"Someone always has to be at the cave…" Jaime sighed for the fifth time, throwing a baseball up to the ceiling and catching it as it dropped. "And as the newest recruit you have to learn how everything works while there's down time….right, right…."

What he should be doing was celebrating Christmas Eve with his parents and Milagro, watching as his little sister squirmed over the presents underneath the tree. He should be with Tye enjoying the winter chill during their break. He should be anywhere but here.

"Why couldn't they recruit me after the New Year?" he said as he sat up on his bed and sighed again.

This "team" does not suit us, the Scarab commented. It hinders our goals and objectives.

"What goals and objectives?" Jaime growled, "You never say what they are!"

The Scarab was silent and Jaime scoffed. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Jaime jumped off his bed and stalked out of the room, brows furrowed. He should be with his family, celebrating, laughing. He should be with his friends, sitting on the porch and screaming out Christmas carols. He should be anywhere but here.

He was told there were a few other people who were at the Cave, but Jaime hadn't bothered picking up on their names. What did it matter? They weren't his family, they weren't his friends. They cringed and winced whenever he talked to the Scarab and had made no attempts to see past his constant squabbles with it. Three weeks. It had only taken three weeks for his whole life to flip around in one of the worst ways possible.

Jaime's feet made its way to living room, where he heard a string of giggles escape into the hall. Curious, he stuck half of his head into the entranceway and witnessed an intimate embrace between Lagoon Boy and Miss Martian. Taken aback, he scurried away, making his way towards the kitchen instead. He could at least make himself a turkey sandwich or something.

But before he could, a barrage of subtle humming and singing distracted him and his feet redirected to the main entrance. Once he was there, he noticed a blonde figure from up above him, swooping gold tinsel onto metal hoops. Jaime noticed a Christmas tree, fully decorated with trim and ornaments that had not been there before, presents bustling beneath it.

"Oh, Jaime!" the figure above whipped around and he recognized her to Wonder Girl, the one who had recruited him along with Nightwing. He hadn't talked to her much after that, but they had been on a mission or two where Jaime understood a tangle with her meant pain in some of the worst ways. "Happy Christmas Eve!"

"Happy Christmas Eve," Jaime called back to her, "Uh…Decorating the Cave by yourself?"

She giggled and glided down to where he was. "Yeah…the only people here at the moment are La'gann, M'gann and Garfield. Everyone else is at home with their family. Even Conner went away to Kent farm. My mom's on an archeology trip so…I decided to stay here and help out if I can. It's tough…"

Her face faltered and Jaime realized, "This is your first Christmas without her, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Wonder girl sighed, "I mean…never really celebrated that much, but…it's a tradition, you know? Time to be around family…people you care about…"

"Yeah, I do know," Jaime agreed.

A thick silence stood between them, and Jaime shifted at the uncomfortable predicament. What was he supposed to say to her? He was in the exact situation. He was really of no help at the moment…maybe he should just return to his room.

"Hey," she was the the first to break through the quiet, "My name is Cassie, by the way."

"Oh?" Jaime quipped, "That's a nice name."

"Thanks," Cassie smiled. "You know, this can be your home too."

"My home?" Jaime raised an eyebrow at that. "But I already have a home. I don't need - "

"What I meant was, uh," Cassie pursed her lips, her gaze drifting off. "That think of this your home away from home. We can be a family for you, like Nightwing said when we first met! I promise I'll help you. I would really like to be your friend!"

She stretched out her hand and smiled again, a surprising amount of goosebumps jumping across Jaime's arms. Happy he was wearing a jacket, he took her hand and shook it and gave her a smile of his own. "I would like to be your friend too…Cassie."

"Yay!" Cassie squealed and suddenly threw a couple yards of tinsel at him. "Now, could you be a dear and turn on your armor and help me with this? I know it's kind of a last minute request but I did buy you a Christmas present so - "

"Wait," Jaime said as his armor began to cover him, "You bought me a gift? But I didn't get you anything!"

Cassie giggled, "It's okay! Christmas is all about the giving spirit and everything. Maybe you'll repay me someday!"

Little did they know years from that day, Jaime would repay her in the best of ways, diamond and all.