"Sigyn? Please, talk to me." Loki pleaded, his hand pressed against the glass.

Sigyn sat in the center of the cell, rocking back and forth and chanting strange things.

"Sigyn-"

"It's no use. Her mind is gone." Thor said as he entered the room.

"You don't know that." The god of mischief retorted.

"Stark said that nothing else can be done. She's a lost cause, brother. The Man Of Iron has already gotten permission from Fury to send her off to some mental hospital somewhere."

Loki shook his head, refusing to accept it. He turned to Thor with a steely look in his eye.

"Did you consider me to be a lost cause?"

Thor furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What?"

Loki took a step closer to him.

"Answer the question. Did you or did you not consider me a lost cause? Because it feels like when you threatened to kill me four years ago, you weren't bluffing. Maybe giving up easily on people is just in your nature."

The blonde's eye widened as he stood, appalled at his brother's words.

"I wasn't serious. You have to understand, brother, I-"

"Save it, Thor. I don't need your excuses. I'm tired of feeling like everyone has given up on me. I'm going to find a way to save Sigyn, and I will not let her be shipped off to some prison for insane people. Either you're with me, or you're not. So what will it be, your highness?"

Thor nervously glanced at the sorceress.

"What is ailing you, Loki?" Thor asked, avoiding the question.

"What. Will. It. Be?"

The older asgardian sighed.

"Fine. I will tell Stark to delay her departure, but only if....." His voice trailed off as he noticed his brother staring intently at Sigyn.

"Loki?"

Loki never broke his focus.

"Her arm."

"What?"

"Look at her arm."

Thor rose an eyebrow.

"I do not see anything."

"The dot. On her arm. It looks like a needle pierced through her skin."

The blonde couldn't see anything, for it didn't stand out to him, but Loki's eyesight had become more keen when he was hit with the surge of power.

"My gods....Thor....do you think that H.O.P.E...."

Thor almost immediately caught on.

"She could have been injected with a serum that caused her to attack you!"

Loki didn't say another word, for he was already darting out of the room and taking the stairs three at a time.

He skidded to a halt when he reached the bar, where, no surprise, he located Tony.

"Stark! I think we found a way to save Sigyn!"

Stark raised an eyebrow and set down his drink.

"Face it, Lokes. There's nothing we can do."

Loki rolled his eyes at the nickname and made an exaggerated hand movement, causing the brandy in Tony's cup to transform into snakes that slithered onto the floor.

"Just see for yourself. Unless you're to preoccupied with that drink to care about saving the life of an innocent woman."

With another hand motion, he snakes vanished as Tony followed Loki back down to the detention block.

They approached the cell and the trickster pointed one slender finger at the woman's arm.

"Do you see that?"

The scientist tapped a button on his glasses, which glowed blue, and peered closer at the sorceress behind the glass.

"Is that...."

Loki nodded quickly.

"Quickly! We must find an antidote to cure her!"

Tony shook his head and walked over to the control board. He flipped a few switches and the door to the cell slid open.

Sigyn's eyes widened and a manic grin spread across her face.

"Are you mad?!" Loki screeched, grabbing her by he waist as she lunged out of the cell.

"No. We need to run some tests on the poison in her blood to create an antidote. In order to do that, we have to take her to the lab."

Thor and Loki managed to restrain the psychopath as they dragged her to the elevator and down the hall to the R&D lab. There, Tony ran countless blood tests for hours, until finally, he perfected the antidote.
***
"Loki?" Sigyn whispered groggily as she sat up in bed.

Loki stood over her with his arms crossed and a concerned frown on his face.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded and ran a hand through her silky blonde hair. She looked down at the black v neck she was wearing and raised an eyebrow, feeling the coarse material.

"This isn't mine."

"It's Natasha's."

"Oh."

An awkward silence passed between the two former lovers.

Suddenly, Loki began to hear a loud noise coming from downstairs. It grew into a beat and the beat grew into a song as they stared at the door in confusion.

"What's that?" Sigyn asked.

Loki shrugged.

"Let's find out."

They made their way downstairs to see a party in full swing. Red and green lights flashed across the lounge as artificial snowflakes fell from the ceiling. Tons of people who looked quite important danced along to the fast paced song in glittering, revealing dresses and half-buttoned shirts on men's tuxedos.

Sigyn raised an eyebrow as she stepped into the crowd, her black combat boots thumping against the floor.

Loki let her wander off on her own and crossed the room to Tony, half full glass in hand, as always.

"What in the nine realms is going on?!" He shouted over the din of the crowd.

Stark laughed and handed him a drink.

"It's Christmas! We've been so wrapped up with H.O.P.E. and everything else that we forgot to celebrate the holidays! So I got a few of my friends together and snagged some of Fury's more eager agents. We're opening presents in a bit. Go dance with your girlfriend!"

Loki disappeared around a corner for a moment before returning in his full asgardian garb, helmet and all. Tony leaned across the bar and pulled an ornament from thin air, hanging it on one of the the trickster's horns.

