Chapter 6
Brian, God bless him, had instantly agreed to letting the Avengers come over for Christmas dinner.
“-and they could really use some-”
“Say no more Steve. They are more than welcome, it will be a bit tight but the more the merrier right?” Brian said, interrupting Steve.
“Are you sure it's not imposing?”
“Steve, really. Christmas is the best time to open your doors to those who could use some help, even if ‘help’ just means some dinner in a small, messy apartment. Avengers need help sometimes too, so consider them officially invited.”
So Steve was tasked with picking up some chairs from Brian’s coffee shop, to make sure everyone had a place to sit tonight. Brian told Steve the password to the back entrance of the shop, saying if he couldn't trust Captain America then who could he trust?
To their credit, the team showed up in Tony’s personal Stark Tower garage just on time. They all looked like they had gotten at least a short nap, and a nice shower. Steve spotted an assortment of bandages on various body parts, but luckily no one had any life-threatening injuries.
“Shall we know where we are going now? Or will it remain a surprise?” Thor asked as he opened the door to one of the cars that would be driving them to their destination.
Steve chuckled, “A surprise might be more fun?”
“Am I dressed right?” Bruce asked as he got into the passenger seat of the first car, the spot reserved for him since he got car sick sometimes.
Steve looked at Bruce’s outfit. He had khakis paired with a button-up shirt and a warm jacket. Steve himself had jeans and a button-up shirt under a pullover. Steve was still not 100% sure what to wear this century, but it felt like a nice enough outfit.
“Perfect,” Steve replied as he slid into the driver’s seat of the SUV.
Tony got into the second car, a sports car to be exact. Tony and Pepper would drive separately from the rest of the team, that way they would not have to cram together into one car. Steve glanced over at Bruce and then looked at the rest of the team in his rear-view mirror. While now cleaned up, they still looked…rough? Dejected was probably a good descriptor to use. They did not seem fully present, nor did they look like they contained a single ounce of Christmas Joy (not that he blamed them).
Steve understood the feeling. Last Christmas (before he went to the Collins’) was probably one of the worst days he had ever had in this century. To be honest, even today was not great. He was putting on the best front he could for the team, trying to get them excited about the ‘surprise’ that was the Collins household. Yet, if he was being honest? Steve felt just as terrible as the rest of the team. The mission in Liechtenstein was a mess and it resulted in unnecessary loss of life. A man was dead and the Avengers had been unable to save him, that was not something you could just forget. Not to mention the property damage Vaduz received. Steve did not want to even think about the amount of bad information fed to the team from SHIELD, but he knew that in the next week or so he would be talking directly to Fury about it. Looking at his team, and the injuries they had sustained also put a damper on things. To summarize…yeah it was not the best day.
But Steve was determined to not let the team end Christmas on a bad note. They were going to turn this day around, and at the very least receive a bit of love and comfort. Steve was willing to expose his ‘secret’ family to do so. If he was being honest, he had purposely not mentioned Brian and his family to the team. He wanted to keep them for himself, to have a sense of normalcy; especially back when he had not felt truly part of the team. Now he was coming to realize that the Avengers were his normal. The Avengers were his family, and he'd like to think the Collins’ were his family as well. So it was time they met, and hopefully they would mesh well and not crash violently.
When Steve got out of the car to get the chairs from the Coffee Shop, Tony parked his car behind Steve and joined him at the back door. Clint and Natasha joined out of curiosity but Thor stayed in the car since he had promptly fallen asleep the second he sat down. Bruce remained in the car on his phone, as did Pepper in Tony’s car.
“Okay. Normally I would love to help you break into a Coffee Shop…but on Christmas? A bit low don't you think Cap?” Tony asked as he followed Steve into the shop.
Steve rolled his eyes at Tony’s joke as he started to gather the chairs they would need. Steve knew the curiosity was probably killing them all, but at this point, it was kinda fun to keep them in the dark.
“Help me grab some of these chairs.”
“Chairs? Really? Of all the things to steal…” Clint said as he grabbed two chairs.
There the team stood, all crowded in the hallway of a small apartment building, each holding their own chair (except for Tony, who insisted on carrying Pepper’s for her).
“Okay. So…I’m not really sure what to say. These people…” Steve trailed off for a second, considering how to explain how important they were to him, “They saved my life I guess you could say. They have become very important to me and I don’t know…I guess I thought maybe you all could use a normal Christmas dinner.”
Steve shrugged a bit and before there was time for follow-up questions from the team, he knocked on the door. Almost instantly it was flung open and Steve suddenly found himself being hugged by a 7 and 5-year-old. Steve effortlessly picked up Tommy and James, couldn't help but join in with their infectious laughter.
