A/N: This fiction is dedicated to AkamaiMom as a part of the Writers Block Party story exchange for Christmas. She gave me the story request with prompts : a snowman, a blanket, peppermint, and an unexpected gift. Doesn't matter which characters. Surprise me!

So, here it is! It's set after S3 and is AU as Tex and Cruz are alive and there is another inconsistency in there…but let it slide! It's Christmas themed Last Ship Story! Yay! Hope you all love it and have some Happy Holidays!

Vulture Christmas

Christmas Eve,

Sasha shivered in the cold air, winter had struck St Louis hard this Christmas. Snow was forecast to fall tomorrow and Sasha had to admit she was looking forward to it. Snow would justify the lack of feeling in her extremities. She hit the door bell and tucked the present she brought for the Secret Santa and bounced on the balls of her feet to create warmth.

"Sasha, hey!" Kara said as she opened her front door, Kara smiled warmly at Sasha which semi-alleviated the anxiety she felt inside at being at the Green's home.

"Hi, sorry I'm late. Meeting ran late." Sasha said which was the truth but it had only run over by 5 minutes, she'd spent the other twenty feeling unsure of herself. Coming to a Christmas gathering seemed more intimate than the parties than had been held for the past couple of weeks.

The Nathan James crew were tight knit that majority of the time she felt like she were on the outside. It wasn't that they purposefully excluded her, it was that they had a history together one she had only joined a few months ago. So she was still the 'new guy' on the team, but Danny insisted that present swap and a quiet gathering at his house was just for the team and a couple others. Their own bonding separate from the ship's crew.

Christmas had become one of those holidays that grimly marked the loss of her husband and friends. It reminded her of how alone she was in the world but tonight was about solidifying friendships she' formed on the Nathan James. It was to shake off her loneliness and to stop her from doing something stupid like tracking down Tom. He'd made his choice, he'd left her this time instead of the other way round.

She looked at the garland on the door and had to admit she was envious of the Greens. They had one hell of a relationship, that survived a lot of bad and seen a lot of good. She wished she had a chance at having what they had but before she could downward spiral into thoughts of how close she'd been to that- the front door swung open. Sasha was greeted with warm rush of air and smiled as Kara stood in front of her dressed in a blue skinny jeans and a 3/4 sleeve sweater that had Nordic Christmas flake pattern in red and cream on it. Her hair was loose and dead straight around her shoulders, she was glowing with happiness that was infectious as Sasha's own smile broadened.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Come on in. You'll find everyone in the lounge room." Kara said waving her in. Sasha stepped in grateful to be out of the cold. Kara closed the door and Sasha heard the cheesy Christmas songs playing in the background, laughter and aroma of good food, paper and pine trees.

"Thank you for having me." Sasha said as she placed her gift on the side bureau by the door and shrugged out of her jacket and placed it on the coat rack. She was glad she hadn't dressed up as she wore olive green skinny jeans and a lightweight navy blue sweater that had gold foil spots on it. The most Christmas thing her wardrobe pertained.

"You're welcome anytime." Kara assured her as she guided her into the lounge room. The room was definitely cosy as Wolf and Miller were seated on a 3 seater couch; Alisha sat in one of the two arm chairs, Cruz in the other. Tex and his daughter Kat were on the floor by the fire place playing with Danny and Kara's 8 month old baby boy Frankie on the floor. The only person missing was Burk but he and his brother had gone back to their hometown for Christmas. Danny was presumably somewhere else in the house.

The lounge room much like the rest of the house looking like Christmas had thrown up in it. It seemed that Kara and Danny had gone overboard with it being Frankie's first Christmas. The tree stood in the opposite corner to the fireplace, it was decked out with decorations and lights that twinkled, underneath was a fairly decent stack of presents. Sasha had a feeling Frankie's name was on most of the presents.

"Hey everyone." Sasha said with a wave, they all stopped their conversations and smiled in welcome. Yet another relief as it was one thing to be friends on the ship. It was another to have it work outside of work. It was also nice to see everyone out of uniform. Not that it was much of a wardrobe change for Tex, but he did seem to have a new button down shirt on.

The men all wearing variations of pants and button own shirts just in different colours with exception of Miller who was wearing a terrible hand knitted Christmas sweater. It had a picture of a kombi van being driven by Santa with reindeer as passengers, presents stacked on the top. She was tempted to make a joke about but figured it was his Mom's handiwork and well she wasn't the person to pick on the good guys when they wore sweaters made by their mothers.

