╔══════════════════╗

MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
x. A VERY ORDINARY CHRISTMAS

╚══════════════════╝

   TO THE WORLD AT large, Valor was invincible. The people learned to adore their leader, to trust her to protect them and their world. It had gotten to a point where they had forgotten that bad things could happen, and learning about Pietro's death seemed to remind them not to get too comfortable.

   The world was heartbroken upon learning the news. Hearing it from their valiant hero didn't seem to soften the blow whatsoever. But her words of inspiration that followed the announcement encouraged the people on a scale Riley hadn't been anticipating. It was one of the first times she realized how much pull her words had over the world alone. Let's just say, her speech was so good that Steve Rogers would be proud (which he was) and so perfectly cheesy that a much younger version of Riley would have hated it. Memorials and totems of honor for Pietro sprouted across the globe overnight, and finally, it was time for everyone to move on once and for all.

   Moving on came easy to many, but Riley wasn't one of them. She often recalled what Peter said to her about her grief being eternal and strangely found solace in it. Accepting it seemed like the right thing to do, and with time, her grief became more manageable.

   She was a firm believer that you can't change the past, only what you do in response to it. But lately, she'd been tinkering with the idea that maybe the future doesn't have to mirror the past. Maybe there was a way for her to stop the bad things from happening way before they ever came — like another shield of protection almost. If she could prevent the bad things from happening in the first place, she would never have to feel this hopeless grief ever again. She tried not to think about it too often though. Maybe that was just the grief messing with her head again.

   Grief is a process, after all.

   Though her grief passed sluggishly, life didn't slow down in the months that came. Thankfully, autumn was kind to Riley.

   Her free time was devoted to her loved ones and making memories she would later use as a safety net when things got tough again. For example, she started bringing Morgan to and from school for a while, which also meant she often pulled her out of class early for fun (and to score some "amazing big sister" points). Tony, who somehow always found out, scolded her for it every time until he and Pepper were exposed for doing the same thing. It was decided then and there that Roman, who didn't always fall for Morgan's cuteness, was somehow the only one strong— responsible enough to ensure she went to school for the whole day. Morgan hated it. So did Roman. But Riley could tell, despite their endless bickering, they enjoyed each other's company.

   There was also Halloween weekend, in which Riley and Tony spent days working on a "spooky" haunted house for Morgan, except it ended up being a little too scary. Not for Morgan, but for Peter, MJ, Ned, and Roman. Pepper ended up having to go inside to save them because Tony and Riley were too busy laughing so hard that they physically couldn't stand in the same room as the others until they calmed down.

   Her days consisted of carving pumpkins, baking, movie marathons, game nights, and staying up all night creating borderline useless (according to Pepper) inventions with Tony. Peter visited frequently, and per his girlfriend's request, MJ and Ned would tag along. Yes, fall was lovely. With their gentle descent from the heavens, the fall leaves brought peace to the Earth's heroes, and they were so very thankful.

   But now it was Christmas Eve, and life was back to its usual chaos.

   "How do you manage to be the most annoying person on the planet?" Riley hissed. She stood in the streets of Queens, a coat and scarf tightly wrapped around her. The cool air bit at her raw cheeks as she held her phone to her ear. Bodies rushed past her, not even realizing who she was as they hurried home for the evening. Christmas Eve was a busy night for all, including the Avengers.

   Bucky Barnes sighed tiredly, which seemed to be a normal occurrence whenever he spoke to the melodramatic teenager. "I told you I didn't want any presents," he said.

   "But it's Christmas! The whole point is to give gifts and try to explain to kids that it makes perfect sense that Santa can fit inside their chimneys!" she argued, exasperated.

   There was a pause. "...What kind of child needs to be convinced of that?"

   "You haven't met my sister."

   "Fair enough," said Bucky. "I don't mean to put you on the spot, but... are you okay? You sound a little..."

   "A little what?" she demanded. "Don't say stressed."

   "Would you prefer a synonym instead?" Bucky retorted.

   She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I'm a little stressed. Can you blame me? It's my first Christmas with Morgan, Roman, and my boyfriend, who's extremely late, by the way," she explained. She glanced around the streets in search of him. Still no sign of Peter. "I've never had a real Christmas before... like, with a family and stuff. I just want things to go perfectly. No distractions, no accidents, nothing. Just a simple, ordinary Christmas. Is that too much to ask for?"

