Mike found it hard to not pull the whole story out of Dan all at once, but first things had to come first, and Dan's priority was to the elderly couple, whom he called Miss Nana and Mr. Cecil, and to the young man Benji, who Mike now knew was their grandson. Dan insisted that Mr. Cecil and Benji both be checked over by the paramedics who were now on the scene, but declined to be examined himself, saying that all he had was a few small bruises. "A Santa suit may slow you down a bit, but it cushions the hits," he assured Mike. "And Henry and his buddy over there didn't get in too many hits on me."

As the statements were taken though, Mike wasn't so sure that Dan only had a "few small bruises". He overheard most of Nana's statement and Cecil's, and was becoming more certain that all of them must have had a guardian angel looking over them this Christmas Eve. Nana, Cecil, and their grandson Benjamin had arrived early at the building where the interfaith charity they volunteered for stored various goods for needy families, collected donations of gifts, food and money, and on holidays like Christmas, they set up to feed those who needed help. Dan it turned out was also a volunteer for the charity, and had taken advantage of getting off work early to go ahead and head out to the building himself. He had planned to finish up any table setup that was needed while Nana and Cecil got started on the cooking, there would soon be other volunteers to help with the food and setup so they wouldn't have been by themselves for long. But Nana had thought it would be cute to take some Polaroid pictures of Santa in the kitchen supervising the cooking so she had asked Dan if he would mind going ahead and changing into the Santa suit early, that Benji could finish the table setup started earlier in the day and the night before by other volunteers. Miss Nana already had cheery Christmas music playing in the back storeroom when Dan went in there to change, so he never heard Henry storming in the front door with his partner.

By the time Dan had walked back out into the main room, everything was dead silent. Jake Mason, the man Henry's partner turned out to be, had Nana, Cecil and Benji in the kitchen, standing guard over them with his weapon, which like Henry's had turned out to be a homemade billy club made of some kind of hard, heavy wood, not a crowbar. He and Henry had realized there was someone else in the building and Henry had hidden, waiting to ambush Dan, not realizing the man in the Santa suit that he was about to attack was a homicide detective, and one who had been a part of his arrest in the murder of Helen King. Henry had taken a vicious swing at Dan's head with his club, a blow that by Dan's own admission he had just barely avoided. Not giving Dan a chance to recover from the surprise attack, Henry had hit the detective high in the back with the club then shoved him into the Christmas tree, yelling for Jake to grab the money they had forced Mr. Cecil to get for them from the office. The thugs ran out the door with Benji in hot pursuit and Mr. Cecil trying his best to follow and keep Benji from taking on the crooks himself, while Miss Nana did her best to help Dan get untangled from the Christmas tree. By the time Dan was back on his feet, Benji was already fighting with Henry and Jake, who were delighting in toying with the brave but outmatched seventeen-year-old boy. Dan told Nana to call the police and to stay inside, lock herself inside the office, then charged outside in time to see Jake pull a gun on Benji and pull the trigger.

A shot that thankfully did not happen as the gun mis-fired. Cecil then tried to go to his grandson to help him get back on his feet, but Henry had shoved him to the ground, and Jake had then tried to shoot Mr. Cecil, but the gun mis-fired again. Dan ran at Jake to disarm him, only to take another hit from Henry's club, this time to his mid-section – a blow that turned out to likely save Dan's life as Jake pulled the trigger again, the gun aimed at Dan, and this time it didn't mis-fire. The lab boys were already digging that bullet out of the front of the building, and from what Mike was hearing and seeing, if Dan hadn't been bent over from Henry's hit at that moment, it would've likely been a head shot. Or at the least, a possibly fatal shot in the chest, close to Dan's heart. Mike closed his eyes for a minute, reliving the last time a partner of his had been shot like that. It had been Steve on the Tannenger jury kidnapping, when he'd been shot by Barbara Ross. They had come way too close to losing Steve then, and Mike didn't like the thought that he had almost had to relive the experience with Dan today. Dan could still be a little bit rough around the edges at times, Mike thought, but he was a good man, an excellent detective – and he found he was just as attached to him as he was to Steve, both men were like sons to him, and two of the best friends he could ask for. But as well as he felt he knew Dan by now, Mike was realizing there was a lot more to his partner than he'd realized, and he had very nearly not gotten to really know the young man at all. That is something that needs to change, right now, Mike thought.

