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December 21st
Sam was either dreaming or going to kill Bucky, and as the small creatures that claimed to be elves made themselves at home in his and Bucky’s DC apartment, he was leaning ever closer to the kill option. Barely able to tear his eyes away from the creatures he opened the fridge to ensure he had used the correct mushrooms in his omelette that morning, while grumbling internally that even though he had, Bucky really needed to label those more clearly. Sam could hardly blame the guy; with his speedy metabolism he had found something that allowed him to feel kind of drunk and it wasn’t like they were going to hurt him. He just needed them kept away from his breakfast ingredients. A crash made him slam the fridge door and search for what was broken. What he saw was an ‘elf’ use some kind of magic to fix a now broken lamp.
OK, so he was dreaming then.
All he needed to do was wake himself up. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?
He tried pinching himself on the soft skin of his forearm. Nothing. So he tried it again. And again. And again. Pinching various parts of his body but only getting the typical sharp pain response and no sign of waking himself up. He could have sworn he wasn’t this deep of a sleeper. By this point there were several pairs of emerald-green eyes on him, observing him like anthropologists. He could have sworn he heard one mutter to another, something along the lines of: “I told you humans we’re weird,” and Sam just felt more confused.
Was he not dreaming?
Were these ‘elves’ real and actually in front of him?
“Are you quite through with your… Human ritual?” One of them asked him.
Great, now they thought he was crazy.
“So, um, you guys are… real?” Sam said.
“As real as you are Captain,” another replied. “If you’re through, we have much to discuss, and the stakes are high. Is Sergeant James Barnes home? He is needed for this too.”
“He’ll be home soon,” Sam explained, distractedly as he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. A glance at the screen told him it was Sarah trying to Facetime him, he answered, intending to tell her he’d call her back but was met with AJ’s excited face.
“Uncle Sam!” AJ called into the camera, “it came, and it fits great,” he exclaimed passing his mother’s phone to someone else, likely his brother, and stepping back to give his uncle a look at him in the festive print suit Bucky had made for him. One of Bucky’s many surprising talents. “Is Bucky there for me to thank him? His phone is off and probably ran out of battery again.”
Sam was careful not to turn his back on his guests, should they appear in the shot as he replied. “That’s great AJ, you look fantastic, you’re gonna look awesome for your pageant next week. Bucky isn’t here, he’s out, but I’ll get him to call and see it later OK? I got a…” Sam paused, “work thing to take care of.” He said, well, the elves did say the stakes were high.
“Oh,” AJ’s face fell, “are you gonna have to go on a mission?”
“Maybe, but I’m sure it’ll be a short one and I’ll be there in time for your pageant. I promise.” AJ looked unsure. Sam had missed a lot in the boys’ lives while he’d been blipped, and he was determined not to miss more than he had to. He was looking forward to seeing AJ perform his first solo in a school concert and knew he had to be there. He couldn’t let him down. “We’ll be there, promise. OK?”
“OK,” AJ said, not sounding entirely convinced. “Love you Uncle Sam.”
“Love you too AJ,” Sam said hanging up. He took a moment to breathe before returning his attention to his guests, all of whom had their eyes concentrated on Sam. Hadn’t they heard of privacy in the North Pole? Lapland? Wherever they were from. Luckily, before he could start to feel awkward the front door opened, and Bucky returned.
“Hey Sam,” he called from down the hall, “I got the stuff you wanted for tonight, they didn’t have the flavour you wanted, but I found another I think you’re gonna enjoy- what the-?” Bucky rounded the corner and laid eyes on the seven elves. “Um… Sam, you see them too, right?”
“Yep,” Sam replied.
“You used the right mushrooms this morning for breakfast right? I know I haven’t got round to re-labelling them yet, but-”
“Buck,” Sam shook his head, gesturing with his hand for Bucky to shut up about the mushrooms. “Um, these elves,” he nodded, “have something they need to talk to us about, something with high stakes?”
Bucky looked over the elves and nodded slowly, “I’ll just, go put this away,” he said, holding up the bag and nodding towards their bedroom.
“Quickly if you could,” one of the elves spoke up, startling them both.
Sam and Bucky sat across from the elves while they explained why they had come to find Captain America of all people.
“Christmas is in danger,” Buddy, the leader elf with deep emerald eyes and a long beard that went down to his middle, told them.
“Santa is missing, he was meant to officiate the opening ceremony of the Reindeer Games, but he never showed up,” Sugarplum, or S.P. added.
