"Hey, (Y/N), can you come to my office please?"

"Right away, Director," you sighed, rolling your eyes at Daisy and reluctantly jumping up from the couch. "I'm sure he's got some high-stakes job for me again. You know, like the last time when he sent me out with the lunch order."

She laughed and grabbed your hand as you began to walk away, holding you back before you could get away. "Hey, give him time. It's hard for him to adjust to you being here. He'd never admit it, but he's just scared to send you into anything dangerous yet."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. He's gonna need to get over it soon, though, or I'm out."

You crossed the hallway and entered Coulson's office, looking around but not seeing him right away. "Uncle Phil?" You took a few steps deeper inside, moving behind his desk to find an envelope with 'Avengers' written in large letters over the front and your name clipped to it; it began to make you a little nervous, but excited to know if this was why he called you in.

"Hey, kiddo," he announced, walking in with a large box in his hands and an excited grin on his face. "I see you've found your package. Here," he said, handing the box to you, "this goes too. I need you to head to the tower tonight to drop this off so I don't miss my deadline."

Giving the box a tiny shake, just to get some idea of what was inside, you smiled at the revelation of what it was. Lifting a corner up, you peeked in and confirmed your guess; the box was filled with Christmas cookies. "Death defying stuff here, Phil," you smirked, "another touch-and-go mission for me."

"This is very important, (Y/N)," he replied, his face suddenly serious. "Fury needs this there tonight so the team has time to get it all done. Clock's ticking, so on your way."

"What could possibly be so time-sensitive with a box of cookies?"

Phil reached over and grabbed the envelope, dropping it on top of the box as you held it. "This envelope holds top secret information, and I'm trusting you to get there on time and give it only to Nick, okay? The entire operation could fall apart if that gets into the wrong hands."

You lifted the tab open on the envelope and looked inside, more curious now than ever. A loud laugh escaped you when you saw the 'top secret information', but Phil maintained his serious expression as you caught your breath a few moments later.

"Secret Santa names? Really?"

~~~

"Alright, kids, gather around," Nick called out from the living room at the tower, "the Secret Santa list is here, and it's time to get shopping."

Now that the team had grown by nearly double after the battle in Sokovia, it was decided that Christmas would be much easier for everyone if the celebration changed to a Secret Santa gift exchange. As it turns out, superheroes don't have much time for shopping. As each of the teammates arrived, Nick stood at the center of the room with a handful of envelopes, marked with each of their names.

"There's an envelope for each of you. Inside is the name of who you will be giving a gift to. Remember, don't give away who you have until we get together at the party to open them all."

Tony bounced into the room with an eager expression, quickly finding you standing next to Nick with the box from Phil still in your hands. "Yeah, yeah, that's great, Fury. But I smell cookies." He grabbed the box and ripped the top off, shoving two cookies into his mouth and taking two more before he handed it to the others. "You make these, sweetheart? They're amazing!"

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, that's classified. I'm just on delivery today."

"I'll tell ya what," he said with a mouthful of cookies and crumbs down the front of his shirt, "if you deliver about three dozen more of these, and figure out how to call me 'Tony' once and for all, there might just be something under the tree for you too." He grabbed his envelope and another few cookies before hurrying out the door and back to his lab.

"Party is on Friday, (Y/N)! You had better be there!"

~~~

While Phil helped load up the trays of cookies that the two of you had worked on all day, you checked your outfit one last time before finally deciding to leave for the party at the tower. You could feel your nerves building with each passing moment; you hadn't spent much time with the team other than visiting a few times on business when Nick or Phil sent you in. This would be the first time you had any real interaction with them outside of work, and you had been anxiously looking forward to it since Tony invited you.

"You look great," Phil sighed, finished with the trays and standing to admire your new dress, but with a slight pout across his lips. "I wish I could go. Man, it really sucks being dead."

"You should put that on a t-shirt."

"At least I make dead look really good."

