A/N: This was made because of a vague dream I had. I couldn't remember everything and decided to take that into a simple, one-shot holiday story. I wanted to have some fluffy fun with this one. It kinda looks a bit messy and simple because there were a lot of time skips in the story, but it was the best I could do so forgive the fact that some scenes are shorter than others. Took me a month to write this and I'm pretty proud of it. Happy holidays!
Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures, only the story idea. All other credit goes to John Rogers and Duane Capizzi, the show runners of Jackie Chan Adventures.
It was December the 24th; nearly nine months since Drago's plot to take over the world had failed. In-between then, the city of San Francisco was currently being rebuilt (and still needed some rebuilding). Section 13 had been given a whole new remodel, thanks to Black's superiors in Washington seeing the damage done by the 'meteor shower' in town. Many of the people who helped take down the demons were now onto their normal everyday tasks and put the magical past behind them. Fast forward to the time for the holiday break, for everyone to give, receive and spend time with their loved ones. In Section 13, Black had the idea of hosting a holiday party and invited every agent to come join in. All members of the J-Team had accepted, and decided to do their best to help set up the party that would start at 8:30 pm sharp. Seemed like an easy thing to do, right?
"It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year! With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you be of good cheeeeer—"
"Ratso, as much as we love your singing, it's not helping set up this tree," Finn grunted. He was at the bottom of a beautiful 7-foot pine tree trying to keep it in place. He looked up to Chow, who was standing on top of a ladder from a small distance away from his two friends to get a good view of it all. "Is this alright?"
"Yep! It's fine," Chow said as he put up his fingers in a box to see through it. "Just perfect. S' gonna look nice for Section 13's holiday party."
"Better look nice. I've spent 30 minutes trying to get the "perfect view"," Finn frowned. His arms slightly hurt from moving the big tree around the place just so he could hear Chow's approval.
"I'm sorry guys. I just can't help it. I just can't wait for the holidays! Lemme tell ya; you'd have to take my Christmas cheer away from my dead body to stop me from being excited!" Ratso grinned like a giddy child. "Especially when it comes to the parties!"
"Yeah, when the party's not about business. Back in the Dark Hand, those holiday parties were all formal and stiff," Finn added. "I hated having to change into other suits. I felt like I couldn't breathe."
"Plus we had to make sure we didn't get into trouble with the cops," Chow nodded with a nostalgic smile. "Sometimes, it's hard to believe we've come a long way from being criminals."
"And being some sort of ultimate evil's henchmen like demons, dragon, old guys, floating heads. We even worked for Shen Du's son; practically a kid!" Ratso said.
Finn grinned as he carefully picked off the pines from his classic disco suit. "Well now that we're actually good guys, we don't have to worry about getting arrested, evil bosses and mag—ulp!" Ratso and Chow didn't waste time rushing over to slap a hand on Finn's mouth.
"I wouldn't go there if I were you, Finn," Ratso warned.
"Don't jinx it," Chow agreed.
"Oh right right right! We wanna spend this holiday with no magical interference," Finn boasted with a pop of his collar.
"Is the tree set up yet?" came a familiar voice. It was Jackie Chan with a red Christmas apron tied around his waist and a Christmas-themed chef's hat on his head.
"Chan Man!" Finn rejoiced upon seeing Jackie's face. "Nice kitchen gear. Working hard or hardly working?"
"Ugh, both. I feel like Tohru and I are cooking everything in the book. In fact, this is my first time stepping out of the kitchen all day," Jackie said. Since Tohru and Jackie were good at cooking, they gave themselves the task of cooking all the foods, snacks, sweets and preparing drinks.
"Well, we're finished now. So tell me Chan Meister," the Irishman put his arm around the cook with a clever smirk and pointed his thumb at the tree. "How'd you like the tree? We went pretty far to pick it out ourselves."
Jackie raised a curious brow and cocked his head sideways. "Um, why is the tree so big?" Finn and Ratso exchanged looks before looking back at Jackie.
"That was Chow's idea," Ratso said with a point to the shortest Enforcer.
"The bigger the tree, the better the festivity," Chow replied with a simple shrug.
"With a smaller tree, you can do so much more with it and it can fit anywhere. A bigger tree can fall and hurt people," Jackie pointed out with a hint of worry.
"What're you talking about?" came Chow's defense. "This tree's not going to hurt anyone! That's why we have the stand to hold it up."
"I agree with Chow. This is a Section 13 party, so the tree has to be looking it's best so everyone can see it," Jade chimed in, not bothering to look up from her hand-held video game.
"Wha—hey, how'd you get here?" Finn barely managed to sputter out.
"Jade," Jackie put his hands on his hips. "Don't you have decorating to do?"
"I can't decorate all by myself. I'm waiting for Paco, Frank, Rocko, and Charlie. It's boring being the only kid around here," came Jade's reply. She paused her game to look up at the giant pine tree, her amber eyes brightening in delight. "Whoa! Nice tree! You guys really outdid yourselves!"
"Thanks kiddo. Glad you think it's okay," Chow rubbed the top of Jade's head.
"Our nephews should be around here somewhere," Finn brushed off the thought.
"We haven't spoken much to them since we started. They're feelin' kinda blue," Ratso said with a wonder. "If you could, think you can get them to help out?"
"Gotcha," Jade replied with a thumbs up before stalking off with your game.
"If I may ask, how are your boys?" Jackie asked. He wasn't used to seeing—or hearing—the boys down in the dumps.
"Well, it's their first Christmas away from their families and they do miss them," Finn dejectedly replied with a frown.
"We've tried to cheer them up by trying to make them happy by doing what their friends and parents did... " Ratso started to say.
"... But it's not cutting it too well. They miss their families and friends back home. They only have themselves to have fun with, which only lasts for a while," Chow finished with an uncomfortable adjustment of his glasses. "At this point, we don't know what to do anymore."
"You don't need to copy the holiday traditions they do at home. You're their uncles, not their parents. Don't be afraid to make things a bit different for them," Jackie pointed out. "Yes, what you do will be different but isn't that good? Sometimes, changes can be made for the better. Improvise."
The Enforcers looked over at one another, relieved at the advice they were hearing. Out of anyone they knew, they could trust Jackie to give them good advice. He was an uncle to Jade.
"Thanks Chan Man. How'd you figure it out?" Finn asked.
"Let's just say, Uncle, Jade and I used to be in your predicament," Jackie said with a hint of a smile as he headed back to the kitchen.
Thirty minutes later...
"Hmm, looks like this is going to be some kind of holiday party," came a voice from Section 13's elevator.
"Viper!" Jade rejoiced as she ran over to her with the biggest hug she could give.
"Quite a grip you got there," Viper replied. When Jade realized she was close to squeezing the life out of her older female friend she instantly let go, allowing Viper some room to breathe. "Happy holidays kiddo," the ex-thief rubbed the girl's hair as she returned the warm favor.
"I thought you said you won't be able to make it with all of the snow in New York!"
"I said that wanting to surprise you," Viper chuckled. She looked around the underground base, seeing the half done-up decorations and some refreshments covered up and lying on the table. To the left of her was the big Christmas tree picked out. "Man, Black really outdid himself this year."
"Actually, the big tree was Chow's idea. He wanted the party to feel 'festive'," the girl air-quoted what the shortest Enforcer had said. "I like it."
"Mm-hm. And where is everyone else?"
"Uncle's looking for the bathroom, Tohru's mother is coming, El Toro and Paco are coming too and the last I heard, Paco is getting mistletoe—"
"Mistletoe? I don't like where this is going," the woman muttered.
"Hey hey! Paco's not going to cause any trouble. Honest!" Jade held her hands up in her defense.
