Note: Who's up for a bit of christmas whump? Thanks to wenwalke for fixing all my mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own H50. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter One

Danny entered the school hall, his hands full of Christmas decorations. Grace had managed to rope him into helping with the school fair, so they had arrived early that Saturday morning to help decorate the hall. He glanced over and smiled as he saw Grace hanging decorations on the school tree. He set down the decorations, and taking one he climbed the ladder. He had already hung decorations down the far side of the hall, and only had a small section to go to finish this side. As he pushed the tac into the ceiling Danny felt the ladder wobble and grabbed hold of a rung to steady himself.

"Hey, be careful up there, Danny. I do not want you to be my first casualty of the day." A voice called up to him from below.

Danny looked down and saw the familiar sight of the pretty, petite, blonde doctor. "Hey, Dr. Pearce, what are you doing here?" He smiled as he headed down the ladder.

"I think it's about time you started calling me by my first name, Andrea. Don't you?" She smiled.

"Ok, Andrea. Hey, what are you doing here?"

"My niece started school here this year, and she decided to offer my services as first aider for the fair."

"Oh she did? I know that one. Grace managed to rope me in to the decorating committee, as you can see. So, which one is your niece?"

"The little angel over by the Santa grotto, she is so excited."

Danny smiled, remembering fondly how excited Grace used to get. "I bet. I heard Mr. Peaks is playing Santa this year. He's great with the kids."

"Danno, you need to hurry up with those decorations, the fair is opening soon." Grace said coming over to join her father. "Dr. Pearce, hey."

"Hey, Grace. Good to see you, especially outside the hospital." She smiled, and Danny rolled his eyes knowing it was a dig at how many times a member of the team ended up at the hospital to be patched up.

"Good to see you too. Danno, the decorations," Grace insisted.

"Okay, okay, I'm doing it." Danny sighed. He grabbed another decoration and headed back up the ladder.

Finally Danny finished the decorations and returned the ladder to the back of the hall. He then grabbed a drink and headed over to where Dr. Pearce was stationed, in case anyone was hurt, Grace was chatting away to her.

"Hey, did you lose your niece?" Danny asked, noting the little girl wasn't around.

"No, her mum, my sister, has her." Andrea Pearce replied.

"Oh, thank goodness, Detective Williams, I'm so relieved to find you." Principle Fiske said rushing over to join them.

"Is everything ok?" Danny asked his hand automatically going to rest where his gun would normally be, but of course he didn't have it with him today.

"No, no, it's not. I really need your help. I just had a call from Mrs. Peaks. Mr. Peaks had a small stroke last night."

"Oh no, that's terrible." Danny replied concerned.

"He's doing well, thankfully he received really good medical care and they expect him to make a full recovery, but he isn't going to be able to come today. Now we have no Santa."

"Oh no," Dr. Pearce sighed, "the children were really looking forward to it. My niece, Janey, was so excited."

"Yeah it's a real shame, isn't there anyone else who can fill in?" Danny asked.

"Well yes, yes there is. I was hoping..." And Principle Fiske smiled.

"You were hoping what?" Danny asked, and then it dawned on him. "Oh no, you have to be kidding, you want me to play Santa?"

"Please, Detective, you're the only one who can help us. You don't want to let all the children down, do you?"

"Come on Danno, you have to do it." Grace pleaded.

"Oh no, no I don't. Santa has to be jolly, I'm not jolly. I'm not. I'm sure one of the other parents could stand in."

"Even if they were willing, I couldn't let them." Principle Fiske replied, disappointed. "Anyone taking on such a roll has to have a police background check done. Obviously, given your job, that wouldn't be needed. Please Detective Williams? Please could you stand in for us?"

Danny didn't know what to reply. He looked at Dr. Pearce for support, but found none.

"Come on, Danny. You can't possibly let down all those children."

"Andrea, you know I'm not exactly Santa material."

"Please Danno, you always dressed as Santa for me, pleeeease." Grace said batting her puppy dog eyes.

"I...I...I don't really have much choice, do I?" Danny sighed.

"Yes! You're the best, Danno." Grace said giving him a hug.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Detective Williams. We really do appreciate this. Please come with me so you can get ready. The fair will be opening soon."

