AN: Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Miracle
"I'm so excited," Megan murmured, fingers entwining tighter with Connor's as they walked home from school. "Christmas is right around the corner!"
"Maybe this year we can celebrate without having to worry about a glorious revolution a few days later," Connor grumbled.
"Oh, don't be such a pessimist. This is the most wonderful time of the year."
"You got that from a song."
"Well, it's true. I mean, it's the season of giving, good will towards men, peace on earth."
"It's just another time where big businesses can convince people to waste an excessively large amount of money on things that they don't need and will undoubtedly cease to use in the following months."
"You got that from the villain of the Christmas movie we watched last night."
"So? It's true."
"No, it's not." She sighed in exasperation. "You missed the whole point of the show."
"You mean that wasn't the point?" Before she could offer a rebuttal, he pointed to a young boy sitting on the steps of the postal office. "See? Some people feel the same way I do."
Concern flooding her features, she released her hold and approached the child. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Shrugging his shoulders, he glanced up, shaggy brown hair hanging in front of his eyes. "I have to get a letter out to Santa but I don't have a stamp and the guy at the post office won't give me one even though I promised I'd give him the money tomorrow, and I would, honest—"
"You could always send the letter tomorrow," Connor pointed out.
Sending the clone a disbelieving look, he explained, "No, I have to get it out today because if I don't, it won't get to Santa on time. The North Pole is over four hundred miles from here and Christmas is on Monday and if I don't send it now it won't get there until it's too late."
"You shouldn't be waiting until the last minute to do this."
Getting to his feet, he responded, "I had a 'mergency!"
Acting on her maternal instincts, Megan pulled the child into a tight hug. "I'm sure you did, sweetheart. Look, I have an idea: how about I take the letter from you and mail it myself? I'll stamp it and everything."
"Really?! You'd do that?!"
"Sure."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Giving her a tight squeeze, he dropped the letter into her lap and sped off.
"You're not really going to do that, are you?" Connor asked, turning his attention from the fleeing figure to his girlfriend, holding the bright blue envelope tightly in her hand.
"Why not?" she countered, getting to her feet. "It would be simple enough. And it would make him so happy."
"Santa's not real. That kid will never even know that you didn't send it. Besides, what's the point of wasting a stamp?"
"I…I guess you're right," she murmured, slipping the card into her backpack.
Wincing at her dejectedness, Connor wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Look, just telling him that made his day. So don't worry about it. Now, c'mon, the others will be there soon."
Slapping her hand against her forehead, she cried, "Hello, Megan!" and took off in a run. The Team, plus Billy, was coming to decorate the baby evergreen Wally and Robin had smuggled in last week, and she still had to find those twinkling lights stored somewhere in the Cave.
By the time everyone arrived, the letter to Kris Kringle had been forgotten and would have stayed that way had Raquel not asked, "Hey, Megan, do you have that recipe for me? I promised my mom that I'd make those peppermint thingamajigs for Christmas."
"It's in my backpack, in the pink binder. I let Wendy copy it during homeroom."
As the others continued hanging ornaments, Raquel headed to the kitchen and heaved the heavy binder from its confines, the force causing a square sheet of paper to fly out as well. Curiosity peaked, she picked it up and read the front. Smirking, she returned to the living room, waving the envelope triumphantly. "Who's Benny Jones?"
"What?"
"Stealing little kid's mail? Tsk, tsk."
Blushing, the Martian quickly explained, "We met him on the way home from school. He was really upset because he didn't have a stamp, so I promised to get it out." Glancing at Billy, she hastily continued, "I, I'm sure there's still time—"
"It's okay, Megan," he interrupted. "I know Santa's not real."
"Shhh, Robin still believes," Wally hissed, covering the acrobat's ears.
"Ha ha, real funny." Flicking the speedster's nose, he said, "Let's open it."
Zatanna's mouth snapped open at such a suggestion. "We can't do that! It's private."
"It's a letter to Santa, not CIA intelligence," Artemis pointed out, plucking the article in question from Raquel's hand.