   Maybe Riley was making Christmas a bigger deal than it should've been, but she didn't care. She had never had a real Christmas before. She'd gotten close a few times, like when Coulson would bring her holiday treats from the break room while wearing fake reindeer ears on his head. The Avengers had spent some holidays together, but they were usually working or someone would be missing. All this to say, she wanted this Christmas to be perfect.

   "Your ability to jinx yourself is honestly very impressive."

   "Shut up! You're missing the point. Again. You already declined my last three gifts—"

   "Because I don't need anything—"

   "Bullshit. I know the holiday season can be pretty lonely for people like us. You can say that kinda crap to Steve, but not me."

   Bucky scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

   "Don't act stupid, Barnes. It doesn't suit you," she said. "Steve will believe whatever you tell him because he just wants to believe you're doing alright without him. But unlike him, my Bullshit Detector is impeccable. So stop trying to push me away. You can lie to Steve and your therapist, but you can't lie to me. Ever. So stop being a baby and accept the gift, okay? Say it with me: Thank you, Riley. You're the best, Riley."

   "Yeah, I'm not saying all that, but..." Bucky faltered. "Alright, fine. Thank you for the sunglasses. Happy now?"

   She knew he couldn't see it, but she smiled anyway. Although their relationship was always a bit rocky, Bucky was becoming someone Riley really cared about, and she wanted him to know that. Between his court-mandated therapy, getting back in the world, coping with everything he did as the Winter Soldier, and not seeing Steve much anymore, she could only imagine how hard life was for him these days. He was there for her when she was grieving Pietro, so she owed it to him to support him, too.

   "You're welcome," she beamed, glancing at her watch again. "Have you, uh, talked to Sam lately?"

   "No. You?"

   "Not since he gave up the shield," she admitted. There was a bitterness in her tone that Bucky recognized in himself.

   Before Steve left, he did two things. First, he passed the mantle of the Avengers leader to Riley. Second, he handed over his shield to Sam Wilson. He wanted Sam to become the next Captain America, to act as a symbol for the country as he had before. Riley thought it was a great idea. She had always thought Steve and Sam were similar in all the best ways: courageous, righteous, kind, loyal. Sam was the perfect candidate to take Steve's place.

   But then Sam gave up the shield.

   It happened not too long ago in Washington. Riley had watched it happen right before her very eyes. She was disappointed, to say the least. So was Bucky. She tried asking Sam why, but all he said was that the shield felt like it belonged to someone else.

   She wished she could understand why he did it. She thought maybe it was because he couldn't bear living under Steve's shadow. If that was the case, they could have embraced it together — as a team.

   "You know, you shouldn't spend Christmas alone," said Riley. "I thought Steve would've at least called—"

   "He did. I told him I was fine."

   "Oh. But—"

   "Listen, kid, I appreciate it, but I'm just..." He hesitated. "He's busy living his life, and I'm working through some things right now. It's no one else's problem but mine. It's alright."

   Riley wasn't convinced, but there was no point in arguing any further. At least not today. "Alright, fine. If you need anything, call me, okay? You stress me out more than Steve ever did," she tried to joke. She felt a bit better when Bucky chuckled in response. "Merry Christmas, old man."

   "Merry Christmas, Ri."

   As she stuffed her phone into her pocket, she sniffled again. She was trying to pretend that waiting in the cold for the past half-hour wasn't killing her holiday spirit, but she was failing miserably. She and Peter were supposed to meet up to spend Christmas Eve together since tomorrow would be spent with their families, and he was extremely late. She couldn't be surprised by his lack of punctuality though. Knowing him, he was probably late to his own birth.

   At least it was a beautiful evening. Snowflakes sprinkled across the city, blending in with the twinkling lights wrapped around the buildings and trees. Footprints stamped the ground, creating paths that could lead you straight to the home of someone's beloved. As Riley admired the sky, she wondered if Peter had found the path that led to her yet.

   "Excuse me? You're Valor, right?"

   Riley's gaze flickered away from the stars to find a girl standing before her. She was a teenager, probably not much older than she was. There was a boy, too.

   She smiled. "Call me Riley. What's your name?"