With "Santa" down for the count from Henry's hit, or so the thugs had thought, they had turned their attention back to Benji, kicking him in the stomach. Jake had tried to fire his gun again, but somehow there had been a miraculous third mis-fire, and Jake had thrown down his gun in disgust. Nana had started shouting that the police were on the way, calling out both Dan's and Benji's names while trying to help her husband back into the building. Henry had moved to threaten Nana and Cecil once again with his club when Dan had tripped him, surprising both crooks with not being down and out like they had thought. At that point it had become a cat and mouse game, with Dan buying time until backup arrived, gradually getting both Henry and Jake away from Benji, Nana and Cecil, tempting the young hoodlums with a target they realized they had underestimated, but still assumed they could beat down since he was unarmed, and they still had their clubs. Plus Henry still had the gun he hadn't pulled yet, a weapon that Dan had no knowledge of, and Jake was found to have been carrying a shiv inside his coat. More help from a guardian angel Mike decided, that the backup Dan had been stalling for was so close by. Mike himself had only been a couple of minutes away when he heard the call on the radio, Morton and Hague not that much further away themselves, having just finished clearing a minor fender bender. More watchfulness from that angel, that Jake had never pulled the shiv, that there had been three mis-fires and one missed shot from his gun, and that Henry for some reason hadn't pulled his gun on Dan until the very end. Dan had been stalling Henry and Jake for roughly three minutes by the time Mike arrived on the scene, but had been tiring out. Fighting in the Santa suit was difficult and hot, but he had held on, determined that Henry and Jake were not going to get away easily. All in all things had turned out fairly well: Cecil and Benji were going to be fine and neither one had to go to the emergency room. Nana had been scared, but was otherwise unharmed, and the money collected for the needy families that would arrive in a few hours for Christmas Eve dinner that night was all there. It wasn't a lot for each family, but everyone would get a little something to go with the food and clothing they would be sent home with, and the toys that would be handed out to the kids.

And my partner is still alive, Mike thought to himself as he followed Dan into the kitchen, the young detective shedding his Santa beard and coat, stripping down to just a plain white T-shirt and the Santa slacks as he rummaged in a cabinet for a glass to get some water. Mike winced as he got a look at Dan's bare arms, several red and some already purpling marks on them. "Are you sure you don't need to let the paramedics look you over as well, Speedy?" Mike asked, hoping the nickname he sometimes used for Dan would hide his concern over the young man's condition.

"I've been hurt worse, don't worry about me, Mike. I'm more worried about Mr. Cecil and Benji, I wish they'd let the paramedics take them to the hospital."

"Don't worry about us Danny," came Mr. Cecil's voice from behind Mike. "Benji didn't get hit like you did, those boys punched and kicked him, but they didn't hit him with their clubs like they did you – mercy boy!" the elderly man exclaimed. "Nana! We need to tend to Danny here!"

"I'm fine Mr. Cecil, really I am. I just need to cool off for a little while and then I can get to work with Benji getting everything straightened up out there in the main room for dinner tonight," Dan protested to no avail. Nana was already in the kitchen fetching some ice and telling Benji where the hot water bottle was so that they could fill it with ice and put it on the worst of Dan's bruises. Mike had to stifle a laugh as the two senior citizens fussed over his partner, Mr. Cecil making Dan sit down while he put the ice bottle on the ugliest bruise, a nasty-looking one on Dan's right arm, and Miss Nana had wet a cloth to start cleaning off the dirt from the knees of Dan's Santa pants, declaring that Santa should not have dirty knees on Christmas. The lieutenant almost couldn't hold in his laughter when his partner shot him a, "Help me!" look over the heads of the elderly couple.

