Avengers Christmas Special
Hey everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
So last chapter was pretty heavy (but you all seemed to love it, you savages), so this one is BRIGHT AND FESTIVE AND FLUFFY WITH ACTUALLY NO HURT!TONY. If you don't want to read it, I understand, it's just a Christmas themed chapter. I'm going to do a "k" chapter afterwards.
HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOO
Tony Stark is a man of many talents. He can repair a combustion engine in under five minute with nothing but an Alan wrench, a roll of duct tape, and some WD-40. He can design, patent, and fabricate the base of a hexa-axial robotic assembly control unit in an hour. He built his first circuit board at age 4.
But he'll be damned if he can figure out to cook a twenty five pound turkey.
JARVIS had offered to take care of the whole thing – after all, the entire kitchen was automated for his personal ease. But Tony had insisted – this was Christmas, after all. Tony himself had never been one for the holidays, but this fervor wasn't for him – it was for his friends.
Tony doubted Natasha had ever had a bona fide festive feast in her lifetime, so she treated the season like any other time of the year, just with thicker jackets. Hawkeye tended to amuse himself over the holidays, using ornaments in his target practice instead of the actual targets. Steve, on the other hand, always got a bit gloomy around the holidays, yearning for the life and the people he left behind in 1945. Bruce's only tell that he was feeling even mildly festive was that he played frank Sinatra's Christmas albums quietly in his lab. Thor had spent every Christmas for the past three years with Jane Foster at whatever research lab she was working at, but she had called him last week and told him that this year, she was being transferred to a security level 9 facility, even she didn't know where it was, and she would be allowed no visitors. Thor had been sulking since, and the sulking was made even worse by his introduction to drawstring sweatpants and loose cotton T-shirts. He was pulling off the homeless chic very well.
Everyone Tony knew was still running around, finishing up work, closing business deals, SHIELD agents especially didn't get to take a holiday… basically, nobody seemed to have time for Christmas.
Well, Tony was determined to see that change.
He consulted the cookbook once more and turned up his nose in disgust as he pathetically attempted to line up the turkey's asshole and the legs. The raw slap of the dead bird was grossing him out, and fisting it was making him laugh more than anything. He had been incredibly unproductive up to this point.
Tony took a break from trying to decipher the secrets of poultry and checked on the stuffing, which was being handled by a production line of his robots – who he had reprogrammed for this one day to respond to "Santa's Little Helpers". DUM-E was chopping onions into perfect slices based on the radius of the halves. U was pulling apart the bread in a series of "random" sizes ranging from a specific set of input values selected by an encoded number generator.
Tony Stark felt like he had conquered Christmas with engineering. He smiled watching them work, despite himself. There as always that sense of fatherly pride when those two didn't destroy everything they touched.
"Alright, U, Santa's Little Helper #2!" U looked up from his intense bread ripping. "Speed it up a little bit, pal, you've only gone through half a loaf in an hour. You have yet to even touch the other four." Tony laughed slightly, "Allow yourself an inch of wiggle room on those sizes. They don't have to be perfect."
U seemed confused, but picked up the pace with his new inputted tolerance for bread piece areas. DUM-E made a whirring sound with his motors, chuckling at his friend. U glared at his companion, but they both returned to their respective duties.
Tony checked the stainless steel clock on the wall. It was almost noon – officially halfway through Christmas Day. Tony and Santa's little helpers had been prepping for Christmas morning for about an hour now, the team all out on bogus missions for the next few hours that Tony had sent them on. You'd be surprised how easy it is to hack into Nick Fury's email and send out a group message. The assignments had been given yesterday morning with strict instruction to depart by 9 o'clock this morning. Hawkeye and Nat were on a plane headed to Maine to teach a "SHIELD hand-to-hand combat seminar". Thor was with Steve and Coulson headed to secure a compound from enemy combatants – the address would lead them to a Walmart in central Georgia. Bruce Banner didn't even have to be sent anywhere, the scientist was working studiously as ever in his labs, and the chances of him coming upstairs were slim to none. He figured they be a little peeved when they got back, but it would all be worth it.
