So I was doing math homework and I was thinking about all my other stories that I have to update, and then boom! I came up with the idea to do a JL one-shot Christmas style. And I wanted to get it done ASAP, so I wouldn't procrastinate and not have it finished before the actual holiday.
For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas and celebrate something else instead, I am very sorry, but I don't know much about any other holiday so I wouldn't make a very good fic out of it.
Anyway, I hope this satisfies all of you.
I promise that I am trying to work on my one-shot story and my JL Young fic, I swear! I'm getting there, but I need more time than what I typically have. Look for an update on both very very soon, my friends!
By the way, I recognize that Clark went home for the holidays in the show, but this story wouldn't be any fun without him. So let's just pretend he goes back to Ma and Pa after this is over. Okay? Great.
Please enjoy the story and the holidays, whichever you may celebrate!
Last year when the seven Justice League members celebrated the holidays, it had gotten a little out of hand. Clark went over the top preparing, with ornaments and wreaths in every little nook and cranny in the tower. Wally had a slight habit of placing mistletoe wherever he went...which provided several awkward encounters between other members. Nobody had ever seen Bruce blush before that...
Anyhow, the seven of them decided not to go so nuts and crazy this year, just a simple dinner and gathering by the fire. It was unanimously agreed that there should be no-gift giving, because that fiasco wasn't worth reliving. J'onn could still find glitter in the corners of his quarters.
As the holiday arrived closer and closer, Bruce became grumpier and grumpier, and Clark became jollier and jollier. The Dark Knight was suddenly Ebenezer Scrooge, while the Kryptonian seemed to shift into Santa Claus. Wally swore he saw Bruce lose hair and Clark gain a lot of it. Nobody believed him, though.
Speaking of Wally, the bright star that he was, became even lighter once the calendar hit December first.
He was bouncing with energy in the lounge, decorating the team's very large Christmas tree, with the help of Clark and Diana. The Amazon carefully picked another ornament out of a large container resting on the coffee table. "I forget we have a Bat symbol ornament," She said with slight amusement, studying the plastic shape curiously.
Wally peeked his head out from behind the tree. "Oh, yeah! I think I got that for ol' Scrooge," He answered.
"He's not Scrooge," Clark replied, placing another ball of glass onto one of the higher branches.
"Oh yes he is, Saint Nick," Wally argued. He grabbed a handful of ornaments, and with his super speed, spread them across the large plant in their living room.
"Since when is Clark Saint Nick?" Diana asked. She reached up and placed the Bat symbol decoration on a very visible branch.
Wally's eyebrows shot up, incredulous. "Are you crazy, Di? He's always been Saint Nick! Have you seen how jolly gets?!"
Clark pouted. "I do not get that jolly."
Right on cue, John came in, carrying a large plastic box. "I got the rest of the ornaments," He announced to the other three heroes.
Clark's eyes instantly lit up, and he smiled quite largely.
Wally vigorously nodded his head towards Diana, to energetically emphasize his point. The princess stifled a giggle.
"Fine. I get jolly," Clark mumbled, taking the box out of John's hands and carefully dropping it next to the other.
The Green Lantern plopped himself on a couch cushion, watching his teammates decorate the tree.
After about two minutes of this, Wally stuck his head out from behind a cluster of green. "Y'know, you could help, GL," He suggested, motioning to the large, green plant.
John shifted his hand back and forth horizontally in an uh-uh, no thanks motion. "I have a date in twenty minutes, and I won't be dragged into anything else before then."
"What were you previously doing?" Diana questioned, unveiling the new box of ornaments that the Green Lantern had just delivered. Her pupils widened immensely when she took notice of all the new objects to put up.
"J'onn just made a thirty minute job a three hour job," John answered with a sigh, leaning back farther into the couch.
"What was this job, exactly?" The Amazon replied.
"Baking cookies."
Wally choked, even though there was nothing to go down his pipe except air. "You were...baking cookies?!" John glared dangerously at him. "That's fantastic!" Wally exclaimed with a mouthful of laughter.
After getting over his previous anger, John turned to Diana. "We tried to rope Bruce into it, but as you might've guessed he didn't oblige," John said with a sigh. "We could've used your help, Di."