"Captain Black is helping with the decorations, Finn's trying to figure out what music will play, the Enforcer's nephews—"
"Well, I bought a Hannukkah sweater to try and—wait, the Enforcers have nephews?" Viper raised an eyebrow upon hearing what she thought she heard. "Never would've guessed."
"Yeah! At first, I thought they were kinda troublesome but they're pretty cool now. They, Chow and Ratso are resting and playing video games."
"And what have you been doing?"
"Eh, just hangin' around. There's nothing much Jackie will let me do without saying 'Jade! Too dangerous'!" she mimicked with a broad wave of her finger. Viper couldn't help but laugh at Jade's imitation of her uncles. It did sound a lot like something Jackie would say.
"Speaking of your uncle, where is he?"
"Oh yeah! Tohru and Jackie are in the kitchen cooking all the food and setting up other refreshments."
"So that's the good food I'm smelling," Viper cooed. "Lemme check out if the taste is up to par." She hung some of her belongings upon on a nearby rack as she made her way towards the kitchen area.
The closer she was, the strong the scent of delicious food being cooked. She peaked her head in the kitchen area. Tohru and Jackie had flour, eggs and other food remnants painted on their aprons and themselves as they went at it baking a cake and watching the mixer. The men were busy at work juggling multiple activities at once.
The second thing that caught Viper's eye was a neat pyramid of cinnamon rolls sitting on the counter. The woman couldn't help but take a bite the top one. "Mmm, these cinnamon rolls are dee-lish! I didn't know you guys can cook so well."
"Uh, Viper!" Jackie exclaimed with widened eyes. "I, uh, didn't know you were coming. Jade told me you were caught up at the airport," the archaeologist's eyes averted from side to side. Seeing the woman all of a sudden pop up in his kitchen made him want to pound his chest. He could feel his heartbeat rise a little. "They could be better, but they're alright I suppose. Thank you."
Viper gave a warm smile. "No biggie. I mean, I do like a man who can cook."
Before Jackie knew it, his face began to flash red. "Oh."
"Jackie, the mixer," Tohru pointed. Because of Jackie's absent-mindedness, he failed to notice the cookie batter in the mixer beginning to spill over.
"Ah! The cookie batter!" he instantly forgot about Viper as he dove for the mixer to fix it and clean the mess. He turned back at Viper. "You probably should go."
"I'll leave you to it, baby face," Viper turned to leave the kitchen, winking at Jackie.
"Wait," Jackie called. Viper turned part of her head in the archaeologist's direction.
"Yes?"
"Um, forgive me for asking since it's none of my business, or anyone else's for that matter," Jackie nervously twiddled his thumbs. "It's close to Christmas time. You're Jewish and you still chose to celebrate with us. Not that I'm unhappy! I'm very happy! It was just a thought of mine. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Viper looked up in thought, then finally shrugged. "I guess I wanted to spend time with loved ones, so celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas at the same time couldn't hurt this year. But I appreciate the care, tiger. I thought you didn't care for thieves."
Jackie slowly nodded. "I understand and I don't. But you're not a thief anymore."
Viper smiled and winked at Jackie. "Thanks Jackie. That means a lot coming from you."
"Of course."
In Captain Black's office...
"Feliz Navidad!" Black saluted to El Toro approaching him. Finally, the Mexican wrestler had made it from his long journey from Mexico. "Glad you made it."
"Senor Black, what are you wearing?" the Mexican wrestler carefully eyed his sweater.
"This? It's an ugly Christmas sweater. I wear it every year. I try to get my agents to join in an ugly Christmas sweater contest but it's just me," a slightly dejected Black replied and gestured to it. It seemed like every time some kind of holiday or festive event was going on at Section 13, the agents didn't want to join in. While Section 13 is an underground base and a place of work, didn't mean there had be work all the time. Black was the only one who followed that rule, well, that was his own rule.
El Toro placed his hand on his chin to closely inspect the sweater. In the middle of the sweater had a golden bow. The upper half was red and the lower half was green. White snowflakes were designed all over it. It didn't even look 'ugly', it looked nice on Black especially with his trademark black long coat on.
"Do you have an extra to take home?" the wrestler inquired.
Black's expression brightened when he heard El Toro's request. "Uh, well yes! I'm pretty sure I have two more in my office somewhere. I'll go look."
Fifteen minutes later...
"Uncle, where have you been?" Jackie asked his elder out of curiosity when he saw Uncle walking past the kitchen area. His answer was a thwack! to his head. "Ow!"
"You did not tell Uncle the direction of the bathroom! Uncle spent thirty minutes going up and down the hallways for nothing! Uncle almost soiled himself!" the Chinese chi wizard yelled.
"I'm sorry Uncle. I thought you knew," the nephew said and rubbed the side of his head. It never truly crossed Jackie's mind that over the years, he never got used to Uncle's two-fingered slaps.
"Hmph. Careless nephew is not going to ruin Uncle's good spirit," Uncle's frown changed into a smile. Upon seeing his elder, Jackie couldn't help but smile also. It felt good when Uncle was happy on the holidays, almost like it had reminded him on home.
"Aiyah! What are you looking at?! You should be back in the kitchen cooking! If the food at holiday party is not good, it will be your fault!" Uncle pushed his nephew back in the kitchen to get back to work.
"Yes Uncle." Jackie nodded. "Oh, uhm, one more thing," he hesitantly added. It felt a little wierd quoting his uncle's catchphrase. "Tohru told me his mother will be attending the party to help with the place. Is that okay?"
Jackie could've sworn he had seen a vessel pop out from Uncle's forehead and neck as he gritted his teeth together in a smile. "Uncle will be... pleased... to see Vam—er, Ms. Yamamoto to attend. Uncle cannot wait to see her face," Uncle forced out a chuckle to let his nephew know everything was going to be alright. "This Christmas will go soooo well."
Jackie didn't want to break Uncle's good spirit, so he took it like it's a good sign. "Uncle... " Jackie started off. He was looking off into the distance with his hands in his pocket. "Do you remember our first Christmas together? When it was just the two of us?"
Uncle turned to Jackie and nearly did a double take. When he heard Jackie's question, he saw a flashback of a younger Jackie around Jade's age.
"Hey Uncle, where does this star go?" kid Jackie asked. They were back in Uncle's shop, the Christmas Eve of 1976. Uncle's Rare Finds was instead Chan's 8-Track Store. The store was closed for the night and the next day so Uncle and Jackie could spend the holiday together.
"Let me see," Uncle took the star from his nephew's hand. He walked over to the top of the Christmas tree and placed it at the top. "The star goes on top of the tree, just like this."
When Uncle placed the star on top of the tree, the star had shone brightly, since the lights had already been turned on. Tihe lights danced in the Asian's eyes, as if it had lit up their spirits also.
"Wow! It's so pretty Uncle!" little Chan gazed up at his uncle. Uncle Chan patted his nephew's back with a chuckle.
"Ah yes. A beautiful sight for a beautiful time of year," he grinned. He looked back down at his nephew and saw that his smile was now a frown, his child-like happiness exchanged for worry.
"Is something the matter?" the uncle asked.
Jackie couldn't look up at his uncle when he said, "No." His feet shuffled nervously on the floor and he twiddled his thumbs. It didn't take a genius to know that Jackie wasn't completely happy.
"Jackie... ," Uncle bent down on one knee and carefully placed his hands on his nephew's shoulder. Even now that he was Jackie's height, Jackie was still reluctant to look his uncle in the eyes."Jackie, is there something wrong?" Uncle repeated. Jackie's face was covered by his hair so it was impossible for Uncle to see Jackie's expression. Then, Uncle heard a sniff.
