Ho ho ho! ...or something.

Merry Christmas! Apart from the rest of the world, we actually do the whole exchanging-presents-eating-family-dinner-and-so-on on Christmas Eve. Have no idea why.

But, I really wanted to write a Christmas story. This doesn't really have a plot and lacks what most would call dialouges and conversations, but it was a spur of a moment thing, written in one sitting. In the middle of the night, again. So duh.

I haven't reread this at all, so there's probably lots and lots of errors. And I still have no spellcheck.

Right, and I have no actual idea what they'd eat. Christmas dinners are different everywhere, so I had to put my trust in the world wide web here.

Oh, well. Merry Christmas! :D

Disclaimer: I could wish I had the rights, but not even Santa Clause can give me that. Sigh.

Christmas had never been a big deal for Alex.
Usually, it was just him and Ian, later on Jack joined in, then Ian left... well, the point was that it was nothing big. They had their Christmas tree and the presents, Jack decorated the house and they ate a nice dinner, but that was about it. Nothing fancy, just another day of the year that needed celebrating.

But it was what Alex was used to, even if he heard stories from his friends about their great Christmas; Tom's delighted chattering about how his parents had never fought during Christmas and actually acted civil for once, Sabina's joyous explanation of her Christmas, where she had spent it and sometimes with who, even James' fond talks about his separate Christmases with his mother and father.

Alex had never experienced any of that, he didn't know what it was like. Sure – like every other kid, he'd loved Christmas and eagerly awaited it, but he had never felt the Christmas spirit, that Jack and Tom kept blabbering on about. It wasn't anything to him.

Christmas Eve and Day alike, were just two days in the end of the year that happened to be celebrated. If they were stripped off the celebration part, they would be just regular days. Which they were either way. What was it with all the fuss about it?

Then again, Alex wasn't one to blame people for cherishing what they had and have fun when they could. It was a tradition, and well, it was kind of nice. Cosy, in a pleasant, warm sort of way.

~._.~._.~

"Turn that crap off!"

"It's not crap! It's music!"

"Christmas carols do not count as music, Martin! Shut that shit off now!"

Eagle was bouncing around in Wolf's apartment, decorating it with all sorts of things. Old, classical Christmas songs were blaring out of the speakers, and Eagle was singing along, a red cap on the top of his head, Santa-style.

Snake had already taken care of the cleaning, and was currently out "shopping" with a rather reluctant Fox. Wolf was trying to cook... something. Probably. Anyway, it was quite a sight, what with the red cap on his head and the matching apron, which were early presents from his sister. And Wolf couldn't deny his darling, little sister anything... so he wore the damn things. And it looked rather humorous, so to speak, but Wolf'd be damned if he'd let anyone tease him for that.

Alex – yes, where did Alex fit in this certain equation? Where was the darling spy? Why, Christmas shopping with James and Tom.

Key word – well, sentence, really – Christmas shopping with James and Tom.

If it the fact that they were shopping at all didn't do it, then the "dirty" innuendos and jokes would.

The trio went from store to store, James insisting that they get anything for every single SAS soldier – including Ben there – and then that they get something extraordinary for the only woman in they small gathering – not Alex, as Tom kept saying – but Jack.

She did deserve something special, though. For everything she'd been through, for everything she'd done. For being able to take care of four and half grown men, plus three teenagers. The half man would be Tiger, who only showed up when he had time and had the guts to. The idea of seeing Wolf during an off period seemed to frighten him somehow. Hm.

"What about a necklace? Women like jewelry." Tom tried. "Or we could buy her underwear... yeah, that'd be awesome! I mean, Jack would be so happy if we got her some sexy underwear she could show off to... someone..."

"Tom, Jack is practically my sister, I do not need to hear that," Alex sighed, massaging his temples. "Besides, I'm not entering a lingerie store."

"Aw, why?" Tom whined.

"Because Al here likes to keep his manly pride intact, Tommy-boy." James replied with a roll of his eyes. "Looking at girls are one thing, but looking at underwear for girls – when they aren't actually on the girl – is a whole other matter..."

"For god's sake, James--" the spy started, but didn't get to finish.

"See there, he's getting all defensive on us, Tommy-boy!" James grinned widely and slung an arm around Alex's shoulders.

"It's so sweet! Our Alex is maturing, albeit slowly, but it's happening!" Tom's grin was about as wide and smug and James' was as he slung an arm around the spy's neck. Alex groaned.

"How about you go to the lingerie store and I shop alone? Doesn't that sound like a brilliant plan to you?" the blond tried, half-heartedly trying to shrug off his friend's arms.

"C'mon, Alex, you don't mean that!" the shortest of the three boys exclaimed. "You're staying with us, 'cause you need a Christmas present for Jack, and we all know that you've never been good at buying gifts. You'd buy her another cup or vase if you went alone."

"There's nothing wrong with cups – or vases." Alex protested feebly. He did remain with Tom and James, though.

~._.~._.~

"Hey, Alex! Drop whatever you're doing and help me save the dinner Wolf's ruining!" Ben called desperately the moment he saw the blond enter the apartment. Ben and Snake were hurrying around in the small kitchen area, one trying to save a turkey – or something that was akin to a turkey, judging by its form – and the other grabbing as many bottles of oil as he could, removing them from the kitchen to avoid a fire.

