A/N: A Christmas one-shot based on my main fic, The Changeling. To read this and have it mean something, some knowledge of the comics and/or the mother fic is needed to understand all the characters I think. But you can try it!
Fandom: Marvel (Elizaverse)
Characters: Avengers + Eliza White, Peter Parker, Janet Pym, Hank Pym, Bucky Barnes, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Bobbi Morse, Sharon Carter, Phil Coulson, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Pepper Potts, Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster, Kid Loki, Leah, Gamora, Rocket, Peter Quill, Sif, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg
Established Relationships: Clint/Natasha, Former Clint/Bobbi, Steve/Sharon, Eliza/Peter, Janet/Hank (Married), Thor/Jane (Married), Tony/Pepper (Married)
"It's too small."
"Tony, be quiet," Natasha hissed at him, "Everyone's going to love it."
"It should be taller."
Natasha sighed and shook her head. There was no winning. But she could, however, refuse to allow another tree through the doors of Avengers Tower and into the ballroom.
"Tony, have you any idea just how hard it was to get a freaking live tree inside this tower," Clint muttered as they heaved the large fir into place, "We had to get it up with a quinjet, through the window, and then put it in place manually! And you have the audacity to say it's too small."
Tony smirked at the archer's mutterings. He glanced at his watch. 1:59 AM.
"How are Bucky and Steve coming along with the lights," Tony asked Hank Pym who stood watching nearby.
Hank stepped forward so he was level with the spectating Tony, "Last I checked, they were finishing the last one and were about to head up here."
"Good. Good."
"And I just finished sorting the ornaments," said Jan, coming over with the two boys, "Ooo I'm so excited to show everyone tomorrow!"
"I'm going to go check on Thor, Jane, and Darcy in the kitchen," Tony nodded, once he was confident that his teammates had it under control up in the ballroom.
And so he made his way out of the large room, down the hall and to the elevator. Tony waited for it to come and when it did, he stood aside to allow Steve and Bucky, wrapped in Christmas lights, through to the ballroom. Tony bit back a laugh and ducked inside the elevator before it closed. He rode it up to the Kitchen floor.
"How's the food coming along," Tony asked Darcy who, biting her lip in concentration, was decorating a batch of sugar cookies, "Where's Thor?"
"Thor's helping Jane bake more cookies," Darcy told him, "Everything's under control up here. How's the tree?"
"Not tall enough, I say," Tony shook his head, "But the others are good with it."
"I'm sure it's fine, man of iron," said Thor, coming in to the table area with his hands covered in flour.
Tony shrugged, "If you guys don't need any help, I'll go find Bruce. Any idea what he's up to?"
"He's working on the star, remember," reminded Darcy.
"Oh that's right," Tony nodded, "Okay, then he's probably in the lab."
As it turned out, Bruce was on his way down from his lab when Tony tried to go up, so they met in the elevator. Bruce was carrying a large, yellow star with a battery operated light setup. They discussed it as they rode the elevator down to the ballroom.
"It should blink to the music now," Bruce told Tony.
Tony grinned, "Nice work!"
When they arrived in the ballroom, they found that Steve and Bucky had just finished placing the last light string on the tree. Using the ladder, Tony put the star on top and, using the remote, turned the whole tree on. Oos and Ahs filled the room. Tony turned it off and Jan came up with the first ornament.
Shrinking down, she used her wings to carry her up towards the top of the tree. She placed her ornament on a branch and flew back down, her wings disappearing and her body reverting to normal size.
"Let the ornaments begin!"
And so Bruce, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Hank, Jan, Bucky, and Steve all got to work on the tree. In reality it was rather large- at least fifteen feet tall. The lights were a combination of white and multicolor LEDs. The ornaments mixed classic balls and shapes with modern interests. For example, Hank hung up a couple of Star Trek ornaments, Clint put up some animals, and Jan, Disney ones. Natasha stuck to traditional ornaments.
"I had to buy these," Tony cackled as he drew out a box of ornaments from behind his back, "Avengers ornaments."
"Oh my gosh," Bruce muttered.
Hank shrugged, "Well, Eliza's going to love them."
"I bet Coulson gets a kick out of it too," Clint laughed, "He is coming, right?"
"Last I heard," Natasha nodded, "But his team's home on holiday so they won't be there."
"So far our list is," Tony cleared his throat and pulled out his phone, "Bobbi Morse, Sharon Carter, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Kurt Wagner, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Peter Parker, and Phil Coulson."
"Can you add Sif and the Warriors Three to that, Son of Stark," Thor asked, walking in with a batch of Christmas cookies, "I have sent word and they should be arriving tomorrow."
"Alright then. And anyone gotten in touch with the Guardians?"
"I did," nodded Natasha as she grabbed a cookie, "They said they would try to come but that some of them are recuperating on Knowhere. It'll probably just be Gamora, Rocket, and Peter."
