No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Chapter Four: Snowball Fight!
Disclaimer: Once again, nothing belongs to me. The characters belong to Marvel and the songs belong to their respective owners.
On the weekend of December 15th, Peter returns back to Avengers Tower, surprised to be greeted by three feet of pure, untouched snow. With a smile as infectious as the flu on his lips, Peter jumps into the elevator, riding up to the common room, a secret in his mind and a feeling of peace and love in his heart. Upon entering the common room, Peter's smile is matched by smiles from his surrogate family, and the boy's excitement carries through the Avengers, Loki, Jane, and Pepper.
(Okay, so maybe excitement isn't the right word for Loki, but he is still managing to look happy to see the boy, at least, which is more than can be said about when Loki sees other members of the Avengers.)
"It's snowing!" Peter cheerfully shouts, a red knit hat atop his head and blue gloves covering his hands to combat against the winter weather. "This is the most snow I've seen in years! We've gotta go play in it!" he continues in an excited tone of voice, bouncing around the room on the soles of his feet, making Pepper smile at the excitable teenager. "Mr. Stark! Can we, can we, can we?!" Peter asks for permission in a way that seems almost childlike, and it is one of the infinite times that the CEO of Stark Industries can see the father and son bond between two of her favorite people in the entire galaxy.
"Sure, kid. We can go play in the snow if you so desire," Tony begins, and Peter begins to speak before Iron Man is even finished, just so excited that Tony Stark agreed to something so trivial and domestic as playing in the snow with a teenager and a bunch of other adults that includes two Asgardians, two master assassins, the Incredible Hulk, the CEO of Stark Industries, and two World War II veterans that had both been experimented on, one for the greater good and one for pure evil.
"Yes! You won't regret this, Mr. Stark! I can just see how much fun we'll have when-"
"If…. And I mean only if you help make Christmas cookies when we come back from the park, Peter. Thor and Steve have been wanting to make homemade cookies since you left last Sunday, but Bruce, Jane, and Pepper wanted to wait for you, Spiderling."
"Deal!" Peter shouts, running towards the elevator, whooping in excitement at the prospect of playing in the snow with the Avengers. "I hope someone has a sled we can use!"
"Put on extra layers of clothes first before you go outside!" Steve calls after the teenager while Captain America lifts himself off the couch and walks over to the coat rack to grab his winter apparel. "You'll catch your death out there otherwise!" he cautions, and when he looks over at the couch, Tony is smugly staring at him. "What, Stark?"
"Thanks for the public service announcement, Dad," Tony deadpans, and it takes all the self-discipline Steve has not to wrap his hands around Tony Stark's neck and throttle him for his deprecating jokes.
It's not Steve's fault that he was frozen in the ice for 75 years and still acts as if he is still in the 1940s.
"Let's just get outside before Peter hurts himself trying to do a backflip down the stairs or something similar," Captain America sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before following Natasha and Clint to the elevator.
"I'll drive the largest group of us to the park in my car," Clint offers, grabbing his car keys from the bowl on the coffee table before slipping a pair of black gloves on over his calloused hands.
Filing out of the Avengers Tower, everyone wears a smile on his or her face as the prospects of playing in the snow like a family dance in everyone's head.
Reaching Central Park, the Avengers are the only ones in attendance, a very surprising fact given that it is the weekend and most kids would rather spontaneously combust than miss a snow day like this.
"Are we picking teams?" Peter asks excitedly, tromping through the snow in his goulashes, resulting in snow splattering against Bucky's coat as the Winter Soldier follows behind the teenage boy. "Because I think that's the best way to start off a snowball fight!" he continues to speak, and it is, frankly, beginning to grate on Loki's last nerves as Peter and Natasha go back and forth picking teams.
So, what does the God of Mischief do? Well, Loki scoops up a mound of crystal white snow in his hands, mashes it into a ball, and then holds the newly formed snowball up to his lips. With a devilish smirk, Loki blows on the snowball, using his magic to crystalize ice inside of the snowball, guaranteeing that this particular snowball will have a harder impact than regular snow. With the same devilish smirk still spread on his lips, Loki stretches his arm backwards as far as possible, building up a vast amount of potential energy before releasing the snowball at a break-neck speed. The snowball hurtles through the sky, avoiding the gaze of everyone in the Avengers family as they continue picking teams. Upon descending towards the ground, the icy snowball forcefully smacks Thor in the back of his head and neck, shattering the ice shards and allowing the frozen precipitation to run down his neck and into his winter coat.