"My parents," the kid croaked. More quiet sniffing followed. "I miss them."
Uncle froze as his nephew softly began to cry in his arms. At twelve years old, Jackie Chan was an orphan. He was sent to America because his parents had died in China when he was ten. For two years, Jackie lived with his uncle, aunt and his cousin Shen, who had lived in the other side of the country. For a while, life for Jackie was alright as he and Chen grew close. In eight months time, Jackie's caretakers had decided that they didn't have enough money to raise Jackie alongside their son anymore. When they had told Jackie this, the kid was heartbroken. Where else could he go? After a week of calling around, an uncle from America phoned in; the younger brother to Jackie's father. That uncle had apparently owned an eight-track store that he lived in and had plenty room, food and money to support the child.
As soon as Uncle phoned in, it was a done deal. In the summer of '76, Jackie Chan was sent overseas to live with this uncle that offered to take him in. There was something the both of them could benefit from this move in. Now Uncle can have help and fresh energy around the shop, like with chores or inventory. The floor needed some thorough cleaning from time to time and as Uncle aged, he didn't have the same strength as he did nearly two decades ago.
From the day Jackie moved in with his uncle, he's always been grateful helping his elder around the shop. Anything Uncle asked him to do; the dishes, sweep, take out the trash, do inventory, be the cashier etc and Jackie would do with little to no complaint. Now Jackie was a little dense with it came to some things, but with some correction, Jackie could do it. With Jackie around, he brought a sense of child-like curiosity and happiness to the shop. Uncle would never admit this, but Jackie's cuteness and smiles had helped with sales a little. He watched as customers bought 8-tracks in his shop just to have small chat with his nephew to brighten up their day.
Now just because Jackie was seen smiling most of the time didn't mean Jackie didn't hurt. There were countless nights Uncle sat in his nephew's bedroom to reassure him because of a nightmare Jackie had just awoken from. Uncle was there to console his nephew when the birthday of Jackie had passed and Jackie missed his parents and friends even more. Thanksgiving hurt, as would Chinese New Years since it was just the two of them.
Uncle mentally added Christmas and New Years to the list as he saw the tears fall from Jackie's eyes. He then tightly embraced his nephew and rubbed his back up and down in a slow soothing manner. Jackie had been through so much in the little time he was in the U.S. "If your parents could see you know, they would be proud of the young man you have become," Uncle acknowledged. He knew this for a fact since he knew Jackie's parents very well and had even helped to raise his mother. They were always proud of their smart little boy.
Jackie attempted to stop his sniffling, which earned him more sniffles. He finally was able to look up, cheeks streaked with semi-dry tears. "You think so?"
Uncle smiled. "I am, so I know they would be too."
"Uncle! Uncle!" the current and older Jackie replaced Uncle's vision. "Are you okay? You zoned out when I was calling your name."
"Uncle is fine," Uncle dusted himself off. He took the liberty to hitting his nephew again.
"Ow!"
"You should be worried about the food! Uncle is getting hungry!"
"Yes Uncle."
In half an hour...
"Hey Paco, wanna help me with something?" Jade poked her buddy. She stared straight into the kitchen knowing exactly what she wanted with a grin on her lips
"Like what Yade?" Paco replied.
"I know you see Jackie and Viper hanging out together in the kitchen, right?"
"... Right?"
"Right! I wanna help them out, but they always push me away!"
"So... ?" Paco shrugged. He didn't get what or where Jade was trying to hint at.
"So I believe this year we can push Jackie and Viper together," Jade suggested. "They have feelings for each other, but they don't wanna admit it. Last time I saw Viper, she headed into the kitchen with Jackie to check on the desserts. Wanna check it out?"
"Ooooh, I get it," the tiny luchador-in-training nodded. From Paco's pocket, he pulled out some mistletoe and dangled it in Jade's face, returning the playful grin. "Yade, el muerdago can't steer two lovers wrong."
Paco and Jade sprinted over to the kitchen's opening. When they took a peak inside, they were more than satisfied with what they found.
"I knew it! Look at Uncle Jackie and Viper getting all cozy!" Jade rubbed her hands deviously. Viper and Jackie were in the kitchen and from Jade's perspective, laughing over the fact that both adults have dough on their noses. Jade had watched enough TV to know where that was going to end up.
"You got the camera?" Paco asked.
"Yup," Jade whispered back. Just as she was going to get the camera into focus, their cover was blown. Their not-so-quiet whispering caught Jackie and Viper's ears, causing the adults to pull away from one another in slight shame, like they were caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.
"Jade, what are you doing hiding over there?" the laughter was interrupted and laughing and Jackie had turned into stern Jackie.
"C'mon Uncle Jackie! I'm just trying to savor the good moments," said Jade. She knew her excuse wouldn't hold.
"That doesn't look like savoring," Viper crossed her arms. "That almost sounds like blackmail."
"Not so, Señora Viper! We are trying to spread the Christmas cheer and love!" Paco exclaimed. "You two seem to get the point."
"C'mon Jackie, just give Viper one peck on the cheek! Just one for the camera!" the girl said as her camera refocused. Through the lenses, she saw one silently-laughing Viper and one unhappy uncle.
"Jade, Paco, there's work to do outside. You should get to it," Jackie said as he went to shoo the children outside the kitchen.
"Awww."
Ten minutes later...
"Where is my baby Tohru?! Do not tell me he is on another quick business trip or else!" Ms. Iwa Yamamoto screeched as she was being led by Captain Black in Section 13. She had a blindfold on so she wouldn't be able to disclose the location of Section 13 to anyone. Behind her was Captain Black, whom Tohru had asked to bring his mother to the underground base.
"Don't worry, he's not going anywhere this time. He's been cooking food for the party all day. Honest," Blck admitted. He was trying not to have too many run-ins with Tohru's mother. He didn't want to have his ear talked off.
"You better be. Spending all that time in the Junk Monger's shop with you was a waste of my time last time!"
"Mommy?" Tohru appeared around the corner. He could recognize his mother's voice anywhere.
"Tohru?" the small woman wasted no time ripping off the blindfold. Her eyes went wide upon seeing her son. "My baby Tohru!" she exclaimed as she reached her arms out for a big hug.
"Mommy!" Tohru bends down to hug his mother back. "I am glad that you were able to make it."
"As am I," Mama Tohru remarked. She turned to give a sly eye to Captain Black as she said. "Some people simply have no respect for others."
Black could only roll his eyes at the remark. "And I speak from experience."
Ms. Yamamoto paid Black no mind as she took a look around the HQ. "What is this? Is this what you wanted to hide from me?"
"Ms. Yamamoto, Section 13's location is very confidential and we can't let it be discovered by anyone. This took several months to build and—" Black tried to explain, only to be cut off by Ms. Yamamoto holding up her hand.
"'Took several months'?" Ms. Yamamoto repeated with an unimpressed tone. "This place looks like it needs several more months! The place is dirty, the ceiling is ugly, the floor is slippery, the bathrooms are too far from one another and when the doors close they are too loud!" the woman complained. There weren't too many things wrong with the underground base. In fact, Akira was impressed, very impressed. She just didn't want to say it.
Tohru sheepishly smiled at Captain Black, who kept a stern look on his face. "I am sorry. That is just my mother's opinion."
"No harm done. Not like there's much your mother could've done anyway," Black replied with a roll of his eyes. He knew old people like Uncle and Ms. Yamamoto were those never-satisfied old people. He made a mental reminder to never be like that when he became an elder like them. Why did Black always have a hard time with the elderly?
