That One Time We Kissed // Bishova College AU

Merry Katemas

In the blink of an eye, Kate Bishop found herself halfway through her senior year. She had experienced her last Rush Week, last Fall Festival, last Homecoming. She enjoyed her last Thanksgiving break, and now coasted to her final Christmas vacation, which, by Natasha and Yelena's encouragement, was spent with her father upstate.

While Kate and Derek spent Christmas Eve together, slow holiday instrumentals in the background, fire crackling, she felt absolutely vindicated. Eleanor was probably still at work, taking advantage of a quiet office as her legions of employees went home to their loving families. Besides Jack, Eleanor had no one to return home to this year.

A flash of guilt nibbled at Kate, but one warm smile from her father instantly melted that away. He deserved her presence, her attention. He was not exactly a perfect father, sometimes out of touch, sometimes flippant, but at the end of the day he truly cared, something Kate could not always say of her mother.

No, this Christmas, Kate felt loved. She had a girlfriend who updated her with candid pictures of Pepper and Tony at the Rockefeller tree, Peter and MJ who independently asked her opinion on Die Hard as a Christmas movie (It's not one, by the way. Sorry Peter.), and a new friend, Natasha, who sent Kate one of the first images of Wanda's hand adorned with an engagement ring.

"Who's that?" Derek asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Wanda. Natasha just proposed," Kate said, typing out an incoherent key smash in response.

"Who? A college friend?"

"Yeah. Wanda is Yelena's best friend."

"Ah." He poked at the fire, throwing a fresh log on top of the smoldering cinders. "And where is Yelena? How's she doing? Haven't seen her in a while."

"She's good. She's with her parents," Kate replied. "It's her first Christmas with them."

Perplexed, Derek flopped onto his cozy leather couch next to her, asking, "She's twenty one and just now having her first Christmas with her family?"

"Well... her first Christmas back with her family?"

"What? Was she switched at birth?" Derek poked at her side, eyebrow quirked in jest. "Stolen by a cult?"

"Yeah, dad, she was totally in a cult."

He grinned, clapping her on the shoulder. When he looked at her, eyes crinkled from his irrepressible smile, Kate swore she saw a glisten of tears, though it may have just been the tree lights. She set down her phone, bringing her legs up under the blanket, feeling like a kid again.

"How's work?" She asked vaguely, unable to remember his exact profession. Unlike Eleanor, his job wasn't his life. "With the... cars?"

"Cars?" He laughed again, hearty and loud. "Come on, Katie, you know I got out of the mechanic business when I sold the shop."

Kate laughed with him, a little stung. When had he sold the shop? "Nah, I know. I only bring it up because my friend Nat is in the business now."

"Oh, yeah? Well, if she wants some odd jobs, I can hook her up with Scotty."

"Thanks, old man."

"Me, old? You're the dinosaur who's about to graduate from college."

"Don't remind me," Kate mumbled, leaning into her father's side. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. "I'm getting up there, Pops."

"Always my little girl, though."

"Okay, stop it. Don't make me cry on Christmas."

"I don't get to see you often, kid. I can't waste time not being sappy."