“Well, Santa’s a busy guy,” Sam suggested, accepting the situation, “maybe he’s checking his list and lost track of time, there’s billions of kids in the world, checking that list’s gotta take some time.”
“We checked the list room, it was empty. Mrs Claus hasn’t seen him in a few days either. Santa is nowhere. We had Elf Security check the tapes, they show he was taken, kind of, here,” Pixie, a younger elf with a blonde pixie cut and a permanent Bluetooth attachment in her ear said, holding out a USB drive that was striped like a candy cane.
Bucky took it from her and plugged it into a StarkPad they had, pulling up the video.
The video showed a large man in a classic Santa suit talking with some elves dressed in oil splashed overalls and working on a sleigh, their attention was caught by a light, just barely visible out of frame and which then grew to flash and white-out the screen for a few moments before the picture returned. The elves in the video were rubbing their eyes and the Santa figure was gone.
“The security team picked up a strange energy signature in the area, but they can’t trace it,” Pixie explained. “We thought with your technology and your being a hero, that you might be able to help us?”
Sam looked between the elves and the screen; they were clearly serious about this. Sam couldn’t deny what he had seen and was seeing with his own eyes, there were elves in his living room and a clip of Santa going missing. And they were coming to him to solve it at the worst possible time. Sam really didn’t want to disappoint AJ, but he also couldn’t be responsible for ruining Christmas for millions and millions of kids. Sam dragged his hand over his face.
Then again, maybe he wouldn’t have to disappoint AJ, and everyone could have their Christmas. Santa needed saving before Christmas Eve, which was the night of the pageant. They could do this… Surely they could. A glance beside him to Bucky told him he was thinking about the same things. Their eyes met and Bucky did that discrete nod he did.
“OK, we’ll help you guys, but we have to make this quick, I wanna save Christmas, but I also have a nephew I don’t wanna disappoint and I’m sure you need the big guy back in time for Christmas.”
“Thank you Captain,” Buddy said, “you should gather things to leave right away, we took your public transport, but it took us two days, so we’ll need transportation to these co-ordinates.”
Sam and Bucky shared a look. There was no way they’d be able to- Yes, yes they would. There was one person they could always rely on, though they might have to do some fake paperwork afterwards, they could work that out later.
“We know someone,” Bucky confirmed.
Joaquín Torres was in his new Falcon flight suit when he got the call from Sam and Bucky. When Sam had made him the new Falcon the Air Force had allowed him to transfer to the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York for proper training as long as they could call him in from time to time to provide support. He touched down and answered the call in his earpiece.
“Hey Sam, what’s up?” He asked breathlessly unscrewing the cap on a bottle of water. “Um, yeah, I think I can borrow a Quinjet, do you want me to stick around for back-up? Just recon? OK, well, I’m sure Rhodey will OK it, see you in a bit. Airfield in DC, copy that.”
Joaquín showered off and went to see Rhodey who was overseeing the new Avengers.
“They just wanna do some recon on a possible Hydra base that Bucky had some memory about.” Joaquín relayed the information he had been given.
Rhodey sat back in his chair, Hydra weren’t as prevalent as they once were, but they were still and always would be a risk, but he couldn’t for a moment fathom why they would have a base in the location Sam and Bucky were asking to go to. But still, if Bucky had recovered a memory, it should at least be investigated.
“I’ll approve the jet, but they need to submit paperwork and mission reports after the holidays.”
“Thank you, Sir, I’ll be sure to let them know.”
December 22nd
The Quinjet touched down on the icy plains of the Artic and Sam, Bucky and the several small creatures Joaquín had been advised not to ask about, departed from their transport. Sam was tightening the straps on his back when Joaquín, dressed in the finest thermals an AI could design, approached him rubbing his hands together and looking like he was trying not to shiver.
“What do bad guys and evil scientists have against tropical climates?” Joaquín asked, “it’s always blizzards and snowstorms, never beaches and palm trees.”
“You’re telling me,” Sam agreed, already starting to feel the cold. According to the elves, they had a long hike ahead of them and he was not looking forward to it.
“Look, are you sure you don’t want me to wait around for back-up?”
“And have you freeze? Honestly J, get your butt somewhere warmer and enjoy the holidays, after this re-con we’ll be heading to my sister’s place.”
“I know, you said, but how’re you getting there?”
