A/N: Italicized text can represent several things (dialogue in another language, inner thoughts, flashbacks, etc.) please be aware of this and the context to better understand what is happening!


November

"This is nice, isn't it?" Natasha asked early one morning, a coy smile on her lips.

Odette finished pulling the muffin tin out of the oven and sat it down on a hot pad before she turned to her friend. "What do you mean?"

"A full house." Natasha nodded to the lounge where Cassie was entertaining Cass and AJ with pictures and videos of her pet ant. Maggie and Jim were nearby chatting with Sarah, who looked uncomfortable, but had a warm smile on her face.

"Yeah." Odette couldn't help but smile, "it is."

"I think Brooke's baby will be a welcome relief from everything." Natasha sighed as she leaned onto the kitchen island, she eyed the muffins Odette dumped out of the tins.

As if sensing the spy's intentions, Odette said, "They're for the kids, Nat. And they're too hot right now."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Speaking of, where is Brooke?"

"In her room." Odette nodded down towards the living quarters, "She said she's not ready for the world to know." Natasha opened her mouth to say something else. "Steve is reassuring her that she's fine making that decision, and giving her a rough itinerary."

Natasha paused, then asked, "Did you tell Steve about Tony?"

Odette paused as she plated the muffins, "...no."

"Steve's not going to like that." Natasha warned her under her breath.

"Steve is just going to have to deal with it." Odette answered tensely. "The memorial is at the base of the Tower, it would have been wrong to not have him there. And he's still an Avenger." Retired or not, Tony was still a part of the team.

"And the boys?" Natasha asked.

Odette sighed, "No response from Thor. I even tried asking his warrior friend, the Valkyrie woman...she says no one's heard from him in days. He's home, but...he won't answer anyone's calls." Natasha frowned. Losing his home, his father and brother, and more than half of his people had taken a toll on him. Not to mention he carried a lot of self-blame for The Snap. "Rhodey is busy in D.C. this weekend, and he says there's still no word on Clint….and his tracker's are off." Odette hesitated, "Bruce says he's 'too busy'...he hung up on me before I could say more."

Natasha took a deep breath, "So, no buffer or barrier between the two." She realized.

Odette nodded, "Yup." Not wanting to linger any longer on their absent friends, Odette looked over Natasha's shoulder and shouted just loud enough for the kids to hear, "Kids! Breakfast." She slid the three plates onto the counter of the kitchen island. Cassie picked up AJ and followed Cass as he ran over and climbed onto a stool. Natasha took AJ from Cassie so she could sit down.

"Thank you, Miss Black Swann." Cass said politely before he tore open a hot muffin with his hands.

"Yeah, thank you." Cassie smiled as she reached for a knife.

Odette nodded and smiled at them, but her eyes were on their parents.

Maggie and Jim seemed unfazed, they had been in awe of the facility for all of ten minutes before they crashed in one of the spare rooms. Then, that morning, Odette found them to be completely at ease with Friday, the Avengers, and the facility.

Sarah was still on edge. She reassured Odette that it was just because she knew so little about her brother's life as a superhero, that she had left the business her parents had built in order to come to the facility, and that she had towed her two young boys with her. And Odette hoped that was the truth. She'd found Sarah this morning in Sam's room, holding the picture of Sam, Sarah, and their parents that sat on his dresser.

Natasha was a natural with AJ, pulling apart the muffin for him and letting him pick off pieces himself to put in his mouth.

AJ was a quiet two year old, but endlessly energetic and curious.

Cass was just as energetic and curious as his little brother, and he had spent most of the previous night dragging Steve around the facility asking him questions. Poor Steve didn't get to bed until nearly midnight.

Cassie was all the best parts of her father. Sweet, funny, polite. She seemed extremely interested in the superhero life and had nearly talked Natasha and Odette's ears off last night as they gave the two visiting families a tour of the facility.

Steve came into the kitchen as Odette worked on cleaning the dishes she'd used. "Do you have a moment?" He asked inconspicuously as he turned to rest against the counter beside her.

