I hadn't realized how cold I had actually been until we stepped through the doorway and into the blazing warmth of the newly remodeled row house. Goosebumps sprang up and down my body as it tried to adjust from the rapid temperature change. I shrugged my jacket off and threw it over the arm of the love seat near the door and was about to remove my shoes but I was nearly knocked off my feet by the unexpected force of the two slim arms wrapped around my neck. A strawberry blonde ponytail was the only identifying feature of my assailant until she practically starting shrieking in my ear.
"Oh my god Steve! What were you thinking keeping her out there so long? She's practically freezing to the touch!" I slowly eased into Pepper's hug, taking in her familiar perfume that smelled like a decadent vanilla dessert. She pulled away from the embrace long enough to shoot a glare in Steve's direction. He stayed silent behind us and though I couldn't actually see his reaction I imagined it was probably a sheepish grin coupled with a nervous hand around the back of his neck. Pepper pushed me away enough so she could take my face in her gloriously warm hands. "You're such a sight for sore eyes. Are you okay? Do you need anything? How about a blanket, or some coffee? Oh my god I was so worried!" I had opened my mouth several times to reply, her questions cutting me off one after the next.
"I missed you too Pepper." She smiled despite the tears welling behind her bright hazel eyes and pulled me against her once more.
"Don't you ever leave me alone with your father like that again."
"Consider it payback for the all the times you left me with him while you were on business trips in Malibu." She laughed loudly against my shoulder and rocked me back and forth a couple times before finally relinquishing her hold. She shrugged off the gray cable-knit cardigan she was wearing over her white t-shirt and gestured for me to put it on. I tried to decline but she gave me a withering look so I complied, relishing in the soft warmth it provided. She took my hand and began pulling me towards the slim spiral staircase that lead upstairs.
"C'mon you two, let's get some food in you." I gave her delicate hand a squeeze in agreement and followed close on her heels, periodically throwing looks over my shoulder to make sure Steve was following. He answered each look with a soft smile and nod of reassurance. Before we even reached door at the top of the stairs I could smell the food and my mouth began to eagerly water in anticipation.
We walked through the slim butler's pantry just lead into the kitchen to reveal the long marble topped island completely covered in a Christmas feast, a proud looking Sam standing at the end, arms open wide in presentation. My hand went to mouth in shock and I couldn't find the words to express my gratitude, so I strode over to Sam and squeezed him tightly. His chest rumbled with a quiet laugh he let out and he wrapped his thick arms tightly around me.
"Thank you, thank you so much."
"Hey, don't be cryin on my shirt, it's cashmere. But you're welcome." Over Sam's broad shoulders, Peter leaned against the cherry cabinets with a soft smile on his face. Still in Sam's embrace, I addressed him softly.
"Did you give me up?" He must have thought I was angry because he was frantically shaking his head no, eyes wide.
No," came the unmistakably booming voice of Thor. "I did." He slapped his hand against the patch of skin between my shoulders nearly knocking the breath from my chest. I shot him a wry smile, trying to ignore the smug look resting on his features.
"Thor, did you miss me already? I've only been gone a week."
"Certainly not. I heard there were to be Yule celebrations and I could not decline an invitation." He turned his head downwards slightly toward the flask in his hand, shaking it slightly for effect, making the liquid inside slosh around.
"Seriously?" A toothy grin was his reply.
"Can't exactly remember the feeling, but I remember booze bein a good way to break the ice." Bucky leaned against the dark cherry door frame with his broad arms crossed over his chest. A lazy smile played on his lips accented by the full dark beard that had taken over his sharp face. "Hey doll." I backed away from Sam and Thor to face him and mirror his stance, arms crossed loosely over my chest.
"Hey JB." He groaned and tried to look irritated at the nickname like he always did but he couldn't keep the wide smile off his face. A light shove from behind, care of Steve, pushed me into Bucky's arms. He hesitantly patted my back at first before relaxing into my hug. He leaned his face down close to my ear but didn't try to keep his voice quiet as he spoke to me.
''I missed my best friend." A choking sound made me spin to catch Steve's hand clapped over his nose and mouth, the flask of Asgardian liquor hanging loosely in his palm. He tried to feign a look of hurt but the mischievous glint in his eyes gave him away. He took a step forward to wrap his hand around my bicep and pull me against him.
"Quit flirting with my girl ya jerk." I turned my face up to his, but he only flicked his eyes down to me, silently asking permission to address me that way. I rested my head on his chest as a silent reply. Bucky's grin morphed into a smile so wide it looked painful. A rare sight indeed.
