Work Text:
As the credits start playing to the Christmas movie the Zemo family had been watching a sleepy Carl snuggles against his father. Helmust Zemo looks at this son and smiles, "Time to get you into bed."
Carl protests, "I want to watch another Christmas movie."
Helmut explains, "You're about to fall asleep. We can watch another one tomorrow. Alright?"
Carl nods sleepily as Zemo gets up. He then picks up Carl, who wraps his arms around his dad's neck. Zemo carries Carl to his son's bedroom and gets him into bed.
Carl responds almost asleep, "Goodnight, daddy."
Zemo turns off light off and partially closes the door to his son's room. Then he walks back downstairs. As he walks back into the living room, he notices his wife, Heike, has a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?" he asks.
Heike explains, "I'm not sure what to do. I haven't been able to find the main toy Carl asked for for Christmas."
Zemo asks, "What is it?"
Heike responds, "A Cars slot car track set."
Zemo replies, "I'm not sure that has ever been sold in Sokovia. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Heike explains, "I didn't want to bother you with everything you do with work. I know you've been busy."
Zemo responds, "Wish you would have told me sooner."
Heike asks, "Is it possible to get it? It'll be my fault for disappointing him."
Zemo answers, "it should be easy to find in other countries. However, I can't leave right now. We aren't going to disappoint him. I'll figure out something."
Heike gets up from the chair she was sitting in and hugs him, "Thank you, darling. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Zemo replies, "It's alright. It'll work its self out." He hugs and kisses his wife.
The following morning as Zemo has breaks he researches where the slot car set is most likely to be available for purchase. Once he has that information he decides a call to Adriana Lensherr is his best option. He picks up the pone and calls.
Adriana's phone rings. She sees the number and answers, "Hello, Helmut, what's going on?"
Helmut asks, "Are you doing a job?"
Adriana answers, "No. I was in the office earlier though."
Hulmut replies, "Good. I'm hoping you can do me a personal favor."
Adriana responds, "What's going on?"
Hulmut explains, "I need you to go to the United States to get a toy my son asked for for Christmas."
Adriana a little surprised responds, "You need me to do what? You know it's a week before Christmas and stores are busy as hell?"
Helmut replies, "I know. I was informed of his last night. The toy he wants isn't sold in Sokovia."
Adriana rolling her eyes says, "Alright what the heck am I looking for?"
Helmut explains, "It's a Cars slot car set. From the research I was doing this morning it appears easy to find in many places in the United States. Once you get it bring it here."
Adriana asks, "Do you need anything else?"
Helmut replies, "No. However you should get Carl something from yourself as well."
Adriana surprised by the comment says, "What? I'm just handing you this toy at the airport."
Hulmut responds, "Nope. You're staying for Christmas."
Adriana sighs, "We'll see. Send me the information."
Helmut replies, "you have to stay. You'll disappoint Carl and Heike if you don't."
Adriana responds, "They don't know you're talking to me. You want me to stay."
Helmut replies, "That as well. Besides I know the only time you ever celebrate Christmas is when you're with my family and as you said, it's a week before Christmas."
Adriana gives in, "Fine. When you send me the info on the slot car set send me some other ideas as well."
Helmut responds, "Get him something we can't get in Sokovia."
Adriana, a bit exasperated, "Not helpful."
Helmut says, "I'll send you the information in a little while."
Adriana replies, "Thank you."
After hanging up Adriana shakes her head and think to herself, "He knows very well I'll do what I can to ensure Carl is happy." She then calls the main number for Xavier's School for the gifted. Someone answers the phone, "Xavier's School"
Adriana interrupts before he can get any farther, "Yeah, yeah. Hank, it's Adriana. Let the others who know me, know I'll be there tomorrow. I'll be there for a couple nights."
Hank replies, "No problem. however, I'm surprised. May I ask why you're going to be here so close to Christmas?"
Adriana responds, "Yeah a friend needs me to go find a toy his son asked for for Christmas."
Adriana hears laughter on the other end, "Why I am not surprised by that reason," Hank says.
Adriana laughs, "Because it's about the only logical one."
Hank replies, "I'll tell the others."
Adriana responds, "Thanks." They hang up.
