Five Days until Christmas Eve
Tony Stark had better things to do than sit in a circle with the Avengers and make plans to celebrate Christmas. Sure, he'd planned a party to invite all of their friends and acquaintances, to drink and dance the night away and indulge in whatever Christmas sweets they could dream of. But Natasha wanted to have Christmas as a family. She wanted to sit down on Christmas morning and open presents under the tree, and Tony wanted no part of it.
Maybe it was trauma that caused him to go all 'bah humbug' on Christmas this year, but in his defense, he did almost die last Christmas. Where were the Avengers then? Not helping him save President Ellis and not looking for him when his Malibu mansion was bombed by a terrorist. So, Tony Stark did not want to do Christmas with his Avengers family.
However, despite his attempt at avoiding the holiday, Pepper couldn't be more excited to celebrate with the Avengers. She said that they'd all had a trying year and there would be a child that they could shower with presents and magic and all that shit. Watching Pepper with Denver got Tony thinking, and that scared him.
So, begrudgingly, Tony agreed to hold a meeting and make a plan. And then Natasha suggested the most appalling thing Tony had ever heard: She wanted to do a Secret Santa gift exchange.
He groaned and rolled his eyes so far back into his head that the brown disappeared, "Really?"
"Yes, really. Not all of us are billionaires, and this is a way for us to celebrate without dropping a bunch of money and effort." Natasha bit back, and Tony let out an exasperated sigh in response.
"I think that's a lovely idea." Pepper said, shooting Tony a dirty look, "Don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess." Tony mumbled, leaning his knuckles against his cheek, and looked around at the room.
Thor leaned over to Sam, whispering loudly, "What is a Secret Santa?"
"It's a gift exchange where we all draw names and then buy a Christmas present for one person." Sam explained and Thor nodded and smiled broadly before leaning over to Sam again and asking, "What's Christmas?"
"We gotta go all out since it's Denny's first Christmas!" Clint said as he looked over at Steve with Denver bouncing on his knee.
"It's not, but, okay." Steve chuckled as he ticked her ribs, "You excited for Christmas?"
"Yes!" She giggled as she collapsed against his chest with a smile.
It had taken a while, but by Thanksgiving, Steve was back to his normal Captain America self. And by that, he was ready to go out and get fighting again. Bucky had become his favorite babysitter, because Dallas had basically moved back home, ready to put some space between herself and the exciting lives of the Avengers. She'd been shaken by the whole gun-slinging assassin thing, and said she needed some time to get back to her own life. Steve, though, had a sneaking suspicion that she had another reason for running for the hills.
"So, Christmas morning work for everyone?" Pepper asked and Natasha nodded until Clint shot her a look.
"Oh, actually, Christmas Day is no good for me, maybe Christmas Eve?" Natasha suggested, eyes flittering between Pepper and Clint nervously.
"Christmas Eve it is then." Pepper said with a smile as she patted Tony on the knee, "What are the parameters?"
"No more than fifty dollars." Tony grunted and Pepper sighed at his response, "And we'll keep this a Secret Santa, no going around telling the person you drew what you're getting them. If we're doing this, we're doing it right."
"Sounds good to me." Steve said as Denver tugged on his sleeve. "What is it, Sweetie?" He leaned down and she cupped his ear, whispering something before he sat straight and addressed the group, "Whoever gets Denver, she wants a puppy." She reached up to whisper in his ear some more, causing his expression to morph into one of annoyance as he added, "Another puppy."
"We aren't putting Denver in the Secret Santa." Maria Hill snorted, leaning back in her seat, "I think she'll be getting presents from all of us. Secret Santa is for the adults."
"I second that!" Sam said as he raised his beer, "So, we gonna draw from a hat or something?"
"J, please randomize the names of everyone in this room, except for Denny. Set up this Secret Santa debacle."
"I have calculated each possible outcome against various scenarios and your personality profiles to ensure that each gift giver will deliver the peak amount of Christmas cheer to their recipient." JARVIS answered.
"Really?" Rhodey asked incredulously.
"No. I randomized it as Mr. Stark requested." JARVIS replied, "I'll be sending the results to each of your cellular devices, including Miss Wells's. I'm assuming you're planning on her participation?"
