A Gift From: sandy79
Title: All I Want For Christmas
A Gift For: quietlyimplode
Rating: Gen
Warnings/Choose Not To Warn: Mentions of Past Captivity, Mentions of Past Torture (non-graphic and just one sentence)
Summary/Prompt Used: 1. Whump leading to a happy christmas of being all together and happy She finally was back home, at least physically. But her mind is still in that old factory building, trapping her in a dark place she can’t seem to escape. Good thing she has two very determined boyfriends, who would move Heaven and Earth for her. Add a pinch of the Magic of Christmas, and the Avengers might get their very own Christmas Miracle.
Author's Note: written for be_compromised Secret Santa 2020 and quietlyimplode. Slight canon divergence, as Clint and Nat are in an established relationship almost from the beginning, and later added Bucky to the mix (as well as everything after “The Winter Soldier” hasn’t happened XD). Hope you like it! Happy Holidays!

All I Want For Christmas

Beginning of November

“How are things going?”

Try as they might, both Clint and Bucky couldn’t help but jump a little bit at hearing Steve’s “Captain” voice, appearing seemingly out of thin air.

The hallway outside the medical wing of the Avengers Tower was deserted, except for the three men. Sure, in the background you could see all kinds of medical personnel, but for some reason, none of them dared to get closer to where Barton and Barnes were sitting.

“Still working on her,” Clint finally grounded out, accompanied by a quick jerk of his head towards the steel-grey double doors.

“Well, if this were anyone else, I would drag them to our communal kitchen, but…”

“No ten horses, Stevie,” Bucky interrupted, his voice filled with so much venom and ice that Steve feared the worst for a moment.

“What Buck said,” Clint added, and Steve knew that he had to fold it, this time.

“Okay.” The leader of the Avengers took a deep breath. “Nat’s a fighter, always has been, we all know that. She’s gonna pull through, and with the two of you at her side, probably faster than anyone else.” He gave both men a soft smile (or as Bucky would say, a “Steve” smile) before turning on his heel. “Keep me posted.”

And with that, Steve left the hallway, leaving both men to focus their thoughts on the woman they’ve both came to love once more.

*********************

End of November

Home Sweet Home.

For a long time, these three words didn’t really have a meaning for Natasha. Sure, she had a home in both the headquarters and the many safehouses of the Red Room, but these were barely more than a place to rest and regroup between missions.

Then, Clint came into her life, and funny enough, the man sent to end her life would turn out to be the one to give her a new direction, and subsequently, a home that deserved that name.

But right now, that she was out of the medical wing after almost a month, Natasha’s mind was torn. Torn between the safety their apartment provided, in more than one meaning, and that dark place where a rogue group of former KGB agents kept her for far too long. Where they tried to break her down to the cold-hearted, detached assassin she once was.

As if that was ever possible.

“Where’s your mind, Natalia?”

Bucky’s soft voice, constantly laced with worry ever since they rescued her, brought Natasha back to reality. Giving herself a full-body shake, as if she could detangle her mind that way, she tried for a smile - going by Bucky’s slight frown, she wasn’t that successful.

“Just doing some thinking, Yasha,” she reassured him, but Natasha didn’t need to see his eyes to know that he didn’t believe her at all.

“You’re back with them, aren’t you?” he asked, the metal fingers of his prosthetic closing around her right hand.

Natasha only could nod, and once again, she sent a silent thank you to whoever made it possible for all three of them to meet and fall in love. Sure, each of their lives was filled with hurt and pain, but somehow, knowing that at least one of the others could relate to your own pain made it somewhat easier.

She felt Bucky heaving a sigh, and in the next moment, he was holding her in his arms bridal-style and carried her into their bedroom, where he sat her down on the bed in a manner not many would associate with the former assassin.

“Try to sleep a bit,” he ordered before pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “Clint and I will find a way to get them out of your head for good, I promise.”

And in moments like that, Nat loved Bucky even a bit more than usual.

*********************

When Clint came home about an hour later, Bucky resembled more a caged tiger than anything else. Pacing the length of the living room, he even needed some minutes to notice the other man standing in the doorway.

“I would ask you what was wrong, Buck, but we both only have one thing on our minds these days, right?”

“Yeah,” Bucky gave back, suddenly realizing what he was doing and dropping himself into one corner of the couch with a sigh. “I mean, I get it, completely.”