"Yeuh! The gingerbread is bitter!" Tohru's mother said. She had taken a bite of the cookie then set it back down. El Toro was on the other side of the table when he heard Ms. Yamamoto's complaint. He hesitantly took the cookie and took a bite of it also.
"The gingerbread isn't bitter," he said as he ate the rest.
"Who said my gingerbread is bitter?" Jackie's head appeared from the kitchen and saw the Mexican wrestler with crumbs all over his mask. "El Toro! You're not supposed to eat the snacks yet!"
The startled Mexican wrestler turned around and sheepishly smiled, wiping the crumbs from his lips. "Uh, sorry."
Jackie slapped his forehead and began to massage his temples. "I'm going to put up a sign there... "
At the holiday tree...
"Wassup with you Hakfu?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, why the long face?" Chow followed.
"There is nothing wrong with me. I'm fine," the red-haired man said. He was trying to set up the tree decorations along with the Enforcers in peace. The endless amount of questions were in the way of that as the Enforcers were "helping". What this meant was they were chatting and playing around—doing everything but decorating the tree.
"You look like you're kinda in a sour mood, buddy," Ratso admitted and adjusted the angel ornament on the tree.
"C'mon Hakfu! Don't tell me you hate the holidays!" Finn exclaimed.
"Yeah! It's is the best time of the year," Chow said.
"You can't be the Black Tiger all year round," Ratso said with a hint of a giggle.
"Yeah! You could be the Black Reindeer!" Finn stifled a laugh.
Hakfu made a low growl. He was getting tired of the unnecessary comments. "I never said I hated the holidays."
"Then why do you look so moody?" Finn leaned against the wall.
"This is how I always look."
"No, it's more than usual," Chow adjusted his sunglasses to get a better look at the tall man. "Yeah, your frown is deeper than normal."
Hakfu let out a reluctant sigh and pinced the bridge of his nose These inquiries were giving him a migraine. "I do not hate the holidays and I am not angry. If you must know, I was thinking of my family back in China."
"What about 'em?" Finn dropped his playful demeanor. This was the first time he had heard Hakfu mention his family to them (or anyone for that fact), so it must've been serious.
Hakfu pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and carefully picked out a folded picture to give to the Enforcers. In it was a group picture of two little girls that were smiling brightly at the camera. Standing behind them was an older woman with a strict frown.
"I thought you dyed your hair to make a statement or something. I didn't think it was genetic," Finn said. He pointed at the tall, older woman and the small red-headed girl in the picture. "That's your grandma and daughters?"
"Grandmother and nieces. The girl's are my younger brother's children," the red-headed warrior grunted.
"I can kinda see the resemblance," Chow readjusted his sunglasses. "But the other girl has black hair."
Hakfu shrugged and made the 'I don't know' sound. "I am not a geneticist."
"So I guess the Black Tiger got Black and Red Tiger Cubs," Ratso chuckled at his little joke. When he realized no one else was laughing with him, he straightened back up. "The joke sounded better in my head. But I didn't think you had nieces."
Hakfu sighed, knowing that his guard has been let down. Even now the Black Tiger feelings were stubborn and did not want to show. "It's been... a while since I spoke with them or anyone else in my family."
"How long?" Finn questioned.
Silence.
"I'm not sure."
"Then you should go visit them. You're not at odds with them, are you?" Chow crossed his arms.
"The last I heard, my sister-in-law forbade my brother, nieces and the rest of my family from speaking to me after finding out I was in prison. This news had came from my grandmother, who was too stubborn to listen to the rest of them. Even that call was so long ago," Hakfu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. That phone conversation was a disaster he's rather not think about
"That sucks," Ratso blurted out. "We haven't even gotten in any trouble in a while."
"Yeah! The last time we were in any kind of trouble was almost a year ago," Finn frowned. He hated it when people rubbed his criminal past in his face.
"We made up for time by doing all the community service work with Section 13. We practically work for the government for cryin' out loud!" Chow explained with a scowl.
"I know," Hakfu dejectedly replied, his head drooping to the floor.
"I dunno, maybe you should try and call again," Chow suggested with a shrug. "Maybe they'll be more receptive this time around."
"My sister-in-law blocked my number. I have tried everything. There is nothing I can do."
"Well it sounds like your grandma believes in you. She didn't listen to that crazy ol' sister-in-law of yours. Maybe the other members do too," Finn added. He really wanted to help Hakfu get in touch with his family again. If that was his only goal set for the holidays, so be it.
Hakfu quickly nodded and let his head up a bit to meet Finn's eyes. "I'd rather no want to take that risk to embarrass myself again."
"You never know. Maybe your folks have changed," Ratso said.
"Yeah. After I changed, my sister took me back in," Chow removed his sunglasses from his eyes with a small smile at the memory. "It took a while for my parents to do so, but they were able to get over my criminal past and treat me like their son again."
"Yeah. My parents were pretty hard on me but when I proved to them I would change for Frank's sake, I did," Finn confessed. Ever since he changed, his family came to trust him again, though it took a while of good work for them to believe him.
"My sister got my parents and granddad to believe that I wasn't a criminal anymore. When I told them what I was doing now, they eased up on me. Now they and I switch up and call the other every month to check up," Ratso beamed. He was a family man and damn proud to be so.
Hakfu's hard stare rested on the Enforcers. "Do your nephews know about your past?"
The three shook their heads in shame.
"Nah," Chow rubbed the back of his head.
"They're too young," Ratso adjusted his suit coat and tie nervously.
"We were planning to tell them when they were old enough to fully understand," Finn added. From his pocket, he pulled out a flip phone, opened it and handed it to Hakfu. "But that's not the point. The point is that it couldn't hurt to try and reach out Hakfu."
Hakfu looked over Finn's phone with reluctance before taking it. "I'll be back."
Twenty minutes later...
"Yo Kepler wassup?" Jade announced her arrival as she hopped up on Kepler's working counter. The busy scientist had working goggles on as he held the controller to a large toy car.
"Jade, Charlie, be careful! Try not to break anything!" Chow exclaimed as he passed the lab. Charlie and Jade paid Chow no mind as they looked at all the new gadgets sitting on the floor as if they were waiting to be tested.
"Are they prototypes?" the Jade inquired as she grabbed an inactive steering wheel shaped remote control close to her. Kepler was hard at work screwing in the last screw.
"No."
"Weapons?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Nope."
"Spy gear?" Charlie asked again.
"Nada."
"C'mon Kepler! You know you can't hold out on us!" Jade pulled up a car and the nearest goggles to put on.
"Charlie, hand me that steering wheel," Kepler pointed. Charlie did so as Kepler safely installed the last piece. He lifted the rather large toy and set it down on the floor of the lab. "Behold, my remote control toy car!"
"A toy car?" Charlie raised his brow. The black car looked big enough to carry two people. "Looks pretty nice, but the toy cars that are in toy stores don't really do much."
"That's because those are from the toy store. This is a mini Lamborghini I've been toying with the past couple of weeks," Kepler removed the goggles from his head. "It comes with the scissor doors and the controls are on the steering wheel. There's side view and front mirrors. The doors are the typical scissor doors. You can go forwards, backwards and park. You got blinkers and you got a trunk."
"Booblama! You thought of everything!" an amazed Charlie jumped into the driver's seat and grabbed his seatbelt.
"Not exactly everything. I want to add more, but I'm glad I have some people to test this out for me since I can't fit inside," Kepler said and adjusted his working goggles.
"How fast?" Charlie asked.
"Up to 50 mph."
"Whoa! This is like owning a real car! And I'm not even sixteen!" the Asian boy beamed.