"Yeah, make sure R2 gets in on this disaster, too. She'll love that." Stark chuckled, earning a warning glare from Steve.
Everyone's phone began to buzz, and ring and they pulled them out to see who they'd be buying gifts for. Clint tried to lean over to check Nat's phone, but she leaned away and smirked at him. Bruce rubbed his face and sighed, while Maria smiled broadly at her result. After a few minutes of silence, Thor finally spoke up, "I don't have a phone."
Suddenly, a raven flew in through the open archway leading to the landing pad and settled on Thor's shoulder before dropping a rolled-up scroll into his hand. "Thank you!" Thor called as the bird flew away, and he unfurled his note before addressing the group, "What do I do with this?"
"Get them a gift under fifty dollars!" Rhodey called and Thor nodded, giving a thumbs up before rolling up the scroll and shoving it in the front pocket of his hoodie.
Maria Hill tilted her head to the side and asked, "How?"
"Don't question JARVIS." Tony threatened and Maria rolled her eyes in response.
"So, Christmas Eve?" Clint asked and everyone nodded.
"Christmas Eve." Steve murmured to himself, thinking they should have really planned this more than five days in advance, especially with Tony's Christmas Day party to prepare for. He grabbed Denver around the stomach and lifted her as he stood, allowing her to squirm as everyone went their separate ways. That is, until they all reached the elevator at the same time.
Everyone, minus Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey, stood together as they began to rise to their various levels, everyone looking around curiously to see who'd break first.
"Sooo," Clint leaned against the wall, "Any guesses who Tony got?"
"Nope." Maria Hill answered, looking over at the archer dully. "Why do you ask?"
"Because whoever Tony Stark drew is getting the best gift."
"It's a fifty-dollar limit." Bruce reminded, but Clint just scoffed.
"Yeah, a fifty-dollar limit for those of us buying, but Tony doesn't need to buy his gift." Clint explained and Natasha shrugged, adding, "He did build his first set of armor in a cave from a box of scraps."
"They're not wrong." Sam said, looking around, "The key isn't figuring out who Tony has, it's figuring out who everyone else has."
"You heard Stark," Steve said, realizing the elevator wasn't even moving anymore as Denver whacked her back against his knees, "He doesn't want us all cheating. We should do this right."
"Yeah, okay." Clint rolled his eyes as the doors slid open to let him, Maria and Natasha out on their shared floor, "We're gonna figure out who has who. This isn't just Secret Santa, this is a mystery of Christmas proportions."
Natasha patted his chest as the doors started to close, "He's drunk." She whispered loudly before the others were ascending higher.
Thor looked around the remaining Avengers before asking, "So, I must get a gift for the person chosen for me?"
"Yes. Exactly." Banner said, looking Thor up and down before looking over to Steve, "Who did you get?"
"Bruce!" Steve barked and Bucky chuckled, shaking his head. "No cheating!"
"Sorry, I don't like surprises!" Bruce mumbled as the doors opened to allow Bucky and Sam out onto their floor. It was quiet without Dallas inhabiting the third bedroom, but she hadn't been around since Thanksgiving.
Once they were gone, Steve looked to Thor and Bruce, eyeing them both until it was his turn to get off, "No. Cheating." He warned as he guided Denver into their apartment and placed her on his bed. "What are we supposed to get for Bruce?"
"A puppy!" Denver cheered as she climbed to her feet and began jumping on the bed while barking.
"No, no Tony doesn't want any more animals in the tower. I'm lucky he let me stay here." Steve mumbled as he pulled out his desk chair and sat on it backwards, watching Denver jumping higher and higher, "Be careful, Honey. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'm trying to catch the moon Daddy!"
"It's too early!" Steve warned, "If you get too close now, you'll catch the sun, and then you'll get a sunburn!"
Denver stopped jumping and landed on her bum, looking at her father in terror, "Sunburn is icky."
"It is." Steve agreed, still thinking over what to get Bruce Banner. He leaned forward over the back of his desk chair, watching as his daughter flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "What do you want for Christmas, Denny?"
"A puppy!"
"Aside from that." Steve said, watching her click her heels together, "What do you want from Santa?"
"Can Santa bring Mommy home?"
