

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"We still tipped them off. Yesterday morning at ten o'clock, Director Fury left headquarters and was ambushed."

"He made it to Captain Rogers, but was attacked again. He was pronounced dead."

"By the time Commander Hand and I got word, the HYDRA agents embedded in New York's SHIELD branch had already started moving. Caught off guard, a lot of SHIELD agents were gunned down on the spot. I was trying to get Commander Hand out of the building."

"But she took a bullet to the leg. So she stayed behind to cover me while I escaped."

"After that, I spent the night hiding. When I felt like their search had died down a bit, I found a car and drove here."

Actually, Gwen's house hadn't been Sharon's first choice.

She didn't want to bring danger to Gwen's doorstep.

HYDRA wanted world domination. But if anything happened to Gwen, the world itself would be in danger.

If Gwen got hurt, Hawk would lose it. He'd scream, "My love is dead—I don't care about right or wrong anymore," flip the table, and burn the entire planet to the ground.

But New York was a big city, and Sharon had run out of safe places to go.

Safe houses were out of the question.

This was an internal SHIELD uprising. Any safe house she knew about, HYDRA knew about too. They were probably waiting at every single one, ready to spring a trap.

Next on the list—SHIELD's allies in New York.

Thor? He was out of state with his girlfriend, Jane Foster, visiting New Mexico.

Tony Stark? Iron Man and Pepper Potts were in South Korea for the grand opening of Dr. Helen Cho's regeneration lab. They'd gone to show their support.

Carrie White, the rising witch? Carrie had left a while ago with her mentor to visit other supernatural witches in New Orleans.

As for Natasha and Barton—forget it...

They weren't even based in New York. And if Captain America was being hunted, Natasha and Barton were probably in just as much trouble as Sharon.

So after running through her options, Sharon had thought of 521A Bleecker Street.

Except HYDRA had apparently thought of it too. Sharon's two gunshot wounds hadn't come from yesterday's escape. She'd been hit on her way here, just minutes ago.

But here was the strange part...

The moment her car entered the Bleecker Street neighborhood, the two HYDRA vehicles chasing her had slammed on their brakes.

Gwen blinked as she listened to Sharon's story.

"They stopped outside the neighborhood?"

"Yeah."

Sharon nodded, then considered a possibility. "SHIELD has files on Hawk. HYDRA definitely has access to them. Maybe, in HYDRA's view, Hawk's someone they can't afford to provoke."

Reputation cut both ways.

To Hawk's friends, he was easygoing and laid-back.

But in SHIELD's records, Hawk had an official codename—Phoenix—and an unofficial nickname.

The Demon King.

Because Hawk was the kind of guy who, once provoked, would go nuclear. Best case? He'd wipe out your family. Worst case? He'd wipe out your entire bloodline.

The former was represented by General Ross's family.

The latter was represented by the Wakandans.

Even though Hawk wasn't currently in New York—only his fiancée Gwen was home... Provoking Gwen was infinitely more dangerous than provoking Hawk directly.

Hawk was the Demon King.

Gwen was the chain that kept him restrained.

The last group that tried to hurt Gwen had been wiped off the map. Wakanda's ashes were still settling.

Sharon guessed that was why HYDRA hadn't dared to enter Bleecker Street. They weren't giving the Demon King any reason to rampage.

Gwen's mouth fell open slightly.

She'd thought HYDRA was supposed to be terrifying and unstoppable. She hadn't realized HYDRA was apparently afraid of Hawk.

But was Hawk really that scary?

He was actually pretty nice. And he listened to her. When she told him to wash his hands, he washed them. When she said to—

Gwen quickly shook her head, refocusing on the situation. She turned to Sharon. "So you're saying I should be safe here?"

By now, Gwen had finished her emergency treatment.

Sharon looked at the bandages wrapped around her shoulder and abdomen. She tried to stand, but the sharp pain forced her back down.

Gwen quickly helped Sharon onto the couch.

Sharon looked at her.

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yeah."

Gwen nodded, turned, ran into the kitchen, grabbed her phone, and came back.

Sharon took the phone, glanced at the screen, and her lips twitched. She handed it back to Gwen.

"They've blocked the signal."

"..."

Gwen took the phone back. Sure enough—"No Service" flashed on the screen. She looked up just in time to see Sharon struggling to stand again.

"Wait, Sharon, what are you doing?"

"I have to leave. If they attack, you'll be in danger."

Better safe than sorry.

If HYDRA succeeded, there'd still be a chance to fight back.

But if Gwen got hurt, the world was finished.

Gwen raised an eyebrow and gently pushed Sharon back onto the couch. "They're right outside. If you leave now, you're walking into a trap. And you said it yourself—they stopped at the edge of the neighborhood. They're not coming in."

Sharon shook her head. "That only works if Hawk's here. Now that he's gone, who knows if they'll actually stay out."

Gwen sighed. "Sharon, Hawk left New York temporarily. He's not gone forever."

Sharon froze, looking up at Gwen.

Oh. Right.

Hawk wasn't dead. Just away.

Would HYDRA risk it?

...

Just then.

There was a knock at the door.

Sharon instinctively grabbed her gun from the side table.

Gwen jumped, then turned toward the front door.

A voice called from outside. "Miss Stacy. FBI."

Gwen frowned.

Sharon's voice dropped to a low growl. "They're here. Get upstairs. Don't come down, Gwen."

As she spoke, Sharon forced herself to her feet. Her pale face flushed an unnatural red. She was planning to make Gwen go upstairs while she handled this final fight alone.

But—

Gwen grabbed her arm.

"You hide. I'll check it out first."

"What? You—"

"Relax. I'll be fine."

Gwen pulled out her Andromeda Cloth necklace and smiled at Sharon. "Hawk gave me this. As long as I'm wearing it, I won't be in danger."

She remembered what Hawk had told her at Kamar-Taj. If she was ever in danger, the necklace would protect her.

And for some reason, the thought of opening the door and facing HYDRA agents didn't scare her. Instead, she felt a strange flutter of excitement.

Maybe it was because every time she'd been in danger before, Hawk had always shown up at exactly the right moment.

Like when Betty Ross sent those assassins after her.

Or when the Wakandans came.

Hawk was always there, standing in front of her, shielding her.

So, Gwen wasn't afraid. She was... almost looking forward to it.

Before Sharon could respond, Gwen turned and walked toward the door.

Sharon, who had been about to stop her, watched helplessly as Gwen headed for the entrance. She gritted her teeth, scanned the room, then pressed herself against the wall beside the door—gun raised, ready to fire the moment things went south.

It wasn't perfect protection. But it was better than actually hiding and leaving Gwen to face danger alone.

Soon, Gwen reached the front door. She glanced back at Sharon—pressed against the wall, gun in both hands—then took a few deep breaths. The moment the knock came again, she opened the door.

The instant the door swung open, Gwen saw three men standing on her front porch. All of them wore black suits with FBI vests emblazoned with the letters in white.

The three agents saw Gwen too—standing there in a pure white loungewear outfit stained with blood.

Gwen kept her voice as steady as possible.

"Can I help you?"

"..."