***** Time Jump *****
Two days later she wakes up at the mansion in Westchester, NY. The jet lag causing her to be tired. She goes to the kitchen to look for something for breakfast. What she finds is several of the teens looking through cookbooks and writing down what is likely a grocery list. One of the teams looks up, "Hi Adriana. We were told you'd be here for a couple days. Do you want breakfast? We were making French Toast."
After a moment to register what was just asked, Adriana responds, "That sounds good. Thank you."
As two of the teens get breakfast for Adriana, she gets a soda to drink. Another of the teens asks, "You're going to a store later today, right?"
Adriana replies, "Yes. Do you need something?"
The teen answers, "We need ingredients from the grocery store so we can make Christmas cookies."
As the explanation was being given Angelica Jones walks in and tries not to laugh. She assures the teen, "We'll stop at the grocery store. However, Adriana is about the last person you want to send to the grocery store." She turns to Adriana, "Have you even ever been in a grocery store, Adriana?"
Adriana laughs, "Yes. Not often. On occasion I get things in one. I've accompanied a friend a few times to get things as well."
One of the teens fixing breakfast lets Adriana know hers is read. Adriana thanks the teens, then pours strawberry syrup over the French Toast. She then scoops a few pieces of cut strawberries on to it as well. After tasting the food she lets the teens know it's very good.
About an hour later Adriana, Angelica, and Ororo Monroe leave to go to Toys R Us. All three are wearing jeans, sweatshirts and winter coats. Although it is snowing again as they leave, the women aren't worried about it. However, they are hoping they only need to make one stop for the presents Adriana is searching for plus the stocking stuffers Angelica and Ororo are hoping to find. Upon arriving at Toys R Us they get a cart and immediately look for the slot car sets. Once they find the slot car sets, they secure the one they were looking for. They then start walking the aisles. They pick up Barbie outfits for several of the girls who have Barbies and action figures for the some of the others who enjoy those. For the car enthusiasts they pick up Hot Wheels. Adriana picks up a Hot Wheels 3 pack of muscle cars. She then sees remote control cars and finds one that says ages 5 and up and gets it. Finally they find coloring books and get a coloring book for all the kids and teens at the mansion, while Adriana picks up 2 for Carl. One is a Cars coloring book and the second is of wild life.
After spending the necessary time at Toys R Us they do to the grocery store to pick up the items on the list for baking several cookies as well as some regular groceries. As they head back to the mansion the snow as been falling steadily for a couple of hours and the snow plows are out on the roads.
Upon getting back to the mansion they take all presents to their rooms to keep the ones for the students hidden. They then take groceries to the kitchen, where they find a mess. The teens had found two cookie recipes which they had all the ingredients for. There were cookies on cooling racks, cookies on baking sheets both in the oven and waiting to go in.
Angelica says, "It appears you found ingredients to make some cookies, along with a mess."
One of the teens replies, "Oh, welcome back. We did. After these are cool you can try one. We've already packed some up so they don't all get eaten tonight."
Ororo responds, "That's good thinking. I think making more can wait until tomorrow. Plus we'll need the kitchen for making dinner."
A different teen replies, "Oh right. Once all the cookies are baked we'll make sure we clean up."
Some of the teens help put the groceries away and start cleaning up while others watch over the cookies. Adriana, Angelica, and Ororo taste the cookies which are very good.
As the women leave the kitchen and start walking to one of the lounges it dawns on them that it's quieter than normal. There is a TV on with a few kids watching.
Adriana notices a commercial is on the TV so asks, "Where is everyone? It's quiet around here."
One of the kids replies, "Besides us here, we're watching Christmas shows, some are in the kitchen, but a large group wanted a snow ball fight."
Adriana responds, "Enjoy the shows" She then looks at the other two women, "I hope there is some supervision."
Ororo agrees, "Let's find out."
As soon as they open the backdoor they see what appears to be walls of snow being built. They walk out onto the back porch and see several of the other adults.
Adriana inquires, "Should we even ask?"
Bobby Drake answers, "They're currently building forts. They want to have a snowball fight, but decided to build forts first."
Adriana shakes her head, "What could possibly go wrong?"
