Marvel: The Enlightened One#227+228: Who Can Give Clones a Soul? Where Wild Theories Lead

Hawk listened to Natasha's voice on the other end of the line, his eyebrow arching slightly.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

Natasha, now back at SHIELD's Triskelion headquarters, spoke with certainty. "The scars on his body match the paper files from when we first arrested him. Every single one."

She paused, looking through the glass at Dr. Merrick, who was preparing for yet another round of testing.

"Are you sure you're not wrong about this?"

"Impossible."

Hawk smiled dryly. "He's got a problem. I guarantee it."

Like he'd said before—he didn't know why this Merrick had a soul. But his Sixth Sense was screaming at him. This Merrick was a clone.

Natasha heard the absolute conviction in Hawk's voice and didn't push back. "Alright. Director Hill is bringing in someone to run a DNA telomere length test on him."

If this Merrick really was compromised, that test would expose it.

Natural human DNA degraded over time. Accumulated mutations. Telomeres shortened with age.

But if this Dr. Merrick was a clone, the test would prove it.

Hawk wasn't stupid. He was a second-year law student at NYU.

And his fiancée Gwen studied biology.

So, After hearing SHIELD planned to run a telomere test on Merrick, Hawk thought for a moment. "Add a bone age scan while you're at it."

Dr. Merrick hadn't been missing that long.

If the man they'd captured was a clone, he'd have to be a rush job—pumped full of growth hormones to reach maturity fast.

And if he'd been artificially aged, his bones wouldn't lie. Just like tree rings—real growth versus fake growth could be distinguished.

Natasha acknowledged the suggestion and hung up.

Hawk ended the call as well.

He was already ninety percent certain the Merrick they'd captured was a clone.

What he couldn't figure out was where the clone's soul had come from.

Souls were the exclusive domain of dimensions that controlled the Laws of Life and Death. There was no way Mephisto had given it to him, right?

Mephisto was the stingiest bastard in existence. Hawk could believe the demon had cut some kind of deal with HYDRA.

But voluntarily handing over a soul? Not a chance in hell.

Hawk had practically had to start a war with the Gods just to force Mephisto to reluctantly return his sister's soul.

And Alexander Pierce's soul—

Unless you held a knife to Mephisto's throat, the old demon would never part with a single soul. Not even for his allies.

Most importantly, Hawk had been to Hell. If this soul had come from Mephisto, he would have sensed it.

But he hadn't detected even a trace of Hell's corruption on the soul inside Dr. Merrick.

It was strange.

Hawk pocketed his phone as he walked back toward the manor, his mind turning over the faint, pure scent he'd detected on Merrick's soul—something vaguely familiar that he couldn't quite place.

...

Soon.

When he stepped back into the main hall and his gaze landed on Caroline Fox—Gwen's cousin, sitting cross-legged on the sofa near the fireplace—the puzzle piece finally clicked into place.

Caroline carried a trace of that same scent.

Wait.

So did Damon, the vampire.

But the scent on Caroline and Damon was different from the one embedded in Merrick's soul. Theirs wasn't inherent—it was like they'd come into contact with someone who carried that scent naturally, and it had rubbed off on them.

Caroline's trace was stronger.

Damon's was faint.

That explained why Hawk hadn't made the connection when he'd encountered Damon, but it had clicked the moment he'd seen Caroline again.

Who did both Caroline and Damon know?

Hawk's mind rifled through the main cast of The Vampire Diaries as he made his way toward the living room at Gwen's beckoning.

He pulled out his phone and handed it back to Gwen.

Gwen took it, then looked at him.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just an update on yesterday's situation. Final results aren't in yet."

Hawk smiled as he sat down on the sofa across from them, smoothly steering the conversation toward Caroline's college plans. "Caroline, have you decided on a school yet?"

Gwen laughed and glanced at Caroline beside her. "I was just asking her the same thing."

"And?"

"She said she hasn't decided yet."

Gwen shook her head and turned to Caroline. "You've only got one semester left after this year. High school isn't the end—it's just the beginning. College isn't the end either. It's the starting line. And a good college determines where that starting line is."

Caroline smiled. "Gwen, you sound just like my mom."

She still hadn't looked at Hawk.

For some reason, she was scared of him. Even though they'd only been in the same room for less than two hours.

But she couldn't shake the feeling. She was terrified of him.

Gwen heard Caroline's teasing and shook her head, about to respond when the sound of the front door opening made both of them turn.

Two people entered.

One was a middle-aged woman in a police uniform who bore a striking resemblance to Helen.

The other was a younger woman, probably around Caroline's age.

The officer was Liz Fox.

Gwen's aunt. Caroline's mother.

As for the young woman—

Elena Gilbert.

The moment they walked in, Gwen and Caroline both turned to look.

The next second, Gwen stood up from the sofa, smiling brightly as she walked over and embraced her aunt. "Aunt Liz!"

Caroline, meanwhile, moved toward her friend Elena, concerned. "Elena, what's wrong?"