Fortunately for Dan, who was starting to blush a little from all of the attention from Cecil and Nana – especially from Nana, who kept saying what a "brave boy" he'd been to take on "those nasty villains" by himself, and going on, saying, "Danny, you need to find yourself a girl and settle down, find someone to take care of you," – his rescue came in the form of Benji, who seemed none the worse for wear from his encounter with Henry and Jake. "Grandma, Granddad, the Goddards and the Washingtons are here to help out and want to know what happened that there's so many policemen outside, and Miss Jeanette is here too with Joseph and John."

"Why don't you two go see to the others, I'll take care of Danny here," Mike suggested with a twinkle in his eye, once again stifling a laugh as he caught Dan wrinkling his nose at the name "Danny". "He's my partner after all, and that's what partners do."

"You do just that, Lieutenant," Miss Nana said. "And don't let him take that ice pack off of that bruise for another five minutes at least! Danny, Miss Jeanette has probably brought her chocolate fudge for tonight, I'm going to get you a couple of pieces. You need to eat more dear, you're too skinny!" With a fond pat to Dan's cheek, Miss Nana hustled out the kitchen door, Cecil and Benji not far behind. Dan immediately started to put down the ice pack, but Mike gently but firmly put it right back in place, with a playful scolding look on his face.

"No, no, no Danny," he said. "Five more minutes at least. You don't want me to have to tell on you to Miss Nana, now do you?"

Dan replied with a raspberry and a frown, then finally gave into his own suppressed fit of laughter. "That woman is a force of nature to be reckoned with, I'm telling you Mike," he said with a fond smile. "Her and Mr. Cecil both. Oh, and they're the only ones I let get away with calling me 'Danny', by the way," he warned the older man with a mock stern look. "Call me that again and I'll have to start calling you 'Sir' again."

"Don't you dare, Speedy," Mike warned with a grin. The partners relaxed in the kitchen, Dan obediently keeping the ice pack on the bruise on his arm, Mike refilling Dan's glass of water, and both listening to the sounds of volunteers arriving, sounds of alarm and relief as everyone was told what had happened, but that the police were nearly done and that they all still had work to do to get everything ready for feeding the needy families that would be arriving in a few hours. Turkeys and hams both had been roasted the day before in the non-profit's kitchen and needed to be heated back up and sliced, casseroles needed to be baked, vegetables and other sides to be cooked, desserts to be set up, and somebody needed to start straightening up the tables and set the Christmas tree back to rights. Mike and Dan soon retreated to the back storeroom to be out of the way, since neither Mr. Cecil or Miss Nana would let Dan help with the setup just yet, and they had both decided that Mike was the one to keep Dan in line. "White Christmas" was playing on the radio when they entered the storeroom. Mike found a couple of chairs for them to sit on and they kept the door open so that the volunteers could come in and get whatever supplies they needed as called for. "They are quite the pair," Mike commented, watching Cecil and Nana through the doorway. "Are you sure Nana wasn't a drill sergeant in the Army at some point?"

Dan laughed, putting down the ice pack and flexing his arm. Truth be told, his arm did feel better. His back would be aching before the night was over, but a nice hot shower would ease all of his aches and pains to come later. "She should have been." Dan sighed and smiled, watching the elderly couple move around, directing the volunteers, almost making it look like a dance. Mr. Cecil even slipped his arm around Miss Nana's waist at one point and gave her a quick twirl, dancing to music and memories that only the married couple could hear and see. "Sometimes I think they'll outlast us all."

Mike nodded, chuckling as he watched Benji squirm away from his grandmother, blushing as she gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, saying something about how she was sure his girlfriend would love the Christmas gift the boy had gotten for her. "Quite the bunch you're working with here, how did you get started with all of this? I had no idea you did anything like this."