“Wow. Cap has kids, who knew” Tony said jokingly, but Steve could tell by the grunt that followed his statement that Pepper had promptly elbowed him in the side.
“-and then Santa gave me a…WOW is that Iron-Man?” Steve tuned back into Tommy’s flow of words to realize the boy had noticed the billionaire standing in his doorway.
“And Thor! Can you make lightning?!” James piped up from Steve’s other arm.
Steve was aware of the blatantly surprised faces the team was directing his way, but he did not care.
“Tommy! James! Don’t bother the poor man” Clair said as she, Brian, and Lucile finally made their way to the door.
“Aye, I can make lighting little one, but it would be far too dangerous to do in such a tight space as this” Thor responded, quick to land on his feet and adapt to the situation at hand.
Steve put the boys down and quickly hugged Brian, Clair, and Lucile. He decided introductions were at hand.
“Well…This is the Collins family. You just met Tommy and James. This is Brian and Clair, and Brian’s mom Lucile.” Steve said, gesturing to each person.
“And this is-”
“Oh, we know who they are” Lucile interrupted with her strong Irish accent, “don’t just stand there! Come in, the dinner is getting cold!” She said bluntly, returning into the kitchen to presumably tend to the Christmas dinner Steve had smelt since the door opened.
“Steve this is…” Natasha seemed unsure how to finish her sentence but she did not look upset, just surprised. She entered the apartment, and the rest of the team followed.
“Just put your chairs over there,” Brian said as he pointed to a folding table that had been set up next to their kitchen table to make more room for everyone to be able to eat.
Once again, Steve looked around the apartment and enjoyed the comfortable mess it contained. A few toys on the floor, pictures on the wall. Everything about this apartment let you know it was lived in. It was a very relaxing place to be. Steve hoped the team would feel the same way about it.
Turns out Steve had nothing to worry about. There was a short awkward period where the team was not sure how to act with the Collins’ and were still recovering from the shock of ending up in a random family’s home for Christmas. Similarly, the Collins’ had seemed unsure of what to do when their house was suddenly filled with the entire Avengers team (plus Pepper Potts). Luckily, by the time they settled around the table to eat, everyone seemed to settle down a bit and adjust to each other.
Tommy and James were quite ecstatic to have the Avengers at their house, and they could not help but ask random questions ranging from “what is your least favorite color?” (Red, said Bruce much to Tony’s chagrin) to “Do the Avengers have a dog like firemen do?” (No, but we should, said Natasha).
After dinner was over, Steve was glad to see some genuine smiles on his team’s face. Clint sat on the floor, helping James with a lego set he got for Christmas. Tommy was practically interrogating Thor about Asgard, and Thor seemed more than delighted to answer his questions. Bruce and Natasha sat on the couch, deep in discussion with Lucile about God knows what. Clair and Pepper were talking in the kitchen, leaving Steve and Tony with Brian. Brian had pulled out some whisky and given some to both of them.
Steve zoned out of the conversation for a moment, still technically listening should they ask him a direct question, but not adding any statements otherwise. He just wanted to enjoy, even if for a moment, the relief and relaxation he felt. To know his team was safe and happy? It was a weight lifted off his shoulders. He knew it would not fix all their problems, but to have a few hours at the Collins’ house was like a reset. The team was so secluded from the regular world, so it was nice for them to be able to submerge themselves into a normal family for a bit and not have to think about their crazy lives. Steve knew he would never forget the looks on the faces of his team. They all looked so much better than they had earlier this afternoon. Revitalized, relaxed, and comfortable. People often took those things for granted, but Steve had learned just how precious they truly were. To give the team a safe and comfortable Christmas, surrounded by a normal and kind family? No gift could ever compete with this.
“So Steve, this is who you blew me off for last year? Can’t say I blame you” Tony said, drawing Steve’s attention back to the conversation.
“Showed up all bloody and bruised” Brian added with a slight chuckle.
“Okay, it’s not my fault people seem to choose the holidays to attack,” Steve said, with a mock defensive tone, “Yeah Tony, I just…I think last year I really needed this. I wasn’t adjusting the best to this century and these guys were kind enough to help smooth some of the pain I was feeling”
Steve was honestly a bit shocked at his own candor. He was working on being more open with his team, especially about the struggles he faced. It was hard, he still had the instinctual desire to hide behind the role of Captain America. To pretend like he had no weaknesses and to hide Steve Rogers away and let the Captain take over. It was his defense mechanism, as well as what he assumed people expected of him. Yet, the more time he spent with his team the more he realized the importance of being himself. He was slowly showing them more and more, and they had yet to run.
Tony nodded in understanding. He watched Steve for a moment with a look that was hard to decipher, but Steve was confident it was not a judgemental one, before letting his eyes flick over to where the team was scattered around the apartment.