"Okay! Who threw that?" Thor demands, a slightly amused look on his face as he wipes snow out of his blonde hair, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. "I did not believe we were starting this snow war yet, and so I am upset I did not get to make the first strike," he announces in a teasing tone, knowing that his team should surely let him come up with their strategy since he was, after all, commander of the armies of Asgard.
"Well, it wasn't the legendary Hawkeye, brother," Loki jokes with his wry sense of humor, earning him a slight shove from Clint as the master of the bow and arrow gets into position behind a snow bank.
Rearing his arm backwards after collecting a magnificent mound of snow, Thor chucks the armful of snow at Clint Barton as the man stands up from behind the snowbank, effectively knocking the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent forward onto his face where Clint is now lying face-first in the snow bank he chose to protect him. After Clint goes down, Peter launches one of his own snowballs across the giant field, striking Natasha in the leg, sending the Russian spy tumbling down over Clint's outstretched legs until the red-headed Avenger is now sitting flat on her bottom in the middle of the snow bank.
"You're going to pay for that one, Peter Parker!" she jokingly yells at the boy, standing back up almost immediately before she begins to form an arsenal of snowballs for her and Clint to share and annihilate their competition.
Team Peter consisted of Peter, Thor, Tony, Pepper, and Bruce whereas Natasha picked Clint, Steve, Bucky, and Loki was chosen last since Jane was going to sit this one out, not wanting to endanger her unborn children by falling on her stomach at this stage in her pregnancy.
"Tony Stark, no fair!" Steve shouts from across the field as a rather large snowball connects with his chest, product of the genius playboy's well-aimed attack on the super soldier.
"You struck first, Capsicle!" Tony argues, pointing to his snow-stained sweatshirt as proof of Steve Rogers' earlier attack when he hurled a snowball at Tony's neck not more than three minutes prior.
Meanwhile, Pepper and Bucky exchange blows, Bucky smashing a snowball into the CEO's hair as he sprints by whereas Pepper launches a snowball at Bucky's face as he turns and runs back towards the disheveled base of a snow bank where Natasha and Clint are supplying an arsenal of sub-zero weapons.
Peter covers his face, deflecting a snowball thrown by Natasha, and the young man whoops in celebration before he crouches behind Thor in order to make his own small supply of snowballs to pelt the other team with.
"Okay! Who needs ammo?" Clint shouts over the roaring wind and shouts of excitement and adrenaline coming from the rest of the Avengers family. "I've got a bunch made up over here, team!" he reminds before dodging an attack from Thor and then promptly returning fire on the God of Thunder as Thor takes a running start towards the other team.
Lining up his shot perfectly, the snowball smacks Thor in the chest, slowing the Asgardian King down for approximately five seconds as he re-groups and accepts a snowball from Bruce's outstretched hand as the scientist calculates the approximate distance and speed he needs to utilize to hit Natasha with the upmost skill and also softness at the same time. Thor catapults a speeding snowball at Clint, but the master spy flips off the snow bank before he proceeds to climb a tree, using the height to his advantage. Hawkeye then begins to pelt Pepper and Tony from his new vantage point, covering Pepper's hair entirely in snow and peppering Tony's hair with white specks, as most of the snow ends up on Tony Stark's shoulders.
Out of nowhere, a snowball comes flying from the other side of the field, hitting Loki in the face, stunning all of the Avengers and Co. as they wonder who on Midgard would have the audacity to assault the God of Mischief.
"Ooooh! Someone hit Loki!" Peter shouts, his tone of voice reminiscent of a school child when a peer gets into trouble for doing something stupid.
"Who hit Loki?" Bruce inquires, concern present on his face as he finishes tossing a snowball at Steve, the frozen precipitation crashing roughly against Steve's coat, sending the Super Soldier staggering a few steps backwards.
"Thor, was that you?" Loki practically demands, spinning around to face his brother, wondering if his adopted sibling would retaliate against him from his stunt earlier.
"Not I, brother," Thor honestly remarks. "I have been helping the young Master Parker collect an arsenal of snowballs to try and get Hawkeye out of that tree," the God of Thunder explains, and both Thor and Peter hold up the mentioned arsenal of snowballs as proof of his statement.
"Then who threw the snowball?" Pepper asks, knowing that neither she nor Tony had thrown the snowball at Loki, because the two of them had been too busy cornering Bucky against a snow bank and then pelting him with as much snow as they possibly could before the Winter Soldier rolled away.
