Time didn't exist in the North Pole. If you asked any of the elves they would tell you they got up, made presents, and went back to bed before doing it all over again with a smile on their faces. Yet, they still managed to make all sorts of stories. But one of the best ones was kept hidden from the rest of the world.

It sat on a shelf next to a crackling fireplace. The heat spread through the room and the light flickered against the wall.

And the man, large and white, stood up from his chair and traipsed over to the shelf, a shaky finger scanning the books until he found the right one.

The soft red leather felt familiar under his touch as he pushed away the naughty and nice list and plonked it down with a thud.

The gold letters read big and clear, 'Alex Hua and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. A Christmas story'.

A story that changed the fate of Christmas, but only a handful of people will ever know what really happened that night.

***

The Christmas spirit had been dwindling in recent years. It had happened before during the wars and depressions but had always reappeared. The great football game saved them that year. But people were starting to worry now.

The torch's flame had gone duller and duller and the coals in the bottom have started to take over. The elves had started speaking out, worrying over the state of it.

But Santa Claus was always there to assure them it would be fine.

"Its happened before!" He would exclaim. "There is nothing to worry about except the toys for the wonderful children".

But now he sat in his office with a finger to his chin and scoured the list of children. A new record for the naughty list this year. He sighed and worried for the future of Christmas. He would never admit it, especially not to his wife.

His wife who was clanking up the stairs.

"Nick!" She shouted and flung open his door. "We need to talk. The torch has gone down since yesterday and the walls are crumbling! The elves have reported multiple incidents every day! We need to cancel it today, you cannot go out there".

He let a calm demeanour grace his face and stood up from the table.

"There is nothing to worry about, my dear. Everyone has been working extra hard this year and the presents are better than ever".

He grasped her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

"We knew this would be hard. Belief falters as the children grow up, but its up to us to show the new ones how great Christmas can be".

She knew he was right, he could see it in her face as her shoulder slumped and she gave in.

"Why can't you let the elves help you deliver? It would put less strain on you?"

"Because it is what I was born to do", he smiled softly. "Besides, there are some things I have to do tonight".

She nodded, taking a breath and tried not to say any more on the matter. She knew he would never cancel christmas. Especially not on Christmas Eve of all days. But she had no time to say anything, as someone else burst through the door.

"Sir! SIR!" Came a voice, wearing green and falling into the room.

The head elf nearly fell to the floor, catching himself at the last minute and righting his jacket.

"Sir", he said, calmer this time. "Theres an emergency in the factory".

He didn't need to say anything more. Santa was moving before he fully processed it, Mrs Claus somehow a step in front already.

The small elf ran alongside them as he explained.

"He factory belts started moving too fast and we couldn't keep up. Then they just got out of hand and wont slow down!"

They rounded the corner into chaos. Each machine spat out toys with such force the other elves had resorted to hiding under tables. Those that were brave enough to try and do something just got hit with rogue teddy bears and stuffing.

"Stay calm!" One of them shouted in a panicked voice. "We just need to stay calm".

But he shrieked and jumped to the floor when a shoe whizzed past his ear.

Santa got straight to work, walking up to each machine and placing a hand on it until it slowly returned to its normal rhythm.

The chaos dulled as he went and elves came out of hiding to clear away the floor.

And then more of them ran in from outside.

"Its going to fall!" They shouted.

He ran out to see the buildings crumbling. The floor shook as the stone walls dropped dust onto everyone below. He looked over to the torch to see the last of the orange embers start to dwindle. This Christmas would be one of the most important in his lifetime. He needed to save Christmas.

Just like the machines inside, he put a hand up to the buildings until they stopped moving. The floor still held the evidence of danger, but everything was calm once again.

Each time he did this it took a little more from him. He could feel the fatigue creeping up in his bones from using so much energy on the simple task.

"What would you like to do?" An elf asked from behind.

She stood amongst a group of them. The head elf stood at the back next to Mrs Claus, all waiting or his next words.

"We carry on", he decided. "Pack the sleigh, wrap the last presents".

He walked off to get his coat, leaving an array of worried faces.

He'd barely left his office, huge red coat hanging from his shoulders when Mrs Claus found him again.

"What if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong. I will deliver the presents to all the children, return the Christmas spirit, and everything will be okay again".

He approached the sleigh. Elves finished polishing the red surface and others fed the reindeer carrots as they put on harnesses.