Tony furiously worked to assembly the mess of ingredients into the proper dishes. The potatoes, sweet and white, were set out to be mashed; the asparagus was waiting on the grill and the collard greens were steaming; the meat pie pastries were rising beautifully in the oven. All of this was a product of careful planning and YouTube cooking tutorials, for which Tony was grateful. But so far, out of all of it, Tony's favorite dish was the cranberries. The cans sat regally on the counter top, requiring zero prep time – making them the chef's best friends.
Tony scrubbed and scraped, peeled and chopped, steamed and whisked. He felt like a whiz – as if he was creating something in his lab rather than moving about a kitchen. He finally figured out how to bend the Turkey, but he admittedly gagged when the legs snapped out of the hip sockets. About a half hour later, the Turkey sitting coolly in its pan, DUM-E and U finished prepping the vegetables and bread for the stuffing. Tony mixed in the salt and seasonings as well, as some watery gravy stock, and mixed the stuffing together until its consistency was slightly moist and sticky. Stifling immature giggles, he took handfuls of the stuff and rammed it into the Turkey's anus. DUM-E lacked such composure, and his motors whizzed loudly the whole time.
It was now one o'clock. The Turkey was in the oven, the potatoes were boiling, the stuffing was being cooked alongside the bird, the meat pie pastry shells were done baking and were chilling in the fridge, and their hamburger and beef stuffing was sizzling in a skillet. The entire suite smelled of spices.
All was well in the Avengers household. Tony tidied the kitchen, and resolved to let JARVIS take care of some of the early stage dirty dishes. The dishwasher hummed as Tony ran to his room to retrieve the "piece de resistance".
DUM-E and U sat anxiously in the kitchen, listening to their master groan and harrumph, dragging something heavy from his apartments. When he emerged from the hallway, they saw the root of his struggles.
Tony Stark was carefully dragging a pre-decorated artificial tree, about 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide at its bottom. The tree had lights, tacky plastic icicles, and big multicolored Christmas balls hung on every inch of available greenery. By the proud glow on the engineer's face, it was obvious that he had been trimming the tree secretly in his room for at least the past week, probably adding more ornaments every day.
Tony laughed in triumph when he finished hauling the Christmas tree to the perfect spot in the living room. He ran around to its back and plugged the many LED strands in, effectively turning the tree into a beacon.
DUM-E whizzed and hummed, circling the tree and chirping his approval excitedly! U followed his friend, but simply sat in front of it staring, nodding his actuator up and down.
"Beautifully done, Sir."
"Thanks, J." Tony couldn't help the genuine smile that rested on his face. "Do you think they're gonna like it?"
"Most undoubtedly, Sir."
"Good," Tony nodded. "Good."
It took Tony another hour to finalize placing the presents under the tree. He had wrapped most of them already, but there were some that required a little more planning. He had just gotten off the phone with the pilot of his private jet when another caller lit up his cell. It was Coulson.
Tony quickly shushed JARVIS, and the Bing Crosby "White Christmas" soundtrack faded entirely from the room. Tony cleared his throat, trying to sound bored, and answered.
"Coulson, what can I do for ya?"
"Mr. Stark." Was the Agent's greeting. "There has been…an unexpected turn of events. We believe that a mission that Captain Rogers, Thor, and I recently departed for was, in fact, a result of faulty information. We were wondering if maybe you knew anything about any recent failures in our firewall system."
"Geez, that sounds rough!" Tony slapped on the nonchalant like a pro. "I haven't gotten any alerts from my security protocols, and nobody on earth can hack those things. How did that happen? Fury and you run a pretty tight ship- it's not often that mission details get tampered with. Someone may have just made an honest mistake." Tony paused, but couldn't help himself from hearing Coulson say the next few words. "So, Agent, where exactly are you right now?" He bit his lip, trying not to giggle.