"I did," Jane announces, bouncing another snowball between both her hands, a wide smile gracing her lips as she takes in the shocked faces of all the Avengers. "You didn't think I was going to miss out on all of the fun, did you?" she laughs, and then the next snowball she throws connects with Natasha's forearm, making the assassin drop the armload of snowballs she was bringing over to Clint's tree.
"I should have known it was you, dearest Jane," Loki grins, actually grins so wide he shows his teeth to his sister-in-law. "After all, it felt like the slap you gave me in Asgard years ago," the God of Mischief laughs, and everyone in the field agrees that hearing Loki laugh is one of the most unnatural and rarely occurring sounds in the world.
"Well, like they say in the song, 'a kiss with a fist is better than none'!" Jane laughs, scooping another snowball into her hands using the snow from a lamppost next to her.
"Indeed! Now then, I must insist that you help me in my mission to battle your husband," Loki offers, coming over to Jane and holding his arm out to her in the fashion of a true gentleman.
"Just this once I will join you in battling against my husband, Loki."
"I would expect nothing more of you, Jane."
With that, Jane and Loki walk arm-in-arm to a safe location, Loki bending over to form the snowballs for himself while using magic to supply Jane with snowballs when she runs out of snow on the lampposts. Thor cannot help but smile at seeing his loving wife and mischievous brother getting along so well, even if it means that they are going to battle him together. He would gladly take all of the snowball assaults from the two people he loves most in all the realms.
When the snowball fight is about to draw to a close nearly two hours later, Peter finally manages to get the upper hand on Loki when the young Spiderman trips on the snow and crashes into the God of Mischief, knocking the raven-haired Asgardian on his back.
"I got ya, kid!" Tony shouts, running over and helping Peter by holding Loki down by the arms, wanting Peter to get his chance to crash a snowball into Loki's face.
Peter hesitates, knowing that Loki could easily just use his magic to teleport away, in addition to fearing the retaliation that the Asgardian God of Mischief could use on him.
"What are you waiting for, Spiderman?" Loki asks, a sincere grin on his face as he looks at the youngest member of the Avengers family. "You have your adversary caught in a trap. Finish the job," he gently instructs like one might do to a child, and it makes Peter smile.
Loki would make such a patient teacher with Thor and Jane's children.
"You promise you won't get angry with me?" Peter whispers, not wanting to embarrass Loki in front of Tony.
"Of course I won't get angry, Peter," Loki assures, an even tone in his voice. This snowball fight is all in good fun. Thor and I used to have them when we were children on Asgard, and I assure you, we never were angry at one another for pulling stunts like this."
Peter takes the chance to slam the snowball into Loki's face, bits of snow sticking to the God of Mischief's nose, but he could not care less. If Thor had been the one wanting to smash a snowball into his face, Loki would have used his magic to teleport far away, but Loki thoroughly enjoys the company of Peter Parker, especially because the young Spiderman always considers others' emotions and wants to include everyone in anything he is planning on doing. And that is precisely why Loki enjoys spending time with Peter; the teenager always wanted to look past Loki's flaws and accept him for the way he truly is, pranks, mischief, and dark side in all.
Just as the eleven members of Avengers Tower prepare to return back to the car, Peter reminds the team that they haven't gotten to go sledding yet, and it's been years since he's gotten to sled down a major hill.
"Well, kid, I hate to break it to ya, but no one brought a sled," Tony reveals, thinking of the lack of sledding equipment at Avengers Tower since most of the year only adults live there anyway.
"But I know Captain brought his shield!" Peter remembers seeing the famed red, white, and blue shield lying in the very backseat of Clint's car. "We could sled on that!" he suggests, jumping in the air in excitement. "I bet it'll get way better speed than a regular sled!"
"Now, Peter, I'm not so sure that's the wisest idea. The vibranium may not necessarily…" Bruce starts to caution, but as soon as the scientist begins to talk, Loki vanishes for exactly 2.9 seconds before reappearing with Cap's shield in hand.
"Your sled, little spider," Loki says, handing Steve's shield to the teenager.
"Thanks, Loki! You're the best!" Peter graciously remarks, preparing to sit down on the rounded vibranium and break his own sledding record.
Steve steps on the corner of his shield, holding it securely down on the ground with his heavy black boots.
"I better try this first and see how it works, Peter," Steve remarks, a hint of fear shuddering through his body as he thinks of all the way such a sledding experience could go wrong.
"Be careful, Steve!" Bruce cautions the Super Soldier, practically reading Pepper's mind about the situation.