   "I'm Eden! I'm a huge fan of yours! I can't believe I'm even talking to you right now," she gushed, starstruck. "I always daydreamed that I'd run into you, but I didn't think it'd actually happen! Well, not like this. I always thought it'd be during some huge fight in the city, and we'd meet mid-fight, and I'd get to see you up close in action, and then, I'd sacrifice my mom's car so that you could throw it at an alien or something—"

   "Get to the point, Eden," the boy grumbled. He kept looking around impatiently. Like his sister, he was holding a few bags in his arms. "We gotta get going before the shops close—"

   "How many times are we gonna get to talk to Valor, Carson?" Eden fired back. "Sorry, that's my twin. He's kind of the bane of my existence. Anyway, uh, do you mind taking a picture with me? Please?" Riley nodded, and once they took a few pictures together, Eden asked, "So, what are you doing out here by yourself?"

   "Just waiting on someone," Riley simply said.

   Eden's eyes grew ten times bigger. "Is it Spider-Man!? My friends and I are obsessed with you guys! We all think you two should date!"

   "Nah, he's a little too sticky for my taste," she joked. She was still getting used to the dating rumors about her and Spidey. She always denied them for Peter's sake. The less attention he had on him, the better. "But to answer your question, yeah. I just... need his help with something over at HQ."

   It was then when Riley noticed the bright blue sweatshirt she was wearing.

   "You guys go to Midtown High?" she asked.

   "Uh-huh! I used to hate it, but then all that stuff came out about you attending for a while. Now, I totally have school spirit! That undercover stuff is so cool. I'm still mad we didn't end up going to Camp Mirkhaven this summer—" Eden chirped, only to pause when Carson loudly cleared his throat. She rolled her eyes. "Right, well, it was nice meeting you, but we gotta go. Thanks for chatting with us though. You're the best! Happy holidays! Oh, and thank you for all you've done for us, duh."

   "Yeah, sure thing!" Riley laughed. "It was nice meeting you!"

   Eden skipped ahead, her bags swinging on her arms. She was a bright light amid the dark winter night. Riley watched her for a moment before realizing Carson was still standing there.

   "Carson, right? You okay?" Riley asked. She peered back at where Eden was still skipping away. She was so distracted by her own joy that she hadn't realized she left Carson behind.

   Carson's lips curled as he stared back at her. "My sister's such a sucker for you superheroes. Everyone's obsessed with you these days. I think it's making me lose my mind."

   "I still don't get why they let a kid take over for Steve Rogers," Carson went on. "He's a hero. He's a real leader. You're nothing like him. You can try, but you never will be. You're just a kid, just like me. You can never replace him or Iron Man or Black Widow or any of the real Avengers."

   Real Avengers...?

   "Who said I was trying to replace them?" Riley curtly asked.

   Carson ignored her. "The world was better off when half of society was dust. Some people think you guys are heroes for reversing the Snap. I think you're cowards. I think you're scared of change. Well, guess what? Sometimes, change is a good thing."

   "Hold on, what—?"

   "I just thought you, of all people, should know what a lot of us think," Carson sneered. "Yeah, I'm not the only one who thinks the Avengers never should've tried to change what had already been done. Life was better before you came back."

   And before Riley could speak again, Carson pushed past her.

   Riley had read all kinds of things about her, things that swore she was too young to lead the Avengers or she would never be like Steve, Tony, or Natasha, but she'd never heard it spoken aloud before, never mind to her face. That was the first time she'd heard someone say they preferred life before they reversed the Snap, too.

   Her hands balled into fists. She wasn't hurt, she was furious. She went through hell just to bring everyone back, to fix everything: kidnapping, constant near-death, time travel, enduring the power of the goddamn Infinity Stones! Pietro and Vision died to protect everyone. They'd all made sacrifices for the sake of the world! How could anyone think like that? How could anyone prefer how life was before?

   "GOOOOOOOD EVENING, NEW YORK!"

   Spider-Man swung between buildings. His webs shot through the night, snowflakes catching onto them. He laughed excitedly, doing flips mid-air and putting on a show for the only person who was actually watching (and, incidentally, the only person that mattered).

   "WELCOME... TO THE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE NIGHT!" Spider-Man hollered. He did another flip, landing in front of his girlfriend. "I'm your host, Spider-Man! You can call me Web-Head, you can call me Amazing, and you can call me any time."

   "How 'bout I call you late instead?" Riley cupped her hands around her mouth, blowing hot air at them.

   "Not what I was expecting after all that, but alright, I deserve it." He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, causing his backpack to shake up and down, too. He took her hands in his, warming them up in his grasp. "How are you just standing here? It's freezing!"

   "Really? I hadn't noticed!"

