Disclaimer: I most certainly do not own Elvis.
Christmas was around the corner and that has been putting the team in good spirits. Tony and Pepper decided they would go to Hawaii for Christmas. Thor, who didn't celebrate Christmas, went back home to Asgard, while some of the others would rather stay at the compound. Clint, who already invited Natasha to his place, extended the invitation to Steve, Bucky, Heidi and Sam. Despite everyone making plans for the holiday it was tradition that every year the team is given a secret Santa gift to someone else. Heidi drew Bruce.
The day before she was leaving with the others for their trip to Clint's house, Heidi went into Bruce's lab to leave his gift. Seeing that it was empty, it was the perfect opportunity to make it a surprise. She was carrying a small box, decorated in red paper with a big gold bow on top, to his desk when she noticed she wasn't alone anymore. A woman with dark brown hair twisted in a bun and dressed in a white lab coat was going through some papers on a nearby desk. Heidi has never seen her before.
"Can I help you?" she asks. The woman jumps and turns to her with a hand over her heart. She smiles gratefully. "Oh goodness you scared me!" Heidi puts the present down. "Sorry about that. I don't think we've met." The woman extends her hand eagerly. "I'm Dr. Sarah D'orsey. I've been working with Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark for the past few months. I was going over some notes before heading home for the holidays." Heidi gave her a suspicious look. "I've never seen you around before." "Right. Dr. Banner and I contact each other via email or on the phone. He told me to drop by if I needed anything. I hope its ok," the girl said with a sincere smile. Heidi still wasn't sure about her.
"What kind of work do you do?"
"Oh, I specialize in human genetics."
"Genetics, huh? What exactly is it you and Dr. Banner are working on?" Heidi asks. The girl shrugs her shoulders. She grabs a few files and says, "I'm sorry but that's classified information." Dr. D'orsey walks out from the office but not before she says, "Merry Christmas!" There was something about her that seemed odd to Heidi. For the moment, she ignored it and made sure the present was placed in a spot where Bruce would notice right away before leaving the lab herself. That evening, Steve, Nat, Sam, Bucky, and Heidi got into a large SUV and traveled to Clint's house. They also figured a road trip would be fun instead of taking a jet.
Eighteen hours later…
Natasha and Steve were in the front of the vehicle while Heidi was sandwiched between Sam and Bucky in the back. Everyone except Steve was asleep, until Nat's phone began ringing. Natasha stirs and answers the phone groggily, "We're almost there. Like twenty minutes I think." "Ok good. There's supposed to be a bad snow storm coming in. By the way, one of the cows is giving birth," Clint's voice answers. "Really? How exciting!"
"Exciting? Sure…if you want to call it that. Might need some extra help when you get here."
"Sure thing. See you soon."
Natasha hangs up and smiles at Steve. "One of the cows is giving birth right now." "In this?" Steve remarks while nodding at the sky. It was dark grey and a few flurries are already falling. "That's not good," he adds. "Wake up guys, we're almost there," Natasha says behind her. Sam yawns loudly and stretches out as much as he could. Heidi stirs and tickles Bucky's ear, who's head is on her lap, to wake him. The Winter Soldier blinks several times and pulls himself up from her lap and stretches too. In no time, they finally made it to the farm. Clint meets up with them in the parking lot; his hands bloody.
"Anything yet?" Natasha asks. Clint shakes his head. "She's not even pushing. I don't know if it's going to make it." "What's going on?" Heidi asks as she helps the guys unpack the vehicle. "Clint's got a cow trying to give birth but she's having complications," Clint's wife, who comes down from the porch, adds in. "Maybe I can help. Where is she?" Clint leads everyone to the barn. The cow was antsy and wouldn't stop moving around in her pen. Clint gives Heidi some antibacterial gel and she runs the stuff all over her hands before approaching the bovine beast. The cow turns to Heidi and lowers her head in a defensive stance. The blond raises a hand up to the cow.
"Easy girl…easy…" She never broke eye contact with the animal. She slowly comes closer to the cow and when she was able to touch her, the cow turns her head and rubs against Heidi's side. She was rewarded with loving backrubs. "Good girl…" Heidi takes a moment to get behind the animal. She feels around the belly and then gently and slowly pushing her hand inside the cow to feel for the calf. "She's not pushing because the calf is not wanting to come out right. If I can just…" Heidi takes her other hand inside and tries to gently push the calf around. The guys were very grossed out and ended up leaving the barn. Clint's wife and Natasha stayed in case they're needed.