The princess's cheeks instantly became rosy. She scowled at her comrade, but it was more playful than angry. Clark and Wally had to bite their lips to contain their enormous smiles. "Don't you have a date to get to, John?" She asked with mock attitude.
He blinked, clearly confused for a moment. Then he jumped off the couch. "Right! Thanks for reminding me, Di!" He winked as he jogged out the door. "Good luck with the tree!" He called as his feet bounded down the hall.
Wally sighed, a fake, dramatic sigh. "Oh, how I love love." He placed a hand on his chest, covering some sort of wording on his white t-shirt.
Clark eyed him curiously while grabbing another plastic shape to put on the tree. Ironically, it was GL's logo, the one that covered the center of his chest on his uniform.
Diana shook her head, doing the same as Clark, except pulling out a picture of Bruce and Clark in a small frame that read Christmas 2013. It was from two years earlier, evidently clear from the date. Clark had a Santa Claus hat upon his head, and his right arm wrapped around Bruce's shoulders. He smiled, a big wide grin, and had his left thumb up in the air. Bruce was frowning, glaring angrily off to the side. Diana smiled, and Wally must've noticed because he raced over (quite literally) to see what her grin was about.
"I love the photo ornaments!" He exclaimed with much glee. Before the princess could protest, the speedster (using his abilities, of course), plucked the possession out of her hands, and gathered at the ones he could find out of both boxes.
He practically exploded onto the couch with energy, flipping through the numerous objects in his hands.
"Ahem, uh, Wally, we kind of have a job to do," Clark said, using his hands to display the tree next to him.
Wally looked up upon hearing his name. "Oh, right," was his response, as he used his abilities, again, to take every single ornament out of the boxes, and place them all in reasonable places across the large tree.
"You just took away all the fun!" Clark exclaimed, his mouth hanging open.
"Meh," The redhead answered with a mere wave of his hand. Clark sighed while Diana shrugged, and they plopped down on either side of him on the couch. Wally held the photo ornaments in view of all three of the heroes, as they laughed and pointed things out to one another. Wally's personal favorite, was one taken on Christmas morning last year. Bruce hadn't waken up yet, and his slumbering figure in the bed was oblivious to the happenings around him. Wally was giving the camera a thumbs up while looking down at the whipped cream spread across the Dark Knight's face. He looked like Santa, which was Wally's main objective. The following event, which all three of them remembered quite clearly, was Bruce shouting a stream of curses and threats towards Wally. He hadn't been totally sure how the speedster had gained his code, but he had changed it immediately afterwards.
Wally flipped to another, which was J'onn and his obsessive amount of cookies that he'd baked last year. He was smiling, with sugar on his face, and three or four dozen gingerbread cookies sprawled out in front of him. Diana stood on his right, with a smile just as big, and double the amount of sugar littered across her face, arms, and shirt. Even though he wasn't there, Wally was the definite culprit of the white substance everywhere. "Hey!" He exclaimed when he first saw the photo. "I did that!"
Clark nodded his head in an amused, yet slightly annoyed manner.
The following photo was Clark and Diana's favorite. It was all seven of them, gathered around the Christmas tree, with a fire crackling behind them. John stood underneath a mistletoe that hung from the ceiling, with a smiling Thanagarian kissing his cheek. Diana smiled brightly next to Bruce, who seemed to have the smallest of grins tugging at his lips. Clark, once again, had his arm wrapped around Bruce's shoulders. J'onn was on the end, munching on one of the many gingerbreads he had previously baked. And dear Wally proudly wore a Santa beard across the bottom half of his face, while pumping his fist in the air on J'onn's back. Wally laughed at his own silliness, before placing the ornament down on the table in front of them.
As they were about to look at the next, the door opened. In walked J'onn, carrying yet another plastic box. "I have found the last of the decorations," He announced, setting the box down on the floor next to the tree. "What are you looking at?" He questioned, walking up to them.
"Old Christmas photos," Clark answered, "What kind of stuff is in the box, J'onn?"
"Wreaths, bells, mistletoe-"
Before the martian could finish his sentence Wally zoomed up to him. "You found my stash? Sweet!" He proclaimed with obvious excitement. He began pulling out the short, green pieces, one by one.
"Indeed."
Clark frowned. "Wally, you better not-"
"I've gotta go hang these up. See ya!" He blurted out, grabbing every mistletoe in sight and dashing out of the room.
