Hey, guys! So, first off; merry (belated) Christmas and happy New Years! I hope that this past year was a great one and that the next one will be even better. ;) Now, secondly, I have a question; I have really been getting into the 'Flash' fandom, and am currently debating on whether or not I should start writing for it...any thoughts?

Please let me know by either leaving me a review or voting on the poll on my account! Preferably both, if you don't mind. :) Now, I'm also super sorry about not posting more! I promise that I have not abandoned "Th Youngest Protector", just...procrastinated. I', really struggling with that story and am currently just taking a bit of a short break from it.

I promise that I will begin writing for it soon. I don't know how soon, but it is definitely coming. :) Thanks for being patient and hopefully understanding. Now, I also hope that this is an okay story; because I feel that it is a bit rushed. I don't know. I just hope that you enjoy it! :) And also, I know that it's a bit late to be posting this, but I figured better late than never, right? ;)

And at least I was able to get it posted before the New Year. Now, after that extraordinarily and extremely long AN, please read and enjoy the story :)

Disclaimer: I wished that I owned this. Can you imagine how much money I would have if you combined everything?


Christmas was supposed to be happy. A joyful time of the year.

Well, that was the perceived idea of the holiday. And one Bree had always believed.

She had always loved Christmas, but she had only been able to celebrate three 'normal' years of it, since before Leo and Tasha had moved in, she didn't know what Christmas was exactly.

And even though none of their Christmases were ever normal, she wouldn't change it for any reason in the world.

But this one...this one she wished would never have happened.

It had been just exactly twelve days before Christmas. Everyone was excited and chattering while baking cookies, decorating them and the house, wrapping gifts; all of her favorite things. And then they had to receive a mission alert.

One that only now did she realize would forever change their lives. They had quickly gone down to the lab to change into their mission suits, with Mr. Davenport waiting there for them.

They found out that the mission was apparently for some meta human attacking places along side of the coast. The only thing she knew about meta humans, was that they had something to do with the fact that a particle accelerator had exploded only two months before.

But Chase seemed to understand what Mr. Davenport was talking about, so on they went to the coast; prepared for a battle, but now Bree realizes, they weren't prepared at all.

They had managed to evacuate the entire beach, and seriously, it made Bree wonder; who the heck would be out on the beach at night? She had dismissed that thought, and continued evacuating the people in the houses to a much safer location deeper in the city.

That's when she had been told by Chase through the comm set, that there were still some people left, but they were trapped. So he told her to get Adam and super speed there to rescue them. But as they were just arriving, a foreign voice faintly came over the comm set, and they knew that it was the meta human talking to Chase.

Bree had tapped back into the comms, worriedly, but the only noise coming over the comms was the horrible sound of choking and screaming. And as both her and Adam had exchanged glances, they both knew who was making that sound.

It was from someone that they heard everyday.

Then suddenly, the noise stopped. It was replaced with a dull thud, and struggled gasps for air. But before either of them could even begin to process what was happening, that same foreign voice came over the comm set; this time much louder and clearer. She had shouted his name...fear taking over her.

But that voice, and those words...she'd never get it out of her head.

His words were; 'you had better hurry...he's fading fast.'.

Then a malicious chuckle came through the comms, sending fear racing up and down her spine, before those struggled gasps for breath just...stopped. Bree was out of there faster than anyone could even comprehend, and by Chase's side performing CPR.

She had left Adam to rescue the people, while she tended to their little brother. She'll never forget the slack expression on his face, and his still chest. Bree choked back a sob with her hand as she glanced up from the overly white floor, to the hospital bed before her.

She reached out a shaking hand, and gently entwined her fingers with Chase's pale and limp ones. Because of that meta human...that monster that nearly took away her brother forever from her, Chase was in a coma with sever damage done to his nervous system.

The meta human had apparently used some sort of electricity to...to kill Chase.

Thankfully, Bree was able to resuscitate Chase and bring him back. Not without a lot of work, though. Adam had shown up by her side, wide eyed as she shouted Chase's name and pushed on his chest, begging him to come back. Now, she looks back on that day, and can't help the tears that come.

