This was perhaps my favorite chapter to write. It's all kinds of funny and sweet.

Hope you guys enjoy it; it's the last one.

I'm starting a new fanfiction for the Avengers, if you're interested, give it a read.

Every good action has a compensatory reward

It was the Christmas' morning. One after another the seven kids awoke up, and soon they noticed that their Saint Nick had left some gifts. It was mostly clothing and they wouldn't care about it much. They never do; they only get rid of pants, shirts and sneakers when they have enough holes.

But, soon they all find out that Nick Fury had left them another gift. Under their pillows each had some money and a little paper with an address written on it. Bruce and Tony's were the same, so were Thor and Loki's and Natasha and Clint's. Steve was the only one who had a different address and was going alone; but he knew very well which address was that.

And so the seven left only to be back by the end of the day. They were all going to somewhere special to them.

Tony and Bruce walked the streets of New York hand in hand. The youngster jumped and hopped all the way until they hailed a cab. They presented the cabbie the paper for him to drive them there. It was a book shop they knew by now, but they've never been there. It wasn't a long ride and the man parked the cab across the street of the shop. Tony paid him and the two left the cab, staring at the old building front before their eyes. Two big glassed windows were placed on each side of the small and worn-out brown door. Its white-ish blinds were drawn, so they couldn't have a sight of its inside before they entered. They crossed the street and Bruce fearlessly and firstly opened the door. A small bell rang upon the opening of the door and Bruce looked up, seeing the bell still clanging.

The amount of books and knowledge present there left the two brainy kids excited and jaw dropped. It was a small sample of what the New York Public Library is, but the book shop had the extra bonus; they could buy books. Tony doesn't get to go to the library as often as Bruce. Steve usually takes the little one there to help him with the reading.

Once they entered they parted ways. Tony made his way to the back of the shop, being guided by the sign saying "school books". He was to be found looking through mathematics and engineering books. Tony was fascinated, frenetically flipping through pages and pages of the books, theoretically understanding things he only seen working on practical performances and learning new things. Bruce had followed him, being attracted by the books related to astronomy and physics, but soon the young kid of six of age grew tired of only looking through pictures and reading stuttering text. He decided to find an easier book to read; astronomy and physics books would be useful and more appealing one day later, not now.

Tony seemed to finally awake up from the trance and decided to look for Bruce. He found him sitting on a dusty step of the staircase of the book shop, with a book open on his lap. The owner of the book shop, an old man with the glasses on the tip of the nose, watched him from behind the counter. Tony took a seat next to Bruce and peered to see what he was reading. It was a rather thick book, with 100 some pages filled with small fables.

Bruce picked up the book and gestured for Tony to hold it. "Read for me. I know I should practice reading, but it's tiring to read between stutters."

Tony nodded his head. Holding the pages with one hand he turned the book to read its title Bedtime Stories. He flipped the book back to the page Bruce was reading. He read the title first. "The Ant and the Grasshopper." And then he cleared his throat and started narrating. "In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come-"

"Do the voices, please."

Tony sighed and quickly glanced the old man behind the counter. He was smiling, seeing those two that he believed being brothers. The boy swallowed and spoke on a high pitched voice. "Why not come and chat with me, instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

Bruce asked him to keep on reading him more and more stories. By the fourth one the little boy already had his head leaning on Tony's shoulder. He peeped over his shoulder, noticing that Bruce was sleeping. He closed the book and realized it was time to go back to the theater.

Out of college, money spent/ See no future, pay no rent

Tony wanted to use the money to buy a book about engineering. There was just so much in that that he could use to improve his skills and then he thought of Bruce who also loved books as much as him, and was as smart as he was, but he couldn't read properly yet and it'd be quite a waste because he's just six-years-old and doesn't have a mind set on what he wants to be in the future. And then Tony looked at the book he was holding. He rummaged through his pocket for the money that was he supposed to pay the taxi fare, picked up Bruce in arms and walked to the counter.

"We're taking this book." Tony said to the old man, putting over the counter the Bedtime Stories book.

The old man registered the barcode and told him. "$17,50, please."

Tony placed the money over the counter and the old man handed him the change. When he looked at the money he received he noticed it wouldn't be enough for a taxi fare so he'd have to walk back to the theater, carrying Bruce in arms and the book too. Needless to say that Tony arrived the theater extremely tired. He laid the boy on his mattress, put the book next to him and then fell back, recovering his breath and his strengths. It didn't take much for Tony to fall asleep for a while too. He awoke up with some background noise. He lifted up his head and he realized almost everybody else was on the theater and that he was the only one sleeping by now.

Nick Fury decided to be a little more generous to the two brothers, giving them some extra money. It was going to be their first Christmas alone and so he wanted them to create new memories of what future Christmases will be like, just the two of them.

But oh, that magic feeling/ Nowhere to go

He gave them the address to a shopping mall. Loki and Thor ran the mall twice, looking here and there, stuffing up with candies that they were buying. It was all very nice until Thor remembered why family trips to mall weren't so nice… especially if a pet store was nearby.

"Can we get a pet?" Loki asked.

"No."

"A dog, please. It doesn't have to be too big!"

"Do you think we can afford having a dog?"

"Alright," Loki said defeated, but having convinced. "how about a cat then?"

