TITLE: It Takes All Kinds

AUTHOR: MikeJaffa

SYNOPSIS: Meg has been victimized by a prankster. But who did it?

DISCLAIMER: Burt Angel is owned by Gonzo. I am not making any money off the publication of this fic.

WARNING: Silly Muse on a rampage, so don't eat or drink while you read this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this morning, I heard on the radio of this one company making a holiday themed … product … and my Silly Muse went off on it ….

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When Meg and Jo came into their room in the trailer, tired from yet another job that had gone nuts, Meg saw the small plastic bag filled with candy canes sitting on top of her makeup kit.

"What the-" Meg sat at her vanity and examined the bag. "Are these yours, Jo?"

Jo shook her head. "They yours?"

"Nope. So-" Meg broke off, then glanced back at the door. She laughed. "I get it. I bet they're a gift from Kyohei."

"And you're not angry. Normally you get pissed if you even think he wants to get into our pants."

"What can I say? I finally made it through a job without getting kidnapped. How long has it been since that happened?" Jo started to speak and Meg cut her off: "Rhetorical - don't answer that. The point is, I'm in a good mood, and I won't let anything spoil it. I can get behind the idea that this is an olive branch - he wants to make nice. If that's it, then I'll let it go." She took one of the canes out of the bag. "Besides, he's an excellent cook, and I love food. I have to stop biting the hand that feeds me sooner or later."

Jo nodded. "Makes sense."

"Absolutely." Meg popped one end of the cane in her mouth and held it there with her lips as she pulled out her .38 snub-nosed revolver and popped open the cylinder. But just as she started to pop the spent bullets out, she thought the cane tasted … odd ….

One second later, her mouth caught fire.

Of course, flames did not really shoot out of her mouth, but she felt as if she'd laid a soldering iron down on her tongue. She spat out the cane and cursed. "Hot-hot-hot-" Someone had made a super-spicy candy cane!? Meg did the only thing she could think of: she reached for the water bottle on her vanity and gulped a mouthful of what she assumed was water -

- only it wasn't! It burned worse! Meg forced the mouthful of fluid down, and as she swallowed the last of it, she took a whiff from her bottle -

-VODKA!?

As far as Meg was concerned, this had gone from "prank" to "grounds for justifiable homicide," but first she had to stop her gastrointestinal tract from vaporizing. "-hot-hot-hot-" Meg rasped as she raced out of her room; Jo followed sedately, as impassive as ever. Sei, Kyo, and Amy had only a few seconds to realize Meg was entering the kitchen before she pushed past Kyo to the kitchen sink, turned on the faucet, and scooped cold water directly into her mouth. She didn't hide her relief.

Kyo said, "Meg? Are you ok?"

Meg lunged at Kyo and grabbed his collar. "You son of a bitch! Did you think that was funny?"

"What!? I didn't do anything."

Sei was at Meg's side. "Meg, you'd better explain yourself." There was no mistaking the warning tone in her voice.

Meg's eyes remained locked on Kyohei. "Ask him!"

"I didn't do anything!" Kyo said.

"You didn't leave super-spicy candy canes in my room?" Meg accused. "And you didn't put Vodka in my water bottle so I'd burn my mouth off when I tried to get relief from the cane?"

"No!" Kyo yelped. "I didn't. I wouldn't."

"I believe him," Sei said. "Let. Him. Go-"

Amy giggled.

Meg gawked at Amy. Then she let go of Kyo and rounded on the 11-year-old super genius. "So it was you!"

"What?" Amy stammered. "No, Meg, I didn't. I wish I had - you were really funny - but I didn't do it. Honest."

"And I didn't do it either," Sei said.

"Well, I didn't do this to myself!" Meg shouted. "So if none of you guys did it, who did?"

Amy, Meg, Sei, and Kyo exchanged glances and/or glares.

Then Amy, Meg, Sei, and Kyo turned to Jo.

Meg said, "Jo? No - wait -" She trailed off.

Jo looked at them impassively. Then she smiled slightly and chuckled softly. "Sorry, Meg," she said, "but when I saw the canes in a gift shop, I couldn't resist. But it was all in fun. Can you forgive me?"

"Uh…sure, Jo, yeah."

"Good," Jo deadpanned, "because I haven't laughed this hard since…I literally don't know when." She turned and headed back to her and Meg's room, chuckling so softly they could barely hear it.

Amy arched her eyebrows. "So Jo's a practical joker? Never saw that coming."

"No," Meg said. "I guess it takes all kinds."

THE END