Hey guys. Here's a fluffy Christmas one-shot. I think we all need that after the fifth episode! I hope you like it and I wish all of you a merry Christmas and all the best in 2014!

Alex was just putting on a read sweater when she heard the front door open. She ran downstairs and practically squealed when she saw Owen coming through the door, or rather Sam as he liked to call himself now. Michael followed him, both of them carrying a part of a pine tree. Alex jumped the last few steps and ran towards the tree. 'It's huge!' She exclaimed happily. Sam smiled and even Michael couldn't help the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth. She closed the door behind them and followed them towards the living room. She already had the boxes with the lights and balls standing on the table.

'So where do you want it?' Michael asked her.

She immediately led them to a corner near the window. 'Right here.'

The boys nodded and started to put the tree in the right place. Meanwhile, Alex connected the laptop with the radio and soon enough they were putting the lights in the tree while listening to 'Do They Know It's Christmas'. Michael was quiet during the work but Sam was humming softly along while Alex was singing out loud and slightly off-key. It didn't take the three of them long to put all the lights in. The rest of the decorations were an entirely different story though. Alex stopped every time she found a decoration she particularly liked, which were quit some times. Then she would think a long time about where they had to put it, which resulted most of the time in replacing a lot of other decorations to fit in the one she wanted in the right place. It took them about one and a half hour to get the entire tree done. Alex clapped in her hands, proud of the result. When the door of the living room opened she turned around with a smile. And indeed, Nikita and Ryan came in, carrying bags of groceries for the Christmas dinner. Alex ran towards them.

'Have you got everything?'

Nikita smiled to see her best friend so happy. 'Yeah, we got it.'

'Great.' Quickly she took the bags from her friends and moved towards the kitchen. However, she did notice how Nikita mouthed something to Michael. She couldn't quit catch the meaning of it but when Michael smiled and nodded before following her towards the kitchen, she understood what was going on.

'She's asked you to keep an eye on me, hasn't she?'

Michael grinned. 'Well, you did almost burn down the house last time you tried to cook.'

She smacked his arm. 'Hey, just so you know, trying to make crème brûlée happens to be very difficult.'

He snorted but didn't make another reply. Instead he just helped her with unpacking the groceries.

'So, what did you have in mind for this dinner?'

'I've got the recipes on the table.' She called from the other side of the kitchen. Michael walked towards the table and raised an eyebrow when he saw what she had planned. It was probably a good thing he was here, because she would never be able to pull that of on her own.

'Okay, so why don't you start with cleaning the vegetables. I'll start with the meat.' He decided quickly to give her the easiest task, not wanting to spoil her Christmas dream by ruining the food.

Alex nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

'Thanks for helping.' She turned around to start with the vegetables.

'You're welcome.' He answered with a smile and started his own work as well.

Nikita came down after a shower and saw Sam and Birkhoff sneaking around the house.

'What are the two of you up to?' She asked wearily.

'Nothing.' They responded at the same time, just a little bit too innocent for her liking.

'What have you got behind your back then?'

The boys sighed and showed her the mistletoe they had been hiding. 'We're trying to set Michael and Alex up.' Birkhoff explained.

Nikita shook her head and smiled. 'Guys, you can't push them into something they don't want to do.'

'We're not.' Birkhoff defended. 'We're just giving them a push in the right direction. I mean look at you and Ryan. If it hadn't been for me, the two of you would never have gotten together.'

Nikita rolled her eyes, although nerd was probably right. If it hadn't been for his multiple encouragements, she would never have had the nerve to start a new relationship after her break-up with Michael.

'Well, good luck then.' She winked and walked towards the living room.

She stopped to admire the Christmas tree. She had to admit, it was beautiful. The rest of the room looked beautiful as well, with a lot of candles and tiny lights. Sonya was taking pictures of the tree while Ryan was reading a book on the couch. She walked over to him and lay down on the couch, her head in his lap. He smiled and put his book down.

'Hey.' He simply said.

She grinned. 'Hey.' She reached up to give him a quick kiss, which quickly deepened.

'Guys, there's a reason we have bedrooms here you know.' Alex' voice interrupted their little moment.

Nikita groaned and pulled back, glaring at a giggling Alex.

'Dinner is ready.' She announced.

Sam's head appeared around the door. 'Did I hear someone say dinner?' He grinned and quickly followed Alex towards the dining table. Birkhoff was already seated next to Sonya, while Ryan pulled back a chair for Nikita. Sam and Alex got seated just before Michael came walking in with a huge tray of food.

'Thank God, Michael you helped! I was afraid we'd have to go to bed with an empty stomach tonight.' Sam teased.

Alex blushed. 'I'm not that bad you know!'

Sam smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. 'I know, but you're really easy.'

Alex gave him an eye roll but smiled nonetheless.

'Shall we get started? I'm starving.' Birkhoff announced.

They quickly agreed and soon enough, everyone was digging into their food.

'That was absolutely delicious.' Sam sighed.

Nikita nodded eagerly. 'Yeah, great job Alex.'

Alex smiled proudly. 'Well, I did it with a little bit of help from Michael.'

He smiled at her and nodded. 'Well, we cooked so someone else can do the dishes.' He announced happily.

Nikita groaned. 'Yeah, I guess that would be me.'

They all laughed at her lack of enthusiasm at the foresight of doing the dishes. Then Ryan took pity on her and helped her with bringing the plates towards the kitchen. 'Don't worry, I'll help you.' They heard him say before the both of them disappeared into the kitchen.

The others made their way to the living room. Alex sat down underneath the Christmas tree and her entire face lit up when she noticed something. Underneath the tree was a huge pile of presents. She was pretty sure they hadn't been there when she had gone to the kitchen to prepare for dinner.