“Um, it’s one of those things it’s better we don’t discuss,” Sam said, because honestly, he was hoping the elves might be able to help them out there. He may have been able to fly himself out of there but there was no way he’d be able to make it all the way to Delacroix carrying Bucky. And it wasn’t like Bucky could fly the suit carrying him, there was a crater in Sarah’s back yard that said that would never be happening.
“Well, if you’re sure?”
“I’m sure, I’ll see you in the New Year for some training, you never know, if he commits to his retirement, I might need a new work partner.”
“The day Bucky Barnes commits to retirement is the day Satan ice skates to work,” Joaquín quipped.
Sam stifled a laugh, knowing Joaquín was probably right. “We’ll figure something out, your hard works been paying off, you’ve done good work. Now go on, get outta here and I’ll see you after the holidays.”
The jet departed behind them and Sam and Bucky began their several hour trek through the snow. The Serum kept Bucky warm, and Sam’s suit had come with a special lining that kept him a good temperature, though it was really meeting its match in their current climate. Still, by nightfall, they arrived at a small village that began as a hazy glow in the distance.
Th buildings were petite by regular human standards but still looked large enough that Sam and Bucky might stand comfortably, while still having to duck under doorways, and everything was decorated for Christmas. Lights hung between lamps and buildings, garlands were hung at every available opportunity and the whole place somehow smelled of cinnamon and gingerbread. The hour was late as their party wound through the snowy streets towards a large, regular-sized house with dark windows.
“This is Santa’s home when he came to the Elf Town. We’ll rest up here for the night before going on to HQ tomorrow,” Buddy informed them, placing his hand against a panel that unlocked the door.
“HQ?” Bucky asked before Sam could. In the mudroom they took off their boots and followed the elves deeper into the house.
“Head Quarters, it’s under the Workshop, it’s where we keep the List as well as where Pixie works,” S.P. explained.
Bucky nodded as Peppermint started a fire going and Pixie and Tinsel headed through to the kitchen to look for provisions. Sam looked around the lounge room, it was cosy and appeared lived in, but there were no pictures of small, homely touches.
“Are you sure Santa won’t mind us staying the night?” Sam asked. “Do we have time?”
Pixie answered as she re-entered the room, “we have time, I’m in constant contact with the squad at HQ, they don’t have a lock on his location yet, they should have one by morning,” she explained. “The connection to the main kitchens is still active,” she said, turning to Buddy, “we can order food and it will be sent through the portal, I asked them to send something that’ll warm us through.”
“Excellent news,” Buddy nodded, “if Santa is gone for too long, the North Pole begins to lose its magic, so I’m sure you understand the importance of finding him. The fact the portal is still working is good, it means there is still hope and still time.” He explained to Sam and Bucky. “When the food arrives, please help yourself, upstairs there are rooms, Santa keeps a few in case other magical figures visit, feel free to use any of those. They should be equipped with everything you need; and the adjoining bathroom should have hot water.”
Sam and Bucky at the food that was sent through the portal and retired. Sam felt warmed by the food and then more just by Bucky’s proximity. Thanks to the Serum, Bucky always ran toasty and warm. On cold Winter nights, Sam usually got to reap the benefits of that, tonight seemed no exception as Bucky piled the blankets and throws onto the bed to keep them warm for the night.
December 23rd
The next morning, the elves led the way to Santa’s Workshop, Sam looked around in wonder. It was very much like he had imagined it as a child, with thousands of workstations and hundreds of departments for different types of toys. Bucky trailed behind him, a smile on his face as Sam delighted in pointing out things he had once gotten.
“I always wondered why my parents looked confused, me and Sarah used to assume they bought them early and forgot about wrapping them,” he explained. They followed the elves to a concealed elevator. Sam wasn’t sure how many levels they went down, but unless the elevator moved slower than almost set toffee it was a lot.
HQ saw giant screens with surveillance all over the globe. Sam kept hearing names being called out from various directions followed by the word either ‘Naughty’ or ‘Nice’ while the screens constantly changed to show different people.
Pixie led their group to a door along the back wall, inside felt like something both Sam and Bucky were accustomed to, a war room. Well, a much more Christmassy version of a war room. Elves with ear pieces like Pixie were hustling around, talking fast.
“How goes the search?” Buddy asked, stepping up to a large screen where an in charge looking elf stood giving instructions.
“We’re closing in on a location, about a day’s walk from here, we’re doing some last checks on the buildings in the area to find out who supposedly owns them, but we have enough information to give you a list of supplies you’ll need to get there.”