"I do not believe it is appropriate," Kaldur objected softly as the archer began tearing it open. "It was not meant for us to read."
"What's the harm in it? Besides, I bet you he's just asking for a last minute…" Her voice faded as her eyes scanned the note.
"What's it say, what's it say?" Billy asked, standing on his tiptoes in an attempt to read it.
"Dear Santa, I know you are very busy, and this is coming to you too close to Christmas, but I really had to talk to you. My friend Mark Chase says he only gets one present on Christmas because that's all his parents can get for him 'cause you're not real to make them. I know you are, but I also know that Mark is too nice to be on the naughty list, so I just figured you didn't know where he lived. Mommy says that maps change lots of times, so you must just have a bad map. He lives at 5055 Harmony Lane. It's about two miles from my house, near that old shopping mall. Thanks very much. Your friend, Benny. P.S: If you don't have the time to get him his presents, I wouldn't mind if you gave him mine instead."
The young heroes glanced at one another, once-laughing faces etched with sorrow. Connor, remembering how he'd interacted with Benny, was particularly distraught, turning a plastic candy cane over in his hand.
"Well," Robin finally said, reaching for his coat, "we have a place to visit."
"Wait, what?" Grabbing his upper arm, Zatanna protested, "Robin, we can't just show up at this kid's house. How would we even begin to explain?"
"Santa's helpers. Duh."
"Dude, you might be able to pass for an elf, but the rest of us, not so much."
Rolling his eyes at the ginger, Robin insisted, "Look, we have a merman, a speedster, a magician, a Martian, and a half-Kryptonian. Is it really that far-fetched that we can speak with Santa?"
"Huh. Touché. Alright, field trip!"
"Time out," Artemis interjected, catching Wally by his hood. "If we're going to do this, we need to be in uniform first."
Planting a quick kiss on her cheek, he replied, "Babe, you are so smart," then rushed off toward his room. Without another word, the others followed suit.
Once everyone had shifted to hero attire, they trouped out of the Cave and into the cold Rhode Island night. Sticking close together, obeying the highlighted route on Robin's holographic wrist-computer, they filtered through one neighborhood to another until they reached Harmony Lane. A stark contrast to the other developments, this one had small homes and even smaller yards. Only a few street lamps illuminated the darkness, and there were no Christmas decorations in sight.
"It looks sad," Captain Marvel murmured, moving a little closer to Megan.
"Let's see if we can change that a bit." Leading the group to the targeted house, Robin tentatively knocked on the door.
A middle-aged woman, loose strands of blonde hair tracing the side of her face, greeted them. Eyes widening, she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Hi." Smiling innocently, the Boy Wonder asked, "Is Mark here?"
Nodding fervently, she managed to call, "M-Mark? Honey, there are, there are some very special people who want to see you."
Footsteps pounding down stairs echoed loudly. Turning around, the woman reached for her son and gently pulled him forward. Blinking a few times, he gasped and stuttered, "Y-y-y-you're—"
"The one and only." Dropping to the child's height, Robin explained, "Me and my friends, we're on a real special mission from Santa."
"Santa?" he repeated breathlessly.
"Yup. Says there are a couple of kids he can't seem to find. Asked us if we could help him out with that."
"Really?"
"'Course. So, buddy, want to you want for Christmas this year?"
"I…I….I…a skateboard, no, wait, I mean a Nerf gun, no, not that—"
"You think we're limiting you to one gift?" Sitting beside the acrobat, Wally insisted, "Tell us everything. Anything you want."
"A skateboard and a Nerf gun and basketball and the T-Rex that moves with the remote control and Super Slimy Science and TMNT comic books and the Magic School Bus Microscope Lab and Mad Libs and Operation and Twilight Turtle and, and, that's it. Please."
Glancing toward the rest of the group, Wally asked, "Y'all got that?"
"Got it," Connor promised.
"Awesome." Rising, Robin gently tousled Mark's hair. "We'll report right to Santa, okay?"
"But what about the others?"
"The others?" repeated Megan.
"The other kids in the neighborhood. You're going to talk to them too, right?"
