We Need a Little Christmas
...
Miniscule drops of crystal fell elegantly from the dreary sky. The winter cold nipped at Alex's fair cheeks, causing her to shiver aggressively. Her breaths came out like tiny puffs of smoke whispering against her mouth. If there was one thing she could not stand, it was the suppressive cold.
She entered Division quickly, delving in the luxurious heat. Alex pulled off all her layers that protected her from the cool chills, shaking out her hair in the process.
Nikita and Ryan had set her on a mission for the day – it was her duty to decorate the Christmas tree that Michael had set up earlier before. Originally it was Michael's job, but after setting the tree up he patted her back and whispered "I owe you," leaving her to the submissive work.
Alex picked up things she deemed would be need for the tree. She didn't even understand why they had to have a tree – possibly to bring hope and happiness to this dreaded place, she wasn't sure.
It has been a long time since Alex ever decorated for Christmas. The last time was with her parents when she was thirteen, her very last Christmas with them. Her father had picked her up so she could place the angel on the very top, so extremely clichéd she shuddered a little at the memory.
Alex had no idea what she was even supposed to star t with – the ornaments? The lights? The tinsel? She sighed in annoyance, wishing she had fought back and leave Michael to deal with this on his own. She'd get back at him later.
"You seem lost." A male voice called from behind her. Alex hadn't even realized that she was on the ground, tangled in Christmas wreaths and countless toy soldiers, possibly looking a little puzzled.
"Just doing some decorating." Alex called back without turning around to see who her visitor was, she already knew.
"Ah. Well, I'm not an expert when it comes to these ordeals, but I'm fairly sure that decorating doesn't involve sitting on the ornaments." Owen said as he stepped in closer.
Alex ignored this and went back to trying to solve her current problem.
"Do you need help?" Owen asked, Alex could hear the arrogance in that question.
"No." She huffed. "I am perfectly capable of doing this on my own." She could hack any kind of file system and knew the exact pressure point to put any person unconscious; tree decorating could not be so difficult.
"Right. Okay, then have fun." Owen stated before slowly turning around to leave.
"Wait." Alex yelled a bit too loudly and then sighed. "I mean, I could use some help." She said a bit gruffly while looking down at the pile on her lap.
Owen grinned, "That's what I thought." He pulled Alex from her spot on the ground. "First things first," He said before pulling out two Santa hats. "We need to look the part, right?" He walked over to Alex and placed the hat snugly over her head and then placed one of his own head. Alex had never seen him so relaxed and content. "Second thing, lights. I'll put them on while you hold them, you can handle that, can't you?"
Alex gave him an icy stare but resentfully accepted her task. She silently watched as he would carefully wrap the lights around the entire tree, taking his time as he would move the ladder around, inch by inch. She was growing impatient, but she chose to remain quiet.
It wasn't until he finished putting the lights on the tree and stepped off the ladder that she decided to voice the thought in her head. "It seems you've done this many times before."
Owen glanced over at her as he picked up a box of ornaments. "You're surprised?"
Alex shrugged and took a few of the ornaments, placing them somewhat gently on the tree. "You just don't seem like the Christmas-celebrating type, I suppose."
She couldn't see his face, for he was putting ornaments on the other side of the tree, when he said "because I killed agents and their loved ones, you mean. How could I have a heart for this if I didn't have one while killing innocent people." There was no venom in his voice, he didn't even sound hurt or angry. He was simply stating a fact.
Alex walked closer to where he was and added more ornaments. "That's not what I meant and you know it." Owen continued decorating without further commentary.
"So what's next, Leader?" Alex added after a few more minutes of silence. She wanted to lighten the mood again, she only knew Owen for a short period of time and was not used to his brooding stage.
"Next is the tinsel, now I warn you this stuff is not something you can take lightly. When put in the wrong hands, this could become extremely lethal." Owen's face relaxed again and Alex felt relieved that his playfulness was back.
"I'll try to be careful." Alex remarked as she took a handful of the shimmering pile and deposited it on the tree.
"Not like that," Owen said while walking over. "You can't just heap it on like that; placing tinsel on a tree needs great precision." He began situating some of the tinsel delicately on different parts of the evergreen. Alex followed his instructions but rolled her eyes while doing so. They worked their way around opposite ends until they ended up right back next to each other.
"Miss Udinov, would you like the honor of placing the angel on the tree?" Owen said with that gleam in his eye that Alex was growing accustomed to. She smiled and accepted the angel.
Alex carefully stepped on the ladder, noting how it wasn't quite so stable. She tried to not let her fear of falling show as she reached over to place the angel on the top, just like how she would do it when she was younger. The ladder wobbled and she slipped from the top, letting out a slight shriek that she was not proud of, until strong arms caught her.
She fell against Owen's chest, while his arms supported her by the waist. Alex tried not to appear alarmed, but she wasn't sure how well she was succeeding.
"How does it look?" She breathed, after a couple of seconds.
"Perfect." Owen murmured, his eyes scanning her delicate face, she wasn't sure if he was talking about the tree anymore. Alex took the moment to remove herself from his arms and pretended the warmth that grew through her body was from the heating system in Division.
"I guess we're done then." Alex said, her voice slightly high pitched.
Owen shook his head and rummaged through the box before revealing what he was searching for. "We can't forget mistletoe." He said, with a mischievous look on his face. "You never know who will get stuck under it."
Alex watched as he walked away to place the mistletoe in a hidden spot and promised herself that she wouldnot step foot into this room when a certain Reaper was in there as well. She also promised herself, as she walked away, that she did not just feel the dropping in her stomach that signified she just lied.