"This is your gift, Wanda." After dinner, Bayonetta casually presented the gift she had prepared for some time. Wanda was visibly surprised. The invitation hadn't mentioned anything about exchanging presents, leaving her feeling a bit embarrassed—she had nothing to give in return. With a reassuring look from Solomon, Wanda took a deep breath and carefully unwrapped the gift paper.
The witch's taste was unmistakably similar to Solomon's—jewels, precious metals, firearms, and blades. Even if Solomon hadn't been involved in the gift preparation, he could have guessed the general category. But this one was over the top: he had never seen anyone embed rubies and a dagger into a large-caliber revolver before. Still, he dared not criticize. Not long ago, Bayonetta had thoroughly put both him and Jeanne in their place, then made Dana prepare a new main course and forced them to eat it. Wanda was amazed by the strange dynamics of this household. The extravagant silver revolver wasn't even the weirdest thing anymore.
Compared to Bayonetta's flamboyant, witch-themed gift, Solomon's present felt much more heartfelt. It was a pair of deep red gloves with a large yellow "M" knitted into the back of each hand in thick yarn—wholesome and adorable. If Bayonetta hadn't pointed it out, Wanda Maximoff would never have guessed that Solomon had knitted them himself.
"Christmas Eve is for exchanging gifts," Solomon said with a wink. "We know Pietro plans to spend the night at the Avengers compound, so we thought we'd invite you to spend Christmas with us. Don't get the wrong idea—we're not religious or anything. We just wanted an excuse to spend some money. No prayers or hymns. You're like us—always dealing with monsters and spirits, and alone too..."
Wanda's expression grew complicated. "Thank you. Really… thank you so much…"
Bayonetta pulled the nearly tearful Wanda into a warm embrace, making Solomon a bit jealous. If he had been in charge of preparing Christmas himself, he probably wouldn't have even thought to invite Wanda. Without Bayonetta, his social life would've been a disaster. He made a silly face behind her back—only to get a smack on the shoulder from Jeanne.
"Let's watch a family comedy," Bayonetta patted Wanda on the back and shot Solomon a look. "No one's sleeping tonight—on all levels."
"Give me ten minutes, and I'll join your little activity." Solomon stood up, cradling the cat, and turned down the hall into the study. Constantine had already stepped inside from his post outside the apartment; in addition to Solomon's personal safety, much of the material in the study needed guarding. In the ongoing back-and-forth between Constantine and Dana, the Royal Guard had successfully negotiated to take over this segment of security that the Sisterhood had previously neglected. Constantine nodded to Solomon and handed over a report—a summary of the official matters Solomon had missed during dinner. Scanning quickly, Solomon's eyes stopped on a particular task from Stephanie's memo—not that he needed a reminder. He hadn't forgotten about MI5 investigating the castle in Gloucestershire.
Poor Stephanie was still busy in Europe, and old Malick was tied up dealing with political and corporate affairs. The Malick family's Christmas had been buried in business, so Solomon had no intention of burdening Stephanie with this minor issue.
He picked up a secure satellite phone and dialed Victoria Hand, the intelligence division's director, to delegate the task.
The intelligence division operated 24/7, year-round. The grueling intensity and livestock-like treatment made Agent Hand feel like she was back at S.H.I.E.L.D. again. "Pull surveillance from the Gloucestershire office," Solomon said. "Use the CIA's name. Ask MI5 to confirm whether those two in the footage are their agents. If not, request joint apprehension."
"And if they are?" Hand asked.
"Do you think the UK is run by its government?" Solomon shot back. A tired laugh came through the line. "Also, go to the secure box in my office and collect this year's end-of-year bonus for the intel department. You know the code. One of the blank checks in there is for you—write down any number you want. Stephanie was supposed to do this, but she's otherwise occupied."
"Thank you, boss."
"No need to thank me, especially since I'm making you work overtime on Christmas Eve. At least I'm not as stingy as Nick Fury." Even now, Solomon couldn't resist taking a jab at the old S.H.I.E.L.D. ways. If he thought there was even a 1% chance of seeing Fury again, he'd probably send him a gift—like a couple of captured S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"There's a good chance the footage will show S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. I'd bet my life MI5 won't be able to catch them. But that's fine—just get them out of Gloucestershire."
"Can I ask why S.H.I.E.L.D. went there?"
"You can unlock partial files from the archive, based on your clearance. Look into the flight logs of the Discipliner helicarrier," he said. "That's what the gene-locked and retina-coded tech badges I issued are for. I know you don't care about the little black book, but I want you to check its embedded program anyway."
On the other end, Victoria Hand pulled out the black ID wallet from her drawer with a puzzled expression. Following Solomon's instructions, she placed her finger on the skull emblem representing the intelligence division and aligned the twin-eagle insignia with her brow. A beam of electric blue light scanned her eye. She felt a sharp sting in her fingertip, and then what looked like an ordinary badge wallet began to display its true power.
She could now use holographic projection to browse and control every electronic device nearby, retrieving information through built-in programs. But the ID's strongest feature was its gene-encoded lock, which granted access by analyzing unique genetic sequences. Victoria Hand's clearance was red level nine, meaning she could access nearly all reality-based intel excluding magical data, along with a portion of top-secret material related to Kamar-Taj.
"This is bad. It's connected to Hydra and some ancient Middle Eastern legends?"
"Yes. But don't worry—our archaeologist Lara Croft has already been dispatched. I just hope this assignment doesn't disrupt whatever fate had in store for her." Solomon continued, "I plan to have her lead an organization dedicated to artifact collection in the future. You and the soon-to-be-established magic department will supervise it jointly. I want you to be prepared. Many ancient ruins on Earth are tied to dangerous magical forces, and even after fifteen centuries, they're still not fully explored."
Victoria Hand sighed.
"Now I understand why you're giving me that bonus, boss."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]