'Merry Christmas, Alex.' She turned around and saw Sonya standing in front of her with a smile as big as her own.

'You arranged this?' She asked, gesturing towards the presents.

'With a little bit of help from Nikita and Ryan.'

'You guys are awesome!' Alex exclaimed and turned back to look at the tree. It was perfect. About ten minutes later, Nikita and Ryan walked into the living room.

'You're ready for presents, Alex?' Nikita asked with a smile.

Alex nodded brightly and immediately walked out of the room to get her own presents. She had bought them some time ago, but wasn't sure whether she would put the others in an uncomfortable position if she had put them underneath the tree. But apparently the others had the same idea. When she came downstairs again, Nikita and Ryan sat on the couch, while Sonya was snuggled up to Birkhoff on the loveseat. Sam had made himself comfortable in a huge chair. Finally her eyes found Michael who had taken up the task to get a fire lit. She put her presents next to the others and sat down near Michael to enjoy the warmth of the fire and to be honest, his company as well.

'So, who's first?' Birkhoff asked excitedly, although he was trying to hide it.

'Well nerd, the honour's all yours.' Nikita winked and got up to get the presents for her friend.

Of course, it wasn't much of a surprise to see what everyone had gotten him. Almost every present was something technological, except for Alex her present. She had gotten him a very rare Star Wars figure for his collection.

When Birkhoff had thanked everyone happily, the others got their turn. Ryan got a lot of books, Sonya got the shoes she had fallen in love with a couple of weeks ago and Nikita had gotten a beautiful bracelet from Alex with both of their names engraved in it.

Alex held her breath when Sam unwrapped the present she had gotten him. It was an ordinary watch if you looked at it quickly, but if you took a closer look you could see a butterfly beneath the hands. It was very tiny but when the light fell on it, it shone brightly. It was silent while Sam studied the watch. When he finally looked at her, his expression was unreadable.

'Thank you, Alex. You have no idea what this means to me.' She smiled and gave him a big hug.

'You're welcome.' She whispered.

By then, Michael and Alex were the only ones left without presents.

'You first!' She smiled.

Michael raised his hands in surrender. 'If you insist.'

He decided to save the biggest present for the end. So first he unwrapped a CD from his favourite band, then a couple of books and finally from Nikita he got a book full of pictures. When he opened it, his eyes filled up with tears. The first picture was of a little girl, smiling at the camera in the arms of a beautiful woman. 'Lizzie, Hayley.' He mumbled. Then he looked up at Nikita.

'How did you get this?'

She smiled. 'Believe me, it took me some time.'

'Thank you!' He enveloped her in a huge embrace. Nikita returned the smile happily; glad he was so happy with her gift. She had been trying to get a hold of those photographs for a couple of years and finally she had succeeded, with the help of Birkhoff. Even though she had broken up with Michael, they were still good friends and seeing him like this was definitely worth the effort. Finally she released him again.

'Go on, there's still one present left.'

Alex smiled and handed him the huge box. He raised his eyebrows.

'You really have too much money, don't you?' He teased.

Alex just stuck out her tongue and waited for him to unwrap it. In the box was a beautiful black guitar case. He held his breath when he opened it. The inside of the case was beautiful itself, it was dark red velvet, but what really caught his eye was the guitar, lying inside the case. It was made of dark wood and it looked brand new but old and classic at the same time. Carefully he lifted it out of his case, gently running his hands over the wood. Then he looked up at Alex in wonder.

She shrugged. 'Technically it's my fault your old one has burnt along with the rest of the house. This is the least I could do.'

He nodded at her, hoping she would understand how grateful he was. She smiled and then clapped her hands.

'Now it's my turn!' Everyone laughed at her enthusiasm.

The first present was from Nikita, showing her that they were indeed best friends; it was a bracelet with a pendant with a picture of the two of them inside and their names engraved on it. Apparently, they had the same thing in mind while buying presents for each other.

Sam had bought here a ticket to a concert of some of her favourite bands. Sonya and Birkhoff had bought her a new I-pod with music and as Birkhoff had put it 'with a couple of extra gadgets'. Ryan had gotten her some movies she loved and finally Michael came up to her. 'Merry Christmas.' He said softly and handed her a tiny box. She opened it and gasped. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with a charm in the shape of a butterfly. There was one word engraved in it and she immediately recognised Michaels handwriting. It said: home

She hugged him and turned around so he could fasten the necklace around her neck.

'Guys, come here!' Birkhoff interrupted their little moment.

Alex looked up to see him standing by the window, gesturing for them to come as well. When she joined him, she could see why he was so excited; it was snowing. Her face lit up again, it felt as if she had been smiling all day. This was her first real Christmas since her father had been killed. Ever since, she had been on the run or fighting. Even though they were still fighting their war against Amanda, she was with her new family now and the only thing that was lacking their first Christmas had finally arrived: snow. She felt an arm around her shoulder and heard Michael murmur. 'Is this what you had in mind for today?'

She just nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. 'It's perfect.'

'Guys.' Birkhoff interrupted again. When they turned around, he was looking at them with a mischievous smile. The others weren't as obvious but they couldn't hide their smiles either.

'What?' Michael asked confused.

Birkhoff just pointed towards the ceiling. Michael and Alex simultaneously looked up and saw the mistletoe above their head. Michael smiled and rolled his eyes at his best friend. He should have expected something like this. Then again, maybe Birkhoff was right, maybe he should follow his heart and give this a try. He turned to Alex and saw a blush spread across her face. He tilted her chin with his finger to make her look at him. He smiled.

'Merry Christmas, Alex.' He said and leaned down to kiss her while their friends watched them with a smile, with the Christmas tree in the background and the snowflakes falling down.

I hope you liked it! Merry Christmas everyone!