Chapter Twelve: Nightmare on Christmas Eve

Natasha gritted her teeth, forced herself to her feet, and tried to push Peter behind her, but the teen wouldn't budge. "Peter, run!" She begged as Batroc started towards them. The exact scenario that she'd feared was playing out.

"I have him this time." Peter focused his senses the best he could and tried to drown out the fighting around him and Natasha's pulling on his arm. He'd underestimated what an average person would be able to do to him before, but that wasn't going to happen again.

Natasha dug her feet into the floor with all her strength. "No, you don't!" Peter moved forward, and her feet slid across the ground as he dragged her with him. Her eyes fell on the Widow's Bite on her right wrist, and she exhaled a quivering breath. "I'm sorry, baby..." She told him as she activated the device. Powering it to maximum strength, Natasha zapped him directly between the shoulder blades.

"GAH!" Peter screamed and fell forward onto the ground, writhing in pain. His entire body convulsed as his nerves shorted out from 100,000 volts running through him. He was caught off guard, and it did far more to incapacitate him than if he'd seen it coming.

Natasha tried to shake off the immeasurable guilt and stepped forward towards Batroc, who smiled and held his arms out. "Good to see you again, Agent Romanoff!" He yelled to her over the gunfire. Natasha glanced back at Peter, still writhing on the floor, and searched for her handbag with her gun but didn't see it, and she doubted Batroc would give her a chance to find it.

"Hand to hand then..." Natasha thought with a crack of the neck and leveling her glare on him. "You're a fucking dead man!" Natasha yelled over the screams and gunfire, tapping into all the anger she felt for the man who had beaten her son to a pulp. She charged him and threw all her weight into a knee aimed for the mercenary's stomach. It connected, and Natasha heard a small grunt escape him as he stepped back, but the smile remained. Natasha fired off a quick combination of punches, only to have Batroc block them with ease. She planted her right leg and threw a front kick with all the strength she could muster. Batroc caught it, giving her a smirk when he did. He quickly kicked her rear leg out from under her and tossed her backward simultaneously, sending her crashing through a row of tables.

"Get up, Romanoff," The mercenary ordered before she could regain her bearings, pacing back and forth. His eyes were scanning for Rogers while he waited for the spy to recover. "I need a warm-up." Natasha sprang back up to her feet with one fluid motion and powered her Widow's Bite back up. She fired a rapid succession of blasts, but he dodged them with ease, quickly closing the distance between them. He caught her thin wrist when she tried to hit him with the Widow's Bite and ripped the device free. Along with her shoulder from its socket. A swift knee interrupted her yelp of pain and sent the Avenger to the floor, gasping for air.

Peter watched Natasha scramble backward away from the mercenary cradling her left arm against her body. She got back to her feet but could no longer hide her pain. "C'mon, you stupid body! MOVE!"


Tony took cover behind a pillar inside the main building and activated the repulsor in his wristwatch. "Happy!" He called the other man, who was taking cover behind an overturned table. "Find Peter!" He ordered, stepping from his cover and hitting a mercenary with a repulsor blast, sending him flying. Happy swallowed hard and pushed himself to his feet, unsteady as they were.

He took one more steadying breath and ran from the table's illusion of safety. Then, staying low and moving as fast as his legs would carry him, he made his way to the patio. It only took him a moment to spot Natasha, circling a man dressed in a maroon jacket. He stopped, waiting for her to effortlessly lay the man out, as she had done to so many others. But then his eyes found Peter, doubled over on the ground. "Oh God, he's hurt." All concern for Natasha immediately fell to the wayside. "Peter?" He began looking for blood, assuming the boy had been shot. "Peter, where are you hit?"

"Stop," He forced himself to one knee, just as Natasha was once again knocked off her feet. Batroc pinned her down, his boot coming down on her throat this time. Natasha's good hand tried to push the foot off, but Batroc only increased the pressure. Peter felt something in his mind break, and he was flooded with an emotion he couldn't quite put a name to. "He's gonna die!"

"Wait, kid-" Happy tried to slow him down, still searching for injuries.

"Fucking-" The word came out with a growl of anger and frustration. "MOVE!" Peter shoved Happy aside with one hand used his other hand to propel himself into a sprint. He lowered his shoulder leaped forward, crashing into the mercenary with all his strength. The hit caught Batroc off guard and sent him flying back across the venue, slamming into a tree.

With the weight suddenly removed from her throat, Natasha sat bolt upright, coughing and gasping for air. Her eyes found Peter as he ran through the haze of smoke towards Batroc. "Peter!" She tried to yell, but it was barely more than a whisper. However, Peter heard her, even over the gunfights all around them. Happy rushed to her side, but she ignored him and tried her comms. "Tony? Steve?" Nothing "Sam?" She grew more desperate. "Can anyone hear me!?"

A voice she never thought she'd be excited to hear finally came. "I'm coming."

"Sir? Are you alright?" One of Batroc's mercenaries grabbed Batroc by the shoulder and helped pull him upright. Once he got his bearings back, he realized how far he had been thrown by whoever had blindsided him.

