Of course the picture of Steve and Stark shaking hands is on the front cover of the newspaper the next day. We can't even blame Stark for staging it either because Steve initiated it. The Avengers are back together, but Stark was never as dedicated as Steve or even Romanoff. We don't see him again.

I swear to god, the only thing distracting me from strangling Vision with the lights I'm attempting to untangle right now is Steve acting like a teenager with a crush.

"Cap, bro, I love you, but if you don't shut up about Sif for two seconds, I'll-"

Sam is cut off by Scott tossing him a roll of tape. "Here. That might help."

Everyone laughs at the look on Steve's face. "Okay, okay," he says. "I'm sorry."

"I don't think a long-distance relationship would work anyway," I say.

"Don't they live to be like thousands of years old anyway?" Romanoff asks. "You'll probably die way before she does."

"Leave it to Romanoff to keep it real," Sam says, laughing.

"Thank you," Steve says. "I love thinking about my impending demise."

"Don't listen to her, Cap; you don't look a day over 30," Rhodes says.

"Maybe a week over," Wanda adds, making everyone laugh.

I nudge her knee with mine and she smiles, triumphantly holding up a string of lights. "Untangled!"

"Falling down on the job, Bucky," Steve teases.

"Well, I don't have magical powers like some people do," I retort.

She grins, handing the lights to Scott, who's standing on a stepladder.

It's Christmastime at the Avengers compound. It's another tradition to teach Wanda, and she's thrown herself headfirst into helping with preparations. Steve had really wanted to celebrate, so the rest of us had joined in for him and Wanda. Well, we were doing it for them. I think everyone is into it now.

Vision's putting a damper on the spirits with a million questions. I really want him to shut up. Wanda's putting up with it, but I can tell it's even starting to bother her. Scott and Rhodes distract her with the promise of baking Christmas cookies. She promises to make her own recipe as well as theirs.

Baking is an adventure in itself. There is flour everywhere. Wanda even has some on cheek, but shrugs when I point it out. When I'm not looking, she uses her thumb to smear some on mine. "Now we match!"

She looks so pleased with herself that I can't be mad.

We really play up the Christmas traditions when Steve reads Twas the Night Before Christmas aloud to us on Christmas Eve. After Vision interrupts the story for the third time, even Wanda looks visibly annoyed. "No more questions! Just listen to the story!"

He looks so hurt, one of the few emotions he's mastered, that she touches his hand. "I am sorry. I will answer more questions tomorrow, but for now I just want to listen."

"I apologize," he says, taking her hand in his.

I force myself to ignore it as anger bubbles in my chest. But Wanda's excited smile as she commands all of us to go to bed makes any negative emotion disappear.

Her hair tickles my face as she straddles me, sending pleasure surging through me. I pull her down into me, kissing her hard, our tongues battling.

"Bucky," she whispers, and that familiar shiver runs down my spine as I try to get her even closer.

"Bucky! Bucky, wake up!"

I jolt, but hands are firmly on my chest, holding me down. I have to take a moment to register that yes, Wanda is straddling me and yes, she is wearing one of my old t-shirts, and no, I'm not dreaming right now.

"What time is it?" I finally manage.

"6:00! Sam and Nat are already making pancakes and bacon!"

My dream comes flooding back as I look up at her and I feel my face flush. "I'll meet you out there soon, okay?"

"Okay! And stay in your pajamas! Scott said it's tradition!"

I try to harness some of her energy as I drag myself out of bed. I'm used to getting up early, but not this early. Rhodes looks exhausted when I meet him in the hall. "She's excited."

"Clearly," I reply.

There's a knock at the door right as we're sitting down to breakfast. "Who could that be?" Vision asks.

"Maybe it's Santa," Scott jokes.

Wanda opens the door and gasps. "What are you doing here?"

Tony Stark. He's holding two giant sacks and wearing a Santa hat.

"I invited him," Steve says.

"I come bearing gifts." He holds out the bags like peace offerings.

Everyone's eyes are on Wanda. If anyone has reason to blast Stark out the door, it's her. The last thing I want is for her Christmas to be ruined. She and Steve look at each other for a long time, then she nods. Sam walks over to Stark and takes one of the bags. "Those look heavy."