“Get what?” Clint asked while mirroring Bucky on the opposite side.

“That her mind keeps dragging her back to the time of her captivity. It’s absolutely logical, but…”

“...you would move Heaven and Earth and everything else to free her from that as well, huh?”

“Exactly,” Bucky replied with another sigh. “But I have no idea how to help her, besides giving her time. And as everyone knows by now, for a sniper, we both,” he made a gesture between him and Clint, “are quite impatient guys.”

Both men let out a chuckle, remembering how the other team mates teased them on several occasions when one or the other didn’t exactly show one of the main traits of a sniper at all.

“Wanna go to Wakanda? Maybe Shuri and her crew can do something?” Clint suggested.

“The princess is already on the case, but she also told me that while they will try all that’s possible, it’s a whole new planet, compared to what they did for me. Nonetheless, I bet she will have something for us anyway shortly. Besides, I know you’re meeting Laura and the kids at some point during December, and I don’t want to take that away from you.”

“Thanks for the consideration, but I think all remainders of the Barton family can survive a seperated Christmas,” Clint gave back. Sure, it was a lovely tradition to meet Laura and her and Barney’s kids for a weekend in a Christmassy New York, but Clint doubted that he would be able to enjoy it to the fullest this year anyway.

Unless…

“Hey, Buck, you’ve ever been Santa’s helper in your youth? Maybe with your sisters?”

“No,” the other man replied with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “What’s on your mind, Barton?” He added while narrowing his eyes at the archer.

From the hallway, the soft clicks of a door opening and closing could be heard, accompanied by the typical sound of a dog coming closer, so Clint quickly gave Bucky the sign for “later” and the two began a seemingly normal talk about Clint’s day with some of the new trainees for the successor of SHIELD.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at both of them, stating “you’re up to something, right, boys?” before heading into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, both Liho and Lucky on her heels.

*********************

1st of December

The last month of the year began, and with that, the most ambitious plan either man ever had cooked up so far. It was a long-term mission, going on for the next 24 days, and with one clear goal - showing Natasha the beauty of life, the magic of Christmas, their neverending love and free her mind that way from the lingering memories of her captivity.

Of course, the plan was not written in stone, and most of the planned activities could be changed at the proverbial drop of a hat, in case Natasha’s health (or other things like the weather) should stop them in any way.

Though for the first day, Clint had come up with something that was easily doable from their kitchen table.

To Bucky’s amusement, they were going to build a Gingerbread house together. And since they were the Avengers, the plan was, of course, that of Stark Tower over in Manhattan.

Natasha, once Clint presented her with the idea, was, typical for her, quite suspicious about the whole thing, and she immediately stated that she never had made one before, so any kind of failure was probably waiting of the end.

But, like any of the Avengers, Clint was a determined guy above everything else. And so, he set up shop in the kitchen, starting with the mix for the Gingerbread dough.

Though he kept quiet, Bucky also had his doubts (the last gingerbread house he remembered must have been back when his sisters were still young kids), but seeing Clint mixing the dough, spreading it on the baking trays and cutting it into the needed pieces for the house, he slowly was convinced that they were going to make it, somehow.

Several hours later, they actually had the building completed, and despite their misgivings, it really resembled its original. including a small toy figure dressed in Tony’s signature red and gold that Bucky placed on the platform high up at the penthouse.

“So,” Natasha began while they cleaned up the kitchen, “it’s definitely a beauty, but where are we going to put it now? We have two very active pets, if I might remind you.”

“Already thought of that,” Clint answered. “We’re going to deliver it tomorrow to the original. Pepper knew about it, and she not only gave me the resized plans for it, she also suggested that Happy could pick us all up, including our masterpiece, and get us over to Manhattan.”

“Well, you boys can…”

“Stop right there, Natalia,” Bucky interrupted. “We will not leave you behind here. Either we all go or we just give it to Happy. No other possibility here, doll.”

“But…”

“Besides,” Clint took over, “Pepper explicitly told me to bring you along. She only has seen you once in the last month, and that wasn’t a good moment for either of you. She misses her friend, Nat, and I don’t need to be a psychic to know you feel the same.”