"I'm fine," Batroc's search for his attacker ended as soon as it began. Peter grabbed Batroc's hired gun by the back of his neck and slammed him face-first into the cement. Georges' ducked out of the way of a punch, rolled away, and sprang back up to his feet. The punch hit the tree, which snapped like a twig and came crashing down next to the man attacking him. "No, not a man, a BOY." The boy charged him and Batroc threw a front kick to meet him, but Peter jumped over him, landing behind the mercenary. A punch hit Batroc in the back and sent him to the ground. Dazed, Batroc turned and narrowly avoided the next punch, which cracked the cement where it landed.

Peter could feel blood running down his fingers when he pulled his fist free from the cement. But his rage blocked out the pain. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," Peter growled.

Batroc got back to his feet, and it finally clicked. "You... You're that Spider-boy," He forced a laugh. "Run along, boy, no sense in you getting beat again." He sounded more sure than he actually was. Batroc had thought the boy had shown his true strength at the tail end of their last encounter, but he hadn't. That had barely scratched the surface.


Steve dodged bullets, diving from tree to tree, making his way towards his friends. The fanatics' aim was wildly inaccurate, but the sheer volume of rounds made it hard to move. Natasha's voice came into his earpiece; disembodied and muffled by static, he couldn't make out any of the words. "Natasha?" Her disembodied voice came again. He didn't need to make out the words to tell she was begging for his help.

To Steve's left, he could see the flashing lights and hear police sirens mixed with the exchanging of gunfire. That could work, drawing them into a confrontation with the police. Given how bad their aim was, he doubted they were any match for NYPD. "No, that could mean more collateral damage." Steve didn't want anyone else getting hurt if he could help it. Directly in front of the soldier was a frozen pond. The flashing red and blue lights reflected off its icy, black surface. "It'll have to do," Cap lowered himself against the tree and pushed.

The roots of the old Elm tree came free easier than he would have expected, and it came crashing down on the zealots. Most of the ones in the falling tree's path managed to dive out of the way, but 6 of them were smashed down beneath its branches. Injured, but alive. Steve stood in the open for a few moments longer than he cared to, but he needed them to follow him onto the ice. Once they resumed their erratic firing, he turned and ran down the embankment and out onto the ice.

Cap hesitated for a split second, listening to the dull creaking of the ice beneath his feet. "He went this way!" A man shouted from the trees behind him. Cap shook off any second thoughts he'd been having and skated his way to the shore. The zealots, with zero situational awareness, ran out onto the ice. Slipping and falling over and over as they pursued Captain America.

Steve pulled a small explosive off his waistband, activated it, and slid it out across the ice. It came to a stop at the feet of one of the men, ad his eyes came up to meet Steve's. Even in the dark, Steve could see the realization and horror on the man's pale face.
It went off with a sharp Boom! The ice cracked and broke in the blink of an eye, the sound muted by the collective involuntary gasps as they were plunged into the freezing water. The cries of panic made the soldier pause as he went to turn away. Steve remembered the freezing waters of the Arctic, how it'd sucked the air right out of him.

"They chose this." Cap reminded himself as he ran into the dark towards the venue.


Bucky worked his way through the venue, searching for Natasha and incapacitating any Mercs that got in his way. Bucky spotted Tony Stark blasting away with his repulsor inside the main building. "Gonna go ahead and avoid him." The Winter Soldier wasn't entirely sure Tony wouldn't try and kill him again.

"Romanoff!" He called out when he found her and a heavyset man helping her cover. Bucky played his metal hand on Natasha's shoulder, but the woman pulled away instantly.

"I'm fine," Natasha didn't look fine, but Bucky left it alone. "Peter," The spy winced. "He went after Batroc, I-" Natasha's eyes met his for a split second. "He needs your help."

Bucky eyed the woman for a moment, noting the desperation in her voice. Something she was trying desperately to hide. He opened his mouth to say something reassuring but stopped himself. "You two get to safety,"

"Way ahead of you! Come on, Nat-" A round ripped through Happy's side.


Batroc had been bested before, but never like this. The Spiderman dodged a trio of punches, simply moving his head offline and backing away. A swift counter punch to the chest nearly sent Batroc to the ground, though he caught himself and jumped back to his feet. "He's TOYING with me." The thought enraged him.
"You won't beat me! You're nothing but a fucking child!" Batroc threw a kick into Peter's midsection with all his strength.

The kick hit Peter in the ribs, but he trapped the leg against his body and spun, throwing the Merc into the side of the building. The bricks cratered when he hit, leaving half embedded in the wall. A hand around his throat and an arm pressed into his chest, forcing him further into the wall. "I'm not going to beat you; I'm going to KILL you!" White began to overtake Batroc's vision as his brain was deprived of oxygen.

Batroc threw a desperate knee into Peter's stomach and tried to wrench himself free. Peter pulled him away from the wall and slammed him back, the wall cracking when he hit. The mercenary felt blood running down the back of his shaved head as he was once again slammed into the wall. And then again and again, and again. Finally, the wall behind him gave way, and they were inside the building. Batroc's groan of pain was cut short when the spiderling's left hand wrapped around Batroc's throat.
Peter cocked his right hand back, and Batroc could only fight weakly at the boy's wrist. "So, this is it..." Batroc thought he was beaten, and he knew it. "No battle with Captain America, no glory for killing the first Avenger and the Black Widow. Batroc the Leaper, killed by a child." His chuckled came out as a cough.

