Age of Darkness Christmas Special

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The Moscow Rules

1. Assume nothing
2. Never go against your gut
3. Everyone is potentially under opposition control
4. Don't look back; you are never completely alone
5. Go with the flow, blend in
6. Vary your pattern and stay within your cover
7. Lull them into a sense of complacency
8. Don't harass the opposition
9. Pick a time and place for action
10. Keep your options open

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Music: Mission Impossible Theme Extended 10 Minutes

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Part Three: Keep Your Options Open

There are bloody bodies on the ground everywhere. The rest of the people are screaming and fleeing. On the stage are dead band members and politicians, but no Russian or American Presidents.

Glory and Pietro aim the guns and fire at several HYDRA agents attempting to shoot at them. Two dead on the ground after they shoot. Banner, Stark, the younger Odinson, and Pietro's twin sister are standing around the bodies, looking for anyone left alive after the people have fled.

"Where did they go?" Glory shouts, still on the lookout for HYDRA. "They didn't just disappear! What happened to the dwarves? The plan?"

Tony Stark stumbles over his words. "They, um... they came from the crowd, the band, through the ceiling, everywhere. Some bald man in the audience screamed 'Hail HYDRA!' and they all started shooting the guests. Someone snatched the Presidents right out from under me..."

"Shit. It was him all along! The man I spoke with! He's HYDRA!" Glory lowers her gun as Tony's suit becomes a darker shade. "Stark, your suit."

Tony places his hand on his suit, bringing it up, and falling to the ground. His hand is bright red. Glory rushes to him. "Tony!" She pulls open his tuxedo to find a bullet hole in his lower left abdomen.

Banner rushes over to him and pulls the white dress shirt open. "It's not bad. I can take care of him until help arrives." He turns to Glory and Pietro. "Steve, Bucky, Clint, Nat, Thor, and Peggy went after them. They headed towards the garage under the building. If you leave through the front door, you'll be able to catch them before they leave in a car chase."

The two nod, and along with Loki and Wanda, they start running towards the front entrance.

As they enter the large hallway that leads directly to the front door, four guards start shooting at them. Glory pulls everyone back behind the corner, keeping them from getting shot. "On my count, we jump out and give them hell." She turns to see Wanda grabbing her energy blasters that Stark invented for her, Loki pulling out his throwing knives, and Pietro reloading his .44 glock. They all nod to her, and she begins to count down. "Three... two... go!"

The group of four jump out from behind the old Russian ballroom wall and fire at will at the guards. Pietro lands several bullets perfectly into one guard, two in the chest and one between the eyebrows, just as perfect a simulation. Wanda stuns and paralyzes another guard, making him fall and land on his dead partner. Loki stabs his target with many knives, one in the neck, one in he stomach, and on in the heart. Glory nearly perfectly copies Pietro in her skills, taking out the remaining guard with perfection.

They scurry through the hallways, keeping an eye out for remaining traps. "That was a bit of fun, was it not?" Loki says sarcastically. "Perhaps we should do this again. It was very therapeutic, I must say-"

"-Shut up, Loki," Pietro whispers. "We are in danger, if you cannot tell."

Loki smiles. "Oh, my bad. I assumed we were trying to get the bad men to come and find us so we don't have to find them!" A man jumps out from behind the next corner, and before anyone can react, Loki throws one of his knives at him, instantly killing him. "See? It's effective."

Wanda, Glory, and Pietro roll their eyes. "No one asked you to come, Odinson," Wanda whispers.

"No one told me to remain, either. Enjoy my company. I just saved your lives."

"You were the reason he heard us in the first place!"

Loki shrugs. "As it always is with me. I save you from the thing I created you to be saved from."

Glory looks at her companions with a confused look. "Is he always like this?"

Pietro grimaces. "Unfortunately, yes."

They continue moving, and, eventually, make it out of the building. The streets are covered with screaming people and police sirens. The KGB is already at the scene. That's the last thing Glory needs is to be caught by the KGB.

She turns to Pietro. "We have to get out of here."

Pietro looks around, trying to find a way of escape. His eyes land on two police motorcycles, already started and on the curb of the Bol'shoy Zal. "There," he says, motioning towards the vehicles. "We get out on those."

