A/N: So here's something I was thinking about with it being the holiday season. I am still working on Chapter 8 of TAWSS and I should be finished with it before the 1st… hopefully. Anyways I hope that this helps tide you guys over until the next chapter is finished. No Spitfire but there is some Supermartian.
Chapter 1: The Mission Begins
"So, I was thinking the other day," Kid Flash said stuffing another one of M'Gann freshly baked chocolate chip cookies into his mouth. M'Gann floated around the kitchen busying herself with baking more cookies. Robin and Superboy would probably want some later and at the rate Wally was inhaling the cookies she'd run out quickly.
"Did it hurt? You know, actually using your brain for once?" Artemis quipped from her seat at the table across from him. He shot a glare which she ignored in favor of propping her feet on the table for a more comfortable and relaxed position. "Or was it just surprising to realize that you actually still had the ability to form coherent thoughts?"
"This is the holiday season Artemis; you're supposed to be jolly." The ginger speedster scolded. He received no other comments from the blonde so he continued.
"Anyways what I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted," He paused giving another glare to Artemis who simply rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. Receiving no other sarcastic or snarky comments he continued, "I was thinking we should totally throw a Christmas party, it would be awesome. And M'Gann could make some Christmas cookies."
He received a blank look from Artemis and a confused one from the green Martian girl.
"Really, a Christmas party that's your big idea?" Artemis inquired giving Wally a seemingly interested look. "Wow, and you thought of it all by yourself?"
"Um guys-"M'Gann attempted to say.
"Yeah, told you I was smart!" He shouted exuberantly as he unknowingly cut off M'Gann from speaking. "It's awesome isn't it? We could go get decorations to hang up and a tree and go caroling."
"Um… let me think about it," She started appearing to be thinking it over. After a few moments she looked Wally directly and stated flatly,"No."
"What, but Artemis it's a great idea!" He protested neither of them noticing the increasingly confused looking green girl floating next to them.
"No it's not," The blonde archer replied with a bored expression. "In fact, it's probably the stupidest idea you've had so far, good job Wally you've outdone yourself."
"Stop being such a Grinch! With that attitude Santa will leave a stocking full of coal this year." He sniffed turning away from her.
"Newsflash Kid Mouth, Santa's not real!" She shouted at the ginger causing him to abruptly turn back towards her.
"Yes he is!" He shrieked. He knew Santa was totally real and Artemis was crazy to believe otherwise.
"No he's not," Artemis replied just as fiercely. "How old are you? Five?" Wally spluttered incoherently, he knew Santa was real- Santa had to be real. Who else would bring him gifts every year-and the letters- Santa had to have read his letters because his parents sent in the mail every year- no one else could've known what Wally wanted- it wasn't like he told anyone. Artemis was lying, she had to be lying Wally was convinced of that.
"What, mommy and daddy never told you the truth?" She teased in a baby voice amused by the junior speedster's flustered expression.
"You-" Wally started.
"GUYS!" M'Gann yelled interrupting any further conversation. Artemis and Wally started in shock, the green Martian girl was usually anything but loud. An unflattering red blush spread across her green cheeks as they simply stared at her.
"Sorry, but um…what is Kris-mas?" M'Gann asked with a confused expression on her face.
Wally's jaw dropped making her worried he'd dislocate it.
"You mean- You-What-How?" He floundered for words as shocked expression remained on his face. Even Artemis face held a small amount of interest at the other girl's words. M'Gann began feeling nervous and anxious as moments passed in silence, finally though Wally's ability to speak clearly returned to him.
"You've never heard of Christmas?" He inquired in disbelief.
"No" M'Gann answered quietly wrapping her arms around her midsection. "Is that bad?"
"Yes!" he shouted. "I mean who hasn't heard of Christmas?"
"Obviously someone who wasn't born on Earth," Artemis commented rolling her eyes at Wally's ignorant response. She wondered how he'd forgotten M'Gann was from Mars, or another planet, the girl had green skin for crying out loud.
