Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter Text
The room was dark, the only light emanating from a slim laptop.
On the screen, a video played on repeat. The quality of the video was poor, but its subject more than made up for the shaky angle.
His stormy eyes, long dark hair, and, of course, that metal arm would grab the attention of any viewer. Add to that the man’s gravity-defying jump, and it was no wonder that the video had racked up millions of views over the last year.
This particular viewer was different from the others who had watched before.
He wasn’t a member of the military, nor was he a political advisor, media pundit, student, or plain old fanboy.
He wasn’t studying it to try to recruit the man, to learn his secrets, to try and decipher the magic used.
He didn’t want to interview him or take his picture.
He was studying the video with excitement and a healthy dose of relief.
He had finally found it.
He had finally found him.
The man who would serve as the perfect vessel for his master.
He wanted James Buchanan Barnes. And he always got what he wanted.
Chapter 2: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Notes:
Happy Saturday! Thanks to everyone who has left a kudos and comment. I’m working hard to keep cranking out these chapters so apologies on any typos. Enjoy!
Chapter Text
“Written in 1944, this song was originally created as entertainment for a dinner party. It won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Original Song and is now considered a, somewhat controversial, Christmas classic. Name this song.”
There were groans from the crowd. Well, from the back table, as Bucky read the question. It was a bit of a tricky one, but this crowd wasn’t all that ordinary and he liked to keep them on his toes.
A few tables in front of him Dr. Strange whispered frantically to Wong and Christine as they tried to decipher the answer. In the back, Clint and Thor were having a good-natured argument while Natasha coolly wrote down the answer. There was no Tony tonight - thank god.
Tony Stark was without a doubt the worst trivia player in Manhattan, possibly the world. He was loud, rude, and, more often than not, a total asshole when he didn’t get the answer right. Bucky had started docking points from the team for each of Tony’s outbursts.
As a result, the other Avengers had forbidden the man from coming more than once a month.
“Hey Buck, you want anything from the bar?” His co-host asked.
His co-host who happened to be Steve Rogers aka Captain Fucking America aka Bucky’s Fucking Boyfriend!
His number was saved on Bucky’s phone as FUCKING BOYFRIEND 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸.
“The usual please,” he smiled and struggled to tear his gaze away from that Dorito shaped backside as Steve made his way to the bar.
It had been a little over a year since they had started dating and Bucky still found himself pinching his arm in disbelief sometimes
Bucky had had a lot of great things happen in his life. He’d been born to parents who had loved him unconditionally. He had a fantastic sister he not only loved but genuinely liked. He’d survived two weeks as a POW and gotten a super sick cyborg arm from Tony Stark. He’d finally been put on a tenure track at his job.
But dating Steve Rogers was easily one of the top three best things to ever happen to him.
And yes the media attention and Steve’s hectic and unpredictable work schedule could put a damper on things. Bucky still wouldn’t trade it for the world. He knew this was it for him. He hadn’t broached the topic with Steve but he kind of thought Steve felt the same way.
Bucky just hadn't figured out the right time to tell him.
***
“You sure you don’t want to stay the night at the Tower?” Steve wheedled. Despite the winter weather, the two of them had taken Steve’s motorcycle from the bar back to Bucky’s place. Cold didn’t faze either of them.
Leaning over his handlebars, Steve aimed his best puppy dog eyes at Bucky. His motorcycle idling as he tried to make his case.
“I really need to finish up this paper. But Becca and I will head over tomorrow morning. I know how important it is that we not miss Tony’s Christmas Eve Brunch Extravaganza or whatever it is he’s calling it this year.”
Steve sighed. “I get it, I thought it’d be nice to spend Christmas Eve-Eve together. But your research should come first,” Steve stared heroically into the distance as he spoke.
Somewhere a bald eagle cried.
“How about this,” Bucky conceded, “I’ll finish up my paper and, if you’re still awake when I’m done, I’ll come on over?”
“That sounds perfect," Steve beamed. Bucky's heart melted because he was totally whipped. "I’ll see you later, Buck.” He leaned in and gave Bucky a long kiss. Pulling back, he smirked at the dazed expression in Bucky's eyes before revving the engine and roaring off into the night.
Bucky couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty as he walked into his apartment building.
He had lied. The truth was he’d submitted his paper last week.
Tonight he was working on something even more important, Steve’s Christmas present.
And he was really cutting it close.
He probably could have finished it sooner, but he wanted it to be absolutely perfect. Last year may have been their first Christmas together as a couple, but it had been muddled by the ongoing press coverage of Cthulhu and Bucky’s recovery. Things had been new between the two of them and the Christmas presents (socks) had reflected that.
This year was going to be different because Bucky’s present was going to knock last year’s Christmas socks right off of Steve’s feet.
The thing about Steve was that he rarely talked about his family, outside of his mom. What Bucky had slowly realized was that this wasn’t because Steve didn’t think about them or care. He just didn’t know them. He didn’t know anything about any of them.
When historians wrote about Steve they spent barely more than a paragraph on his dad. Sometimes his mom got a whole chapter, but that was it. Bucky wanted to change that.
For the past few months, he had systematically tracked down Steve’s family history and put it all together into a book. The cherry on top was the cache of old letters the Smithsonian had stored deep in a vault. Letters between Steve’s mom and dad while he’d been fighting overseas. Bucky wasn't even sure Steve knew they existed, since they had been discovered after the Valkyrie crashed and the Smithsonian hadn’t thought them relevant enough for the main Captain America exhibit.
It had taken a lot of wrangling and favors but he had finally been able to go in and make copies.
All there was left to do was read the whole thing over one last time and then he could print it from the Columbia print lab.
The night's task in front of him, Bucky began to whistle happily as he got to the first landing.
He was still three floors down from his apartment when he heard it: a muffled thump and a sharp intake of breath.
He stilled and listened. There was another quiet thump as something hit the ground above him, the noise unmistakably emitting from Becca and Bucky's top floor apartment.
He knew he should get the lay of the land, that he should use his stealth training and superior senses to his advantage.
But he didn’t. Instead, he raced up the stairs to save Becca.
He didn’t bother knocking, just lifted one heavily booted foot and kicked the door down with a crash.
There was a shriek as the door flew off its hinges and smashed into the small apartment.
“What the fuck Bucky?!” Becca screamed from where she lay sprawled on the floor, having toppled from her position on top of Sam when he vaulted off the couch to face the intruder. The intimidation factor was only slightly lessened by the Captain America boxers he was sporting.
So… Becca wasn’t in trouble then.
“Oh, wow, sorry, my bad.” Bucky quickly whipped around to give them privacy. Thank god Becca still had on a bra and shorts.
“God damn it Bucky why are you here? You’re supposed to be at the Tower with Steve!” Bucky could hear Becca push herself up from the floor and dig around for her discarded top.
“Uh, yeah I was going to but I have some Christmas stuff I need to finish before tomorrow.” While the two of them worked on getting dressed Bucky turned his attention to the demolished door. Careful to avoid looking in their direction, he scooted past the couch and easily lifted the heavy oak. He then propped it up against the doorframe and grabbed the screwdriver, extra hinges, and screws conveniently stored in the kitchen drawer closest to the entryway. He got to work unscrewing the now-demolished hinges and set about replacing them. He was running out of space both on the door and the frame to reattach it all.
Thank god his landlord was such a Captain America fan.
The silence stretched out as he made quick work of the task. “Sam you been working out? You look, good man.”
“Do not even compliment him right now Bucky,” Becca’s voice was hard enough to cut glass. Or Bucky’s jugular.
Sam laughed. Thank god he was so easy going, he probably wouldn’t have stuck around otherwise.
“I may not have a super serum but I do alright.” Bucky risked a glance over his shoulder and caught the glare Becca was now leveling at her boyfriend.
“Why don’t I just leave you two alone...” Sam pointed at the door to Becca’s room and then made himself scarce.
Easygoing and smart.
“James Buchanan Barnes,” He winced at the use of his full name. “What the absolute fuck is your problem?” Becca's arms were crossed and her foot tapped impatiently. At that moment she was the picture of their mom.
“Becca, I am so sorry. I heard noises and, well, I thought… I thought someone was hurting you.” The thought made his adrenaline spike. She was the only family he had left and he would, without a second’s hesitation, kill anyone who hurt her.
“The only one hurting me is my idiot big brother who keeps COCK-BLOCKING ME!” Bucky fought the urge to cover his ears. He really didn't want to hear his baby sister say the word "cock" if he could help it.
“Okay, that's fair but it was entirely unintentional. How was I supposed to know you'd be making out in the living room?"
"I texted you!" Becca snarled.
"You texted me you were going to be using the public living area to make-out?" He knew he was being a shit, but he couldn't help it.
"You know what I mean Bucky, you said you would work on checking your phone more regularly and you're not! And, tell me, if I was actually in trouble how would kicking in the door do anything to help?" Her voice was steadily rising and Bucky felt his own temper rising in response. He had fucked up, but it came from a good place. Shouldn’t that count for something?
"Well, as a surprise tactic I think it's a pretty good one," he defended. "And excuse me if I feel a little protective of you. How would you react if you thought I was in trouble?”
“We both know how I would react Bucky. The whole internet knows how I would react -- it’s on YouTube! And stop trying to change the subject. This is about personal boundaries and being a considerate roommate. This is about, about, me moving out!”
Bucky couldn’t have been more thunderstruck than if Thor’s hammer had fallen on top of his head.
“You want to move out?” He repeated.
“What if I do?” She snapped.
“But, but, who will I live with? I can’t afford rent on my own in this place and neither can you.”
Becca was momentarily stunned.
“Who will you live with?" She repeated. "WHO WILL YOU LIVE WITH? How about your boyfriend?! You know, the star-spangled man with a plan?”
Okay, Bucky could admit he'd walked right into that one.
“Move in with Steve?” He couldn’t say the idea hadn’t occurred to him but Bucky had never lived with anyone he’d dated before. What if it messed things up?
“We’ve only been dating for a year. You know we haven’t even said the, uh, “L” word yet.”
“You guys haven’t said ‘I love you?’” Sam’s head popped out from Becca’s room, his eyes comically big.
“Hey, it’s a serious thing. You don’t just throw that kind of language around, alright.” Bucky crossed his arms. He wasn’t quite sure how his relationship with Steve had become the topic of this conversation but he didn’t like where this was going.
“You're right,” agreed Sam somberly. Bucky knew Sam would be on his side.
“Hey, Becca?” Sam turned toward his girlfriend.
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” the shit-eating grin Sam sent Bucky made him want to kick in the door all over again.
Becca laughed. “I love you too Sammy-cakes.”
“Oh god, gross.” Bucky squirmed at the overt display of affection.
“What? Do you have a problem with emotions Buck? Does my saying “I love you” to my girlfriend make you uncomfortable? Becca, I love you like the moon loves the stars.”