Elena visibly relaxed when she saw Caroline was alive and well.

Because just moments ago, Damon had stumbled back to town covered in blood, scaring the hell out of both Stefan and Elena, who had been on a date.

Damon told them a stranger had shown up at Caroline's grandfather's estate. And that stranger had beaten him within an inch of his life.

Stefan and Elena had assumed the werewolves were back and had rushed over to rescue Caroline.

On the way, they'd run into Sheriff Fox—Caroline's mother, Liz.

Elena had quickly improvised, saying they were just coming to visit Caroline.

And so, The two of them had entered together.

Stefan, meanwhile, stayed outside as backup. If there really were werewolves inside, sending him in would have been suicide.

But...

Nothing seemed wrong here.

Just some strangers she didn't recognize.

Was it him?

Elena's gaze landed on the man who had followed Gwen over, shaking hands with Liz under Gwen's introduction.

Gwen, she knew. Caroline's cousin from New York.

But this guy—Hawk...

Elena turned to Caroline.

"Who is he?"

"Hawk. My cousin's fiancé."

"Fiancé?"

Elena blinked, glancing at Hawk and Gwen before lowering her voice. "Isn't your cousin only twenty?"

Caroline nodded. "Yeah. She said they met when they were sixteen."

Elena's expression cleared.

"Childhood sweethearts."

"...I guess."

Caroline thought about it and nodded, though she still felt like Gwen's retelling of how she and Hawk had met, fallen in love, and gotten engaged had been... artistically enhanced.

But she had no proof.

Caroline shook off the thought and looked at Elena, who had shown up so suddenly. "By the way, Elena, why are you here?"

Elena snapped back to attention.

"Let's talk outside."

"Okay."

The two turned and headed for the door.

Hawk, standing beside Gwen as she chatted with Aunt Liz, caught the movement out of the corner of his eye but didn't pay it much mind.

His earlier confusion had already been answered.

Now he just needed to find an opportunity to confirm his theory.

No rush.

He was here to help Gwen visit her family. Not to work.

...

Outside the manor.

Stefan had been anxiously waiting by the car ever since Elena and Liz had gone inside. The moment he saw his girlfriend and Caroline emerge, relief washed over him.

Caroline, however, was completely confused.

"What's going on? Did Jules come back?"

"No."

Elena shook her head, then explained what had happened—Damon coming back badly wounded, saying the person who'd nearly killed him had come from the Fox estate.

Damon got hurt?

Caroline frowned. For some reason, she didn't feel worried. If anything, she felt... vindicated.

Damon was a piece of garbage, after all.

Ever since becoming a vampire, Caroline had regained the memories Damon had compelled away—memories of him using her as a blood bag and worse.

Still—

"Someone from our estate? That doesn't make sense. The only people there today are my cousin and her fian—"

Caroline stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she turned to Elena.

"It was him?"

"..."

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

Caroline instinctively turned to look at Elena.

Elena's mind flashed back to the image of Hawk she'd seen earlier at the estate.

Meanwhile, Stefan—who hadn't gone inside—listened to the two girls' conversation, completely lost.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Hawk."

Caroline glanced at Stefan, then seemed to remember something. "My cousin's fiancé. Oh, right—Stefan, can you sense him?"

Stefan looked toward the Fox estate.

He could sense Sheriff Liz Forbes, who had just gone inside. He could also sense an unfamiliar female presence—that must be Caroline's cousin.

Stefan even sensed the servants in the manor, along with William Fox, who was currently being attended to by a maid as he got out of bed.

Beyond that—

Nothing.

Stefan pulled his focus back and turned to Caroline.

Caroline met Stefan's gaze and seemed to already know what he was about to say. Her expression turned serious as she spoke first. "He's in there."

Stefan's eyes widened instantly.

Now it was Elena's turn to be confused.

She listened to her boyfriend and her friend talking, completely baffled. "Wait, what are you two talking about? What do you mean 'he's in there'?"

Stefan's expression turned grave as he looked at his girlfriend and explained that he couldn't sense Hawk's presence at all.

Elena frowned at that.

"So what does that mean?"

"His life force is above ours."

Stefan's voice was low, his face serious.

And it wasn't just above vampires. To be precise, it was above the entire supernatural hierarchy.

This was a fundamental difference in life force levels.

The only possible explanation for why he couldn't sense Hawk was that Hawk's life force had already transcended the supernatural.

Hawk wasn't just supernatural. He was beyond supernatural.

Elena listened to her boyfriend's explanation, glanced at her friend's serious expression, then recalled the image of Damon covered in blood earlier. She drew in a sharp breath and turned to Caroline. "What's your cousin's fiancé's background?"

Caroline shook her head.

Stefan's tone remained grave. "Whatever his background is, the most pressing question right now is why he attacked Damon. Damon said if he hadn't run fast enough, he wouldn't have made it back."

Sure, Damon was a jerk.

