Variation - W.M.

Chapter 55 - December 29, 2016

I cleared my throat loudly, drawing everyone's attention to me. "Now, I've called this meeting-"

"Why are you in a wheelchair" Tony interrupted and I scowled, glaring at him.

"Because my ribs are crunchy and Cho got mad at me for exerting myself " I huffed.

"Wanda also made her" Pietro revealed and I flipped him off.

"Don't think I won't beat you up just because I'm injured" I threatened and he held up his hands in surrender. "Why are you even here? I know for a fact I only asked JARVIS for these four" I asked, gesturing to where Tony, Nat, Steve and Yelena stood.

"I was with Yelena" he explained and I grinned, wiggling my eyebrows. He opened his mouth to protest but I quickly moved on, holding out a box to Tony.

"Here ya go tin man. It's not a heart, unfortunately, but I think it's pretty great."

He rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny McFly, did you wait until you were drunk to wrap all the presents or was it just mine?"

I tutted, shaking my head. "A repeat nickname? You're slipping old man." He hummed, not bothering to respond as he took the poorly wrapped gift and turned it over in his hands. I moved on, handing equally sub-par wrapped gifts to the other three I had summoned.

As expected, Steve was the only one who said thank you. Yelena was simply shocked that she got one and Nat accepted the gift silently.

"I thought I got a gift too" Pietro frowned and I huffed.

"You do but it's a private present so you have to wait."

He grumbled unhappily but simply watched as the four opened their presents.

"World's best housewife?" Tony questioned, raising a brow at me as he held up the comically oversized mug I had gifted him, along with coffee from around the world.

"You know, since you stay home and shop while Pepper runs the company?" I grinned and he blinked.

"I'm an Avenger" he deadpanned.

"I think it fits you well, Stark" Nat hummed, raising an eyebrow as she surveyed her own gift.

"Listen Natasha, you are a very hard person to shop for. I'm not magic" I grumbled. It was true. I had spent a decent amount of time contemplating what to get the redhead, my brain only coming up with earrings, some wrap for sparring and a couple sweatshirts. I was still unhappy with my gift choice, suppressing the desire to grab the items from Nat and try again.

"You could have just given back my sweatshirts you took" Nat said, eyeing the one I had on at the moment. I chuckled lightly, my fingers fidgeting with the sleeve.

"If that would be a better present then sure."

"I think you did great, thank you" Steve said softly, sending me a genuine smile as he gripped one of the framed pictures. Far before Christmas I had employed JARVIS and dug up pictures of Steve's family as well as young pictures of him and Bucky, although the ones with Bucky were less important now that he had his best friend back.

I smiled back at the blonde, my shoulders still tense with worry over the other three. As of now it seemed I was one for three giftwise and I glanced over at Yelena to see that she was simply staring in the box.

"I, uh, figured that since you didn't get to have a childhood that you didn't get to play a lot of games, so I'm kinda trying to set up a game night in the compound. I also stole the idea from Steve but there's a small notebook that I wrote down some movies and music I think you'd like. You can use it to write what you like or what you want to try or..." I trailed off, gnawing on my bottom lip as anxiousness set in.

"She tried hard with your presents" Wanda said, appearing in the doorway and I glanced behind me, sending her a nervous smile before turning back to the group.

She wasn't lying, I had tried extremely hard on all of them. Even Tony, who got a gag gift mixed in with his actual gift. I'd never tell the man but he meant a lot to me and I truly wanted to show him that our seemingly meaningless morning meetings were a highlight of my day.

Wanda's comment seemed to reboot their minds as they realized how tense I was about their gifts.

"Thanks kid, I look forward to using this when you can actually join me" Tony said, smiling genuinely as he ruffled my hair. I halfheartedly swatted him away, feeling myself relax.

"I like the present too. I've never seen the point of Christmas but I really enjoyed this. Maybe next year we'll keep you awake and Stark can throw a party" Nat said, patting my shoulder gratefully, shooting me a smile before departing from the room with Tony and Steve. At her mention of next year I felt my smile falter a little before picking it back up. That's right, I'd be here for next christmas.

"Thank you so much" Yelena said softly, surprising me with a tight hug. "I never got to do Christmas besides a photoshoot we did in Ohio. This is so thoughtful."

I ignored the pain in my ribs and smiled softly, doing my best to hug the blonde back. "You're welcome, Lena. Don't think I'm done showing you cool things though."

"Of course not" she laughed, shaking her head before squeezing me once more and breaking away. With a look towards Pietro she followed the route of the other Avengers out of the room, leaving me with the Maximoff twins.

"Alright, Piet. Your gift" I started, glancing over at Wanda. Her hand was fidgeting with the rings around her neck as she walked over to join the small gifting event. I pulled a small box out of my pocket, biting my lip as I handed it to him. "I went back in time to steal Wanda something of your parents' and I figured you deserved something as special."

The silver-haired man's eyes widened as he opened the box, the old and slightly scuffed watch staring back at him.

"This is..." he trailed off, looking up to me and then Wanda who held up the rings with a small smile, her eyes misting with tears. Pietro set the box containing the watch down, pulling me into a hug that I welcomed, suppressing the pain and hugging him back with all the strength I could manage at the moment.

"Thank you, Shadow" he murmured and I grinned at the nickname.

"You're welcome Sonic."