They had been so unsuspecting...so naive.

Chase had died that day, and was put into a coma, while also having the fact that if he ever woke up, he may never walk again. And Christmas was only two days away. She was vaguely aware through her tears and quiet crying, of the presence that now entered the room, but she couldn't find the energy to acknowledge them.

She faintly felt Adam's hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up, she saw him sadly looking at his brother. Probably feeling the same guilt that she did. If they had only not listened to Chase, they might all be together right now. Singing Christmas songs and laughing. But no.

They're not.

And it broke her heart.

...

Bree slowly awoke from her capsule, and changed into her clothes for the day, before heading over to the infirmary in the lab, where her younger brother was still in a coma. This was her routine, and had been for the past several days.

Tasha stopped her right before going in, and she tried to persuade her to come upstairs for breakfast, but Bree just simply shook her head and walked right past her. Not in the mood for eating.

This was how she dealt with it. She visited Chase every day for as long as humanly possible. From dawn till dusk and then some.

Adam dealt with it by not seeing Chase.

He did everything humanly possible to stay away from Chase.

Maybe it was his way of coping, because, seeing is believing, right? Or maybe he was afraid that once he saw Chase, he may never be the same again. Bree wasn't sure, but she knew that they all had different ways of dealing with stuff.

And Leo...poor Leo was caught in the crossfire's of all of them.

Chase was his friend, too. But with Adam and Bree, it was different. The three of them just all had some sort of bond between them. An irreplaceable and unbreakable bond. But Leo tried to cheer everyone up, only to fail miserably.

And Tasha was doing everything she could to busy herself, making everyone even more worried because they knew that she couldn't keep that up forever, and with Chase's condition...they just might have to.

And Mr. Davenport was trying with everything that he could, to find a cure for Chase. But everyday it was the same. Nothing. Bree was basically the only one that ever visited Chase anymore. Still hoping that she could bring him back.

She almost felt...obligated to visit him, because it felt like this was partially, if not all, her fault. But everyday was the same thing. Nothing happened. And she was beginning to lose hope.

After all, Christmas was a time of miracles.

Yet no matter how much she prayed, the Lord gave her none.

...

It was Christmas Eve. And Bree couldn't be any sadder. It was so unbelievably hard, to have someone, right in front of you, alive and breathing, (even if it was assisted by some tubes and an oxygen mask) yet not coherent of any of their surroundings.

And you're not even sure if they ever will be again. She did not want to pull that plug. In fact, she wasn't sure if she ever would be able to. The very thought of it was nearly unimaginable. She stood by Chase's side, watching his chest rise and fall, trying to get that awful image of his chest being still out of her mind.

Just as she went to reach for his hand, it jerked spasmodically and she jumped back, nearly knocking her chair over. She watched in horror as his body started to convulse violently and the heart monitor started fluctuating.

After a few moments, she immediately came to her senses, and super sped to Mr. Davenport. She got back within a matter of seconds, and found that Chase was still seizing. Mr. Davenport immediately went to Chase's side and grabbed the defibrillators.

She was faintly aware of him yelling at her to get out, but she could barely hear it over the blood rushing through her head. She suddenly jerked to her senses and all but ran out of the room closing the door behind her.

She stood there for a moment, her breathing ragged and sharp as she wrapped her arms around herself; hearing horrible sounds coming from the room behind her. She shook slightly as she felt her knees weaken.

She slid down the wall, eyes still wide with fear and body now shaking with choked down sobs. She felt like she was in shock...she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. The first tear came, before it was like a flood gate was released.

Soon she was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands, as she still listened to the sounds coming from behind the walls behind her. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this. Not at this time. She sobbed harder than ever before in her entire life.

It was Christmas Eve...and her baby brother was in a coma, possibly dying right behind her.

But there was absolutely nothing that she could do about it.

...

It was a half hour later when Mr. Davenport came out, face solemn, and for a moment she thought for sure he would say the worst. But he merely started to walk away from the door.

"I managed to get him stabilized, Bree." He said quietly as he walked past her, still on the floor with tear streaks on her cheeks. "But not without losing him a few times." He said again, voice barely audible this time. She nodded, feeling her chest tighten at his words. "The family is going to open presents soon and have punch; we'd really like it if you joined us." He said and she shook her head.