Steve's breath caught in his throat and he coughed a little, "No, Sweetheart, he can't. Mommy is in Heaven and she has to stay there."
"Can we go to Heaven to see her?" Denver asked quietly, barely above a whisper. Steve slid his chair over to his bed and leaned over to see his daughter's expression. She looked too pensive for a one-year old child at Christmas.
"No, Baby. We can't go to Heaven." Steve said sadly as he reached over and took her hand, "What else do you want? Aside from Mommy?"
She thought for a moment and looked at her dad, "A fish?"
"A fish?" Steve laughed, reaching over to ruffle her growing blonde locks, "What kind of fish?"
"One that lives in the water."
"Okay, that's doable." Steve replied, biting his bottom lip as he watched her, "Anything else?"
"A kitten."
"Okay, so you want a pet. I see where this is going." Steve sighed, rubbing his mouth, "Okay, well, I'll pass that along."
Meanwhile, Sam had promptly gone to Bucky, asking for help picking out a gift for Captain America.
"What would make Steve happy?" Sam asked, pacing Bucky's room as the assassin typed slowly on his Stark Industries tablet. When Barnes didn't answer, Sam snapped his fingers, "Are you listening to me? You've known him most of his waking life, what would he want for Christmas?"
"Nothing you can give him." Bucky said bluntly, scanning the screen. It was yanked from his grip by Sam, who scanned it with furrowed brows. "Please give that back."
"Why are you searching for Disneyland?" Sam laughed, holding the tablet away, "You gonna buy Denny a trip for fifty dollars?"
"I already have her present picked out; I'm looking for my Secret Santa-person." Bucky grumbled as he reached out and grabbed the tablet. "If you're looking for Steve, you're gonna need to pick out something personal. He doesn't need things. They age and break, unlike him. He likes sentimental shit."
Sam bobbed his head back and forth and groaned, "Makes sense."
"That said, he likes old music. He likes to play his records and Denny stands on his feet so they can dance together."
"See, that's helpful! Thank you." Sam gestured towards Bucky before turning to leave, but he paused, looking back, "Who's your person?"
"Somebody here in the tower." Bucky grumbled and Sam rolled his eyes before leaving Bucky to his research.
Three Days Until Christmas Eve
Two days later, and Steve was still trying to figure out what to buy for Bruce Banner, as well as his young daughter. Tony had nixed the pet suggestion, so Steve was out of ideas. Natasha had told him to buy her whatever he thought she'd like, but he didn't want to mess up. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, this wasn't Denver's first Christmas, but it was her first Christmas with him.
It was also the first of all Christmases without Brooklyn.
If Steve had realized that first Christmas would be the only one he got to spend with Brooklyn, he wouldn't have let her leave until she agreed to go on a date with him. He'd wanted her, and she'd pushed him away. Standing outside of FAO Schwarz now with their young daughter made Steve's heart ache in a way it hadn't in a long time. He looked at their reflection in the glass, imagining what it would be like to have Brooklyn beside Denver and him, picking out Christmas presents and decorating a place of their own. Instead, Steve was a single dad with a little girl who didn't understand why her Mom never came home from work.
"Daddy? Can we go look at the toys?" Denver asked quietly as she squeezed her father's hand.
The corner of his mouth twitched and he nodded, "Yeah, of course. Let's go in." He held open the door and she broke from his grip, tearing through the store at warp speed. Steve chased after her, looking around in panic until he heard her calling his name.
When he followed her voice, he found her in the plush section, having pulled a giant stuffed Husky off the shelf and was holding it tightly, "Daddy, I want it!"
Steve sucked in a sharp breath, looking around to realize she'd knocked down a dozen other little stuffed animals in her quest for her dog, "Okay. Not today. I'll put it on your Christmas list."
"But Daddy-"
"No buts." He said as he grabbed all the little animals and placed them back on their shelves, "It's almost Christmas. You have to wait and see what Santa brings you."
She pouted as her father cleaned up her mess. Her blue eyes shifted up to a stranger who approached, and Steve looked over his shoulder to see one of the workers looming over him.
When she realized who he was, her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but Steve cut her off by saying sweetly, "Sorry about this. I'll get it cleaned up. She's just excited."