"I'd be careful with that Charlie... " Jade's warning started off. She remembered the last time she tried one of Kepler's inventions without fully understanding everything about it. After that incident, she didn't go into Kepler's lab for two weeks.
"I'd listen to Jade. If the car crashes, an airbag comes out from the middle of the steering wheel. If I were you, I'd grab a helmet," Kepler said as he handed one to Charlie. He handed one to Jade, in which she hesitated.
"Is the gas filled up?" the Asian girl asked.
"No gas, just charge. Takes 10 hours to fully charge, takes one to turn on. You'll know if the battery or tank is low by paying attention to the dashboard," came Kepler's instructions.
"Okay then! Let's get this car into gear," Jade took the helmet from Kepler, put it on and rushed to sit beside Charlie. She buckled in and gave the scientist a thumbs up.
Kepler was messing with another prototype and made the shooing motion towards Jade and Charlie. "Try not to wreck it up too bad."
"What do you think we are, reckless?" Charlie smirked and patted the front of the car. "This baby will be back in your lab untouched."
"Can you actually drive?" a doubting Jade asked.
"Watch this," Charlie put the car into drive and revs the engine. He puts the car in reverse and lightly pressed the gas pedal. The car slowly backed up so Charlie could make a way to get through the door. The boy then put the car in drive and slammed the gas pedal.
"WOOHOO!" he yelled in joy and in a second, he and Jade were out the lab. Kepler couldn't help but to smile and shake his head at the sight.
"Ah kids... "
Charlie and Jade zoomed past many agents, nearly crashing into them. Kepler's invention made the kids move like a black blur in the hallways.
"CHARLIE SLOW DOWN!" Jade yelled but her warnings fell on deaf ears.
"BEEP BEEP!" Charlie pressed the horn button to warn everyone else. When they made a left turn, they nearly crashed into Tohru's mother and Uncle. When Jade turned around, she saw the elders yelling something at her, but she couldn't hear what it was. Ah well.
"I'm heading to the game room Jade. Time to show off my ride," came Charlie's boast and within some right and left turns reached his destination. To call Frank and Rocko's attention he beeped the horn twice, bringing them outside.
"Is that a Lamborghini?" Frank's eyes nearly popped from his head upon seeing the ride in front of him. Charlie opened the car doors, removed his helmet and stepped out along with Jade.
"Correction Frank; a mini Lamborghini."
"It's Kepler's. He spent weeks building this," Jade chimed in.
"So this is what Kepler was deep in his lab doing," Frank placed a hand on his chin. "This is oh-mazin'!"
"Oh-mazing?" Rocko repeated.
"Yeah, like oh-my-god-amazing! I call next!" Frank snatched the helmet from Charlie's grasp.
"Hey! My turn wasn't done yet!" the snatchee Charlie protested.
"Oh! Oh! Can I have shotgun Jade! Pretty please?" Rocko begged Jade. She willingly handed the helmet over to Rocko.
"I was planning on taking a break anyway. Charlie's driving is the reason why he won't get his license anytime soon," Jade remarked. As crazy as Kepler's creations were, they were really useful and very fun to play with.
In Section 13's main atrium...
"El Toro, those streamers don't belong there," Jade said with a tilt of her head. After a while of playing with the toy car, Jade decided to stop for a while and help out. That and so Jackie wouldn't hold over her head that she was unhelpful the whole time she was in Section 13.
"They don't?" El Toro repeated.
"No, they're supposed to be straight. They're kinda crooked from here," Jade said as she took a step back. "Yup, kinda crooked."
"Chow had said they were straight," the Mexican wrestler frowned as he took a ladder and went to work fixing out the kinks of the streamers.
"I think Chow needs new glasses," Jade chuckled with a shake of her head. She did hear Charlie mention that not too long ago to his uncle. "Riiiiiight there. Perfect."
"Gracias," El Toro said as he got down from the ladder. From his pocket, he pulled out what looked like a golden cloth in his hand. "Yade, I need your help with something," he started off.
"If this is about the snacks disappearing, Jackie already put up that sign on the table. Man, was he fed up," Jade said. She didn't tell Jackie she had taken only two brownies. Frank and Charlie were guilty of taking the most treats. Rocko refrained from taking anything.
"I'm thinking of giving Paco this," El Toro unraveled a new mask. It was mostly gold with black outlines around the eyes, mouths, and ears. The bull insignia was red and sitting at the top of the mask.
Jade took the mask into her hands, careful not to ruin it. "It's nice. This is for Paco?"
"Yes. He's planning on entering the ring as mi aprendiz. It would be nice to give him something that's not exactly like my own," came El Toro's explanation.
"I think Paco would like it. But you look worried. Is there something wrong?" Jade raised a curious brow. She was pretty good at detecting when someone was down.
El Toro crossed his arms. "Yes. While I am not Paco's father, I treat the boy like he is my own. In Mexico, I knew Paco's madre and padre very well and I enjoy taking care of him whenever he's with me. Over the years, I have stepped up at Paco's caretaker but sometimes I can't help but feel like I'm not doing enough. Since I am a wrestler, I am working most of the time. Either that or I am helping Paco train or give him the necessities he needs like shelter, food, and clothes on his back. It's a lot of work being a single guardian while having a full-time job."
"You're a good guardian El Toro, even if you do manage to unintentionally do some damage," Jade nodded with a nostalgic smile. Remembering all those times El Toro's helpfulness aided in her uncle getting an injury (or adding an injury) made her head pound a little.
"Ehehe, sorry," El Toro rubbed the nape of his neck.
"Still, you shouldn't be worried. I'm sure Paco will be very grateful to have someone like you in his life when things aren't looking up for the best," Jade gave a hearty fist-bump to the wrestler.
"Thank you, mi amiga."
Ten minutes later, at the dessert table...
"Aha! I knew it was you!" Black grabbed the greedy hand that was feeling around the plate. When he pulled it up, the head of a bashful Chow appeared. "Jackie wanted me to keep a close eye on the snacks and it seems like I've found the thief."
"What? No no! I was just making sure the snacks were going missing. And them my glasses went missing," came the weak reply. Chow was currently wearing his glasses. He knew he was screwed. Black looked up and down at Chow, then took the brownie from Chow to take a bite of it.
"Mm, these brownies are too good! Double dipped?" the bald man asked.
Chow could only shrug. "I guess so."
Black turned around towards the kitchen. Neither Tohru nor Jackie had seen them eat that brownie. He turned back to Chow. "Okay, I'll let you slide this one time. No more."
"Sweet."
Some twenty minutes later, with Jackie...
"Um, who put the eggnog on the table?" Jackie meekly pointed to the bowl of cream-colored liquid on the table.
"I did," Finn proudly raised his hand as he walked in Jackie's direction. "The eggnog is, of course, only for us adults."
"Finn, you know eggnog is alcohol," Jackie sternly replied. The last thing he wanted was to get a child like Jade to get drunk at a party and get sick.
"C'mon Chan Man! It's not like your niece and my nephew's gonna drink it," Finn argued.
"Who put this eggnog here?" Jade innocently asked and pointed to the eggnog in the punch bowl.
"Uncle Finn, eggnog can cause some serious damage," Frank frowned at his uncle.
"We're good," Rocko nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"I've tried eggnog once thinking that it was juice when I was back in Hong Kong. I got in sooo much trouble then," Jade chuckled at the memory. Her parents nearly had a worried fit over her drunken state as a 9-year-old. Still it was a funny memory to look back on.
"I will just stick to water, por favor," Paco held his hands up in surrender.
"Thank you but no thank you Mr. Finn," Charlie shook his head. He opened the cooler and pulled out a root beer can. "We got root beer!"