"Oh tomorrow is going to be so amazing," Jan smiled, "Everyone is going to be here!"
"Finally we're home for Christmas, and not off on some quest," Steve agreed.
"Finally I'm not a HYDRA puppet for Christmas," Bucky pointed out, only half joking.
Tony glanced at his watch as they finished the tree. 3:18.
"Are the cookies done, Thor," Tony asked him.
Thor nodded, "Darcy and Jane are finishing the last ones."
"Good. Then everyone but Clint and Steve can go to bed. We've got one more thing to do," Tony smirked.
The rest left, leaving the three men standing in the middle of an empty, rather dark ballroom. The looming tree stood in the corner, the lights off. It created a giant, green mass that was rather imposing.
"All we have left is to move all the presents from my lab upstairs down to here," Tony nodded, "I say we load up the elevator, have one person keep it open, and the other two carry presents to under the tree."
And so the three of them finally went to bed around 4:00. That left them with four hours' sleep, but all three agreed it was worth it seeing the final product after breakfast the next morning.
Eliza came downstairs around 7:30 and found Bucky and Thor eating breakfast.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Hey! Good morning," Bucky grinned, "Merry Christmas."
Eliza hugged both Thor and Bucky. She was so excited for today. Bouncing into the kitchen, she found two dozen donuts waiting to be eaten. Eliza grabbed a pair, poured herself some milk, and sat down at the table with Bucky and Thor.
"Have you explained Christmas to Loki and Leah yet," Eliza asked Thor.
"Indeed," nodded Thor, "I explained it to them with Steve's help last night before they went to bed. Both seemed rather eager for today."
"When you're done," Bucky told Eliza, "You can wake them up."
Eliza finished quickly enough and ran to take the elevator down to Loki and Leah's suites. She knocked on Leah's door first.
"Coming," the young girl called, "Is it Christmas?"
"Yes," Eliza smiled as Leah opened the door.
Leah grinned, "I am excited for this Midgardian celebration!"
"So am I," agreed Eliza, "Come on. Let's get Loki up."
"I am already up," kid Loki reported as he left his suite across the hall.
"Come on, you two! Let's get you breakfast."
By eight, everyone was up. Most everyone was hanging around in the kitchen, waiting lastly for Tony to come downstairs. When he had eaten, he got up from the table and made an announcement.
"Now that everyone is here," he smiled, "Let's all grab something from the stash that Pepper has over there and carry it to the ballroom."
Pepper passed out piles of plates, napkins, tablecloths, and cookies, candies, and cakes. Earlier that morning, Hank, Bruce, and Bucky had set up tables in the ballroom for sweets, and for eating at. The gang took turns riding the elevator to the ballroom. When Eliza, Loki, and Leah got there, they were stunned.
"It's gorgeous!"
The room was golden and white with large windows. Streamers decorated the room, and a crystal chandelier hung down from the ceiling. The tree, now fully lit, sat in the far left corner. Tables and chairs were to the right, leaving plenty of space for mulling about and conversing.
"Keep moving," Hank joked.
Loki and Leah, placing their foodstuffs down on a table, approached the tree in awe. Presents were EVERYWHERE under it. They were amazed at the sheer grandeur of the tree. Never had they seen such a thing in Asgard or Helheim or Vanaheim.
They had just finished setting up the food when Jarvis told Tony that the first guests were arriving.
"Shall I send him up, sir?"
"Yep! Send him up!"
A few minutes later, Peter Parker appeared in the entrance to the ballroom.
"OH my lord," Peter gaped.
Eliza smiled and went over, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," he said, giving her a kiss.
"I'll take your gift," Jan smiled, taking the box from him as he walked over to join the Avengers, "Feel free to take some cookies."
"Awesome!"
Peter and Eliza went over to the food when Jarvis alerted Tony to another batch of visitors. Tony glanced at his watch. 9:23. He had Jarvis send up the entourage of guests.
"Good morning," Sharon called with a smile as she and Bobbi Morse walked side by side into the room.
"Merry Christmas," Bobbi added.
The two women complimented Tony and the Avengers on how beautiful it all looked.
"Sharon and I spent the day shopping down town," Bobbi told them, "We picked up some presents for you guys."
Sharon handed Jan the gifts, who took them and put them under the tree.
"The two of you seem to be getting along well," Steve smiled, giving Sharon a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah," she grinned, "Bobbi and I have been hanging out a lot recently. She's pretty cool."
"Clint, Natasha," Bobbi nodded, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Bob," Clint smiled, giving her a quick hug.
Bobbi hugged him back. Maybe they were finally managing to heal their old wounds. That would be one of Bobbi's favorite Christmas gifts ever. She missed Clint's kind words, and she knew that even though they could never rekindle their romance, she wanted to be friends again after all these years of hatred.