"And there's the back of the t-shirt," you chuckled. "I offered to go in with a live feed, but you're the one who said no. I believe that takes away any whining privileges you think you may have had."

~~~

The party was in full swing when you arrived, and between Tony, Thor and Clint, a fair share of the cookies were eaten before they reached the lounge. You scanned the room to find Nick, finally locating him at the bar with Natasha in what looked like a very serious drinking game. Making your way over to duo, who you knew better than anyone else in the room, you grabbed one of the shot glasses from the row that was lined up in front of them and threw it back quickly, grimacing at the burn of alcohol in your throat.

"So, whatcha playing?"

Nick laughed as he watched you shake the surprise from your expression, even more shocked when you grabbed another glass to down just as quickly as the first. "We're playing 'Nat insists she can handle her liquor better than I can so we're gonna find out'. But, darlin', I feel like maybe you need to join in too."

"You're on," you coughed, "I learned from the best."

"Me, right?" he said with a large grin, looking proudly at Natasha.

"Agent May. No offense, but she makes you look like a lightweight, Nick."

Within fifteen minutes, your body was feeling as relaxed as you had felt in a long time, and the room was getting really warm. You kicked off your heels and handed them to Nick, who looked confused as to what to do with them, so he threw them behind the bar for later. It would be three days before anyone found them.

"Presents!" Clint yelled from across the room, running towards the tree like a little kid at his first Christmas. "We are doing this right now!"

The team gathered in the chairs and couches set up around the tree, many of them warmed by the alcohol served, others bursting with energy from the trays of sugar-loaded cookies you had delivered. It was a strange dynamic to watch, none more so than the awkwardly sedated Pietro draped over the back of one of the chairs, nearly asleep.

"Sugar and Pietro don't mix well; it's strangely calming for him," Wanda whispered, taking a seat next to you. "They will thank me later."

The sounds of ripping paper, laughter, a few curses, and promises of getting even filled the room as each team member opened their gifts from their Secret Santa's, learning who they were assigned to. There were the usual types of gifts; favorite music, games, some artwork and gifts to help them relax during down time between missions. Within minutes, Nat and Clint were chasing each other through the tower, he with a Nerf bow and arrow and she with a Nerf gun, yelling that it was a fight to the death as they ran past. Sam eagerly tried on his new running shoes, laughing about how he could catch Steve now, only to find himself stuck in an expensive bet on the winner for a run the next morning, forgetting that he would be likely hungover against a man who can't even get drunk.

Bruce moved to a quiet corner, his headphones on to listen to the relaxation exercises he received from Thor, having beaten the Asgardian only a week before during a mission where he couldn't regain control fast enough. Since the party before the whole Ultron experience, team members had been randomly trying to lift Thor's hammer at any given moment and without permission. Being a bit of a trickster himself, Clint gave Thor electrically charged double-sided tape, sure to put an end to that straight away. You laughed along with Bucky as he opened his gift; a large heated wrap for his metal arm from Natasha, claiming she was sick of bumping into it on cold winter days.

The last two gifts left to open were for Steve and Tony, who paused to look at each other suspiciously, realizing that they were given each other's names. Nick smiled to himself and glanced over to you, knowing that Coulson had this planned, given that the pair hadn't been getting along all that well lately.

"Well, go on," you pushed, "we're all waiting."

Steve slowly reached down and took his gift, peeling the paper away carefully as he held his breath. Tony was likely to give him something embarrassing or inappropriate, and with the entire team watching, he was nervous to see what was inside. He gasped slightly once the gift was fully open, disbelief at what he was seeing. It was a framed photo from Steve's army days, with his Commandos, Colonel Phillips, Howard, Bucky and Peggy. It was the last photo taken of the entire group before they had left to find the Red Skull; they all looked happy and healthy, unaware of what was about to unfold.

"Tony, where did you get this?" he whispered, still staring at the picture in his hands.

"I found it in some of dad's old stuff a while back, but I wasn't sure if you would want it or not. You know, sometimes things like that hurt more than they help."

In the silent room, Steve's small sniffle echoed, but no one brought attention to it. He nodded a few times, gathering himself, before looking up at his friend with a hint of red in his eyes. "Thank you, Tony. This is amazing. I don't know what to say."

"I think we're good," Tony replied quietly. After a few seconds he slapped his hands on his legs loudly and a smile grew across his face. "Okay, my turn!"

He gave the box a shake and looked at Steve curiously, not able to tell what was inside. He ripped the paper off furiously in contrast to the care that the Captain had taken when opening his own gift. "Maybe don't toss it around so much, huh?" Steve whispered. When the box opened, Tony stared at it for a moment, then to Steve, and back to the box without saying anything.

"It seems like we were thinking the same sort of thing," Steve said softly. "Must be a nostalgic time of year, I guess."

Tony gently pulled out a watch from the box, carefully holding it in his hand to inspect the details of the face, turning it over to see his father's name engraved in the back. "I don't understand," he mumbled, "where did you get this?"

"When your dad had flown me in to rescue the 107th, he lent it to me so I would know when to meet up for the ride back. I didn't realize that I had never returned it and found it in some of my old things. I knew that you should have it."

Tony slid the watch over his wrist, carefully securing the worn leather band and running his fingers over the glass; he nodded at Steve with a small but sad grin and jumped up suddenly, heading towards the bar. "I need a drink. Cap?"

Steve knew it was the only thanks he would get in front of the team, but it was enough. "Sure," he paused, "but I see one more gift under the tree, guys." He reached down and grabbed a large box and inspected the tag, standing up to hand it to you. "Merry Christmas, (Y/N)."

"Right! I can't believe I almost forgot!" Tony exclaimed, jogging back to the couches and dropping himself next to you. "Open it already! We all got together and decided it was perfect for you!"

You glanced up at Nick, who was smiling like he knew exactly what was inside. With a curious look back, you pulled the paper off and opened the box, removing a sleek black uniform similar to Natasha's but with embellishments of red like Tony's suit and blue like Steve's uniform. "You guys," you said with a deep breath, "what's going on?"

"Welcome to the Avengers, (Y/N)," Tony smiled as he wrapped his arm over your shoulder, "it's time to go to work."