"We…We appear to be at a Walmart…Outside of Atlanta, Georgia."
Tony's shoulder were shaking with the effort not to laugh.
"Have you ever been in a Walmart below the Mason-Dixon line on a Christmas day, Mr. Stark?"
"Can't say that I have, Coulson."
"Its….it's slightly terrifying and slightly fascinating. I can't really explain wh-"
Just then, a pot on the stove in the kitchen began to rumble; Tony ran to it cursing, watching in fear as it began to roil, the water threatening to boil over.
"Shit, ah, Coulson – look, I'd love to hear about your adventures with the people of Walmart, but I have, uh, a little accident in my lab I need to deal with before something breaks, so we have to cut this short, pal." Tony grabbed a dishtowel and remove the lid, yelping slightly as steam rose into the air with a fury.
"Mr. Stark? Tony? Are you alright?" Coulson sounded puzzled.
"Yep, fine, just a robot on the fritz! Really gotta go – talk to you later!" and amid more of Coulson's questions, Tony hung up.
He turned the heat on the burner way down and waved his rag wildly, sighing in relief as the pot of potatoes began to settle once more.
Tony assigned DUM-E and JARVIS to "please keep an eye on the food and shit" while he finished setting up the suite to look like a Martha Stewart Holiday catalogue.
The dining room table was covered by one of his many newly-acquired Christmas silk tablecloths with fine, needlepoint holiday decorations. Each one had run him about 300 dollars, but that was nothing. The real pain came from having to choose one from the 15 he'd bought indecisively at the retailers.
In the end, he settled for the classiest of the bunch. It was a white silk with cream embroidered poinsettias. It laid beautifully on the long, rectangular, dark wood dining table that seated up to 18 people – another recent purchase for the Avengers Tower.
Tony positioned each of the set's high backed, cushioned chairs in their perfect places around the table. The fine china was laid out with expertise. DUM-E and U rolled utensils into red and green linen napkins (the colors were alternated around the table, of course). Wine and water glasses were set out, candles were planted at each end of the table with sprigs of holly at their pewter bases. Mistletoe was hot glued to the tops of doorways, and garland lined every ledge in the house.
It was perfect.
Tony wanted to cheer as he looked at the fruits of his labors. The Avengers living quarters looked stunning – the epitome of the holidays.
Tony checked and rechecked all the food, basting the turkey with droplet precision. The potatoes were drained and mashed by Santa's little helpers while Tony set out the butters, the cranberry dishes, the salt and pepper shakers, and picked up deliveries at the front door from his local vino connoisseur. JARVIS directed the kitchen pitchers and measuring cups as they concocted the perfect batch of eggnog.
The fireplace sprung to life. The Christmas carols were lulling beautifully in the background, the food looked delicious and rearing to go, sitting in their respective hot locations to ensure freshness.
All that was left to do was get ready, and then to wait.
Tony finished cleaning the kitchen, and scurried back to his apartments to shower and put on a decent outfit. He settled for a comfortable pair of dark grey slacks, a button up, and a pullover sweater. On his wrist, he wore his smallest and simplest Rolex, a silver face with a plain black leather band. He dried his hair and tried to tame it into a shapely combed-back clean look. Not bothering to wear shoes in his own home, Tony settled for a cozy pair of moccasins. Steve, Coulson, and Thor were due back from their escapade in Georgia in less than half hour. Natasha and Clint's journey had been timed similarly that they would arrive back at the same time.
Tonight would be perfect.
"I'm so pissed." Barton kicked the side of potted plant in Stark Tower lobby. "Can you believe this shit? Fury sends us out to a bogus seminar on Christmas fuckin' day and then just shoots us another transpondence like 'oops, my bad, wrong date, go home.' WHAT THE HELL?" Barton kicked the fake plant once more. "Dammit, man, I just wanted to sleep in today, maybe have a Christmas pop tart or something – is that too much to ask?" he slumped down on a bench, waiting for the elevator.