As they begin to make their way towards the curb, out of the garage blast two cars going at incredibly high speeds. One is a black car with tinted windows and bullet shots along the back and sides. The other is a white Mustang in pursuit. In the front seat of the Mustang is Peggy Carter and Thor Odinson. Tracking behind the cars are two sets of motorcycles. One carries Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, Natasha driving and Clint firing arrows at the speed of light. The other has Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, Steve driving and Bucky launching mini-missiles from his shoulder gun.

Glory grabs one of Loki's knives he's twirling in his fingers, much to his dismay, and slashes away the bottom of her dress from her knees down. "I knew I should've worn pants." She quickly hops onto the nearest motorcycle and revs it, motioning for Pietro and the others to join her. "Hop on! You're a better shot than me!"

Pietro nods and jumps on behind her, and Wanda does the same with Loki. Loki crosses his arms and glares at Wanda. "I am not getting on the back of that thing with you driving-"

"-Oh, just get on, Odinson!" Wanda shouts with threatening eyes.

By the time he does, Pietro and Glory are already halfway between them and the white Mustang, catching up very quickly with the other two motorcycles.

She's always wondered what a car chase would be like.

Glory dodges the incoming traffic, weaving in and out of other, slower cars, easily catching up to Natasha and Clint. "They have the Presidents?" she asks over the wind and falling snow.

Nat nods. "They kidnapped them! We've gotta get to them before they get away!"

Glory and Pietro nod. Glory speeds up and Pietro starts firing his weapons at the back of the black car. They move like a well-oiled machine. Glory ducks just when he fires. Pietro leans with the motorcycle on sharp turns, as to not overturn. It doesn't take long for the two spies to lead the others closer to the racing black car with two of the most powerful men in the world inside.

Glory pulls up closely beside the black car, taking a glock from her thigh holster and firing multiple times at the glass.

Bulletproof. How typical.

Pieteo does the same, firing at the exact same spot, but nothing happens. Soon, they hear a loud man's voice boom from behind them. "Duck!"

They do as they are told and Glory steers the motorcycle away in a hurry. Pietro puts his arm around her to protect her from whatever is coming next.

Bucky Barnes launches a large missile from his bazooka that rests on his shoulder aimed towards the black car. Intending only to blow the tires out, the missile hits home right on the bumper of the car, causing it to spiral out of control.

The car crashes on the side of the highway heading out of Moscow. Director Carter pulls over, her and Thor jumping out. Glory and Pietro pull over, letting the bike fall over as they march towards the car, guns aimed towards it. "Get out!" Steve shouts as he and Bucky enter the scene.

"You're surrounded!" Director Carter adds.

Director Carter and Steve Rogers? Talk about a power couple.

When the rest of the agents arrive and surround the car - Wanda, Loki, Nat, and Clint - slowly, the front door opens. One man exits the car, a small, dwarf sized man with round glasses, thin hair, and a lab coat. He raises his hands, nervously, and says, "Please, don't shoot," in a Swiss accent.

Pietro lowers his gun and groans. "This is a hoax! The real HYDRA cartel is miles away by now!"

"Where are the Presidents?" Glory shouts, pushing the gun closer to the short man.

He whimpers, and stutters, "I-I-I do not know."

"Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes." Glory presses the gun against his temple. "Tell me, or I blow your head off."

"Agent G," Director Carter warns.

Glory presses harder. "Five seconds."

"G! Stand down!"

"Four... three... two-"

"-I'll tell! I'll tell!" the man shouts, squeezing his eyes shut tightly in fear.

"Talk."

"They're on the east side of Moscow, heading towards the airport."

"They'll never get a flight out of there," Clint says.

"They won't need one," the man replies. "They have their own plane fueled and ready to go. You had better hurry if you want to catch them."

Glory lets her gun fall as she pushes him towards Director Carter. "Take the German guy and lock him up. I'm going to need air support, pronto."

"Correction, I am Swiss!"

"Whatever, Cheeseball. I prefer Russian chocolates anyways." Glory walks towards the other side of the road where she ditched the motorcycle. She picks it up and starts it, placing her glock back in its holster. "Maximoffs, Odinsons, Romanoff, Barton, Rogers, Barnes, I'm going to need you all. Head towards the airport. Nat, see if you can lock it down spy style. Cause delays, make airplanes stay in he middle of the take off pad, alert security, do whatever you have to do. Make sure they can't leave. The free world depends on it."

