This story was written in response to the Tracy Island Writers Forum's "Twelve Things of Christmas" challenge in which we were given 12 Christmassy things to choose from and had to select three and make them central to the story. I chose the following three items from the list of twelve: A Cheesy Christmas Movie, Unexpected Christmas Snow and A Christmas Carol (song/music).

This story is set during the episode 'Give or Take a Million.'

Thank you to Jaimi-Sam for the beta job!

WHITE CHRISTMAS

There on the television was something each and every Tracy had seen many times before in person: snow falling in New York. After all, with the headquarters of Tracy Corporation situated in Manhattan, it always seemed that winter found one or more of them having to endure very un-tropical temperatures to tend to some piece of the family business or other.

"Doesn't the snow look wonderful?"

Brains looked at Tin-Tin, wondering at her wistful tone of voice. But it was when Virgil spoke that he really began to think.

"Gee, I wish we could have a white Christmas. Just like the old days."

It was as Brains studied the faces of each member of this adopted family of his that he felt compelled to do something. Whether or not he'd actually be able to pull it off, he wasn't entirely certain given how warm it was on Tracy Island. But he was sure going to try. And so without a word, he stole from the lounge and headed for a very private little room in his laboratory.

He made sure to hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door before secreting himself within this haven where he kept some very odd chemicals. He never knew when he'd need something out-of-the-ordinary in his capacity as International Rescue's head engineer, and he much preferred being able to tell Jeff, "Oh, sure, I can do that right away" over the alternative of having to find some chemical supply somewhere in the world and then leave the island to procure it. Time was something Brains didn't always have a lot of when push came to shove and lives were on the line.

This time, however, there were no lives on the line. Merely the happiness of the men and women he loved as though they were his own blood.

Sometime Later…

The wind speed and direction seemed spot on for his scheme. Assuming the concoction currently bubbling and boiling in various beakers and test tubes worked as intended, he'd be able to bring some happiness to Tin-Tin, Virgil and anyone else who missed snow at Christmas.

Although he'd lived for many years in various states where snow was common, Brains hadn't thought one way or the other about it beyond assessing the composition and temperature of the snow visually if it happened to pique his interest. He always had far too much going on in his mind to really concern himself with things like building snowmen or getting into snowball fights, even as a boy. Of course, that hadn't stopped other kids from smacking him the face with multiple snowballs, and even breaking his glasses once with an ice-center one. Bullies. That's what happened when you were such a geek and they weren't.

Brains shook the unpleasant memory away as he poured blue liquid into a darker blue-filled beaker. His frown changed to a small smile when he thought of the kiss he might receive on his cheek from Tin-Tin, or the appreciative looks and thanks from the fellas when he made the impossible happen on Christmas Day.

Brains frowned. Rewind that. Change 'when' to 'if.' Because it hadn't worked at all like he'd thought it would. Wondering how it was possible his mixture had failed to produce the desired results, Brains checked and rechecked his calculations but couldn't find anything the matter. It should have produced real, unmeltable snow.

Frustration mounted as the minutes ticked by and morphed into hours. It was Christmas Eve and a glance at his watch told him it was already nearing eight-thirty p.m. He had to do something…perhaps some inspiration in the form of one of his many favorite musicals was in order. Phantom of the Opera? No, decidedly incongruent with the thought processes he needed to engage. Les Miserables was a possibility but nearly as quickly as the idea came forth he dismissed it. How was he supposed to get in the mood to create snow with that much depression and angst as a backdrop?

Which then led to the thought that for snow inspiration he needed to look to something that matched the season upon them. Virgil had been bringing many Christmas carols to life on the white grand piano over the past couple days and he recalled them in perfect detail one after the other after the other. Jingle Bells, Silent Night and a suite from The Nutcracker were soon followed by O Holy Night, a song which he loved but was not at all snow-related. Then there had come God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Santa Baby – which admittedly resulted in some amusing antics from the two youngest Tracy men and may or may not have involved silver garland placed in some inappropriate places – and White Christmas.

White Christmas?

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?" he exclaimed and ran to the computer hooked up to a Virgil-created sound system that rivaled that of the island's movie theater. That would do it. Surely the old, old movie White Christmas which was, after all, about there not being snow for Christmas in the state of Vermont, would be very inspiring indeed. And the music and memories of the first time he'd seen the movie would soothe the savage beast that wanted to rant and rave over that damn snow formula not actually working.