"Nothing to worry about, Banner! Ol' Steve's done more impossible stunts in his life," Bucky reminds, a smile on his face as he watches Steve switch places with Peter to where the young man is now standing behind a sitting Captain America. "Ya need a push, buddy?"
"Sure, Bucky," Steve admits, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Going for a new record in sledding down the hill in Central Park is Steve 'Captain America' Rogers from Brooklyn, New York!" Captain America announces in his best sports commentator voice. "Remember, everyone, do not try this without supervision, because I am a professional," Steve jokes, and Tony scoffs in utter disdain, knowing that the joke is probably older than Steve Rogers himself.
With a small push from Bucky to get him started, Steve rushes down the hill, looking for all the world like Clark Griswold, and the World War II veteran must put every last ounce of strength into trying to keep the shield-turned-sled from crashing into the bark of the dozens of trees in his path. Returning to the whooping calls from the Avengers, Steve offers the shield to anyone else who wants a turn, but he tells Peter that he is not to go down the hill by himself, so Tony ends up riding behind Peter on the sled, protecting and guiding him in a fatherly manner to help keep the neighborhood Spiderman safe and, more importantly, alive.
After everyone has a turn on the sled, with the exception of Jane, the Avengers return back to their cars, piling in with Pepper and Natasha offering to drive the two teams of cars home. Loki, Jane, and Thor sit in the middle row of seats in Clint's car, the boys' heads slumped over and Thor's finding its way to Jane's right shoulder whereas Loki's head slumps forward before he snaps it back upright while remaining asleep. Clint sits in the passenger sit, his feet nearly reaching the dashboard as he allows himself to slip into blissful sleep, an empty candy cane wrapper clenched in one hand and a small throw blanket strewn across his long legs. Bruce sits in the very back seat alone, softly chewing on a green apple candy cane and listening to music through his headphones Natasha had bought him several years ago for his birthday.
Meanwhile, in Pepper's car, Tony uncharacteristically sits in the back seat with Peter and Steve, obviously with Peter sitting in the middle so as to avoid any more cataclysmic fights between the two grown men. Peter and Tony both fully nodded off almost as soon as the car was in motion, and it only took Steve about ten more minutes to follow them into dreamland. Bucky manages to wrap a single snowman blanket around Tony and Peter before draping a nutcracker blanket on Steve, making sure not to wake any of them from the deep slumber.
"What an exciting day," Bucky grins at Pepper, and the CEO of Stark Industries can't help but agree. "I don't think I've had that much fun since Steve and I were young before the war started," he admits, and that line both destroys and lifts Pepper's heart.
"I'm glad everyone seemed to have had fun today. Steve and Tony didn't fight as much as I thought they would, which is a good sign that things are slowly returning back to normal," Pepper speaks her own thoughts on the matter.
"That's 'cause you've got a great kid there, ma'am. He draws everyone together," Bucky smiles, casting a glance back at Peter. "He's the glue this rag-tag family of heroes and ex-criminals needs."
"You know Peter's not mine and Tony's son, right?" Pepper inquires, looking through the rearview mirror at Tony and Peter sharing the same blanket and sleeping so soundly near one another in the backseat.
"Well, you could've had me fooled if I didn't know that. He's a great kid, and it seems he's learned the best from both of you. Your empathy and Tony's dedication and drive to saving the world are engrained in that kid. As far as parenting goes, you two have got this in the bag already."
"That's very kind of you, Bucky. I appreciate all that you said. Peter really is a phenomenal kid; I'm grateful Tony found him all those years ago."
Switching on the radio, Pepper can't laugh at the irony as the snow begins to fall around them once more as the drive back to Avengers Tower, the drive back home continues.
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful! And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" Dean Martin's voice peacefully and joyously croons from the radio, taking Pepper back to early in her childhood when her own parents used to play this on the long car rides back home from grandmother's.
Author's Note: And there's Chapter Four! I'm already one-third of the way done with this fic, and wow, has it been a lot of work so far! But, nothing is too much work for my Secret Santa gift to Rival Argentica! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, everyone! As always, reviews are appreciated; I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed this chapter! I think it's my second favorite of the story so far with Chapter Two being my favorite thus far! Rival Argentica, I hope you are continuing to enjoy your gift; all of this has been written with you in mind the entire time! Here's to our friendship, girl! Anyway, until the next chapter, dear readers! Have an amazing day, afternoon, or night! Now I'm off to get some inspiration for tomorrow's writing session, and then I'm off to bed! :) I appreciate every single one of you!