Odette looked at him curiously, elbow deep in hot soapy water, "Now?" She asked.

"Soon." Steve looked around at their guests.

"Is everything alright?" She pulled her hands out of the water and rested them on the edge of the sink.

"Everything's fine. Just need to talk before we leave." Steve reassured her.

Odette eyed him with confusion and concern, "Alright. Give me a moment."

Steve nodded and headed back towards the living quarters. He slipped away without anyone stopping him. Odette tried not to worry herself over whatever it was Steve might've had to say, and finished the dishes in record time.

Odette dried her hands off on a towel before leaning to Natasha, "I'll be right back." She reassured her friend.

"Go." Natasha nodded after Steve. Of course she'd noticed him.

Odette glanced back once at their guests before she picked up her pace and joined Steve in Pietro...Brooke's room.

Brooke was still in pajamas, sitting cross-legged with both her laptop and her tablet turned on. Odette cocked an eyebrow up at her, "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"You know how Stryker has been away the past week?" Brooke cut straight to the chase. Odette nodded. "Well," Brooke sighed, "There's a reason for that." Brooke nodded towards the TV.

Friday pulled up a collection of headlines and footage for them to see.

William Stryker, along with a gaggle of his followers, was pitched outside the security gates at the base of Avengers Tower in the city. The feed was muted, but Stryker's red and strained face showed just how loud and impassioned he was being to the crowd. Most of the pedestrians passed him by, paying him and his people no mind. Some stopped to listen for a few seconds before moving on, and some even tried to heckle back. Police had to come and break up those who got physical, but for the most part Stryker was left to his own devices.

"This man is tenacious," Odette sighed, crossing her arms, "I'll give him that."

"Should we leave the kids here?" Steve asked.

Odette looked at Steve incredulously. Why was he asking her? He was the man with the plan, not her! She adjusted her arms to hold herself and shifted from foot to foot, "No." She shook her head, "We'll have increased security later." She watched Stryker continue to shout to the streets, "Worse comes to worse he'll find himself teleported to the middle of the sea." She thought to herself. She took a breath, "I'll tell Nat, and let Pepper know."

"Be careful." Brooke called as she and Steve left the room.

"Stryker needs to be careful." Odette wanted to say, but she stayed silent.


Odette was grateful there was not a major crowd outside the Avengers Tower. They only had a single block closed, which meant people were stretching to their full height to see what was happening. A gate surrounded the front steps of the Tower, with police outside, keeping people back. The only people invited inside the gated area were a few major news stations, the deputy mayor of New York City, and the Avengers guests.

Odette wanted everything to go smoothly. "Everything has to go smoothly...Everyone is here." The Lang's and the Wilson's were here. "If only the team had come…" Odette frowned, looking at the empty seats saved for their friends should they decide to make a last second appearance.

Odette and Steve were the last ones to their seats, but she nearly ran into his back as he came to a complete stop. "Steve?" She peeked up around him and inwardly cringed.

Tony was sitting next to Pepper, pointedly not looking at Steve.

"Steve." Odette tried to remain level headed, "This is Tony's property. He agreed to all of this." Steve stiffened. "Technically, it's Stark Industries Property, and Pepper agreed to all this." She took a breath, "Please, Steve."

"It's fine. We're fine." Steve said, finishing the walk to his chair.

For a moment, Odette watched as Steve and Tony pointedly ignored each other across the gap between their chairs. Then, Pepper nudged Tony and he turned to look at Steve over his shoulder.

"Rogers."

"Tony."

Tony bristled at how casually Steve treated him, especially after everything they'd all gone through. "How's Brooke?" He asked.

"She's fine." Steve answered.

"Good." Tony nodded once.

And...that seemed to be that.

Letting go of the tension in her shoulders, Odette finally went to her seat.

She'd be the last to speak, unveiling the memorial at the very end of the ceremony. Thankfully, due to everyone's busy schedules, the ceremony wouldn't last very long. A few quick speeches, the unveiling, some pictures, and then they could go home. Odette could hear Cass complaining about his itchy formal clothes, so the faster they got home, the better.