“Fantastic work Noel, we have brought Captain America and the White Wolf, they will need briefing,” Buddy told him. Noel turned around and laid eyes on Sam and Bucky for the first time. His eyes widened as he looked them up and down.
“You really think they’re up to the job Bud?”
“I am sure they are I know it in fact. If anyone can help us get Santa back, it’s these two.”
“Well we can’t do a briefing until we have all of our research finished, we’ll need a couple of hours,” Noel said, turning and returning to work.
“You two should explore the village, see the sights,” Buddy suggested. “We’ll gather the supplies, oh- word of advice, avoid the snow cone emporium,” he said, “they started experimenting with all-natural ingredients.” Sam and Bucky shared a look, “if you do go, avoid the ‘lemon’.” Buddy said.
“I don’t like how you put air quotes around the word lemon,” Sam eyed Buddy suspiciously.
“Sam,” Bucky murmured before mouthing the words yellow snow at him.
“That’s disgusting.”
They spent an hour walking hand in hand around the village and avoiding the snow cone shop. It was full of life in the morning yet every bit as charming as it had been the night before by the glow of the streetlamps. The village elves looked at them curiously a couple of them, younger seeming and holding action figures, approached Sam and he signed them when they asked. Time flew quickly as they explored and it wasn’t long before they were meeting back at HQ for the briefing.
“We’ve locked Santa’s location to this warehouse here,” Noel said.
Beside Sam Bucky muttered “always a warehouse,” that went ignored by the rest of the room, though Sam was inclined to agree, and Noel continued.
“The location has excellent recon points on the surrounding buildings. We have an ETA of 15 hours of travel time, you will camp overnight before proceeding with the rescue, I understand you have drones?” Noel addressed Sam.
“Yeah, well I have one, I have Redwing.”
“And you’re sure Redwing will be sufficient?”
Sam raised an eyebrow and confirmed. “He’s never let me down before.”
Noel sniffed, “we will provide back-ups, to be sure,” he said before turning back and continuing to explain the plan. Sam fought the urge to roll his eyes, guessing this elf wasn’t exactly a fan would win him no awards. Once the briefing was over, Sam, Bucky and the elves who had brought them from DC set off on their journey.
Sam wasn’t sure what he expected to see hiking through a candy cane forest, but as it turned out, it was very much what the description said. He and Bucky were following the elves down a path between large candy canes, lollypops were growing from the snow-covered ground, likely a substitute for flowers, there were occasional ponds that appeared to be melted chocolate or really chocolatey hot cocoa and the snow wasn’t cold. In fact, nothing felt cold in here. Sam felt like he was out on a perfect temperature day even though the snow surrounded him. Buddy assured them that their multiple layers were necessary, the temperature would plumet overnight.
Their party made it to the clearing where they were due to settle in for the night with enough light remaining to pitch their tents and for the elves to teach them how to start a fire with candy cane branches. As the sky darkened the temperature began to lower and Sam shuffled closer to Bucky around the fire, getting more heat from Bucky that the flame. Sam was glad that he’d thought to get some of the food packs from the Quinjet, as it appeared the elves survived mainly off of sugary treats.
The tent that the elves had procured for them was surprisingly big enough for Bucky to lay down with extra room by his toes. Their sleeping bags, though meant to be thermal barely shielded Sam from the chill seeping into the tent. He woke to Bucky shaking his shoulder.
“Sam?” He whispered, “Sam, baby, wake up,” he continued.
“Huh-wha-?”
“I can hear your teeth chattering, come here,” Bucky was unzipping both of their sleeping bags and starting to zip them together.
Sam grumbled, the chill setting in and he rubbed his arms. Bucky finished connecting their sleeping bags and pulled off his shirt, wrapping an arm around Sam and pulling him closer. Sam shivered as he adjusted. Bucky’s chin hooked over his shoulder and he pushed one of his legs between Sam’s to help him get warmer.
December 24th
It was still dark when Sam groaned and attempted to turn over on the hard ground, only to find himself pinned under Bucky’s arm. He managed to turn finding Bucky’s bare chest. Sam wrapped his arm under Bucky’s and rested his head on his chest, he could hear Bucky’s steady heartbeat and closed his eyes. The heat coming off of Bucky was perfect against the chill creeping in against the edge of the sleeping bag. Bucky rolled onto his back, taking Sam with him. Sam listened and couldn’t hear any movement outside, so he allowed his eyes to close.