"Oh, right duh," he muttered slapping himself on the forehead. "Sometimes you and Conner seem so normal, I almost forget you aren't from here."
Artemis rolled her eyes at the offhand statement. "Right because a green girl and superpowered teenage clone fit in so well with the rest of the world." She quipped in a tone dripping of sarcasm.
Wally ignored her as he pondered the best way to explain the amazing holiday named Christmas to M'Gann. He didn't want to confuse her and Artemis wouldn't be any help, she'd probably turn M'Gann against Santa before she got to hear the real story. This did answer his question though, Santa didn't work interplanetary systems. And if M'Gann hadn't gotten any presents, that meant that the other planets didn't celebrate Christmas and get gifts- This wouldn't do at all- Wally would just have to tell Santa about the problem in his next letter. He was sure Santa could handle delivering gifts all over the Milky Way- after all it was Santa.
When Wally didn't continue looking lost in his own world, Artemis turned to M'Gann who still looked quite confused and somewhat distraught. She cleared her throat grabbing the attention of the green eyed Martian.
"Christmas is a stupid holiday where you give gifts and pretend to like people you hate, and parents tell their children some jolly fat guy dressed in a red suit named Santa brought them presents- which is a load of crap." She declared shocking Wally out of his stupor.
"It is not!" he gasped seemingly scandalized. "It's an awesome holiday that where everyone exchanges gifts and Santa brings presents to all the nice kids around the world in one night-how cool is that- oh, and coal to the naughty ones-but you're super nice so you don't have to worry."
M'Gann puzzled expression only grew more profound. "So… Christmas is like birthdays' but you get gifts for everyone?"
"No," Wally groaned. "How can I explain it this… oh I know!" He felt frustrated and tried to think of a better way to explain to the Martian girl. If only M'Gann watched TV more, with all those Christmas specials on surely she'd would've understood the holiday. With that thought he was suddenly struck with a genius idea, and Artemis said he wasn't smart.
"I'll be right back, don't move!" He announced before speeding out of the kitchen leaving a confused Martian and relived Artemis. She hoped whatever it is he'd gone looking for would keep him busy for some time. Artemis was almost sure whenever she talked to Wally she lost a few brain cells- and with that previous conversation- she was pretty sure if they talked any longer she'd be brain dead.
The computer announced his departure and Robin's arrival almost simultaneously. He walked in wearing his usual sunglasses paired with a smooth black leather jacket. The boy wonder surveyed the kitchen attempting to find the source of Wally's abrupt exit. He ruled out his initial suspicion of a lack of food as he glanced at a plate of cookies most likely baked by M'Gann. Which made him wonder if the alien had tried integrating tuna into her baked goods again- which as to be expected it hadn't turned out well the first time. Wally was the only one daring enough to try it and his stomach had suffered accordingly.
"What was that about?" Robin inquired after greeting the two ladies. Artemis noticed the suspicious gaze he shot at the cookies and snorted.
"Did it have anything to do with…?" He let his words trail off with a pointed look at the cookies. M'Gann remained oblivious to the glances. Earth was so confusing- she'd grown to love it of course, in fact it was a second home to her now but, earthlings cultures and traditions were so strange- and it was so many of them. She didn't understand why one story could end up with thousands of retellings- all of them completely different.
"No, in fact they're actually pretty good today." Artemis assured offering one of the cookies to the boy wonder. He took one after further prompting but eyed it for a few moments before taking a bite. Robin was pleasantly surprised to find them appetizing and took another off the plate. Pulling a chair back from the table he turned it around so he sat leaning with his arms folded on the back part of it.
"So, then why did Wally run out of here like he found out there was a major food shortage? And why does M'Gann look like Conner found a new girlfriend?" The raven haired boy inquired at Artemis noticing M'Gann was unresponsive.
"Trust me, you don't wanna know," She replied after throwing a glance at the green Martian girl.
He raised a brow in response. Most of the time he wished he hadn't found out some things- like the fact Wally wore Batman boxers. That was an image he wanted to bleach from his brain. Although he had a feeling Artemis was over exaggerating and he was curious. Besides no one seemed injured or mentally scarred so whatever it was it couldn't be that bad, or at least he hoped so.