"Bree, it'd really be good for you. You can't stay down here all the time when Chase is like this. He wouldn't want it. He'd want you to continue having a good life." Donald said, and that made her snap. Her head whipped up to look at him, a specific anger burning in her eyes.

"How could I do that, when I know that he will probably never have a good life himself?" She asked, voice low and anger lacing her words. "How could I go upstairs, and open my presents, knowing that those Christmas presents under the tree for Chase, will never be opened? That we're going to have to return them, or otherwise they're just going to sit their forever? Huh, Mr. Davenport? Do you really expect me to do that!?" She questioned, voice dangerously low as she rose to stand up to her full height. He swallowed and looked down.

"No, I don't, Bree. I'll be upstairs." He mumbled quietly before turning his back to her and walking out of the room. For a moment she could only stand there, breathing heavily and regretting what she did heavily.

But he deserved it.

How on earth could he expect that she would do such a traitorous thing? She sighed and turned to walk in the room where Chase lay, still unconscious.

She sat down in the chair and gently took his hand, listening to his soft breathing. She brought her head up to watch the heart monitor, fear gripping her that it could stop at any moment. She sighed, and began to pray.

"Lord," She began in a choked voice. "I know that you are known for miracles, and that this time of year is especially for that. Because I know of all the wonderful things that you have done around this time."

"In fact, you're the reason we have this holiday at all. But I know that I haven't exactly been all that close to you in my life. I've just always found it difficult, because why would I have a life like this if such a God existed? It didn't seem fair. But now I realize, how selfish I've been. I have a good life. Or rather...had." She paused and felt the first tear fall.

"But now, I'm sorry, but I can't help but be angry with you. My little brother, is here in front of me, slowly dying in a coma on Christmas Eve. How in the world is this fair? I get that life sucks sometimes, but this is just twisted. My baby brother should not be here. Not now, not tonight. If anything it should be me."

"Just please, God, bring my brother back. Please. I need a Christmas miracle. Amen." She opened her eyes and sighed, feeling tears pricking the back of her eyes, not to mention the ones rolling down her cheeks.

But suddenly, she felt a small grip on her hand, and froze at the contact. She looked up at Chase's face, but he looked the same.

She looked down at her hand and noticed that Chase's fingers were loosely wrapped around her hand. Her breath hitched in her throat as a small smile came to her lips. "C-Chase? Can you hear me?" She waited, her breath held, but nothing happened.

A few moments later, another small squeeze of his hand nearly had her bouncing off of the walls with joy. A small gasp escaped through her lips and she held her breath; feeling as if the whole world depended on the next thing that she did.

And it was that heart-startling moment, that she realized; Chase's world did. She gently moved closer to Chase, sitting on the edge of the bed, and bringing his hand to her lips for moment.

"Chase...if you know who is talking to you, squeeze my hand, if you don't, then don't do anything at all." She waited for several seconds, feeling anticipation rocket up and down her spine at a rapid pace. Suddenly a small squeeze from his hand in hers had her smiling brightly.

But it wasn't over yet.

She had to get him to wake up, otherwise this would just all be for naught.

"Chase, please, you have to wake up. You need to wake up. This family needs you...I need you. But you have to wake up." She pleaded, and waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing happened. She sighed, beginning to get up, but stopped suddenly.

"B-Bree?" A small, and raspy voice asked from beside her, and she felt her heart leap with joy. She cautiously looked over at Chase, and saw him slowly fluttering open his eyes.

She bit her lip to try and contain all of the emotions she was feeling, but in the end, her heart won over her mind, and she was soon clutching onto him while also sobbing. Her fingers wrapped tightly into the back of his hospital gown.

She felt him weakly wrap his one arm around her, and she sobbed even harder with relief because her baby brother was all right. It was Christmas Eve and he was awake and okay. She felt like she was dreaming, because no way on earth was this real.

"Thank you God...thank you so much." She choked out as she held onto Chase with a death grip. She pulled back, and smiled when she saw Chase's face.

