Hey, guys:) I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, but alas, it will be the last one in this series. But, not to worry, it won't be the only chapter I post tonight- I putting up my first chapter of Home, which will be taking place in the same universe, as soon as this one's up. It'll be under the Avengers category and will be a Cap/OC fic, so please go and read it;3

Please leave your final reviews and comments, it really helps:)

Disclaimer: It has been 25 chapters. 25 whole chapters. But my paranoia of getting sued keeps me putting this up. I do not own Marvel, no I don't. I do not own Marvel on a boat. I do not own Marvel here or there. I do not own Marvel anywhere.

Christmas, Avengers Tower, 2014

Claire/12 P.O.V

The last 4 months since we found the map were absolutely exhausting. We found out that our ideas were wrong, it wasn't just HYDRA bases, it was HYDRA and their allies- which was good, but we had to go to them all. The black dots were all HYDRA bases, which were easy to take down, but the red dots were independent programs and, since they weren't spread out, much harder to take down. We had been working every day since Steve got back and were absolutely done going out by now. We skipped Thanksgiving; much to Pepper's dislike, but ate the leftovers like Thor that night. We had even gone to one of the red sights, the last one we visited, actually, and found it like a nuke had gone off. No traces of radiation was found, but we had assumed that they had gotten a signal that we were going around and destroying their allies, so they probably decided to cover their tracks and flee.

We had finished the job just a week before Christmas and were now faced with the problem of finding each other's gifts. I had been smart and thought out each other's gifts since before Steve even got here, but I could tell everyone else was having problems- sans Pepper. So while others were scrambling to the finish, I was calm and prepared. When the day came everyone looked like they had just finished two marathons and decided to go without sleep. Pepper and I had been the ones that were up since 7:00 a.m fixing lunch, and luckily no one dared to get up before then. We had fixed ham, three of them, several pans of casseroles of all kind, enough homemade mashed potatoes to drown in, and at least 6 pies, varying from pecan to coconut crème. And we still thought that wouldn't be enough. Thor had arrived a few days ago, since they don't celebrate Christmas in Asgard, and we had secretly invited Jane and Darcy. What only I knew though, was that I gave Thor a Santa suit complete with beard, hair and sack telling that it was a Christmas honor, and to keep it a secret. He graciously accepted to wear it.

So, when the day came, all the presents, which seemed to add up to more than a hundred, were piled under the beautiful tree Tony had gotten. I knew everyone was still tired from our recent escapades and told JARVIS not to wake anyone up until noon. Pepper and I set the table and hung mistletoe over the elevator entrance- some may say that's cheating, but all is fair on Christmas. Soon enough the elevator started dinging people's arrival, and I smiled bigger than a fat man at a buffet. First to arrive was Steve and Bucky, as usual, and when I stopped them from going anywhere after leaving the elevator they had only a momentary pause of confusion before looking up. Bucky gave me a very intimidating eye whereas Steve looked at him with a huge smirk. If we were cartoons, Bucky definitely would've had smoke seeping from his ears.

"Aww, come on babe, have some holiday spirit." I say, laughs breaking my words. Steve surprised me though when he quickly pecked Bucky's cheek. I almost peed myself, Bucky on the other hand just stood there like a statue with a stunned look plastered on his face. Tony arrived right around that time, alone unfortunately, and saw the expressions on Bucky's face.

"Why did the Tin Man freeze?" He asked, waving his hand in front of Bucky's face. He frowned more than I thought possible, but, thankfully, before I had to intervene, the elevator doors opened once more with lightening striking out of them. Everyone turned to see my best 'prank' yet. The room was silent, and I could hear a needle drop from the Christmas tree. Thor looked at me, dressed excellently in his Santa costume, and I winked at him, trying to get him to remember what he was supposed to say. It rushed back to him and he hollered out 'HO HO HO!' loud enough to shake the floors and windows. I gave him a thumbs up before everyone burst into laughter. I have never heard any of the people in the room laugh as much as they did, and everyone had tears in their eyes. We probably laughed for five minutes, leaving Thor very confused, and were joined by Clint, Nat and Bruce. I had to gulp a breath so I didn't pass out and tried to explain.