“You’re not alone on the road back, doll,” Bucky continued, “and you not only have Clint, and Lucky, and Liho, and me, but all your other friends as well. Maria and Sharon have offered to spend time with you, Tony has all kinds of appliances already in his workshop, just waiting for one of us to give him the green light to bring them over.”

“The same goes for Phil, and even Nick came out of wherever he’s hiding to let us know that he’s here for us, whenever we need him.”

“I…,” Nat began, only to stop and try to swallow the lump appearing in her throat. “I don’t deserve all of that, and before you tell the opposite, let me share the one thing I haven’t told you about my captivity yet.”

“Come on, Nat, it can’t be that bad,” Clint shot back, and Bucky on her other side nodded his head in agreement to the archer’s statement. “Besides, I like to think that no one out there, none of the other Avengers, or anyone else, would NOT break at some point, were they subjected to that kind of torture you were for more than seven weeks.”

“Still, I should be able to resist it, even over a longer period of time,” the redhead gave back, her voice laced with tears. “Russia trained me hard enough to accomplish that.”

“That might be true,” Bucky threw in, “but you know what both Russia and you seem to forget?” He gave her a raised eyebrow, but she didn’t come up with a reply. “You’re only human, Nat, and you’re free of their doctrines long enough to have changed. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I love this new Natasha I see. More than the over-zealous assassin, and definitely more than the young trainee that thought she could take me on at the first meeting.”

Like on so many occasions since she was freed, Bucky pressed a feather-light kiss to her red locks, with Clint following suit at her other side. And for a hot minute, Natasha only relished in that unconditional love she got from “her” guys on any given day.

*********************

25th of December

At long last, the big day was finally here, and all around the globe, famiies would gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. For the next day, the Avengers had a come together at the Tower, but today was reserved for everyone to celebrate with their own families.

Tony, Pepper and Morgan were up at the cabin by the lake, with Peter most likely tagging along; Bruce, Valkyrie, Loki and Thor were in London to celebrate with Jane, Darcy, and Erik. Sam was down in Washington with his whole pack, as he himself called the large Wilson family; Scott and Hope were gearing up for their first Christmas as a married couple, with Cassie, Janet and Hank.

Long story short, everyone had someplace to be, and that thought alone brought a smile to Natasha’s face while she was watching the snow falling outside the window.

The rest of the apartment was still shrouded in silence, but for the first time in a long time, Natasha wasn’t getting afraid of it. On the contrary, she used the time to reflect on the past almost four weeks.

For every day in December, either Clint or Bucky had a plan on what they could do together, and while she was reluctant to join them in any outdoor activity at first, her two lovers showed her that she could, in a proverbial sense, let her hair down, that they had her back and wouldn’t let any harm happen to her.

And so, step by step, Natasha was able to free herself from the dark memories of her weeklong captivity and from the equally dark thoughts that threatened to take her over once more.

“Merry Christmas, doll,” a sleep-ridden yet somewhat sexy voice whispered in her ear, and at the same time, the most unique pair of hands wrapped themselves around her waist. “You slept well?”

“Yeah, the best for quite some time.” Natasha placed her teacup on the windowsill before turning in Bucky’s arms. “Besides, the two of you depleted my power cells quite efficiently last night,” she added with a smirk.

“Shouldn’t you know,” Clint added while joining the hug at Nat’s back, “that once Buck and I have our mind set on something, we’re quite determined to do our best, whatever it takes?”

“Yeah, I should,” Nat admitted, “but still, it surprised me. And I’m not just talking about last night. I mean every single day, ever since you two came blasting through that wall and brought me home. To be honest, some of the ideas you came up with this December were quite hilarious, but still, they served their purpose. They brought this part of me,” she tipped the side of her head,” home as well. And for that alone, I love you both so, so much.”

Nat got on her toes to give Bucky a soft kiss before turning her head back to Clint to repeat the action.

“We love you too, doll, and you know we both would move galaxies to make you happy and feeling loved,” Bucky got out, “and if not for the two of you, I wouldn’t be the man I am today, so it was only fair to me to repay the favor.”

“Ditto,” Clint added, “and while I’m not that much of a religious man, I declare here and now that we’ve managed to make our very own Christmas wonder happen.”

Bucky gave a nod in agreement, and while outside the city was turned into a Winter wonderland, the three lovers kept relishing in each other’s presence.