Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, only the plot. *Oh how I wish they were.*
Chapter 1 – The Idea
Gabriel Vaughn sat back in his chair and wiped the sweat off his brow. In a few days when he would be on Christmas vacation, he vowed to get in the habit of working out more.
Today he'd had to chase a suspect for at least two blocks straight in the cold and up an icy flight of stairs before Riley followed and helped him arrest the guy. He didn't figure it was fair that she'd thought to find the car while he was stuck on foot.
He glanced at his partner. Riley Neal was leaning over the table in one of the U.S. Cyber Command's computer rooms, filling out some paperwork while they awaited a meeting with their boss. Gabriel shook his head, remembering how she'd barely run out of breath when she climbed the same stairs Gabriel had.
What frustrated him was that Riley hadn't taken the same route as Gabriel, for the suspect had chosen to run down a few dark narrow alleyways instead of taking the streets. She hadn't gotten there in time to see the guy defend himself by throwing Gabriel against a wall, breaking his favorite wristwatch.
At least she was able to tackle the suspect in the snow before he made another break for it. Gabriel took satisfaction knowing how emasculated the guy must have felt. As rarely as he liked to admit it aloud, Gabriel really appreciated his partner's backup.
Not having moved from the chair, Gabriel now sat fiddling with the broken watch, frowning at the way the little hands under the glass piece refused to move. "Why are criminals so stupid?"
"I feel like that sentence is self-explanatory," Riley answered without looking up, flipping the page of the most recent form she'd begun filling out.
He grunted and felt for the worn engravings on the back of the watch with his finger. "Still. You'd think they have the brains not to resist arrest. Always gets them nowhere," Gabriel trailed off absently, turning the object in his hands over.
"I couldn't agree more," Riley said and looked up, flashing him a grin. Upon noticing his broken wristwatch, she set down her pen and held her hand out to look at it. Warily, her partner relinquished it.
"Careful, it was my father's," he frowned, hearing the melancholy in his own voice. "He left it for me after he died."
His words caught Riley's attention and her eyes snapped up to his. "Gabriel, I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he mumbled, though it was clearly not. He took the watch back quickly and shoved it in his pocket. "Let's talk about something else. What are you doing for Christmas?"
"Same thing you're doing," she replied. Riley tried smiling, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked, genuinely confused. He watched his partner look anywhere but at him and it gave him a bad feeling. "Riley? You don't mean-"
"You guessed it." She was chewing on her lower lip now, a habit Riley often had when she was trying to hide how upset she was about something. "It's no big deal. It's my job."
"No big deal?" He repeated. He took a deep breath to keep his voice from rising. "Even I know nobody should have to work during the holidays. Especially if it's my fault you have to work in the first place."
"Gabriel, I knew becoming your bodyguard was going to be a full-time job when I signed on. Quit worrying about it," Riley dismissed him. The worry lines on her forehead smoothed out as she tried to assure him he wasn't to blame. "And don't even think about trying to talk to Lillian. You want to try and hire a temporary bodyguard on short notice during Christmas?"
Her point was made. Still, she was his partner. If he were to admit it, she was a good friend, too. Riley was more patient than any of the other guards that had been hired to protect him. She got through to him. Anyways, he wished he could've done at least something nice in return.
"You could visit your family afterwards, couldn't you?" he suggested.
He noticed a cloudy look pass over her features, but she was saved from answering when their colleague Nelson Cassidy walked in, looking about as miffed as Gabriel had a moment ago.
"Hey," Nelson ground out before marching over to his computer. Scowling at the screen, he asked, "How are your Tuesdays going?
"Just about as good as yours, I'm betting," Riley said. She glanced at her partner before turning back to their friend. "What's wrong?"
"Everything," Nelson sighed dramatically. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Okay, not everything. I was trying to organize a holiday party."
"We know," Gabriel asked. "So?"
"So I've been planning this since November. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I have no place to hold the party." He sat down in a nearby chair and crossed his arms, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"How come?"
Nelson turned his head towards Gabriel. "I was hoping to have it at my apartment, but there was a gas leak in the building last night and no one is allowed back for a while."
"Geez," said Gabriel. "I'm glad you're alright." Riley expressed her sympathy too, but Nelson waved off their concerns.
"It's stupid, but I'm more upset about the party than the gas leak," he said. "Nobody got hurt, anyway."
"Why not ask your Dad about the party?" Riley suggested. She tilted her head in genuine thought. Gabriel knew the party was actually something she was interested in going to. Riley seemed to be more one to celebrate than even he was, so he started to feel bad that Nelson's party was cancelled.
"I did," he replied, ears turning pink. "He won't let me have a party in his house past 9:00, which is when the old man goes to bed."
A knock on the door caught the agents' attention. Lillian Strand walked through the doorway and greeted them all with envelopes in hand. Her smile wavered only slightly when she saw the three of them sitting and staring glumly back at her. "Well. I can see everybody's already in the Christmas spirit."
"We're fine, Ma'am," Riley answered. Lillian started handing the envelopes out. "What's this?"
"Your holiday bonus," Lillian told them. She smoothed out her skirt, one with a particular shade of red that matched her hair. They all thanked her and stood up to shake her hand. "I thought I'd deliver them myself along with the other good news."
"Which is much needed right now," Nelson mumbled under his breath.
"I'm going to be visiting my daughter in San Francisco," she said. "I've decided to give you an extended weekend off. I don't want to see anybody in the office from Christmas until Monday," she paused. "However, you can expect a call if an emergency comes up."
Without waiting for their responses, Lillian smiled to herself and turned on her heel, strutting back to her office.
"Well," started Gabriel. "That was nice. Sort of."
"A whole week to sit at home and not go to work. What will I do with myself?" Riley asked, a hint of frustration in her tone. She hid any frown from her face when Gabriel glanced at her but it wasn't hard to tell how she was feeling.
"So what did you say your family is doing?"
"You know about the strained relationship between my mom and me. I haven't been able to spend Christmas with her in… too long," she sighed. She brought up a hand to knead the muscles between her neck and shoulder. "My brother told me he'll be with her this Christmas, so..."
He looked at his tough-as-nails partner. He knew that she wasn't bothered by much, but Gabriel could swear her eyes started to get glassy before she turned and left the room to go home. That struck something in him.
He walked over to where Nelson was sitting and staring at his bonus check. When Nelson looked up, Gabriel said, "I have a proposition for you. What if you had the party in my apartment?"
Nelson sat up straight in his chair. "Wait, really?"
"Alright, don't get too excited. We need to establish ground rules," Gabriel warned him.
As they talked, Gabriel was less and less sure he wanted Nelson and bunch of other drunk office mates partying in his apartment. On the other hand, he thought there was a chance that it would be nice to actually have people over at his place for a change. Gabriel used to be more social and outgoing before he started working for the USCC, but hadn't gotten out much after. The job took up much of his time, and any other free moments were often spent with Riley.
"I'm not going to regret this, am I Nelson?"
"Of course not!" Nelson smiled widely, if not a little mischievously. Gabriel suppressed a groan.
The only thing that kept him from going back on his plan was the hope that Riley would be happy.
A/N: Hey! I hope you're enjoying this ficlet. I have to apologize ahead of time because this is like, two weeks after Christmas. But you know, I figured it was either 'write this late' or 'wait until next Christmas.' So obviously, I chose the more fun option.
Mistletoe in future chapters! (And that's all the spoilers I'm giving away for today.) Thanks for reading!