"See Chan?" Finn heartily patted Jackie in the back, startling the archaeologist. "The youngsters clearly know their boundaries."
Jackie let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, the eggnog can stay."
Fifteen minutes after...
"Merry... Christmas," the gritted words came from Uncle's smile as he handed the present to Tohru's mother.
"A gift? For me?" the Japanese mother gasped. "I didn't think Billy Goat would be kind enough to give a gift for a lady like myself."
Tohru could see a vein pop out from Uncle's head when his mother had added the last backhanded insult. Akira opened the gift to find a little sapphire brooch side. When she took it out the box, Tohru could've sworn he had seen his mother with little tears in the corners of her eyes. Again, this could be Tohru's eyes playing tricks on him.
"Even the hardest and stinkiest of Billy Goats can have the warmest of hearts. Who knew?" the Japanese mother beamed as she tried it on. "I look like a million bucks, don't I Tohru?"
"Of course mother," Tohru nodded. It was a nice gift.
"Uncle... hopes you... " Uncle began to cough. He pumped his chest before continuing. "... Like it."
"Of course, your father had much more Christmas spirit than Junk Monger here," Iwa snorted and turned around to face her son. "I wish you could've spent more time with him. This is the Christmas picture we took when you were two."
"Papa?" Tohru whispered. It was weird hearing his mother mention anything about his father, especially in public. Iwa pulled out a small photo and handed it to her son. In the picture, Tohru's father held the young Tohru with a grand smile on his face. As for his mother, Iwa gave the camera a small but firm smile.
"Your father could put a smile on anyone's face when it came to Christmas. I remember him buying so many presents to spoil us all while he ended up getting nearly nothing in return," Ms. Yamamoto half-smiled. There was a hint of sadness in her voice when she mentioned her late husband. Her voice began to crack a bit as she spoke. "It's times like this during the year where I miss him the most. It's so lonely being by myself back home."
"It's alright Mommy," Tohru bent down to wipe away the tears threatening to spill from his mother's eyes. "Papa loves you too."
"Ahem."
Tohru and Ms. Yamamoto had forgotten Uncle was still behind them, listening to everything they had said. He placed a weirdly-consoling hand on Iwa's shoulder. "As much as it pains Uncle to admit it, Papa Tohru is blessed to be married to the Tarantula woman."
Akira gave a small smile to Uncle. "Billy Goat... WAIT, did you just call me a tarantula?!"
Later, in Captain Black's office...
"Watcha got there Finn?" Jade pointed at the CD Finn was holding.
"Mm? Oh this?" Finn points to the CD in his hand. "This is nothing but the best Christmas disco ever played on the face of the Earth! This right here is my musical contribution towards the party this evening."
"Oh," Jade scratched her head. "I thought Captain Black was in charge of the music."
"Oh yeah, it's gonna—wait what?!"
Jade pointed to Captain Black's office. "That way."
"No way," Finn muttered as he rushed over to stop him from doing what he thought Black was going to do. When he swung open the door, he saw Black sitting at his desk working and swiftly marched over to him.
"Finn. So nice of you to check in on me. You could've knocked next time," Black deadpanned.
"You wouldn't happen to have the music you picked before the party, right?" Finn gave an awkward smile to his boss.
"You mean this?" from his coat pocket, Black pulled out his own untitled CD. "It's Elvis' Christmas album."
"Aw c'mon C.B.! I already have the perfect music picked out!" Finn began to whine.
Black pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Please don't let it be something disco."
Finn scrunched up his face in confusion. "What's wrong with disco?"
The captain slowly exhaled before opening his eyes. "Finn, disco has been long dead and—"
"So has Elvis and somehow he still gets a chance to play in everyday's music! Disco!"
"Hey, Elvis has broken records and is the King of Rock 'n' Roll who's still relevant in today's music!" Black fiercely defended his musical fave.
"Yeah, everything about him is sooo relevant that we still remember him for dying on the john!" Finn argued.
"Guys guys!" Jade appeared out of nowhere on Black's desk to separate the two men. "Let's not fight! We're friends, not enemies!"
"Black said disco is dead!" Finn pointed.
"So did you about the King of Rock and Roll!" Blacked pointed back
"Hey hey! How about this," Jade said. She climbed down the table into Black's chair and furiously typed away. A new screen appeared with a picture of a young woman in the front dressed like she was Santa Claus.
"Instead of Elvis, instead of disco, how 'bout some good ol' Amiah Barry's classic 'All I Want For Christmas'?" Jade pressed the spacebar and playing the music. "It's always a big hit around this time of year, trust me."
Ten minutes later...
"Hey Jackie! I want you to take a look at something real quick," Jade called out from the unofficial game room. Jackie peaked his head into the room, seeing Jade, Paco and the Enforcer's nephews gathered around a computer. To Jackie it sounded like they were quietly laughing, but that was probably just Jackie's ears clogged from all the cooking he had done.
"Yes Jade, what is it?" Jackie walked over behind Jade and bent down to meet the computer level.
"'Whoa Jackie Chan! You need to start thinking about packing your bags if you don't change your ways soon. Santa is more likely to hunt you down than to bring you a present'. What?! But I helped Santa from Daolon Wong trying to take his chi! What did I do wrong?" the archaeologist sulked.
"Waitaminute you said you helped Santa?" Rocko's eyes widened in complete disbelief.
"Get outta town! You really saw Santa?" Charlie shot out of his chair.
"Uh, I mean, that list can't be right. I am a regular old good person. An archaeologist! Surely Santa is getting himself mixed up with another archaeologist by the name of Jackie Chan," Jackie fretted.
"Mr. Chan, you didn't answer the question," Charlie crossed his arms over his chest.
"I think the cupcakes are going to burn. I... needtogocheckonthembeforetheyburndownthekitchen!" with that, Jackie hurried out the game room.
"I can't believe Señor Yackie fell for that!" Paco doubled over in laughter. "It was just a joke! We didn't even get a chance to explain to him!"
"Jade, did your uncle really meet Santa or is he just pullin' our legs?" Frank raised an eyebrow at Jade.
"Oh yeah!" Jade proudly beamed. "Paco, Tohru and I were Santa's special helpers for the night. We got to deliver presents for a while before Santa called his reindeer back.
"No way!" Rocko, Charlie, and Frank turned to Paco.
"Yade tells the truth. We helped Santa to deliver presents!" the mini luchador said. "Even though it was only three of them."
Frank shook his head in disbelief. No way was he going to fall for one of Jade's tricks. "Come on Jade, April Fool's Day was months ago. You can't expect us to believe—"
"So you were saying about that last house Tohru went into?" Rocko silenced Frank with a hand over his mouth.
"Don't tell me you guys actually believe in Santa Claus?" Frank removes Rocko's hand from his mouth and crossed his arms.
"Don't tell me you don't?" Charlie asked in return.
"Santa is so real! Uncle, Jackie, Viper, El Toro, Paco, Tohru and I all saw him!" Jade argued.
Frank shook his head in disbelief. "No way. Not possible."
"Do you really want to risk being on the naughty list?" asked Rocko.
"Sounds to me like you want a lump of coal in your stocking," Charlie playfully nudged his friend.
"Wh-What?! No I don't! I'm just stating facts!" Frank stuck his nose into the air. "I'll believe when I see it, or if you give me proof."
"Just admit it Frank. You wait for Santa every year to drop off your presents. It's okay," Paco patted his friend's shoulder. Frank shoved his hand off and frowned.
"Hey! I'm not admitting anything!"
Fifteen minutes later...
