Disclaimer Not mine, all things related to Spooks belong to Kudos and BBC TV. No copyright infringement intended. As with all my stories the following characters will appear. Harry, Ruth, Ros, Adam, Zaf, Lucas, Dimitri, Malcolm, Beth, Tariq and maybe even Jo. Basically all characters from 3.1 to 9.8 are fair game!

Grinches!

Beth perched herself on the edge of Adam's desk as the rest of Section D began to arrive. It was rare that Beth was among the first to be there in the mornings. That honour was usually Harry and Ruth's. If she didn't know better she would have assumed they never left the Grid. Adam was beginning to ignore her as she began talking about the Christmas Rota. He had Christmas Day off for the first time in years and he was looking forward to spending the day with Wes, Carrie and his Mum who was coming down from Blackpool for a few days. Beth looked up as Ros almost waddled in to the Grid as the Pod doors closed behind her. No one dared mention the fact that Ros was now bigger than ever, with the start of her maternity leave imminent she was still as formidable as ever. Zaf waved slightly as he headed towards the coffee machine. Tariq yawned.

"Late night with the lovely Julie eh?" Zaf laughed as he waggled his eyebrows.

"Mr Younis do you have to be so uncouth?" Malcolm sighed.

"Yes" Zaf answered with a grin plastered across his face. Zoe rolled her eyes. It was three weeks to Christmas and she wasn't sure who was the most exited. Zaf or Emma. He certainly had the exuberance of a five year old.

"Nah" Tariq yawned again "Mum had the family over. Auntie Zanab, the cousins, everyone. Apparently it was because we hadn't seen them since Ramadan" Tariq rolled his eyes. He loved his mother dearly but knew when he was being set up. He didn't like it.

"So" Beth stated patiently. She smiled sweetly as Ruth and Dimitri exchanged glances. "Christmas"

"What?" Lucas asked. He was still reeling from the events of the last few months. He was lucky to still have a job, even though he was demoted let alone a wife and family. Ros still didn't trust him completely. Things were still rocky between them and he had the feeling if she hadn't been pregnant or if she hadn't believed him even a little the divorce she had talked about would be happening. It came down to the fact she didn't trust him. He didn't know if she ever would again. But he knew he had to earn the trust of his colleagues and friends again. It would take time.

"Christmas" Beth repeated "You know, midwinter festival, Yuletide hijacked by the ancient Christians to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. Generally occurs on the same date every December" She smiled cheekily. Dimitri shook his head.

"Oh yeah I remember that" Lucas deadpanned

"What about it Miss Bailey?" Harry emerged from his office. "Ros, we have to be in Whitehall in twenty minutes. The Home Secretary wants to see us." He pulled his coat on as Ros groaned. Ruth tried to suppress a smile.

"What do we do to celebrate? Come on there has to be something?" She looked expectantly at her friends and colleagues. "Come on this year we have something to celebrate, Harry and Lucas survived the investigation. We weren't disbanded" Harry smiled at the thought his junior officers thought him still being there was something to celebrate. The investigation in to the Syria and John/Lucas debacle had been a nightmare.

"What did you do last year?" Beth looked at the team, who were all beginning to get ready for the day ahead. Zoe shrugged.

"Stopped a bombing on London Bridge, arrested two known AQ operatives" Ros stated.

"No secret Santa? No party?" Beth was incredulous. She looked at Ruth who just shook her head, smiling. Harry noticed and returned the smile. It seemed Ruth was smiling alot more recently. It was almost like the clumsy, smily Ruth that had stormed in to the Briefing Room and stolen his heart was back.

"No party? No Christmas do where someone snogs someone completely inappropriate? No one photocopies their bum?" Beth was astounded. Harry shook his head and laughed.

"Beth, there is an annual Section Ball. If you want to go, I warn you now it is black tie and very best behaviour. The big wigs all go, including the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary. Personally I avoid it like the plague"

"Thank God" muttered Ruth.

"I do not believe it. You bunch of Grinches. Right, that is it. I am organising a Christmas do for Section D and you are all coming. Dimitri you can help. I do not care if we end up having the party here, you are all coming" Beth jumped off the desk as Dimitri looked slightly panicked.

"Why me?"

"Because you were the first person I set my eyes on. Don't argue" She flashed him a smile as he rolled his eyes. He could already hear Zaf and Adam laughing behind him. Tariq had the sense to keep quiet but couldn't help but smile as Malcolm rolled his eyes. The young woman was determined…

"Beth, I am on maternity leave from Saturday" Ros grabbed her jacket, hoping that this time she would actually get to rest before the baby arrived. Her maternity leave with Amy was curtailed.

"I don't care Ros" Beth answered "You are still coming. We've had a crap year after everything we need to let our hair down. Bring Amy if you must, same goes for Wes and Emma." She bit her lip as she watched them all stare at her. "Adam, bring Carrie if you want. Tariq" She turned as Harry interjected.

"Is not bringing the lovely Julie, she doesn't have clearance and I'm not fast tracking it so you can get some girl under the mistletoe. Right, Ros are you ready?" He glanced at the blonde who shot him a death glare. Shaking his head slightly he knew there was no point in arguing with Beth when she was like this. Christmas for Section D was going to be very different. He just hoped they actually got some time to enjoy it.

AUTHORS NOTE: My first attempt at a happyish/Christmas story. After the end of series 9 I thought we needed some humor to cheer us up. Please let me know if there is any point in continuing with the story. There is a case here too.