As Glory revs the motorcycle, and the others nod and scurry towards their vehicles. Romanoff stays behind to hack the net.

Pietro walks up to Glory. "What was that back there?"

"He wouldn't give me answers," she smirks, trying to play it off.

Pietro doesn't buy it. "You do not seem like the type of person who would kill an innocent man to get answers."

"He wasn't innocent!" she shouts in a whisper. "He's HYDRA. I had to get answers to save the Presidents."

He bites his lip in a thinking manner. "Are you sure this is just about the politicians? You do not even like them. I hear what you said over the walkie."

Glory adverts her green eyes from his piercing blue. "I have personal reasons for doing this, I'll give you that. I told you our reasons were similar."

""Two types of people who can't look at you in the eyes'," Pietro begins, "'someone trying to hide a lie, and someone trying to hide a love.'"

Glory chuckles and raises her eyes back to him. "So now you read Arab proverbs?"

"I am just full of surprises, are not I?" Pietro replies, using his statement fromearlier that evening. He smiles softly at her and places his hands on either side of the motorcycle seat where she sits. "So which is it? A lie or a love, Agent G?"

Glory looks down. Telling him her secret could put her in danger. Or the people she's trying to protect.

"I have..." she slowly says, "I have two children." She looks up to Pietro's surprised expression. "Twins. A boy and a girl. Their names are Ksenia and Steven. Their father was a horrible man. He raped me when I was sixteen. We were dating. I didn't want to do anything, but he forced himself on me... I was only seventeen when I became a mother. Luckily, he's put away for good.

"They live with the person who is closest to a sister as I have, Aspen Penrose. She takes care of them, and I visit occasionally." She swallows her tears down, trying to drown out the emotion. "They know I'm Mommy, but I barely see them, and they're already twelve years old. They started middle school this past year. Steven is so smart, and Ksenia is so strong and stubborn like her mother..."

Glory stops, nearly breaking down in tears. Pietro reaches his arms around her and curls her fragile frame against his chest, smoothing her hair with his hand. "Shh, shh, it is okay," he whispers, not knowing what else to say. "Thank you for trusting me, Возлюбленная. I know this is very hard for you."

"I told you I didn't like personal details," Glory whimpers. "I have to keep my mystery. For my twins. This money will set me free from HYDRA, the KGB, everyone. I can create a new identity and finally go home to Ksenia and Steven."

Pietro holds her tighter. "I will help you make that happen. Whatever it takes."

"Why?"

"Because," he mumbles. "I think I might love you, Glory Northern."

She blushes a deep crimson. "Thank you." Glory sniffles against him, trying to retain her composure. "We have a mission to finish, Pietro." She straightens up, wiping her eyes. "God, I hope I didn't cry all my makeup down my face."

Pietro chuckles. "You look beautiful, but no. You did not." They both blush at his words. "I hope when this is all over, you might trust me enough to tell me your name."

Glory smiles affectionately at him. "I just might, Maximoff. I just might, and thank you. For letting me bawl about my kids."

He nods and hops on the bike behind her. "That is what I am for. I have a twin sister. A very emotional twin sister. I have spent many nights letting her cry on me about her now-boyfriend, then-crush, Edwin Jarvis."

Glory laughs. "Jarvis, 'The Vision of Success', and your sister are dating? Wow."

"I did not see it coming, either. Trust me when I say he went through very thorough background checks and tests, but I could find no dirt on him. I regrettably say that he is good enough for Wanda."

Glory smirks and starts the motorcycle. "Let's go get these sons of bitches."

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By the time they get to the airport, everything has come to a halt. The air traffic is all but stopped, everyone is being inspected at every gate, and the planes are grounded. S.H.I.E.L.D. has arrived on the scene and are searching through each plane's manifests, looking for anything unusual.

As of yet, they've only found one plane that is privately owned by a high-up HYDRA agent, Robert Butler, the same man Glory conversed with at the gala in the Bol'shoy Zal.

Glory and Pietro run through the airport, looking for the gate which the private plane was to be taking off. Pietro flashes his badge to the security that blocks them. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is here. Please, let us through."