"Nervous?" Natasha asked, leaning over to mumble to her.

They were seated behind the podium where the deputy mayor was thanking the three Avengers for all the work they'd done in building databases of missing people, providing global support to crumbling communities, and creating a network of caretakers and houses for orphans left behind in The Snap.

Odette glanced at her friend before taking a deep breath, "So long as I have you guys," She smiled, "I'll be fine."

Natasha smiled back.

"And now," The deputy mayor's words caught her attention, "A quick word from the woman who so generously donated this space towards the first Snap Memorial, Mrs. Pepper Stark." Odette smiled and clapped politely as Pepper stepped up to the podium, glowing.

Odette turned to whisper a question to Natasha, but found her friend to be staring hard at the fenceline. She turned back, but saw nothing out of the ordinary within the crowd beyond the fences and police officers. "What is it?" A small panic began to build up in her chest, "Where is it?"

Natasha's eyes were furiously staring through the crowd. Pepper's voice grew distant as Odette's phone buzzed in her pocket. She dared to pull it out just enough to peek at the screen.

It was a message from Brooke in all caps.

STRYKER!

Odette's blood ran cold as she stared back at the fenceline.

Another buzz.

HE'S STILL IN THE CROWD!

Odette looked back up and finally found her target.

A man in the crowd, aged, with salt and pepper hair and a pronounced widow's peak, was glaring through the crowd, through the police line, through the fence...straight at her.

"Want me to take care of him?" Natasha whispered, her eyes never leaving Stryker.

Odette's heart was hammering in her chest as she took a breath, "He hasn't done anything yet." She said, her voice low and even. Steve glanced at her. "He doesn't know." She realized as his brows furrowed together curiously at her.

"What, you want to wait until it's too late?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"He's not going to do anything with Pepper up at the stand." Odette reasoned, "He's not after regular humans."

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Natasha asked.

Pepper was wrapping up her speech.

"Odette?" Natasha dragged out her name, a warning not to do what they both knew she was going to do.

Odette didn't answer. Stryker raised his chin as Pepper turned and looked at Odette.

She was up.

"Odette!" Natasha hissed.

Odette stood up and smoothed out her dress skirt as she stepped up to the podium. She smiled and hugged Pepper, not wanting her to panic or arouse suspicion. She smiled as she turned towards the crowd.

"Good afternoon." She looked out over the block's worth of people watching her. She only had eyes for Stryker, "Today we are here to honor the Avengers who fought and gave their lives in the fight against Thanos."

"What about the rest of us?!" Stryker shouted.

Odette ignored him, "The first of many memorials, The Snap Memorial Committee, started by myself, Director Vela, and Director-General Azoulay will be working until April of twenty-nineteen—,"

"Eleven months? Not even a year? Do the lives you lost mean so little?!" Stryker shouted.

Odette did her best to not react as more people in the crowd began to nervously look at Stryker. "To unveil localized memorials around the world to respect and honor those we have lost."

"Respect?! Honor!?" Stryker shouted, "You're a monster!"

"Now they know you are a monster."

Odette gripped the podium, resisting the urge to physically shake off the feeling of Schmidt's hands on her, and she carried one as if Stryker wasn't even there. "There is a lot the world did not see of The Avengers. Some things that made us proud as a team, others not so much."

Stryker was now yelling over her, growing red in the face, "Your actions only prove how inhuman you are! IT'S THE AVENGERS FAULT WE ARE HERE TODAY!"

The crowd and news cameras were split between watching Odette and watching Stryker, some nervously looking back and forth between them.

"We are here today because they deserve to be remembered, not just the Avengers who fought against threats known and unknown, but also to remember the people who fought the everyday battles. The men and women who were children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, caretakers, and wonderful people. The children that were left behind. The children that were lost. The families that were torn apart. The front line responders, teachers, doctors, nurses—everyday people who deserve to be remembered."

