Lyrics from "I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake. Copyright 1975. From the Album Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Works 2.
"Hallelujah! Noel! Be it Heaven or or Hell, the Christmas we get we deserve."
"What a load of rubbish!" Gene snarled, switching off the radio. Had Annie deserved to become a widow last year? How about that man who had to come in this morning to identify the body of his fourteen year old daughter? Or the girl herself, who had her skull bashed in with a hammer? Gene was almost vibrating with anger. He needed a drink. Now.
No Railway Arms or Nelson this time around. It was off to Luigi's. Snowstorms had caused the owner's flight to be canceled, leaving him stranded in London. He seemed to be taking it in stride, though, leaving his restaurant open for business. The rest of the team was already there when Gene arrived.
Alex was sitting alone at the bar, which surprised Gene. He thought Alex had finally started to consider herself as one of the team. Why wasn't she sitting with them?
Their singing might have something to do with it, Gene decided, winching as he found himself being assaulted by the worst preformance of "Twelve Days of Christmas" that he had ever heard in his life. To make it worse, someone---Gene suspected Ray---had decided it would be funny to substitute some of the lyrics, leading the 'gifts' to become increasingly bizarre, and sexually graphic. Shaz was reacting with appropriate disgust, but was only able to get Chris to stop. Finally, Gene raised his voice to be heard over the drunken singing.
"Oi! Enough of that racket! If you have to sing, then sing it right or don't sing it at all!"
"Sorry, Guv," the others said, almost in unison.
Taking a chance, Gene joined Alex at the bar. "Finally some peace and quiet," he said, hoping to make her smile.
"Thank you," she said quietly, her mind clearly somewhere else. Come to think, she hadn't really reacted to the bawdy rendition of the Christmas song going on behind her.
"Penny for your thoughts, love?" Gene asked. This was Alex's first Christmas with the team, and yet here she was sitting at the bar, staring into her drink and looking like she was fighting back tears.
"I want to go home, Gene."
Gene sighed, resisting the urge to tell her, yet again, that she was the one who had signed up for the transfer in the first place, and she was going to stay until her services were no longer needed.
Truth be told, the bird drove him crazy sometimes, making him consider giving in to her whining. But when she wasn't being a pain in the arse,she proved herself to be a vital addition to his team, like Sam had before her. That was another reason why he kept her on: she reminded him of Sam. Made sense, given that they knew each other. Gene still held out hope that if Alex stayed with the team long enough, she'd become more normal, like Sam had. It had already seemed to be working to some degree. At least she no longer referred to the team as 'constructs', and had stopped inviting strange blokes back to her flat.
"I've never spent the holidays away from Molly before. The job's always kept me busy, but I made sure I spent the holidays at home," Alex whispered. "And now I'm so afraid I'll never spend them with her again."
Just what was Gene supposed to say to that? He couldn't very well tell her that she would be with her daughter during the holidays again. He didn't know that, nor did he know the circumstances as to why she couldn't see her daughter now. Given that Alex was divorced, Gene suspected it was probably some sort of custody issue. She didn't offer much information in that reguard, and Gene didn't blame her for it. His own divorce ranked very low on his favourite topics of discussion, right behind Stu and Sam's deaths.
Sam... it was still hard for Gene to accept that he was really dead. The lack of a body didn't help either. The terrible irony was that Sam had always been the careful driver, nagging Gene about obeying the laws of the road. And yet, he was the one who ran his car into the river, not even leaving a body for a proper burial. It was as if he'd just vanished. They all knew the risks that came with the badge when they signed up. But then you come out of so many dangerous situations alive that a part of your mind starts to think your luck will hold out forever. Sam's death was a reminder that it does not.
Annie did not transfer to London with the rest of the team, preferring to remain in Manchester with Sam's memory. She had understood why Gene needed to leave, though. She told him not to blame himself for Sam's death, because she didn't, and she knew Sam wouldn't either. She also told Gene to ring her up anytime if he wanted to talk. He had done so this morning, and found that she was doing quite well for herself, under the circumstances. She was very slowly starting to move up in the ranks. Gene had a feeling that she could go pretty far.
"Don't you have anyone to spend the holidays with, Gene?" Alex had apparently decided to put her own problems aside for the moment.
"I'm spending them here with my team, aren't I?" Gene answered, as said team started in on a rousing chorus of "Deck the Halls."
Alex smiled. It was a very sad smile though, that did not reach her eyes.
"But you don't have anyone else, outside the team?"