The overweight man nods to Glory. "Who's she?"

"She's going to stop the end of the world," Glory says to him. "Buzz off, Cupcake." The man moves and lets the duo pass. "God, I hate men."

Pietro chuckles to himself as they pass through the hallway towards the airplane.

Before they can get to the entrance where the passengers enter, the makeshift hallway begins to tremble. "What the hell?" Glory shouts.

"It is taking off!" Pietro replies. "We need to hurry! It is leaving without permission!"

The two make their way to the end of the hallway, normally this is where the plane connects with the airport, but all they see is a drop to the snowy ground of the Moscow airstrip. The plane is moving, abiet slowly, towards the runway. "We can't let that plane leave!"

Pietro taps his earpiece, and shouts, "Carter, we have eyes on the bird! It is leaving the airport, moving towards the runway. What are our orders?"

Glory taps her earpiece to listen to Carter's orders. "Remain stationary. Help is on its way."

"All due respect, Director, but we have eyes for ten, maybe twenty more seconds," Glory adds, watching the plane start to pick up speed. "If we lose her now, we won't find the Presidents alive. They'll be dead long before we pick up the trail!"

"You have your orders. We have backup coming in from the Americans. He will be here very soon. Remain at the Moscow airport. Do you hear me? Agent Maximoff? Agent G-?"

Glory takes her earpiece and throws it off the edge of the drop. She turns, looking around the airstrip for any help. A plane, a jet, a fighter plane, anything would be more help than sitting there and doing nothing. Her gut says act, and act she will.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots two, one-man fighter planes flown in from S.H.I.E.L.D. Glory grins to herself and turns to face Pietro; he is also smiling from ear to ear. Rule two: never go against your gut.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Quicksilver?"

He nods and jumps down onto the ground below them. He stretches his arms up towards her. "Jump. I will catch you."

Glory crosses her arms. "I don't need help."

Pietro smirks. "But you will let me try, da?"

"Da." And with that, Glory jumps off the railing of the makeshift hallway and into Pietro's arms. He sets her down on the ground, and they make a run for the unguarded twin planes.

Glory arrives at the plane first. It's a sleek, slim design made of a deep charcoal color, with a two engine system, multiple guns and missile launchers, and some Stark tech she couldn't identify. On the front of the plane is the large S.H.I.E.L.D. logo of an abstract eagle. On the rim of the side is the name "Falcon". She turns to see "Blackbird" written on Pietro's nearly twin fighter plane.

The inside is a work of art. As glory opens the entrance window and hops in, she glides her fingers over the keys and panels, grinning like a little kid in a candy store. Glory had always loved flying airplanes. It's her favorite pass time.

She pulls on a helmet from the seat and a oxygen mask, making sure everything is ship shape before she pulls out. She turns on the coms system to connect her with Pietro's plane. "Pietro, you there?"

"Here and ready, G," he replies. "Check your engines and make certain everything is good to go, but we have to leave now. They're almost to the end of the take off!"

Glory looks up to see the HYDRA aircraft starting to pull off the ground. S.H.I.E.L.D. is swarming around the airport like the plague. She sees Director Carter running towards them, waving her arms and screaming, "No!"

It doesn't stop the two rogue agents. Glory straps in and starts the plane, pulling ahead of Pietro. She begins the accent down the runway just as Pietro pulls up beside her. He looks over at her and gives her a thumbs up. "You ready for this, Возлюбленная?"

She grins and returns the thumbs up. "Let's do this, partner."

Pietro goes first down the runway, pushing the tiny fighter to her absolute limits. The engines roar as they fly down the airport streets, nearly causing a sonic boom before they even leave the tarmac.

Glory follows closely, about ten seconds behind her white-haired friend. Soon, the ground starts to dissipate beneath them, and the sky becomes closer and closer until she feels like she could reach out and touch it.

It doesn't take long for them to catch up to the HYDRA plane. The larger aircraft doesn't have the power or the fuel to try to outrun the Falcon and the Blackbird together. It doesn't stand a chance against their combines firepower either.

"Should we give them a chance?" Pietro asks through the coms.

Glory groans. "I guess we should. I'll do the honors. Sit back and listen. If they don't cooperate, we take down the right engine closest to the plane."

"Copy that, G."