"Don't know what you're talkin about Rogers, she was my solnyshko before your ass was thawed out." Nat's lithe figure sashayed through the doorway, purposely bumping Bucky's hip with her own to knock him just slightly off balance. He threw a curse in Russian in her direction with a playful scowl. I ran to her, almost taking her down to the floor which made her laugh, the velvety sound warming my heart.
"I'm sorry." I whispered gruffly into her shirt. She squeezed my tightly and then wound her hand through my hair so she could tug on it just hard enough to prove a point.
"Say it again and I'll put you through the window." It would have been more amusing if there was even a shadow of a doubt that she could follow through with the threat, if she felt so inclined. When I didn't supply a retort she ran her hand through my hair lovingly without any tugging and that's all I needed to know all was forgiven between us. Clearly deciding that if she showed anymore affection there would be too much talk of her going soft, she pushed me away gently but kept her arm loosely around my waist as she turned to face the group that now included a smiling Wanda, her hand clasping Vision's tightly in her own. "That goes for everyone, got it? Everyone's sorry, everyone's happy to see Kitty, Thor brought the booze, let's get to Christmas." Sam whooped and clapped his hands together, eagerly passing out plates as everyone got in line to start filling them.
I hung back and let them fill their plates first, content to listen to the excited chatter when the thought occurred to me we were down a teammate. I caught Tony's arm as he strode by with a plate full of food and one hand, glass of scotch in the other.
"Hey, where's Bruce?"
"Late, as usual" Natasha called over her shoulder as she walked between us with her own food.
"Running an errand for Pepper. You know he can't refuse her. Should be here soon." I watched as he settled himself at the head of the enormous table in the adjoining room, internally patting myself on the back for not letting the saleswoman talk me into the "perfectly practical" six seater. I assured her there was nothing practical about the kinds of gatherings I may be occasionally hosting. A glass of wine appeared in front of my face care of Bucky.
"You need to fire your hairstylist." I chuckled into the wine glass and he subconsciously ran a hair through the obscenely long strands before ruffling my own.
"Yeah well, thing is, I had this dame who cut my hair for years, the only one I'd ever let touch this head. But can you believe it, she just up and left without sayin a word. Decided I had to leave it the way it was cus I wasn't lettin anyone else do it."
"Message received JB, I'll handle it first thing tomorrow."
"Stop callin me that" I reached to pat him arm but he ducked away from me, trying to keep his food from tumbling off his plate.
"Sure, soon as you quit calling me doll."
"Hey princess! Get your ass in here and get some of this food that we made for you." Sam looked distastefully in my direction before deftly swatting Thor's large hand away from the second platter of mashed potatoes with a wooden spoon he was holding. "I saw you eat two plates of potatoes already." Thor glared at him before stalking away with what he already had on his plate. Bucky nudged me forward and Sam handed over a clean plate. The Falcon surveyed my actions until he was satisfied that I had an adequate amount of food covering the plate before filling his own..
I settled myself between Vis and Pepper and across from Steve who was thoroughly engrossed in a debate with Bucky about some pre-serum antic the two of them had been involved in, only interrupted by snarky interjections from Tony where he could fit them in. I leaned into Vision's shoulder so I could whisper to him, though it was more so Sam couldn't here than for the AI's benefit.
"Thank you for cooking all of this Vis. And letting Sam take the credit." A knowing smile from both he and Wanda made in chuckle before shoving a forkful of salad into my mouth.
"He did lend some assistance." I stopped my fork midway to my mouth, turning toward him with an arched brow.
"Yes, he burned three trays of biscuits and ate half a dozen cookies. And that was after he accidentally cut his finger open and bled all over the sweet potatoes." Wanda's face showed no evidence of joking as I listened to her explanation with a grimace. Our eyes locked intensely for a few moments before she dissolved into shaking laughter, slamming her hand a few times on the table which only set me off into my own laughing fit drawing everyone's attention to us.
"Anything you care to share with the class?" Tony's tone was one of boredom and maybe irritation in being left out of the joke. Unable to compose myself long enough to speak I left it to Wanda to wave him off in between gasping breaths. The sound of the front door swinging open and banging against the wall broke through the laughter and I shot up, running over in alarm to see what caused the commotion. However when I made it to the front hall all I could see was the bushy green top of an Evergreen tree pushing its way through the much too narrow doorway.
"Lift with your knees Banner, c'mon it's like you're not even helping." Though I couldn't see even an inch around the large conifer, I was all too familiar with Clint's 'irritated voice".
"I'm tryin man give me a break. I told you it wasn't gonna fit but no one ever listens to the doctor."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a PHD in Christmas trees." Steve and Bucky had both curiously peaked their heads into the hallway and while Steve rolled his eyes, Bucky had an evil grin spread across his face. I punched him in the shoulder not sporting a metal arm and after a dramatic sigh he joined his friends in grabbing what he could of the tree.