Steve knew exactly how Barton had felt, but he tried to maintain his professionalism. "Well, Clint, at least we're home now. There's still a little bit of Christmas day left for us all to celebrate together-"
"Oh, no, I don't give a damn about actual Christmas," Barton began. Steve visibly flinched, deflating a little, but Hawkeye didn't notice and kept ranting. "I just wanted the day off and a little down time with some good movies and some great snacks." He sighed. "Natasha may not look it, but she's pretty pissed too."
Steve shot a glance to the Russian sitting on the other side of the lobby. Her expression was completely blank and calm.
"Can't ya tell?" Barton muttered.
"Uh, yah. She looks mad…" Steve had no idea.
"Yah, I know. I haven't seen her this annoyed for months. Tonight shall not be a lucky one, my friend." Steve blushed but Barton just chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder, moving to sit with his girlfriend in comfortable silence.
Thor, Steve, and Coulson had arrived in the lobby just as Clint and Nat's chauffeur pulled into the drop off valet circle outside. They'd all swapped stories, amazed at the group's cumulative shitty luck. From there, they had just chatted as they gathered their things and waited for the unusually slow elevator back up to the Avengers' suite.
Steve was reminiscing about Christmases past. Even in the ones he'd spent in the fields and trenches of WWII had been more festive and cheerful than this one. There were so many amazing things about the twenty first century that Steve adored – but he often felt like people of the time forgot how special the little things could be. A heavy weight settled in his chest as Steve thought of his mother, Peggy, his Howling Commandos, and Bucky. He sighed, shaking off the depressing cloud of memories. Those were in the past, this was now. Things were different but they were still good.
He was grateful for his friends – for Thor, for Nat, for Clint, for Bruce, for Tony, even though he had had a much better day than all of them combined, being the only one not called on a bogus mission that-
The smile fell from his face.
"Oh…Oh, no." Steve visibly paled and darted to the elevator, slamming the "up" button so hard it cracked. "NO, NO, NO!"
"Captain, CAPTAIN!" Thor grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him round. "Captain, what ails you?"
"TONY!" Steve cried, searching for a stairwell nearby.
"What about him?" Nat was up and over to him immediately.
Steve ran a hand through his hair, incredibly anxious. "We all were sent fake instructions from god knows who to get us far away from Stark Tower for an entire day. The only person left was Tony – alone and unsuspecting of anything wrong with our directives. What if we were sent decoy missions to leave Tony undefended and vulnerable?! What if someone got Tony?!"
Steve was shouting now, and the rest of the team had caught his train of thought as well. Each of them started talking hurriedly and looking for an access route to the top of the building. It was only Natasha who stopped them all in their tracks. "Guys, you know as much as I do that we need a plan. If we run in there, guns blazing, we could get ourselves and Tony killed, if he isn't already…"
There was a quick silence. Coulson ended it. "Agent Romanoff is correct, we do need a plan. But that also raises the question – how could anyone have gotten to Tony while he remained in Stark Towers? It's as secure as SHIELD in many respects, and the intruder would have to disable JARVIS – which only Mr. Stark himself is capable of. Overriding JARVIS takes almost as much skill - I've only been able to do it once."
"Son of Coul speaks true," Thor gripped his hammer tightly. "We may be mistaken completely. Our Man of Iron could be completely at ease and unharmed."
"You're right, Thor." Steve nodded, looking pensive and upset. "But we should still be on guard. Thor, fly up with Barton and keep eyes on the Avenger's Apartments. Coulson, Romanoff, and I will take the stairs." Natasha nodded promptly, nut nobody missed the grimace on Phil's face.
But, on some Christmas miracle, just at that moment, the elevator "dinged" and the lobby doors opened.
"Oh, thank god." Phil Coulson almost sagged, his relief at not having to take 40 flights of stairs with two superheros palpable.
Tony looked down at his watch, growing slightly impatient from excitement. The turkey was due to come out any second, and he'd been watching on the lobby security cameras as the team assembled in front of the elevators.