"It will be gone within a week. You know cats aren't pets that stick around very much. And even less sticking around people like you who'd beat up the poor thing!"

"Let's get a horse then!"

"Oh my…" Thor sighed. "First, how do we get a horse here? And second, where the hell would we keep the horse? Think smaller."

"A pony?"

Thor insisted. "Smaller!"

"A mini-pony?" Loki said looking very innocent.

"Alright, I admit giving you a pet would be nice to develop your responsibility sense. What if we get a fish?"

"Ugh," Loki sighed in competent. "that's a dull creature!"

Thor laughed at his brother's vocabulary choice and proposed something else. "How about a hamster?"

Loki's eyes sparkled with excitement and his chest filled up with air. His mouth was open in awe and he was utterly happy. "Yes, that's it! A hamster!" And then he started hopping and dancing in the middle of the mall, singing. "I'm gonna get a hamster!"

By the end of the day the two of them were near a stomach ache because of all the candy they ate. Yet Loki was hyperactive, playing with his ("toy") hamster (that he carried around in his pocket) already testing the (im) mortality of the poor animal.

Steve was apprehensive but his finger was already pressing the doorbell. Mrs. Coulson opened the door and her face lit up. She immediately pulled him inside and guided him to the living room where all her family was hanging out, some still having late breakfast, others already waiting for lunch. The two friends smiled when they saw each other and they hugged without any embarrassment. They wished Merry Christmas to one another and they sat on the floor with some of Phil's cousins, taking turns in playing videogames. Steve vaguely remembered some of those people in that room.

"I've gotta tell you something, Phil." Steve spoke. "I lied to you." Phil turned his head to listen to him. "I don't live in an orphanage. I've only been there I think two or three months, then I ran away."

"Where do you live then?"

"I was hoping I could show you later… if you want to come and you're not mad at me…"

"I… How bad it is to live in an orphanage?"

"Really, really bad. That's why I ran away. Do you understand?"

"Kind of. I've never been in that situation, and I don't wanna be, but I can understand."

"So, we're cool?"

Phil, who was about to toss the dice, looked at him and smiled. "After lunch you're taking me there."

"Yeah, but we have to go on foot. I don't have much money for cab. Either that or you pay the fare!"

"You're a deadbeat; you still owe me 5 packs of trading cards and 20 chewing gums from our bet!"

"And the Chewie action figure." Phil looked at him, dumbfounded, clearly remembering the bet now, and Steve squirmed and grinned. "I shouldn't have reminded you of that!"

Soon we'll be away from here/ Step on the gas and wipe that tear away

It seemed kind of mocking that Natasha and Clint left a theater to go to another theater, but there they were, lying face down on the tension grid above the stage, attentively watching the performance of the ballet company. Back in Russia, Natasha used to dance ballet when she was little, really little as she told him; she was about three or four of age when she started dancing, and she always loved it. Nick explained them the way to discreetly go up the tension grid, and since it was a dance performance, it didn't require any technical change, so there wouldn't be any personnel up there. Just the two of them.

Clint watched and smile as Natasha attentively watched the ballerinas dancing below them. She really loved dancing. Her head bobbed to the sound of the music, her feet would scrap the grid, trying to reproduce and follow the dance steps performed by the ballerinas.

"Did you dress up like them?" Clint asked curious.

"Yes, just like that. All in pink, with a tutu, the flat shoes and the maillot and my hair was tied up so tightly in a bun that when I'd let the hair down, my head would be a tad sore. I remember my mother putting so many bobby pins in my head to gather some little strands of my hair that I felt like a bomb with all those hair pins."

Clint had this enormous smile on his face, much like Natasha. She was happy to tell her memories and he was delighted in listening to her. He didn't know what that feeling was, but he loved it.

"Dance for me…?" He shyly asked.

Her cheeks turned a little red and she made up an excuse, looking down at the stage. "It's been years since I've danced. I don't remember half of-"

Clint got up on his feet while she was talking. When she realized he wasn't lying down next to her, she raised her look. He went down on one knee and stretched his hand at her. "Then dance with me."

Natasha smiled broadly and held his hand. Clint's body trembled and he breathed thoroughly, pulling her close. "Can you dance?"

"I'll do my best." He said almost breathlessly, having his breath caught in his throat.

With each step he became more and more confident. He always kept her close, until she was so close that he leaned in and pressed his lips on hers.

One sweet dream/ Came true today

He didn't know what else to do, he had never kissed a girl before, neither had she kissed a boy before. The two had their cheeks burning and for a little avoided looking at each other, yet still dancing with a shy smile on the lips. He let go one of her hands and made her spin around herself. When she looked at his face again they were both smiling. She slightly tiptoed and pecked his lips.

The two of them were over the moon and they only left when the last person left the theater.

The seven kids were at the theater and they got to meet Steve's old friend, Phil. They all though he was really nice and they invited him to come over whenever he wanted. They ended up spending most of the afternoon there, just the eight of them, until Phil had to leave. It wasn't hard saying goodbye anymore; he'd be coming back more times.

Fury took a peek at his seven kids, having fun on the last hours of Christmas day. He was doing a good job. No matter what they do, nobody even think about messing with one of them unless of course they want to suffer a little...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, all good children go to Heaven

THE END

Song pieces: "You Never Give Me Your Money" by The Beatles.

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