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![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
Title: A Small Reprieve
Author: JE / ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
immortalje
Pairing: Tony/Steve
Summary: After months of trying to fight the Chitauri that had successfully taken over earth and with Christmas coming up, Steve decides that they need a little break. Even if it was just for one night.
Rating: Gen / PG-13
Words: ~3,900
Beta: dani_meows
Prompt: This was written for the avengers_xchng on Livejournal as a gift for le_prince_lutin who wanted:
Post-apocalyptic or dystopian setting where Chitauri conquered Earth. Maybe combined with another trope? Heist? They're in SHIELD underground bunker and driving each other nuts? They operate a restaurant/shelter for New Yorkers? They're heading a rebellion while masquerading as a theater troupe/circus? They meet each other again (after separation) in a Hunger Games-style arena because the Chitauri want all of Earth to despair as the captured leaders of various revolutionary groups (or just superheroes, as figures of hope and uprising) kill each other?
A/N: It was struggling more with this prompt than I initially anticipated, but I hope that you like it anyway! I tried to balance all of their different backgrounds by presenting various ways to celebrate. I also hope nobody minds that I made Bruce Jewish to represent more than just Christmas.
This is also my first Avengers story and I hope that I managed to get the voice of the characters!
Other Locations: A03 | Livejournal
A Small Reprieve
The last seven months had been rough on all of them. It had been seven months since the Chitauri had taken over America. The atomic bomb had been the worst thing that could have happened. As they were fighting to evacuate as many as possible in the time they had while keeping the invading forces back as much as possible, they had received the notification too late to act. The explosion had supplied even more energy to the Tesseract (which had kept most of the radiation contained to Stark Tower and through it saved most of their lives) resulting in the already open portal being opened further, allowing the control centers and mother ships to fly through. With this the stream of new attackers had multiplied exponentially.
With an endless supply of enemies and their command ships with a direct overview of their efforts, they had faced a desperate situation and eventually, they had had to accept that they were hopelessly outnumbered. The only thing they still could do was trying to secure and defend an escape route for as many as possible.
Ever since then, they were trying to help wherever they could to fight back against the Chitauri and support the population in any way that was possible for them.
From New York, the Chitauri had spread out and conquered the rest of America and from there the rest of the continent, followed by South America, Asia, Europe and finally Africa. Facing the destruction of America, the Chitauri had been gracious enough to allow everyone else to surrender to their rule. This allowed the rest of the world to keep their number of losses low and keep the access to their resources. At least initially. The Chitauri were ruthless rulers and enjoyed watching the torture of others as well as staging hunts and fights in selected areas quite a bit.
Still, the fact that the other nations were mostly undamaged and didn’t use most of their resources trying to fight against the Chitauri allowed the resistances that were built to be fully equipped with everything they might need. Since everybody had seen at the example of America how little a direct defense actually worked, they had quickly come to the conclusion that working from behind the scenes in a guerilla style fight with infiltrations to gather knowledge about their weapons and organization might be the more successful option.
None of them had heard anything about Loki. They didn’t know if he was still on Earth or had escaped somewhere else or if he was even still alive. Considering his illusions of becoming king of earth, ruling them all with an iron fist and little mercy, it had become obvious rather quickly that the Chitauri had betrayed him once the planet had been conquered. Not that it really mattered – he had started all of this, had made it possible for the Chitauri to enslave earth.
Meanwhile, the team had gone into hiding. Just like the other nations they had regrouped and started the fight against the Chitauri from the background. Slowly they were gathering intelligence and meeting up with the resistances that operated world wide with the Helicarrier hidden up in the sky as both their base and the centre of communication. The surrender of other countries had allowed more resources to be saved and was now available to them. Still, there was a long way to go yet.
As a team, they had grown closer as each of them dealt with the situation they found themselves in.
Steve and Thor had bonded in their obvious difference from everyone else and their inability to contact the people they knew and cared about. While Steve was cut off from everyone he used to trust beyond everything, Thor was not only stuck on earth, but unable to even contact his people. This wasn’t just devastating for Thor who longed for something familiar, a feeling Steve could understand very well, but for all of them as they couldn’t even request aid from the people of Asgard.
There was little Thor knew of the Chitauri, but he had heard legends that connected them to a warlord from a different universe. It was entirely possible that only needed to defeat that one warlord to free the entire planet. However, unless their intelligence gathering trips brought proof one way or the other, this was merely speculation.