Tony had turned away for two minutes to scoop the potatoes into their respective dishes, and when he turned around, the lobby was empty of his friends. They would be arriving in the elevators any minute!
With a final sweep of the apartment, he straightened a few garland strands and rearranged a couple ornaments on the tree, placing candy canes slightly higher on the branches and whatnot.
Just then, the oven timer went off – just as the elevator doors opened on the floor. Tony made a dash across the living room headed towards the kitchen just as Steve, Phil, and Natasha stepped onto the floor.
Steve mistakenly interpreted Tony's speed as the signifying factor of a threat.
"TONY!" He shouted, turning back to his teammates in the hall. "TAKE AIM," he ordered. Natasha ran out in front of the pack, ducking and rolling against the wall and emerging into the living room with her pistol. Coulson, swept the room agent style, gun out and legs moving steadily in a box pattern around the corners. They heard the impact of Thor's feet on the landing pad outside, and the scurry of Barton's feet got louder until he burst the glass door open, bow drawn.
They all merged, military formation, into the living room until –
"Oh my…." Barton was the first to speak.
Steve rounded the corner, shield at the ready, mistaking Barton's exclamation for one of horror.
"Tony? Tony are you-"
Steve was in the kitchen.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. Spiced meats and peppered vegetables, candle wax, smoked poultry, fresh greens and mouthwatering buttermilk potatoes.
The second thing he noticed was the color. The vibrant hues in the foods, the intense decorations, the immaculate shimmer of the counters and dishes, the wines, the cheeses.
Then they saw Tony, standing almost embarrassedly, holding a huge roasting pan with a glistening, huge twenty-five pound turkey. He had a raggedy apron tied across his waist and two mismatched oven mitts over his hands. Tony looked worriedly from face to face of his Christmas guests, and quickly put the turkey down on top of the stove, basting it a few quick times before removing his protective gear.
"I..Uhm," He stuttered.
He wasn't expecting this. He had expected them all to come in together, tired, but relaxed. He expected them to see everything laid out, Turkey done and waiting, Tony composed and arms open, ready to surprise them. He had expected them to gasp and awe and laugh and cheer, celebrating like merry old shits.
But they had run in here, looking scared and battle-ready, and now…
Now they were just staring at him.
Doubts shot through his mind. I overdid it. They hate it, this isn't what they wanted. They don't even like the holidays, they are going to feel obligated to pretend that they're happy…" The pessimistic little voice coursed through his brain faster than he could make out what it was even saying. But he knew he had to do something.
"Uhm, I…I cooked. Merry Christmas." His eyes were wide and hesitant.
Still nobody said anything. They all gaped at him, the food, the dining room table…
"There's, uh, there's a tree, too, I…I did a thing."
They all seemed to hear him that time, turning in unison to take in the sight of the living room. The couches were inhabited with huge fleece throw blankets. Stuffed snowmen sat on the reclining chairs. There was garland and tinsel and a cheerful fireplace with stockings for each member of the Avengers team – and there was the tree.
It was beautiful – insanely bright. LED's and bubble lights and a glowing star at the very top. The presents beneath it were brilliant shades of reds and greens and plaid and candy cane stripes and little penguins and polar bears. The bows were rainbows, the tissue paper designed with a snowflake pattern.
It was perfect. Each of them was overwhelmed with how perfect it was.
They had simply forgotten to say that out loud, and so their poor Tony Stark was panicking in his designer jumper.
"If – If you guys don't like it, I can take it down – I'm so sorry I sent you on those stupid mission today, that was me by the way, I just – I needed you out of the house, and I wanted to have a Christmas like a family and I've been cooking, but if you want I can just leave you all the food and take all the other stuff down. – it's stupid anyway, really tacky, actually – I should probably just-"
"Tony, Stop." Steve was the first to speak, and his voice was soft, but commanding.
