Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Christmas Party Bonus

  When the plug was shoved into the outlet, the lights decorated around the large living room lit up in different colors. In a corner was a Christmas tree with more lights, and ornaments hanging from the green branches. At another part of the room was a bar that was stocked full of different beverages; alcohol, sparkling juices, even eggnog. In the middle of the living room sat a table filled with different treats and snacks.
  Tony invited all the Avengers for a Christmas party. We made it a point not to bring gifts because it was just to hang out and celebrate friendship. Of course, Stark never made it sound that cheesy but that's what the party was for.
  Earlier that Christmas Day, Tony, Pepper, and I already ate a big dinner and did other Christmas traditions that I had never done with the Starks before. Like decorating the tree, or making gingerbread houses. It was the happiest holiday I'd had in a long while.
  "Tony, change the radio station. They'll be here any minute," I ordered while taping some fake snowflakes I made earlier to the wall.
  While he stood behind the bar and organized glasses, he stated, "I'm not putting on Christmas music."
  "You just think you're too cool because you've saved the world a few times," I rolled my eyes then stepped back and admired my work with a smile.
  "My party, my music!" Tony exclaimed as he reached for the remote to the speakers and turned the metal music up louder.
  There was a knock at the door so Stark was the first to react as he rushed to the entrance. While he was away from the speakers, I snuck over to them and manually turned the music down. I was fine with him keeping his rock music but it didn't need to be so loud.
  "Merry Christmas, Mr. Stark," a familiar upbeat voice chimed up.
  With a smirk, I grabbed a water bottle from the bar and chucked it at the kid that was at the front entrance while shouting, "Heads up!"
  Of course, Peter caught the water bottle without even flinching. Tony shot me a look but Peter was grinning because he knew that I knew that he would catch it. He was Spider-Man after all. And besides, in some weird way, Peter was my competition; I had to tease him occasionally. Especially if it was harmless.
  Turning back to Tony, Peter held out a tin box, "I brought cookies."
  After wrinkling his nose in wary disgust, Tony wondered, "Did Aunt May cook those? Her loaf last time was a little- uh..."
  "Oh," Peter chuckled awkwardly but shook his head, "Uh-... no, they're store-bought. I just threw them in the tin to make it look... fancy."
  Now smiling again, Tony gladly took the cookies and brought them over to the table with all of the other snacks. Of course, the goody-two-shoes - which was something I called him often - was early. He would never turn down a chance to hang out with the Avengers. Or even Tony Stark for that matter.
  "Hey, Peter!" I interrupted whatever they were going on about to motion him over, "Can you help me get the cards for the games down? They're on the top shelf."
  "Oh, sure!" happy to help, Parker jogged over and peered up at the many decks of cards on the top shelf of the closet. He lifted his arm and shot a web from a gadget on his wrist. As he pulled on the web, the cards came tumbling down so Peter could catch them.
  "You can also put the star on the tree if you want since you're not wearing metal flying shoes that can catch the tree on fire," I said while shooting Tony a glare.
  So Tony reached over to the sound system and twisted the volume knob before shouting, "What? I can't hear good decisions!"
  As there was another knock on the door, Tony made his way to the entrance again while I got out the star for Peter to put on the tree. If he wanted to use his spidey skills then that'd be awesome but I wouldn't be disappointed if he used a chair too. Something that I tried suggesting to Tony but he was too stubborn to listen to me so I just hid the star.
  When I peered over at the guests coming into the room, I noticed it was quite a large group. They must've wandered in at the same time. Walking into the party was Steve, Wilson, Rhodey, and Pepper - who was getting some wine because Tony had only bought the strong stuff. Before Stark could close the door though, Natasha caught the door and said something snarky as she came into the room.
  "Aw, my favorite people!" I exclaimed and jogged to the group coming in. I hadn't seen most of them in quite a while so I went to give everyone welcoming hugs.
  Steve fist-bumped Parker and greeted, "Hey, Queens."
  I was about to help Pepper with taking the wine bottles to the bar but then the room around us shook violently. Everyone went quiet for a moment but soon I saw Tony face-palm and mutter, "That's Thor on the roof again... I'm going to go get him before he makes his own door because he can't figure out the elevator again."
  The room went silent as everyone was finding their place. I turned toward the bar, but then a figure appeared in front of me. Startled, a scream left my lips and I jumped back in shock.