"What did I do this time?" He questioned hoarsely, softly gesturing to everything around him. She laughed happily and hugged him again. When she sat back down, she wiped away her tears and smiled joyfully.

"Oh, Chase, don't you ever do that to me again!" She exclaimed, voice still joyful.

"I'm not exactly sure what I even did." He said, confusion plastered onto his face. She frowned.

"You don't remember anything?" He shook his head. "Meta-human. Electricity. Dying. Coma. Ring a bell?" She asked, and he pondered it for a moment.

"Maybe...slightly." He said and she laughed.

"I don't care if you remember it or not," She began, a subconscious thought making it's way across her brain; I sure wish I didn't. "I'm just glad to have you back." She said as she lightly patted his leg, and frowned at the slightly confused, and then worried look coming onto Chase's face.

The color suddenly drained entirely form his face as he slowly reached down to his legs, and felt his thighs with a horrified, yet surprisingly calm expression on his face. He slowly looked up at her, and swallowed thickly.

"Bree...I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs." He said quietly, voice nearly inaudible, and she felt a pit of dread fill her stomach heavily, almost like a brick. Mr. Davenport's words ran through her head; 'If he wakes up, he may never be the same. He might even be permanently paralyzed.'.

No...just no.

She just got him back, why would this happen!?

She wanted to cry at the scared look on Chase's face. How was she supposed to tell him? How on earth was she supposed to break it to him that he was paralyzed? Maybe he's not. Her subconscious reminded her. Maybe it's just temporarily. She could only pray that it was.

"Chase..." She began solemnly, because it was Christmas Eve.

And just how on earth was she supposed to tell her baby brother that he was paralyzed?

...

It was Christmas morning.

And Bree was silently crying in her capsule.

It had been official. Chase had been paralyzed from the waist down; permanently. Mr. Davenport said that he would try his best for a cure, but he was afraid that he may never find one. Bree will never forget the crestfallen, and then blank look on her younger brother's face when she had to tell him.

He had just...shut down.

He simply nodded and that was that. He surprisingly had taken it better than her. Well, she knew that deep down inside of him he was just as upset, probably even more, if possible, as she was.

Because after all, wasn't this her fault?

If she wouldn't have listened to him, they would all be okay. They'd be fine. They'd just all be upstairs laughing and singing and probably watching a movie. But no. She did and she failed. But deep down a small, little voice from her reasonable side beckoned to come out and prove her wrong.

But he's your Mission Leader, of course you listened to him. And besides; even if you hadn't, who knows what situation you would be in?

But she shut that down as soon as it tried to enter. At least she had her brother back...just not all of him. Because not only was permanently-oh, how she had come to despise that word-paralyzed, God knows how hard this would be on him.

He would never fully be back; physically and psychologically. So that was the reason she stood in her capsule, in the darkness at five A.M., sobbing quietly. At least her capsule was soundproof.

She couldn't just be thankful that her brother was actually awake and alive, she wanted all of him back. Not just partially. And yeah, she knew she should just be grateful for what she got, but how could she?

Because it was Christmas day, and her baby brother had woken up from a coma paralyzed.

...

She tried to cheer herself up.

Honestly, she had tried.

She just couldn't do it.

Because every time she would laugh at one of Adam's sill antics, like putting on a Santa Claus hat and doing his best imitation of the jolly man while wadding around like a duck, she would catch a glimpse of Chase's face from where he sat on the couch, and see that smile.

The one he would always fake when he was upset and didn't want to worry anybody about it.

And she knew why.

Because seeing someone walk had to be a pretty sickening feeling when you know you're never going to do it again.

So she swallowed hard, and ignored the other's looks as her laughter abruptly died. It was still Christmas, only about six in the evening, when Mr. Davenport had announced that they would cancel their annual caroling around the neighborhood.

Nobody protested, well, except for the one person who couldn't go. Chase was very adamant about them going; saying how he refused to be the reason that they did.

So Mr. Davenport decided that they would indeed go in a couple of hours.

Bree, honestly, dreaded it.