“I love you like peanut butter loves jelly, smookie-kins,” Becca declared.
“I love you like hippies love double rainbows,” Sam blew a raspberry.
“Okay, okay, you two have made your point!” Bucky threw up his hands, all thought of repairing the door forgotten in the face of such nausea-inducing public declarations.
Grabbing his bag, he made a beeline for the half-hung door.
“We aren’t done with this conversation Bucky. I’m serious about the moving out thing and the cock-blocking thing!” Becca yelled at her brother’s retreating back.
“And I’m serious about you and Steve needing to get your emotionally repressed super selves figured out!” Called Sam.
Ignoring them both, Bucky raced out the door and for the safety of Starbucks.
He never made it.
Chapter 3: Santa's Coming for Us
Notes:
Sooo I’m definitely not going to hit my self-appointed deadline of getting this entire thing posted by Christmas (pesky family!) But this is the halfway mark and I will do my best to get the entire story posted in a timely fashion. Enjoy!
Chapter Text
It was the wind that woke Becca up. Sam had long since left to catch a train to DC for Christmas and all should have been calm and bright.
But the wind was making terrible noises. She hadn’t heard it this loud since the last hurricane had swept through, which didn’t make sense at all. It was December. It was, she glanced at her phone, officially 1:00 am on Christmas Eve.
Questions spinning around her head she rolled out of bed and padded out to the living area. The window there was the only one with any sort of view.
Outside snow and ice lashed against the window, the cold stealing through the glass and leaving frosted patterns in its wake. The streetlights were out and Becca realized she couldn’t hear the low hum of their ancient refrigerator. She reached for the light and flicked it on. Nothing.
So, no power.
Cupping her hands around her eyes she moved closer to the window. There was something moving down on the street but she couldn’t get a good look. Tall dark shapes scurried, unconcerned with the blizzard raging around them.
The wind whipped against the window and brought with it an eerie scream.
She needed to find Bucky.
***
“Steve? You in there, buddy?” Tony’s voice sounded far away.
“How long has he been like this?” Natasha asked coolly.
“Ever since Baby Barnes called,” said Tony. It was a nickname he used because he knew how much both Bucky and Becca hated it. Normally it made Steve laugh. But it was delivered with none of Tony’s usual glee.
“Jesus, this is, well…” Clint trailed off.
“Terrifying?” Tony filled in the blank. “Yeah, didn’t think Cap could get this angry. I’m gonna go see what Jarvis and I can dig up from the street cameras. Someone call me when Steve snaps back.”
The voices were the first thing that penetrated the red haze. On the surface, they sounded wry and amused, but he could hear the worry that filled the undercurrents.
They were right to be worried. For the first time in ages, possibly ever, Steve felt a cold fury burning through him.
Bucky was missing and Steve knew deep down in his gut that he had been taken. Bucky was smart, capable, and reliable. It wasn’t like him to completely go off the map like this without telling Becca or Steve where he was or what he was doing.
Despite the mess of feelings swirling around his guts he couldn’t afford to let blind rage drive his actions now. Bucky was missing, something strange was happening to the weather, and he had to find him.
There was a loud boom of thunder as Thor landed outside on the common room patio, Becca clinging to his back.
In a swirl of snow, sleet, and piercing cold the two of them pulled open the door and stepped inside.
“Something weird is going on out there,” said Becca as she shook off the snow from her jacket. “And not just the fact that my everyday life includes getting piggyback rides from the god of thunder.” To someone unfamiliar with her, Becca seemed entirely unphased by the situation. But Steve knew her better now. Neither of the Barnes siblings easily displayed their fears but the signs were there if you looked for them. There was strain in Becca’s eyes and blood around her cuticles where she had picked at them.
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
“Something dark is in the city, my friends.” Thor’s voice was low and filled with worry. “This is not a natural storm. It crackles with power, an old power with which I am unfamiliar. I am glad you sent me to ensure Lady Rebecca’s safety.”
“You don’t think that thing came back… do you?” Clint asked from his perch on the coffee table. His fingers drummed on the table, a reflection of the restless energy in the air.
Steve couldn’t sit still, opting to instead pace steadily around the common area.
“No, I would have felt it,” said Natasha. She didn’t bother to explain how. Steve knew that both Nat and Sam still struggled with nightmares from the Avengers’ last brush with the supernatural.
“Thor, can you tell us anything else about what’s going on?” Steve asked.
The god shook his head sadly. “It is nothing that I have encountered before, but the energy of this storm does not bode well.”
“There were creatures outside,” said Becca.
“Creatures?” Clint’s fingers stopped their drumming, all eyes swung to look at Becca.
“I didn’t get a good glimpse but they had on masks and kind of ratty robes. I don’t know, they looked, wrong.” She shook her head, stumped on how else to describe the shadowy creatures she had seen from the window.
“Wrong?” Echoed Steve. This was all his fault. He should have waited for Bucky to finish his paper and then driven him over. Bucky was tough, sure, but Steve had so many enemies and Bucky was his weak spot, the one person Steve thought he would truly do anything for and everyone knew it.
Except for Bucky.
That was another thing that was Steve’s fault. He’d had plenty of opportunities to say those three little words and he hadn’t. The time had never seemed right. Now he might never get the chance.
“Steve,” Nat’s tone was a warning. “This is not your fault.” She had always been able to read him like a book.
“Not every terrible thing someone does is your fault,” agreed Becca.
“Bucky is my boyfriend. That paints a big red target right on him,” he argued.
“Yes, but we do not yet know if that fact is related to the current turn of events,” Nat pushed back.
“Everyone knows that I love him,” hissed Steve. The word felt small in comparison to the true depth of his feelings for Bucky. Bucky was his everything, his whole world, and someone had taken him. “I would do anything for Bucky, and anyone who wants to hurt me knows that.”
Steve could feel a blush beginning to rise. He’d been trying to find the perfect time to share his true feelings with Bucky and now he’d gone and blurted them out in front of basically the entire team. Bucky should have been the person he shared this with. Bucky should be here right now in the Tower watching TV on the couch in his PJs. This was supposed to be their first real Christmas together.
“If Sam was here he would say that was a very positive emotional step,” said Becca. “But rather than play the blame game can we please focus on getting him back? Then the two of you can argue about whose fault it is and work out all of the emotionally repressed bullshit you guys have going on.”
“Look what I found!” Tony burst back into the room, hands waving excitedly. Bruce trailed behind him.
“Look at what?” asked Clint.
“Oh, for god’s sake, Jarvis you are meant to anticipate my movements!”
“Believe it or not sir, but not even I can anticipate all of your movements,” observed Jarvis dryly.
“Put the damned video up on the screen!”
Blue light streamed down from the ceiling and projected a scratchy picture just above the coffee table. In the projection, Bucky walked calmly down a near-empty sidewalk, backpack over one shoulder, phone in hand. There was no sound to the image but the way Bucky’s coat flapped in the wind made it clear that it was strong.
From behind his distracted boyfriend Steve watched in horror as several masked figures appeared. In a rush of movements too fast for the shoddy security camera to catch, the strange creatures rushed at his boyfriend and tackled him to the ground. A flurry of fists, snow, and strange flashes of light followed before the video abruptly cut off.
A cool focus settled upon Steve as the image faded. It was the same sense of calm he felt before a battle, the adrenaline rushing through his veins pushed to the wayside as his mind began to pick apart the puzzle before him.
“Tony, I want you to get footage from every camera in the immediate area,” ordered Steve.
“On it!” Tony’s fingers flew across his phone, Bruce peering over his shoulder.
“Nat, Clint, reach out to your contacts in the city. We need to see if anyone else is missing, and what we are dealing with.” Nat nodded and Clint slid off of the coffee table to follow her as the two left the common room for some privacy.
“Thor, can you go back out there and run a perimeter check? Bucky isn’t an easy target and I doubt he was attacked at random. It would take someone with serious power to get the better of him and the Tower is probably next.” With a nod, Thor strode back out to the balcony, snow and frigid temperatures blowing in with his exit.
“What about me?” Becca’s voice was nonchalant but there was a hard note underneath.
“Becca,” Steve sighed. “For now I need you to hang tight. Let us sort this out, it’s what we do.”
“Let you sort this out?”
“You know the best thing for you to do is to wait until we’ve learned more.”
“We don’t have to learn more. I can find him.”
***
Becca’s greatest fear was that she would lose Bucky.
And now she had.
Again.
On Christmas Eve no less.
This time though she had a contingency plan. She pulled the slim golden chain around her neck out from underneath her sweater. At the end of the chain, a small blue gemstone glittered. Dr. Strange had given it to her months ago
“I can find him,” she repeated. Steve’s face was still cold. Becca didn’t think she’d ever seen the man look this serious, this severe.
“How?” Steve demanded. Becca knew if there was anyone who would go to the same lengths to retrieve Bucky as she would it was Steve.
It was clear in every action, every word that they were crazy about each other. Steve would knock on every door in New York City to find Bucky. He would destroy the entire world for Bucky.
“After everything that happened last fall, I asked Dr. Strange for a way to find him. He’d already put up the wards around our apartment and it seemed pretty straight forward so he gave me this.” She held out the small blue gemstone.
“I hold this in my hand, think of Bucky, and it will take me to him immediately. It’s a one-way trip. Only one shot.”
“Okay, what?” Tony’s hands had stopped in their rapid movement. His face was mulish as he faced her. “Look, I get the whole Eldritch Horror thing seemed a tiny bit like magic last year but honestly there’s always been speculation about alternative universes existing so it fits into a theoretical framework. This, this, nonsense stone that Strange Steve gave you is utter horseshit. Magic doesn’t exist. Period.”
Becca rolled her eyes. Tony and the Dr.’s animosity had reached new levels once the two had started to actively play trivia against each other. No matter how many times the Dr.’s coat attempted to smother Tony in anger the billionaire refused to believe it was anything more than “wires” or “magnets.”
“If Dr. Strange made it, it will work,” Steve held out his hand, hope beating at his chest. “I’ll find him and I’ll bring him back Becca.”
Becca shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. Stephen was very clear that the stone will only work for me. Blood calling to blood. Either I go by myself right now with a tracker for you to follow or we are stuck searching for him the old fashioned way.”
“You can’t go in by yourself Becca,” said Steve. “We have no idea what kind of situation you could find yourself in, you might make him more vulnerable.” She could tell the pronouncement pained Steve to say, but it still made her want to stamp her foot in frustration.
“Where’s Strange, can’t we just get him to change the spell?” Bruce asked, ignoring the snort from Tony at the word ‘spell.’
“Anyone have his number?” Asked Steve.
Bruce sheepishly raised his hand.