It appears both teams have a front wall and partial side walls. Some of the kids are working on finishing the side walls, while others are making and piling snowballs. While the kids who want the snowball fight continue working on their forts, Adriana decides to walk the entire porch around the mansion to see if other kids were outside and need anything form her. Along the side of the mansion she finds two young children attempting to build an igloo. After watching for a few minutes, she continues her walk finding another group at the front of the mansion building snowmen. She stops to watch this group for a few minutes. While watching one of the kids sees her and asks, "Miss Adriana, would you please help us?"
Adriana responds, "What do you need?"
The child replies, "We are having a hard time getting the head on the body of this snowman." He then points to a snowman which already has two balls. The children are trying to make this one have three tiers.
Adriana walks over to the children and sets the small head ball on top of the larger two balls making up the body. "Do you have anything for the face?"
Another child holds up three bags, "We have colored stones for the eyes, buttons for the dose, and string for the mouth."
Adriana nods, "Pick which you want for this one."
The children debate which ones, then hand Adriana two yellow stones for the eyes, a black button for the nose, and a piece of blue string for the mouth. Adriana puts the pieces on the face, then helps them with the stick arms. The children thank Adriana for her help. She then continues her walk. She doesn't find any other groups of children or teens. By the time she gets back to where the she started, the snowball fight is in progress with snowballs flying between the two forts. Just as some of the kids started to yell at each other about throwing too hard, Hank McCoy opens the door and calls everyone in for dinner.
Adriana states, "Good timing. Have you called the other two groups in yet?"
Hank replies, "Not yet. This group appeared to be the most volatile. Would you mind getting the ones in the side yard?"
Adriana responds, "Sure."
She walks back to where the two building the igloo are, "Time to go inside for dinner."
The two look up, "We're coming"
Once inside the two groups who had the snowball fight appears to be calmed down as dinner is ready to be served.
***** Time Jump *****
It's late afternoon on Christmas Even when the private jet Adriana is flying on lands at a small airport just outside Novi Grad, Sokovia. After the plane lands, Adriana gathers everything together and exits the plane. She sees a person walking towards her and smiles.
"How was your flight and trip?" Helmut Zemo inquires.
"Flight was nice. My trip was chaotic." Adriana responds as they embrace.
As they walk to the car Helmut asks, "You did get a gift for Carl from yourself as well?"
"Of course, but you get to wrap everything." Adriana replies as she places her bag and the shopping bags with the toys into the trunk of the car.
Once they get back to Zemo's home, Zemo's son, Carl, runs out of the house to greet them. Carl runs to his father, who picks him up. Carl hugs Zemo and says, "Daddy, I'm so happy you're home."
Helmut replies, "I'm happy I'm home too. I brought someone with me."
Adriana says, "Hi Carl."
Carl excitedly exclaims, "Aunt Adriana! Are you spending Christmas with us?"
Adriana smiles, "Yes. I'll be here for Christmas."
Carl responds "YAY!"
Helmut sets Carl down, "No go inside, we have to bring a few things into the house."
Carl responds, "Okay. Aunt Adriana, I helped mommy make cookies. Are you going to eat some of them?"
Adriana replies, "That's awesome. I will after you show me which ones are your favorites."
Carl says, "I will." Then he runs in the house calling for his mother.
Adriana and Helmut get everything out of the car and take the stuff into the house. They decide to take all of it to Adriana's room. After coming back downstairs, Carl is very excited to show Adriana the cookies he helped his mother bake. he can't decide if he likes the cut out cookies or the thumb print cookies better. Adriana agrees to have one of each and tells Carl they are both very good. While Adriana has Carl busy in the kitchen, Helmut informs Heike, "Adriana was able to find what we asked for plus picked up a few other things."
Heike responds, "That's a huge relief."
Helmut warns, "they also aren't wrapped, so after Carl goes to sleep we'll need to wrap them."
Heike replies, "I was expecting that. We have two toys we need to put together tonight as well."
Helmut states, "Of course we do. However I need to start making dinner now."
After eating a traditional Sokovian meal for dinner, they settle in the living room to watch a couple of Christmas cartoons. Once the cartoons ends, Helmut informs Carl, "Time for you to go to bed."
A sleepy Carl shakes his head, "I don't want to. I want to stay awake and see St Nickolas when he comes."
Helmut replies, "He won't come if you're awake. You must be asleep for him to come."
Carl protests, "But daddy, i want to see the reindeer."