"Sir- Captain, uh, it happens a lot. We're a toy store. I can take care of it." The woman stammered, but Steve had already cleaned up most of the stuffed animals and now had to wrangle the Husky away from his daughter. When he stood up to his full height, he was a good foot taller than the short employee, and she blushed when she realized she barely reached his biceps, "Is there anything I can help you guys with?"
"We're just looking. She's picking out a few last minute requests for Santa." Steve explained as he turned to Denver, seeing the little girl staring at the employee with a level of focus he rarely saw from her. "You okay, Denny?"
"I saw on the news you had a daughter." The woman blurted and Steve turned to look down at her. She pushed back her long brunette hair behind her ear and clamped her hands together behind her back, "She's adorable."
"I'm Denver." The child answered and narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"
"I'm Madison." The employee answered, looking up to Steve, "It's nice to meet you two."
"Nice to meet you, too." Steve strained, "Come on, Sweetie, we need to go find a gift for Bruce."
"A fish!" Denver yelled, throwing her hands in the air.
Steve bopped his head side to side, "That's not a terrible idea, honestly. You wanna go to the pet store?"
"And pick out a puppy?!" Denver shrieked, causing people to turn and stare.
Steve sighed, "No, not pick out a puppy. Pick out a fish."
She stuck out her bottom lip to pout, drawing her brows as she glared up at her father. He just smiled diplomatically at Madison the toy store woman, "Thank you for your help."
"If you need anything else, give me a call." She said, handing Steve a small piece of paper. He looked at it, seeing she'd given her name and phone number. He looked up to speak, but she just winked and walked away, leaving the stunned Avenger blinking back his surprise.
Denver pulled on the sleeve of his white sweater, whining that she had to go potty. Steve quickly shook himself from his surprise and picked up his daughter so he could change her in the restroom of the Starbucks across the street.
Two days until Christmas Eve
Dallas pulled her scarf tightly around her neck as she shuffled her way through the snow back to her apartment. She had her headphones in but kept a sharp eye out for trouble as she spoke to the Black Widow on the phone.
"So, I have Sam for this Secret Santa thing. What should I get him? Our interactions begin the day my sister died and end when I told him I wanted to be an assassin the rest of my life."
"You make it sound like a bad thing." Natasha hummed from the other end. "Anyway, Sam is easy. Get him a nice sweater, or a whiskey kit or something. He likes the finer things in life, but he's not difficult."
Dallas pursed her lips, nodding, "Okay. Those are ideas. Who do you have?"
"I have Pepper. I bought her a new set of Swinging Sticks for her desk, because Tony broke her last one. They are expensive, but if you use a different currency, you can bring it down to fifty-dollars."
"Yeah, great, well, I have American money, and I'm gonna buy Sam a nice sweater." Dallas said dully as she reached her apartment. She wasn't about to admit it, but she missed the Avengers. They asked about her all the time, and wondered when she'd come back to stay again, but Dallas had become exceptionally good at blowing them off.
Most of the Avengers assumed she was freaking out after the Halloween debacle, which was true, but that wasn't why she was avoiding them. The truth was, she'd let herself get too close to her dead sister's baby daddy, and it made her feel guilty. She needed to put some space between herself and Steve Rogers, and if she wasn't going to spend time with him, there wasn't much reason to spend time with any of the others.
She had an amicable relationship with the team. Steve was friendly when he dropped off Denver so they could rush off to South America to do who knows what. She'd collect Denver from the main level of the tower, despite having access to come up and get her from whatever floor she was on, but Dallas was determined. She was going to do her own thing until she found somebody to distract her from Steve.
Luckily, Dallas's coworkers had a laundry list of single guy friends that they shared amongst the group. Dallas hadn't gotten up the gumption to take them up on a blind date, but she was getting pretty close. Next year.
She pulled her key from her bag and shoved it into the lock, turning it sharply to open her front door, but she heard her neighbor leave his apartment and yell, "Hey!" to get her attention. Dallas stopped and turned, keeping her hand on the knob in case she needed to rush inside in a hurry. She knew most of her neighbors after the two years she'd lived here, but there was a new tenant right next to her, and she hadn't gotten a chance to vet him yet.