   "Ah, I know, I know! I'm really sorry, Riles!" he apologized. "I was finishing up your gift, and I lost track of time! I'm sorry! Forgive me! It's Christmas!"

   Riley sighed, finding it in her to smile. His excitement was contagious. "There better be, like, four apology churros in there," she said, nodding to his backpack.

   "I'll have you know there are actually five."

   "Wait, really?"

   "Nah, sorry, Riles," Spider-Man laughed.

   "You're evil!" she exclaimed as he reached out and pushed her hair behind her ears. He admired how the snowflakes fell onto her eyelashes. "Now come on, I had to stash your gift back at HQ."

   He tilted his head. "Why?"

   "I live with the nosiest people in the world. You ready?"

   "Well, I was hoping to run some errands real quick, maybe stop and grab some coffee—Ow!" he whined as she hit his arm. "I was kidding!"

   "Yeah, yeah, you can kid all you want when I'm not dying from frostbite!"

   "So dramatic," he teased. "Why didn't you just warm yourself up with your powers, huh?"

   Riley's face fell. That would've been a nice idea to have thought of...

   "Uh, well, I... uh, didn't think of it...?" she tried to defend. He laughed loudly at the response. "Don't turn this around on me! You're the one that kept me waiting for over half an hour!"

   "I said I was sorry!" he cried. "Hey, has anyone ever told you you're cute when you're mad?"

   "Oh, whatever!" she laughed. "Let's go, Bug-Boy!"

   It was easy to forget everything that just happened now that she was with Peter. She pushed Carson's words to the back of her mind and allowed herself to smile. Nothing was going to ruin Christmas this year.

   Nothing.

○ ○ ○

   Riley couldn't take her eyes off of Peter as they walked through the empty Avengers Facility together, hand-in-hand. The way his eyes lit up every time he got to visit HQ always made her heart flutter.

   "This place is still so freaking cool." Peter pulled on her arm, dragging her forward like a gleeful little kid. "How do you not freak over the fact that you basically got to live here?"

   "Easy for you to say. Half of the time, I'm stuck doing paperwork or throwing paper airplanes at Bucky's head when he's around," Riley said. Peter shot her a look. "What?"

   "Are you even listening to yourself? You throw paper airplanes at the freaking Winter Soldier's head for fun!" he exclaimed. She weakly smiled, and that was enough for him to finally realize something was wrong. "Hey, are you okay? You're... kinda off. Is it because I was late? Because I'm really sorry about that—"

   "No! No, it's not that. Promise. It's just..." Her mind went back to Carson. "It's been a long day."

   "Tell me about it?"

   "Well... I nearly had to fistfight Roman this morning again because he kept trying to spoil his own Christmas gift by searching my soul, Morgan had a temper tantrum over wanting to eat Santa's cookies, Nat still won't agree to an Avengers Christmas Card, Bucky keeps trying to decline my gifts, and..." She sighed. "And then when I was waiting for you, I met some fans, and I had this weird conversation with one of 'em."

   She told Peter what Carson said and watched how his face skewered with disgust.

   "Don't listen to him, Ri. That guy's an idiot," Peter said. "No one actually thinks like that. I'm sure he just wanted to get under your skin."

   "Are you sure? Maybe he's onto something. It's not exactly easy picking up after four retired Avengers. Maybe I need to do more—?"

   "You're doing more than enough," Peter promised. "He's just one guy. You haven't been around the public as much as I have. Everyone's grateful for the Avengers, and they all think you're awesome, especially me."

   Riley smiled. Things had been good between them these past few months. It was hard to believe they'd been dating for about five months now. She was always grateful she had Peter in her life. She hoped he felt the same way.

   "Thanks, Pete." She took the lead, their hands still intertwined. "Come on, I stashed your gift in here."

   They entered another room. It was almost hidden away, practically a secret storage room. Then again, it was rather big for a storage room, in Peter's opinion, and no ordinary storage room would require a secret passcode. It was dark and collecting dust, including the strange machine in the middle of the room.

   "Uhh, let me think. I think I hid it over..." Riley mumbled, dropping his hand to investigate.

   Peter's gaze was locked on the machine. "Hey, Riley? What's this?" he called.

   "Huh?" She hardly spared it a second glance. "Oh, that old thing? That's the backup Time Machine. Steve used it to bring the stones back—"

   "WHAT!?"

   She jumped at the sudden volume. "What!?"

   "This is a Time Machine!?" shouted Peter. He stared up at it in awe, taking a few steps back to take it in. "Why are you being so calm right now!? It's a Time Machine! It's the Time Machine!"