Helmut responds, "I know you do, but if you want your stocking filled you need to go to sleep."
Carl nods, "Okay."
Helmut picks Carl up and carries him to bed. He tucks his son in, then reads him 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. By the time he finishes Carl is fast asleep. Helmut and Adriana get the gifts and take them downstairs. While Heike warps those, Adriana makes sure Heike knows the Cars coloring book goes with the Cars slot car set. Then Adriana goes with Helmut to get the presents that need put together. Once the presents that needed wrapped are wrapped and the ones that needed put together are put together, Heike takes the glass of milk and plate with cookies off the mantle. Helmut takes one of the cookies. Heike offers one to Adriana who shakes her head.
Helmut explains, "These are left for St Nickolas. The reality is they are the reward for having everything ready for Christmas morning."
Adriana realizing how important this is to Helmut as well as Heike, takes a cookie and enjoys it with her friends. As they head upstairs to the bedrooms, Helmut warns Adriana, "Kids get up early Christmas morning to see what St Nicholas has brought them. Carl is the same way."
Adriana sighs, "Of course. So I will be jet legged and tired."
Helmut replies, "Yep." He gives her a hug and says "Goodnight."
Adriana responds, "Goodnight" then goes to her room. Helmut and Heike check on Carl before going to their room.
Carl wakes up early on Christmas morning. Once he gets out of bed he goes to his parents room, "Mommy, Daddy wake up. It's Christmas."
Heike waking up replies, "Merry Christmas, Carl."
Helmut responds, "Yes, it is Christmas."
Heike and Helmut get out of bed and follow Carl into the hallway. Carl is so excited to go downstairs, "Ready?" he asks.
"Did you want to wake Adriana up? She wants to see you when you open presents." Helmut states.
Carl nods, "Come with me" he says as he opens the door to Adriana's room. "Aunt Adriana, wake up. It's Christmas."
Adriana stirs and groans, "What?"
Carl excitedly says, "It's Christmas."
Adriana finally gets her eyes open and sees Helmut standing at the door. "I'm getting up. Just give me a moment."
Carl says, "Okay" as he runs back into the hall.
Adriana sits up on the bed and looks at Helmut. "He has too much energy for this time of the morning."
Helmut shrugs, "it's Christmas and she's excited. Come on. You're going to love seeing his reaction to all the presents."
Adriana, wearing winter pajamas, sits up and puts her feet into a pair of fluffy dark blue slippers and grabs her blue fluffy robe that matches Helmut's purple robe and Heike's light blue robe. Adriana walks into the hallway. "Okay, I'm here."
Carl excited exclaims, "Can we go downstairs now?"
Heike nods, "Of course. Lead the way."
Car runs down the stairs and lets out an excited "WOW" when he sees the larger pile of wrapped presents. Then he spots the unwrapped ones and exclaims "OH WOW". The first thing the adults see is Carl hugging the rocking horse.
Heike smiling, "Did St Nickolas bring you want you asked for?"
Carl responds, "Mommy, I got a rocking horse and a bicycle and cars and places for my cars."
Heike asks, "Would you like to open your presents from us, then you can play with your new toys."
Carl nods. Helmut brings over the presents for Carl. First he opens several from his parents, then he opens the ones from Adriana. Finally he opens the one with the slot car set he wanted. Carl hugs his parents and Adriana to thank them. Then he realizes no one else has opened presents and asks, "Do we have a present for Aunt Adriana?"
Helmut responds, "Yes we do." as he picks up several presents and passes them out. They open presents from each other. Carl got his parents gloves and hats, while Adriana had got them both sweaters. Heike got Helmut a drill he was wanting for some projects he has in mind. Helmut got Heike an Emerald necklace, ring, and erring set in 24K gold. Helmut got Adriana a painted clay Pegasus from a local artist. This present was from the entire family.
After exchanging presents,Heike goes to fix breakfast. Carl gets his new Hot Wheels cars and play sets to start playing with then asks, "Daddy can we go outside later so I can ride my new bicycle?"
Helmut responds, "We'll see. There is snow covering everything. You don't need to be trying to ride on the snow. After breakfast I'll set up your new slot car track. In a few hours we'll all be going to grandpa's to celebrate with family."
Carl smiles, "Oh okay". Then he goes back to play with his cars.