Before could finish the job, a chill shot up his spine, nearly taking his breath away. Then, his grip loosened, and he turned his attention away. "Happy...?" Batroc's hand closed around a chunk of brick and smashed it into Peter's already sore ribs. "Agh!" The second strike came just a moment later and landed just behind Peter's. The teen slumped to the side, creating just enough space for Batroc to get his foot onto Peter's hip. The Leaper used it to throw Peter off, and out of the hole they'd made in the wall.

Peter landed on his feet and looked up to see the man staggering quickly out of the venue. "Happy needs you." A voice, May's voice, came from the back of his mind. It overpowered his anger, and he turned and ran towards where he knew they'd be.

Natasha was on her knees beside Happy, her hand on his cheek, doing her best to calm him. Another man, who Peter didn't immediately recognize, was doing his best to stop the bleeding. Peter rushed to Happy's side and began applying pressure to the wound. Hot, sticky blood drenched his hand, and Peter recoiled involuntarily. "I'm okay," Happy coughed, trying to sit up when he saw Peter. "Really, I-" Happy tried to move again, and a metal hand pushed him back down. It dawned on Peter, who he was kneeling next to then, and their eyes locked, if only briefly.

"Happy?" Peter took hold of his hand. "Happy, help's on the way. Everything's gonna be fine." He forced a smile and tried to hide his panic. He tried to keep his eyes from focusing on the blood that soaked his friend's white dress shirt. "Blood..." Peter couldn't stop himself. "So much blood."

The familiar sound of Tony's suit brought him back to the moment, and the teen felt a great sigh of relief. The Winter Soldier, on the other hand, had the exact opposite reaction. His body immediately tensed when he heard the Iron Man's approach. Tony landed a few steps away from them, hand raised and repulsor humming with energy. Bucky turned and met the cold blue gaze of the mask. "Please, Stark..." He pleaded internally, worried the sound of his voice would provoke Tony. "Not here, not now." Natasha watched the silent standoff, half expecting Tony to kill Bucky; God knows he wanted to. And somewhere in the back of Natasha's mind, she supposed she wanted that too.

"Happy needs medical attention," Natasha's voice broke the silence between the two men, her voice was steady, but her eyes were pleading. They didn't have time for this.

"Friday, alert EMS that we need their help." Tony's eyes stayed on Bucky, still doing his best to slow the blood.

"On it, Boss, but given the circumstances, it'll be no less than 20 minutes before they reach him. He doesn't have that long."

Tony finally moved forward, Bucky and Peter moving away and allowing Tony to pick Happy up off the ground. "Easy there," Happy groaned in pain, his hand gripping at his gunshot wound.

"Don't worry, Hap, I'm gonna get you some help," Tony assured his friend before flying off into the cold night air.

Natasha and Bucky turned towards each other, before looking around. The police were quickly swarming and securing the event grounds. They needed to leave, fast, before Ross arrived or they'd both be in handcuffs by the end of the night. Peter watched the glow of the jets disappear into the night sky. "Peter?" Natasha said softly, grabbing the teen by the sleeve. He only nodded and allowed her to lead him by the sleeve to the landing pad just outside the venue.

"Rogers? You read me?" Natasha tried the comms again.

Steve let out a sigh of relief when he heard the spy's voice in his earpiece. "Loud and clear! Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine, but we need to get out of here. Now." She didn't need to tell Cap where they were going. They all made it to the Quinjet at the same time, where a small group of police officers was waiting. They had orders to arrest them if they attempted to leave, no doubt.

The commanding officer took a few steps towards them and Cap met him halfway. "I don't know about you guys, but I sure as hell don't wanna be known as the man who arrested Captain America." The words came out in a joking manner, but the message was clear when he stepped aside to let them pass. The other officers followed suit, and Steve gave them a small nod of gratitude as he passed them.

Natasha finally released Peter's sleeve once they boarded the aircraft and jumped into the pilot seat. There was only one place she could think to go, and in fact, only one place she WANTED to go.

"Looks like we'll be spending Christmas with the Barton's"


Author's note: Hey everybody! Here is an unforgivably late chapter and I know it's kind of short but you guys deserved to have this posted a long time ago.
A few little things I wanted to make clear, I started this story before Infinity was so this takes place before Tony had his nanotech suit. Also with the radios not working (Aside from being a plot device) I imagined Batroc using a signal jammer, but couldn't think of a way to put that in so I kind of skipped it. Again, I am SO SO sorry about how long everyone had to wait for this. As I said in the last update I fell out of love with this part of my story idea but had pigeon-holed myself into it so it was very difficult to write it. (Also I'm a lazy piece of shit so) The next chapter will hopefully be easier for me to write and I will do my best to get it up ASAP!

Thank you as always and please read&review!