Alisha was decked out in cute navy, red and cream snowflake tights and a cream sweater dress. Kat was in torn jeans and a flannel shirt, her hair loose around her shoulders. Frankie was the absolute cutest of the bunch as he was dressed in a snowman costume.

"Hey, bout time Wolf is wasting away here." Tex joked, Sasha looked over to Wolf who put on a whole show and dance to prove Tex right as he slunk down in the couch.

"I barely recognise myself." Wolf said looking at her with weary look. Sasha made a derisive noise as there was nothing about Wolf that was wasting away given he was the picture of health.

"Really? I told you dinner at 7pm, it's only 6:30pm." Kara informed him sweetly.

"6:35pm, just 25 minutes bro and you'll wish you had that Big Mac before coming here." Miller said to Wolf, it made Sasha frown as she figured the food would be good given she assumed Kara was cooking.

"Hey, my cooking is going to amaze you." Danny told them as he came into the room, Sasha pressed her lips into a fine line as not to laugh as Danny was wearing a very feminine red and white Christmas apron over jeans and a shirt. It looked like a 50s Santa apron as it had a sweetheart neckline and an A-line skirt with a lot of ruffles, with a black belt around the middle to accentuate his waist.

"Nice apron." Wolf deadpanned.

"Thanks, I think it really showcases my legs." Danny said. "Dinner is still on track for 1900 hours. Miller, I heard about the Big Mac, shame on you. Shame on you because this is going to be the best Christmas Eve dinner you've ever eaten." he told him.

"Ah, sorry man but my sister's cooking is the best." Cruz informed him smugly before Miller could defend himself with the excuse of a fast metabolism.

"I can second that." Alisha said with a smile.

"Why are you even here? You're not on the Team." Danny said not appreciating how his team was turning against him. Sasha kept quiet as she had to agree with Cruz and Alisha. Cruz's sister; Maria's cooking was really good. But she knew better than to insult the cook.

"Kara invited me, don't worry Kat and I had our own present swap with Kara. So your little group is not so special in it's traditions." Alisha said with a smile and a wink.

"Well, let's get the present swap finished so Frankie can go to bed and we can eat! So, did everyone abide by the rules?" Danny asked the team as they sat around the lounge room looking to him with a mixture of bored and incredulous looks.

"Under $10, nothing sexual, obtuse or rude because Frankie is apart of the present swap. You want to shelter the ankle biter from the world. Yeah, we did as you asked. At least I did." Wolf said looking to the others as if they were not his responsibility.

"Run it by me again why Frankie was included. I don't remember him being a member of Vulture team." Cruz said, jutting a thumb to Frankie who looked like he wasn't going to bed anytime soon. Frankie was happily romping around playing with the toys Kat and Tex were pushing his way. Every once and a while the baby would pull the pacifier from his mouth and offer it to them but when they declined the baby would just stick it back in his mouth and go back to playing.

It was just adorable. It made Sasha melt as she wished that kids were in her future but after her husband's death, she had resigned herself to being pseudo auntie to her friends' kids. Part of her grieved not having the opportunity to be a mother but she made a choice. It helped that she was needed by the military, so she was content. She told herself the pro of her choice was that she'd never have to change dirty diapers or deal with being pulled a million different directions. She could just focus on what she had in her small world and continue her work. She knew in time she would become content with how things were. It had happened before, it would come to her again.

"Future member." Danny said as he picked up his 8 month old son into his arms. He honestly just put his son's name in the hat for kicks. Turned out to far more amusing that first expected given there was discussion on what exactly a baby could give as a present. Some of the ideas didn't sound like gifts anyone would want but then Miller was the one who was on the receiving end.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Frankie's going to be a TAO like his Mommy." Kara said to them as she came into the lounge room and sat on the arm of the chair Alisha was sitting in.

"I want to go first because no one can beat my present." Tex said as he got up and picked up a large box wrapped in Christmas paper. "For Frankie," he said as he came back to the middle of the floor and presented the gift in front of Danny. Danny placed his son on the floor and helped Frankie open the present.

"Oh wow, an empty box." Danny said, making a face as presents go an empty baby carrier box was fairly lame in his books. Not that Tex could have acquired a baby carseat for under $10. But still, it wasn't really a present.

"Hey, it took me a week to find that box." Tex informed him, not even apologetic or ashamed as one would expect.