Sure, Damon had a thing for his current girlfriend.

But he was still his brother.

His actual brother.

Simply put, no matter how many faults Damon had, if something happened to him, Stefan wouldn't stand by and let an outsider hurt his brother.

Elena suddenly remembered something—when she'd walked in with Sheriff Liz Forbes earlier, the look Hawk had given her. It had seemed almost... knowing. She frowned. "You don't think he came here looking for Katherine, do you?"

Stefan and Caroline both turned to look at Elena.

Elena took a deep breath and looked at them both, recounting the way Hawk had looked at her when she'd entered. "His expression... he looked confused at first. Then he seemed to realize something. Like he thought I shouldn't be there. Then he seemed to figure out I wasn't who he thought I was."

Plenty of people had mistaken her for someone else before.

After all, there was another person who looked exactly like her.

Katherine Pierce.

A woman who looked identical to her, who also happened to be a five-hundred-year-old vampire. And Stefan and Damon's ex-girlfriend.

Stefan's expression remained serious. "Katherine's been wandering the world for centuries. That's definitely possible."

Caroline looked shocked.

"Are you saying my cousin's fiancé might be one of Katherine's ex-boyfriends?"

...

"Pfft!"

Inside the manor, Hawk—who was sitting on the couch next to Gwen while catching up with Aunt Liz—couldn't help but laugh out loud at the wild conversation happening outside.

Gwen and Aunt Liz both stopped talking and turned to look at Hawk.

Gwen glanced at him, blinking.

Liz smiled warmly, also looking at Hawk.

Hawk's mind raced. He turned to Liz. "Sorry. I just remembered—on the way here, Gwen tried to scare me by saying the town had vampires."

Liz, sitting on the opposite couch, visibly froze for a split second, though her smile quickly returned. She looked at Gwen with a stern expression. "Gwen, Mystic Falls relies on tourism. This is your hometown. How could you say something like that?"

Gwen opened her mouth, glanced at Hawk, then turned to her aunt.

"Sorry. I was just messing with Hawk."

"Don't believe her, Hawk."

Liz, having steadied her expression, smiled at Hawk. "Vampires? Come on. We believe in science here."

Hawk nodded. "Of course, Aunt Liz."

Just then, Caroline walked back inside.

After their brief brainstorming session outside, the three of them had come to a conclusion that—from Hawk's perspective—was absolutely insane.

Hawk was possibly one of Katherine's ex-boyfriends.

After discussing it, they'd decided that Caroline, using her family connection, would try to subtly figure out why Hawk was really in Mystic Falls at this particular time, and who he actually was.

And so, Caroline walked in with a smile, casually asked, "What are you all talking about?" and naturally took a seat beside her mother, Liz.

Liz glanced at her daughter and said in a joking tone, "Hawk just told us that when Gwen was driving into town, she tried to scare him by saying we have vampires here."

Caroline's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself.

"Haha, vampires? No way. Cousin, how could you say that? What if people outside actually start thinking our town has vampires and get too scared to visit?"

"I was wrong."

Gwen looked helpless as she apologized yet again.

Caroline quickly changed the subject. "Oh, right—Gwen, Grandpa mentioned you're planning to spend Christmas here?"

Gwen nodded. "Yeah. We'll head back to New York after Christmas. We wanted to spend the holidays with Grandpa."

Liz smiled. "You really should spend more time with him. After he found out you got engaged, he wanted to fly to New York to see you several times."

Gwen blinked.

"Mom didn't tell me that."

"Well—"

Liz was about to explain when she caught sight of William descending the staircase, refreshed from his nap. She smiled. "Your grandpa's here now. You can ask him yourself."

William, looking much more energized after his nap, walked over with a cheerful grin. "Ask me what? Oh, Hawk—did you see the photos? What did you think?"

Hawk met William's beaming expression, his tone completely serious. "Can’t say I’m surprised."

William burst into hearty laughter. "Ahahaha."

Gwen listened to her fiancé and grandfather openly discussing their shared views, and her mouth twitched.

Aunt Liz blinked in realization, then shook her head with mild exasperation.

Caroline, sitting beside her, looked confused as she glanced at her mother.

"What photos?"

"Old photos from the Fox family history."

Aunt Liz couldn't exactly explain in detail. As the town sheriff, some things could exist, but they couldn't be openly discussed.

William looked at Hawk. "Want to tour the Fox family vault?"

"Sure."

Hawk had heard Gwen mention it before—the vault held all the trophies from throughout history.

Only William had the key to the vault. Even Helen and Liz couldn't enter without his permission.

And now, William was inviting Hawk.

Gwen, hearing her grandfather's invitation, chimed in. "Grandpa, Caroline and I have never been inside the vault either. Can we come look too?"

William shook his head. "No. Just Hawk. Come on, Hawk—I'll show you the foundation of the Fox family legacy."

Hawk nodded, stood up from the couch, gave Gwen a helpless look, then followed William toward the manor's secondary building.

...