"I-I told *laugh* I told Thor that dressing as Santa was a holiday honor." I told everyone. We all started laughing again and Pepper was the one that had to return order. We all calmed down after a few moments and I set everyone down at the table. I looked at the clock and was a bit worried the surprise guests wouldn't make it when the elevator doors opened again and in strolled Jane and Darcy. They had two very different reactions at their reunion; Darcy more surprised than anything and Jane looked like she could care less if Thor was in rags. Thor barely manages to get out a 'Lady Jane!' before she talked him into a hug, Darcy walking over to me.

"Did you set this up?" She smirked, gesturing to Thor's clothes.

"Who else?" I chuckled back.

"Nicely played." She said before sitting down at her spot. We quickly dug in, everyone giving muffled thanks at Pepper and I's cooking skills. All of us with normal stomachs- Nat, Clint, Pepper, Jane, Darcy, Tony and I were thoroughly full, whereas everyone else- Thor, Bruce, Steve and Bucky looked like they could eat three more of everything, but stopped when all the food was gone. We huddled over to the tree, all of us finding places on the couches and waiting for someone to pick a person to pass out the presents. We boiled it down to Thor, mainly because he was dressed as Santa, and watched him pass out presents as quickly as he could. We all ended up with around 10 presents, and went around the room taking turns opening one. Tony went first, shredding the wrapping paper in less than a second. He opened Thor's present first- an Asgardian helmet, looking like a much more badass version of his suit's helmet. Pepper went next, getting a month's worth of spa days at her favorite spa and the dress she had been eyeing for months- courtesy of moi. Bruce went next, getting some fancy molecule thing from Tony, but from his facial features it was much better than 'some fancy molecule thing'. Bucky opened his gift from Steve, and received the only picture of all three of us in Brooklyn, before we joined the military. He made the picture larger and framed it; it was when I graduated- Bucky and Steve hanging an arm around my waist while I was in my cap and gown. I opened Bruce's and Tony's split gift and saw a small vile. I looked up at them somewhat confused and they explained to me.

"When you had your leg surgery, we took a sample of your blood and made that. It speeds up your aging, well makes you age again. It also means that you stay dead, but only when you die of old age." Bruce told me. My mouth hung open.

"So, so you're telling me that when I take this-" I said, pointing to the small shot, "- I can age again." They nodded.

"Yeah, it takes just like a normal shot-" Tony started. He stopped when I quickly pushed the needle into my arm, pressing down on the plunger and letting the liquid seep into my body. I thanked them several times, and even teared up a bit. My 'immortality' made me sick when I thought about it; thinking that Bucky would die somehow and I would just be stuck. I wiped away a tear and tried to get everyone to continue on with the presents, so we did.

The highlight selections of the evening was Thor's gift to Clint; a bow that looked like it came from Avatar- Tony's gift to Steve; a pink, sparkling version of his shield, with a Hello Kitty face winking in the center, and Darcy's gift to Tony; How Not to be and Egotist for Dummies. Everyone laughed at that one except for the man himself, who simply replied 'Where did you even find this?'

The next hour was full of laughs and served as a well-needed break for everyone. All the 'pairs' in the room were about to open their gifts from their each other when there was a loud 'thump' on the balcony and the glass doors shattered. In crawled a woman, maybe 22, only using one arm. Her legs splayed out at odd angles, signs of a shattered pelvis, her arm that she wasn't using looked hyper-extended and her face had several lacerations, a black eye, and it was easy to see the tears running down. She pulled herself inside, a tortured expression marking her. From the way she looked she was a millimeter from death. She whispered one word before falling unconscious:

"Help."