Nick went by them, one by one and stroked along their noses before seating himself inside.

"Is that all the presents?"

"Yes, sir. Ready when you are".

"Everything will be alright, my love. It will work out. I know it will".

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a nod as he got the reigns in hand. An elf placed the torch onto the sleigh and he was ready.

A flick of the wrist, the whole this began to move. The reindeers shook their heads before beginning to move their legs. And all flew away into the nights sky, away from the North Pole.

***

"Put it there. NO! There. Look where I'm pointing Jemma".

"Fitz", Simmons sighs and throws her hands into the air. "I can't see where you're pointing because you're behind me! Why don't you do it?" She hands a bauble down to him from her place on the second wrung of the ladder.

"No", he says instantly. "I'm not doing it. More than a thousand people are hurt every year just standing on unsteady surfaces whilst decorating a tree. Not to mention injury's from electrics", he adds and eyes the twinkling lights.

"And there are seven billion people on earth", Alex adds as he walks over smiling.

He carefully helps Simmons down - the very short distance - of the ladder and takes the ornament from her hands. He reaches up and places it on the branch he could see Fitz pointing at before turning back around.

"So, don't you think you'd be rather unlucky to be in that point zero zero zero zero one percent of the population?"

"Theres still a chance", Fitz huffs as he grabs some tinsel and moves to the other side of the bus and continue decorating.

The others chuckle between them as the room is starting to look much more festive.

"Why couldn't we decorate before Christmas Eve? We're just going to have to take them down again in two days", Skye asked.

"Health and safety", Coulson said from a nearby chair, holding a glass of whisky. "S.H.I.E.L.D. Wouldn't sign off".

"Only if they found out", she mumbles before pointing a finger at him. "And why aren't you helping. We could use it you know. Fitz wont let his feet leave the floor, Ward is doing it bad on purpose because he doesn't want to be here and May hasn't come into the room since we started".

He smiled throughout her speech and took a sip of his drink when she was done.

"Because I'm in charge... now keep working".

Alex held in a laugh as he handed her a box of baubles and they got back to work.

Within an hour the whole bus looked completely different. The main room now looked like a sparkling paradise and a tree sat between two chairs, awkwardly tied to the wall so it didn't fall over during flight.

Even Coulson had joined in and strutted around the room using tinsel as a feather boa.

Everyone laughed together and May stood in the doorway watching the scene, a small smirk on her face.

Ward stood on a chair and hung the last set of paper chains down the wall before stepping back so they could all admire the room.

"It's perfect", Simmons sighed happily.

"Its alright", Ward nodded.

Another beat of silence passed before Alex clapped his hands together and walked towards the sofas with the tv remote in hand.

"Time to watch it's a wonderful life".

Some of the team groaned but most came over to sit down anyway.

"I've always wanted to watch this film", Simmons said happily and picked up a bowl full of popcorn and joined him.

"I still don't understand why we can't watch the coloured version".

"Because we want to watch the original!" She told him again.

May left at the first chance she could get, using the 'I need to be in the cockpit' excuse. But everyone else eventually settled.

Skye sat next to Alex and smiled when he threw half his blanket over her legs.

Once it started, everyone went surprisingly quiet, entranced by the movie.

Skye had slowly started to slide further and further down until she was half asleep and leaning against Alex's shoulder.

"Where did you watch this film?" She whispered so just he could hear.

"With my family", he said after a moment. "It was sort of our tradition".

She squeezed his arm and settled further in.

"Well now its our tradition. Your new family".

He smiled at that, exhaling a large breath, suddenly feeling lighter but not sure why.

Everything was perfect. Christmas was the next day and he actually had people to spend it with. The one before was just him and his mother. He would trade anything to be back there, but it was also nice being surrounded by people.

Hallway through the movie a strange noise sounded from somewhere. Alex could swear he heard a banging sound, but no one else moved.

And then it happened again.

"What was that?" Simmons asked, a casual tone to her voice as she looked around.

"What?" Ward asked right as it happened again, much closer.

"I think its coming from outside".

Alex slid out from under the blanket and walked over to the window. They were however high in the sky, and everything just looked dark from here.

Just as he gave up and went to walk back, it happened again, right next to them. A loud banging sound like a car backfiring.

A moment later something scraped across the roof of the bus and everyone jumped up to attention.

Alex followed the noise with his eyes and saw something plummet to the earth below.