"IF YOU FREAKS HADN'T BEEN BORN THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED!"

"We remember them, because even though they are not physically with us, they are never far from our mind." Odette raised her voice to be heard.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT THANOS TARGETED US!"

"We remember them because we loved them and we always will." Odette could feel the dog tags around her neck burn her skin, but she was too focused on Stryker, being restrained by police as he charged the fence.

Steve was beside her in a second when Stryker grabbed the fence.

"YOU SIT THERE—!" Stryker shouted, spit flying from his wet lips, "HIGH AND MIGHTY! BUT I SEE YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE!" Behind the podium, Steve laid his hand on the small of her back, supporting her. He shook the fence as the police attempted to pry his fingers out of the links. "MONSTERS!"

Odette took a deep breath, doing her best to remain composed. She could feel energy burning through her shoulders and knew if she didn't calm down she'd begin to emit fiery energy. That would only add fire to Stryker's fuel. Steve's hand on her was the only thing keeping her grounded in her body.

"YOU'LL SEE! YOU'RE ALL BLIND! BUT ONE DAY! SOON!" Stryker shouted, "YOU'LL ALL SEE!" his voice grew quieter as he was dragged down the block and stuffed into the back of a police cruiser.

Odette waited for a moment. She swallowed the painful lump in her throat before she turned to look over her shoulder at Steve, "I'm fine." She reassured him, "Thank you."

"You sure?" Steve asked, his eyebrows pulled up with worry.

She nodded and hummed, unsure if she truly was okay. "At least he didn't attack us." She quickly glanced at their guests behind them. Natasha and Tony were also standing, though they hadn't stepped away from their chairs—no doubt to keep Stryker from reacting even more irrationally. Pepper had one hand holding Tony's hand, and one holding her small baby bump. She suddenly looked sweaty and stressed, the first time Odette had seen her so overwrought. Jim was also standing, the hand hovering near his hip told her that he was ready to take down Stryker if necessary. Maggie and Cassie, were holding each other, worried, but slowly relaxing as they realized Stryker was being taken away. Cass was turned and tucked into his mother's side, covering his ears with his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. AJ was asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos around him. Sarah looked terrified, and she held onto her boys as tightly as she could.

"Everyone's safe." She told herself as she turned back around. "Now that the cat's out of the bag." She said, earning a nervous chuckle from the crowd, "May I present the first of many memorials, The Vanished Avengers Memorial, here at Avengers Tower."

She nodded to the installers who scrambled to her cue. They pulled a drape off the memorial, an Avengers 'A' with all of the names of the Avengers lost in The Snap in the middle of a small fountain. The names on the 'A' were lit with lights, so that they may be seen day or night. The fountain was lined with black tiles, making the water appear dark and smooth, like a mirror.

Stryker forgotten: The crowd applauded.

As the Avengers and their guests left, Sarah, Maggie, and Jim came up to Odette.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" Maggie asked, shock and concern on her face.

"It's nothing I haven't handled before." Odette reassured them, "I'm just sorry you all were subjected to that."

"That man was crazy," Sarah agreed, "Why didn't you do anything?" She asked.

"It would have just proven Stryker's point." Steve pointed out as he joined them.

"Still, couldn't you have, like, teleported him just down the road or something?" Maggie asked.

"Maggie," Jim reassured his wife, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

"Wait, Stryker?" Sarah asked, "You knew him?"

"We know of him." Natasha explained, "He's been on our radar as a possible problem, but all he does is give crazy speeches like the one we just witnessed."

"If he had gotten through the fence line, I would have absolutely let him know that we are not to be underestimated." Odette reassured their guests.

"Doc's right." Tony stopped to join their conversation, "By restraining herself, we just showed the world that Stryker is crazy, and his views mean zip." He turned to his former teammates, "I'm sure Brooke will make sure the news eats this up. He'll be discredited, disgraced—,"

"The point is," Steve cut him off, "We wouldn't have let anything happen to any of you, and Stryker isn't a problem anymore." Tony huffed at being cut off, but said nothing.