"What in the hell is this?" I asked as the four men shimmied the tree into the much too narrow hall, grimacing as the sharp branches scraped across the wood paneled walls. They seemed to be having a much easier time with the two super-soldiers at the helm but Clint was still breathing heavily as he stopped to stare at me in disbelief. He shoved his hands up to the ceiling and then down to the tree. His abrupt actions caused the tree to drop several inches and elicited groans from the other three men who were not expecting the sudden increase in weight.
"The hell does it look like? It's your Christmas tree. Pepper says we're having Christmas. Here's your goddamn Christmas." He was bent over, his hands resting on top of his denim covered thighs trying to catch his breath. I grasped his shoulder trying to show support but my act was thwarted by the laugh I was barely managing to keep behind my lips.
"Oh Bruce it's perfect" Pepper clapped her hands approvingly as the three remaining men placed the trunk of the tree securely into the base someone must have put down when I wasn't looking. Clint's head shot up in Pepper's direction, a high pitched whine coming from his mouth. He quickly jogged over to the group so he was standing between Bruce and Pepper.
"I'll be taking any and all credit for that damn tree. I had to go find him in that tree farm, pick it out because Mr. PHD couldn't decide, and cut it down. Oh and ya know I carried it to and from the car." Pepper schooled her features so well you'd have thought she was in a meeting with foreign diplomats.
"It's a very lovely tree. Thank you both for doing this for Kitty." Clint seemed satisfied with her answer. He cleared his throat and nodded tersely before he started to grumble nervously.
"Well, I mean, it was nothin. Can't have Christmas without a tree." After Pepper approved the positioning of the tree, Bruce wiped his sweaty brow on the arm of his shirt before seeming to only notice me at that moment. He smiled brightly and hugged me gently.
"Good to see you Kitty. You look good."
"You too Bruce."
"Yeah well we all know I look great so let's just skip all of this and get to presents." Tony shoved passed us and went around to the back of the couch to grab a large red bag that made him look decidedly like Santa.
"Those aren't all for me?" I questioned him nervously as he deposited the bag at my feet.
"Wow, self-centered much? I though-"
"We waited to do gifts. We hoped that you'd be home soon, so we could do them together, like we always do." Wanda gracefully interrupted Tony's rambling and pulled my hand into her own, squeezing it gently. I did nothing to stop the tears that slowly dripped onto the bag. Steve stepped to my side and pulled me into his warm chest, Wanda's fingers still laced through mine.
"Yeah what she said." Tony grumbled to himself as he plopped down in the armchair behind him. "C'mon, c'mon! Some of us in the room still age." I swiped the tears from my eyes and turned to Steve.
"Can you help me with something?" He nodded and let me pull away and I replaced Wanda's hand with his much larger and warmer one, dragging him out of the room and towards the stairs. Tony's groaning filled my ears as we went.
I took the stairs two at a time, Steve huffing a laugh behind me. I shouldered open the door of my bedroom and pulled him along until he was in the center of the room on the large fuzzy purple rug. I darted for the walk-in closet, digging furiously through it as he looked around the room. When I re-emerged he had that same unreadable expression on his face from earlier.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He shook himself from his daze to look towards me with a shy smile, running his hands over his thick beard not unlike Bucky's. The beard came and went like the seasons it seemed. He too was in desperate need of a haircut as the strands at the back of his neck were starting to curl outward.
"I like this room. It reminds me of you."
"Well, it is my room." He put his hands in his pockets and nodded.
"Yeah, but this feels like your room. It's so much...warmer than the one at the tower." I think over his words, realizing he isn't wrong with his assessment. I didn't have a lot of input on the apartment at the tower. It was pretty much like everyone else's and I just went with it. I'd never had a space that was truly all my own until this one.
The walls were coated in a deep gray accented by the white trim an ornate crown molding. The furniture was all true to the late 1800's when the home was built but I had lovingly restored each piece. The decorations were simple, but I realized they were much more personal than the ones I kept at the tower. Picture frames filled with mostly candid photos of the team adorned the walls and also dotted the tops of the dressers, along with a trinket box that had once belonged to Frigga.
"I guess you're right. When Tony renovated the tower, everything was already done. I didn't put much thought into personalizing it. When I bought this place, it was a total gut job. You would have demanded I put it right back on the market. It took years to get it here and I wanted to make it my own I guess." He nodded absently. He hesitantly took a seat on the edge of the king bed, making it look small despite the real-estate it took up in the room.
"Why didn't you tell me you bought this place?" He looked sad now, his thick brows pinched in the center of his forehead. I sighed and moved to sit beside him, my knees knocking against his.