He woke again, a while later, to Bucky’s warm fingers trailing under his shirt and over his spine, it felt nice so he nuzzled closer. He could feel his morning hardness trapped between himself and Bucky’s hip and Bucky’s own pressed against his own side.
“Morning,” Bucky breathed softly above Sam’s hair, tilting his chin to kiss his curls. “I know you’re up,” Bucky teased him, “I heard your heartbeat change.”
Sam sighed and nuzzled closer, “I’m not denying I’m up,” Sam mumbled against Bucky’s shoulder. “Besides, looks like I’m not the only one,” he teased, running his hand down Bucky’s bare chest and over the front of his tented pants.
Bucky inhaled sharply, his hips jutting up to meet Sam’s hand. “Pot and kettle doll,” Bucky returned as soon as he trusted his voice. Turning on his side, Bucky tilted Sam’s face towards him and brought their lips together. Effortlessly he rolled onto Sam, between his legs, holding the majority of his weight off of him. Bucky’s unshaven face rubbed against Sam’s. Bucky’s mouth swallowed the moans that threatened to wake their team. “Gotta keep it down baby,” Bucky reminded him, rolling his hips, and pushing his own hardness into Sam’s. Sam bit his lip to keep himself from moaning, “atta-”
Bucky cut off and they both froze as a cheerful: “Rise and shine everyone!” echoed throughout the camp.
Beneath him, Sam’s head sank back onto the fleece he was using as a pillow and Bucky sighed. Now he had to add ‘getting cock blocked by Santa’s elves’ to the list of weird shit that had happened to him in his already weird life.
“When we get to Louisiana,” Sam murmured, “you an’ me, are taking the boat for a spin.”
Bucky raised an eyebrow, “I thought after last time you said you were never going fishing with me again?”
“Did I say we were going fishing?” His words clicked with Bucky and the man smirked leaning in to kiss him. Sam ducked. “As much as I want to, that isn’t gonna help either of us out right now,” he reminded Bucky who supposed he was right.
After breakfast and packing up their camp, Sam, Bucky and the elves made the final hour of their journey to the warehouses. It still confused Sam as to why there were even warehouses there, but he decided not to ask, not knowing whether he would like the answer he got. They found the roof they were to do their recon from, and Sam awoke Redwing who hummed as it was given instructions.
“All right buddy, go scan the building, get a blueprint and locations of anyone inside,” Sam said. The elves watched amazed as Redwing flew off and Bucky looked on in pride. He may not have loved Redwing, but it was still nice to see the face of people who had never seen the drone at work. “Now we just wait,” Sam told them.
They headed back inside the abandoned building to wait for Redwing to return. They had been inside for ten minutes when Sam’s phone buzzed. Sam and Bucky stared at his pocket, both amazed Sam could even receive a call up here before Sam walked off to the far side of the room to answer the call.
It was AJ.
“Hey AJ,” Sam said, trying not to let the elves overhear him.
“Hey Uncle Sam, how was your mission? Did you win? Are you at the airport?” AJ asked in rapid fire.
“Um, not exactly buddy. We’re nearly done,” he added, trying to save face, but it dawned on Sam that it was Christmas Eve and AJ’s pageant was that night.
“It’s Ok Uncle Sam,” AJ sounded quieter now, “I understand.”
“Hey, we’ll try our best, promise, I want to be there AJ, I’m so excited to hear you sing and so is Bucky.”
“OK,” AJ said softly. Before he could respond Sam heard the phone being put down and Sarah calling out to her son. The call was ended and Sam leaned against the wall, considering calling Joaquín back in to come get him and Bucky and even willing to sound completely crazy to convince him what they had actually been doing up here. Sam looked over to Bucky and saw him absently stroking something in his pocket, likely one of his weapons. Bucky had been doing that a lot over the last month, but whatever had been in his pocket, he refused to tell Sam what was, or let him see. Suddenly, Bucky’s voice sounded out, pulling Sam back into work mode.
“Redwing’s coming back,” he said softly. Sam followed the others back onto he roof; pausing to look at the photo of him and the boys from his last visit that functioned as his phone background. He would make it to that pageant, he just had to.
Back in Delacroix, AJ sat in his room at the desk he shared with his brother. He was meant to be practising his solo for the pageant, but a more urgent matter had come up, something he felt he needed to do right away. Hunched under the desk lamp, AJ wrote in his neatest handwriting on a letter to Santa.