"If he knows what's good for him he won't be a problem anymore." Jim said.

"I couldn't agree more." Odette thought to herself.


December

The facility didn't feel very festive, despite everyone's attempts to make it so. The lounge was decorated with fresh garland and wreaths. Ornaments of shining red and glittering gold were hung with care on every possible hook. But with most of the team gone, it just wasn't as lively.

Perhaps that's what Odette was really missing.

Simple days where celebrations were lively and smiles were aplenty.

Odette stayed in the kitchen for most of the morning, making phone calls to everyone she had to squeeze into her schedule.

Thor had finally—FINALLY—answered a phone call that morning.

"Hello?" An unusually hoarse voice answered.

"Thor?" Odette questioned. His tired voice caught her completely by surprise.

"Odette!" Thor half groaned-half cheered, "It's so good to hear from you!" He grunted.

Odette paused, "I—," She pulled her phone back enough to do a double take, she put it back to her ear, "I've been trying to contact you for months! Where have you been, are you alright?"

"I've been busy, you know how it is." Thor reassured her, but offered no other explanation and didn't answer her other questions.

Odette forced herself to breathe, "Thor, I've been worried. Your friend, the Valkyrie, she said you'd been ignoring everyone, shutting yourself in your—,"

"Ahhh she worries too much. You do, too." He seemingly brushed off her concern.

"Thor, I'm your friend," She reminded him, "I worry because I care. No one's seen nor heard from you since we got back. Please, just—,"

"You know, you and Steve should come out here for a party one of these days." Thor cut her off once more.

Odette's and tightened into a fist, "Thor." She tried to get through to him, "I've tried to give you your space. You had to deal with some personal things and help your people. But shutting yourself in isn't the answer."

For a moment, Thor was quiet. Then, he burped. "Right, sorry, I completely spaced out when you said 'space'. Which is funny because you are the space stone."

Odette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm not the literal space stone. Carol and I received our powers FROM the space stone—We're getting off topic, Thor." She couldn't believe how quickly this conversation had derailed.

"Topic? What topic? Hey, you and Steve should—,"

"Thor, I think you need to come back to the facility." Odette cut to the chase.

Thor was quiet once more. "No." He finally said.

"I beg your pardon?" Odette asked incredulously.

"No." Thor said firmly. "I am Prince of Asgard, God of thunder, and I will not be ordered to do what I don't want to do." He said as though he were an indignant teenager.

"Thor, I'm worried about you," Odette reassured him, "I think being with the team again will help you."

"Well you can stop worrying." Thor said sharply.

"Thor, please—!" Odette didn't want to lose him after months of having no contact.

The line went dead.

Odette pulled back her phone and stared at it. She buried her head in her hands. It was different going 'no-contact' with Thor when he was back on Asgard, it's not like they had any way to contact him even if they'd wanted to. But with him being on Earth, just a few hours away—or the blink of an eye in Odette's case—and him pointedly ignoring them, it hurt.

She sighed and decided she'd try calling Bruce again.

The phone rang and rang. Odette chewed nervously on her lip. "Bruce usually picks up…" She told herself, "What if something's happened in that lab of his?"

"H-hello?" Bruce groaned.

"Bruce? Is everything alright?" Odette asked quickly, hearing the exhaustion and pain in his voice.

"Y-yeah. I'm...I'm fine." Bruce groaned, "What can I do for you, Odette?"

Odette hesitated, "I just—how are things going in your lab?" She asked.

"Fine. Fine. Totally fine." He reassured her. "How're things there? How's the team?"

"We're...managing." Odette admitted, "I just got off the phone with Thor."

"Oh yeah? How is he?" Bruce asked.

"I asked him to come back to the facility," Odette explained, "His friend said that he hasn't left his house in months, and he sounded...God, Bruce, he sounded awful. I wanted him to come back, maybe getting his mind active again would help him."

"Yeah, sure, maybe." Bruce sounded distracted.

Odette hesitated, "Am I interrupting something?"