Out of everyone on their team, Steve had surprisingly grown the closest to Tony. Had anyone told him how much he’d come to like and respect him, Steve would have laughed at them. It had taken a while for him to realize that part of his arrogant behavior was actually a front. Oh, it was far from Tony pretending to be this cocky and arrogant. That part was thoroughly ingrained and it had taken Steve a while to notice that Tony was trying to be more aware of what the people he cared about were feeling.
He had realized how much Tony actually cared about the people close to him when he had found him late at night trying to find any information about his personal assistant and girlfriend Pepper Potts. No matter how much Tony searched though, there was nothing to indicate that her plane had landed anywhere. Considering that the Chitauri had taken anything out that was in the air, the chances that she had survived the initial attack phase were slim to none.
In a bid of companionship he had told Tony about Peggy and somehow this had led them down a path he had never even considered. Somehow, Tony had wormed his way into his heart with his crude way of putting things and the seemingly unshakable belief that he could do everything.
They had managed to take some weapons with them and an entire team was currently trying to reverse engineer them in an attempt to find ways to utilize them in their fight or to at least find a weakness to render them useless. Many had wanted to give up, but Tony had always put them back on track with his trust in himself and the team that they could do it.
Natasha and Clint had secluded themselves, only keeping contact with the rest of their little group. It was obvious that the death of Coulson had gotten to them and they were wary of letting anybody else get close enough to hurt, to be used against them.
These were just a few things that had turned the last seven months into a seemingly endless array of days and weeks. It had taken Steve by surprise to realize that Christmas was coming up. His first Christmas since waking up 70 years after he had crashed and been frozen somewhere at sea. The first Christmas, since the Chitauri attack and he found that he craved something familiar. He craved something to lift all of their spirits up. Even back during the war, he had found time to remind himself what he was fighting for even if the fighting and rising number of losses kept him from truly enjoying Christmas.
Steve knew that it wouldn’t be much more than his childhood memories of Christmases when pretty much everybody had struggled financially, but it would be something. A distraction from their daily struggles with what they could do and what they wished they would achieve.
It had Bruce tethering on the edge as it was with his struggle to remain in control of his emotions. By now he was able to differentiate between friends and foes when he was the other guy. That is he was able to differ between Avengers and the rest and the others were in need of a pick me up as well. Even if they didn’t necessarily celebrated Christmas, Steve was sure that the meaning behind it mattered more than what they actually celebrated. And Thor would probably find it interesting enough.
As all of this went through Steve’s mind, he decided to surprise everyone. So, without mentioning anything to the others, he set out to gather everything he would need and could get his hands on without it being missed anywhere.
Over the weeks he managed to find enough candles to decorate a little tree along with some ornaments. They were safely hidden in a drawer in the room he shared with Tony. This had been a decision he had regretted at some point as Tony couldn’t help but remark with quite lewd comments when Steve had made him promise not to open it. Then again, some of them had led to interesting things once he had stopped blushing, Steve remembered with a small grin.
A major success for his plan had been when he found a wild turkey. Luckily, it was also on the large size with the appetite most of them had and he kept feeding it with whatever he found.
To his surprise he also managed to find a couple of bottles of wine. Well, strictly speaking they belonged to Tony and he had found them when they had gone to visit his house in Miami for something he needed from his lab there. He had secretly liberated them. It was just enough to serve everyone a glass or two for dinner.
He also gathered various fruits and vegetables to serve – carrots, apples, potatoes and even some cranberries.
It was enough for them to have a nice Christmas dinner and a short break for a couple of hours. It would be enough for a little distraction from their seemingly futile efforts to support those suffering from the Chitauri and the fight against the Chitauri. Some days it seemed almost hopeless.
Finally, Christmas Day had arrived and Steve made his rounds to tell everyone to meet him in their main meeting room at dinner. It gave him plenty of time to get the little tree he had picked and felled a couple of days ago and to decorate it with the candles and ornaments he had gathered. The cook working in the mess hall was already busy with the dinner (getting a part of it as thanks for his work) and would be finished right on time so everything would be on the table when everybody arrived. At least on this side, things would be perfect.
Now everybody would hopefully appreciate this little break. Things were rough and even if they needed the break, they might not be too willing to actually enjoy it. For the first time since he had this idea, Steve started to wonder if everybody would actually enjoy what he had planned.
Just like he had come to expect, Tony was the first to enter the room. Steve noticed him in time to see him look around the room in wonder before he managed to say in amazement, “You prepared for Christmas! Do I get a present?”
The grin on Tony’s face said that he didn’t really expect presents, but Steve couldn’t help himself and said, “The food isn’t present enough? Well, I guess there just had to be something I ended up forgetting.”