"I didn't know what Christmas was, so now Wally's going to find a way to teach me about it- I think," M'Gann chimed in causing Robin's other brow to lift behind his shaded sunglasses.
So that was it, well it wasn't at all what'd he expected to hear. He was worried Wally had finally realized M'Gann and Conner were in some kind of relationship. Although the two probably hadn't yet realized it themselves, there's was definitely fleeting glances thrown when they thought the other wasn't looking and he was sure he'd seen them holding hands one day. And Wally was somewhat oblivious to M'Gann interest or rather lack of towards him in a romantic way. Of course he'd be falling all over himself to share his favorite holiday-as so liked to remind Robin- with the girl from Mars.
However, it was up to the earthborn team members to teach the others who were ignorant of worldly traditions and things like why you should never ever make a cake with tuna. It was the duty of each team member and Robin was part of the team- no matter how much he preferred not to be the one to explain Christmas to the confused alien.
"Well M'Gann," he reluctantly began breaking her out of her trance, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Do you think you could explain it to me Robin? Wally wasn't exactly clear earlier."
"But it wasn't really his fault, I think he was in shock." She finished hurriedly not wanting it to seem like she was angry or blaming the ginger speedster. It wasn't his fault after all.
"Oh, um well Christmas is the day that symbolizes the Birth of Jesus that was like hundreds of years ago…" At M'Gann's blank look he decided to redirect the conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was get in a conversation about religion, he'd probably only confuse the poor girl more.
"Well today Christmas is about giving to the less fortunate and um… spending time with your loved ones." Robin concluded.
"So it's not about a large man dressed in a red suit?" She queried frowning slightly.
"Um, not exactly?" Robin replied unsurely. He cursed himself for not first asking her what she'd been told about the holiday. At least then he could've coordinated his explanation with Wally's previous one now M'Gann looked more puzzled than before.
Artemis rolled her eyes chuckling as Robin floundered for words. He flushed and gave the blonde archer a glare, she was no help at all. He decided to go with a vague seemingly meaningful response that hopefully wouldn't raise any more questions.
"Look M'Gann, Christmas means many different things to different people, you have to decide what you want it to mean for you," Robin offered trying to ease her confusion. "If you want it doesn't have to mean anything at all."
The Martian girl let out a small sigh of frustration uncommon for the usually patient and calm girl. How could she make any decisions or judgments when she wasn't even sure what Christmas was. Robin gave her a sympathetic smile but kept his mouth shut. He hoped Wally had a better idea to teach their otherworldly friend about the holiday.
The computer announced Wally's return giving them pre-warning before a rush of air blew past the occupants of the small kitchen.
"Everyone can calm down now, I'm back and I found the best way to help M'Gann understand Christmas." Wally proclaimed stopping next to the girl in question.
In his hands he held a DVD case with Santa Claus clearly written in bright red letters and under the name Artemis made out the word town.
"Oh no," She began protesting as she realized exactly what Wally had brought with him. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Really Artemis, what better way to teach M'Gann about Christmas than a movie about the guy who started it all." Wally pointed out lifting the DVD for all to see. Robin smirked as he took a look at the title of the film, leave it to his best friend to explain Christmas using a 70's TV special.
"Santa Claus is Comin' to town?" M'Gann asked puzzled looking over the DVD cover depicting a cartoon redheaded man with red cheeks and bright blue eyes. This wasn't the way she expected to learn about Christmas, but Wally appeared so enthusiastic and pleased that she was careful not to say anything to hurt his feelings. She smiled thankfully at him, "I'm sure it'll be great."
"You bet it will," He smiled back his green eyes almost twinkling. "After this movie you shouldn't be confused about Christmas any longer."
Artemis scoffed aloud drawing Robin's attention. He didn't particularly enjoy the movie either, but he would have fun annoying Artemis with it.
"How can you not like this movie Artemis? It's the best movie to get you in the holiday spirit," Robin teased his smirk growing more profound.