"What? No, no!" He quickly reassured her. He was lying.

Odette frowned, "Well…I just wanted to invite you to come back to the facility for the holidays." She said, "We all miss you."

"All?" Bruce asked. He was quiet for a moment, "How's Nat?"

Odette smiled sadly, "She's really becoming the backbone of our team. She keeps us moving and motivated every day." Natasha had become a Godsend. She kept the strayed and scattered active members of the team in contact, she still gathered information from her underground sources on the nefarious activities around the world, and she kept them all on strict schedules. No one was going to be caught slacking off under her watch.

"That's...that's great to hear." Bruce admitted.

"So," Odette gently pressed, "About the holidays..?"

"Yeah, I'll—I'll get back to you on that, Doc...I promise." He reassured her. He was lying.

Odette licked her lips, and let out a deep sigh, "Okay. Thanks Bruce."

"No problem. Take care, Doc."

"You, too, Bruce." Odette answered. She pulled her phone away, hung up, and sat it down for a second.

She picked it up again and dialed up Tony. As expected, Pepper answered after about four rings.

"Hello?" Pepper greeted calmly.

"Hi, Pepper." Odette had to restrain herself from sighing once more. "Is Tony there?"

There was a moment of muffled sounds in the background, "You know what?" Pepper said, "He is. But he's busy."

"Right." It was only eleven in the morning and Odette was over people lying to her, "Well, once he isn't busy, could you tell him that Brooke would love for you both to come over for the holidays...We would all love it, actually." She added.

She could hear the smile in Pepper's voice, "I'll be sure to tell him, thank you."

There was some scuffling in the background and suddenly Tony was on the line, "Yeah, hey, who sent out a bunch of packages from the facility?"

"Hello, Tony, nice to hear from you too. Oh, me?" Odette closed her eyes, frustrated, "I'm doing well, thanks for asking. I sent out those packages. They are gifts for the Wilson's and the Lang's, as well as for Queen Ramonda, and Okoye."

"Oh." Was all Tony said.

"Tony, I don't want to hear you scolding me for trying to keep this team together when you spend so much time, money, and effort into spoiling Brooke—,"

"It's her first kid, she deserves the best." Tony pointed out.

Odette didn't want to argue or debate him on this, "So, will you be joining us for the holidays, or no?" She asked.

"Ehh, you'll have to put me down as a 'raincheck', Doc. Pep's got a doctor's appointment the day after Christmas. You understand." Tony answered.

"Yeah." Odette's jaw was tense, "I understand."

"Cool. Listen, it was great to hear from you," she could hear Pepper in the background arguing, trying to get a word in edgewise, "but we gotta go, 'kay? Thanks. Bye!"

Odette didn't bother saying 'goodbye' as Tony had hung up the second she was able to open her mouth.

Frustrated and mentally exhausted from her conversations, she put her phone away and leaned back in her seat.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Steve asked as he sat down a mug of hot cider in front of Odette before sitting beside her.

Odette sighed as she turned and looked into the lounge where Natasha and Brooke were watching cheesy, old, Christmas movies. "I just wish everyone was here." She said, looking back down at the mug. She grabbed the mug and held it close, allowing her hands to warm up as steam rose into her face. "I miss the days when we were all together. Not just as a team, but as a family."

Steve nodded understandingly.

"Do you remember the last Christmas we spent together in the war?" She asked, staring at her altered reflection in her cider.

"The one we celebrated at base, or the one out in the field?" Steve asked.

"The field." Odette clarified. "Morita tried to make coffee for everyone."

Steve grimaced, "It tasted like burnt dirt." He admitted.

Odette did her best not to snort, "And you all played football together in snow."

"Dernier almost caught frostbite." Steve recalled.

"And you gave Bucky a bloody nose." Odette added with a slight chuckle.

Steve nodded, a single, breathy chuckle escaping from the back of his throat. He stared at his own mug for a second before asking, "Do you remember our first Christmas in D.C.?" He asked.

