A/N: Okay, don't kill me for starting a Christmas story in November :P. I probably won't get it finished until after the holidays! I own nothing, and profit from none of this. it's purely for entertainment purposes!

Chapter One -

George Crabtree held his collar closed to keep out the wind as he peered into the storefront windows. It was barely December, yet the shopkeepers were already decorating for Christmas.

George didn't mind, though. He loved Christmas! It was his absolute favourite time of year. The music, the lights, the snow. It was all so magical, and so remniscent of his childhood christmases, where his aunts would spoil him with sweets and toys.

He arrived at station house 4 full of holiday spirit, but it was dashed fairly quickly.

"Crabtree, get in here!" the Inspector hollared.

"Shut that bloody door!" he ordered when Crabtree entered his office. The constable was quick to obey.

"Good morning, sir," George said somewhat uncertainly.

"Good? What's good about it!?" Brackenreid demanded. He blew his nose loudly into a hankercheif. It was evident that their fearless leader was suffering from a fairly nasty cold.

"Uh, nothing?" Crabtree replied lamely.

"Right you are, Crabtree. Nothing. There is nothing good about this entire season, if you ask me!"

"Don't you like christmas, Inspector? It's such a wonderful time of year!" George began, unable to keep his enthusiasm for the holiday suppressed.

"What's so wonderful about it!? It's freezing out, I'm sick, the wife is spending all our money on silly toys for the kids and throwing holiday parties for her friends! And then, last night, part of my roof caves in under the snow! And now this," he gestured to a letter on his desk.

"What is it?" Crabtree asked.

"It's a letter from the chief inspector. In an effort to promote good public relations this Christmas season, he wants the Station Houses to participate in some sort of charity work. We've been assigned the orphanage on 3rd street."

"That sounds wonderful sir! What a great opportunity for the boys to give back to the community!"

"I thought you might say that," the inspector grumbled, "which is why I'm putting YOU in charge of the project. I have far too much on my plate right now to be worried about this."

"Me? But sir, I don't know what-"

"Just make it happen Crabtree. Tell everyone to bring in a dollar or so, and just drop it off sometime before Christmas. That's all there is to it. Dismissed!"

He turned to leave, but the Inspector stopped him.

"Oh one more thing. Station house 3 is assigned to the orphanage on the otherside of town. I don't want to hear that the boys from number 3 are more generous than ours are. Keep tabs on that, make sure WE end up looking better. Get going."

Crabtree left the Inspector's office with somewhat mixed emotions about his assignment. Sure, bringing in a dollar each to donate would be a great contribution to the orphanage, but it seemed very impersonal to George. Not to mention, he may have a tough time getting money out of the lads at this time of year, even for a good cause.

He would have to think of something else.

"George?"

Crabtree snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the Detective.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. What was that?"

"I said that our John Doe's death turned out to be due to hypothermia after all. Nothing for us to investigate."

"That's good news, sir. Murder is an awful business, but especially around Christmas time."

"Indeed," Murdoch said with a nod. "Is everything alright? You seem distracted."

"Oh, yes, sir. Everything is fine. It's just this assignment the inspector has given me. He suggested that I collect money, but that seems too...I don't know. Impersonal?"

"I think you may be right. The greatest gift you can give orphaned children would be your time, and your friendship. They have no family, and that must be particularly difficult around this time of year."

"Exactly. I'm also a bit worried about Station House 3. They have a similar assignment, and the Inspector wants to ensure we 'beat them' in terms of our generosity."

"Nice to see that the Inspector is embracing the Christmas spirit," Murdoch said sarcastically, "It's not about competition, George. Do your best, and your best will be appreciated by the Children at the orphanage. Gauranteed."

"Yes sir," George said.

"I've got it, Henry!"

Henry looked up, startled by his partner's sudden outburst. George was smiling at him from across their desks, where they sat working on paper work.

"Got what?"

"We'll collect toys, and deliver them ourselves! Perhaps we can even convince someone to dress up as Santa Claus!"

"George, most of us are barely making ends meet during the Christmas season. I don't know how much cooperation you'll get telling the lads they have to give up some of their paycheques for toys."

"Well, those who can't pay can make the toys themselves. Or get them from children who have outgrown them."

"George, I know nothing about making toys, and I can say pretty confidently that most of the lads here don't either."

"Well, we can learn! It's a lot cheaper than buying premade toys, and it is so much more personal!"

"I guess it's better than giving up some of our pay cheque. I'm hard pressed for cash as it is." Higgins said with a shrug.

"That's the spirit Henry! Sort of..."

So at the end of their shift that day, George made an announcement to all of the constables about the plan.

"Within the next couple of weeks, everyone needs to buy or make one toy for a boy, and one toy for a girl. Then, on Christmas eve, we'll go and deliver the gifts to the children ourselves!"

There was a bit of grumbling in the ranks, about inability to pay for or make a gift, so George decided to use a different approach.

"Listen everyone. Station House 3 is going to be competing with us, in a different orphanage. We CAN'T let them appear more generous than us! This is Station 3 we're talking about! What if the newspapers got involved? We'd be ruined!"

This certainly had the rousing effect that George had been hoping for. Stations 3 and 4 had always had a competetive relationship, and this was no different. The constables were now much more enthusiastic.

"That's right. This christmas, all of Toronto will know that Station House 4 is the most giving and generous station house in the city!"

There was a general cheer amongst the men. Detective Murdoch, who was watching the spectacle from his doorway, shook his head with a smile.

"I'll be checking in next week, to see how things are progressing," George told the crowd, as they dispersed back to their desks. Murdoch walked over to him.

"Well, constable. I see you decided to go the competetive route after all."

George gave him a shy sort of grin.

"Well, sir. They're a competetive lot. I had to get them interested in one way or another."

"Well done, George. I hope everything works out!" Murdoch said.

George hoped so too.