"Hey, I, uh, I think I got your package?" The slim man had a friendly smile that Dallas was suspicious of. He hadn't done anything to alarm her, in fact, the only interaction they'd had before this one was when he'd say hi if he was coming or going at the same time as the OBGYN. He seemed nice, and that was alarming to Dallas, because she really needed a nice man in her life, and she was scared to let one in.
She squinted, searching her mind for what she might have ordered until she gasped, "Oh! Really? I was so scared it wasn't going to get here in time! Would you mind if I took it off your hands?"
"Not at all." The man said, running his fingers through his dark red hair. "Would you like to come in?"
Dallas shook her head, but smiled sweetly as she rejected him, "I better not. I've got to change and do some Christmas shopping. Thank you for the invitation though."
He nodded, pushing his own door back open as Dallas waited patiently, peeking through his door to see into his bare apartment. Clearly the man didn't have a wife or a girlfriend. A woman would have decorated beyond a football poster. He reappeared with the tightly wrapped box and she took it gratefully, "Thank you so much. I'm so glad you brought it inside. I would have been devastated if it got ruined in the snow."
"Well, if I get any more of your packages, I'll keep them safe." He said before thrusting his hand forward, "I'm Adam."
"Dallas." She answered as he shook her hand.
He chuckled and gestured to the package with his head, "I kinda got that."
"Right." She said as she pulled her hand away to hold her box with both hands, "Well. Thanks again."
"Don't be a stranger!" Adam called as she pushed open her door, tilting her head just enough to see him grin, "It was nice to meet you, Dallas."
She gave him a shy wave and closed her door, locking it and blowing air out through her mouth. Adam seemed nice. Maybe she should have went in. Maybe she should have seen if he wanted to get coffee somewhere before she went shopping. Maybe she shouldn't have run away from the first nice guy to give her the time of day in months.
After pulling off her scarf and jacket, Dallas ripped open the package, pulling out the old scrapbook Aunt Jenna had mailed at her request. Adam wasn't the first nice guy to pay her attention. There had been several. She'd just pushed them away because she wanted to keep herself emotionally available to deal with her conflicting feelings about Steve.
What had started as a joke to tease her sister had grown into a real adoration for the soldier, but Dallas couldn't tell if it was rooted in real feelings or just her desire to have something her sister had loved so much. It was fucked up, and she chastised herself for the thought, but Dallas couldn't push it out of her mind.
Maybe coffee would help.
She set the scrapbook on her side table and wrapped her scarf back around her neck before sliding her peacoat back on. She jogged out the door and locked it quickly, flying on the burst of bravery she was experiencing. Dallas carefully ran down her small staircase to the place next door, knocking on Adam's door before she could lose her nerve.
He swung it open and looked at her in surprise, but Dallas just huffed out, "Do you wanna grab some coffee? I could use a boost before I start my Christmas shopping, and I would love some company."
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. Let me just grab my coat." Adam stammered as he gestured back into the apartment, leaving the door open so Dallas could watch him gather his things before rushing out to join her, "Anywhere you like?"
She shrugged, "I'm not picky. Somewhere nearby." Adam nodded and gestured for her to follow him down the street, chatting easily as they walked through the light layer of dirty snow.
One Day Until Christmas Eve
Clint sat behind a giant gift bag with tissue paper laying around him in a mess. He had his legs stretched out ahead of him as he reached for his toes, staring at the bag intently while Natasha wrapped her gift for Pepper beside him, "That's not going to make your shit fit any easier into the bag."
"Do I need a bigger bag?"
"You need to not give Tony a tin of oil for Christmas."
Clint chuckled and leaned back, crossing his legs, and pulling the bag closer before carefully setting the oil can in. "I'm not just getting him this. I'm also getting him this framed photo of himself that I pulled from his Wikipedia page."
Natasha snorted as she skillfully wrapped a ribbon around Pepper's neatly wrapped gift. The glitter covered wrapping paper sparkled in the warm light of Clint's apartment as she carefully moved it to the side before shifting to kneel beside Clint, "Let me do it." She carefully wrapped the frame in tissue paper before setting it beside the oil can and shoving more tissue paper in to make it look fuller. When she was done, Clint carefully slipped a little notebook between the green paper. Nat raised her brow, but he didn't answer her silent question. Instead he stood and carefully placed his gift next to Natasha's gifts for Pepper and the one they'd bought together for Denny.