A kink in the plan, none of them had anticipated playing Jolly Old Saint Nick for more than one child. Superheroes they were, billionaires they were not (at least, for the most part). Above all, however, they were still kids, meaning that their loyalty lay in one place.
"Of course we are!" Captain Marvel practically shouted, throwing his arms out for emphasis.
"But, um, do you think you could help us get their attention?" Raquel questioned sweetly. "You know, to save time."
At a speed that would've made the Flash applaud, he rushed down the front steps and skidded to a stop in the middle of the street, shouting, "Hey everyone, come outside if you have to talk to Santa!"
In ten seconds, eighteen children crowded around the visitors.
"They're not Santa!"
"It's Aqualad!"
"Kid Flash! Can you sign my sneakers?"
"What about Santa?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Waving her hands frantically, Artemis called, "Okay, everyone, here's the deal: we're taking requests from you to the Big Man, so just tell us what you want for Christmas. But you have to talk one at a time."
Half an hour later, they left, waving to their fans while keeping a mental tally of all the toys they were going to need.
"This is going to break the bank," Raquel sighed. "There are at least seven gifts per kid, at least fifteen bucks per present…nope, that math's not even worth it right now."
"Perhaps we should have planned this more carefully," Kaldur murmured.
"Are you kidding?" Billy piped up, planting his hands on his hips. "We're bringing Christmas to these guys. This is the best thing ever!"
"He's right," Zatanna jumped in. "We've faced a lot tougher things before. So it'll cost us—so what? They're counting on us. We can't let them down."
"If we can't afford all the stuff, there might be no other option," Artemis muttered, thinking about the little money tucked away in her savings account.
"I give you my word that everything will work," Robin interjected.
"How can you be so sure?" Megan pressed. With her and Connor on League allowances, they could only chip in a hundred dollars each.
"Because this is the time for miracles. And because those kids need us."
Letting the full-force of his words sink in, the others slowly nodded. Smirking, Robin said, "Good. So tomorrow we head to the mall. Meet at the Cave, ten sharp. Deal?"
"Deal."
The next morning, the nine sat in the living room, money sprawled on the table. Keeping everything organized, Megan counted, "Okay, three hundred from me, Connor, and Zatanna. Two-fifty from Artemis, two-hundred and sixty one from Raquel, three-ten from Wally, eleven dollars and forty-two cents from Billy, and a couple of Atlantian coins from Kaldur." Turning toward Robin, she hesitantly began, "Robin, do you…?"
"Oh, right, 'course." Humming quietly, he pulled out of wad of hundred dollar bills and placed them, one by one, in a neat pile. "Three thousand good?"
Everyone but Wally stared at him, mouths open in disbelief. "Oh my God," Raquel breathed. "Can I, can I touch one?"
"Go right ahead."
"How did you get this?" Zatanna questioned.
"Every bank in the country shares the same security system, which is a lot easier to hack than the Bat Cave. A nickel from each transaction is redirected to an untraceable account…" Realizing that his teammates were actually believing this story, he clarified, "I'm kidding, guys. I swear. None of this was stolen."
"So you just happen to have this much cash handy?" Artemis glanced between Robin and Wally. "Zatanna, can we trade boyfriends?"
"Artemis!"
"Sorry, babe, but diamonds are a girl's best friend."
"Uh, hello? All you need is love."
"Trust me, Robin gives me plenty of that, too," Zatanna interrupted, kissing the acrobat on the cheek.
"Oh, does he now?" Wally returned, smiling devilishly.
Robin blushed bright red, and Billy piped up, "What does that mean?"
"I believe we should be going," Kaldur said quickly, getting to his feet. "There is much to be done."
The others followed him, Wally and Robin shoving each other and Billy still trying to figure out that mysterious phrase. Upon reaching the mall, they established the quickest, most efficient way to gather each and every requested gift. The plan disintegrated a minute in, no one able to focus in the utter chaos that was the weekend before Christmas. After four hours, seven snack breaks, and a near run-in with mall security ("Raquel, it is not appropriate to make it rain in a public place!"), they emerged tired but victorious, laden with the presents and only out two thousand, one-hundred and six dollars and nineteen cents.
