And a special chapter, you read the title, you know. Well, when I published the French version I was in the right month... But we won't wait 9 months to post so here is the Christmas special.
I'm tired, I don't have the motivation to proofread, I hope there are no mistakes.
*December 24th in the evening. Avengers Tower*
Loki had just returned from a walk through the streets of New York, gaily decorated in Christmas colors. He had gone to see the tree in Rockfeller Center on the recommendation of agent Barton, who was perfectly willing to go into tourism if the hero's job disappeared overnight. And it was by no means a coincidence that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had prepared for such an eventuality. It had already happened.
We only had to go back a few months earlier, when Loki literally blew up the postal service. Following this event, New Yorkers swore by the Jotun for many, many weeks. Then, when they noticed that Loki would rather sell shoes online than keep them safe, they flipped as if they had never had anything but the Avengers in their city. In short, Clint was prepared to lose his livelihood again. He was now ready for anything (or almost anything) the universe could throw at him, he had more than one arrow in his quiver.
The god stepped out of the elevator on the living room floor. He tossed his coat loosely to the right (a Stark robot would probably come by to pick it up someday) and looked around. He spotted Natasha reading a S.H.I.E.L.D. file — Fury's Christmas present — on the couch and approached her.
"Wasn't there a gigantic tree yesterday?" he asked, his eyes still detailing the room.
"There was. It's still there."
"Where is it?"
"Under the presents," explained the spy, still looking at her documents.
"Under the... Oh. Oh..."
Loki contemplated the pyramid of gifts that had literally swallowed the tree.
"Oh," he repeated, craning his neck to see the top.
"Can we open them?" asked Hawkeye, suddenly appearing from the back of the pile, wearing a beautiful sweater with a colorful reindeer head.
"No. We're waiting for the twenty-five."
"But whyyyy?"
"Clint, you're an adult, at least pretend to be one. Be a good role model for your kids."
"My kids want to play with their presents."
"Your kids are already in bed and asleep," contradicted Natasha.
"Who wants to play poker?" asked Tony as he came into the room with a silver briefcase.
"Why?" asked Natasha, closing her file.
"For the traditional Christmas poker," the billionaire explained.
"The what?"
"What? You don't do that?"
"No."
- Not at all.
Loki merely gave a disdainful look. We had much better things to do on Asgard. Tony brushed aside the questions of the two Avengers with one hand and placed the case on the table. Whatever they said, the SHIELD agents joined him around the table.
"Are you playing rock of ages?"
Loki raised his chin proudly.
"Yes."
"You do?"
Loki smiled mischievously, he was going to ruin them.
*December 25th in the morning... very morning for some. Avengers Tower*
"Merry Christmas, everyone!" said Tony with great gusto, too much gusto.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas Loki!" smiled Thor.
"Shut up..."
Loki crushed a hand on his brother's face as he walked past him and sat on the couch rubbing his eyes. He wished he could have stayed in bed longer. What an idea to get up so early after an evening that had dragged on? Especially since in the end Steve and Bucky had played too. And, despite Stark's misgivings, the two ancestors were as good at poker as they were at bingo; Bucky's poker face was admirable. All of which is to say that Jotun's brilliant plan to break their morale by winning had ended in abject failure and a lighter wallet. He was going to cancel his employees' Christmas bonuses to make up for it.
Thor didn't mind - Loki had already done much worse - and stopped at the foot of the tree. He dug up... well, grabbed a box and approached his brother, handing it to him.
"Here, Merry Christmas."
"I didn't ask for anything," he yawned.
"I know you didn't... But you still have a present."
Loki raised his head and raised an eyebrow.
"... What is it?"
"Look for yourself. And be careful," said the god, "it's fragile."
The dark-haired man huffed and grabbed the box. He wasn't totally stupid, he wasn't going to throw the package on the ground before jumping on it. Although... If the gift was useless, it was a solution that was still possible. The Jotun leaned over the box. No ribbon or bow, unlike the other packages that were carefully wrapped. He slowly lifted the lid. He was cautious by nature, and having the entire Avengers group stare at him in silence was not going to reassure him. Loki let the lid slip through his fingers and stared, round-eyed, at the contents of the box.
"Maaow."
A... Cat? A kitten? A kitten that was meowing strangely by the way. Loki caught it delicately and raised it to his eyes. The animal put one of its front paws on the lips of the god. The gesture brought a general burst of laughter from the Avengers and looks of wonder from the four children present. A thin smile lifted Loki's lips.
"I'm going to call him Arthur."
"What?" said Steve, staring at him.
"That's nonsense!"
"Nobody calls their cat Arthur," Natasha confirmed.
"Why?" said Loki, putting the kitten on his thighs.
"Because it is not a name for a cat!"
"Call it kitty, Felix or something like that."
"It's very ugly," the dark-haired man judged categorically.
"Maybe it is. But at least it's not Arthur."
"Do you have a problem with the name Arthur, Stark?"
"Of course not! It's just that in no universe do you call an adorable fur ball... Arthur."
"But it's my cat. I do what I want. And I want him to be named Arthur."
"But..."
"Arthur."
The superheroes sighed.
"Do what you want, alien," Tony finally gave up. "Hey, where's Morgan?"