Dan smiled. "There's a lot you don't know about me yet, Mike. I have to keep things interesting, don't I?" Mike shook his head, silently chuckling. "Mike, remember a few months ago, I'm not even sure which case it was we were working, I know it wasn't Henry and the Jackals, that was early this year, so maybe it was even late last year when you said –"

"Was that only this year, busting the Jackals? I was thinking it had been two years ago almost now," Mike mused. "No, you're right, that was earlier this year, Jeannie just finished up school a few months ago. Feels longer that that somehow."

"It's been that kind of a year," Dan agreed. "Everything feels so long ago and almost like yesterday at the same time sometimes." Dan sighed and shook his head. "This job can really turn your life upside down when you least expect or need it to." Before Mike could question that statement, Dan continued on, "But remember, you were saying you had news that would warm the cockles of my heart?"

Mike thought, then smiled a little. "Yeah, I remember that. Can't remember which case it was either, but I remember you saying that your family was too poor to afford cockles." Mike studied his partner for a moment, then straightened a bit. "You weren't exaggerating, were you?"

Dan looked down and sighed again before meeting Mike's eyes. "Not by much," he admitted. "Mike, when I was about six years old, my Dad lost his job. Layoffs. He started working odd jobs around town to bring in what he could until he could find another full-time job, but he got hurt really bad on one of those little odd jobs, and it took a few months before he fully healed. In the meantime, things went from being tight to, 'Can we keep a roof over our head?' pretty quickly. We'd never had much money to start with, and Dad losing his job nearly did us in. We weren't living in San Francisco then, and there weren't a lot of jobs to be had at the time even before the layoffs. Mom did what she could to bring in a little extra and somehow we managed to get by." Dan smiled a little then. "Dad had taught me how to fish before everything happened, so when I started to catch on that things weren't right, I decided to fish when I could to try and help out. I think it hurt Mom and Dad that their little boy that they were trying to shield from everything was realizing that things were a lot rougher than they were letting on, but I think I made them a little proud too, that I had taken it on myself to do what I could do to help. Let me tell you one thing, there's nothing more stubborn than a six-year-old boy who wants to make his Mom smile and his Dad proud of him."

Mike smiled, he could just picture a little Dan, trudging down a street somewhere, proud of catching some fish that he knew would put food on the table for his parents. Certain things he'd seen Dan do over the nearly year and a half now that they had been partners were making a new kind of sense: Dan making sure that older crime victims felt secure in their homes before he left, making sure that little children knew they were safe. Mike had seen Dan go out and buy groceries for one disabled man whose home had been broken into, his wife badly injured and their whole house a mess, all for a disability check and a mere twenty dollars in cash. The check was for rent, bills and medicine, whatever was left plus the twenty had been intended for groceries. Dan could get very passionate about a lot of their cases, Mike had seen the young man's anger flame high over crooks laughing at the law, knowing how to play the courts. But this was a softer side, a compassionate side to the outgoing young man that Mike had always wondered where the roots had come from. Now he was starting to understand. "Let me guess," Mike said. "Somebody, or a group like this, but someone helped you and your family out that Christmas."

Dan smiled, then got up and started putting his Santa coat back on. "You catch on quick there, you just might make detective yet," he teased. "Yeah…" he mused, lost in memories as he slowly adjusted the bulky coat, then reached for the belt, wincing slightly as his back protested against the movement. "I don't know how we would have survived those last few months if we hadn't had help. Did I leave the hat and wig and beard in the kitchen, Mike?"

"No, I've got them right here," Mike answered, offering the beard first.

"I must be getting forgetful today, I almost left my place without the wig and hat."

Mike chuckled as he watched his partner change back into Santa. A thinner Santa than most would expect for sure, but a good one nonetheless. "Say, you're not the only one getting forgetful. Henry was yelling about me busting him last year, but we busted the Jackals earlier this year. I wasn't in on a bust on him last year, I'm sure of it. Not for murder or manslaughter at least. I guess the time he's done so far is messing up his memory."