"Strange? What the hell!?" I shouted at the man in front of me when I realized who it was while sending him a sharp glare.
  "Thor and I had a bet on who could get inside first," Dr. Steven Strange explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
  "You're lucky Pepper sent out the invitations or else I wouldn't have invited you," I pouted before turning back to the bar to help Pepper put away the bottles. I stood behind the bar to find places for the bottles to go.
  As I put one bottle away, Natasha snuck up to the bar and requested, "Actually, I'd like two glasses."
  With a raise of my eyebrow, I challenged, "Two, huh?"
  So she rolled her eyes and explained, "One is for Wanda."
  "Aw, I thought she already had a date," I smirked.
  "You're a terrible bartender. Give me the wine before I break something," Romanoff ordered.
  Still grinning, I set out two wine glasses. I peeled the wrapping off the lid then grabbed a corkscrew to pop the cork off before pouring the red wine into each glass. After setting the bottle on the bar, I offered, "You can take the whole bottle if you let me play cards with you, Wanda, and Pepper."
  After staring at me for a moment - annoyed - Natasha sighed, "Fine." Then she grabbed the glasses in one hand and swooped the wine glass in her other hand. She turned around and left the bar to a different table.
  "I'M HERE FOR THE TINY MORTALS' PARTY!" a loud, booming voice interrupted the peaceful hum of conversation. No one even had to look at the entrance to know that Tony was walking in with Thor.
  Jogging from behind the bar to the front of the room, I called out, "Hey Asgardian!"
  "Oh, my favorite mortal!" the god stepped forward and embraced me in a tight hug. Of course, the force of his hug was strong but I was used to being squished by his massive arms. Although, I had to tap his shoulder to remind him not to squeeze the life out of me. So, he let me go back onto my feet.
  There was another knock on the door so when Tony opened it, Wanda and Vision walked in with welcoming smiles. Wanda was holding a basket that she explained to Tony as she handed it over, "These are breadsticks from Olive Garden. I heard they were a favorite."
  "Hey, come over here!" Natasha chimed up while raising a glass of wine, "We were just about to start."
  With a grin, Wanda dashed away - leaving Vision to his own - and sat down with Natasha and Pepper. Taking the glass from Nat, the three began chatting instead of playing the card game. While Vision hovered awkwardly around until stopping at Dr. Strange who was watching Thor trying to "clean out" the bar.
  "Ah, don't close the door yet!" a voice called out of the room. My attention turned to watch Antman - whatever his actual name was - push the door open and step into the room with Bruce and Clint by his side.
  "He needed help finding the place," Bruce muttered to Tony while motioning to Antman since he had never been invited over before.
  His eyes were wide with awe as Antman peered around the room at all of the superheroes in the same room as him. He lifted his hand and waved at Steve - who he recognized - before walking to the table to grab some snacks.
  Since I was still by the door, I was close to greet the newcomers, "Clint."
  He gave me a fist bump as he walked past me and added, "Sup." Before heading to the girl's table to sit in the middle of Natasha and Wanda.
  "Hey, Bruce." I smiled and gave Bruce a tight hug.
  "Hey kid, how's school?" he asked as he pulled away from the hug.
  I shrugged and admitted, "No PHDs yet."
  Bruce gave a side smile at the joke, "Eh, you'll get there."
  "If Tony has a say."
  "Hey, the record is 7, I'm trying to get you to 8," Tony butted in with a shrug of his shoulders. Thinking everyone had shown up, Stark made his way deeper into the room towards the bar - probably to make sure Thor didn't drink everything.
  So, I turned and peered around at all of the heroes in the living room. The room was filled with a buzz of conversation and life. The women were still talking on the couch with Clint awkwardly on the side, Vision and Strange had gotten into some conversation about the universe - typical -, Rogers, Wilson, and Parker were talking about the combat in Germany while Antman - Scott Lang - listened intensely and ate some of the cookies that Peter had brought, and Bruce and Tony struck up a conversation while shooing Thor away from the drinks.
  There was another knock at the door so - since I was closer - I called out, "I'll get it!" Then walked up to the door and opened it. Surprisingly, there was another man at the door. He had a leather jacket and gloves on and hair that was long enough to touch his shoulders. I had seen his picture before in a file under "Winter Soldier" but I hadn't met him in person and I couldn't remember his actual name.
  "Who invited the cyborg?" Tony spat from the back.
  With a sigh, the guy turned away from the door, "Alright, I'm leaving."