"Was that the time we went to see that gigantic tree?" Odette asked curiously.

Steve nodded, a small smile on his lips, "You said you'd never seen so many pretty lights before." He turned to look at her, "You were totally enthralled." He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it.

Odette tried her best to stamp out the shiver that ran through her at Steve's memory. But, he was right, the tree was massive. Nearly every inch of the tree was covered with twinkling lights. The park was crowded, but due to it being night, and the only light coming from the tree, Steve and Odette were able to pass through without being recognized. It had been a freezing cold night, one where their breath hung in the air and their cheeks turned pink from the sharp wind biting at their skin. "It was quite a sight." Odette agreed, finally finding her voice. She took a sip of her cider, enjoying the crispness of the apple and the warmth it brought her. "Do you remember our first Christmas with Brooke? At the Tower?"

"When she overrode Jarvis's programming to play Christmas music anytime Tony asked for working music?" Steve asked and Odette nodded, a laughter filled smile spreading her lips. He chuckled, "Never a dull moment with her, that's for sure."

"Obviously." Odette said proudly, taking another sip, "She's a Swann."

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Then his smile slowly dropped and he looked down at his mug once more, "I miss those days, too." He said quietly.

Odette's smile dropped as well, she shifted in her seat and rubbed her index finger around the rim of her mug. "This doesn't have to be a sad occasion." She said, looking up at Steve hopefully. Steve looked at her wordlessly. "We can make it a happy holiday," She said, "It can become a holiday we look back on to remember fondly." She let go of her mug and laid her hand out on the table, open-handed.

Steve hesitated for only a moment before he took her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet. Odette pulled him into the lounge, letting go of his hand before either Natasha or Brooke could see them, but instead of being able to sit on the couch with them, she felt a hand tug at the back of her sweater.

She let out a tiny, startled yelp as she fell backwards and across Steve's lap. Only Natasha seemed to notice, peering over Brooke's head to raise an eyebrow at them. Odette looked up at Steve, but he was watching the movie they had on. One of his arms was slung over the chair's arm, and the other was wrapped naturally around her legs, holding her in place.

Sighing, she settled onto his lap, slinging one arm around the back of the chair to prop her head up in her hand.

"How could you have brought me here?" The old man on screen addressed the equally old man beside him who appeared to be a ghost. "Have you no mercy? No pity?" The man asked, his voice low and sad.

The four sat and watched various movies, ranging from quirky and silly, to musicals, to even some cheesy romance movies.

At one point, Natasha stood up and made bowls of popcorn for everyone when they were watching a movie about a skeleton stealing the Christmas holiday from Santa. Then Brooke got up and made cookies a little while a woman pretended to be a private tutor in order to get close to a prince and get a news scoop on him. Odette got up at one point to wash everyone's mugs and order pizza for them while a movie about a man forced to be the new Santa after the old one died played in the background.

Steve joined her in the kitchen as a movie about a family in Louisiana started up. Odette perked up as the song 'Meet Me in St. Louis' started up. "What?" Steve asked.

Odette just listened to the song for a moment, "I...I sang this song with my choir." She admitted quietly, "Back before the war. I performed it in New York with my choir." She hadn't heard the song in years, but she could still remember how her teacher conducted, and all the words. Forcing herself to breathe she said, "I just—It just took me by surprise is all."

The two stayed in the kitchen, but Odette couldn't take her eyes away from the movie.

"You've got that look in your eyes again." Steve whispered beside her.

Odette finally blinked and tore her eyes away from the movie, "What?" She asked, looking up at him. "What look?"

"That look of awe." Steve explained.

Odette looked at him curiously, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face as she tried desperately to ignore how that made her feel. "Stop that." She blurted out.

"It's the same way you looked at that tree." He said, referring to their conversation from earlier. "Your eyes light up, and your lips do that little twitch they do when you're trying not to smile too wide. It's like the rest of the world disappears." Steve continued. The tension rolled off Odette's shoulders as Steve stepped up to stand in front of her. She turned to face him head on.

