Jarvis played Jingle Bell Rock on the sound system. Winter was coming and with it brought Christmas. New York had indeed decked its metropolitan halls. The Avengers were in the process of setting up their own Christmas decorations all over the Tower. Bruce was hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree in the penthouse. Dummy and U, Stark's hand built robots, were out on the balcony putting up Christmas lights. Steve read a book in the armchair while sipping hot chocolate. Loki was spread out on the couch reading his starkpad. Clint was watching a game on TV eating Christmas themed cookies. Thor had taken a short trip to Asgard but would soon be back for the Holidays.

Tony was on a footstool trying to hang up some garland. Natasha was walking past him in a nearby entryway when Tony pulled out a piece of mistletoe and dangled it over her head. "Hey Natasha," Tony pointed to the plant, "mistletoe." He made a little kissy face at her.

"Not even in your dreams Stark," Natasha said nonchalantly then continued to walk into the living room and help Bruce trim the tree.

"Aw, you're no fun Romanoff," said Tony with fake heartbreak.

"Do you have to put that up?" asked Loki irritably.

"What? Afraid of a little smooch?" asked Clint.

Loki did not look amused. "I am bothered more by the tradition's origins than its purpose if you must know."

"Then pray do tell," said Natasha.

Loki looked around the room. "Do you not know why you mortals kiss under a branch of parasitic plant in the first place?"

"Now that you mention it," said Steve, "It does seem kind of odd."

"It's because of me," said Loki with a far off look in his eyes.

"Ick! Now there are some kisses I'd like to take back," commented Clint.

"Wait, is this some sort of Norse God thing? In addition to being the god of mischief are you also like a cupid or something?" joked Tony.

Loki looked at Tony like an adult would look at an immature child. "Obviously you lot have not taken my advice to crack open a book on Norse Mythology." Loki took a large sigh before speaking again. "According to Nordic legend, Thor is not the only son of Oden. There is also Balder, Hoder, Bargi, Tyr and so forth. In reality they are more like extended family. Anyway, Balder, a gentle and wise god, was the darling of all the other gods. Frigga loved her child Balder so much that she would see to it that no harm could ever befall him. She journeyed across the nine realms and made every creature and inanimate object swear an oath not harm Balder. Upon her return, the rest of the gods thought it amusing to test Balder's new invulnerability. They cut at him with swords and tried lighting him on fire, but nothing harmed Balder. It became a game, a most unwise game. Balder cold not be crushed by stones thrown at him or draw blood from spears that tried to pierce him. Balder seemed untouchable… until Loki came along." Loki looked down at the floor. "Loki, a cleaver god who loved tricks," Loki continued to refer to himself in the third person, "came up with an idea in order to 'win the game'. He fashioned an arrow from a branch of mistletoe and headed to where all the other gods trying their weapons on Balder. Loki did not shoot the arrow. That would have been too easy. Instead, he tricked his blind brother, Hoder, god of winter, into firing the arrow. He guided Hoder's hand until the branch of mistletoe pierced the heart of Baldar. Frigga broke down in tears. In her travels to secure Baldar's safe being, she had seen a bush of mistletoe but had not thought to make it swear an oath. The plant seemed so harmless until that point. Frigga's tears became the mistletoe's white berries. She then decreed that from that day forth, no harm shall ever again come from mistletoe. Instead, all those who see it, must show affection and kiss, to honor the memory of Baldar." Loki looked very depressed now. He stared at the floor as if seeing images in the carpet.

The room was silent. Steve decided to speak up. "Well that's just a story, right?" he asked. "It's not real is it? It's just a myth."

Loki continued to stare at the ground. He took a while before saying "It's as real as any other myth." At that, he got up, and walked to his room without looking at anyone.

Tony stared after him. Sure the old Loki had done some bad stuff, but the kid had to stop beating himself up over what his past life had done. Feeling guilty, he tossed the mistletoe decoration into the trash.

"Loki, are you awake yet?" Steve stood outside Loki's bedroom door knocking on it. "You're breakfast is getting cold… and it's almost time for lunch," he called. The kid had days where he would sleep in but he was usually awake by now. When Tony Stark wakes up before any sane human being then there must be something wrong. Perhaps Loki was sick. "Loki?" Steve called again. Upon hearing no answer, Steve decided to go in anyway. He looked about the room. It was empty. "Not again," groaned Steve. He was about to go tell the others when he saw a note placed on Loki's nightstand. It read,

Gone Christmas shopping. Be back in about three days.

-Loki

Steve went to fetch the other Avengers and show them the note.

"A few days?" Clint wondered out loud. "What kind of Christmas shopping is he doing?"

"We have to go find him," declared Steve.