"Now all we have to do is show up. Then we take the quinjet early Christmas morning? I'd like to be there before Lila and Cooper wake up." Clint said quietly to his best friend.
"Do they know you're coming home?" She asked gently and he shook his head, "No, I want it to be a surprise. Didn't wanna get their hopes up in case something came up."
"It won't." Natasha assured him as they heard a knock on his closed door. They shared a look and Clint went to open it, revealing the Winter Soldier on the other side.
"What's up Barnes?" Clint asked casually, noting the plain cardboard box that he held tightly in his hands, "What's in the box?"
Bucky shrugged, even though he clearly knew what was in there, he didn't feel like sharing. He turned to Romanoff and held it out, "I was wondering if you'd help me wrap it. I tried, but I'm not super steady, and it's breakable."
"Yeah, sure. Bring it over." Natasha said as she grabbed a roll of red wrapping paper with little mistletoes all over it, but Bucky shook his head and grabbed a light blue with snowflakes, "This one instead?"
"Okay." Nat took the roll he handed her and unfurled it before carefully taking the box to wrap. Bucky watched her like a hawk, and Clint watched how stiff he was as curiosity got the best of him.
"Who's the gift for?"
"Someone in the tower." Bucky answered with a soft smile that barely reached his piercing blue eyes. "It's been a long time since I did the Christmas thing. I hope I did it right."
"Everyone here is pretty… out there. No matter what you give will be appreciated. Clint is giving a can of oil to Stark for Christmas."
"Because he's Iron Man. I'd hate for him to become Rust Man right when we need him." Clint laughed boisterously as Natasha folded the paper together before pulling a long strip of tape to secure it. "Do you want us to keep it here with ours?"
"No. That's okay. I can keep it. I just need help making it pretty." Bucky said quickly, looking between Clint and Natasha before adding, "Thank you. It looks perfect."
She picked it up and studied it before pulling over the box of ribbons and bows, "I'm feeling a ribbon under a snowflake bow. That okay?"
"That's perfect." Bucky replied, more than happy to let Nat take the lead on decorating.
Clint leaned against the wall, looking out his open door to see the light snowfall from the picture windows in their sitting room that connected the three bedrooms. "Hope the weather doesn't get bad."
Natasha looked up at Clint from under her lashes, and he could read the silent promise on her face. She'd get him home for Christmas if it killed her.
She handed the finished present back to Bucky, who beamed at it and thanked her again before leaving quickly to go back to his floor.
"Who's the gift for?"
"I'd say Dallas. He wouldn't care that much if it were somebody else." Natasha answered with a shrug, "Who knows though. He's full of surprises."
Down in his lab, Tony was hard at work on his newest project to enhance his suit. He was fairly sure he'd made a breakthrough when he heard the undeniable click of Pepper's heels approaching.
"Tony! We need to be getting ready for Christmas. The Party Deck isn't decorated, and you have a hundred guests coming the day after tomorrow. Are you even ready for Secret Santa tomorrow night?" Pepper sighed in frustration, seeing clearly that Tony wasn't working on anything Christmas related.
Tony groaned and stood straight, pushing up his magnifying glasses as he shot Pepper an annoyed expression. "Pep, you control the accounts. Do whatever makes you happy."
"I want you to be a part of it." She said and Tony sighed, massaging his temple as she wrapped her arms around him, "I want you to take a break."
"I gotta finish this. Nanotech, it's the future of my suits."
"Last Christmas you wiped the slate clean. Then you started up again. You never learn." Pepper pulled away and started to leave, but Tony called after her. She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, waiting for him to give her a reason to stay.
"Pep, one more hour. I swear, I'm almost done. You get started and I'll be right there." Tony promised. He lifted a black band to show her what he was working on, "You'll be proud of me."
"I doubt it."
"That's cold, Pepper." He teased back as she started walking away, "One hour, I'll be there. Don't put the star on the tree without me!" Once she was gone, he went back to work with his tinkering so he could finish within the hour. He wouldn't let Pepper down again.