“What?!” shouted Tony. “How could you betray me like that Bruce? I thought we were science bros!” Bruce ignored him with well-practiced ease. Pulling out his phone, he tossed it to Steve.
After the third time with no response Steve almost chucked the phone out of the window. Instead, he left a very succinct voicemail.
“This is dumb. Let me go and take a tracking device with so you guys can follow,” Becca persisted.
“It’s too reckless,” said Bruce calmly. “We have no idea where Bucky could be. What if he’s somewhere not on this world where our trackers don’t work? You could end up stranded with no one to help you and no way for us to find you.”
“Reckless? You think I’m the reckless one? All of you are criminally reckless. Why is it okay for all of you to be reckless but not me?”
“Because we all have training,” said Nat as she and Clint reentered the room.
There was a long and tense silence.
Becca held out her hand, “Steve, give me your comm.”
“Hold up. Time-out, before we kill each other on this merriest of days.” Tony waved his hand between the ongoing standoff between Bucky’s sister and boyfriend. “I think I have a compromise.”
Fifteen minutes later found Becca the proud new owner of one of Tony’s latest prototypes.
“When you need the full suit tap the sides here and here.” He pointed at the discrete buttons on the sides of the two gold bracelets. “It will activate a full body suit and autopilot will deliver you straight back to the Tower.” She nodded, tucking the tracker into her pocket.
“Are you completely sure about this Becca?” Even with Tony’s suits at the ready, there was no telling what she was getting herself into.
“Absolutely.” She grabbed the stone tight in one fist, her face set. With one final nod, she was gone, a wisp of blue smoke the only thing to mark her passing.
Chapter 4: The Cult of Santas
Notes:
Hello, hello! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas for those who celebrate. I'm finally back home and, as much as I love my family, what a relief it is to be in my own cozy place again. As promised, I'll try to get the rest of these up in quick succession. Thanks for reading!
Chapter Text
There was only darkness.
Then, like a fish on a hook, Bucky’s mind was dragged into consciousness.
What the fuck happened?
Memories slowly bubbled to the surface. Things grabbing him from behind. Weird things. People that looked straight out of some Cirque du Soleil show with their garish masks and ragged robes. And they’d moved faster than an average human. A shiver chased up his spine as he remembered their eerie laughter.
Something about the entire situation was fucked up. Or, at least, more fucked up than the average kidnapping.
His body ached from standing in one place, arms and legs stretched wide. He tried to shift to relieve his stiff muscles only to find that he could barely move.
His wrists and ankles were cuffed with no immediate give. His left arm had been reinforced with what felt like an additional two bands across the forearm and bicep. Whoever had kidnapped him had done their homework.
Bucky kept his breathing even as he surveyed his surroundings from beneath lowered lashes. The room was freezing and dark enough that even with his enhanced vision his eyes were having trouble adjusting. From what he could make out, the space was small. Maybe a shed? The floor and walls felt like concrete.
Dark as it was, it took two covert scans of the room before he saw the other prisoner.
“You can quit pretending to be asleep,” said what looked like a pile of old clothes. “They aren’t here and I’m no threat to you, James Buchanan Barnes.”
If he hadn’t currently been trussed up like a turkey Bucky would have jumped.
This kidnapping had officially gone from “fucked up” to “creepy fucked up.”
Unlike Bucky, the creepy dude was tied simply, with only a set of handcuffs to restrain him. He was an old man, who seemed to consist solely of stringy white hair, a beard, and a ratty old bathrobe. Everything about the man was easy to overlook, except for his eyes. The irises were a blue so deep that Bucky felt like he could fall right into them.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“Manners are important here, James," the man tsked. "You may want to try asking that question again.”
Bucky felt his blood begin to boil. But after a few more futile pulls on his restraints he sighed. “Fine. Please tell me what’s going on.”
“You are here because I was too foolish to see what was right beneath my nose. For that, I apologize. Now the young fool is playing with powers he knows nothing about. He seeks to break the natural order of things. You will be the tool he uses to attempt such a dangerous thing.”
Okay. So his cellmate was insane.
Before Bucky could figure out how to respond footsteps began to echo outside of the door. The closer the footsteps drew, the further into the shadows the old man shrank, until Bucky could barely see him pressed up against the wall.
Super creepy.
There was the sound of multiple locks being tumbled and light suddenly poured into the room.
“Jesus Christ, a little warning wouldn’t kill you, would it?” Bucky cursed, his eyes stinging at the sudden onslaught of light.
“Silence.” The voice was raspy and cold.
Standard villain fair really.
Bucky kept his eyelids squeezed shut, but traced the man’s footsteps as he entered the room and strode forward. After a few seconds of adjustment, Bucky opened them.
A tall man stood before him. He was muscular and dressed in tack gear. Bucky could tell he had black hair and that was about it because the drama queen was also wearing a mask. It was made of a heavy plastic, which had been scored with lines until it looked like a skull.
Clearly, this entire operation had a theater nerd somewhere at its core because everyone from the creeps who jumped him, to the creep in front of him was over the top theatrical.
“You will not speak unless spoken too. Do you understand?” The man rasped out.
“Is this another manners thing?” Bucky didn’t have time to brace as the masked man slammed a fist straight into his gut.
A villain and a bad sport.
“Now, now Rumlow that’s no way to treat our guest.” The voice was reedy and thin, but its speaker had enough authority that the man named Rumlow stepped back from Bucky immediately. Without another word, Rumlow assumed a position next to the door, giving Bucky his first clear look at the guy giving orders.
The second speaker was short and skinny and looked young enough to be in one of Bucky's freshman-level courses. The red robe he wore swallowed his frame, making him look like a kid playing dress-up.
“Are you supposed to be Santa?” Bucky snorted. “You look a little young for the part.”
“Oh, you are a naughty boy,” the wannabe Santa giggled and waggled a finger at Bucky.
“Okay, really, what the fuck is going on?” Bucky demanded.
“Now, now, watch your language,” chided Wannabe Santa. “We don’t allow for that kind of behavior here.”
“Watch your language?” Bucky echoed. His mind played over his cellmate’s words about manners.
“Is this some sort of Santa cult? Do you guys all worship Santa?” That would explain a lot of stuff… and also would lead to a million more questions.
Becca is never going to let me hear the end of this one.
In the corner, creepy cellmate shivered. In front of Bucky, Wannabe Santa laughed his high-pitched giggle. “No, no, Santa isn’t real. And if he was, he would be far too soft for my tastes. I serve the true meaning of Christmas. I serve the Horned Lord.”
“Horned Lord?” Bucky echoed. He wracked his brain furiously for any scrap of knowledge about Horned Lords. His mythology and folklore knowledge was a bit limited but he did remember a few things about horned gods and goddesses. Namely, they tended to be a sexy, sexy bunch.
“Is this, like, a Santa sex cult?”
“No!” sputtered Wannabe Santa aka now Cult Leader Santa in Bucky's head. Silence drew out as the man clearly waited for Bucky’s next guess. Even more confused than before Bucky looked to his cellmate, squinting to make out the old man.
The other prisoner slowly mouthed one word.
“Krampus?” Bucky said.
A small smile stretched across Cult Leader Santa’s thin face. “You are bright, aren’t you? It’s too bad we can’t keep that mind of yours along with that body.”
Something about the way the guy said “body” made Bucky’s skin crawl.
“So, you’re saying you want my body?” There was a moment of silence and Bucky had the distinct pleasure of watching Cult Leader Santa twitch uncomfortably.
“Not in a sexual way you fool!” The younger man finally snapped. “It will house my lord, give him corporeal shape all year round.”
“You want to put your horned lord, who is apparently the European folk creature Krampus, in my body?”
The man nodded. “Krampus will thrive inside of your strong body.”
“And, remind me again, how is this not sexual?”
The man scowled and stomped his foot. “Enough of this, I have no time to waste on your childishness. Rumlow, the ceremony will begin soon, go and start the preparations. Warm the oil and the ceremonial robe. I must confer with His helpers.”
“Oil? There’s going to be oil?” Bucky called after the two men. “I still don’t see how this isn’t sexual in any way!” The door slammed shut, but Bucky still felt a thrill of victory at the stiff set of Cult Leader Santa's shoulders.
“It is not wise to taunt the high priest of his Lord,” croaked Bucky’s cellmate.
“Yeah well, you make your own fun.” Bucky pulled at his chains again.
“It is useless,” said the old man. “They are chains forged by His helpers and are unbreakable by any mortal tool.”
“Be honest, were you kicked out for being a grumpy elf?”
“There is no way to escape,” continued the other man. “I am simply trying to temper your hopes. No one will come for you.”
There was a poof of blinding blue light. Eyes watering, Bucky blinked through the burn and felt his heart leap at what he saw.
“You clearly have never met a Barnes,” he grinned at his cellmate.
Becca had come for him.
Chapter 5: Christmas Must Be Tonight
Notes:
Happy Monday! Hope the week is off to a great start for everyone. Only a few more chapters to go on this, thanks as always for the comments and kudos. <3
Chapter Text
Hovering above the coffee table was a holographic map of the city. Becca’s location was marked with a green light shining just over Riverside Park.
There had been some delay between her disappearance and the tracker firing up, which meant there had been several minutes of Steve having a mini-heart attack about losing not only his boyfriend’s beloved sister but also his best friend’s girlfriend.
“Well, thank god it didn’t take her someplace far away like Australia. Or, god forbid, Jersey,” said Clint. His normal position on the coffee table taken, he had opted to crouch on the kitchen counter while Nat made a few more calls. No one they had reached out to so far was responding.
“Power is out across Manhattan,” Thor announced, his beard and hair were caked in snow as he reentered the common room. Outside the storm had gotten worse. The wind clawed at the Tower and, even though he knew it wasn’t possible, Steve felt like the whole structure was swaying under the onslaught. “The Tower is the only building that remains in service.” Thor shook out the snow from his beard, putting Steve in mind of a great shaggy dog.
“Well, at least I know I’m doing something right,” said Tony dryly. He and Bruce had taken up positions on the couch as the two of them reviewed security footage from Riverside Park.
“Tony, anything jumping out?” asked Steve.
“All of the security cameras from that area have been dismantled but I’ve got Jarvis hacking into the servers to see if any recordings were uploaded before the cameras went down. It’s weird though, across the city the security cams and traffic lights are picking up very little activity. It’s like no one is around.”
“The storm outside is pretty intense. People could be staying in for their own safety,” observed Bruce.
Tony rolled his eyes. “In this city? Doubtful. Something weird is going on... but whatever it is it’s NOT MAGIC, okay?”
“Sir, pardon the interruption,” Jarvis’ voice effectively shut down Tony's impending rant. “I’ve successfully accessed video files recorded directly before the cameras in Riverside Park were destroyed. It appears that the park has been taken over by...” the A.I. paused as if to double-check his own intel. “Gingerbread men and what appear to be elves, Sir.”