"Festive!" He exclaimed with a laugh before going back to charming the small crowd surrounding him.

Loki left the drunk billionaire to search for Brunnhilde. He found her standing out on the balcony overlooking the facility's massive lawn. Snow fell lightly and danced around her, giving her an angelic appearance. It landed on the crown of her head like a stunning white halo, and the moonlight glistened off of her white armor.

"You look beautiful." He remarked as he stepped towards her, keeping a respectful distance.

She scoffed and turned her attention back to the stunning winter world past the small balcony.

Loki closed the distance between them in a few short steps. Something in her eyes changed then. It was as if she lost some of that resistance against him. He took her hand in his and held her close, fighting off the cold and surrounding her with warmth.

"Forgive me?" He asked timidly.

She smiled up at him and pulled him into a fiery kiss. When they finally broke apart, she was still smiling.

"I think we've spent enough time apart, Prince. To not forgive you would be to deny myself the greatest treasure of all. Call it selfish or call it lust, but I want you, Loki. So let's stop playing games and surrender your heart to me. I love you, jotun, so make me believe that you love me back."

His eyes brightened as he pulled her into another kiss. They made out under the moonlight on the balcony, surrounded by falling snow, listening to nothing but the beating of their own hearts as the noises of the party faded away.

"Are you convinced that I love you now?"

She smirked and tucked a strand of his raven black hair behind his ear and whispered something to him.

"Maybe a dance would convince me."

She led him off of the balcony and back to the party, where a slower dance had begun. The room glowed a soft blue and the artificial snow was falling lighter as couples around the room waltzed along to the music. He placed one hand around her waist gently. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You smell nice." She whispered.

Loki let out a relieved sigh as he danced to the slow Christmas music.

"I'm so glad I have my girl back."
***
All too soon, the party guests were kicked out and the only people left in the tower were the Avengers, Brunnhilde, and Loki.

"It's present time!" Tony yelled as he entered the room carrying a large box in his arms.

He brought the box to the center of the room near the Christmas tree and set it down.

"Alright! Everyone find their presents and start opening!"

The room erupted into chaos as everyone rushed to get their presents. Brunnhilde grabbed both hers and Loki's and sat down on his lap.

Natasha raised a quizzical eyebrow as she noticed that each of them had a present identical to everyone else's

"Oh, I know what you're looking at, Nat. Everyone open the box Nat's holding first. You should all have one identical to it."

Everyone tore open their boxes and groans were passed around the room.

"Matching sweaters!" Clint shouted, holding his up for everyone to see.

Each sweater was an obnoxious red color and was covered in jingling bells and flashing lights.

"Stark, why?" Steve asked, staring at his sweater with disdain.

The billionaire just laughed.

"Alright, since there's so many of us and too many presents to open, from here on out, it's a free for all."

The sounds of ripping paper, gasps, and "thank you's" were heard across the room as the collective group of heroes attacked the colorful boxes like children.

In the end, Stark got a few brand new science tools and additions to his tech.

Steve ended up with a shirt from Tony that said "#1 Grandpa" on it and a variety of other objects including a handgun from Natasha and a Winter Solider teddy bear from Thor.

Natasha received an abundant amount of various lethal weapons that seemed like they could kill you just by looking at them.

Wanda got a new red leather trench coat and some jewelry, along with a long, sharp knife from Loki.

Bruce, like Tony, got scientific devices that no one knew he names of, but seemed important, but also got a mug with the words Science Bros on it (this was of course from Tony).

Clint got a Legolas keychain from Tony and a unique set of arrows from the entire team, who had pitched in to get him that and a brand new bow.

Thor received a plastic Mjölnir toy from Loki, which made him tear up a bit, and a variety of random objects that he didn't know the names of.

Brunnhilde's presents were mostly from Loki and Thor, but she did receive a gun from Natasha, which she greatly appreciated. Loki had repaired the diamond necklace she'd tossed away and given that to her as well.

Last, but not least, Loki ended up with a set of daggers from Thor, several variations of an I ❤️ New York shirt from the rest of the team, and a bottle of hair gel from Brunnhilde, who apologized for not getting him something more memorable.

The only present left unopened was the giant box in the center of the room.

"This one's from all of us, Reindeer Games." Tony announced happily.

Loki slowly opened the box and peered inside to see a brand new Avengers suit made custom for him and a small card underneath it. He opened it up to see one message.

Merry Christmas from your fellow Avengers!

He looked up at Stark in confusion.

"Fellow Avengers?"

Tony grinned.

"What do you say, Lokes? We could use one or two more heroes on our team. That includes you, Brunnhilde."

Loki and Brunnhilde looked at each other with a smile. Loki retuned his gaze to Stark.

"In that case, Merry Christmas as well from your two newest Avengers."
***
I hope you enjoyed this Christmas special, and Happy Holidays!

~Anna