Tony’s smile fell and he looked at him with his biggest pout as he said, “But presents!”
Steve glared at him, a small smile just barely hushing over his lips as he knew exactly what Tony was trying to do.
When Tony realized that he couldn’t get a reaction out of him, the pout disappeared and a big smile appeared on his face. The kind of smile Steve wished he could see more often, but was denied all too often due to the pain and suffering they were usually confronted with.
Without losing his stride, Tony said, “Well I guess that’s plenty and a really brilliant idea. I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t get you anything.”
“If I had wanted presents, I would have said something. That’s not what this is about though. I thought all of us needed a break and what better time than Christmas?”
“It’s your first time since the 1940s, right?” Tony said, suddenly serious.
Steve shrugged, painfully aware that Tony had seen through all of his reasoning and emotions, and said, “I miss everybody and with everything that’s happened…”
“Wow, homey,” Clint said, startling Steve out of his momentarily contemplative mood.
Natasha stood just behind Clint, looking around the room with an equal amount of surprise and awe as Clint was. It was obvious that they had expected something much different and that neither of them minded being surprised.
Natasha nodded her agreement and said, “This is nice. It’s been a while since I really celebrated Christmas.”
“I never did,” Bruce said as he looked past the two blocking the door, before he walked into the room through the small space left by Clint and Natasha, who were still standing in the door. Once he was in the room he said, “Chanukah on the other hand…”
“I’m sorry, I should have considered…,” Steve said, his worries that not everybody might enjoy what he had prepared coming back to point out his thoughtless assumption that everybody aside from Thor would celebrate Christmas.
However, Bruce waved him off and said, “It’s the thought that counts. This is nice. Having a short break and it hardly matters if it’s for Christmas, Chanukah or any other holiday. All of them are meant to remind us of what we have and to share this with others. It’s the spirit of it that counts. It’s not as if we have a whole lot of opportunities for a short break otherwise.”
“And I’m sure Steve more than anyone knows it. It’s become rather money oriented and materialistic in the last couple of years after all… well, not this year. Hardly anything to buy or even to spend on those things that are available,” Tony said.
Clint snorted and said, “The last couple of decades you mean.”
“What is this?” Thor said, stopping Steve from asking what Tony and Clint meant. Their little group was now complete. He had considered inviting Fury, however he was currently off meeting other resistances and none of them would be able to contact him until he was back.
Before he could try to explain things to Thor, Tony smirked and said, “An earth tradition to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Shaking his head at the true, but severely lacking explanation, Steve elaborated, “It’s a time of the year that focuses on love and family. It’s a reminder of what you have and what really matters – spending time with loved ones. It’s also a time to remember that not everyone is as fortunate as you and to help them as much as you can.”
Thor nodded in understanding and said, “I’d love to learn more about this tradition.”
“But let’s get to the food first, before it gets cold,” Tony said, clearly not as enthused by a discussion about yet another earth tradition. Laughing at Tony’s enthusiasm for the food, Steve promised Thor to tell him more about it later.
It didn’t take long for all of them to settle around the table and Steve started carve the turkey, serving everyone a slice as they passed around the side dishes.
As he was busy with the turkey, Natasha turned to Tony and said, “How did you celebrate it? Surely there were lavish feasts and plenty of presents?”
Tony snorted and said, “It was fully organized. There wasn’t a second not planned from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. I also got mostly useful things – to educate me and further my knowledge of technical things. There was a Christmas Ball on Christmas Day, but I was never allowed to attend and I never saw much reason to continue it once I was old enough,” Tony said. After a moment he added, “I had looked forward to starting new traditions with Pepper.”
Hoping to turn the mood up again, Steve said, “Well, let’s start new traditions ourselves.”
When everyone smiled at him in appreciation, Steve decided that sharing how each of them celebrated might be a nice idea even if not all stories might be as happy. The little mention of things becoming more materialistic already let him know that things had changed quite a bit from what he remembered. He hoped that at least some of them had nice things to share.
With that in mind, Steve said, “My parents used to get a small tree from a tree farm that had just started and we had a lovely Christmas Dinner. I tended to get useful presents as well – mostly clothes I was in need of though. My mother always worked hard to make the day special and I often wondered how she managed to get everything, but she always did. She must have saved money and other things months in advance, but it was well worth it. Those Christmases are some of the happiest memories I have.”
Coughing slightly, to remind himself that this was a long time ago, Steve focused back on the present and said, “I tried the same during the war, but most of us were too preoccupied to really enjoy it. Still, most took at least a little time to relax when possible. Those few hours tended to build up morale again after it had sunk a little, especially for those with families at home. I hoped that this little get together could do the same for us. A little break and a reminder why we’re fighting so hard.”