  "Hey, Bucky!" Steve called and jogged over to the entrance. He guided his friend inside and closed the door so he wouldn't leave.
  Realizing that the man was uncomfortable as he glanced around, I stuck my hand out, "Hi, I'm Sam. Or Hadley if you get me confused with Wilson."
  "That's impossible, I'm much cuter," Wilson chimed up and came over to clasp his hand on the guy's shoulder as a welcome.
  The super-soldier was hesitant at first but remained polite and shook my hand, "Call me Bucky." His hand was soft and gentle so I figured his metal arm must've been his other arm.
  When we pulled apart, I smiled and stated, "I'll be right back."
  So the three friends talked with each other as I left the group of guys and went over to the bar. I grabbed three glass cups, threw some ice in there, and poured some whiskey.
  Since I was over by Tony, I shot him a glare, "Be nice or I'm showing Thor your secret stash." Before he could respond, I took the glasses and headed back to the men. When I reached them, I held out the glasses so they took one each. Steve and Bucky glanced at each other with a knowing glance but didn't say anything. "What?" I wondered but when I figured it out, I face-palmed, "Oh, right... Super soldiers..."
  "No, I'll take it. Thank you," Bucky reassured me.
  Content with the answer, I beamed with happiness that I might've made the guest more comfortable.
  "Hey, Sam! We're starting!" Wanda called over to me from the couch.
  "Oh, that's me!" I realized then turned away and raced over to the couch with the women - and Clint. I pulled up a soft chair and sat down in front of the small table with cards spread out. "What are we playing?" I asked in anticipation.
  "I don't know, it sounds like 'Never Have I Ever' to me," Natasha admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.
  "Oh! I've never played that game!" Wanda exclaimed.
  So, with a smirk, Romanoff added, "You have to drink if you've done what's on the card."
  While explaining it, Pepper read over a card and wrinkled her nose slightly, "These seem a bit crazy."
  "There's three to choose from on each card so just pick one," Nat shrugged.
  Turning to Clint, I asked, "Are you playing?"
  "Nope."
  "Shut up, yes you are," Natasha slugged him in his shoulder.
  "Um... I can't drink yet," I pointed out.
  Nat commented, "You'd be fine in Russian standards."
  "You guys drink Vodka out of sippy cups, so no I'm good," I joked then stood back up before mentioning, "I'll just grab some eggnog."
  "Sit down, Sam," Nat ordered before yelling, "Strange! Drink, magic please."
  "I don't do party tricks," Steven grumbled from across the room.
  "It's for Sam."
  "So?"
  "So are you saying you don't like Sam?"
  "What?"
  "Strange hates Sam!" Romanoff yelled as if Strange was committing some sort of crime.
  However, then Thor chimed up, "Wizard! Be nice to Samantha!"
  "Yeah Strange, she's a kid. She didn't do anything to you," Tony chimed up.
  "He's scared Vision would show him up," Wanda added with a giggle that she was adding to the chaos.
  "Alright fine! Everyone just shut up," Steven groaned then raised his hand and suddenly a glass of eggnog was sitting on the table in front of me.
  After blinking a few times at the drink to make sure it was real, I smiled and called out, "Thanks, Dr. Strange!" Then sat back down before taking a sip of the drink. It didn't taste suspicious so I was pretty content.
  "I'll go first!" Wanda exclaimed then grabbed a card and read over it before choosing a sentence, "Never have I ever been a third wheel."
  Before most of us could take a drink, Nat added, "Whoever finishes their drink is the loser, and whoever doesn't drink all their glass wins."  Then everyone returned to taking a sip of their drinks.
  "Okay, I'll go," Pepper grabbed a card and read, "Never have I ever stolen someone's significant other."
  Everyone thought about the question first but Nat was the only one to drink and mutter, "I'm taking it literally."
  Next was my turn to grab a card and read over the three options. I didn't really like any of them but I still picked one, "Never have I ever ruined an ex's car."
  No one drank.
  "Never have I ever had someone walk in on me and my partner having sex."
  Everyone took a drink except me.
  "Never have I ever 'done it' at a church."
  Surprisingly, Nat also took a drink there.
  "Never have I ever had two one-night-stands in one night."
  So finally I spoke up, "Okay, enough with the sex ones!" It was a bit louder than I wanted to sound so I tried to ignore the embarrassed blush on my face.
