"Sir, I have a message from Agent Coulson."
"Ignore. It's Christmas, these scrooges are going to have fun if it kills them." Tony Stark spoke through a roll of tape, as his hands were busy trying to adjust a somewhat tattered string of mistletoe to the kitchen door. Behind him, the living room was a holiday mess. Wrapping paper was crumpled in the corner, and hastily wrapped presents were strewn haphazardly around a lush, undecorated tree. Boxes or ornaments were stacked on of the couch, along with dangerous amounts of tinsel and a few strings of colorful lights. Outside the window, the sun hadn't yet risen, but the sky above New York was a light pink. And judging by the empty coffee mug on the counter, he had been up a while.
Tony scrambled down from his stepstool just as a timer in the kitchen went off.
"JARVIS, you got that?"
"Turning the oven off, sir." This was Tony's fourth batch, he wasn't going to let these ones burn. He fished around various drawers for a potholder ("Who organizes these things, anyways?") before finally giving up and using a dishtowel to pull a pan of cookies out of a sleek black oven. Setting them down on the stovetop, he ran back to the living room just in time to see the sun break the top of the horizon, between two skyscrapers.
"Shit." Sunrise. That meant-
"Morning, Tony. Are you cooking?"
Steve. Perfect soldier as he was, he never failed to wake up at the exact same time, day after day, right along with the sun. Tony's mind raced, trying to use this new pajama-clad development to his advantage. Even if he couldn't surprise all his teammates, he could still get the rest if he hurried.
"Hey Cap, how capable are you of icing cookies?"
Half an hour later, a somewhat stickier Captain America emerged from the kitchen into an almost spotlessly cleaned living room, a plate of newly frosted cookies in hand.
"Awesome." Tony grabbed the plate from him, placing it on the coffee table alongside a stack of board games. Glancing at his friend's handiwork, he could help but grin. There were one or two oddly shaped Christmas trees, but he had clearly given them up quickly for something he knew how to do. The majority of the desserts were decorated with perfect, cookie shaped American flags.
"Presents!"
Both men turned to see an excitedly grinning archer standing in the doorway, also still in his pajamas. Although in his case it was a black tshirt and sweatpants instead of Steve's fuzzy blue pajama set. Walking sleepily in a few feet behind him, his partner was somewhat less exited.
"It's seven in the morning, Clint, couldn't this have waited?"
"It's Christmas, Nat, of course it couldn't wait. Told you Tony'd buy stuff."
Natasha, in a red tank top and black silk pants, looked like she was ready to either fall asleep or punch someone. Tony decided to leave her alone for a while.
"Alright, gang's almost here. You early birds see Bruce on your way up?"
As if on cue, Bruce Banner appeared in the doorway, coffee in hand. "Who decided hitting my door repeatedly was the best way to wake me up, and why?"
Clint suddenly became very interested in the cookie he was eating.
Tony waved his hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter. Everyone's here, time for Christmas. C'mon, I got you guys stuff."
Clint perched himself onto the back of the couch behind a dozing Natasha, Bruce setting himself down next to her with a sigh. He, for one, had never had much luck with Christmas. Most of his teammates probably hadn't, now that he thought about it. He knew Tony hadn't really had much in the way of a happy family, although for all he knew about Steve he had a dozen pleasant holiday memories. Clint was exited as a child on his first Christmas morning, but judging by the fact that Natasha had officially fallen asleep against the archer's leg she wasn't really feeling the cheer.
His thoughts were interrupted by a box hurled at his head. He caught it just in time, barely managing not to spill his coffee. "Could we tone it down, just a bit maybe?"
Tony ignored him. "Open it."
There was no reasoning with a five year old on Christmas. Bruce ripped of shiny silver paper to reveal… his face? Or, technically, the hulk's face. On a green winter hat. He tugged the box open and pulled out a green beanie with a picture of the hulk grinning on the front. "Uh… thanks?"
"I was going to get you the one with me on it, but they sold out."
Gift giving continued like this, Tony giving each member of the team merchandise with either their face or his somewhere on it, and a few thoughtful presents ("Clearly it was Santa") hidden towards the back. Clint opened both his and Natasha's gifts, waking her toward the end only to give her one from him (a new knife).
Things quieted down after that. The assassins were in the kitchen making more coffee, while Tony tried to teach Steve to play clue. Bruce was flipping through a book on mythology tony ("Why do you continue to doubt me? I said it was Santa.") had bought him, trying to ignore the fact that he was wearing his own face on his head.
"Sir," JARVIS said, "Agent Coulson is insistent that you hear his message. He hays it is of the utmost importance."
"Dammit, Doesn't anyone know I don't work on Christmas? Tell him I'll check in later."
Steve looked up, frowning. "It might be important, Stark. Shouldn't you at least check?"
"Yeah, He'll probably-"
Ding
"Sorry, Sir."
Coulson walked into the room, somewhat irritated. "Stark, you need to learn to answer your phone. There were Chitauri in the streets last night, we need you guys to check it out."
Steve started to stand, but Tony beat him to it, pushing him back on to the ground as he jumped over wrapping paper. "Christmas, Phil. Don't you know you're not supposed to do work?"
"Tony, I-" He stopped suddenly, caught off guard by something behind the millionaire. The rest of the room turned to look almost simultaneously. Tony grinned broadly, and to his left Steve turned red. The assassins had discovered the mistletoe on the way out of the kitchen, and were very enthusiastically making use of it.
A few long moments and an awkward throat clearing later, they realized the rest of the room was watching and emerged from the kiss. Clint, who had been pinned against the side of the archway, tugged on the edge of his shirt and grinned sheepishly.
"Uhh… Hello, Agent." Behind him, Natasha burst out into uncharacteristic giggles. "Looking around at the embarrassed faces of his friends, Clint decided the situation was unsalvageable anyways. "See ya later, then." He grabbed Natasha's hand and awkwardly shuffled past Coulson and into the hallway.
There were several seconds of silence, and then…
"You know what, actually, I think we can drop the possible alien invasion for now. Do you have anything to drink?"
"Thought you'd never ask." The two men walked into the kitchen, careful to avoid the still-hanging mistletoe."
Steve, still slightly pink, asked haltingly, "So… err… are they… fondue?"
Bruce laughed quietly. "Yeah, probably." He stood to look out the huge window. Everything looked calm enough, if there had been an attack it hadn't been a very big one. Glad as he was for a day off, he couldn't help but wonder if they would regret ignoring it. Hopefully nothing would come of it, and their colleagues' new relationship could continue to be their biggest annoyance for a while.
Merry christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever works for you. Here's my gift to you of an extra chapter, featuring the avengers. Maybe not plot relevant, but i though the actual next chapter was a bit too bloody for a present. Hope you like, I wrote it kind of quickly.