"Maybe we should give him some time," said Bruce. The room turned to stare at him. "He said he'd be back in about three days. Let's give him at least seventy-two hours before we start to panic."

"Are you kidding?" asked Natasha. "Who knows what kind of trouble Loki could get himself into in three days?"

"What do you think Thor?" asked Steve. This was his call.

Thor pondered the matter for a moment before saying, "I assure you that I wish to protect my brother from most anything. However, Loki has shown that even though he is but a child he possesses a great deal of resourcefulness."

"There is also the fact that we have no clue where he's gone or where to look for him," added Tony.

Thor's expression showed that he was lost in thought. He then grew a smile and said finally, "I trust him."

The Avengers were siting in the living room on the third day of Loki's absence. Whit a small whooshing sound a portal opened up in the penthouse and Loki walked out of it. He looked a little worse for wear. Loki's cloths were a bit torn and singed around the edges. There were spots of dirt and soot on him. In addition to his ragged appearance, Loki looked and felt utterly exhausted.

"Where have you been?" asked Steve. "What happened to you?"

"Christmas shopping," replied Loki. "You wouldn't believe how hectic it gets this time of year." Loki made a playful smile that was somewhat diminished by his tired eyes.

"Then where are all the gifts you bought?" countered Tony.

"First off, money is not the only way to obtain gifts. And I am not suggesting a theft of any sorts," replied Loki. "Second, I don't want to ruin the surprise for everyone. You'll just have to wait until Christmas." Loki stretched a little bit. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go lay down for… a while." Loki headed over to his room.

Thor got up from the couch and followed Loki back to his room. He wanted to check on his brother and make sure that he was all right. By the time that he got to his brother's room, Loki had collapsed on his bed and was now sound asleep while still fully dressed. That must have been one heck of a shopping trip.

Loki awoke early on Christmas day. He was just as giddy and excited about Christmas as any kid his age. He ran over to Thor's room and jumped atop his older brother. "Wake up Thor! It's Christmas!" yelled Loki.

Thor, a bit startled at the sudden attack instinctively snatched Mjolnir off the bedside table. He stopped immediately when he saw that it was Loki who woke him up. Loki looked a bit scared and held his hands in front of his face in order to shield himself from the hammer. "Loki? Forgive me brother. I simply was not expecting to be awakened so suddenly."

"Well hurry and get up, Thor," Loki said once more, abandoning his shock and becoming excited once more. "It's Christmas!"

Loki went on to wake up the rest of the Avengers. Given what had almost happened with Thor, he was especially careful not to surprise them too much else he end up with an arrow in his chest from Clint or a bullet from Natasha.

Loki was not the only one to feel the excitement of Christmas day. One was never too old for Christmas. Everyone in the Tower was soon up and gathered around the tree sipping on hot chocolate and ready to open presents. The Avengers began the process of giving one another gifts with Loki included. Loki wanted his presents for the Avengers saved for last.

"So where are the present you got for us?" asked Clint. All the presents under the tree had now been opened.

"I hid them in a pocket dimension so that none of you could go peaking," said Loki as if it weren't that big of a deal. He walked over to where Clint sat and stuck his hand into the air. Part of his arm disappeared into a hole in space and came out with a long rectangular package wrapped in black with purple ribbon. "This one is you," he offered the present to Clint. A little weary, Clint unwrapped it to reveal an intractably wrought silver bow and three gold arrows.

"Is this real?" he asked, holding up the bow as it shimmered in the light. It was the same size as his others except it could be described as nothing less but beautiful. He pulled at the silver string of the bow and it bent oh so perfectly to his touch. He then inspected the golden arrows that sported medieval looking tips. They were light and perfectly balanced.

"It's an elven bow from Alfheim, realm of the light elves," explained Loki. "They are some of the finest archers in the universe and I was able to purchase one of their bows. The arrows are enchanted. Before you fire one just tell it what you want it to do such as change into a ball of fire, explode, or freeze something."

Clint was at a loss for words. This gift was so incredible it hardly seemed real. He opened his mouth to thank Loki but no words came out. He was dumbstruck.

Loki moved on to Natasha. He reached his hand into the pocket dimension once more and pulled out a present with shiny black wrapping paper and a red bow. Natasha opened it to reveal a beautiful necklace with a very large colorful gem in the middle. It was absolutely beautiful. "I'm sure your wondering why I got you jewelry. Though it would make a good accessory, you have to try it on to discover its true purpose."

Natasha examined the necklace hesitantly. She decided to do as Loki said, hoping he wasn't playing a trick on her. She put the necklace around her neck.

"Now touch the stone," Loki instructed.