  Natasha smirked, "Are you embarrassed?"
  "To be fair, I don't want to hear about anyone's sex life," Clint added.
  "It doesn't exist!" I admitted while rolling my eyes. "This isn't fun, I don't want to win by default," I groaned, stood up, then raised my drink up, "Lang! You're taking my spot."
  The man didn't argue as he stood up, walked over, grabbed my card and my drink to play the game. Since Scott seemed content and no one objected, I decided to take a breather outside. The room was cramped and loud so a minute of quiet was required. I slipped out of the room and made my way to the elevator which opened quickly for me. When I got to the bottle floor, I wandered until I found myself outside. 
  The air was cold which was a stark contrast to the friendly warmth inside. It felt nice to have a few moments to myself in the quiet. Especially with large gatherings, it could get quite overwhelming. 
  After a while, the silence was interrupted, "Hey, you okay?" 
  I turned my head at the unexpected voice and was surprised to see Bucky. It took me a moment to process before answering, "Yeah, just wanted some fresh air." 
  "Me too," he mumbled and slipped his hands in his pockets. "It's cold out here, are you sure you should be out?"
  With a shrug, I admitted, "I just wanted to come out for a few minutes. That's all."
  The noise inside grew louder and it seemed like something was going on.
  "I should probably go check on that anyway," I muttered in anticipation of what they possibly could've gotten into. "You're not allowed to leave yet, Bucky Barnes. I can be scary if I need to be!" I called as I headed back inside. Back up the elevator and into the living room.
  When I opened the door, I honestly didn't expect Steve and Tony to be shouting at each other. They were clearly mad and arguing about something.
  "Hey!" I shouted so they would both shut up. "I don't know what you two are griping about, but it's going to stop. Tony, go back over to the bar - fill up refills or something. Steve, you can go back to your side of the room. There will be no arguing at this party," I ordered while pointing to different sides of the room so they wouldn't be close to each other. 
  They both grumbled in agitation but listened and walked away from the argument. 
  Since Wilson was closer to me, I turned to him and asked, "What the hell was that about?" 
  "Tony doesn't like Bucky and Steve is very protective over Bucky," Wilson explained vaguely while glancing over at the two.
  I rolled my eyes but decided to just forget about it. I wasn't going to let any feuds ruin the party so I made my way towards the bar. There was a mini-fridge that I opened and found the Christmas cheesecake that I had made the night prior.
  Stepping on a nearby chair, I held up the dessert and called out, "Christmas cheesecake for everyone! Vision, I trust you to cut it into perfect slices."
  "It's basic geometry, which is something I'm good at," Vision agreed then hovered over to help me with even slices so everyone could get one - fairly.
  While Vision cut the cheesecake into slices and placed them on plates, I passed out the dessert with utensils. I got a few compliments on the cake since I had made it myself so I thanked them. It made me smile that everyone seemed like they were enjoying themselves. The party was supposed to be happy and fun so I hoped everyone felt the same way.
  "Also, I said no presents," I began to the group, "But! I made keys for everyone so anyone can come over whenever they need help or whenever they want. Of course, I'm pretty sure any one of you could get inside if you really wanted to but this is to show that you all are welcomed." I smiled at everyone before shooting a look to Tony, "Even Bucky."
  So Stark huffed and grumbled, "Don't get too excited, the key can only access this floor." 
  "Well, I consider you all family so all of you will be welcomed like family," I stated matter-of-factly. 
  This is the part where some came up to give me a hug and told me that it was a thoughtful gift. I appreciated the react but I was only being honest. This was the closest family I had. Of course, I was closer to some more than others but I still wanted everyone to be welcomed. Tony wasn't excited about it but Pepper thought it was a good idea and a sweet gesture.
  With that, the party continued for a little bit longer but it was soon getting late and everyone began to trickle out. I knew it wasn't often that we had a huge party like this with - practically - everyone invited but it was well worth it. Maybe we would do Thanksgiving with everyone next year. 
  Rhodey was the last to leave as he gave me a hug and left while saying, "Happy holidays everyone."
  When it was just the three of us left - Tony, Pepper, and I - Stark wrapped his arm around my shoulder and mumbled, "You did great, kid." 

(Sorry it's a day later everyone! I didn't know how I was going to end it. But I hope y'all enjoyed the special chapter and things will go back to your regularly scheduled program next chapter! Happy holidays!
~~~~~ LL2z)