Music is "Flying" by Dan Cullen featuring Deryn Cullen.

Picture is my edit of Glory and Tony.

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

- Bernhard Russell

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The room seemed to be fading in and out. Lights flickered, voices echoed. They felt like they were filtered through a conch shell, the waves of voices coming in and out like the tide. I could feel my body fighting the drugs, fighting the weight of gravity that normally does little to my body. Whatever they've injected me with is taking it's tole harshly, like the waves upon the cliffs. What happened to the cliff after an eon?

"I didn't think you'd do it," a voice says. I can't see, my eyes are closed, but I know that voice and are able to put a face to it: Tony Stark.

"Didn't think I had the guts, old man?" another voice says, almost angrily. It's Vlad's voice.

"Not necessarily," Tony replies. "I didn't think you could betray your closest friend. I almost couldn't."

"But you did."

"We all do thing's we never thought we would in war."

"Don't question my resolve again," Vlad threatens. "I'm going to see how Dr. Cho is progressing on the weapons. Let me know when she wakes up or when the extraction is complete."

Nothing more is heard before a door slams shut. I assumed Vlad left the room, for Tony starts speaking to me, or rather, to himself. "He's a handful, Glory. I can see why you liked him."

Tony sighs heavily and groans. "I hope you never forgive me for this. I don't deserve it. It's a necessary evil." He pauses. "I guess I'm back to taking advantage of people and making weapons again. How the tables turn."

I hear a creak, and before I can pull myself to complete, undrugged consciousness, the door opens and shuts, leaving me alone in a place where I don't know where I am or what is going on. Somewhere where I'm not going to be safe if my gut is right.

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

{Third Person P.O.V.}

"What the fucking hell?" Pieteo curses loudly in Russian, throwing himself at Logan. Logan huffs, rage in his eyes and stands up to Pietro. The two prepare for the inevitable fight. "You let him take her! You did not even try!"

"You know I can't understand Russian, you ass!"

"You left her!" he repeats in English. "You did not even try to save her!"

"I tried!" Logan shouts back, pushing Pietro away from him. "She's a stubborn one. She teleported us a mile away before I could do a thing."

"Calm down," Steve orders, placing a hand on Pietro's chest, a warning look in his eyes.

Pietro glares at him, and with super speed slaps his hand away. "If Bucky was taken, you would do everything to save him."

"He has," Nat comments. "Winter 1943, Germans kidnapped the 107th. Peggy Carter and Howard Stark snuck Steve to rescue them."

Steve looks over at a smirking Natasha and gives her a look that says, "You traitor."

"Sorry, Steve. Just the truth."

"How can you both be so casual about Glory's kidnapping?" Pietro exclaims. "We have to go save her!"

"First of all," Steve says, "we didn't even know she was gone until your sister," he glares at Wanda, "and Logan returned. She didn't ask you to come with her?"

Pietro shakes his head no. "She did not. I assumed she did not want to worry me, or leave the twins alone." He turns to Wanda. "You not only let her go, but you went without me. Why, Sister?"

Wanda scowls at him and crosses her arms. "We are not weaklings. We are strong, capable women who can handle ourselves, Brother. You do not give your fiancé enough credit."

"She did save us," Logan adds. "We would've been caught, too, if it weren't for the kid."

"And yet, she did not return with you." Pietro shakes his head and glances angrily at his feet. "I could attempt to rescue her-"

"-Absolutely not," Steve says, without hesitation. "That's what got us into this mess. A rescue mission."

"I will not leave her to be imprisoned by Stark!" Pietro shouts. "She will be taken to the Negative Zone, and she will never return."

"I didn't say that," Steve says, calmly.

"What do you have in mind?" Bucky asks, standing to his feet and joining the small circle of Avengers and X-Men.

Steve glances to Bucky. "You're not going to like it, Bucky. But hear me out."

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

{Glory's P.O.V.}

The hours passed excruciatingly slow. It took all my strength just to keep a conscious and clear mind over the sedatives. The nurses suspended nothing because of my seemingly unconscious state. Thank Frigga.