Tony stuck a finger in his ear as if to clear it. “Say that again?”
“Gingerbread men and elves," repeated the A.I. Steve wouldn’t put it past Tony to program Jarvis to troll his teammates, but this seemed too weird even for Tony’s twisted sense of humor.
“Gingerbread men and elves,” said Steve.
“Well, it certainly is seasonal,” said Clint. “And it shouldn’t be too hard of a fight. Come on, elves and gingerbread? We just have to what, hit them over the head with a candy cane or something?”
“Elves are no joke.” Thor’s normally smiling face pulled into a deep frown. “If these truly are elves than the situation is grave indeed. Dark Elves and their ilk are treacherous, heartless, and have no mercy. I fear we have a fierce fight ahead of us to retrieve our warrior brother and sister.”
Steve unconsciously clenched his fingers into fists. The fear that had momentarily receded when Becca’s tracking beacon materialized was back in full force. It beat in his chest, twisting into anger. “I don’t care what’s out there. I’m getting Bucky and Becca back with or without you,” he snapped. He’d wasted enough time already. He needed to suit up and get out there. Riverside Park wasn’t all that far away, not with his superhuman speed.
“Peace Steven, I say this not as an excuse for cowardly behavior but in the hope that what scant knowledge I have can better prepare us for our mission," explained Thor. "None of us would ever leave someone in need of rescue unaided. Whatever dangers we face we will face them together as a team.” Lightning flashed dramatically across the sky, a boom of thunder punctuating Thor’s statement.
“Damn Steve, if you don’t watch out Thor’s gonna usurp your position as Chief Inspirational Speech Giver,” observed Tony dryly.
“He is right though, it doesn’t matter what’s out there. We’ll get them both back, but we need to learn what we can first,” said Bruce.
“I think the footage I have will be quite illuminating,” chimed Jarvis. The holographic map of Manhattan disappeared. In its place appeared a grainy video feed, timestamped from several hours ago. It showed a couple walking down a path in the park. An aborted evening stroll, disrupted by the storm.
There must have been a noise because the two men stopped, their faces frozen in unease as they began to scan their surroundings. They froze again as they spotted something offscreen.
Holding hands, the two men began to sprint towards the exit of the park.
There was a flash of movement on the right-hand side of the screen. The figure too quick to make out. Another darted across and one of the men opened his mouth in a silent cry. Jarvis paused the footage.
The movement came to a standstill and the image grew larger as Jarvis zoomed-in undirected.
A small gingerbread man, no more than five inches high had been captured mid-jump. One hand curled around a wickedly sharp candy cane.
Behind him crouched a figure in a ratty robe and exquisitely crafted mask.
“Hey Tony, what was that you said about this not being magic?” asked Steve.
***
Bucky felt warm for the first time in hours as Becca flung her arms around him. He was torn between immense relief and immense annoyance at her presence. Relief that his sister was at his side and also annoyance that his sister was at his side - and right in harm’s way.
“Becca, how did you get here?” Bucky asked, squinting into the darkness as his sister patted down her jacket, pulled out her cell phone, and set it to flashlight mode.
“Stephen set me up," she explained, blinking into the light. "I had him make a one-way magic portal straight to wherever you are. Now before you start protesting about how unsafe it is or how I should have sent someone else like Steve it doesn’t work like that. The gemstone was only attuned to me AND I did take a tracker so they should be following shortly,” she shrugged and brushed at the blue powder now covering her coat. “Stupid wizard didn’t say anything about the gemstone exploding into a glittery ball though. I’m never going to get this fucking glitter off my coat.”
“Language dear Rebecca,” chided Bucky’s creepy cellmate.
She shrieked and jumped around, the light from her phone swinging wildly. “Who the fuck are you? Bucky, who the hell is that?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet. But he’s someone else who ticked off the leader of the Santa Cult.”
Becca turned back to Bucky slowly, one eyebrow raised in question.
“A Santa Cult," she repeated. "You were kidnapped by a Santa Cult. So, what, they’ve been feeding you peppermints and cookies this whole time?”
He knew he’d never hear the end of this one.
“Noooo, for your information they want to somehow destroy my mind and use my body to house their master Krampus. You know, the evil Christmas goat-thing?” He felt a bit defensive which was honestly ridiculous because HE WAS THE VICTIM HERE.
“Why do these things always happen to you?” She crouched down and began to examine his cuffs with her makeshift flashlight.
“Excuse me, are you seriously blaming me? The victim?” He couldn’t believe her sometimes. First the whole moveout thing now this. “I thought you’d be on my side!”
“Hush, Bucky I am on your side, clearly. I risked my life to come and rescue you didn’t I? And I didn’t even have to kick down a door to do it.” She had moved on from the cuffs to examining the room itself for any alternative exits.
“Look, I apologized for that and I am genuinely sorry about both the door and ruining your makeout night. I get a little riled up when I think you’re in danger, but that’s not a reason to go and move out.”
“You’re right, it isn’t," agreed Becca. Her attention was back on Bucky, her jaw clenched in that mulish way of hers that meant she was ready to do battle here and now. "But that’s not the reason I’m moving out. I want to move out because I love Sam. I want to wake up next to him in the morning and go to sleep by his side without having to trudge halfway across town. I want our own place where we can actually be alone together, and build our lives together, that’s why I’m moving out. And now is really not the time for this conversation."
There was no arguing with that. As Bucky thought over Becca's words he imagined what it would feel like to take that step with Steve. To see him every morning and every night, to make their own space, argue over rugs, hang pictures, all of that domestic shit he had never even thought about before Steve.
He probably had to tell him he loved him first.
And before that, he had to get out of here.
Becca leaned back against the wall next to him with a sigh, the fight draining out of her in a rush. “We are going to get out of here. When we do let's talk it out like the adults we are supposed to be."
Unable to move, Bucky settled for leaning his head against her shoulder. "You're right. When did you get to be so much smarter than me?"
She snorted. "News flash, I've always been smarter than you."
"Which is why you came unarmed into unknown enemy territory," Bucky teased.
"Hey, I do have one trick up my sleeve. Tony gave me a little something to protect myself. I’m just keeping it close to my chest in case your weirdo roomie over here is actually working for the enemy," she gestured back to the old man still huddled against the wall.
“I am not your enemy." Both of them jumped at the man's voice.
"Sure pal, that's what all of the bad guys say," Becca snorted, before turning back to Bucky.
"For the record, that does sound pretty amazing to not have to commute to and from the Tow-" started Bucky, picking up the earlier conversation.
“I think it is time that I tell my story," interrupted his cellmate.
"What happened to the whole manners thing?" asked Bucky.
"Yeah, talk about rude dude. My brother and I are trying to work some shit out over here?"
"There is no time for this," the man continued. "I had not anticipated Rebecca's arrival. It has changed things. I see an opportunity, a chance to change the set path and save my lord. I must take it."
"We might need to raincheck this heart to heart Buck," said Becca. "I think this guy is about to monologue."
The old man ignored her. "My name is Nicolas. I used to serve as my Lord’s high priest. Young Christopher was my protege, destined to take the position when I left this world. But he grew impatient. He began to obsess over the idea that our Lord was imprisoned. I tried to guide him back to the path but he dabbled in things and called forth our Lord’s helpers to push me out.”
Becca and Bucky exchanged a long look and, by unspoken agreement, Bucky spoke first. “His helpers?”
“The elves,” it was barely more than a whisper. Nicolas cast uneasy glances around the room as if the elves might materialize then and there.
“Elves,” said Becca flatly. “First a cult of Santas and now elves.”
“They are not bound as his Lord is to only one night in this realm. They breach the world in advance of his arrival, preparing for his return. They are nowhere near as powerful as our Lord but they are far stronger than most creatures on this plane,” explained the Nicolas.
“If they are so powerful, then why are they taking orders from that kid?” asked Bucky.
“For power. They want only for their master to have power. Young Chris summoned them, has allowed them to remain on earth and for that, they will do his bidding until their true master arrives.” Nicolas’s eyes were fever bright. His words coming out faster and faster.
“He has convinced them that their actions will free their Lord. But I know better." Nicolas seemed to be growing bigger, his voice growing more passionate with every word. “Their plan will unnaturally chain my Lord and he will fall.”
It was easily one of the top five best monologues Bucky had ever heard. And that was saying something considering he worked in higher ed.
“So, you’re evil?” asked Becca.
“Evil is someone who metes out punishment unjustly. My Lord Krampus is not unjust.”
“But if that’s the case, why don’t you want Krampus to take my body - nonsexually - and run around meting out punishments all year round?” asked Bucky.
Nicolas’s face darkened. “To do so would be the naughtiest thing of all. Krampus is not meant to be on Earth all year long. It twists his meaning and the balance.”
"Bucky, do you believe this shit?" asked Becca incredulously.
He shrugged. "Cthulhu was real why not Krampus?"
Outside the door came a soft scraping noise. Bucky cursed himself for not paying more attention as the door swung open. Rumlow was back.
“What are you doing here?” He snapped at Becca and stormed across the room to her. There was a crunch of metal as Rumlow wrapped one meaty hand around her wrist.
“You let her go!” Bucy shouted. The metal of his restraints groaned, his anger and fear giving him extra strength.
“Unhand her you naughty boy,” from his corner Nicolas’s eyes flashed blue. There was a spark of light and Rumlow was thrown across the room.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” shrieked Cult Leader Santa aka now Cult Leader Chris. A vein throbbed in his forehead as he strode into the room. He had changed since the last time Bucky had seen him. His robe was now a deep, dark red, with elaborate golden embroidery along the hem. Gemstones had been sewn into the robe, catching the light like a disco ball. But it was his hat that stole the show. It was very tall, very red, and extremely glittery.
“That is quite a hat,” said Becca from where she sat sprawled on the ground. Bucky breathed a sigh relief. If Becca felt up to making snarky comments she was probably okay.
“How did she get in here?” Cult Leader Chris demanded. “Rumlow, we don’t have time for this. We must get the host ready to receive our Lord! Get rid of her.”
“Now, now young Chris that’s not very good of you. Rebecca is a good girl and you must not punish her.” At some point during the fray, Nicolas had stood up. He seemed larger somehow, his face a little less bony and his body sturdier as he placed himself in between Becca and Chris.
“And what would you know about being good Nicolas? You weren’t very good when you were high priest, were you? A good high priest wouldn’t have let his master remain imprisoned for so long. The sight of you sickens me.” The two men stared at each other, one a rumpled and dirty reflection of the other. It was Chris who looked away first.
“Rumlow escort the host to the ceremony.”
“Leave Bucky alone!” screamed Becca as she charged forward. Nicolas lay a hand on her sleeve and pulled her back, his grip surprisingly strong for such an old man. “Why do you even want him?" she asked as she struggled against the hand on her arm. "He’s just a professor!”