Danny started to follow her then turned to look back at Grace and Dr. Pearce. "You both owe me, big time."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Danny spent the whole of the day, dressed in a Santa suit, in a red hot hall. As the final little girl left his lap and ran back to her parents, and older sister, he stood and stretched. He had lost count of how many children had ended up sat on his knee, and he was tired and hungry, but he had to admit that he had enjoyed himself. Seeing the excitement and joy on the children's faces had made the long day worth while.

The hall was almost empty now, Principle Fiske was saying goodbye to the last of the families leaving. Dr. Pearce was clearing away her things. The most she had had to deal with, thankfully, was a split lip and a bloody nose, when two brothers collided as they got caught up in the excitement of the day. Grace was sat quietly alongside Dr. Pearce, reading a book. Danny started to head over to them, when he heard a commotion.

Turning, he saw a dark haired man barge past Principle Fiske, almost knocking her over. The man immediately made a beeline for the family that had just finished with Danny. The little girl had insisted on opening her present, there and then, and her big sister was helping her. The parents did not look happy when they saw the arrival of the new man.

"Jack, what are you doing here? You know you're not allowed within 100 feet of us." The woman said angrily.

Danny looked over at Grace and Dr. Pearce, rolled his eyes, and sighed. The family obviously had a restraining order against the man that he was breaking. Danny immediately changed direction and headed over to the arguing group.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?"

"Back off, Santa," Jack spat. "This is none of your business. I just want to see my girls."

Danny noticed that both girls had moved closer together, and were hiding behind the man that Danny now guessed was their stepfather.

"They don't want to see you, Jack." The woman shouted. "They're scared of you. Now go. You're ruining their Christmas fair."

"Sir, I think it best you leave now." Danny said, sandwiching himself between the arguing parents.

"I told you to back off, buddy. Go back to playing Santa." Jack said shoving Danny.

"Mr. Prentis. You need to leave now." Principle Fiske said joining them. "My staff have called the police. You know you are not allowed on school grounds."

"What? You bitch, you called the police? I just want to see my girls. He took them away from me. He stole my wife and my daughters."

"You need to calm down now, sir." Danny ordered.

"You're a drunk, Jack. I left you because you're a drunk who used to hit me. This isn't Henry's fault. He loves us. He's a wonderful father to the girls. He..." The woman's rant was finished with a scream as her ex-husband suddenly pulled out a gun from his jacket.

"Jack, put the gun down." Danny ordered. "Your daughters are here. There are other children present. Don't be stupid. Put the gun down and we can sort this all out." Danny tried to reason and really wished he wasn't still wearing the Santa suit. How was this man supposed to take him seriously when he was wearing a padded red suit and a white beard?

"I won't tell you again, Santa, back off. It's him I want." The man screamed, and the scent of alcohol couldn't be missed. But what had Danny more focused was the gun pointed in his face, and the scream that came from his daughter off to the side.

"Jack. Please. Why don't we talk about this somewhere else?" Henry said stepping closer to his wife.

"Shut up, shut up." Jack screamed and started waving the gun around. The sound of police sirens could be heard getting louder, and the man was obviously starting to panic.

"Jack, calm down, nobody has to get hurt. We can sort this out. I understand that you want to see your kids." Danny tried to reason.

"I...I...just want to see my kids," Jack screamed turning around and looking to see who else was in the room. "I didn't want this...I just..."

There was a loud bang, followed by a scream from the two children, as the gun, which was being flung around every time the drunken man wildly gesticulated with his hands, accidentally exploded into life.

Danny's first thoughts were for Grace. He slowly turned his head to see her looking scared, huddled in Dr. Pearce's arms. Relieved that she seemed to be unhurt he looked at the man in front of him still holding the gun. There was a shocked look on his face; he obviously hadn't meant to fire the gun. The rest of the family, and Principle Fiske, all looked shell shocked. Danny had to mentally shake himself. He was a police officer, he needed to take control while Jack was off his game, but he couldn't seem to get his mind to come up with a plan. He felt sluggish, and the crying from the two girls sounded far off in the distance, when he knew they were only a few feet away.

Slowly he became aware of a pain low in his abdomen, as a buzzing made itself known in his ears. Time felt like it slowed down, yet the small, rational part left of his brain, told him it had only been a few seconds. His legs suddenly started to tremble, and his vision started to grey around the edges. "Put down the gun, Jack." Danny managed to whisper before his legs gave out, and he crashed to the floor.

TBC