Diana sighed. "There's no stopping that this year."
Three weeks later, on December 24, six out of seven members of The Justice League were extremely excited for the upcoming holiday. Wreaths, bells, plastic snowman and unfortunately, mistletoe too, were scattered across The Watchtower. Bruce had already witnessed three kisses between John and Shayera, much to his disliking.
As he walked into the cafeteria to a dinner he knew there was no avoiding, Bruce sighed. He entered the space and was instantly handed a candy cane. "What's this?"
Wally frowned and straightened up in front of him. "It's a candy cane, duh."
Bruce gave him a bat glare. "I know what it is, Wally. Why do I have it?"
"Oh c'mon, Scrooge, get in the holiday spirit."
The Dark Knight could've split the redhead in pieces with his dagger glare. "Don't call me that."
Wally put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine." He backed away and walked towards the table, where the rest of the team was sitting.
There were three seats on either side, and one empty on the edge. Diana and J'onn occupied the two on the right side, while Wally, Shayera, and John rested at the other in precisely that order. A silky, red tablecloth was spread across the length of the short table, and numerous candles, candy canes, small snowmen, spotless white dishes decorated on top. Wally occupied himself with a Mr. and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shaker.
Bruce took a seat next to Diana. She turned when he perched himself on the chair, a smile and pair of bright blue eyes both shinning brightly at him. Then she turned back to J'onn, and he stared longingly (but very subtlety) into her raven hair. John caught his eye, and Bruce shot anger through his gaze. John's pupils brimmed with anxiety before he turned around and busied himself, talking to his girlfriend.
"Where is Clark?" J'onn asked the others.
"No idea. But he better hurry with whatever food he's cooking because I'm starving," Shayera retorted.
John hid a grin with his hand.
Suddenly, Clark emerged from the kitchen, with a large turkey on a plate, without even using oven-mits. Darn Kryptonian skin.
He placed the cooked bird onto the middle of the table, right in between the salt and pepper shakers. The smell wafted into everybody's nostrils, each one of them delighted and hungry. Clark hurriedly shuffled back into the kitchen, and brought out plenty more food. Pasta, bread, salad, mashed potatoes, and green beans.
Even Bruce had to admit that alll the cuisine looked extraordinarily good. Once Clark settled down, the heroes began exchanging the hot plates of food. At some point, the dishes were set to rest, and the utensils were being used to scoop, cut, shovel, and stab, mostly the food, but at one period of time Shayera had threatened Wally with her fork and knife.
"You did an excellent job with the turkey, Clark," Diana told her friend with a nod of her head.
"Thanks, Di," He responded with a bright smile.
Lots of other conversations were had and plenty more topics were discussed between the group, but they were lost in the midst of all the laughing, eating, and smiling.
Eventually, they had finished their meal, and made their way to the lounge, where John set up the crackling fire. Shayera and Diana snuggled together on the couch under a thick blanket, murmuring things to each other and cracking out in hysterics. Bruce sat in the armchair near the fire, while Wally rested on the floor next to him. J'onn, John, and Clark took residence on the opposite end of the couch, the latter two getting up to check the fire every couple minutes or so.
At some point, Clark brought out a child's book, titled The Night Before Christmas.
"Oh, no, absolutely not," Bruce responded to the book.
Clark furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. "What are you talking about, Bruce? We read this every year!"
The Dark Knight glared at the Kryptonian. "It's child's book, Clark."
"Oh come on, Bruce!" Shayera interjected.
Diana turned to him and pouted. They locked eyes, and he let loose a sigh. "Fine."
"Yes!" Wally exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air energetically.
John laughed.
Clark began reading. "'Twas the night before Christmas..."
One by one, the members of the Justice League drifted off into a peaceful sleep, including the fearsome Batman, too.
Somehow, J'onn had woken up, and decided to snap a picture of his sleeping comrades.
It soon became his new favorite ornament.
They could've been home with their families (well, some of them), but I figured this was much more entertaining. Plus, it was super fun to write. I love thinking of the seven of them as one little family. I think they're adorable.
Anyhow, I promise that I'm trying to update my other stories, for those of you reading them, so look out for a new chapter heading your way soon!
Have a lovely Thanksgiving.
Love to all!