"Hey Babyface, how's it goin'?" Viper smiled as she stepped into the kitchen. Jackie was now putting the last touches on the gingerbread house up when he noticed the ex-thief stalk in.
"Aaaaaand done!" Jackie cheered. His victory in finishing his gingerbread house turned into suspicion as he turned to the tan-skinned woman. "You wouldn't happen to be eating the food Tohru and I set up outside, would you?"
"I actually was going to ask you the same thing," Viper said.
"Ugh, I had set a fresh batch of double-dipped brownies down fifteen minutes ago and a third of them have already been taken," the Asian shook his head in disappointment. "It feels like the work we are doing is for nothing if all everyone is going to de is eat the goodies."
"Can't blame someone for having a sweet tooth. And were you asking me because I used to be a thief?" Viper crossed her arms with raised eyebrow.
Realizing his mistake, Jackie furiously shook his head and his hands at the woman. "What?! No! I was just—nice sweater by the way," Jackie pointed at Viper's sweater. In her case, it would be an ugly Hanukkah sweater. It was mostly blue with gold writing that read 'Happy Hanukkah'.
"Oh this? Got this in New York," she offhandedly replied. A smirk painted her face as she said, "Ya know, next year it'd be nice if you celebrated Hanukkah with me in New York."
Jackie's face flushed red, a sight Viper found amusing to see. "I-I think that'd—"
"Jackster, I think you might wanna redo the—oh!" Finn hollered. What he saw that made him do so was see Jackie and Viper very close to each other, very close.
"I'll just leave you two at that," the disco man shot finger guns at the both of them before leaving. The funny thing was that Jackie and Viper weren't even that close, but that was just Finn's perspective. They were a good distance apart.
Jackie hid his face in his hands. "This has happened one too many times."
Viper laughed a little and rubbed Jackie's hair. "It's always something with us, isn't it?"
Five minutes before the party...
"Never fear; the Finn Claus bearing gifts is here!" Finn proudly popped his collar. He stood in front of the Christmas tree with a remote in hand. The tree had already been decorated with the best of the best. The lights were already on the tree. The only thing left to do was turn it on.
"Who is yelling?!" Tohru's mother screeched as she stepped from the kitchen along with Tohru. "Don't you know I have sensitive ears?!"
"Finn must be finished with putting the lights on the tree," Tohru commented. One by one, the people helping set up the holiday party gathered around, coming from the kitchen to the labs. Rocko even drove in with Paco in the black mini Lamborghini that was being toyed with.
"Where'd you get the car?" Black asked, very impressed by what he was seeing.
"Jade and Charlie are borrowing this from Kepler," Paco simply responded.
"After what took forever, the tree is now done with all sorts of groovy decorations! Now behold; the greatest Christmas tree in all of the world lit up for everyone to see!" The Irish showoff turned around and pressed the button on his remote.
"Polar bear is disappointed," Hakfu frowned. The tree was left the same way it was as before. Nothing happened.
"Aw come on! I worked too hard to see this!" Finn muttered as he repeatedly pressed the remote button. Nothing, nothing, nothing and more nothing.
"It's alright amigo. You've done your best," El Toro patted Finn's back. Actually, he had done it a little too hard, which caused the remote to jump from Finn's grasp, plant button-first to the floor. Luckily, it did not break.
"Hey!" the Irishman scowled. El Toro passed, looking from the tree remote, to Finn and to everyone who had seen.
"Sorry," came the wrestler's sheepish reply.
"Ah man. I worked so hard to get the "perfect view"," Finn began to sulk. Chow and Ratso were the first to come to and comfort their friend.
"It's alright Finn," Ratso said.
"Yeah. It's not your fault," Chow added on. "It's still the "perfect view" if you think about it."
Suddenly, the star on top of the tree began to flutter. On and off it went for a couple of seconds before it chose to remain on, along with the rest of the lights decorated on the tree starting from top to bottom.
"It works after all, Uncle Finn! You really outdid yourself," Frank couldn't help but smile at his uncle's masterpiece. Technically it wasn't, but Finn was in charge of the lights. Nevertheless, it was a job well done.
"Look at how the lights make the ornaments look!" Rocko pointed. He was right; the bright lights had shone through some of the ornaments, making the lights look like a mosaic in a church.
"Great job," Black came behind Finn with a nod of approval.
"Oh yeah! The Finn Man has done it again!" Finn grinned like an idiot. "Now the party can begin."
"Wait! Can we all take a picture before the party starts?" Jade jumped out from the crowd of J-Team helpers with her handy camera. "Please? Please please pleeeeease?"
"Alright. One picture," Jackie permitted.
"The camera is set up for five seconds of time before it clicks," Jade said. She pulled out a camera stand and stood it up within seconds, then set the camera at the top. She stood behind the camera to get a good view of everyone behind the tree. "Hopefully the camera's quality is okay so we don't have to keep redoing this."
"Let's bring it in!" Finn cheered.
As if on cue, Ratso took him and Chow in his arms. "Group hug for the camera!" he said.
"Ratso, the countdown hasn't even started!" came Chow's strain.
"Smile for camera, Trash Man!" Tohru's mother took the liberty of stretching Uncle's lips to form a smile.
"Holiday spirit does not pay enough for Uncle," came his sigh.
"Tohru, C.B., Ratso, El Toro and Hakfu need to be in the back since you guys are the tallest," Jade called out.
"Chow gets to stay in the front," Ratso giggled.
Finn gave Chow a noogie (against his wishes). "Yeah, our little shortstop."
"Cut it out!"
"Move over tiger," Viper lightly pushed Jackie to the side. "I want the camera to get my good side."
Jackie couldn't resist a good laugh as he nudged Viper. "Heh, what good side?"
"Hardee-har-har," Viper used her hips to bump into Jackie.
"I don't even know why you're changing your bangs when they stay the same," Frank teased to Jade as she tried to fix her hair.
Jade flicked his bang in return. "This is coming from the guy whose bangs make him look like a little quail."
Rocko barked out a laugh and rubbed his friend's head in. "Frank as a little birdie! It's funny 'cuz it's true!"
"Hey! Stop laughin'!" Frank demanded to a cheery Rocko.
"Five, four, three, two, one!" Jackie chanted.
"Happy holidays!" everyone chanted. The camera's flash went on and had captured the gang together.
"Oooh lemme see lemme see!" Paco insisted. "Pretty good. Yade, you think you can send them to everyone?"
"Sure! And for the last time Paco: it's Jade," the girl corrected.
"If you think about it, we're kinda like a family!" Ratso said. Everyone turned from the newly-illuminated tree to look at him with bewildered looks on their faces. In everyone's mind, they all shared the same thought; it's weird to say that the J-Team is a family.
"Black reindeer doesn't understand," Hakfu was the first to break the silence with a confused grunt.
"I don't see it," Ms. Yamamoto tuffed her bottom lip out.
"'Family'?" Frank repeated with an eyebrow raised. "How?"
"I mean, we do run into each other quite a lot," Jackie chimed in. Now everyone's looking at Jackie with the same look Ratso received. "Whether we want to or not."
"I mean, we've fought so much together we might as well be," Chow adjusted his glasses with a small smile on his face. "We all come from different places and still end up running into each other almost too often."
"Funny how San Francisco is a huge place, yet a small world," Finn stated with his hands on his hips. "We all end up coincidentally running into each other."
"Some kind of family we got here," Black remarked. He could see that Ratso did have a point.
"Yeah! We all started off on opposite sides and look where we are today; altogether," Jade smiled and hugged her uncle Jackie tighter.
"Family," Viper repeated. "I like the sound of that."
"Our families' are waaaay better than Shen Du and Drago's anyway, so I'll take it," Jackie said with a shrug.