She'd much rather stay home with Chase, but she knew that he would object, saying once again that he didn't want to be the cause of ruining her fun and insist that he was fine. Plus the fact that she wanted everyone to believe that she was all right. Even though she so obviously wasn't.

So, they had all decided to watch a Christmas movie in the mean time, and Chase must have accidentally dozed off during the middle of it, because when she glanced his way, she noticed that his head was to the side and he breathing peacefully with his eyes closed.

A small smile graced her lips as she turned back to the screen; at least he could finally get some peace.

...

She wasn't sure how it had happened.

She was still baffled how the situation had so quickly escalated to this.

It had been near the end of the movie, everyone half-paying attention to the movie, while half-being lost in their own thoughts, when Adam's bionics had glitched and actually sent lasers straight through the television screen.

It would have been humorous if in any other situation, but it had quickly escalated after that.

Adam's lasers then proceeded to glitch and burn various items in front of him. Everyone began to scramble and gently guide him away from the couch and it's few occupants; including Chase, Tasha, and Leo.

But then, Adam's strength began to glitch...and that's when chaos erupted.

He accidentally knocked Donald down, meaning to only hold onto him to guide him, before smacking the counter top when he had only meant to set his hand on it, and his arm had spasmed.

While a panicked Tasha had run over to her husband's side as he began to slowly sit up in a bit of a daze, Adam had decided to turn around at precisely the wrong time and once again accidentally threw Bree into the wall behind them all.

The room erupted in yells as Adam cowered back, resisting the urge to run over to his sister's aid, and Leo ran over to Bree. While Tasha helped Mr. Davenport back up.

Amidst all of the chaos, nobody had even noticed the, once still, form jump up from the couch in fear of an attack. It wasn't until a voice spoke, did everyone turn their heads towards said figure.

"Is everyone all right?" Chase asked, and the only thing anyone could do stare with their mouths agape. It couldn't be...everyone thought. And that was how they had ended up here; confused as heck and wondering how on earth Chase could possibly be standing right in front of them.

"Um, Chase?" Leo asked nervously, his voice wavering slightly as he slowly helped a sore Bree stand up. But the pain was all momentarily forgotten about as she stared in shock at her brother.

"Yeah," Chase said, relaxing slightly as he realized there was no instant danger.

"You're standing..." Bree trailed off and Chase furrowed his brows.

"Yeah. So?" He questioned.

"You-couldn't-just a minute ago-what-I-how?" Bree settled for that one question after she stuttered. It suddenly started to sink in as Chase's eyes widened and he looked down at his looks, mouthing the word 'oh'.

He suddenly sunk down to the couch in shock and everyone immediately ran over to his side, shock wearing off and reality setting in.

Bree reached him first, even without super-speed, but everyone was else was right behind her. Nobody knew what exactly to do as Chase buried his head in his hands, removing them every few moments to look at his leg and feel them.

"I-I don't get it. I can feel them. I can really feel them." He said in astonishment and Bree nearly sobbed in relief. But then Mr. Davenport came in with the reasonable explanation for it all.

"When Adam glitched...and all the chaos, it must have awoken Chase from his sleep which must have in turn, made him forget about his paralysis momentarily in what he had thought was a moment of danger." Donald said and everyone nodded slowly, all standing there in disbelief. Especially Bree and Adam. Chase just sat there, in shock of what was happening.

"Does that mean that I can...walk, again?" Chase asked, forbidding himself from getting his hopes up; just like everyone else in the room. It wasn't until Donald smiled softly and placed his hand on Chase's shoulder, with a small nod did everyone visibly slump in relief.

A huge smile grew on Chase's face and he soon found himself being enveloped in a huge bear hug from Bree and Adam after they both shared a knowing look.

Soon everybody was laughing and crying in relief as they all clutched onto each other in a group hug. Finally...finally her family was complete. It was a Christmas miracle. She spared a glance up to above her and mouthed just a few words. 'Thank You, God.'.

Because it was Christmas.

And her family was finally whole.


So...yeah. There ya' have it. And yeah, I just had to throw that in there about the meta-humans. ;P So, slease let me know what you thought, because seriously it means so freakin' much to me ;), and have a great life! :D