"Shut it boy blunder," The blonde archer retorted as she stood and stretched her arms. "You all can watch the movie if you want, I on other hand have better things to do."
"Please Artemis," Wally pleaded pouting. "I was just getting ready to call the other team members so we could all watch it together."
"I'm sure you'll all have a great time without me," Artemis responded not missing a beat continuing towards the exit. She was stopped as Artemis and Wally jumped in front of her blocking her path.
"Artemis please, I really wanted to learn about Christmas with you and the rest of the team, plus it's not the same without you," M'Gann begged.
"C'mon Artemis don't be a scrooge," Robin taunted attempting but failing to keep the smirk off his face.
The blonde looked from Wally far-from-cute puppy dog face to Robin's smirking face she would so like to punch and finally allowing her gaze to rest on M'Gann's pleading expression. She weighed her options, on one hand she didn't really have anything else to do but she really really hated cheesy movies which every Christmas movie was. Plus as much as she hated to admit the team had really grown on her, they were kinda like a second family to her now. And family makes you do crazy things or was that love? She immediately disregarded that thought, she liked the team- excluding Wally and at times Robin- but love- that was too strong a word to describe her feelings.
"Ugh fine," She huffed. "But I'm not going to enjoy it."
M'Gann immediately grabbed her in a tight hug. "Thanks," The Martian whispered before drawing back from her stiff blonde friend. From Artemis's peripheral vision she saw Wally creeping slowly closer.
"If you come any closer I will break that stupid disc in half." Artemis threatened Wally as he inched even closer to her his arms open for a hug.
"Grinch," he mumbled dropping his arms.
"What was that?" Artemis asked glaring at him.
"Nothing," he stated adding more quietly "Grinch."
"I'm almost sure I heard you say something," She stated loudly. Wally wondered if she had some type of superhearing power they didn't know about. He could've sworn his last words were said too low for anyone to hear.
He grumbled a no shaking his head in enunciation. He wasn't scared of her of anything, but he wanted the team to watch the movie together and she might refuse if he exasperated her any longer.
"I thought so," she replied pleasantly. "Well let's get this over with."
Robin snorted letting out a small chuckle at her words, "That's the spirit Artie."
She glared at him but ignored him in favor of finding a comfortable spot on the couch in the TV area. Let him laugh now, he wouldn't be laughing later when she accidently poured her drink down his shirt. The blonde had a struggle to refrain from letting out a cackle.
After M'Gann located Conner who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else- they began to watch the movie. Kaldur was away on a mission with his mentor Aquaman at the time so he wouldn't be able to enjoy the movie, so M'Gann had proclaimed aloud that she couldn't wait to inform him about the newly learned holiday.
"Just put one foot in front on the other..." The small model figure Kris Kringle sung on the television to his entranced viewers.
"Can somebody please put me out of my misery?" Artemis groaned throwing a pillow on her face to block the fourth- which felt more like the fortieth musical number.
No one replied to her as the rest of the television viewers were totally focused on the wide screen television. M'Gann watched wide eyed captivated by the small moving Kris Kringle walking and singing and Conner continued attempting to hide his wondered expression. Even Wally and Robin sung along with the TV.
Artemis groaned again opting to leave the pillow on her face, eventually she drifted off to sleep with singing Kris Kringles, Winter Warlocks and toys.
"No, no leave me alone, I don't want to sing along," Artemis mumbled as she dreamt of Burgermeister and Kris Kringle chasing her. They'd tried making her sing and after she'd refused walking away they started following her which turned into an all out chase around town. "I don't want any magic corn it won't make me fly, I know it."
Wally snickered deciding to get Artemis back for her earlier remarks against Santa Claus. "They'll leave you alone if you just say one thing."
"What?" She murmured dreamily.
"Say Wally is the smartest and hottest guy in the entire universe and Santa Claus is real." He advised holding back laughter.
"But it's not true, Wally's an idiot," She replied causing his laughter to die down. Robin chuckled finding the statement amusing and Wally's put out expression.