Natasha gently pressed a finger to the gem and disappeared.

"What the?" Clint exclaimed.

"What happened?" cried Natasha's voice though she could not be seen.

"Natasha where are you?" asked Clint.

"Press the stone again," Loki instructed once more.

Natasha appeared in the same spot she had disappeared in. "What just happened?" she asked, a little shaken.

"It's an enchanted amulet from Alfheim. Every time the person wearing it presses a finger to the stone they turn invisible and reappear when they press it again. I figured it may come in handy for a master assassin on a stealth mission," said Loki with a hopeful smile.

"It actually would come in handy," said Natasha, staring down at the multicolored stone. "Thanks," she said, looking up at Loki.

Loki beamed with pride. He then stepped in front of Tony. Loki reached with both hands into the unseen portal this time and with a bit of effort pulled out a rather large rectangular present wrapped in red with gold ribbon. After seeing what Clint and Natasha had gotten, Tony tried to mask his excitement as he pulled back the wrapping paper to his present. It appeared to be a large block of some sort of silvery metal. Curious, Tony inspected it further by trying to lift it and knocking on it. "It's a block of Uru metal that I got from the dwarves in Nidavellir," Loki explained. "It's the same kind of metal that Thor's hammer is made of."

Tony's eyes widened. "Jarvis, scan the metal, please," he asked the AI.

"The substance does not appear on the periodic table. It does, however, match the same readings as Thor's hammer," replied Jarvis.

"I brought enough for you to make a suit out of it if you want," said Loki. "Uru has magical properties and will take on any purpose a spell gives it when it's being forged. But I figured you would want it because it's also impervious to any form of magical attack."

"I'll be in my lab if anyone needs me." Said Tony, excited to start working on a new project. He struggled to pick up the giant chuck of metal. "Can somebody get Dummy over here?"

"Tony," Steve scolded. "You can play with your new toy another day. Stay here and celebrate Christmas with the rest of us."

"Yes mom," said Tony with a fake pout.

Loki moved on to Bruce. He reached into the pocket dimension and pulled out a gift wrapped in green with purple ribbon. As Bruce was opening it Loki said "This one is also from Vanaheim," Bruce opened the box to reveal a rather strange looking plant. Loki went on to explain, "It's a magical herb that I guarantee you will suppress future unwanted Hulk episodes. We can test it now if you want?" asked Loki with a grin.

"Let's not. I'll take your word for it," said Bruce, chuckling a bit. He continued to examine the unearthly plant. Looking up he said, "Thank you, Loki. This is very thoughtful."

"Anything to keep you from making another crater with my face," joked Loki. "And now for my favorite bother." Loki reached out again and pulled out a present wrapped in silver paper with a red bow. Thor opened it and instantly the room was filled in the sweet aroma of heavenly food. Inside the box were an assortment of meats and a small barrel of ale. Thor's mouth began to water most vigorously. "Is this? It can't be—" he stammered.

"Food from the feast halls of Valhalla. It is indeed Thor."

Thor looked up at the Loki, fighting the urge to eat the food on the spot. "But, Loki? Only those who have died in gloriously in battle can get to Valhalla. How were you able to acquire food from its banquet hall?" Thor asked, flabbergasted.

"I pulled some strings with a certain Valkyrie who owed me a favor," replied Loki nonchalantly.

"Many thanks brother," said Thor happily.

"Now, last but not least," Loki turned to Steve. "Your present is from Midgard, but I assure you that it was the hardest to obtain," said Loki with a large grin on his face. Loki looked down at his watch. "It should be arriving in exactly three seconds."

Exactly three seconds later, Jarvis's voice came in on the speakers "Sir, there is a—"

"Shush! Jarvis, I want it to be a surprise. Send the 'gift' up to our floor."

"Very well sir," replied Jarvis.

"Loki," said Steve. "What's this all about?"

"You'll see," replied Loki, staring at the elevator doors.

A few moments later there was a ding and the elevator doors parted. Out stepped none other than the Winter Soldier, James Buchanan Barnes.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed excitedly and rushed over to his friend and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. Steve had been searching everywhere for his former WWII buddy after he found out that he was really the Winter Soldier. After exhausting all of SHEILD's resources he had not come anywhere close to finding him. But Loki had somehow managed to track down Bucky and bring him to the Avengers Tower on Christmas Day. Bucky was a little uneasy at being there and heaven only knows how Loki convinced him to come. Steve was the happiest he had been since coming out of the ice. Bucky joined in the Christmas celebration at the Avengers Tower that day. There was plenty of joyous laughter and feasting. All the Avengers were truly touched by how thoughtful Loki's gifts were. It was without a doubt the best Christmas Loki had ever had.