   "Oh, I dunno. We just kinda leave it here where no one can mess with it. It's always off, but you can never be too careful. Been there, done that, never doing it again," Riley dismissed. "That's why I hid your gift in here. This place is pretty much off-limits."

   Peter was wonderstruck. A real-life Time Machine.

   "I can't believe my girlfriend invented a Time Machine," he mumbled. "I can't believe this is the first time I'm seeing it in person! Wait, are you giving me the Time Machine—?"

   "No, you dummy," Riley laughed. She held up a small box that had been carefully hidden away. It was neatly wrapped, a satin bow sitting on top of it. She joined his side again, eyeing the machine. "I guess it's pretty cool though."

   Peter glanced down at her with a sly grin. "I guess?" he mocked.

   "Alright, it's really fucking cool," she gave in. "You should've been there when Tony and I finally figured it out. I kept telling myself we would've figured it out sooner if you were with us."

   Peter had to turn away to hide his blush. He motioned to the nearby rack of red, white, and black suits. "So, what are those for?" he wondered.

   "Oh, those are the suits we had to wear to time travel. They helped make us super small so that we could travel through the Quantum Realm. I think they're hideous, but—" Riley paused when she noticed the look on his face. She sighed. "Fine, you can try one on."

   Peter didn't know how he managed to find someone who knew him so well.

   As he put on one of the suits, Riley explained to him how the suits worked.

   "The only way the suits worked was with these Pym Particles Hank Pym whipped up. I don't think we have any left here though," she went on. "After we worked out all the details, making the machine work was the easy part. You just press these buttons, pick a year, and you're ready to go. See?" She walked up to the machine, pressing some buttons and turning the dial that would select the year casually. It was off, so it wouldn't do anything, of course.

   Peter walked through the Time Machine, now dressed in the new suit. He wondered what it was like traveling through time. He reached toward the machine, unable to suppress his merriment.

   Riley watched him patiently, holding his gift in her hands. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in his head at that moment. So instead, she just observed him with a smile. What a nerd.

   "This is so cool," Peter mumbled. "This is so—"

   THUD!

   The lights went out.

   Riley used her powers to make herself glow. "Huh... The power must've tripped from all the snow. You okay?"

   "Uh, yeah," Peter assured. "I'm sure it'll come back on in a sec."

   And he was right. As if on cue, the power flickered back on in a matter of seconds. One by one, the lights turned back on, the heater purred with life, and the Time Machine turned on.

   The machine made a strange clicking sound, the gears inside turning for the first time in months. It vibrated intensely, and suddenly, Peter had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

   "Riley—?" he started, but he was soon interrupted by a bright flash of light.

   Riley recoiled, shielding her face from the light with her hands. When the light faded, she looked around worriedly.

   "Pete? Are you okay?"

   But no one responded. She was the only person in the room.

   Peter was gone. It was like he vanished out of thin air—

   Her eyes fell onto the Time Machine.

   "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." The gift in her hands fell onto the ground as she rushed forward. "This isn't happening. This can't be happening. Tell me I didn't just lose my boyfriend to a Time Machine. Tell me my boyfriend didn't just accidentally travel through time."

   But how? It was impossible! Even if the machine malfunctioned due to the power trip, the suits required Pym Particles for it to work! The suits didn't have any... They didn't... Did they?

   Riley reached for the nearest suit, frantically opening up the wrist compartment. She froze when she saw it: a small, dusty vial of Pym Particles. She reached for the next suit, and the next, and the next. Every single suit contained a vial of Pym Particles, ready to be used.

   "Bruce must've had Hank make extras for when Steve took the stones back in case of an emergency," Riley muttered. "Those idiots! Why wouldn't they tell me that?!"

   She shut her eyes again, cringing. So much for an ordinary Christmas.

   "Where'd he go anyway?" She had turned the dial without thinking. She had no idea what year she had chosen. But when she finally read it, her heart sank into her chest.

   1943.

   "Oh my God, I'm the worst girlfriend ever," she groaned. "Okay, Riley, focus. You can fix this. You can save Christmas before it's ruined. You're gonna go in there, you're gonna find Peter, and you'll bring him back. No one will ever know." She paused. "Okay, no one but Roman will know. Easy. Piece of cake."

   She peered down at the suit in her hands, a hesitant gleam in her eye.

   "Alright, fine," she grumbled. "Let's do this."