Loki, focused on his kitten, did not react.
"Morgan?"
Nor did Thor, who was telling Laura with passion how this kind of event was celebrated on Asgard. She felt obliged to listen to the god's words, after all he was a god, and Nathaniel seemed to like the Asgardian, because he smiled at him.
"Morgan?"
Natasha tried in vain to get rid of her "nephew" Cooper who, for the time being, had chosen her as his adult point of reference. She didn't go looking for Morgan either.
"Morgan? Morgan!"
However, the girl's parents, as well as Steve and Bruce, were starting to get seriously worried. Clint joined the movement in the spirit of fatherhood.
"Where is she? Morgan!"
This time, Loki heard the distressed parents' calls and deliberately ignored them as he sank back into the couch. Arthur sought a comfortable position on his chest.
"Tony! We have to find her!"
"Her GPS tag says she's still in the room!"
"Her what?" said Pepper, stopping.
"It's getting clearer," Tony continued without paying attention to her, staring at his cell phone. "There! She's by the tree!"
Natasha grabbed a new glass of champagne and emptied it in one gulp, ignoring Cooper who wanted to taste the grown-up drink. With her glass dangling between her fingers, out of the child's reach, she looked at the few Avengers who were fighting body and soul against mountains of gifts. It was quite an entertaining show, but it was mostly pathetic.
"Help!" shouted Clint, opening his eyes wide as a gigantic package tumbled in his direction. "Tell my wife and kids that..."
He was swept away by a tidal wave of colored boxes and let out a strangled scream.
"What do we have to tell his wife and kids?" muttered Loki, stroking the head of his softly purring cat.
"Daddy!"
The children in question - at least the two old enough to do so - threw themselves into the fray (Natasha was thus freed from Cooper), sending packages waltzing across the room to unearth their deceased (?) father. One last package did a triple flip and landed perfectly on the end of the couch before a hand reaching for the sky finally appeared. Its owner quickly followed, so Clint was alive. A little stunned but alive. A true Christmas miracle!
"I saw the light," he murmured, looking around, still half-buried by gifts.
One last little package landed on his head and he fell backwards to the horrified screams of his children. They couldn't lose their father twice in one day!
Away from Clint's level, very close to the ground after his fall, the other Avengers still looking for the Stark girl were balancing on the gifts. Pepper narrowly escaped a fatal fall when she fell onto the slippery gift paper. Fortunately, she had managed to grab onto a tree branch that was trying to get out of the presents. So many miracles in so little time, it's beautiful the magic of Christmas.
"Morgan?"
"I've got her!"
Speaking of miracles... The heads of our budding spelunkers turned in perfect coordination to Captain America who was holding the child at arm's length as his lower body sank irretrievably into the shifting presents. Tony leapt to meet him and retrieved his daughter, passing her to Pepper before beginning to pull his friend.
"Stay with us Steve! America needs you! Bruce, come help me!
The scientist, who was battling with colorful streamers, climbed the Gift Mountain as best he could and joined Tony.
"Steeeeve! Fight back!"
Loki and Natasha exchanged a long look. Between Clint sharing his near-death experience with his two children and Steve still sinking under the panicked cries of Tony and Bruce, there was plenty to do. The Russian pointed to an empty champagne bottle and Loki nodded before shaking a hand. Two full bottles appeared. They were going to need them to survive this Christmas day.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Bucky took off his scarf as he entered the Tower's elevator. His motorbike was unusable with the yards of snow covering the ground. And it was hellish to walk in this weather. All this because Steve preferred to have the physical version of a film where the average person would have been satisfied with a digital version. Convinced that he would arrive just in time for the opening of the gifts, he was surprised when the elevator doors opened onto the living room... slightly agitated.
On his left towards the tree, Pepper was hugging her daughter as if she had just had a brush with death. Not far from her, Clint stood up with difficulty, one hand resting on his lower back as two of his children looked on tearfully. On his right, the god of thunder and Laura were chatting happily.
Finding all this very strange but wondering where his friend was, Bucky looked up at the tree and his jaw slowly dropped. Iron Man. Not Tony Stark, no, Iron Man was out. He was using the power of his repulsors to free someone from a mountain of presents under the recommendations of Dr. Banner who was holding sheets of calculations in his trembling hands. The former soldier finally realized that it was a blonde head he knew well that the two scientists were trying to save. But Steve, foaming at the mouth and completely unconscious, was sinking relentlessly between boxes of all sizes, no matter how hard his rescuers tried. Bucky tore himself away from this unusual sight and looked down again.
Finally, in front of him, quietly installed in the sofas, Loki and Natasha were drinking, probably insensitive to the infernal scene which was taking place under their eyes. Bucky remained in the hallway, hesitating on what to do. Finally, he left with a rigid step to join the sofas and seized a glass of champagne which he descended dry.
"It's going to take more than that," he muttered as he sat down heavily on a couch.
"Welcome to the group," Natasha said, pulling bottle from her back. "Vodka?"
Mechanically, the winter soldier accepted. Anything to forget what was happening in the Avengers' living room on Christmas Day.
Next week it will be Loki Baby-sitter and then I will have caught up with the French version (finally!).