“Just a professor?” Cult Leader Chris laughed. “My dear, he is no more a professor than I am the Easter Bunny. You can't fool me with that nonsense about Dr. Strange's magic imbuing him with momentary powers. He is stronger than a normal human and his mind has been touched by an Elder God. It has been altered, opened. There is space for my Lord. He will enter and will be free to walk the land every day of the year to mete out his punishment.”
“I should have known that stupid Cthulu thing would come back up again," said Becca. "God, I hate YouTube!"
“We are wasting time," said Cult Leader Chris. "Rumlow, I will go and ensure the ceremony is ready to begin. Bring the host outside and make sure his sister and this old fool stay put.”
“With pleasure boss,” said Rumlow with a smile. “With pleasure.”
Chapter 6: Krampusnacht
Notes:
Wow, wow, wow, this chapter kicked my ass. For whatever reason, I was having extreme writer's block with this section. Hopefully, it reads okay! I may go back and tweak a bit over the next few days. As always, thanks for reading.
Chapter Text
The silver lining to everyone in New York disappearing off the face of the earth was the complete lack of traffic. It made navigating the icy roads a bit easier.
By general consensus, Natasha was selected to drive the large, Avenger-filled SUV while Bruce was put on Tower guard duty. Completely nonplussed by rain, sleet, or snow Natasha navigated her way through the storm with all the finesse of a Russian ex-pat. With a neat turn, she parked the hulking vehicle next to the entrance of the park and the team piled out into the cold.
“Bet you’re glad I made those Arctic stealth suits now,” crowed Tony as Nat and Clint zipped themselves into the specially designed bodysuits. Steve kind of wished he’d taken the other man up on the offer of grabbing one himself. He didn’t typically get cold, but even he was starting to feel a bit chilly.
“Let’s get moving,” he called over the wind. “The trees will give us a bit of a windbreak.” Checking his watch to ensure Becca’s tracker was still emitting, Steve took point and begin to lead his team into the park. The wind and snow died down abruptly as Steve crossed the threshold. It was as if an invisible line had been drawn, shutting the storm off from this piece of land. Turning around, Steve stared back at where the car was parked. It was already obscured by the sleet and snow still hurtling down outside of the park boundary.
“We are drawing nearer to something very powerful indeed,” said Thor, his eyes scanning their surroundings warily. “Weather magic like this takes great strength to master.”
Steve couldn’t see Tony beneath his suit, but he knew there was an awe-inspiring eye roll taking place right now.
“Thor, magic isn’t real. Okay? It’s science we haven’t discovered yet. There’s plenty of discussion and research into controlling weather phenomenon--” Tony began.
“Thor, how hard is to learn weather magic?" interrupted Clint. "Because I’ve been thinking I need to up my game and shooting thunder arrows would really make a statement,” Clint held out an arrow and began to examine the tip of it thoughtfully.
“You need to have a natural aptitude my friend, one I never truly developed. You will need to talk to the Sorceror Supreme for the--”
“Argh, enough! Don’t we have someone to rescue, Steve?” Tony whirled around to face the front, shaking his head in frustration and pushing himself forward to the front of the group. “I’ll take point.”
Steve smiled despite himself, only a little ashamed at how much joy he derived from watching Tony get wound up.
The amusement soon passed.
With each step the feeling of being watched increased. But no matter how many times Steve scanned the brush he didn't see a soul. The closer they drew to the location of the beacon, the quieter the winds became and the more his feeling of unease increased. The trees swayed and cracked overhead, snatches of voices could be heard on the wind.
The worst thing was the snowmen.
The park was littered with them. They appeared scattered throughout the trees. Fat, tall snowmen, with distorted faces, stared back at the team as they walked passed. There was nothing to mark their creation, no rolling marks, no footprints. It was as if they had all appeared out of thin air. They very well might have.
Unlike Tony, Steve believed in magic. It was hard not to after the stuff he'd seen and something about these snowmen spoke of dark magic.
High pitched laughter broke the uncanny calm like a clap of thunder. More than one Avenger jumped at the sudden noise.
“Elves,” growled Thor. His eyes flashed an electric blue. “They are coming for us.”
The words had barely been uttered before more laughter rang out and a crush of robed figures burst forward from the brush.
“Oh my god, FUCK THIS!” screamed Clint as he shot arrow after arrow into the oncoming crush of porcelain masked figures.
Something stung Steve’s leg and, looking down, he was shocked to see a small gingerbread man. The creature snarled up at him, stabbing him again with a candy cane. With a crunch, Steve crushed it with his shield, blocking several others as they jumped at his face.
The reverb of Tony’s blasters, the rumble of Thor’s lightning strikes, and the hiss of Nat’s Widow Bites cut through the laughter. Winding up his arm, Steve sent the shield flying through the crowd of elves, a deep sense of satisfaction filling him as one by one the shield sent them flying. Masks cracked, laughter turned to shrieks and after only a handful of minutes, the elves and gingerbread men began to retreat.
Steve resisted the urge to chase after them.
“Steven, we may have a problem,” said Thor. Turning back to his team Steve immediately saw the issue. The Ironman armor was frozen solid, arms stretched out front in preparation of a blast.
“Can you hear him? What’s his status?” Steve strode over to the frozen armor. Behind him, Nat took up his position to keep watch.
Kneeling down, Clint tapped out "shave and a haircut" on the torso. There was a beat before the concluding "two cents" echoed from the inside.
“Was that really the best way to figure it out?” asked Steve with a disapproving frown.
“Hey, it worked didn’t it?” Clint shrugged.
“We can’t leave him like this,” said Natasha.
“No, we cannot,” agreed Thor. “But we have come too far to turn back now. They know we are here and I fear that if we all leave we will never be able to get back through the boundary.”
There was a low pitched clang from the inside the Ironman suit. If Steve had to guess, he'd say Tony had banged his head against the interior in protest of the magic-related conversation.
“I will take Tony back to the Tower,” continued Thor. “Even with the storm I will surely be the fastest and Mjolnir's properties may allow me to pass back through the barrier when I return. It is, after all, an object of great power in its own right.”
There was another clang of protest.
It was, Steve knew, the most logical course of action. He still didn’t like it.
“This is some Scooby-Doo shit right now,” said Clint. “You guys know that, right? We’re gonna split up and then have the monster of the week chasing us all over this park.”
“Steve, let Thor take him back,” Natasha ignored Clint with long-practiced ease. “Bucky and Becca have already been here too long and we’re getting close to the beacon.”
“Alright, get him back safe,” Steve finally agreed. “The three of us will keep pressing forward. We can’t count on the comms to work with the weird stuff going on, but keep yours on and keep us posted.”
“Oh god, I’m going to end up being the Daphne,” moaned Clint. “I just know it, I’m going to be the Daphne and get caught by some creepo and then Nat’s going to have to rescue me because she’s the Velma, obviously.”
“Why the hell would you think you’re the Daphne?” asked Nat. “You’re clearly Scooby-Doo. Steve is Fred and Tony is Daphne because he’s the one who gets captured by villains the most and cares about his hair the most. Thor’s not in this cartoon because he’s obviously He-Man.”
There was a more aggressive clang from inside of the suit.
Steve sometimes wished his teammates still believed he didn’t understand pop culture references. Bucky had destroyed that preconceived notion the moment he’d made Steve his co-host and now he was actually expected to chime in during debates like this.
Still woefully behind on his pop culture knowledge, Thor was free to ignore the conversation completely. Striding over to where Tony stood frozen, he ripped the suit off of the ground and slung it under one hand. It looked like he was carting around a man-shaped suitcase.
“Remind me to tell Tony he should really put a handle on that thing,” said Steve, stifling a laugh as another angry clang burst forth from the suit.
“That is a very good idea! I shall let him know when I get him back.” With one last salute, the god launched himself into the sky.
"And then there were three..." said Clint sadly.
***
What path existed quickly disappeared the further into the park they went. Soon Steve, Nat, and Clint were pushing through snow almost waist-deep. Around them, the trees seemed taller, older. If Steve didn’t know better he would say they were in a forest far more ancient than anything growing in Manhattan. The only comfort was that the blue light on his watch was steadily getting closer.
“Steve, do you see that?” Nat’s voice broke the unnatural quiet that had descended on the small party.
Pulling his gaze from the woods behind them Steve peered ahead.
The light was still a ways off, but it was the unmistakable glow of a campfire shining out into the trees.
“What do you think? Evil elves? Or lost civilians?” asked Clint. Even with Tony’s extra insulated gear, the man was beginning to shiver.
“In this place? Definitely evil elves.” Steve really hoped there weren’t any civilians out here.
He checked the location beacon again, unsurprised to find that the flickering light of the fire was coming from the same direction as the signal.
“Let’s move towards it along the right side. Stick to the shadows, we don’t want anyone to see us.” Without Thor and Tony, Steve wasn’t sure how long any of them would last against another assault. The cold was beginning to take its toll, even on him.
Onward they trudged, eyes and ears on the alert as the firelight grew brighter. After what felt like hours his party finally overtook the beacon.
“Something moved through here, recently,” commented Clint. He gestured towards the churned up snow ahead of them. A stampede of creatures had clearly come through this way, the footsteps hurried and messy. Following the trail with his eyes Steve froze when he saw a shed at the end of it, peeking out from the underbrush.
Moving silently through the snow, Steve drew equal with Nat and peered out into the gloom. Sure enough, there stood a garage-sized, cement block shed. It was probably used by the park landscaping teams when it wasn’t overrun by evil elves.
“This could be it…” said Steve softly. Adrenaline filling him, breaking through some of the battle-ready calm that had kept him focused so far. Besides him, Natasha nodded, “We need to do some recon before we go barging in their Steve. It won’t do any of us any good if we get overwhelmed within the first few moments.”
Steve opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by the screech of rusty hinges as the door to the shed began to open. On instinct the three Avengers crouched down low, counting on the darkness of the park and the increased brush to provide some coverage from whatever was about to exit.
“Nick you asshole, you could at least try to help with this stupid thing! You waved those chains off of yourself no problem but when it comes to doors you are entirely useless.”
“Language Rebecca,” chided an unknown voice.
A broad smile stretched across Steve’s face as the all too familiar sound of Becca’s cursing echoed through the woods.
Unable to control himself he sprung up from his crouch and raced towards her.
“Get the fuck away from me you fucking el--Steve?” Becca’s litany of curses quickly turned into a squeal of delight as Steve scooped her up and swung her around.
“Oh thank god you guys are here. What took you so long?” She scolded, squeezing him tighter for a moment before abruptly pushing herself away. “They took him, Steve,” her eyes were a bit wild as she gripped his arms. “There were too many of them and they all rushed in at once and they took him to some sort of ceremony and we need to go get him now. These people are all insane.”