Dear Santa,
I know it’s a little late for me to be writing to you to tell you what I would like for Christmas, but I’d like for you to ignore my previous letter. The things I asked for would be nice, but really there’s only one thing that I really want for Christmas. I don’t need a super soaker, I don’t need a new bike, and I don’t need a new set of paints. What I really want, the only thing I want, is for my Uncle Sam and his boyfriend Bucky to be able to spend Christmas with us, his family. They were both blipped, so this would be the first Christmas we’ll have all spent as a family in over five years.
I understand if it’s too late or it’s not something you can do, but if there’s anything you can do, anything at all, it would be much appreciated by me and my brother Cass.
Even if you can’t help me, thanks for being great Santa.
Lots of love,
AJ Wilson.
AJ sealed the letter into his homemade envelope and got up to look for his jacket and helmet so he could go send his letter. As he searched for his bike helmet, behind him on the desk, his letter twitched as a breeze entered the room through the cracked open window.
Suddenly, the window was thrown open and all of the papers on AJs desk rose up in a whirlwind. Things slowly started dropping out and back to the desk, but not the letter, AJs letter to Santa drifted towards the open window. He dove to catch it but the corner slipped through his fingers.
“No!” He gasped and sprinted through the house. He spied it from the porch and took off, calling out to his mom he was going out. He chased the letter out onto the dock by the house, barely stopping short of the end as he watched his letter fly into the distance. “No,” he whispered.
Using the blueprints and the body map Redwing provided, their team established that there were five people beside Santa. That meant either one boss and four henchmen, or a gang, though Sam still couldn’t work out who would want to kidnap Santa. From their movements it looked for sure like there were two pairs patrolling and then one person with Santa and the sleigh. The person with Santa was pacing and talking animatedly.
“OK,” Sam began, “it looks like there’s five guys and Santa, no back up, let us handle the patrols, Bucky I want you and your team going in through the vent system, you’re all small enough to get through without making too much noise, Pixie, I’m leaving you this,” he took off one of the screens attached to his wrist, “this is connected to what Redwing sees, you’re the eyes and ears, if he gets seen, he’s set to stun,” he told her and she looked delighted. “Let me and Bucky handle to goons, do not engage until we give the signal, understood?” The elves nodded and Bucky made sure to check they had all removed any bells from their uniforms. A single jingle could give them away. The team high-fived and got into their positions.
30 minutes later, Sam and Bucky were tied to chairs on either side of Santa while Dr K. Oss, and Sam was unsure whether he trusted that this guy was a Dr, ranted. Sorry, monologued. This guy was actually monologing at them. Sam had fought some cheesy ‘villain of the week’ types in his time as Captain America but this one, this had to be the one that made him most feel like he was in one of those cartoons he’d agreed to do his own voice for. To make it worse, those goons had knocked out Sam’s earpiece, meaning he couldn’t hear how the rest of the team were doing.
Two chairs down, Bucky was not so internal about his disbelief.
“Is this guy actually gonna monologue at us?” He asked, Sam wasn’t sure if he was addressing him or Santa. “Christ, Sam it’s like being in one of those cartoons we voiced.”
Dr K. Oss whipped around, and he did not look impressed. He stalked over to them and put his hands on his hips, “are you interrupting me? Didn’t your mother teach you it was rude to interrupt someone who is speaking?” Sam got his first good look at Dr K. Oss. He was about Sam’s age, he would guess, he had a thick European accent but spoke with a lot of Americanisms in his speech, leading Sam to believe he had either grown up in Europe and learned a lot of the language from American TV shows, he had work that took him to the US, or he lived there.
“Of course she did, but, um, we’re kind of in a rush,” Bucky responded, “it’s his nephew’s Christmas Pageant, we promised we’d be there, but then, you went and kidnapped the big guy over here. So, if you don’t mind, the CliffNotes version would be super helpful,” Bucky said. Sam wasn’t sure why Bucky was antagonising this guy.
Dr K. Oss turned towards Sam. “Is he always this rude?”
Sam shrugged as best he could with his hands tied behind his back, “Not to everybody, but to people who kidnap Santa and try to ruin Christmas? He makes a special effort. Look, I’d rather not disappoint my nephew, so if you could go double speed, it would be much appreciated.”
Dr K. Oss let out an exasperated sigh, “fine, OK, whatever,” he said. “But pay attention,” he warned. “I might quiz you while I wait for the reports of Santa being missing to flow in.”