"That's the box from our new car seat." Kara said with a frown as she recognised the box, the others in the room were smiling and trying not to laugh. Kat looked a little mortified.

"I didn't help him." Kat informed them which made a few of them chuckle as they believed her.

"You said under $10, it was a lot of wrapping paper." Tex assured them, the others laughed and shook their heads at the man. But then Tex got down on the floor and propped the box on its side and popped out the bottom so it was a tunnel. He took Frankie out of Danny's lap and laid the baby on his belly. They all waited and without more than a couple seconds hesitation, Frankie pushed onto his hands and knees; crawled into the box and stopped giving a gurgle of glee before he continued out the other side. He stopped at the other side and smiled at the occupants of the room with a 'look at me, I'm awesome. Now praise me!' smiles.

"Go Frankie, now come back this way?" Tex said from the other side of the box. Frankie complied and crawled back into the box towards Tex who picked him up under the arms. Frankie chortled an kicked his legs in glee from the attention. "Yeah, see boxes are awesome. Enjoy." he said, he blew a raspberry on Frankie's cheek. The baby giggled as Tex placed him back onto the ground. Frankie went back to crawling around and through his present in complete joy. Tex looked to Kara and Danny "See, best present." he said smugly.

"Who's next?" Danny asked.

"We really going to go one by one?" Sasha asked. She had hoped they'd do it all at once.

"Nah, hand it over Sasha." Wolf said holding out his hands for his gift. Sasha picked up her present for him and passed it over with a mocking look as she figured he'd bounce right on the chance to be next.

"Awwh, for me? you shouldn't have." Wolf deadpanned, the others in the room swapped their gifts to save on time with exception of Frankie whom Kara was trying to coax out of his new cardboard obsession. Sasha held onto the gift Danny passed her and waited watching everyone. She liked this most about Christmas, watching people as they opened their gifts and shared their gratitude.

Cruz opened his gift from Miller finding a Hershey hot chocolate kit and Oreos. Cruz smiled, "Thanks, you just earned me some serious brownie points with my sister and nephews tomorrow." He informed Miller.

Danny opened his present from Cruz, which apparently was an incredibly detailed pencil drawing of the Nathan James in profile soaring through the water in a photo frame. A post it note stuck to the glass 'Where Mommy and Daddy met'. Danny laughed "Nice, Cruz. This is awesome man. Thanks" Danny said before he promised they'd hang Cruz's artistic creation in the study.

"Well there's no mystery here." Tex said as he held up a six pack of beer that had a bow taped to the side of the carrier.

"It's Boags, I had to break the bank for that." Wolf told him. Tex smiled not complaining as he looked at the beer, before placing it away from his daughter's reach.

"Well, well." Wolf said, he opened his present to find Australian Breakfast tea, kangaroo jerky and a jar of Vegemite. "Nicely played, Cooper." he said as he cracked open the Vegemite and smelt it. He wore a satisfied smile. Sasha felt a zing of pleasure at him liking his present. It hadn't been easy to find and anything that was imported cost an arm and a leg these days. But she managed to haggle down the price as the economy was still struggling and many small businesses were happy to take a small loss to just make some money.

"Enjoy." Sasha said to him.

"Oh I will. What you got?" Wolf asked, Sasha looked at the gift in her hands knowing already it was a bottle of some kind of alcohol.

She looked to Danny and Kara as she tore the wrapping paper to reveal a bottle of Phillips' Peppermint Schnapps. She chuckled.

"Kara mentioned that you like Schnapps." Danny said, as Sasha had regaled them of the time she had been posted in Austria where she'd met her husband. Kara was one of the few people who asked Sasha about her husband. It had been nice to share the memories of the man she had loved.

Their first Christmas together as a couple, they'd gone to a Chocolate café and he'd ordered them hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. It had been a sweet memory as he'd proposed to her on the walk home. He promised them every year they'd share a hot chocolate with Peppermint schnapps to mark the moment.

"Yes, I do. It's great. Thank you." Sasha said, she hadn't planned on it but tonight when she got home. She was going to make herself a Hot Chocolate with the Schnapps mixed in and honour her late husband. She knew that the schnapps had definitely over the $10 budget but appreciated the gesture of it.

"You're welcome." Danny said with a smile. Sasha returned the smile and pushed away the emotions rolling within her and looked to Miller who was the only one who hadn't gotten a present yet. Kara had managed to wrangle Frankie out of his box; so he could give Miller his present.