"Okay, now what?" Connor muttered, staring at the bags dangling from his arms. "Do we just drop them off or something?"
"We can't drop them off!" Billy protested, tugging his load along the ground. "They can't know that it's not Santa!"
"We could bring them on Christmas morning," Kaldur proposed.
"Yeah, but how do we get them in their houses?" Wally paused, trying to untangle himself from the shopping bag handles.
"I can dress up in all red and shimmy down their chimneys," Robin offered.
"Yes, and then we'll play the always-fun Let's Not Get Arrested for Breaking and Entering," Artemis grumbled, glaring at the rolls of wrapping paper that kept hitting her.
"Okay, I have a solution!" Raquel clapped her hands loudly, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there were other people on the sidewalk who could also hear her. "We meet up tomorrow night, wrap the gifts, then drop them off on Christmas morning underneath the neighborhood tree."
"Uh, there was no tree," Zatanna pointed out.
"Connor and Billy can help us out with that, I'm sure." She gave the eleven-year-old's cheek an affectionate squeeze. "What do you say? You think you'd be able to carry a big ol' tree to those people?"
"Of course!" he practically shouted, trying to jump with excitement but, with the presents, could only manage a weak hop.
"Then it is settled," Kaldur said. "Tomorrow night, after all Christmas Eve plans, we spend the night at the Cave."
"Sleepover!" Billy cheered.
"Sleepover," Wally repeated, waggling his eyebrows at Artemis, who only shook her head in response and forced him to carry the wrapping paper.
Sunday night, they once again met in the Cave. With Christmas movies playing continuously in the background, they set to work. By the time everything was neat, nice, and pretty, Billy had passed out on a pile of scraps, Connor had succeeded in ripping an entire roll of paper in half, Wally had tape and ribbons caught in his hair, Artemis and Kaldur were trying to keep all the presents in the correct piles, Zatanna and Robin were kissing under the mistletoe, and Megan and Raquel were re-re-watching Elf, Raquel quoting every line word-for-word. Slowly but surely, the disorder settled and they managed to fall asleep, only to be awoken at five Christmas morning by Robin's blaring cell phone.
"Son of a nutcracker!" Raquel hissed, sitting up.
"Hurry up, guys!" Billy insisted, crawling around and poking or shoving anyone who wasn't moving. "We have to go!"
"How about a modification of the plan," Wally mumbled sleepily, reaching out to hug Artemis but grabbing Kaldur instead. "Billy, you go get a tree from that park that's five minutes from the neighborhood. Pick the biggest one who can find, okay? And we'll meet you there, okay?"
"Okay! Shazam!"
As the hero rushed from the room, Kaldur wormed out of the speedster's grasp and asked, "Was it wise to let him go alone? And is it even allowed to remove trees from the park?"
"No on both counts," Robin answered, helping Zatanna to her feet, "but too late now."
When everyone was presentable, or at least as close as they were going to get, they began their journey. At the junction of Peace and Harmony, they saw Captain Marvel holding a large evergreen tree, roots dangling from the bottom.
"Did I do good?" he asked. "This was the biggest one there. And, and I didn't go too fast so there was still snow on the branches."
"You did perfectly, Little Man," Raquel promised. "Now, let's get this show on the road."
Moving as though on a mission, they reached the center of the development. With a spell, Zatanna secured the tree to one place while the others placed the gifts underneath. Retreating, Kaldur gave a small nod to Megan, who mentally connected with the slumbering children: Wake up—it's Christmas.
They watched as the kids burst from their houses and attacked the gifts, laughing and shrieking with joy, shouts of "Thank you, Santa!" bursting forth every now and then. Parents stood behind them, observing the excitement with slight disbelief and overwhelming thanks.
"Best Christmas ever," Billy breathed.
And it was, without a doubt.
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I believe in a future where every child can have a truly merry Christmas, with nothing to worry about but enjoying the day. And I believe, if we all work together, we can achieve this.