"Please stop saying things like that." She wanted to say. Instead, she let him put his hands on her hips. She swallowed, her mouth going dry. "Stop." She whispered.

"It's nice to see you smiling again." Steve said back quietly. He smiled.

Odette nervously licked her lips before she bit down on them. She looked down at the space between them, shocked to find that she'd subconsciously grabbed his arms to hold him back from stepping any closer—or, at least, that's what she told herself she must have been doing when she had grabbed him. She frowned. "I'm sorry." Would she ever stop apologizing for what she'd done? If she could go back...she was almost positive she wouldn't do it again.

Before Steve could say something else, her phone vibrated. The two broke apart, giving Odette space to pull her phone out of her pocket. "Pizza's here." Odette called into the lounge. Brooke threw up a thumbs up. "I'll be right back." She told Steve, teleporting out to the fence where a teen was waiting for her.

She paid and left him a tip, expressing her wish that he would drive back to work safely as snow and ice were beginning to accumulate on the roads. He thanked her and wished her a safe evening as well before he got back in his car. Odette waited until he drove his car down the road before she teleported back into the warmth of the facility.

She took the two pizza boxes to the lounge where she laid them on the coffee tables for the four of them to pull from.

The movie that had been playing was winding down, with one of the daughter's singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' to her youngest sister.
Instead of being able to return to her seat, Odette's arms were caught up when Steve walked in front of her and grabbed her hands.

As the woman in the movie sang, Steve pulled Odette close and began to sway with her.

"Steve?" Odette looked up at him, shocked.

"Well, look at you two fossils." Natasha said with a smug smirk.

"Oh, come on, Nat." Brooke grunted as she pushed herself up to stand.

"Easy," Natasha laughed as she helped Brooke stand up. Out of the corner of her eye, Odette could see Nat and Brooke also begin to dance, though they were also laughing and giggling at Brooke's growing stomach.

Odette couldn't help but fall back into the ease of dancing, especially with Steve. She looked up at him, "Why do you do this to me?" She wanted to ask. Instead, she simply relaxed as the song carried on.

Before the song could end, however, Natasha and Odette ended up switching partners. Odette and Brooke giggled at how Natasha tried to take the lead over Steve, and how he ended up nearly tripping over his feet when she did.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Brooke asked.

Odette hummed as she turned back to her. "What is?"

"Having all of us here…" Brooke explained, "I mean," she shrugged, "It would be nice to have everyone here, but," She smiled as she looked back at Natasha and Steve, allowing Odette to lead them in their little dance in the lounge, "This is nice, too."

Odette looked at her niece, and then at her two friends. She smiled. "This is nice, too." She repeated.


Thank you to everyone who has already favorited/followed/reviewed!

So, school is getting a little overwhelming right now, I'm hitting a lot of writers block because every time I open my fanfic docs I'm thinking about what I could be doing for class instead. I am currently in a kindergarten and a fifth grade classroom on top of my college classes AND work. So, I think in order to take a little bit of stress off my shoulders, I'm going to go on a small hiatus.

So—

THE SWANN'S MOURNING WILL NOT BE UPDATED UNTIL DECEMBER 14TH.

Hopefully by then I will have been able to write a little bit in my free time without the stress of meeting a bi-weekly deadline with this fanfiction. When I do come back, it may only be for the winter break as in the spring I start up student teaching and will be in the classroom WAY more and work will get more stressful because we'll be heading into Hell Season. Also (I announced this on my fanfiction profile) in an attempt to finish all the fanfictions I really want to finish, I may limit uploads to once a week and rotate between the five stories, so this fanfiction would be updated once every five weeks. This isn't a guarantee, but I will still be taking a small hiatus and WILL be back DECEMBER 14th.

Also, as a small apology for having to do this, I'm going to upload the prologue and first chapter to Brooke and Pietro's story called Energy Current TODAY! So, if you'd like to see their relationship form and develop, hop on over there and show it some love (it should be up by the time you read this!)

That being said—

See you December 14th!