“Of course,” Bucky nodded, sitting up to look like he was paying attention. “Um, I do better if I take notes, I have a notebook,” and Bucky actually stood from his chair, “but could you lend me a pen?”
Sam gaped as it took Dr K. Oss a moment to realise.
“Why, yes, of course-” he was reaching into his lab coat before he realised Bucky was standing. “Hye wait a- Guards!” He bellowed, but it was too late, he was cut off by a vent from the air conditioning tunnels falling and hitting him on the head, knocking him out cold.
Both Sam and Santa hissed and recoiled, that looked nasty.
“Great work guys come on down,” Bucky called up to the ceiling. Buddy and the other elves dropped via a rope and Bucky took out a knife to cut the ties holding Sam and Santa.
“Where in God’s name were you hiding that? Those guards took like 12 weapons from you.” Sam said to him.
“My boots,” Bucky shrugged. “They never checked after finding the first one in there.” As Bucky spoke, Sam went to check on the Dr, he was still breathing, thankfully, though he had no idea how they were going to explain what he had done and why he needed arresting to the cops.
“Leave that to us,” Santa said, as though he could read Sam’s mind. Then again, maybe he could, he knew when people were sleeping, surely mind reading wasn’t that far of a jump. “We’ll make sure he and his henchmen are dealt with.” Sam wanted to ask more but decided the less he knew the better. He decided to change the subject, slightly.
“Did he mention why he decided to capture you?” He asked Santa.
“I disappointed him one year by not bringing him what he wanted for Christmas, changing your mind at the last minute rarely gets you the thing you want, which made him stop believing. Once a child stops believing in me then their name comes off the lists and they don’t receive gifts from me. He rediscovered my existence and sought revenge.”
Helicopters could be heard closing in from a distance. Bucky clarified from his earpiece with Pixie that their rescue party was on its way.
Back at HQ all of the elves were celebrating Santa’s rescue, but as soon as they were back, the rush to finish loading the sleigh by nightfall was on. Sam and Bucky lent a hand, after all, it wasn’t like they could leave and survive after nightfall.
“I can’t thank the two of you enough,” Santa said as he prepared for take-off. “If there’s anything that I can-” Santa cut off and looked up to see a letter drifting down to him. “Excuse me one moment,” he said, opening the letter. Sam caught a glimpse at the writing on the envelope, thinking it looked somewhat familiar. Santa chuckled, “well, it looks like I have two gifts still to put in my sleigh,” he turned back to Sam and Bucky, opening the side door. “Climb on in boys. Looks like my first stop is going to be in Delacroix, Louisiana, special delivery.” Sam and Bucky’s jaws dropped.
Bucky looked around, taking one last, long look towards the direction of the candy forest and the warehouses before smiling sadly. Sam noticed his hand went to his pocket but didn’t go in this time as it had so many times over their journey. Bucky climbed into the sleigh and Sam followed, thanking Santa profusely as he did.
AJ peaked through the curtain in the school auditorium ahead of the big performance. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t much in the mood to sing, but he had worked so hard, he had to give it his all anyway, even if his Uncle couldn’t make it. The lights were dimmed and his teacher in the spotlight introducing the first performance of the evening. AJ wasn’t a part of that one, so he stayed backstage, looking at the empty seats beside his mom and brother and sighed, closing the curtain and gathering around his teacher with the rest of the choir.
She patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and assured him being nervous was a good thing and he smiled, even though she was off the mark about his feelings. The other group finished, and the teacher went back out to introduce Cass, and the choir. Cass heard his mom and brother cheering loudly for him and took his place on stage in front of the microphone.
He nodded to Mr Nolan, the Piano teacher that he was ready to begin when the doors were thrown open. AJ and everyone else’s eyes darted to them and he grinned as Sam and Bucky rushed into the auditorium, looking guilty about the noise they made as they settled into their seats. AJ’s smile stayed wide as he looked back to Mr Nolan to let him know they could carry on. AJ sang with a renewed giddiness and excitement that his Uncle had made it, which surely meant his letter had worked. It had gotten to Santa.
After the pageant, AJ threw himself into Sam’s arms, whispering “I knew you’d make it,” as he held onto his Uncle.
“To hear you perform, always.”
The five of them returned to the house for hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows before bed in their Christmas Eve pjs.
“Uncle Sam, do you have any new stories?” AJ asked as they climbed the stairs.