“I think we needed it too.” Tony said simply, before looking back at Brian, “Thanks, man. We had a rough 24 hours and I don’t think any of us realized how nice a…normal Christmas could be”
“Really it's no big deal. A friend of Steve’s is a friend of ours.” Brian responded, keeping his words casual but it was clear from the look on his face that he knew it was a big deal to the Avengers. This Coffee Shop owner had somehow ended up running the unofficial Avenger’s Rest & Emotional Rehab Center.
“But there is one thing I could use a hand on…” Brian said to Tony.
“I’ve got two,” Tony responded.
“Okay well, the garbage disposal in the kitchen sink has been giving me hell for a month now.”
Steve trailed behind Brian and Tony as they walked into the kitchen. Tony took a glance before going putting on the hand of his Iron Man suit. Brian’s face lit up when he saw part of the suit up close, and Steve could tell the man was working hard to contain his excitement. Clair and Pepper made their way over to Steve to watch Brian and Tony fix the sink.
“Can’t keep that man from fixing things, can we Steve?” Pepper said.
“No ma’am- I mean, no we can’t Pepper” Steve quickly amended when he saw the look Miss Potts had given him. She had been quick to tell him to call her Pepper, but sometimes Steve slipped back to his old ways.
“I never thought I’d have an Avenger fixing my sink,” Clair laughed.
“Better than having an Avenger break it, the amount of things that get broken by this bunch is astounding. I think JARVIS has maintenance on standby now.” Pepper responded.
Steve nodded in agreement, watching as Tony made quick work of fixing the disposal with Brian hovering over his shoulder. Steve noted happily that it looked like Tony was explaining what he was doing and trying his best to engage the man who was so clearly enthralled with watching him work. Steve was happy to know this side of Tony Stark, so different from the man Steve had originally assumed him to be. He was also glad that Tony had relaxed some since their mission, this afternoon he had looked so on edge that Steve was afraid the man would spiral.
Steve excused himself and went to the living area to see what the others were up to. He found himself joining Bruce, Nat, and Lucile. The older woman was telling stories of her homeland.
“-I grew up on Boxty and Irish Stew.”
“My Ma used to make Boxty for us growing up. Didn’t have hardly any money but that was something we could afford. Days when we could afford meat, Irish Stew was a staple.” Steve agreed, joining the conversation.
“Reminds me a bit of Shchi, a soup from Russia” Natasha added.
“Uh…I guess we had some Pot Roast on holidays, but mostly I grew up eating Hot Dogs,” Bruce added sheepishly as if he was guilty for not growing up on a stew or soup, causing the others to chuckle.
To say this night was a success would be an understatement. Steve looked over at the large Lego structure Clint was helping build. He was not sure he had ever seen Clint so unguarded. Clint was a generally easy-going man, quick with a joke, but Steve was observant enough to know the man was always on high alert. He and Natasha were always ready to jump into action, to detect any anomaly, and Steve was certain they were constantly shifting their escape plan as needed (should they need one). So it was nice to see Clint with some of his walls down. Steve was sure the man still had a subconscious plan for if something happened, but he looked generally very relaxed.
Thor seemed to be reenergized as he talked to Tommy. He was animatedly telling, what Steve hoped was age-appropriate, stories to the kid. Similar to Steve, Thor was a bit out of place here sometimes. So Steve knew that it was nice for Thor to speak of his home, and his past adventures. Especially to someone as excited to hear it as Tommy. Plus, Steve knew that Thor liked kids because they did not think of him as strange. Thor had told him this once after they visited a children’s toy drive. He said that sometimes humans thought he was odd, but kids were quick to adapt to his way of speaking. Steve knew what that was like.
So yeah. Steve figured he could mark this down as a successful Christmas. More importantly, the team seemed to have enjoyed themselves greatly. His two families had meshed well, and Steve felt like he himself was whole. This century had felt like he was constantly dividing himself into two. Steve Rogers and Captain America, he viewed his life as pre and post-ice. So uniting the two groups where he felt the most welcome was another step towards finding who he was now.
“Hey Steve, I almost forgot!” Brian called.
Steve looked up to see the man with a bag in his hands. He reached in and pulled out an orange.
“Merry Christmas!” He said, as he tossed it to Steve and then started handing out oranges to his family and the Avengers crew.
Steve couldn't help the huge grin that broke across his face as he looked at the orange in his hand. A Christmas tradition that had followed him his whole life. From his dingy apartment with his Ma, to the front lines with Bucky, and all the way to the 21st century. This little orange was once again given to him by someone who he knew cared about him. Steve wasn’t sure anyone here could truly understand how much it meant to him, but that didn’t matter. He was just happy that everyone could take part in this tradition that meant so much to him and to be surrounded by those he loved.
“Merry Christmas,” Steve said.