"There's food in that one," he replies. "I thought I could contribute to Christmas dinner."

"What's in the other one?" Wanda asks.

"Gifts." He looks at Steve. "Cap sent me a list and I bought."

"Thank you for that," Steve says.

"I know I can't buy your trust," Stark says to us. "But since we're likely going to be fighting other worldly beings again, I figured I could try to be civil."

Scott takes the other bag and places it next to the tree. "Do you want some pancakes?"

Thor arrives in the early afternoon to round out the team. He's brought Asgardian ale with him. We drink, eat, open the boxes from the gift bag-lots of winter clothes among them, something we were all lacking-sing, and dance. Wanda's cookies are fantastic and everyone is cracking jokes right and left as we attempt Charades. We're all varying levels of drunk, which makes it more fun. I try to ignore when Wanda falls asleep with her head against Vision's shoulder. I don't like the way it feels.

He smirks when he catches my eye. "Something bothering you, Sergeant?"

I'm amazed at how quickly he's picked up human emotions. It must be all the movies we watch. "No," I reply shortly.

"You should have known Wanda was going to choose me over you. I am actually a challenge at sparring. We certainly cannot say the same for you. Furthermore, she does not have to worry about me losing control and killing her like you can."

It takes every ounce of energy to control the desire to pound his face in. "She and I made sure that I will never lose control again."

"The deprogramming, yes?" He laughs, a cruel sound. "I am referring to your temper, Sergeant. Even now you struggle to control it. She is lucky I will always be here to protect her."

"She doesn't need protecting!"

My voice jolts her from her sleep. She rubs her eyes, blinking as she takes in the scene. "What is happening?"

I glare at Vision. "Nothing. I'm going to bed."

His triumphant smile lets me know I played right into his hands.

It snows almost every day for the next week. We all take advantage of our new winter clothes to build forts and have snowball wars. After several lopsided battles, Sam decrees that Wanda and Vision aren't allowed to use their powers. Wanda smiles at me. "Oh well."

His words have been swirling in my head since Christmas. When he and I were paired to spar, I stupidly took my anger out on him, forgetting that he could easily kill me if he wanted to. And he hurt me as badly as he could without raising suspicion. I think Wanda knows something is going on, though. She can read us without going into our minds.

After a long day of snowball battles, we decide to kick back, make popcorn, and watch every corny movie on TV. Wanda sits between Vision and me on one of the couches, and I take pleasure in noting that she won't let him hold her hand.

By the end of the third movie, only Sam, Rhodes, Vision, Wanda, and I are left watching. I get up to poke at the logs in the fireplace and hear Vision ask a question. "Wanda, what is love?"

"Well, you have the love the Avengers have for each other, that we will fight for each other and protect each other no matter what, even at the cost of our own lives."

"What about the love in the movies?"

"Romantic love. It is when you have to smile when you look at the person; even just being near them makes your heart beat a little faster, your mouth become a little dry. You cannot see a day without them by your side. You notice the little things about them, like the way they hide behind their hair when they are upset or drum their fingers when they are thinking. It is the way them saying your name sends shivers down your spine."

I look up sharply, my heart pounding when I see that Wanda's looking at me.

"The way they hold you when you have had a nightmare and do not care that you have woken them for the hundredth time screaming in your sleep. The way they look at you when you spar together, a mix of admiration and determination to finally win, even though they never do. You love even the parts of them that they hide, the parts they do not love about themselves."

All I see is her. I cross the room and lift her off the couch, kissing her firmly on the mouth. Her lips are sweeter than I ever imagined. I'm dimly aware of Vision's gasp, of Sam's whistle, of Rhodes, "Let's give them some privacy."

When we break apart, her chest is heaving just like mine is. "You know the reasons I love you," I say breathlessly.

Her fingers are still tangled in my hair. "I do."

"Why me? Why not Vision?"

"He saw me at my strongest and still felt he needed to protect me, and that I was not able to save myself. You saw me at my weakest and never tried to save me; you helped me save myself. You never saw me as anything but equal."

"I never will." I kiss her again, drinking her in hungrily, sliding a hand beneath her shirt to trace her scars. "I will never let you be hurt like that again."

Her hand moves down, caressing my silver arm. "I will do the same."