Some More Time Later…

The movie was nearing its end just as Brains was nearing his wits' end. He'd tried seventeen different formulas in one hour and thirty-two minutes. Plopping down on the chair in front of the computer screen where Betty was just returning to the inn after realizing her 'white knight' had never actually fallen off his white horse, Brains took off his glasses, threw them on the desk and rubbed his eyes hard with his thumb and forefinger.

Why wouldn't the formula work? Why? He could not for the life of him figure it out and for the first time in a very, very long time he was facing the real probability of…dare he even think the word?..failure! Leaning against the back of the high stool he occupied, he stared at the movie, a frown creasing his forehead, not at all aware of being sleepy…

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know

Brains blinked.

Where treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow

He must have fallen asleep. Odd, he didn't usually fall asleep in the labora—

He sat bolt upright. He wasn't in the laboratory. In fact, from the look of things, he wasn't even on Tracy Island.

"What the..?"

He was sitting on a cement floor between two huge tarp-covered somethings. In front of him was a big antique filming camera with a man perched on its small seat. Brains rose to his feet, staring at blazing set lights and then beyond to what could only be a movie set. One he recognized all too well.

"Okay, let's start the scene again!" a man barked and another man snapped the two sides of a clapperboard together, making Brains jump. He blinked and adjusted his glasses, for written in chalk on the front of it in block letters was WHITE CHRISTMAS. Beneath that was scratched ACT II and then SCENE 7.

"And…action!"

He felt what Tin-Tin always called Concentration Frown crease his forehead as he stepped out of the shadows. Music began to play from somewhere he couldn't see. He recognized the strains right away. But it wasn't until four familiar voices began to sing that his attention turned to the set which took up nearly all of the space in what he figured was a soundstage.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know."

Brains removed his glasses, wiped the lenses front and back on his shirt as if they were the things making him see all this, and put them back on. Nope, not dirty glasses; everything was still there. A large stage was decked out in Christmas decorations. A brightly-lit tree stood front and center. Children in ballet outfits danced out onto the stage and posed all around while two men in Santa Claus outfits accompanied by two women in similar costumes completed the ensemble.

"Where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow."

Brains' jaw dropped. That was Bing Crosby! Vera-Ellen, Danny Kaye and even Rosemary Clooney! He looked all around him as the song continued, unable to believe where he was. The movie set? From 1954? Brains did a rapid calculation in his head. How in the world had he traveled back in time seventy-two years to this place?

He'd seen White Christmas so many times – every single Christmas since he was four years old, as a matter of fact, thanks to Natalie at the orphanage giving it to him as a present 'from Santa.' He smiled fondly as he thought of that old Blu-ray disc he'd kept simply because it'd been a gift from the only mother figure he'd ever known.

His attention returned to the set just as Bing Crosby – playing Bob Wallace – motioned to the stagehands to raise the set behind what was built to look like a stage located at Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont. The story went that the state of Vermont, 'America's Snow Playground,' had gotten no snow yet by Christmastime, resulting in poor business for the two men's former Commanding Officer, US Army General Waverly, who owned the inn. And the magic on this Christmas Eve, aside from the two stars having found their two loves, was that it had indeed begun to snow. He watched intently as the back wall of the set slid up and the tree and other decorations were moved to the side so the movie audience – which stretched so far he could barely see the cameras mounted at the very back of what was meant to be the inn's dining room – could see the snow.

The cast, joined by those in the fake audience, began singing the last strains of the final song in the movie as the audience also oohed and aahed over the snow.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas…"

A white Christmas. Brains watched the snowflakes fall as the fake audience applauded and all at once, as the idea hit, the sounds around him faded into background noise.

Snow!

They were making it snow here on the movie set but there was no way it was real snow. Certainly the temperature in this sound stage was much cooler than the temperature on Tracy Island, but…

Brains raced around the side of the set, surprised that nobody was yelling at him or even seemed to notice him. Part of his mind chewed on that but more importantly, as he skidded around the corner, he got eyes on exactly what he'd wanted to see. Two huge machines that looked like giant spotlights pointing upward stood to either side of the now-open back of the set, beyond which was nothing but the wall of the sound stage, a blue screen and…falling snow.

Watching as the men manning the machines dumped huge bags of white flakes into the tops of them, Brains realized they were nothing more than gigantic fans that blew the fake snow into the air so it looked on camera like it was coming down from the sky.

He smacked himself in the forehead. He'd been trying all night to create snow…real snow…and had been failing miserably. These men were using fake snow! "That's it!" he exclaimed just as canned audience applause sounded over speakers and the same man who'd said 'action' now yelled, "Cut!"