“Who? Who took him, Becca?” Nat cut in smoothly. She lay a comforting hand on Steve's arm as he tensed up. He had never heard Becca sound this panicked before.
“A creepy Santa Cult! There are a bunch of people dressed like elves and a man dressed like he’s a skeleton or something. Everyone here is nutso. They all worship this thing called Krampus who is essentially evil Santa.”
“Do you mind repeating that?” asked Clint.
“Look, they want to do some sort of ceremony to remove Bucky’s brain from his body and then let Krampus enter it so that he can wander the Earth whenever he wants and punish bad people. Right, Nick? Did I get that all right?” She called behind her into the dimly lit building.
A very old man stepped out from behind Becca. He looked a little worse for wear. His hair and beard were tangled and his blue eyes stared out from a slightly hollow face. A feverish light filled his eyes as he examined Steve.
“Steven Grant Rogers, one of the most good of them all,” the man said in awe.
“What?” asked Steve and Clint simultaneously.
Becca rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Of course, you’re one of the ‘most good.’ Meanwhile, Bucky and I are like ‘middle of the road good' aka basically trash creatures.”
“Middle of the road good?” Natasha’s eyebrows looked ready to jump off her forehead and fly away.
“Honestly? Don’t worry about it. This whole place is batshit and we need to rescue Bucky before he gets his brain scooped out with candy canes or whatever that asshole Chris has planned. Nick knows how to stop it though, or at least, he used to be part of the group and has seen the evil of his ways and wants to stop it. He’s taking me to the ceremonial bonfire so we can save Bucky.”
“Okay, okay slow down a bit.” Steve held up his hands. “Let me get this all straight in my head. Bucky was kidnapped because a cult who worships an evil version of Santa wants to use his body to house their god?”
Becca nodded.
“And to do this they are going to perform a ceremony to remove his consciousness from his body and put their god into his body.”
Becca nodded again and mimed looking at a watch.
Steve ignored her and continued, “This fellow here used to be a member of said cult--”
“High priest actually,” interjected the man. Besides him, Becca huffed in annoyance.
“Okay, he was high priest and is willing to help us save Bucky because…?”
“They have lost their way," explained the old man. "Young Chris thinks to shackle our master to this realm, but to do so would twist his very being. I do not seek to save your friend--”
“Boyfriend,” interrupted Steve. Becca threw up her hands in exasperation.
“Boyfriend then, I seek to save my Lord.”
There was a pause in the discussion as all members of the party attempted to absorb everything.
“I guess in that case we should get going?” ventured Clint.
“Not yet,” cautioned Steve. “Becca, you need to tap out. Activate Tony’s bracelets. He and Thor and Bruce and Pepper are at the Tower. You’ll be safe there.”
“Steve, are we really going to do this now?” With her hands on her hips and her head tilted to the left, she was the picture of her brother. The image made Steve’s heart squeeze and a desperate longing for the man threatened to overwhelm him. “Even if it was possible, which it isn’t because one of Tony’s bracelets got smashed by a henchman, I am not leaving this stupid forest until we get Bucky back. So let’s cut the noble crap and not waste anymore of our time.”
Steve sighed. Why was he always on the losing side of an argument with a Barnes sibling?
“Fine, but you stay between Nat and Clint. Now, everyone keep your damn voices down and let’s go get Bucky so we can go home already."
“I’ll drink to that,” said Clint. Pulling a flask out of a pocket he took a long swig.
“Relax, it’s coffee. Now we going or what?”
Chapter 7: Who's Naughty and Who's Nice?
Notes:
We are closing in on the end! I may add an epilogue depending on how this next chapter shapes up, but we will see. I am also toying with the idea of going back and put in some mood board images at the top of each chapter. Many of the bad guys in this fic (namely the elves and gingerbread men) are taken straight from the 2015 movie Krampus. If you're interested you can go ahead and Google to see how they look. That movie is one of my favorites, partly because I love the creepy costuming for the elves. Anyway, enjoy the read!
Chapter Text
Elves, Bucky was finding, didn’t fuck around.
The vision of Becca’s frantic face burned into his mind as Bucky found himself being carried away to the unknown. At Rumlow's command, the elves had poured into the small room, their long-fingered hands made quick work of the irons locking him in place. Hands trailed over his body, teeth were gnashed, growls, laughter, and shrieks of dark glee filled his ears. No matter how many he punched or how many he injured more elves appeared, pushing and pulling him out into the cold.
Across the snow they yanked him, the wind biting into his skin. After landing a particularly savage punch and cracking one of their masks, Bucky found himself suddenly thrown up into the air. He landed back on the ground in a crash that left him dazed. Jumping on the opportunity, the elves grabbed at his legs and began to pull him across the snow and towards a flickering light in the distance.
The closer they got the brighter the light became until the treeline came to an abrupt halt and Bucky was dragged into a clearing filled with a huge bonfire. It was almost a full story high. The flames crackled and popped, reaching into the night. Around the edges of the fire danced more elves. On one side of the flames, a stage had been built with a large wooden pillar sticking out of the top. It was to this that Bucky was dragged. Once again he was thrown up in the air, only this time when he landed it was on roughly hewn wooden planks. More elves on top of the dais grabbed him up, roughly ripping off his shirt and pants with their claws. Chittering and chattering in a high-pitched language, they yanked his arms behind his back and tied him roughly to the pillar.
Satisfied with their work, the elves finally pulled away. Laughing and hollering they jumped off of the platform to rejoin their dancing brethren.
“This is hands down the worst kidnapping I’ve ever experienced,” announced Bucky as the tatters of his clothing fluttered to the platform.
“It’s about to get a whole lot worse,” said Rumlow pointing towards the woods. He had kept his distance from the pack of elves as they'd done their work, but now that they were gone he felt brave enough to get close again.
Following Rumlow’s finger, Bucky could only watch as Cult Leader Chris emerged from the forest. Behind him was a line of six other men, all of them dressed in blood-red robes. They chanted as they stepped forward from the brush, the words low and indecipherable. The guttural sounds gave Bucky goosebumps, despite the overwhelming heat of the fire.
Cult Leader Chris's hands carried two items. In his left was a small gray pot, in his right swung an incense burner. Climbing up the steps to the platform, he swung the incense from side to side, spreading the heavy smell before handing it off to one of his lackeys.
The men behind him fanned out in front of the stage, their chants continuing as the elves stopped dancing and fell silent. Turning around to face the bonfire, Cult Leader Chris addressed the now silent creatures.
“Let the ritual begin!” There were hoots and hollers, screams as the elves began to celebrate in earnest.
“First we must anoint the host,” announced the high priest.
Bucky didn’t like the gleam in his eyes as Cult Leader Chris approached with the gray pot in hand. Unscrewing the top, he dipped two fingers in and pulled them out glistening in oil.
“Are you for real right now?” Bucky yelled as the man spread the oil across his forehead, swirling the oil into a series of strange sigils on Bucky’s face, arms, and chest. “I’m going to kick your ass when I get out of these ropes you fuck!”
“I will miss you, my dear James,” Chris smiled sadly. “You certainly weren’t boring, but it is time for my Lord to finally be free.” The look in his eyes was manic as he continued to rub oil on Bucky. It smelled vaguely of peppermint and Bucky knew he'd never look at a candy cane the same way again. If he actually got out of this.
“Get your hands off of my boyfriend, you dick!” A voice shouted from the woods.
Bucky didn’t think he’d ever felt more relieved to hear Steve Rogers swear.
From out of the darkness flew Steve’s shield, followed closely by Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Becca. There were screams of horror as the shield sailed through the air, pinging from elf to elf like a pinball machine.
“This has gone far enough, Christopher!” The voice was deep and booming and entirely not what Bucky would have expected to hear from Nicolas. But there he was, the old man striding out from the forest behind the others with a spring in his step. Below the dais, the red-robed lackeys began to shift uneasily at the sight of their former high priest.
“You!” hissed Chris. “You won’t ruin this for me. For us !”
He jumped off the stage and began to rush at the old man. Moving far faster than Bucky would have imagined, Nicolas charged at Chris and, with a crash, the two men began to fight.
Well, it was more slapping than actual punching but it still looked mildly painful.
As the rival high priests fell to the ground in a pile of flailing limbs, the chanting of their disciples began to falter. Chaos quickly overtook the clearing as Avengers and elves fought, while the red-robed men began to flee. Gingerbread men and macabre looking toys stabbed whoever they could with sharpened candy canes.
It was, in Bucky’s humble opinion, pretty fucking ridiculous.
But Bucky was never one to miss an opportunity. Ignoring the disorder, he pulled at his restraints, grinning as he felt the rope began to fray. The idiots should have kept him in iron.
Ripping at the rope, he wrestled his way free from the restraints and jumped down off of the stage. He ignored the cold snow below his feet and the raw skin at his wrists. Surveying the crowd he spotted Steve and his friends at the far side of the fire.
A movement out of the corner of his eye had Bucky’s left arm slamming up in reflex and deflecting the knife swinging towards him.
“Oh no, you don’t,” snarled Rumlow. “Not when the Captain is here to see you die. Not when I'll finally have my revenge on him for DESTROYING MY FACE!”
The masked man struck out with his unoccupied hand, his second knife scoring a cut across Bucky’s stomach.
“I’m getting so sick of all of this shit,” cursed Bucky. "It is Christmas Fucking Eve for God's sake. Have you no decency?" Dodging the next swing, Bucky shoved the other man back. In a move too fast for the average eye to track, Bucky pulled back his left fist and slammed it straight into Rumlow’s mask, knocking the other man out entirely.
Anger burning through his veins, Bucky began to fight his way towards his friends in a flurry of fists and curses.
Back to back, Nat and Clint faced off against a particularly difficult elf, while Becca had somehow gotten ahold of a Stark gadget and was blasting elves with a single Ironman gauntlet. Of them all, it was Steve who stole his breath. He was a whirl of limbs, punching, jumping, and swinging his shield into the elves.
He was beautiful.
He was Bucky’s one and only.
His person.
And Bucky couldn’t wait another moment to tell him that.
“Steve!” Bucky called out as he punched another elf straight in the face.
“Yeah, Buck?” yelled Steve, ducking a rogue gingerbread man and crushing another between his fingers.
“I’m in love with you!” There was a brief pause as the words filtered through Steve’s battle-filled mind and straight to his heart.
“I love you too, Buck!” Steve shouted back with a dopey grin. For a single moment, it was just the two of them. No elves, no Krampus, no Santa cult.
Just Steve and Bucky.
They stood and stared at each other, their smiles as big as Cult Leader Chris’s hat.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” screamed Becca, effectively quashing the mood.
Smile still on his face and excited butterflies dancing in his stomach, Bucky raced the rest of the way to the slowly increasing circle of calm that his friends were creating.
