Strange Winters: Heroes Fall

20. Merry Fucking Christmas

After dealing with cyborgs in L.A and chasing centipede to Malta, Kyra was back in New York in time for a white Christmas. The holiday was still a few weeks out, but most of her loved ones were presently unaccounted for. Steve's disappearance was intentional, but Tony's absence was the result of illegal activities, and he was better found than left alone.

While Kyra was diligently hunting for Tony, she was deliberately leaving her other genius alone. She'd heard that Stephen had since returned home, but still hadn't given up on trying to find a fix for his broken hands. The disappointment was hurting his ego, and if he was insufferable before, now was something else entirely.

The empty tower was getting to her, so she packed her things and took a ride to New Jersey. She called for a ride and Pace came to pick her up, driving her to the gym. It was packed with the pre holiday crowd, but her usuals were still around.

The workout got her feeling better than she had the past few days, and after closing, the gym gang went out for drinks. Without her magic, she was still not Midgardian, and had to pretend to tap out before she drank the whole bar under the table.

The night ended with Kyra driving Pace back to his house. Katie opened the door for them and once Pace was settled inside, she hugged Kyra in a simple welcome home. Kyra, however, held on for much longer.

"The holidays can be a rough time to be alone," Katie acknowledged as they sat down in the living room.

"It's tough when you don't even know where they are," Kyra picked at her pants.

"Still no word on Mr. Stark?"

"Not for a lack of trying."

"Hmm. But he's, him, you know. I'm sure where ever he is, he's making the best out of it."

"Yeah. Not a genius for nothing," Kyra joked.

Katie chuckled. "How's your dad? And your uncle?"

Kyra looked up to see Katie eagerly waiting a response. She laughed. Thor was surely more than just the god of Thunder.

"They're fine. Still working on the house case last I checked."

"Ah, it's just been some year for you, huh?"

"Yeah, seems like it. My stars are hella outta line."

"Well, there's only a few days left. Maybe it'll pass soon. Why don't you go on up and get some sleep?" Katie rubbed Kyra's back.

"Hmm, I will. Good night," she hugged her best friend's mom, keeping her head on her chest for a long minute till she calmed down some.

"Good night," Katie kissed her head, and Kyra went up to sleep.

Lindsay was lights out in the bed as Kyra snuck in on the other side. She took off her hair catcher and put it on the bedside table before slipping down on the pillow. Lindsay turned and wrapped her arm around her, holding her tight. Kyra cuddled close with her best friend, happy to have one loved one close by, and went to sleep.

In the morning, everyone sat together for breakfast. With a table full of family-dad asking everyone's plans for the day while mom doled out delicious breakfast food- Kyra was having a really good time. Afterwords, people went out to work or school.

Kyra went with Katie to the bakery. She helped man the counters until people started coming in for their shifts, and then she and Katie went gift shopping. Thank god for Macy's being a one stop shop. Katie had a list of things her family had made preferences for, and they went around marking things off.

They took a break from the checklist and went free roaming. Kyra happened to be grazing through the men's section when a salesman caught her.

"Need a gift for a special someone?" He asked her, anticipating a yes.