"Fine," he huffed. "Just say Santa Claus is without a doubt real." At least he could get her to admit Santa was real, then she'd be forced to admit that Wally was right and she was wrong. And if she didn't admit saying it after awakening, he'd have proof. He took his phone out quickly fumbling with the screen as he found the recording mic.
"Ok," she began causing Wally to lean in with anticipation as he held his phone closer. "Santa Claus is undoubtedly not real- and only little kids still believe that he is- or immature idiots like you."
At this point Artemis stopped pretending to be asleep and sat up laughing at Wally's distraught face. He pouted annoyed at the blonde archer for tricking him and denying Santa's reality.
"You were awake the whole time," he accused feeling more put out as Robin joined in her laughter.
"No actually," Artemis chuckled. "I woke up after you told me to call you smart- not even in your wildest dreams would I compliment you."
The ginger speedster stuck his tongue out at her and turned his back as the all of them busted out in amused laughter. It wasn't fair Artemis wouldn't stop teasing him and she didn't believe in Santa- which was a major flaw in his eyes- and earlier during the movie when he tried to put his arm around M'Gann she brushed him off and moved closer to Conner. Honestly, he liked Conner and thought of the superman cloned teenage as a friend, but what girl would choose someone over him? With his good looks and charming behavior what girl wouldn't fall over for the ginger boy- or at least he thought so.
"Thanks Wally," M'Gann said drawing Wally out of his self-absorbed thoughts. "This really did help explain the whole Christmas thing to me and Conner. It was a really good idea too." She finished her statement with a bright smile which he gladly returned.
"No problem," He beamed at her. "It was my pleasure. At least someone can appreciate my genius." He threw a pointed look at Artemis who simply rolled her eyes in response.
"I'm just glad it's over," Artemis yawned. "That movie sucked."
"How would you know? You were asleep for more than half of it." Wally retorted.
"Obviously I've seen it before," she replied in a bored tone.
"So now that everyone knows about the spirit and origins of Christmas, I think it's important for us to celebrate it as a team. Which means we have to go gift shopping, decorate the tree and the rest of the place, and go caroling and mmph-"
He was cut off by a pillowing hitting him in the face curtsey of Artemis.
"No, no no!" Artemis protested. "The movie was one thing, but this whole 'team' Christmas thing- no freaking way."
"Stop being such a scrooge Artemis!" Wally snapped throwing a glare at the blonde archer. "It's Conner and M'Gann first Christmas, it's up to us to make sure it's filled with merriment and joy and peace."
"Next year you can be a scrooge all you want, but it is their first Christmas and we're more than teammates we're family." Robin chimed in.
"Please Artemis, I really want to celebrate my first Christmas with all of you guys," M'Gann pleaded floating next to the unrelenting girl she thought of as her sister.
"Fine," Artemis finally groaned giving in to her persistent teammates.
"Yay!" M'Gann shrieked gleefully grabbing the other girl in a tight hug.
"Group hug!" Wally shouted wrapping his arms around both of them in a friendly hug. Conner gave Robin an incredulous look to which Robin simply shrugged at before joining in the hug. Conner stood stiffly off to the side until a green arm shot out dragging him into the hug as well.
One thing Wally was sure of- he's was going to make M'Gann's and Conner's first Christmas unforgettable.
A/N: I hoped you guys liked it, I worked almost nonstop on this for two days after my muse kept harassing me and driving me utterly insane. Please review! I read all comments and if you PM me I will respond. THERE WILL BE A FORTHCOMING CHAPTER which will be about what the team does to prepare for Christmas (caroling, last minute shopping, decorating and things) and the actual day of Christmas. As you can see there is some Supermartian, but it's not the main focus of the story. It's meant to be a cute team bonding friendship Christmas story. I'm thinking about writing a Christmas fic with RoyxArtemis or I'll write a New Year's oneshot on them and Chapter 8 on TAWSS is being worked on as you read this. Please check out The Arrow That Wouldn't Shoot Straight- my other fic which is an Artemis centered story with RoyxArtemis Pairing.