Glory taps the communications pannel, and attempts communications with the HYDRA vessel. "Hey, HYDRA, we've come to hail you a warning. Get it? Hail HYDRA? Nevermind, bad joke. This is Agent G. If you know my name, then you know I don't play by anyone's rules... not even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. I suggest you land and return the world leaders to us, or we will be forced to blow you out of the sky."

It's a quick response. "Oh, Agent G," and eerily familiar voice says, "I know who you are. Or rather, who you love." Glory's confidence wavers. "Even better, I know you wouldn't sacrifice two innocent men to kill me."

"Who are we speaking to?" Pietro asks.

"Why, Agent Quicksilver! I don't believe we've had the pleasure! My name is Robert Butler, but I believe more people have known me as Johann Schmidt, or the Red Skull. I do love my new English accent and face better than my old, red and aged one. The miracles of money and plastic surgery, I swear. How is your little sister, Pietro? I assume she's well. Not at all like last time I saw her. I do hope we've moved past that kidnapping. It was all just business."

Pietro's breathing becomes harsher; Glory can hear it through the communications. She mutes the Red Skull, talking only to Pietro, "Pietro, calm down. This is exactly what he wants."

"I am attempting not to drive my plane towards his and blow him to kingdom come," Pietro rasps.

Glory makes her voice a tender, loving tone, a tone she hasn't used on anyone but her children in over a decade. "Pietro, your sister wouldn't want you to lose it over her. What would Wanda say?"

He chuckles dryly. "'Get it together, Brother. You did not come this far to be defeated by a mere threat.'"

Glory smiles as his voice becomes normal again. "She'd be right. Now, I'm going to ask this asshole one more time. If he doesn't comply, give 'em hell."

"Gladly... thank you, G."

Without replying, Glory flips the mute off, and orders, "Enough mind games, Red Skull. Land immediately, or we fire."

"I think not."

Glory shrugs. "Alright. So be it." She turn the communications off between the Red Skull and the twin fighters. Turning to look at Pietro's plane, the Blackbird, she gives a thumbs up. He does the same. "Fire at will!"

The two fire at the second engine on the right. The engine goes up in flames, and the plane tips to the right, beginning to spiral down. "Good job!" Glory shouts. The plane begins to level out and regains it's speed and altitude. "Oh, come on!"

"You did not think it would be that easy, did you, G?" Pietro teases.

She rolls her eyes. "Fire again, left side this time."

The Falcon and Blackbird do the same to the other engine, and it fails, but the plane continues on. "What else can we do, Возлюбленная? We cannot crash it."

Glory bites her lip. "I don't know-"

"-May I cut in?" a familiar voice asks. A large, red and gold airplane comes swooping in, landing in front of Glory and Pietro.

"Stark?" Pietro asks in surprise. "Weren't you shot?"

"How the hell are you flying?" Glory asks.

Tony tuts them both. "I'm alive and well and here to rescue you, and all you say is 'How the hell are you alive'? I'm disappointed, but this is my Mark 6, a prototype I've been working on for a while now. It's a unmanned aerial vehicle, a UAV! I'm not actually here. I'm just controlling it from the hospital room. Carter said the circumstances were dire. Can I be of assistance?"

Glory laughs, and answers, "Yes! Thank God, you came at the perfect time! We need to disable the plane without causing it to crash. Anything to add there?"

"I can fire an energy pulse, that should cause its systems to reboot," Tony says. "Then I can have Nat hack the system and take control. She can bring her down from there. I need you and Pietro to keep the pilot busy. Go ahead of him and play a game of cat and mouse."

Glory and Pietro nod. "Alright. Let us have some fun. After you, Agent G."

"I'll be breaking Rule nine: don't harass the opposition, but I guess this once will be alright," she teases. Glory pushes the Falcon to its limit, flying around the plane like it's nothing. She turns on the communications with HYDRA and begins to taunt them. "You know, for an old chap, you aren't very smart. You're down to two engines. I take out one more and you'll be no more."

The Red Skull laughs. "You won't fire again, but now that you're in front of us, we shall fire on you. Fire at will!"

He takes the bait and has his men fire at Glory and Pietro. "Great going, G!" Pietro shouts.