Dan nodded absently, having completed his transformation back into Santa Claus. One family that was getting aid that night had come in early with their little girl, and he wanted to make sure he didn't spoil the illusion of Santa for her. A quick check in a small mirror in the storeroom and he was satisfied. "Yeah, I guess so. Or maybe…" Dan's voice trailed off, then he spun around quickly, striding over to Mike. "Maybe he's got a guilty conscience about something from last year and seeing you caused him to slip up. Maybe he just admitted to something today." Dan started pacing, his mind bringing up everything he could remember in the files on the Jackals. "Let's see, Stevens busted Henry and of couple of those guys last year at about the same time we got them this year for what they did to Mrs. King – maybe Henry did something around that time that Stevens couldn't pin on him."

"Slow down Speedy!" Mike said, stopping the young man in his tracks. "You might be right, or it could just be that Henry was mixing up his arrests. He has been in trouble a lot, we cops and crimes could start to blur together after a while. Or," he continued, holding up his hand to keep Dan from interrupting, "you might be right, and maybe he just gave us a break on a cold case. Whatever the truth is, if you are remembering his file correctly, then this is something Stevens needs to follow up on, and it can be done when we come back to work after Christmas, Daniel." Dan still looked like he wanted to protest, and Mike put his hands on Dan's shoulders, hoping he wasn't hitting any hidden bruises on his partner. "Henry and Jake aren't going anywhere, we've got them. Stevens will have plenty of time to see if Henry just ratted on himself. You," Mike said sternly, pointing his finger at Dan's chest, "have a job to do here tonight, right?"

Dan frowned at his partner. "I wasn't going to leave here without doing what I came to do, Mike," he replied a little crossly.

"I know you weren't, but you were thinking about heading in either later on tonight, or tomorrow, Christmas Day of all days, weren't you? I know you Daniel Robbins, when you get an idea in your head you can be worse than a dog who won't give up a bone. You are off duty tonight and all day tomorrow, and you are not going in to work, understand?" Mike stared at his partner until he saw the young Inspector's shoulders slump slightly, admitting to losing this round. "Dan," Mike said, more gently this time. "Dan, listen to me. Christmas is a time to be with family and friends, not stuck behind a desk working. Or sitting by yourself at a restaurant, looking lost."

The growing shock on Dan's face would have been funny in any other situation. "How… Who told you I was by myself last year?"

"One Officer Chester Williams. Was he wrong?"

Dan sat back down, shaking his head, a wistful smile on his face. "Old Chet Williams. Yeah, he would know, he was there for so much of it." Dan looked up at Mike, a slightly sad smile on his face. "My first few weeks on the streets I rode with Chet, he's the one that showed me the ropes. 'Just because you were in the Army for five years son, and just because you graduated from college early because you took classes non-stop, that doesn't mean you know a thing about being a cop on the streets of San Francisco,' he told me." Dan laughed a little then. "It didn't take long for him to realize that I knew a lot more about what it took to be a cop than he had expected, and for me to realize I didn't know nearly as much as I had thought I did." He smiled and sighed then, remembering the balding man with the big personality. "Good man, good cop, great teacher. Good Lord, shouldn't he be retired by now?"

"I think he's got a couple more years to go," Mike replied. "So he was right? And you didn't have plans last year, or your plans were canceled? You still could have come over, you know."

Dan stood up and clapped an appreciative hand on Mike's arm. His partner sounded almost hurt that Dan hadn't come by last year, and hurting Mike was the last thing he had ever intended. "I did have plans last year, for Christmas morning, and I did them. I didn't lie to you, and I didn't have anything canceled on me. I…" Dan looked down, and in that moment Mike thought his partner looked younger than ever, and more hurt than he'd ever seen him. "Mike, Christmas is a rough time of the year for me. Not this," he said, waving his hand around the storeroom and then pointing out to the main room. "This is good, this is right. It's the time when I don't have this… It gets rough. And I'm just not sure I'm good company in those hours, you know? If I'm in a funk, I see no reason to depress anyone else, so it's just better if I'm by myself."