"Of course the demons would not know anything about being family! All they know is backstabbing," Uncle glared at nothing in particular. "Which brings Uncle to one more thing."
From what seemed like out of nowhere, Uncle pulled out a small bag and gives everyone a clove of garlic from it. "Before party starts, Uncle wants everyone to keep clove of garlic on them at all times."
"Uncle, isn't this too far?" Jackie held the clove of garlic into the air.
"Garlic is gooood for chi and serves as protection against the forces of darkness for the holidays."
"Sheep rejects garlic. This will not be necessary," Hakfu gives the garlic back to Uncle.
"Do you want to have a holiday fiasco like Daolon Wong trying to take Santa Claus' chi? No?! Then you will take the garlic!" Uncle argued and shoved the plant back in the ex-mercenary's hands.
"Ugh fine," Hakfu rolled his eyes and stuffed the vegetable in his pocket.
"Waitaminute you said you met Santa?! No way!" Ratso's mouth nearly dropped open.
"That's what I said," Frank and Rocko said in unison; but Frank was more disappointed and Rocko had a tone of wonder.
"I really don't feel like repeating myself," Jade facepalmed. This was gonna be some party.
During the party...
"Farmer McDonald, what're you doing here?" Jackie asked. He definitely didn't invite the farmer in. Farmer McDonald didn't even cross his mind.
"And how did you figure out where Section 13 was?" Black questioned. There was no way a simple farmer, chicken, and pig could get through with little to no help whatsoever. Even if he did, the alarms would go off and he would be notified.
"I got a call sayin' I was invited ta some Christmas party here an' I couldn't pass tha' up fer nuthin'!" the old farmer placed his hands on his hips with a proud smile. "Neitha' could Eggbert 'n' Mordecai!"
Jackie and Black exchanged looks, knowing the answer to their questions.
"Hey Uncle Jackie," Jade sheepishly waved to him and Black. "It was me who let them in."
"And why would you do that without asking me?" Jackie frowned. He knew he should've expected this from Jade.
"C'mon Jackie! They're part of the J-Team! We can't turn them away!" Jade tugged on her uncle's khakis for effect.
"'Ey! I've come-a looooong way and I ain't gonna turn back now!" the farmer man scowled. "If anythin', I deserve ta be here along wit' ma animals."
"The animals did help us banish Drago and Shen Du," Jackie admitted. Back some months ago, Jackie did see Mordecai and Eggbert give a hand with their Talisman powers. "They are a part of the J-Team."
Black sighed. He was on the losing end. He pointed to Jade with his eyes. "Fine. This means that you have to keep a sharp eye out for Mordecai and Eggbert. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time." Never would Black cluck or make any animal noises again.
Jade gave her unofficial boss a thumbs up. "I can take care of 'em."
Ten minutes later...
"Looks like you have mail," Jackie called to Jade. She was beside him drinking soda enjoying seeing her friends play with the Lamborghini when she noticed her uncle holding out to her a package.
"Me? Get mail?" Jade looked at the holiday-themed package suspiciously. "'Chai Wan, Hong Kong'. This is my house back in Hong Kong," Jade claimed and wasted no time to open the box.
"Whoa! The newest member of the RoboMercs team Mechi!" the girl stood up to cheer at her present. "And... a letter?"
"'Dear Jade, It's been three years since we've sent you to America with your uncle Jackie. From what I've been hearing from your uncle Jackie and Uncle, you're still the little girl we've raised in Hong Kong. We are glad you have learned so much, that you are doing well in school and that you've been having a lot of fun with your new friends, seeing new sights and having fun in America. We bought the newest RoboMerc toy we know you love and 50 American dollars for whatever else gift you feel like you want. We love you so much Jade and we are proud to be your parents. Merry Christmas and have a happy new year. Love, your mom and dad'"
Jade ended up rereading the letter nearly three times over before noticing her paper mysteriously getting dark spots. She touched it to discover it was wet.
"Jade, are you alright?" Jackie had knelt down to meet eye to eye with his niece. "Are you... crying?"
"Crying?" Jade repeated. Now she could feel her cheeks feel a little wet. She quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not crying Uncle Jackie. It's just... I'm happy. Really," she let a small smile paint her face. "It's from my parents."
"Your parents? What did they say?"
"Nothing," Jade shook her head. A big grin was painted on the child's face, her amber eyes glowing. She hugged her uncle and said," Just cheesy family stuff."
Five minutes later...
"Welp the party was a success, even with all that food mysteriously missing," Jackie beamed and placed his hands on his hips.
"Yep, and with little blisters on your hands too," Viper chuckled as she picked them up to closely inspect them. At this point, Viper didn't have to look up to know Jackie was blushing.
"Ah yes. But as a wise man once said; 'hard work pays off'," the Asian man chuckled.
"And that wiseman is very right," Viper slyly smiled and brought Jackie is closer to her. Now their faces were inches from each other.
"Why thank you Viper," Jackie came in to give Viper a quick peck on her lips, but she held up a finger to stop him.
"Today, I'd like to be called Esther."
Jackie quirked a curious brow. "Esther?"
"Esther Levi."
"Esther Levi," the archaeologist softly repeated to himself and nodded. "Esther is a nice name. So no more Viper?"
"Not quite; I'll save 'Viper' for work purposes. I've known you all for a long time. I felt like it was time my friends get to know me a little more. That's not a problem right?" Viper didn't wait for Jackie's reaction as her lips came in full contact with Jackie's. She expected Jackie to pull back but all he did was lean into the kiss.
Suddenly there was a flash, then a click of what sounded like a camera. Jackie and Viper broke away from one another in the direction of Jade, who could only grin like an idiot with a camera in her hand. Rocko, Charlie, Paco, and Frank were behind her, mocking the kissing adult with kissing noises and faces.
"Aaand got the mistletoe pic," Jade reviewed the picture in her camera.
"I told you. El muerdago never goes wrong," Paco said and high-fived Jade.
"Oooh!" the Enforcer's nephews cooed.
"Jackie and Viper sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Frank sang.
"We were not kissing! She and I were just... talking," Jackie stammered out his excuse. He knew he as busted.
"Yeah, talking about kissing," Charlie said as he playfully elbowed his friends. Cue the laughter getting a little louder as they taunted Jackie and Viper more.
Jackie internally shrieked as he took a step towards Jade. "No I'm not! Jade, delete that!"
Jade stepped back from her uncle and tossed the camera to Paco. "You're gonna have to take the camera to do that!" came her tease.
"You know what that means... " Rocko coyly grinned at his companions.
"Five Way Keep Away!" the children shouted as Paco tossed the camera to Rocko next.
"No! Give me that camera! Stop it! You are all immature!" the archaeologist can be heard shouting through the laughter of the youth.
"Ah Jackie. Haven't changed much from the man I met back in New York all those years ago," Viper said to herself. The ex-thief was tempted to join in the shenanigans but decided not to. Viper went and grabbed a cookie and a drink. She was going to enjoy this.
Through all the hard work each member of the J-Team put in setting up the holiday party, whether it had been making food, setting up decorations or something seemingly small like boosting the morale of those who are down, a lot was done to make the holidays truly feel like the holidays.
While most denied and ignored Ratso's claim of the J-Team being a family, each member felt what he was talking about in their hearts. They knew each other well—almost too well. Back then it was such a nuisance since they were on opposite sides. Now, one could call it an honor to stand beside one another to fight on one team. At the end of the day, all of the J-Team stand together. If it wasn't going to be a forever thing, everyone might as well enjoy it while it lasts. '
Tis the reason for the season'.