"Nope," Gene answered, signaling Luigi for a refill.
His brother had died from an overdose, his mam had passed on from old age, his father, whom he didn't give a rat's arse about, had drank himself to death, and his wife had left him. No, there was no-one left. Just the team and the job.
"No-one should be alone at Christmas," Alex muttered.
"Team's a good group of people, go be with them if you're lonely," Gene said.
"Yes, they---you, are nice. It's just..." Alex sighed before taking another sip of her drink.
"It's not as good as being with your own family," Gene finished for her. "Understand that for you, Bolly, but for me, Ray and Chris are closer than blood."
Oi! Had he actually said that aloud? He quickly looked over his should to see if Chris and Ray had heard him. Chris was too distracted by Shaz, and Ray was still caught up in the drunken chorus. Gene mentally sighed with relief.
"They transfered with you from Manchester," Alex remembered. "Would you still have gone through with the transfer if they hadn't agreed to accompany you?"
There was a question Gene hadn't really thought about before. Manchester had held so many memories of Sam that Gene could no longer stay there. But, to come to London completely alone, without any sort of anchors at all... it was enough to give him chills, thinking about it.
"Don't know," he said finally. "But I'm glad that they did."
"They're quite loyal to you," Alex told him.
"That they are."
"You're lucky for that. I honestly have not seen such devotion to a DCI before, or just between friends in general."
Gene was starting to wish that Alex would find something else to talk about besides Chris and Ray's loyalty, it was embarrassing, especially with them in the same room. It was an improvement over her longing to go home, though. And maybe Ray and Chris were too drunk to remember hearing anything.
As if sensing Gene's discomfort, Alex said, "I came down here because I wanted to be around other people. Upstairs by myself, my thoughts were growing far too dark."
"Your thoughts still seem a bit gloomy, Alex. Why not join the party, maybe have a little fun?"
"Why don't you?" Alex asked in return.
"Not in the mood to be merry."
"Well, neither am I."
Gene smiled a little, remembering a Christmas eight years before, where he had advised Sam not to let anyone force him to be happy at Christmas.
"It's a good balance this way. For me, at least," Alex told him. "Watching other people have a genuinely good time without joining in myself."
"I would think that would make you feel worse."
"A little," Alex admitted. "But at the same time it's a sign of hope. There is life and happiness. If I can't have that happiness for myself, at least my friends can. That's why you're here, isn't it? To see your friends be happy. It helps."
"Guess so," Gene admitted, glancing over his shoulder at the team. Chris and Shaz had started to collect their coats, and Chris even helped Shaz put hers on. They shared a brief kiss before waving goodbye to the others.
"Merry Christmas, Alex, Guv!" They called out cheerfully.
Alex and Gene smiled and waved back.
"They are such a cute couple, aren't they?"
"Ugh, please, Bolly. Not on an empty stomach."
Alex actually snickered. "Come on, it's sweet. I predict wedding bells somewhere down the line."
"I can see that," Gene conceded.
"I was hoping you'd disagree with me so we could make a wager."
"Still could, you know. How long until those bells start ringing?"
Alex thought about it. "Hmmm... maybe three months from now?"
"Oi! That's a bit quick there Bolly. All right, I'll say seven months. How much are we wagering?"
"I'm not sure yet. We'll worry about payment when the time comes, assuming I'll still be around to collect my winnings." The light that had appeared in her eyes faded at the thought of her still being around months from now.
Great, now what? Gene wondered. They had actually been having a little bit of fun, but the dark thoughts and feelings just wouldn't go away.
"So how long do you see the marriage lasting?" he asked, deciding to return to the subject of Chris and Shaz. He was starting to understand why birds gossip so much. Thinking about other people's business was often easier than dealing with your own.
Alex smiled a little. "Till death do they part."
"You're rather optimistic, aren't you? Things always start out bright and cheerful, but they can turn sour fast."
Or in the case of his marriage, slowly rot away to nothing. The writing had been on the wall for a long time before they finally made it official. The day he got the news of the transfer, he had come home to find his belongings packed up in boxes on the porch.
"Call it woman's intuition. I just have a good feeling about those two," Alex said.
"Hope you're right, for their sakes," Gene said, meaning it.
They were nearly alone in the restaurant now. Only Luigi remained, mopping the floors. Gene raised his glass in a toast.
"Merry Christmas, Bolly."
Alex raised her own glass. "Merry Christmas, Gene."
The end! Please let me know what you thought. Be honest now.