"Daniel…" Mike started, but was interrupted by a blur of a little girl rushing into the storeroom, all excited from having spotted Santa in the doorway.

"Santa!" the dark-haired girl squealed excitedly, eagerly hugging Dan around the waist. "You're here, you're really here!"

Dan laughed and deepened his voice a bit, picking up the bouncing girl and carrying her back out into the main room, which was nearly completely put back in order. "I certainly am sweetie – have you been a good little girl this year?"

"Santa!" the girl laughed. "You already know if I've been bad or good, you're Santa!"

Dan chuckled and set the girl down near the Christmas tree. "Yes I do, and I think I know what you wished for, I do believe I have you on my list – yes, you're Christi, aren't you?"

The little girl's mouth dropped open, her eyes round as saucers. "You are the real Santa! Mommy! He's real, he's the real Santa, not like the one that smelled like cheese at the store! He's the real Santa!" The little girl raced around, bouncing around a woman with short dark blonde hair. Mike and Dan both laughed as the little girl raced back to Dan, but stopped in front of Mike. "Are you Santa's helper, Mister?"

Mike grinned and lightly tapped the little girl on the nose. "Well, I did help him out a little bit earlier today, so I guess I am for a little while. You can call me Mister Mike."

The little girl, Christi, looked at Mike's head. "You're not wearing a Santa hat, did you forget yours?"

Mike chuckled and smiled at the girl. He guessed she was probably about seven years old, or at least close to it. "Well, I hadn't planned on helping Santa out tonight, so yes, I'm afraid I did forget. I actually came here to invite Santa to lunch tomorrow, after he's finished all of his work."

Christi clapped her hands happily. "Turkey and ham like we're going to have here tonight?"

Mike laughed and knelt down to be at eye level with the girl. He noticed that her clothes were a bit careworn, and she needed new shoes. "Yes, turkey and ham both. I have a grown-up daughter, and she's doing the cooking for tomorrow. She really wants Santa to stop by and have lunch with us, do you think she'll be as excited to see him as you are?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Christi giggled, then looked at Dan. "And you'll be hungry too after flying all around the world and the whole city too, so you should eat lunch with her and you can give her a doll like I wished for, a Barbie doll!"

Before Dan could think of a proper response Christi raced off to her mother again, excitedly telling her that Santa was going to have lunch with his helper Mister Mike and his grown-up daughter, and telling her mother that Mister Mike's daughter would get a Barbie doll. Miss Nana overheard and came over to Dan and hugged him, then thanked Mike for looking out for "their Danny" and gave the senior detective a kiss on the cheek. Mike smiled and assured Nana that Dan would be taken care of on Christmas Day, then turned around to see his partner shooting him a mildly dark look. "That's playing dirty, Mike."

Mike grinned. "When it's for a good cause, I'll play dirty sometimes, you know that. Dan," Mike began, again putting a hand on his young partner's shoulder. "Dan, I know you've said that you don't have any family around anymore since your folks moved to Florida a few years ago to help out your aunt and uncle. Well, you're wrong about that." Mike stared at Dan, making sure he had the man's full attention. "You're a part of our family now – me, Jeannie, Steve, everybody back at the office. You're family, and that's all there is to it. You've got people to spend time with, whether you're feeling good or bad. We've got your back, and we know you've got ours. That's what friends, what family is for, right?" Mike watched Dan's eyes, he could see he was struggling with the decision. "Come on, when it's the holidays Jeannie always cooks too much food, Steve and I are going to need some help eating it all."

Dan sighed and hung his head a moment. "Let me think about it for a few minutes. Please?" he pleaded.

Mike wanted to say no, wanted Dan to answer him right then, but he knew better than to press. Good Lord but his partner looked so very young and vulnerable at that moment, and it almost scared Mike to see him that way. Give him time, Michael, he told himself. Something about Christmas hurts him, give him a moment. Mike nodded and patted Dan on the shoulder. "I'll be here for a little while longer." Mike smiled and pointed at Christi, who had settled down enough to begin helping her mother and Miss Nana with replacing a few ornaments on the Christmas tree. "I'm Santa's helper after all, right?"