Sasha watched as Kara held Frankie on her hip and passed a small wrapped box to her son. "Ok Frankie, time to give Uncle Miller his present." She said to Frankie. Miller got up from the lounge to accept the gift. Except Frankie dropped the gift and held out his pacifier with a smile.

"Oh thank you, but that's not for Uncle Miller," Kara told Frankie pressing a kiss to Frankie's cheek as the others in the room chuckled. She took the pacifier and tossed it to Danny as she picked up the present and but in leaning over Frankie had managed to snag his fingers in a crochet blanket on the floor. Frankie pulled the blanket up and held it out to Miller.

"Thanks Dude." Miller said as he carefully detangled the blanket from Frankie's grasp.

"Wow, he's even worse than Tex at gift giving. Re-gifting among friends is just poor form." Alisha comment as they all laughed as it was true given that the Blanket had been a baby shower gift from Alisha that Frankie was unknowingly re-gifting to Miller.

"Hey, the box was a winner and it's called up-cycling." Tex pointed out with a smug grin while the others smiled in amusement not bothering to correct Tex.

"The blanket is not the gift." Kara assured Miller as she handed the wrapped present to Frankie. "Ok, here we go." Kara said with a wry smile as she obviously was expecting another hiccup. Sasha and the others watched with smiles waiting. "Give Uncle Miller the box." Kara prompted Frankie in a gentle coaxing manner. Frankie looked at the small present for a moment and then looked to Miller. He seemed to contemplate whether he wanted to keep the present but after some more coaxing from Kara; Frankie held out the present.

"Thank you." Miller said to Frankie as he accepted the gift. He tore off the paper and cocked an eyebrow as Sasha like everyone else wondered what Frankie would buy for under $10 for Miller. Or in this case what Danny and Kara bought for him.

He opened the box and his jaw dropped in shock. He stared at the contents and then looked at the others in the room.

"Is this for real?" he asked as he turned to show them all the naval lapel pins for E-5 Petty Officer 2nd Class nestled inside.

"Yeah, it's real. There'll be a ceremony in the New Year to make it official. Congratulations." Danny said confirming it. Miller's face cracked into a brilliant smile as he looked back at the lapel pins.

"Congratulations," Sasha said with a grin as Miller earned the promotion, the others followed suit in saying their congratulations while Miller was still half smiling and in complete disbelief. Getting a promotion always had the effect, the joy of stepping closer to one's goal.

"Dude, it's not that much a surprise. You sat the examinations for the promotion." Cruz pointed out to him.

"I know but, I figured I wouldn't get it. So this is really unexpected. Thank you guys." He said to them all.

"You did all the work to get there." Danny told him, something no one on the Nathan James could argue as everyone on the ship worked hard. But it was good to see Miller earn his promotion. Sasha was looking forward to the ceremony, she secretly hoped Tom would be there to witness Miller's promotion.

"Great present." Miller said as he snapped the box closed and placed it on the side table to take home later.

"Though I think that went over the budget." Tex pointed out.

"I think we'll let it go given Frankie the Snowman can't count yet." Sasha argued in good humour. She smiled softly as she looked to Frankie who was leaning his head on Kara's shoulder looking like he was finished with them all and ready for bed.

"Speaking of, this little snowman needs to go to bed." Kara said as Frankie made a restless noise and grabbed a tighter hold on her.

"I smell something burning." Wolf said with a frown. Sasha took a sniff and nodded in agreement before a fire alarm sounded.

"My brussel sprouts!" Danny said, he leaped off the floor and ran out the room to the kitchen to deal with the noise and the possible burnt food.

"Thank goodness," Kara muttered in relief which made the others in the room all smile. Her cheeks went deep red. "I hate brussel sprouts. It's perfectly normal." she said defensively.

"Want me to go make sure the sprouts accidentally end up on the floor while you put Frankie to bed?" Sasha asked Kara with an amused smile.

"Yes, that would great." Kara told her with a sigh of relief. Sasha gave a nod as she noticed that the others around the room were looking grateful for her presence. Not because she was saving them from Danny's brussel sprouts but because they did have a friendship outside of the ship.

She'd forgotten how that felt to be surrounded by friends but now she knew that it was a really good feeling. One she wanted to keep as she liked the people in the room which meant she now had to go make sure some brussel sprouts didn't make it out of the kitchen to the dinner table. A smile spread across her lips as this was definitely going to be a fun Christmas Eve Dinner.

The End.