Natasha smiled slightly and nodded her head at Bobbi, "Merry Christmas, Bobbi."
Suddenly they heard Jarvis tell Tony that the Asgardians had arrived on the landing pad.
"I'll go get them," Thor told him, "Come on, Loki, Leah."
The two children ran after Thor and up the elevator to the landing pad. When they arrived there, they heard Jarvis talking to Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg.
"Friends! Welcome back to Midgard," Thor boomed.
"Thor, Loki, Leah! Tis good to see you all," Sif smiled, "Where is this feast of Christmas we were told about?"
"Follow me," Thor nodded, "It is good to see you."
"Thank you for the hospitality," said Hogun.
"No need to be so formal, Hogun," Thor laughed, "Come. This way."
They took the elevator down to the ballroom. Sif and the Warriors Three had dressed in tunics, ready for the party, instead of their usual armor. When they arrived in the ballroom, the others greeted them warmly.
"Hey Sif," Eliza grinned, "Fandral. Hey Hogun, Hey Volstagg!"
"Lady Eliza," Fandral bowed, "It is a pleasure to see you again."
"Eliza," Sif grinned, "How've you been?"
"Great! And you? How's Asgard?"
"As well as can be expected. Lady Frigga and Lord Odin miss Loki terribly, being parted from him so soon after reuniting," Sif told her.
Eliza nodded, "Not like we could've avoided it. It was for his own safety."
"Yes, tis true."
"Sir, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, Peter Quill, Gamora, and Rocket have arrived."
"Send 'em on up, J! You know the drill!"
"I'll go walk them up," Natasha offered.
She went down to the elevator and rode it to the ground floor. There she found the three SHIELD Agents, plus Gamora wearing a trench coat and a hat and Peter Quill carrying an animal cage. Natasha had to keep from smiling at the funny way the Guardians had to hide who they really were. After all, the general public had no idea they existed, and SHIELD wanted it to stay that way. Hence their arrival with the SHIELD personnel.
"Merry Christmas, sirs," Natasha nodded to the SHIELD agents, "Follow me."
They took the elevator up to the ballroom. Once up in the ballroom, Peter let Rocket out of the cage.
"God, I hate that thing," Rocket growled, shaking out his fur.
Peter Quill rolled his eyes. Gamora took off her jacket and hat and handed them to Darcy who was on coat duty. Nick, Maria, and Coulson also stripped off their jackets and hats and handed them over.
"Looks good, Stark," Nick Fury said as he walked over to Tony and looked around the room.
"Want a drink," Tony asked the SHIELD Director.
"Sure."
Maria went and found Pepper standing with Jan and Hank.
"This looks nice, good job you guys," she told them.
Pepper smiled, "Glad you could come, Maria."
"Thanks for the invite," she nodded, "Didn't really have anywhere to go for Christmas."
"You're always welcome here," Pepper told her.
"Hey Quill," Eliza grinned, "Nice to see you!"
"Come here, kid!"
Peter Quill gave Eliza a big Christmas-sized hug. Then he looked down at Peter Parker and grinned.
"So you're the lucky guy who Eliza's with."
"Yep, that's me," Peter grinned, "Certainly am a lucky guy."
"Sir, Wolverine and the X-Men are here," Jarvis said loudly.
"Ooh come on," Eliza grinned and pulled Peter Parker, "Let's go get em!"
She all but ran out of the now crowded ballroom and hopped on the elevator with Peter. They rode it down the Tower to the reception area and found Logan with Kitty and Kurt. Kitty smiled widely when she caught sight of Eliza and ran forward.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to all of you too," Eliza said, hugging her.
Logan smirked at Peter who stood there awkwardly, "Sometimes it's best to stay in the woman's shadow."
"I've come to realize that," Peter joked, taking the gift from Logan.
They went up to the ballroom and all three X-Men were wowed by the décor of the ballroom.
"Very impressive," Kurt commented to Eliza as they walked in.
"I know right," she nodded, "Apparently the others did this all last night while Loki, Leah and I were sleeping."
"Now that's dedication," said Logan.
Peter Parker placed the gifts under the tree along with all the others. Then he went over to the food and got himself a few cookies. He went and joined Bucky who stood watching everyone from the corner.
"What are you up to," Peter asked him, "And oh my gosh have you tried these cookies?!"
Bucky laughed, "Just looking around, making sure everything's going well. And yes, they're amazing, aren't they!"
"You're welcome," Darcy smirked, walking over to join the two guys.
"Oh come on, it wasn't just you," laughed Bucky.
Darcy rolled her eyes, "Maybe not just me. But a lot of them were me. I decorated, like, all of them."
Peter left them to bicker and found himself wandering over to the minibar.
"Hey Tony," he asked, "Can I have something?"
