So there was a thing going around on Tumblr called '25 Days of Fic', and it offered a Christmas-themed prompt word for every day from now until Christmas, with the challenge that each fic had to be under 1000 words. So I thought why the hell not? Now, you know what I'm like when it comes to updating multi-chaps, but I promise to try my hardest to give you a new one each day. I've already written the first six, so that's a good start, right?

Just a little FYI: Harry and Nikki are already a couple. Just because I wanted these fics to be fluffy and happy for a change. And they're not necessarily in strict chronological order from here on in, but they do all take place around the same Christmas. And the rating is for later chapters where there may or may not be some suggestive themes and/or naughty words.

I think that's everything.

Mistletoe:

"You know what Leo's doing, don't you?"

Nikki glances up from her computer screen. "Hmm?"

"Leo. He's ... scheming," Harry informs her, and then points to the ceiling near the door of the office. Her eyes follow his finger and land on a sprig of mistletoe tacked to the tiles.

"Oh my god," she breathes, sharing a wide-eyed look with him. "You think that's for our benefit?"

"Nikki, every year it has been for our benefit. And every year we have successfully managed to avoid it."

"Well, I guess this year we beat him to it," she remarks lightly, watching as his lips curl into a smirk. "Unless... Wait - you don't think he knows about us and is trying to catch us out?"

His grin vanishes. "No. No, he can't know. We have been nothing if not discreet. It's just his usual 'it's Christmas, an excuse to try and force Harry and Nikki to come to their senses' type shenanigans."

She swallows the memory that he unwittingly evokes with his words (after all, Leo and Leo alone was the only witness to her confession), and wonders whether this really is all just a bit of fun for Leo - maybe, after Hungary, it's become a little more to him than an annual jape. She feels a lump in her throat and a sudden rush of affection for her boss.

Getting to her feet and glancing around to make sure they really are the only ones in the office, she comes to rest against the edge of Harry's desk beside him.

"Are we doing the right thing? Keeping it a secret from him?" she asks quietly.

He frowns. "It was your idea."

"I know, I know. Just ... he really cares about us. And I'm sure he'd be on our side."

Harry opens his mouth to reply but, of course, a lab tech chooses that exact moment to walk in and set up camp at the nearby mass spectrometer. Instead, he plucks a seemingly random folder from his desk and says, "Doctor Alexander, may I get your opinion on the John Doe that came in yesterday?" He stands up, nodding his head towards the morgue.

"Of course," she answers just as nonchalantly, struggling to conceal a grin as she follows him through the building. They stop when they reach the locker room, which is, mercifully, deserted.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" he asks, and it's as if their conversation was never interrupted.

"I don't know. I just feel like, if I was in his shoes, I would want to know. Besides, it will put an end to all his 'shenanigans', as you so quaintly put it."

He thinks for a moment, before his eyes fix on something behind her head and his brows contract. "Okay, seriously? It's only November!"

Turning on the spot, she once again follows his gaze, and once again she's met with more mistletoe, this time pinned directly above Harry's locker. "That is," he splutters, "quite frankly a little insulting in its lack of subtlety. He could at least put it in the middle of the room."

She giggles, taking his hand and leading him around the benches until they're stood underneath it. "Rude," he mutters, his neck craned as he stares at it, but he smiles when he lowers his head and finds his face an inch away from hers. "I didn't know you were one for tradition," he teases, his hands finding her hips.

"Oh, you know me. Any excuse to sexually harass you in the workplace," she grins.

"Hey, no complaints here," he smirks, before lowering his lips to meet hers.

Nearly a month they've been seeing each other now, and she doesn't think she will ever get used to kissing him. Whether it's sweet and slow like this one, or fiery and intense like their first one, it still manages to make Nikki feel the same way; dizzy and breathless, with her vision blurred and, sometimes, she could swear she sees stars.

Her arms coil around his neck, one hand coming to rest in his short hair, the other playing with the neck of his t-shirt. She moans softly when his fingers slip under her top and dance lightly over the small of her back.

They break apart of this point, before either of them get too carried away (because that's happened before, and she still has the imprint of her locker door bruised on her back). Resting his forehead against hers, he breathes, "Okay, we'll tell Leo."

"Really?" Her hand comes to his face, her thumb tracing his cheekbone.

"Yes, really, if you're sure that's what you want. He mentioned something about a meal tonight, didn't he? Well, let's do that and tell him then."

"He will be on our side, won't he?" she asks, suddenly inexplicably nervous about telling their boss.

Twisting his head sideways, he presses his lips briefly to the palm of her hand. "Yes. I'm pretty sure he's been rooting for us for years." He drops another quick kiss to her lips, then takes a step back. "Come on, before he gets suspicious."

And so later that night they do tell Leo. They answer his questions on the how, where, why and when, they chastise him over the mistletoe (but tell him that, y'know, he can leave it up if he really insists), and he is on their side. He tells them he's happy for them, that it's about bloody time, and although he's sure they know what they're doing, to proceed with a little caution lest hearts get broken.

What he doesn't tell them is that they needn't have bothered keeping it a secret, as he's known from the start. They're not as subtle as they think they are and he'll be scarred for life over what he saw on the car park CCTV camera a few nights ago. But he decides it's easier, for now, to let them think they've won.

Next chapter: Hot Chocolate