Tony hasn't come back. Neither has Vlad. I haven't decided whether or not that's a good thing, and I haven't decided what I plan to do with the both of them when I get out of this joint.

They have me in a padded room. The nurses come and go, but with heavy security checks between each layer of the cell. As I said before, four layers of the prison: bulletproof glass after iron bars, then an energy field before a strong electrical current.

You can't punch your way out of this one, Glory.

I hear the door open and close again. Tony's voice says to the other nurses, "Go catch some Zs. I'll watch her vitals."

They thank him, both of them I think, and leave the room. It, once again, falls silent. He sighs. "You can stop pretending to be asleep, Glory. We both know you can fight sedatives."

I open my eyes fully, the first time seeing the cell from the inside completely. I had only been able to steal glances up until now. I pull my body up, sitting on the edge of the bed, my arms still hooked up to the monitor. "If you knew I could fight off the sedatives, then why give them to me?"

Tony sits in the chair facing the cage, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands. He looks normal, casual. Too casual for locking his "friend" up. "It made the guards feel better to have you sedated. I didn't object."

I scoff, looking around the ten by ten cell. "Of course you didn't." I pause, looking back at Tony. "So, what's your play, hm? Kidnap me, use me for ransom? Or maybe experiments? A ploy against Magneto or Steve? Whatever you want, you'll never get it."

"We already are, actually," he says. "The prison cell you're in, have you noticed the several layers of security around it?"

I nod. "Yeah. Smart move using both electricity and energy fields. The bulletproof glass and iron rods are a bit much, though."

"The energy fields aren't just for your incarceration," Tony says. "They're absorbing the cosmic energy that surrounds you at all times. It's what gives you your powers of spacial manipulation, cosmic bursts of energy, teleportation, distance manipulation, etcetera."

I turn to him with a menacing look or hatred. "You're stealing my power."

"Have you started to feel the effects yet? I wouldn't be surprised if you had. We've zapped about twenty percent already. We won't need much more to complete the weapon we're making."

"What weapon?" I ask, my curiosity peaked.

Tony smirks and chuckles. "You wish it were that easy. Sorry, Northern. You'll just have to wait and see-"

"-I had twins, Tony," I say, the thought of my babies coming to my mind. His face immediately changes, and a strange look comes across his face. If I didn't know better, I'd say it were a cross between sadness, loneliness, and regret. But I do know better. Tony Stark doesn't have a heart. "Twins. My little bundles of joy. They're home without their mother now because of you."

"I know."

"They're three months old, yesterday actually, and do you know what their names are? Or when they were born? Or where?"

"Your first is Ksenia Aspen Wanda Maximoff," he interrupts. "The second is Steven Dmirtri Maximoff. They were born at 10 p.m. and 10:12 p.m., respectively, on June 16th, 2021, in a hospital in Manhattan during Ultron's escape."

There's pause in the air. "So, you know, but do you care?"

"Of course I do, Glory," Tony says, almost in a begging voice. Begging me to believe him. "Who do you think made the press and Pro-Registration Task Force leave you alone when you were in the hospital?"

"Ultron has escaped," I reply. "I assumed they had more to worry about."

He shakes his head. "I made sure that they left you and Pietro alone. I made sure you could get home safely. I made sure that no one would hurt you while you were at your most vulnerable."

I shake my head and look to the ceiling. "I was going to make Steve and you their Godfathers."

The look on Tony's face turns from regret to absolute shame. He can't meet my gaze any longer. "I'm sorry, Glory. So sorry."

I try to contain my emotions. I try to keep the tears in, but they fall anyways. I stand and walk towards the edge of the prison cell. "Why are we fighting?"

Tony doesn't reply, nor does he raise his head or eyes to meet mine.

"Tony," I repeat, "why are we fighting?"

The grandest pause occurs, the answer hanging in the air like a curse or an unwanted gift. And his reply strikes me to the core, leaving me dumbfounded.

"I-I don't know anymore."

END CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.