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America was on a mission.
Her pseudo-dad was helpless so she was going to have to do all of the hard work for Plan Strange Romance to succeed. Not that he knew there was a Plan Strange Romance but the point stood.
She wanted Peter as a brother, Mr Stark to stop making goo-goo eyes at Stephen without doing anything, and for Stephen to stop moping when he thought she didn’t see him. Surely Christmas would be the solution.
It was Peter’s idea to hide mistletoe everywhere at the Avengers Christmas Party. They weren’t allowed to go down to the party, but America had finally gotten the hang of portals that they could use to sneak in and out. America wasn’t allowed to use portals without permission but once she asked Wong…
“Wong, can I use portals to hide mistletoe around the Avengers party so Stephen will stop getting depressed and eating all the ice cream?”
“…if you manage to pull it off I will personally take you and Peter and your friends to Disneyland for a week with Stark’s money.”
“Sold.”
So, America had the clearance and the drive. Now the plan just had to go off without a hitch.
The Young Avengers, as they called themselves, were having a Christmas gathering of their own that night at the compound, just on the upper levels in the residence common room. Compared to the fancy attire downstairs, their dress code was ugly sweaters. America had gotten her Doctor Strange one from Etsy and the look on Stephen’s face was worth the three months of allowance she spent to get it custom made.
The group wasn’t too large: America, Peter, Ned and MJ (Peter’s plus 2’s), Kate Bishop, Yelena, Love (Thor’s new daughter), and Shang Chi. Technically Shang Chi, or Shaun as he went by, could have been downstairs but he took one look at all of the heroes and booked it upstairs. He already had a sweater on because that was his fancy clothes that weren’t just what Shaun wore to work as a valet.
It didn’t take too long to convince the group to help her out on the mission especially with Disneyland involved.
It was a mixture of stealth and magic. America would open portals in various places from the ceiling to hallways and more. Sometimes she would place it herself but more often than not one of the others would place it. From Peter crawling on the ceiling to place the mistletoe with a web to Kate pinning it with a trick arrow. Yelena was having the most fun in turning it into a game of how close she could get to Mr Stark and Stephen without them noticing her. There had been a few close calls but Yelena had yet to be caught.
Shaun had decided to help Love in placing mistletoe wherever the little girl saw fit. Oftentimes it would be in a completely random spot like a countertop or just stuck to a wall. She swore by her results and surprisingly seemed to have the most luck in getting them to notice it.
America was certain that the plan couldn’t fail.
“Hey there Wizard. How is the party going for you?”
“Quite well, though there seems to be an infestation of mistletoe in the campus.” He gestured at the wall next to them where mistletoe was duct taped to the wall. Both tried to hold back a laugh. It seemed that their kids and their friends were on a mission tonight. They thought they were stealthy but sweaters as…vibrant as theirs weren’t hard to spot from a distance. That as well as the smell of sparks and certain sprigs of mistletoe being held by webs had the signature of their kids all over it.
“You didn’t tell them that I asked you to the party as a date?” Tony asked with a laugh and Stephen smirked in return.
“No, I didn’t think they were that invested. The fact that America is using portals, however, means that Wong signed off on this project and probably has a bet that they can’t pull this off.”
“Well then,” Tony replied with a smirk, “Let’s help out the kids then.”
Stephen blinked and suddenly there were lips pressed to his and he melted at the contact, kissing back in return. In the distance he could hear cheering but for now he was satisfied in the arms of Tony Stark.