Hi everyone! So... I'm finally listening to my muse who's been shouting in my head for weeks now... This story will be a collection of drabbles, 67 of them plus introduction and conclusion. For once, I let you decide what happens in the next chapter... Read this first chapter, I'll explain afterwards :).
Enjooooy the fluffiness..

July, 20th, 2011

"You need to rest, Magnus. Whether you stay here or go to your bedroom, that's not important, but if anyone sees you even near your office, I'll personally shoot you in the other leg."
From her infirmary bed, Helen glared at Will who blushed as his own daring outburst.
"Okay. Not personally. I'll get Tesla to do it, as a payback." He said, shrugging. "Believe me, replacing you for a few days more is not my idea of fun, but we came very close to losing you. You have to rest."
Helen knew her protégé was right. Every breath she took was painful, and she winced each time she stirred. She had been isolated from the team while chasing an abnormal, abnormal which had cornered her on a rooftop, bit into her leg, and thrown her over the top, down in the street. Her fall had been stopped by a fence, on which she had impaled herself, a spike plunging into the soft skin of her belly causing sufficient internal damage to kill her. Will and Henry had brought her back early enough to enable Biggie to save her. She had gone through surgery, and after two weeks under sedatives, she was doing okay. But she had to face it: she would have to take it slow for a few more weeks. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Fine..."
"You're damn lucky to be alive..."

She nodded. She had been silly enough to run after that giant Cerberus dog alone, a mistake that could have got her killed hadn't it been for her team's professionalism.
"Could you get me the crutches? I'll go to my room."
Will got the crutches and handed them to Magnus. He was surprised to see her comply without arguing further. He smiled. It was either a side-effect of morphine or she was conscious of how close she had been to leaving this world behind.
When he saw her wince as she was sitting up on the side of the bed, he flew to her rescue, helping her up, an arm around her lean waist, hers around his shoulders. Helen thanked him silently. She had not imagined it would be so hard to stay upright. She drew in a sharp breath and took the clutches from Will. By the time she had found her balance on her left leg, she was already sweaty and panting for air.

The young man observed her as she was trying to walk to the door, each step more confident and stable than the last one. He doubted it was wise to let her walk to her room.
"Magnus... Let me walk you."
She stopped with her back to him.
"I'll be fine Will."
She could already feel a wave of nausea rise up in her stomach, and exhaustion crawling on her, and she knew she would be really sore in the morning, but she would not let anyone see that. She had spent two weeks in that infirmary bed, dozing and having to stand being unable to do anything. Now, she was decided to show the boss was back. Alive and well.
Will hesitated. Someone normal would never reach the room... But then again, Dr. Magnus was not 'normal'. Still, her determination alone would not be enough to get her safely to her own welcoming bed. He decided the best course of action would be to let her think she could do it without any help, and follow her from a distance, just in case.
"If you say so..." He said, not convinced.
She limped to the door of the infirmary and tried to open the door. Unfortunately, she had to pull it towards her, which was a lot more difficult than pushing it. Will ran to help her.
"Thank you."
She hopped to the elevator, and before the doors could close, she suddenly looked at Will.

"Oh, and please send the last reports my way. I need to be filled in on what happened around here those last two weeks." She said, trying to conceal a wince as the pain around the scar on her abdomen was suddenly waking up.
The doors of the elevator closed on her before the psychologist could answer. He snorted, smiling,and shook his head.
"Yeah, never gonna happen." He whispered to himself.

҉

It took her about fifteen minutes to reach her door, stopping whenever the pain was excruciating, bringing tears to her eyes and effectively preventing her from seeing clearly where she was headed, or when she needed to breath, leaning against a wall.

When she did reach the door to her room, she was glad she was only wearing a short and a tank top, as the effort had left her covered with a thin layer of sweat, and she could hear her heartbeat buzzing in her ears and feel her blood running wildly in her veins. She was hot, and it had nothing to do with it being summer.

She pushed the door open, and immediately noticed that something wasn't right. First, her oil lamp was on on her nightstand, the flame flickering with the breeze coming through the open window... She froze. Someone was there. She thought for a second that maybe Will had asked Biggie to prepare her room... But she registered the faint smell of aftershave that was typically Nikola, and she kicked the door to open it wider, letting out a groan when she leaned on the wrong leg, sending a sparkle of electricity running through her nerves, and clouding her vision with colorful spots.
Before she knew what was happening, Nikola's arm was around her, helping her on the bed.
"Helen... Your stubbornness might be arousing, but it will only get you killed." He said, his tone filled with concern, chastising her for being so proud.
His friend ignored his comment and adjusted her position on the bed, laying down, her vision coming back gradually.
"What are you doing in my room?" She asked, when she saw him clearly.
He sat down next to her, careful not to hurt her through the vibrations he sent to the mattress.