"I wanted to. When I bought it, you were the first person I wanted to tell, but things weren't exactly great with us at the time. The renovations had been going on for a year before I had the wild idea to steal you for the weekend to come and see it, but then Peggy died and the timing didn't seem ideal. So then I just decided to keep it to myself. And I did, for a long time. Until I realized that since I paid in cash and had the sense to use a fake name, this could be a pretty good place to lay low if shit ever hit the fan. So, I finally broke down and told Tony and Pepper and with that came another year of renovations to install a lab, and security." He was nodding slowly, thankfully not interrupting even though I could tell he was dying to.
"So, what about Clint. He always seems to know what's going on with you, even when no one else does." I looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes. Something that sounded suspiciously like jealousy was seeping into his previously even tone.
"Clint's family is my family." He opened his mouth to interject but I covered his lips with my index family. "Yes, we're all a family. But Clint's got three small kids to protect and those kids are important to me too. I told him for the same reason I told Tony. If things were to ever go sideways, they would be safe here." He deflated, realizing he couldn't argue with my reasoning. He pressed a soft kiss to the finger still covering his lips and I removed it so he could speak.
"I thought you didn't like kids?"
"No, I don't like bratty kids. Wait, that's all you have to say?" He leaned back on the bed, palms flat on the comforter to support himself. I was trying to chase the thoughts of how good he looked in my bed out of my mind. He chuckled and shrugged.
"I get it. Doesn't change the fact I wish you woulda been comfortable enough to share it with me. I coulda helped. I'm pretty handy with a hammer." His bright blue eyes flicked to mine, full of sincerity. I scoffed and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling.
"You almost had a meltdown putting together that bookshelf we bought from Ikea."
"Hey! The directions they give aren't even really directions, just pictures of pieces they don't even put in the damn box." I laughed loudly at his hurt expression and covered his hand with my own.
"Okay, okay calm down. If it'll make you feel better, there's still a few small projects I've got on my list." He shifted his body closer to mine and lay himself flat on his back, mimicking my state on the bed. He never let go of my hand, only pulled my fingers in between his own to hold it properly.
"Bed's too soft." Despite his complaining his eyes were closed letting his long lashes rest on the top of his cheekbones.
"Well I was thinking more like refinishing the built-ins in the office, but we could compromise on a new bed." His eyes shot open and slid slowly in my direction. His unreadable expression made me nervous. Had I read too much into his words? How did I know he wanted to share a bed with me? We had slept together before. Missions that only came with one bed in the room, movie nights that went late into the evenings, but never with any thought behind the action. "But I mean one of the guest rooms has a pretty firm mattress." I was trying to give him an out so he didn't have to hurt my feelings.
"S'good. Sam can't sleep in a fluffy bed either. Make sure you let him know which room it is." I swallowed thickly, digesting his words, still overthinking them. I felt my brows knit together and he sighed loudly rolling on his side to face me. His eyes were so intense it made flick my own down to the blankets beneath us. "This is my way of tellin you that I'm stayin right here. But seriously, if we're gonna be here a lot, I can't sleep in this bed." My eyes slowly trailed over his long form back to his eyes. The goofy smile he had playing on his lips effectively drew one of my own out.
I decided to swallow my nerves and rolled towards him to plant a soft kiss on that smile and readily returned it, deepening it when I tried to pull away. My hand found its way to his hip where I lightly traced circles on the tiny patch of exposed skin where his shirt had rode up. A husky moan escaped him as I bade his probing tongue access and I couldn't stop my body from returning it.
Booming footsteps coming up the stairs made me jump backwards, nearly tumbling off the side of the bed if not for Steve's hand grabbing the belt loop on my jeans to wrench me back a couple inches. We quickly jumped off the bed and straightened out rumpled clothes just as Clint's form filled the doorway.
His face was stern, but I could see the amusement his face in the way the corners of his eyes crinkled a little. "Seriously? C'mon, you can makeup later. Preferably when we all leave." Steve's entire face and down his neck was nearly tomato red, but Clint's teasing rarely got to me.
"Whatever. I had to find this." I gestured down to the pile of wrapped gifts between us. "My closet is like a black hole. Make yourself useful and grab some." He didn't argue, just grabbed a stack and left the room, but not before throwing us his best disappointed dad look. I chuckled and stacked a pile in Steve's large arms before scooping up the remainder. I used my elbow to turn off the light behind his and met Steve at the top of the stairs. His arms were full of gifts but he carefully bent down to place a small kiss to my temple before we started down the stairs.
"So...bed shopping tomorrow?"
"Sure Rogers. But not before haircuts. Honestly with that hair and those bears you and Bucky look like bums."
"Yeah, yeah."