Sam shared a look with Bucky, “you bet we do,” Bucky responded.
Sam and Bucky tucked the boys into their beds and started telling the story of their adventure animatedly. Cass listened laid on his side against his pillow, but AJ sat upright with vested interest the whole way through.
“Did that really happen?” AJ asked softly as Sam was tucking his blankets around him.
“All of our mission stories really happened AJ,” Sam replied quietly. “Especially that one,” he winked. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” AJ yawned, just remembering to take off his glasses and set them on the nightstand.
Back downstairs Sarah had finished setting her presents to the boys out and Sam and Bucky added theirs to the pile. They spent some time catching up with Sarah before she went to bed, leaving them alone. When Bucky was sure Sarah was asleep, he nudged Sam. “Wanna take that boat ride?” He asked quietly.
Sam smirked. “Absolutely.”
Sam got the keys to his truck which he left in Delacroix and they drove to the docks. The boat sat majestically in the water. The tide was too low for them to take the boat out, but they could still use the bunk that was under there all the same.
“I can’t believe we made it,” Bucky said, holding Sam’s hand as they walked towards the boat.
“I think that makes five of us, at least,” Sam told him. At the boat, Bucky let himself on and helped Sam down onto the deck. Wrapping his arms around Sam’s waist, Bucky kissed him.
“Love you Sam.” He murmured.
“Love you too Buck.”
December 25th
The next morning, long after their return and Christmas morning waffles, the family gathered around the tree to open their present. The adults sat back, watching the boys open their many gifts, piles which Sam noticed were larger than the night before but kept to himself. Once the boys had opened all of theirs, they started handing them out to Sam, Bucky and Sarah. Sam could tell Bucky’s smile was artificial but couldn’t work out why. When all of the presents had been opened, Sarah produced a handily stashed trash bag for all of the wrapping paper, and they started to clear up.
AJ’s voice startled Sam as he called out, “hey wait, there’s one more back there,” Sam and Bucky and Sarah looked confused. “It’s for Bucky.”
AJ handed Bucky a small box with an envelope attached. “Bucky, I noticed you didn’t get this back last night, thanks for the help, Santa,” he read the letter aloud. Bucky grinned and waved Sam over to where he was stood to show him the letter. Sam took the letter from him and read the elegant script for himself. “Actually, he got this wrong, it’s not for me, it’s for you,” Bucky said, handing the small box over to Sam. Sam turned it over in his fingers and opened it-.
“Oh my God,” Sam breathed. When he looked up again, Bucky was in front of him and down on one knee, an open ring box in his hand.
“Sam,” Bucky began, “I love you; you’ve been a part of my life since you tackled me that day back when I wasn’t myself. I’ve always felt like we could talk about anything, even when we were stubborn and ignoring each other and especially when we were on the run and teasing Steve,” Sam chuckled. “I love you and I love your family and I want to spend the rest of my days with you. If you’ll have me that is. What I’m saying, Sam, is will you marry me?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Of course, yeah, Bucky, of course I’ll marry you,” Bucky grinned, get up here,” Sam pulled Bucky to him to kiss him. “I did wonder what you were hiding,” Sam admitted as Bucky slid a neat white-gold band onto his finger with a small inlaid diamond that didn’t stick out. Perfect for Sam to keep wearing at work and perfectly in line with his simple tastes in jewellery.
Sarah and the boys rallied around them to get a look at the ring and welcome Bucky to the family before Sarah called the boys off, telling them to take their new things to their room.
“I’m happy for you, both of you,” Sarah told Sam hugging him and then Bucky. “Welcome to the family, as if you weren’t all ready a part of it,” she told him.
“Thanks Sarah, it means a lot,” Bucky told her. “And I promise you, I have the best of intentions with your brother.”
Sarah snorted laughing, “is that why the two of you snuck out to have some alone time on the boat last night?” Both Sam and Bucky looked horrified, but Sarah laughed, “I have a security camera that alerts me to any movement on there when it’s not being used. I turned it off when I realised what y’all were doing, but just so you know for next time. Though I do appreciate you not wanting to wake me or the boys up with this one over here,” she said, nodding to her brother.
Sam decided he wouldn’t win protesting that one and accepted the teasing, as Sarah retreated to take the trash bag out and give them a moment of privacy he wrapped an arm around his fiancé. Wow, fiancé that was going to take some getting used to, but he loved it, almost as much as he loved his fiancé, who he brought in for a long, sweet kiss.