Glory grins until she starts getting shot at, realizing that dodging HYDRA isn't as easy as she thought. She turns to see Pietro having the same problem. "Tony, hurry up! We're taking heavy fire!"

"G! Watch out!"

Before Glory can dodge, a missile lands on her left flank, causing one of her wings to break off at the tips. Her plane swings harshly to the left, catapulting downwards.

"G is hit! I repeat, G is hit!"

Glory tries to pull up, pulling as hard as she can to steady out her airplane. Eventually, she is able to pull up enough to get horizontal again. Her wing is badly damaged. She won't be up for much longer if this keeps up. "I'm alright! I'm not good, but I'm alive. Tony, hurry up!"

"Almost there! Give me ten more seconds!"

Glory looks above her, realizing she can see Pietro being shot at from her decent of fifty feet. Pietro dodges expertly, but even he is getting hit here and there. Not as badly, but still hit. "We don't have ten seconds! Pietro, fall back! Fall back!"

Pietro pulls up just in time to have the last missiles miss him. "Got it! Rebooting... now! You better not be under that plane, 'cause she's gonna fall a couple thousand feet before Nat gets control!"

Glory can hear the fear in Pietro's voice. "G, get out of there!"

The plane starts to fall, slowly, then all at once. Glory has little time to pull to the side, and even less with a broken wing. She pull hard, turning the plane onto the side. She thinks she's made it, but then the wing of the plane clips her Falcon, causing her to tumble down with the HYDRA plane.

"I'm going down! I repeat, the Falcon is down!" Glory tugs at her restraints, looking frantically for the eject button. "I'm abandoning ship!"

"Agent!"

She hits the button and the entire seat shoots out from the Falcon. Her decent is still fast, plummeting towards the ground. She looks to the ground and sees her Falcon crash past the HYDRA plane and into the snowy ground of the outskirts of Moscow, the bright red flames starch against the white snow. Like blood on roses. I'm gonna miss that beauty, she thinks to herself.

She pulls her parachute and it pops out, only to be torn away by the winter winds as she comes back into the weather zone. Before, she had been above the clouds, untouchable by the snow and wind. Now she is at their mercy.

"My parachute is gone, Pietro!" Glory cries into her com on her helmet. "I'm going to crash!"

"No, you are not."

Before Glory can ask what he means, Pietro is free falling through the clouds, diving towards her at a ridiculous speed. On his back is another parachute. He must've jumped from his plane to save her, Glory assumes.

Pietro catches up to her in the harsh weather of the late Russian night. He pulls at her buckles, taking them off quickly. He wraps a harness around her waist, pulling her to him. He pushes off the chair she was strapped to and pulls the parachute lower down in the atmosphere, the sudden stop jerking them both upwards.

Glory looks up at him in awe. He jumped from his perfectly safe plane to save her, someone he barely knows. No one has ever done that for her. Ever. It fills her heart with something she's only experienced towards her twins: love.

She smiles through her tears as they fall towards the earth at a slow, steady pace. Once on the ground, Pietro pulls her helmet off and then his as well. He looks her over, trying to see if she's hurt in any way. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head no, still amazed at his compassion for a stranger. "I'm fine... thanks to you." She blushes and looks down. "Thank you for saving me. You shouldn't have."

He tilts her chin upwards, smiling down at her with a calm and sure look she's yet to see in his wild, adventurous eyes. "I was not about to let you die. Not before I could..."

"...Could what?"

"Kiss you," he chuckles, "if that's alright..."

Glory laughs. "I'm not stopping you, am I?"

Pietro smiles and leans down, gently and slowly pressing his lips to hers. She kisses back, throwing her arms around his neck as he pulls her close, lifting her off the ground.

Glory laughs, and he places her back down, still looking at her like she's an angel from Heaven. "Should we finish the mission, Agent?" He nods over to the plane and S.H.I.E.L.D. surrounding it.

She nods. "We should, but I have something to tell you first."

Pietro takes her hand in his. "What is that?"

"Gloria."

"Pardon?"

"My name is Gloria. Gloria Sasha Northern."

He smiles at her and kisses her again, this time without permission. "I knew you would trust me."

She laughs whole heartedly. "My friend's call me Glory." She pauses. "And one more thing. I think I love you, too."