“Hey Buck, that’s a real nice loincloth you’ve got going on there!” Clint wolf-whistled appreciatively.
“Would we call it a loincloth?” Bucky asked looking down at his ripped briefs.
“Yes,” said Nat, shocking another elf into unconsciousness without a change in facial expression.
"In all seriousness though, you are looking good.” Clint pulled out his phone and began to take a few pictures.
Letting out what sounded like a growl, Steve hit the other man’s phone out of his hand and promptly crushed it beneath his boot.
“What the hell?” Clint squawked.
“No one takes pictures of my naked boyfriend but me,” Steve declared.
There was a pause as his words were digested by everyone.
“What?” said Steve defensively. “We sext, okay?”
Without another moment of delay, he pulled Bucky into his arms and kissed him soundly.
After several more wolf whistles from Clint and a few catcalls from Becca, the two men finally broke apart. Unable to completely let him go, Steve cradled Bucky’s face in his hands.
“You okay, Buck?”
“Yes, I’m doing perfectly now that you’re here.” He flashed a smile and Steve felt the coils of tension constricting his chest finally ease.
“This is all very romantic but we have a situation on our hands,” snapped Nat. Both men abruptly stood at attention and Bucky quickly saw what she meant. Recovered from the shock of the initial attack, the elves were regrouping, circling their little party.
“Any bright ideas Cap?” asked Clint as he shot one of his last arrows out into the surrounding crowd.
Steve’s mind raced frantically for a back-up plan. He had to get his team out of here, but the exits were blocked. The elves were grinning, the fire was roaring, and there was no sign of Nicolas or Chris. They might be fucked.
A deep rumble of thunder was the only warning before a huge pillar of lightning rained down on the collected elves. With a booming laugh, Thor slammed down from the sky, Mjollnir plowing into the crowd of remaining creatures.
“You did not think I would miss out on the chance for a little elf fighting, did you?” Elven screams filled the air as Thor single-handedly began to turn the tide.
Steve felt something like hope kindle in his chest.
As the fighting raged on around it, the bonfire began to sputter and spit. The remaining elves stilled, falling silent in unison. Bucky watched in confusion as the bonfire shriveled in on itself without warning, leaving the clearing in complete darkness.
In the distance came the sound of jingling bells. With a burst of cold air something enormous dropped from the sky and into the middle of the now dark clearing.
Krampus had arrived.
Chapter Text
The creature was enormous.
And wrong.
Not wrong in the universe-altering, mind-defying way of Cthulhu. Wrong in the gross, horror movie way.
So, still pretty wrong.
Even with its hunched back it towered over its elven minions. Its blood-red robe, though extremely tattered, set it apart immediately from the drably colored elves. A stray gust of wind momentarily lifted its long, dirty robes, revealing honest to god cloven hooves to match the massive two-foot horns sprouting from its head.
Steve shuddered. Besides him, Becca let out a gagging noise. “Ugh, god what the fuck is it?”
The creature turned its massive head at her question and stared right at her. Holding up one clawed finger it shook it back and forth and hissed.
Slowly it placed one cloven hoof in front of the other and began to advance upon the small party. With a shout, Thor flew straight at the creature, hammer first. Before he could connect the creature pointed a finger at him. In shock, the other Avengers watched as Thor was sent flying into the forest by some unseen force. With a tremendous crash, he landed heavily, knocked unconscious.
Lifting his gnarled hands, Krampus slowly drew back his hood and smiled. His face was a hideous mirror of Santa's. The liver-spotted skin pulled tight across bony cheeks and pointed teeth. Its eyes were those of a goat, its tongue too large for its mouth.
The creature took another step towards them.
“We are officially screwed,” said Clint as he dug around for one more arrow to shoot.
Behind Krampus, the elves began to chatter excitedly. Bucky pushed Becca behind him, stepping forward and in line with Steve. Without the bonfire, the bite in the air was sinking into his exposed skin. He ignored it, shaking out his limbs as he prepared to fight the creature before him.
“My lord, stop!” The plea was out of breath as Nicolas staggered forward from the woods Christopher not far behind him.
Both men had a few scratches here and there. Judging from the deep bruises around Christopher’s eye, Nicolas had ended up being better at fighting.
Putting on a burst of speed, Christopher pushed the older man aside to prostrate himself on the ground before his horned lord.
“My lord, this, this, heretic has ruined our plans! It is not too late, we can still break your chains. We can still punish those who are naughty all year long.”
All was quiet except for Nicolas’ heavy breathing. With bated breath, everyone waited for the dark creature’s response.
A rattling laugh filled the air, the noise like nails on a chalkboard.
Risking a glance upward, Chris sent a triumphant look to Nicolas. He began to push himself upright when, with one cloven hoof, Krampus pushed him back down.
Behind Krampus, the elves began to laugh again. From deep in the crowd of elves Rumlow was roughly pushed forward. His mask had broken from Bucky’s punch revealing a terribly scarred face.
Besides Bucky Steve’s entire body tensed up.
“What’s Rumlow doing here?” whispered Natasha.
“Wait, how do you guys know him?” asked Becca.
“I dropped a building on him once,” explained Steve as if that was something that routinely happened. Knowing Steve and his job, it probably was.
With another rough shove, Rumlow was pushed to the ground as well.
“My lord? What is this?” Chris asked, trying in vain to push himself upright. There was another horrible rattling laugh as Krampus reached one clawed hand into a pocket of his robe, withdrawing a rusted looking jack in the box.
An elf moved forward and took the box from the horned creature. Turning around, it retreated back into the crowd. Two more elves stepped forward and, roughly grabbing Chris and Rumlow by the collars, turned to follow.
“My lord? My lord, please!” screamed Chris.
“Get me the fuck out of here!” cried Rumlow. But all of the men’s struggles and all of their cries fell on deaf ears as they were dragged through the crowd and back into the woods.
“Where are they taking them? What’s happening?” asked Bucky.
“They have been naughty. And those who are naughty need to be punished,” explained Nicolas with a shrug.
“Why does he get to be the one to judge? They need to be brought trial, not dragged to the woods for torture,” protested Steve.
Deep in the woods came screams as whatever punishment Krampus had deemed was carried out.
“These men tried to kill your true love, to kill your friends, to kill you. Yet you still defend them?" asked Nicolas incredulously. "You truly are one of the most good Captain Rogers. It has been an honor to be in your presence, but our time grows short. It is time to be done with this.”
“This?” asked Clint. “What’s this?”
There was a rumble and below their feet the ground began to fall away, revealing an overwhelming bright red light.
“Run!” screamed Natasha. But it was too late, all around them, the ground was disintegrating. Trees were tipping over, elves laughing at the destruction. In horror, Bucky watched as Thor’s unconscious form slid into the expanding hole, too far away for any of his friends to reach him. “Thor, no!” yelled Becca and Clint as the god disappeared from sight.
Clint’s scream continued as the ground below his feet collapsed, sending the archer falling down. Without hesitating, Natasha dove in after him.
“Natasha, Clint!” screamed Steve and Bucky as they watched the two disappear.
The hole continued to widen, encircling Steve and Bucky and Becca on a lone island of land in the center of an unjumpable gulf.
There was no way out of this. Not even Steve or Bucky’s super-soldier strength could help them jump the massive hole that surrounded them.
Below them the red light burned, casting eerie shadows.
Across the growing divide, Krampus stood silently, his elves rejoicing and dancing behind him. Nicolas stood by his side a small, strange smile on his face as he watched the chaos unfold.
"Why are you doing this?" shouted Bucky. "Steve and Becca are innocent, let them go. Take me instead! I'm the one you guys want."
"No Bucky, don't," protested Steve.
"But it makes no sense. It's not fair!"
Across the divide, the elves began to disappear into the woods, their laughter fading. With one last nod, Nicolas turned to follow.
All that was left was Krampus. The trio stared at the creature, protests dying on their lips as its eyes bore into theirs.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the creature gave a lazy wink before disappearing as well.
Below them the island of land shook, more of it falling into the abyss below.
“Looks like the only way out of this place is down,” Bucky’s voice cracked a bit as he stated the obvious.
“Yeah, looks that way,” agreed Steve.
“This Stark thing is completely busted,” said Becca on a sob as she hit her Stark bracelet again and again. “I thought maybe it could, I don’t know, get us out of here but I guess… I guess we really are stuck.”
“I’m sorry Becca. Thanks again for coming to get me,” Bucky pulled her in close to his side, reaching out to Steve with his free hand.
“I’ll always come to get you Bucky,” she sniffed, momentarily composing herself. “My only real regret is that Sam’s not here. Not that I want him to die by a massive hole in the ground thanks to an evil goat creature. But… just to say I love him again. I was really looking forward to living with him.” Her voice cracked and tears began to run down her face in earnest.
“You guys are moving in?” asked Steve in surprise.
“Oh my god, seriously Steve?” Becca snorted, pulling away from where she’d curled into Bucky’s side to shoot a glare at the other man. “Jesus, you guys are so terrible at timing I don’t know how you get anything done.”
Looking between his boyfriend and his sister Bucky smiled. If he had to go at least it was with good company.
“I love you guys,” he said. Below them the land shook again, its collapse imminent. Holding out his hands to each of them, Bucky grasped them tightly to his side.
“On the count of three?” He asked with a somber smile.
“One…” said Becca.
“Two…” said Steve.
“Three…” finished Bucky.
In unison, the three of them stepped out and into the abyss.
***
Somewhere bells jingled softly.
Unwilling to give up on sleep just yet, Bucky snuggled deeper into the warm surface below him. Beneath his ear beat the steady rhythm of Steve’s heart, a soothing lullaby designed especially for him.
A stray thought struggled to the surface of his sleepy brain.
Something about gingerbread men. And elves.
Flashes of porcelain masked creatures raced through his head.
With a start, Bucky jerked upright, sleep forgotten.
He was in the Tower’s common room. Blinking into the sunlight that streamed from the overly large windows he quickly took stock of his surroundings. In the corner of the room, the Christmas tree Tony had insisted upon stood tall, its lights twinkling cheerfully. Everything was in place, the room the cleanest he’d ever seen it.
On the couch behind him, Steve slept on. Clint was passed out on the coffee table, Natasha and Becca on the other couch while Thor had apparently taken the floor. They were all there. Somehow, someway, they were all still alive.
Scratched and dirty from the fight, or in his own case practically naked, but alive.
There was a ding from the elevator and Tony, Bruce, and Pepper piled out.
“What the fuck happened?” Tony yelled.
Around Bucky the various Avengers and Becca jerked awake.
“Where did it go? Where’s Krampus?” Steve asked, pushing himself forward and lurching to his feet to scan the room for danger.
On the couch, Becca and Natasha stood as well.