Brains watched the actors relax their postures and felt compelled to approach them. He'd always had sort of a crush on Betty Haynes…Rosemary Clooney. He enjoyed her voice and thought however it was he was here, this would be his only chance to actually meet her since she'd died when he was somewhere around a year old.

Wiping clammy palms off on his pants, he took a step toward the set.

Brains jolted awake. On the screen in front of him the credits rolled on White Christmas. He blinked. Stared.

He was back in the lab. "It was just a dream?" he wondered aloud. "But it was so real."

Real. He jumped to his feet as it hit him. "Fake snow! That's it! But…what did they use to manufacture it?" He balled his hands into fists out of pure frustration, only then realizing there was something in his right palm. He opened his hand and gulped.

Five fake snowflakes.

The credits finished. He looked up at the now-black screen and blinked twice.

It…had been a dream. Right?

"I've just got a little party piece I'd like to do," Brains said as he rose from his chair. Partially it was simply that he was too excited to wait any longer to reveal his surprise. Partially it was to stave off having to endure another round of bad singing from the Tracy brothers. They could save lives unlike any other men, but singing on key wasn't a talent all of them possessed.

"You have?" Nicky asked, a big smile on his face. "Gee, that's great!"

"But first of all," Brains continued, "I must ask for a little help from the audience." Oh, he was in his element now. He was relieved that Virgil and Tin-Tin hadn't caught him on the roof, or checked to see what he had been doing up there the previous night, because it would have blown the surprise! "Will you all please close your eyes?"

There were a few protests but Brains, a fan of Broadway, off-Broadway and movie musicals, knew how to be a showman. And the first order of business was for them not to see the magic coming.

When everyone had finally given in to his request, he said "Thank you," then pushed the gray button followed by the red button on his quickly-assembled handheld remote control.

"Can we open our eyes yet?"

"Not yet, Nicky."

He pushed the red button one last time. Up on the roof, a giant fan fed by a huge container of fake snowflakes he'd manufactured in just under two hours' time, whirred to life. The snow shot into the air, falling in the precise trajectory he'd calculated so as to be visible through the villa's wall of glass. Similar large fans placed strategically around the front of the villa also came to life. It was all working according to plan. A thrill ran through him as he watched the snow fall.

He waited a bit until some 'snow' had accumulated, then said, "Right. You can open your eyes…now."

"Tin-Tin, look!" Penelope said.

"Oh, it's snowing!" Tin-Tin exclaimed.

By this time a good blanket of it had fallen. There were more fake snowflakes Brains could add; he'd had a machine creating them throughout the wee hours, but he'd have to fetch them first from his lab if they wanted deeper snow. The wonderful thing about these that differed from those which had somehow accompanied him back from his 'dream,' was that his were biodegradable. The next rains to hit the island would dissolve them into the soil, providing the flora with fantastic fertilizer.

"So that's what you were up to, Brains," Tin-Tin stated, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"It's beautiful!" This from Virgil, seated behind his piano still.

Nicky rose to his feet. "Gee, snow! On palm trees!"

Jeff grinned. "Brains, you old devil, you've given us a real, old-fashioned Christmas."

Their enthusiasm warmed him in a way no tropical sun ever had. His face heated up and he figured his cheekbones had turned pink like they always did when he was flustered or embarrassed. But as the praise continued, and Tin-Tin started trying to wheedle his secret out of him while Nicky and the Tracy sons helped themselves to another round of Grandma Tracy's snickerdoodle cookies, Brains accepted their thanks generously and enjoyed the company of each and every one of this, the family that accepted him as one of their own.

There was a ton of mirth, copious amounts of Christmas-related family stories and way too much more food late into the evening, when Nicky finally had to return to the orphanage. After a long round of good-byes and thanks, Virgil and Scott left with him in Thunderbird Two. A few minutes later Brains saw Jeff, Alan, Gordon, Penny and Tin-Tin out on the patio marveling at the snow and even figuring out that if they got it wet, they could fashion it into snowballs. Gales of laughter drifted into the lounge as more than one makeshift snowball found its target, and Brains smiled broadly at their antics before making his way to his bedroom suite.

For all his knowledge, ability to think outside the box and propensity for making the most complex and unheard of inventions come to life, Brains had discovered that sometimes the simplest answer was the best one. And sometimes, using outdated techniques from seventy-two years ago could make people happier than even the most expensive Christmas modern gifts money could buy.