What had Wolf done?

Wordlessly, James took Alex's bags and ushered him to the kitchen. The spy was spurred into action, joining the dinner rescue party.

"What is that smell?" Alex asked after a while, scrubbing whatever was left of off-looking cookies off of a baking tin.

"Well," Ben started. "It's either some gas pipe someone's wrecked," a pointed look at the Unit leader. "Or something else that's been burnt."

"I think it's a gas pipe." Eagle piped in as he walked by, still busy with the decorating. The apartment was practically everything Chirstmas prestented personified already...

"Me too," Snake admitted. "That's why we moved any form of oil. In case of fire..."

"Wouldn't want to feed it, you know. Literally." Fox finished with a sigh.

Alex nodded and returned to his task.

Trust Wolf to ruin their Christmas Eve dinner. They were going to have two dinners; one tonight and one tomorrow, a little something they had adopted from Alex's uncle.

As Ian had been away so much and missed so many holidays, they – Alex, Ian and Jack – almost always had to celebrate holidays later. Christmas was more or less holy to Jack – not in the religious sense, though – and she had snapped when Ian missed it. To compensate, they'd had an extra Christmas dinner, which were done in Jack's "American" way.

Over the years the tradition had changed, and now they had one Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day. Jack had let that slip to Eagle, who just loved Christmas, and POOF – suddenly the entire Unit had been tricked into a double celebration of this clichéd holiday.

Wolf had almost ruined tonight's dinner, though. He did seem to feel pretty bad about it; one could tell, not because Eric had apologized or looked guilty, but because he was looking exceptionally sullen and snappy, where he sat in a far-off armchair in the living room area. He didn't say a word, merely growling at anyone who dared to come close enough.

The fact that he had burnt his hand pretty bad was probably also a reason for his sullenness. The wound was clean and bandaged, but that didn't keep it from hurting, not to mention that Wolf thought it was very embarrassing. And his strange, in-understandable world, any form of embarrassment compromised his position as a leader... or something along those lines. Actually getting the hang of "Wolf's World" was more or less mission: impossible.

"What time is it?" Ben asked, smiling slightly at the improvement of the food. It actually seemed more edible now, and Snake had even been able to save some of the cookie-ginger-bread-thingies Wolf had attempted to bake... not to mention the rest of the food. Half of the potatoes had to go, along with some sasuages, and well, the salad, but the mince pies seemed alright...

"Half six." Snake replied absently, looking satisfied and a bit triumphant, having saved the roasted chestnuts and the cranberry sauce.

"Half six?" Alex echoed, frowning slightly. "Jack'll be here in twenty minutes. If we want to get all this done before she gets here, we better hurry."

"Yes, sir." James stood at attention immediately, mock-saluting. "Tommy-boy will be here in ten minutes, sir, needed clearence from his mother, sir."

"Alright. Start setting the table." the spy ordered, allowing himself a small smirk when the Austrian boy obeyed right away. It could be so fun to order people around sometimes.

~._.~._.~

Jack arrived and there was chaos.

Since "it was Christmas and all", she insisted everyone hug and wish each other a merry Christmas – quite a sight – and then that there was to be special seatings at the table.

Speaking about the table, it was too small as it was, but was prolonged with another, but it was still pretty crowded with everyone around the table. There was cheering and shouting, and Tom almost managed to start a food fight, but failed, since it was Christmas and the one who ruined that for Jack would be very sorry.

James proclaimed his undying love for Alex, followed by Ben accidently spilling his drink in James' lap.

Wolf's mood had brightened, not considerably, but enough for him to act civil. He talked, growled and ate, which was enough for everyone to understand that he was actually trying to not let his mood get him down.

Then there was the hustle and bustle of cleaning the table and somehow getting the dessert from the fridge and to the table without any accidents, which was certainly easier said than done.

Eagle, immature as he was, claimed that Snake got more dessert than him, which was so unfair – that earned the soldier a slap directed at the back of his head from the young spy occupying the chair next to him.

Alex was not pleased with the seatings. Between Eagle and Wolf, James on the opposite side of the table and Tom too far away to stop in case the silly bloke got any ideas. On top of that, both Ben and Jack were too far away for Alex to be able to keep a normal conversation with them, and Snake was quite busy with staring at his share of the dessert, which made it a bit difficult to converse with the man.

After that, there was the removing of the dessert and the plates, refilling of drinks and the three teens exchanging gifts, as Tom wouldn't be able to make it to the dinner tomorrow.

The entire ordeal was rather tiring. But there wasn't a thing Alex would've changed about it.

He had never celebrated Christmas with so many persons before... and it kind of made him realize that his past Yule holidays had been a bit empty, perhaps a little lonely. A stark contrast to this year's celebration. This year he... he might actually have experienced and felt some of that Christmas spirit that everyone was talking about. And it wasn't as bad and annoyingly-clichéd as he'd thougt it would be.

But as fun as it'd been, the spy really was exhausted. And there was still the official Christmas dinner tomorrow... and then New Years.

Honestly, Alex had never dreaded New Years quite as much as he did this year. Why? Well, he'd overheard Eagle, Ben, Tom and James talking about drinks. With alcohol. And there seemed to be some sort of bet between them all, including Alex and alcohol... hm...

Either way, Alex would have to life through the official Christmas dinner first. He could worry about New Years when the time came.