The others nodded and Steve turned to Natasha, since she asked first, and said, “How did you celebrate?”
“I didn’t celebrate much. I faintly remember the fast meal on Christmas Eve. My father said a prayer and then we ate. There wasn’t much beyond that as religion in general wasn’t really approved of in Russia at the time. By the time this had changed and Christmas was celebrated publicly again I was already training and there wasn’t much time to do a lot. My trainers usually gave me practical presents – weapons and so on – when they acknowledged the day.”
“Really?” Bruce said, clearly reflecting the feeling of not quite surprise Steve felt. He was surprised it could be brushed aside this much, but from what he knew about Natasha, it didn’t really surprise him. It rather fit in.
Natasha nodded and said, “The main celebration took place on New Year’s Eve as a way to hide it in plain sight back then and it’s still the main celebration I tend to participate in when the opportunity arises. Over the time, I’ve learned that there can be some rather vast difference between different countries when it comes to celebrating Christmas.”
Bruce nodded and after a moment of collecting himself said, “This is year Chanukah started on the 8th of December. Even if I’m not really celebrating it, I like to keep track of it. My mother used to light the menorahs and once I was old enough I was allowed to light my own as well. Then we recited the blessings together before she would tell me traditional stories. I really enjoyed those as they were like great adventures. She also gave me some gelt – money really – and encouraged me to donate a part of it. Like Christmas it’s about family and helping those in need. From the rest I bought sweets as I’m sure most boys my age did. When she died we stopped celebrating. My father was busier with other things and not very religious. I never quite could get into it on my own. There are just too many memories. However, I try to join when others celebrate it and even if I don’t light menorahs myself, I still try to donate and help others as much as I can.”
“Let’s hope that next year we can enjoy it fully – and maybe with time every one of us can introduce the others of the way they celebrate it,” Clint said, “My parents used to try everything once at least, but never really got the spirit of things. I’d love to see what it can be like.”
“That would be great. And with things the way they are it probably won’t be very commercial,” Tony said, receiving both agreements and a snort from Natasha. All of them could see the irony in Tony mentioning the commercial side considering his general wealth.
Steve frowned and said, “You mentioned that earlier. Did it really change that much?”
Tony shrugged and after a look around their little group, he said, “It’s become more about the presents and spending a lot of money instead of actually enjoying the time with family. I can tell you that Christmas time tends to be the worst time if you want to go shopping anywhere.”
“That’s rather sad,” Steve said, clearly not impressed that the spirit of Christmas had seemingly been forgotten by most.
Bruce sighed and said, “Most rush around and trying to get everything perfect for their idea of Christmas that they don’t have time for the little details. That doesn’t mean that everybody forgets it. There are still those that focus on what’s important. I was able to learn that as I traveled the world after I first transformed into the other guy.”
Steve smiled in appreciation. Once more, he had learned that things had changed more than he had realized. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable evening with Tony and Natasha exchanging well natured barbs frequently as everyone retold more events of past Christmases or Chanukahs and what they all hoped for the future.
By the time Bruce excused himself, noting how late it was, the food was long gone. It didn’t take long for Clint and Natasha to make their excuses as well, followed by Thor, leaving only Steve and Tony behind. Together they cleaned up the remnants of their little celebration.
After a while of working silently together, Tony said once again serious and open to Steve, “This was a great idea. I think all of us needed it. A short break to remind us why we’re doing all of it. Why it’s worth fighting. I wish I could have thought of it.”
“Thanks,” Steve said. It was good to know that he had achieved what he had set out to do when he had first had the idea.
Once they were done, they headed to their room. Tomorrow, they would go back to helping those in need as well as undermining and fighting against the Chitauri. However, today they would enjoy the time they had with each other.
They didn’t need many words as they walked through the corridors or when they undressed after reaching their room. In the short time since they had found companionship and maybe even more in each other, they had learned that they were the most comfortable around each other when they just stopped talking and enjoyed the quite comfort the other offered.
Without speaking a word, Tony hugged him close as they both enjoyed the silence surrounding them. Soon enough, it would leave them as they faced the new day, a new battle and the hopes of many to finally defeat the Chitauri and whoever was leading them. Steve was just glad that he had found Tony for the few moments they could find every now and then, far too rarely too truly enjoy.
Silently, he prayed that next year they could have more than just a couple of hours to celebrate Christmas amidst the terror and despair that they never quite seemed to shake off.
The End