"How old are you, kid," Tony asked him suspiciously.
"Nineteen."
Tony looked him up and down, "Yeah sure why not. But just champagne, okay? No hard liquor."
"Sweet."
Fury rolled his eyes as he himself stood with Tony, watching the party.
"You really outdid yourself, Stark."
"Come on, Stark," Logan smiled, coming over, "Who was really behind all this."
"Alright, alright," Tony admitted, "Pepper's the one who got this done. It was just my idea."
"Pepper is the best thing to ever happen to you," Coulson told him.
"Don't I know it."
"Sir," Jarvis said, "The pizza is here."
"Sweet," Tony grinned, "Bucky, Steve, come on. Let's go grab the pizzas."
When they got back upstairs with the pizzas, Jane and Pepper had gotten everyone seated. Hank and Bruce would hand out the pizzas, it was decided. And so when the pizzas were placed on the table and Bucky, Steve, and Tony sat down, Bruce and Hank went around asking for orders.
Eliza sat between Kitty and Sif, across from Peter. She had a couple pieces of cheese pizza. Kitty took pepperoni and Sif, after asking what Pizza was, decided to start with just cheese.
"Pizza is quite good, Sif," Loki told the woman, "Trust me."
Sif smiled, "I'm sure it is, Loki. I cannot wait to try it."
"Are you telling me you never had pizza while you were staying in New York," Tony gaped at her.
"No, Son of Stark," Hogun shook his head, "We did not. Should we have?"
"Yeah," Tony insisted, "It's like, mandatory."
They ate quickly enough, spread out across several tables. Eliza sat with the Asgardians and Kitty and Peter. It was entertaining to her to watch Sif and the Warriors Three experience pizza for the first time, almost as funny as it had been with Loki and Leah.
After eating, they pushed the tables to the side and organized the chairs so that some people could sit around the tree while others stood or sat on the ground. It was present time!
"First," Tony got up on a chair and called for order, "First I want to thank everyone for coming to my awesome party. You being here makes it even more awesome than it already was."
A few chuckles.
"You were all invited because you mean something to someone here. Most likely, more than one person here. Probably all of us. I want to welcome Sif and the Warriors Three, SHIELD, the X-Men, the Guardians, and someone who already is like family to us, Peter Parker."
Everyone cheered.
"Christmas isn't just a time for food and presents," Tony nodded, "Though that stuff is awesome. But Christmas is also a time to spend the day with family and friends. And we are one big family, the Avengers."
"We love you, Tony," Eliza called out.
Tony laughed, "Doesn't everybody. But anyways, we welcome the rest of you into our little family."
With a round of applause to finish, they began presents.
"First one, is for… Janet Pym from Hank Pym!"
Jan grinned and stepped forward, taking the gift from Tony. She took it back to her seat on the floor and began to open it. It was a black box, and inside was a beautiful necklace with a large topaz gemstone.
"Thanks, hun," Jan smiled, kissing her husband, "It's beautiful."
"Next up, to Steve from Eliza," called Tony.
He handed Steve the present. It was a neatly wrapped square gift. He opened it up and found it was a dog calendar.
"Thanks," Steve grinned.
"I thought it was adorable, and just right for you, Steve," Eliza smiled.
"This one's TO Eliza, from Peter Parker."
Eliza smiled and took the small present from Tony. Unwrapping it next to her boyfriend, she found it was a heart locket, with a picture of the two of them inside. Cliché, maybe, but Eliza loved it all the same.
"Thanks!"
She put it on immediately.
Tony grabbed the next gift, "To Pepper from Jane and Darcy."
Pepper opened up the gift and laughed, "Thanks."
"What is it," Sharon asked.
Pepper held up two oven mitts, "They ruined my other ones."
"To Eliza, from the X-Men," Tony read on the next box.
Eliza took it and opened it up. Inside was a card the size of a gift-card that read "Eliza Jade White – Honorary X-Men Membership."
"I'm one of the X-Men now?!"
"Honorary, yes," Kitty nodded, "Hope you like it."
"I love it!"
Everyone got at least one thing. In the end, once everything had been opened, Rocket spoke up.
"Can we go get more food now?"
Everyone laughed and Rocket took that as a yes. Loki and Leah followed him quickly, and soon enough others went to the cookies and cakes. Kurt, though, stepped aside into a corner and took out a little card. On it was an image of the manger scene. He knelt on the floor and closed his eyes.
"What are you doing, Kurt," Eliza asked him.
"Thanking God for this Christmas," he said, "After all, the true meaning of Christmas is that it was the birth of the Christ child, all those years ago, who was sent to save us."
Eliza smiled, "I'll leave you to it then."
"Merry Christmas everyone," someone called.
"Merry Christmas!"
A/N: Merry Christmas, Fanfiction readers! I hope you have a blessed day!
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."