About an hour later, the girls came inside the house. The guys had made themselves useful and made dinner. "How did it go?" Clint asks right away. "A healthy girl," Heidi smiles proudly. Clint silently thanked God and gave her a hug. "Thank you. Daisy is one of my favorite girls and I was worried I was going to lose her." "Not a problem. The calf started nursing right away too so all you have to worry about is keeping them warm during the storm." Clint nods in agreement. He looks at his wife and says, "Sorry. This is my wife, Laura. Sweetie, this is Heidi." The two women shook hands and gave each other warm smiles. "Again, thanks for helping out. Usually Daisy is not very friendly with strangers." "You can say I have a way with animals," Heidi responds with a knowing smile.
Later that evening, everyone settled into their rooms. Nat and Heidi shared the room with Clint's daughter while the guys utilized the living room. Sam took the couch bed while the super soldiers took the floor. They didn't mind. "Like living in the barracks again," Steve mumbles with a smile. Bucky snorts at his comment. "Idiot…you just HAD to join the army," he responds. "You didn't forget the package, did you?" Steve asks, suddenly remembering something. "Of course I didn't. It's sitting in the barn." There was a moment of silence before Bucky twists his head to the side to face Steve. "Do you think she'll like it?" After letting out a big yawn Steve says, "Of course she will." Satisfied, Bucky rolls over to his left side and falls asleep.
Early next morning the storm had stopped and the feeling of the air was silent and still. Nothing was stirring save a few birds chirping their morning greetings to the sun rising over the snow dusted trees. The house was deathly quiet save for the soft snores and crackling fire. That is until the man of the house rolls out of bed and walks out of the room. He takes the kids presents, hidden in the attic, and carries them to the living room so he can place the gifts around the tree. Being light sleepers, the guys slowly stirred and stretched. Hawkeye turns on the lights attached to the tree before noticing the guys were awake. "Sorry, tried to be as quiet as I can," he says quietly. "No worries. Those kiddos are going to be up shortly anyways," Sam responds with a dismissing gesture of his hand. To make room for everyone to sit in the living room, the guys rearranged the furniture so there's a big open space by the tree.
Laura and the other women quietly come down the stairs and greeted the guys. "Merry Christmas fellas," Natasha says with a big smile. Bucky approaches Heidi and takes her face in his hands before kissing her on the forehead. "Merry Christmas James," she says in a whisper. "Merry Christmas," he responds. His blue eyes were glowing in a way that Heidi never saw before. She couldn't help but beam at him. She joins the women in the kitchen to start breakfast. When Heidi turns on the pot of coffee, she looks out the kitchen window. The snow looked so pure and beautiful; it was breathtaking. Then she saw a fox running in between the trees, chasing a squirrel. Heidi gasps in excitement. "That mean old thing!" Laura groans, "That fox is always hanging around here. We try to scare him off with pellet guns but he always comes back." "I'm going to go check on the calf. Do you want me to feed the other cows while I'm out in the barn?" Heidi offers. "No! I'll do it," Clint says quickly. "I need to go check up on something anyways," he adds as he puts on his coat and boots. "Hmm. Strange..." the blond said to herself.
Her head suddenly perks up and she turns her gaze to the ceiling. "Here they come," she said more loudly. Sure enough, quick and loud thumps echoed in the house and the kids came running down the stairs.
"WOAH!"
"Santa came!"
The kids were ecstatic to see all the presents laid out by the tree. "Now you have to wait 'til your done with breakfast first!" Laura warns them. Natasha corrals them to the table and tries to distract them with a coloring book but their eyes were glued on the pretty presents.
After a few minutes, Clint returns and breakfast was served. Sam turns on Pandora from his phone to a Christmas station. Elvis' "Blue Christmas" began to play. "So Heidi, I understand you're from Austria. Do you celebrate Christmas?" Laura asks as she sips on her coffee. "As a matter of fact we do. Our traditions are slightly different." "Like what?" "Everything mostly happens on Christmas Eve. For example, we decorate the tree the night before Christmas and open gifts afterward. The parents usually decorate the tree and ring a bell to call for the children. It's usually a surprise for them." "Any songs?" "They're all about the same as the ones here in the States," Heidi responds. Remembering something her smile fell. She checks her watch for the time before getting up. "Excuse me. I'll be back."
She leaves the room and walks out on the front porch with her phone. Bucky and Steve watch her from out the living room window. Her voice was barely audible from inside but they knew who she was calling. "Is everything ok? I hope I didn't upset her," Laura asks around. Natasha squeezes her hand reassuringly. "No, not at all. She's just calling someone from back home."