"No, I don't want you guys to pretend that you like it-"
"Nobody's pretending anything." He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder, forcing the shorter man to lift his eyes from his shoes. "Tony Stark, this is the best thing anyone has ever done for me – for us. Merry Christmas." And Steve pulled him into a hug.
Tony was shocked at first, but then returned the hug, clapping the soldier on the back. They laughed, smiles reaching their ears. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Steve!" Tony held him at an arm's length, and Clint jumped in between them, wrapping Tony in a bear hug that lifted the engineer off his feet.
"BUCKETHEAD, THIS IS AMAZING!" and the archer let out guffaw after gasp after expletive, running around like a little kid, studying the tree and the place settings and seeing boxes under the tree with his name on them. Natasha graced everyone with a full mouth smile, and placed a quick kiss on Tony's cheek and a small hug, followed by Coulson giving him a warm handshake and a genuine smile.
Tony watched them all running around, appreciating everything and calling each other over to look at things. He felt his heart soar, pride swelling in his chest along with a deep sense of contentment.
Thor came up behind him and patted his back. "You have done very well today, Anthony. I may not celebrate this Midgardian feast, but from what I understand, it is a holiday about love and family." The two of them watched the rest of the team laugh and gesture at the splendor around them.
"I believe you have captured the essence of such a thing quite well." Thor's voice took on a sage tone. Tony often forgot that Thor was of an incredibly old age and hence carried with him the wisdom of millennia. He locked his stormy eyes onto Tony's and they were alight with a bittersweet happiness framed in gratitude. "There is nothing more important in this life than the love of those we hold dear. Thank you for holding us all so close to your heart." Despite such heavy words, he smiled with enough kindness and joy that Tony felt completely humbled. Thor clapped him once more on the back and went to join Barton in looking at the splendor of the tree, questioning the Midgardian tradition of putting shrubbery into one's home.
Just then the elevator dinged and out stepped Pepper Potts, Sam Wilson, Maria Hill, and Colonel James Rhodes. All were dressed nicely and holding various bottles with ribbons. The team was even more surprised and ran to the new arrivals, greeting them and taking the gifts from them, followed by embraces and laughs. Tony almost felt bad to interrupt, but there was a turkey to be eaten after all.
"Ladies, Gentleman, and Barton-" Clint scoffed. "If you would all please take a seat, dinner is ready to be served." Tony announced with gusto and pride, and all his guests smiled and took their respective seats, complimenting him on his table and his party. Tony, being Tony, hushed them all round, insisting it was nothing, and that the surprise Christmas party was simple to coordinate – it hadn't been, of course. Everything had been a mess until the last minute, and Tony had had several days leading up to the event where he thought nothing was going to be pulled off – but here they were, all sitting down to a nice meal. Natasha had gone down to the labs to grab Bruce in all the chaos, and now the whole family was seated, waiting for Christmas dinner.
Tony brought out the potatoes, the meat pies, the cheese and wines, the vegetables, the stuffing bowl, the gravy, and amidst much hungry whooping from Clint, the prized twenty-five pound turkey.
Tony took his time lining everything up, enjoying the buildup to the extra surprise that only he and one other were aware of. Damn, he was good.
"My friends, my teammates, my sexy lady," Tony raised his glass to Pepper and She blushed, but winked back at him. "You are, without a doubt, the most important people in my life." Everyone seemed rather stunned by Tony's outright emotional display – it wasn't usually his thing.
"And before you all get sappy or tell me you're 'touched' by my 'feelings', I want to point out an imbalance that none of you seemed to notice." Everyone seemed slightly puzzled, now.
Goddamn, Tony loved theatrics.
"My friends, that beautiful, amazing, painstakingly-put-together Christmas tree over there," people chuckled, "has a present under it for everyone at this table except for one person." He paused. "And no, not me. I know you're all expecting me to say that I don't have a present under that tree because your presence here is gift enough – and while I love you all, that's bullshit, It's Christmas, so I bought myself a present and wrapped it. It's actually a new tie clip, very snazzy – silver with diamond inlay, very classy, and just as expensive as you'd expect-"
"Hm, Tony?" Pepper smiled wryly at him.