"I thought you might need some company... To help you change, bathe, eat..." He ogled her quite openly, taking in the sight of her naked legs, and she wished she had enough strength to make him regret that.
"And I never had the occasion to give you all that." He finished, gesturing to the monstrous pile of wrapped gifts on the table. "You know, you never really have time, running around barking orders. So I figured it was the ideal occasion." He said casually.

Helen frowned, looking to the huge mess on her table, then back at Nikola. What was all that about? The occasion for what?
"Nikola... What on Earth is that all about?" She asked, tired. She wasn't in the mood for one of his games.

She was expecting him to come up with a sneaky comment and a smirk, she even expected him to pat her legs, taking advantage of the fact that she could not jump to wring his delicate neck... Everything really, but what he did? It left her speechless. He stared at his hands nestled next to hers on the mattress, and smiled fondly. And was that...A slight blush? She raised an eyebrow.

"You remember how we used to always try and get together every year around Christmas? How important it was for you?" He asked, softly.
She didn't answer, but she felt her insides flutter. Of course she remembered...
"You would buy a new gown that you would only wear for the party, ask for a huge Christmas tree and insist on getting James, Nigel and I to decorate it with you. We would drink far too much wine, exchange kisses under the mistletoe and dance until exhaustion... And of course we would think a lot, share new ideas..."
Helen surprised herself by thinking that he forgot to mention that he would always show them his new inventions and tricks... Which was probably the best part of their Christmas Eves back then.
"And...We would exchange gifts." He ended, pinning her with his gray gaze.
She felt the corners of her lips tilt upwards without her consent. He looked strangely nostalgic and emotional. It rang true, but it felt really odd. She hadn't seen him like that since even before the source blood... God, how close they had been back then... She sighed. Those were simple, happy times... They had been different.
"I do remember. That was a lot of fun. What's the link? It's July..." She said with a side smile.
When she saw the inner struggle his body-language was translating, she slowly brought her hand to cover his, and their gazes met. She tilted her head expectantly, and he sighed.
"All those years in hiding, whenever I missed you, I would think of how happy you looked when the tree was decorated. How absolutely gorgeous you looked, staring at the star on top of it with your eyes sparkling. That alone made me happy." He might have realized he was being cheesy, for he added: "Of course there were also those kisses under the mistletoe, but I kept those for the lonely nights."
Helen slapped his hands, but she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from her, and she gasped for air when the pain reminded her that she was in bed for a good reason.
Nikola winced at seeing her in such a state, but he went on, serious again.
"I traveled a lot and saw things that only you could imagine, but wherever I went, whenever I would see something you'd like, I would take it, hoping to be able to put them under the tree when at last I'd see you again."

Helen was at a loss for words. Of course she had missed Nikola all those years, but she had never thought he would think of finding a gift each year...
"That makes..." She began, thinking to herself.
"67 of them, if you count the one I bought last year... I thought you'd invite me for Christmas. I was disappointed."
She blushed slightly. She had never thought of him as the kind of man to take celebrations seriously. All those years ago, he had looked frankly annoyed at her insistence for him to join her for Christmas.

"Oh Nikola..." Her face lit up and a delighted smile appeared on her lips, leaving her friend happy that he could still make her smile so much. "Who would have known that you could still surprise me after more than a century?" She asked.
"That's my personal pride." He answered, this time smirking playfully. And she rolled her eyes.
"So you've had all those 67 gifts with you all that time?"
He rose from the bed and went to the table, rummaging through the piles.
"Well, I used to have less of those. Shall we begin? It might take you a while to open every one of them."

Helen bit her bottom lip. She didn't feel the pain anymore, too focused on the fact that her very own vampire, labeled as one of the most dangerous men on Earth several times in the last century by federal agencies and governments, looked like a child at Christmas. Over sixty years of memories were here on the table, and strangely, she couldn't wait to unravel them.
"You could have written cards instead." She said, trying to stay humble whereas she felt like being treasured.
Nikola gazed at her and smirked again, that special smirk he had when they were making a scientific breakthrough.
"Sure. But this is so much more fun." He stated, his deep voice creating goosebumps on her skin. Or was it the breeze?

Hope you like the idea... I feel like we could have some fun going through the gifts together... And for that, I will leave you the opportunity to choose what's in the boxes. Just send me a Private Message with your ideas, and I'll pick one for each chapter, and work around the idea :). There will be some of my ideas as well (hell, that's still my story ;)).

I hope you're as excited as I am by this idea... LET THE FUN BEGIIIIIN.