After the kids were done eating they went straight to the tree and, with their dad's help distributing the gifts, started to open their presents. They had just started opening their first ones when Heidi came back inside. Her eyes were wet with tears but she smiled nonetheless. Bucky comes up and gives her a hug and she hugs him back. "I miss her so much," she whispered. "I know. I'm sorry you can't be with her...maybe next year?" She nods in his chest. "Maybe you can join me." "I'd like that," he says with a small smile. They sit down with the others and watch the kids scream with joy as they open their gifts. The Christmas music and the crackling fire made the house so homey and warm that it had put the Avengers at ease. This is exactly what they needed after all the hard work and stress they've been going through.
As the kids are wrapping up with opening their last gifts, Bucky sneaks away for a moment and comes back. "Looks like we have one more," Steve says with a knowing smile. Natasha comes up behind Heidi and covers her eyes with her hands. "Covering my eyes is not going to help you guys," Heidi says with a big grin on her face. Bucky, feeling anxious, brings in a brown box and sets it on her lap. Natasha releases her hands and the blond smiles up at everyone. "What's this?" The Winter Soldier clears his throat nervously before replying, "I hope it's not too early but...um..." He didn't know what to say to her.
"Open it already!" Sam roars with a mischievous grin.
The kids even came up next to her on the floor, curious about what's inside. Heidi lifts the top of the box and gasps loudly. She was speechless. The kids peeked inside and screamed.
"A PUPPY!"
A little gray and black pup with thick fur yipped at Heidi. A red bow was attached to its neck. She pulls it out of the box and brings the pup to her face. The puppy had icy blue eyes and a pink nose. It's a girl. Heidi's eyes swell with tears and she looks up at Bucky. "How did you..." "He asked me to look around for him since you guys were coming here," Clint interrupts. "Our closest neighbor just so happened to have puppies a few weeks ago. She's a German shepherd and husky mix," Laura chimes in. The puppy started licking Heidi's face affectionately. She holds the puppy to her chest in a tight hug as she stands up. "She's beautiful," she said in a squeaky voice and kisses Bucky intensely. When they pulled away, Heidi could see Bucky's blue eyes turning glassy.
"I hope it's okay. I was thinking you'd want a companion like Tracker again but wasn't sure..." "Yes, she's perfect!" The puppy yips loudly, making the blond laugh. Seeing the kids looking eager to pet and love on the puppy she hands her to them. "A puppy is a big responsibility you two," Steve says in a mocking stern voice. Everyone laughs with him. "Does she have a name yet?" Heidi asks Bucky. "Well...I thought of Sasha." "That's perfect. Thank you Buck," she says before leaning in for another kiss. "Merry Christmas Heidi," he murmurs in between kisses.
Later that day, the kids went out to play in the snow. Feeling the holiday spirit, Heidi, Nat, and Sam and little Sasha went out with them as well. The adults got into a serious snowball fight in the trees while the kids played with their sled on a hilltop. After a few hours, Heidi went to check on the calf and Daisy before retiring inside the house. Little Sasha pitter-pattered behind her. Suddenly feeling sleepy Heidi grabs a throw blanket and curls herself on the couch by the fire. Bucky joins her and scoops up the pup in his lap. Little Sasha burrows herself in his arm and falls asleep with them.
Dinner was a feast with a big ham and numerous sides to choose from. Wine was passed around with the adults while the kids enjoyed sparkling juice. Everyone ate so much even the super soldiers got sleepy from feasting. Laura went to put the kids to bed while the other adults laid around in the living room.
Feeling unusually warm, Heidi used the excuse to check on the calf to go outside. The cold air nipped at her face. The sudden change of temperature made her dizzy and nauseous. She takes a few steps away from the house before vomiting in the snow. Perhaps it was the food that didn't agree with her since she didn't recall drinking too much. Once she was done Heidi takes a long inhale of winter air before exhaling; already she was feeling better. Heidi covers the puke with the snow before she makes her way to the barn. After making sure the calf was nursing on her mama she sits down on a bale of hay, watching them. The blond smiles to herself. If she wasn't an Avenger or a Duchess, she could see herself living in the mountains on a farm. In the peace and quiet of nature.
About thirty minutes later, she gives the rest of the herd a few flakes of hay and then locks the barn up. Between the time she was inside the barn and now, the winds picked up and a storm was starting to brew. Flurries stung her eyes as she tried to walk back to the house. But something moved at the corner of her eye. Instinctively Heidi jerks her head to her right, staring at the trees skirting the woods. She watches what felt like a long time but she could've sworn she saw someone. 'Maybe it was a deer,' she thought to herself. She tries to smell the air but the storm was making it difficult to detect anything. The blond moves on back to the house but she still couldn't shake off the bad feeling in her gut.