He squeezes her hand, smiling from ear to ear at her. They begin to walk towards the airplane.

When they arrive, Director Carter confronts them with a stern face and arms crossed. "You two are in serious trouble. I should have you court marshaled for this!"

Pietro and Glory turn their gaze down. "We're sorry for disobeying, but not sorry for what we did. You have HYDRA, the Red Skull, and the politicians. I'd say we did good."

Carter's face softens a bit. "I couldn't have said it better myself." Glory and Pietro look up, surprised. "You did fantastic. Thank you both. And thank Mr. Stark when you visit him in the hospital. Tell him he's ten times the man his father was." Carter walks away to the area where the Red Skull is being dragged by Bucky and Steve from the plane, in handcuffs, shouting German obscenities.

Glory laughs at the entire scene. "Well, that was a surprise."

"No kidding. She must like you. She is never that soft."

Pietro turns to Glory, a happy smile on his face as his sister, Natasha, Clint, Jarvis, a hologram of Tony from the hospital, Thor, Bruce, Loki, and after the Red Skull is locked up, Carter walking with an arm around Steve, and Bucky. All the Avengers in one place, celebrating, or vowing to celebrate that evening.

The day is won. The Presidents are safe and returning to their countries without consequences. If anything, the Russians and the Americans are closer now than ever before. The infamous Red Skull is in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and will be dealt with accordingly. Without him, the horrid mobster empire HYDRA will crumble like a sandcastle in a high tide. In a couple years, they will be the stuff of legends and horror stories that parents tell their children to scare them.

The Avengers will be the same, and so much more. They will be the stuff of heroes, of legends, of myths. They will be the stories parents tell their children around bonfires to inspire them of courage, leadership, sacrifice, and love. Love most of all.

"We are all going to the Stork Club tonight," Wanda says to Glory. "Stark is buying out the place for the evening. You should come! Let us celebrate our victory!"

"With revels!" Thor adds, throwing his fist in the air.

Steve chuckles. "Oh, yes. Revels."

Glory laughs, but hesitates. "Are you sure? I'm not one of you... I'm not an Avenger."

"Of course you are," Bucky says, smirking. "You proved it today. You're one brave son of a bitch, G."

Glory nods to Bucky. "Thanks. I've just... never had a group of friends. Or family."

"I guess that's us now," Steve says, tenderly.

"It's Christmas Day," Wanda begs, taking her hand in hers. "Please?"

"Join us, please," Bruce says. "Tony will be there, in a wheelchair, but he will be there."

Eventually, she nods, giving into the pleading looks from the rest of the team. "Alright. I'll come, but first, call me by my name."

"What's your name?" Natasha asks.

Glory smiles, looking around at her newfound family, from the Odinsons, to Natasha and Clint; to Steve, Bucky, and Peggy; to Wanda and Jarvis, to Tony on the screen and Bruce holding it, and then, finally, up to her new love Pietro. It might be a little broken, it might be a little strange, but it's hers. She finally feels free enough to tell people she has come to care for about her past, share with them her present, and make them part of her future.

She's free. Gloria Northern is free at last. To hell with her Moscow Rules. She can do anything. She can do it all. The sky is the limit, and she wants to touch every inch of it.

She supposes that one rule she should keep and hold in highest reverence. Rule ten: Keep your options open. And she will. For the rest of her life, she will always keep her options open, and no matter now hard, no matter how scary, no matter how bad things seem, she will always turn to her new family to help her. She will never be alone again. Gloria Northern is forever loved, and never lonely again. Her future is as bright as the stars, and those stars are the Avengers. They will never fade.

"Glory," she says, her name like a beautiful, foreign language on her lips. "Call me Glory."

THE END.

· ~ · ~ · ~ · ~ ·

Hey guys!

So, that's it!!! What did you think? Personally, I absolutely loved how it turned out. I loved writing this so much!

Should I do more Specials like this for certain holidays/occasions? Or would you rather just have more of the same ole AoD?

Let me know! Leave as many comments as you please! Feedback makes my friggin day!

JUST SO THERE IS NO CONFUSION, THIS IS THE END OF THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. NOT AGE OF DARKNESS :)

Oh! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! :D Hope yours was as wonderful as mine.

Your friendly neighbourhood author,
- Save_Pietro_Maximoff