"Right, right, sorry – I digress." He coughed, smiling slightly at the head shakes and chuckles going around the table. "Anyway, the person who doesn't have a present under the tree is actually," he turned to the Norseman. "You, Thor."
People around the table looked confused and a little embarrassed, but Thor shrugged good-spiritedly. "Anthony, I was not expecting a gift – there is no harm done by this."
"Now, Now, Shakespeare, it's not that I didn't bust ass to get you something - because I did, and it wasn't easy- but your present just doesn't fit under the tree." Thor immediately looked confused, but then Tony cleared his throat.
"JARVIS, would you please inform our other guest that dinner is ready?"
"Promptly, Sir."
Within moments, the door to Tony's room could be heard clicking open and then shut, and petite feet made their way excitedly down the hall.
"Man of Iron," Thor's face looked afraid to be hopeful. "I am confused as to who-"
"Pal," Tony just murmured. "Just enjoy it. Merry Christmas."
And from the hall, Jane Foster came into the living space dressed in a red cashmere sweater and black leggings, her small frame highlighted tastefully as she excitedly strutted her way into the great room
"Hi, Hon." She was grinning wildly, feeling incredibly dubious and clever, and reveling in the broad and beaming face of her lover.
Thor shot from his chair, almost knocking it back on its legs.
"Milady Jane." His voice was brimming with affection, and in two strides he had closed the distance between them and was scooping her into his muscled arms with ease. She swung freely, her laugh pealing like Christmas Bells, and everyone at the table stood to greet her, clapping and cheering, laughing at the he look of wonder on the Norseman's face and his inability to let the small physicist out of his sight.
In the end, the table was full and the food was delicious. Booze were being passed graciously, and Thor had decided that his knew favorite beverage was the bottle of wine "bearing the sigil of the strangely large rabbit with a pouch in its front."
Presents were opened, ranging from gift cards to trinkets to new weapons to sweaters to book series. Each was personal and thoughtful, and the room was filled with love and joy for the whole night through.
At one point towards the end of the evening, Tony stepped out to the landing pad and took in some fresh air, a glass of champagne nestled in his left hand, his right hand casually gracing his pants pocket. He closed the door behind, muffling the uproar inside as Steve won another round of Cards Against Humanity (despite not knowing what the majority of the cards meant, in all honesty). Tony looked into the sky, affirming that this had been, in fact, the best Christmas of his life.
"Tony, you comin' back in, pal?" Rhodey was at the door, a smile plastered on his face, his fourth vodka and tonic in his hand. "We're playing charades, and you remember how great Phil is at charades." They both chuckled.
"I'll be inside in a sec, buddy. Enjoy yourself!" Rhodey gave him a 'will do', and shut the door, stopping the cold from seeping into the living room.
Tony took another sip of his drink, gazing down into Manhattan. He tried to imagine what it looked like when Steve was a kid – when his father was a kid. He pictured the evolution of eras, the building of cities, the construction and deconstruction of humanity.
Everything is temporary if you look at it on a grand scale – but even in the infinite scale of the universe, some things last forever. Kindnesses – acts of love. Those have ripple effects that send waves of every amplitude into all of time and space – as far as creation can reach.
The bubbles popped in his glass and Tony smiled bitter-sweetly, taking another sip. There were so many things, so many little choices that determined so many outcomes. So many little decisions that culminated in all of these people being here, tonight.
Tony was a child of lapsed Catholics, and he himself was a lost cause when it came to religion – but he looked up unto that night sky that Christmas evening and watched the full moon as it competed against the brilliant luminescence of New York City. An unseen force seemed to pull at his heart, and he was overcome by a sense of peace.
Tony Stark raised his glass to New York City. He raised his glass to the world.
"Merry Christmas."
Fin
And to all good night…