Dan smiled and nodded, then headed over to Mr. Cecil to finally take the Polaroid pictures Nana had wanted earlier of Santa in the kitchen, checking on the food. Mike for his part helped to finish decorate the tree, then entertained Christi for a few minutes with a slightly off-key rendition of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", much to the child's delight. Dan watched Mike from the kitchen doorway, watched his partner step up and pitch right on in, setting out chairs at the tables, hanging up mistletoe at one point, which earned him surprise kisses on the cheek from both Nana and little Christi. At that moment, Dan wished he could go back in time, back to another Christmas, maybe things would have been different if he had… No, he thought to himself. Going back to a Christmas past or even further wouldn't have changed a thing. You know that, Dan Robbins. Dan smiled and straightened up as the whirlwind of energy that was Christi ran up to him again to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Mike joined him in time to hear her say, "Merry Christmas, Santa!" before she scampered off to help her mother and Miss Nana some more.

Mike studied his partner as the man watched Christi with a wistful look on his face. "You have a little sister with her energy, or a cousin?" Mike asked.

"No, I'm an only child," Dan replied. Mike wondered if he should press for more of an answer than that, but suddenly found Dan studying him, his head cocked to the side in a manner that Mike knew all too well. It was a classic look from the detective, and either meant that Dan was plotting something, or had figured something out. "Okay, you're on. I'll take you up on your offer of lunch on Christmas – I'll even stay for dinner if you want me to. I'll even sweeten up the deal for you, on one condition."

"Name it."

Dan grinned. "Okay, here goes. Not only will I spend tomorrow with you, Jeannie and Steve, lunch and dinner if you're sure it's not going to be too much or too crowded, but I'll even take you up on the offer you made last year of me staying with you tonight and going to midnight Mass with you. How does that sound?"

Mike grinned, but gave Dan a puzzled look. "You're on, but what do I have to do to earn this sweet deal?"

Dan smiled and now it was his turn to put his hands on Mike's shoulders. "Tomorrow morning you are going to be my helper as I take care of my Christmas Day plans. I'll find a Santa hat for you, I've got a spare at home, but I want you wearing a nice red sweater and your best smile. Deal?"

"Your helper? Just what in the world are you up to?"

"Nope, no questions tonight, you either accept the deal or you don't. Ever hear of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'? Michael, this is your golden ticket to get a peek into my life. Once in a lifetime offer maybe, you never know. Now do we have a deal? We'll need to head out from your place at about eight-thirty in the morning to have plenty of time to get where we're going. What do you say?"

Mike looked at his partner, slightly stunned. He was getting the result he wanted, but this wasn't how he had thought he would get it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Stone. This is what you wanted, for Dan to not be alone on Christmas. "All right then. I'll do it. You've got a deal, Daniel Robbins. And with that, I'd better be off or Jeannie really will start to wonder what's happened to me. You'll be coming over later tonight?"

"Just as soon as I get through helping out with the cleanup here. I'll need to run by my place to change and pack an overnight bag, but I'll be at your place in plenty of time to head out for Mass. See you later, Mike. And Mike?" Dan added, stopping Mike at the door. "Thanks."

"You're always welcome, Dan. I'll see you later." Mike went out to his car and put the key in the ignition, but simply sat behind the wheel for a little while. He'd done what he had set out to do, he had convinced Dan to join them for Christmas. Getting him to come to midnight Mass wasn't something Mike had dared to try for, but that was happening too. As he started the car and began his drive home, Mike smiled to himself and shook off the feeling of possibly having started something big that couldn't be stopped now. Days later, he would say to Jeannie that he should've remembered the line in a country song from a few years back.

Along with the sunshine, there's got to be a little rain sometimes.