“Bucky! We didn't die!” Becca exclaimed, racing towards him and crushing him in a big hug. After a moment she pulled back again, “Wow, you kind of stink right now.”
“Barnes where are your clothes?” Tony demanded. “Not that I’m really complaining... Hey, Pepper stop ogling him!”
“It seems Krampus and his elves found us worthy,” interrupted Thor. “He truly is a creature of power."
“No, no, no, no, no - this was NOT MAGIC!” Tony practically screamed. Pepper lay a calming hand on his arm. “Tony dear, let’s get you some coffee, okay?” Crossing his arms in a huff, the man trailed along behind her to the kitchen.
“I don’t care what happened, I’m just glad we made it out of there and Bucky didn’t get possessed by an evil goat thing,” said Becca.
“Jarvis, can you please scan the news for any reports of disappearances along Riverside Park?” Bruce asked.
“Pepper, make that coffee for two please!” Clint called from where he still lay on the coffee table.
“Dr. Banner there have been no reported disappearances within Riverside Park in the last week. News reports for today are centered around the Christmas holiday and the weather totals which are above average for Christmas Day due to yesterday's storm. The totals are being reported at ten inches,” reported Jarvis.
“Ten inches?” Natasha sniffed. “From what we saw I would have imagined the snow to be twice that. It was almost eight when we drove over to the park.”
“Did you say it’s Christmas Day?” Clint pushed himself upright. “That can’t be right. How long were we out for? It was barely Christmas Eve when we left to go find Bucky! This is giving me a headache,” he trailed off and fell back onto the coffee table.
“What about the park security recordings from yesterday? Jarvis, pull up those video feeds,” asked Bruce.
“I’m sorry Dr. Banner, but I received no requests for recordings from anyone on the team yesterday and I have no recordings from Riverside Park in my database.”
“You mean you don’t remember anything from yesterday? Our mission? Bucky’s disappearance? GINGERBREAD MEN AND ELVES?” Tony yelled, almost spilling his coffee.
“Gingerbread and elves, sir?” Jarvis repeated slowly.
“Is it possible this isn’t real?” Steve asked as he prowled around the room. His sharp eyes scanning all of the corners for bugs. “This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve woken up in a fake environment.”
“I don’t know why you persist in denying it, this is obviously the result of very powerful and ancient magic,” argued Thor. “We were meant to rescue our friends and learn a lesson and we did! We should be celebrating our successful development as individuals.” He beamed at them, ignoring his teammate’s faces, which ranged from paranoid beyond belief (Steve), dangerously neutral (Natasha), possible asleep (Clint), mildly puzzled (Bruce), and apoplectic (Tony).
“Bucky, what’s that on the tree?” Becca whispered nervously, her voice carefully pitched below the ongoing arguing.
Ignoring the Avengers’ continued bickering, Bucky moved closer to the tree. While beautiful, it had been decorated by one of Tony’s decorators, which meant it was very impersonal. All of the lights on it were a clear white and it didn't have ornaments.
Except for one.
Hanging from a branch dead center in the tree was an old rusted bell. Something about it made Bucky uneasy. Reaching up, he gently untangled it from the tree and pulled it closer.
Around the top of it was engraved a single word, Krampus.
“It was all real,” Bucky interrupted the increasingly heated argument. “It was real and he left us the proof.” Turning around to face the rest of the room he held out the bell, inadvertently jostling it. Its sound was clear and high and while it rang Bucky felt like he was back in those cold, dark woods, listening as something came for him.
Silence fell over the common room as all of the Avengers felt the effects of the bell’s magic.
“Okay,” said Tony finally. “I’m willing to maybe consider the possibility that there was some sort of magic involved.”
***
Despite their best efforts, Jarvis was unable to recall anything that matched their own memories and, when Becca called Sam, he confirmed nothing out of the ordinary had been reported the previous day. There was nothing on the news, social media, or the security footage Tony pulled.
It was as if the Avengers had existed outside of the normal world for a day. A fact that had Tony on the verge of losing his mind.
It was eventually decided that everyone was better-served showering, changing, and otherwise trying to regain some sense of normalcy instead of continuing to talk through the events of the night.
Bucky, being the least clothed and arguably the dirtiest from all of the imprisonment, opted to leave first.
He returned to an empty common room. With a sigh, he sat down on one of the couches, taking a moment to just sit and breathe. He knew the emotional impact of the past 24 hours would catch up with him eventually. But for now, he was content to sit and look at the beautiful, if sterile, Christmas tree. It did look good in its own way, the mountain of presents catching the light and…
Mountain of presents.
Presents that had not been there before.
Pushing himself up from the couch he crossed the room slowly, stopping a foot away from the tree to examine them. They were exquisitely wrapped with all manner of glossy paper and sparkling bows. Collectively the lot of them looked like something out of a Hallmark movie.
It made him even more suspicious.
After several moments, he gingerly lifted a slim looking package up and off of the pile. No explosion yet, so that was a good sign.
With delicate fingers, he opened the small tag taped to the package. In curly, unfamiliar writing was the message To Steven from James. Which should have been impossible. He hadn’t had time to finish his present for Steve. Pressing down on the slim package he could tell it was definitely a book.
“Really Buck? You couldn’t wait 20 more minutes for everyone to get back before digging into the presents?” Steve’s voice was teasing as reentered the room and walked towards the tree. “Who’s it from?”
“Me,” answered Bucky distractedly. His mind was quickly putting a few things together.
“You got a gift for yourself?”
“No, no, it’s from me to you but, Steve I’ve been meaning to tell you with all of the craziness before Christmas Eve-”
“The kidnapping,” interrupted Steve. “With all of the kidnapping.”
“Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to finish your present…”
Steve seemed to sag in on himself. “That’s a relief because I didn’t get a chance to finish yours either.” He eyed the tree speculatively. “I wonder…”
Stepping over Bucky, Steve began to dig through the presents. After a few moments, he pulled out a slightly lumpy looking package. Taped to the top was a card labeled “James”
His suspicions all but confirmed, Bucky slowly opened the card.
Dear James,
I owe you and your friends a great debt. You will find a few tokens of my gratitude beneath the Christmas tree.
Remember to be nice, my Lord is always watching.
-Nicolas
"What's it say?"
Wordlessly, Bucky passed the card to Steve.
“Huh, well, what do you think,” asked Steve. “Should we open them?”
“I think we have to. I’m worried they’ll come back if we don’t… but if you hate it it’s because of Nicolas and his elf friends ruining my wonderful gift idea.”
Steve snorted, “Yeah, well the same goes for me too. If you hate it, I blame the elves.”
The only noise was the sound of wrapping paper alternatively being carefully unfolded (Steve) and ruthlessly ripped apart (Bucky).
Bucky’s face blossomed into a wide smile as he unwrapped the coziest looking sweater he’d ever seen in his life. It was a dark blue, complete with a large letter “B” on the front in a lighter blue. It was clear from some of the more uneven stitches that Steve had knit it himself.
Bucky didn’t think he’d ever gotten a better gift. Without hesitating, he scrambled to pull it on.
“Oh Steve, it’s perfect. I love it.” Feeling cozy and warm, he looked back up at his boyfriend.
Steve was standing completely motionless, Bucky’s book in hand.
His face was hard to read. A mix of grief, disbelief, and awe flitted across Steve's face as he stared down at the little book. His heart in his throat, Bucky watched as his boyfriend carefully opened it and began to flip through the pages. He paused at the different photos, a small smile gracing his face at the image of his mother in her nursing outfit. The smile quickly disappeared as he turned the page and came to the first of his father's letters.
“Buck this is…” He stopped talking abruptly, his voice husky. For a heartstopping moment, Bucky thought he’d made the biggest mistake of his life compiling the book.
"If it's too much or..." Bucky began to apologize but was quickly cut off as Steve lifted him up in a spine-crushing hug.
“This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I love it, Buck. I love it and I love you.”
“I love you too, Steve. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Buck."
There was still so much to sort out. So many questions to ask and try to answer.
But in this moment Bucky couldn’t care less. He had someone who would fight the gods themselves for him. Someone who loved him for exactly who he was.
And if that wasn’t the best Christmas gift a person could get then he didn’t know what was.
The End
Notes:
There you have it, folks! My initial time estimate on how long this would take to finish may have been wildly optimistic, but I got it done before February and my next set of classes so I'm counting that as a win. As I mentioned before, this story is largely inspired by the 2015 movie Krampus and the jack in the box that Krampus pulls out of his pocket in this chapter references a creature in that movie. If you like mild horror I still recommend watching it next time the holiday rolls around. At the moment I don't have plans for another addition to this series, but I'm sure another creature will come to mind for Bucky and Steve to fight eventually. As always, drop a comment or kudos. Thanks!
Pages Navigation
SmidgenPigeon on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Dec 2019 02:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 1 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:44PM UTC
Comment Actions
tigrislilium on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Dec 2019 05:13AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 1 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:45PM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Dec 2019 05:20PM UTC
Comment Actions
GoodDayJules on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Dec 2019 06:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 1 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:45PM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 2 Sat 21 Dec 2019 09:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
Thegraycatpurred on Chapter 2 Sat 21 Dec 2019 11:02PM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 2 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:46PM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 3 Tue 24 Dec 2019 12:59PM UTC
Comment Actions
jazzy2may on Chapter 3 Tue 24 Dec 2019 08:03PM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 3 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:47PM UTC
Comment Actions
Iceheart101 on Chapter 3 Sun 29 Dec 2019 03:44AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 3 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:47PM UTC
Comment Actions
tigrislilium on Chapter 4 Mon 30 Dec 2019 02:07AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 4 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:48PM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 4 Mon 30 Dec 2019 02:25AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 4 Mon 30 Dec 2019 09:49PM UTC
Comment Actions
tigrislilium on Chapter 5 Tue 31 Dec 2019 02:09PM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 5 Thu 02 Jan 2020 12:58AM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 6 Sat 04 Jan 2020 11:55PM UTC
Comment Actions
Fantasyenabler on Chapter 6 Sat 05 Apr 2025 08:07AM UTC
Comment Actions
Fantasyenabler on Chapter 6 Sat 05 Apr 2025 08:10AM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 6 Wed 23 Apr 2025 10:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
timetravelingvampire on Chapter 7 Wed 08 Jan 2020 01:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
zacharypay1_Alisa on Chapter 7 Wed 08 Jan 2020 02:46AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ilyone on Chapter 7 Wed 08 Jan 2020 08:22AM UTC
Comment Actions
staunchlyblue on Chapter 7 Wed 08 Jan 2020 09:49PM UTC
Comment Actions
DogsForDays on Chapter 7 Mon 17 Feb 2020 03:14AM UTC
Comment Actions
Gasel on Chapter 8 Sun 12 Jan 2020 08:45PM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation