It was silly, and childish, Lisa knew that much. But she just wanted to surprise them for a change. Give them a taste of what normal people do. And it wasn't such a bad idea, was it? She was having fun for once, dressing up like this and sneaking out of their apartment to retrieve the presents she had bought and carefully hidden in the storage room of the building.
If they didn't catch her sneaking the presents inside she would consider it a personal victory. If they did then all the effort she put into the costume wouldn't go to waste.
She just wanted to give something back. See them smile. Make their Christmas memorable.
She was on her second and last trip inside their apartment, trying to find a way to kneel down in front of the tree without letting the presents fall–who knew it was that hard to move in a stuffed Santa Claus suit?– when she heard the sharp voice.
"Oi!"
She froze in place and turned her head to look over her shoulder; she had three full seconds to recognize Nine, standing not three feet away, hair tousled and glassless, before he leaped over and tackled her to the floor.
She hadn't had time to turn over, scream, let alone try to explain anything. The tree rocked back and forth as they went down, threatening to topple over them; the presents stacked in her arms went sprawling everywhere, making a ruckus as they tumbled in all directions; she let out a tiny squeak as the padded costume she wore made contact with the floor, protecting her from the worst of the impact, but still punching all air out of her lungs.
She gasped, trying to understand what was happening. She felt her arms being pulled back behind her back, and she tried to protest but Nine pressed her face hard against the cold floor, making her wince and get a mouthful of Santa Claus' white wig.
"What is going on?!" Somewhere in the distance, she heard Twelve's voice and his rushed footsteps, she tried calling to him, but got a mouthful of beard for her effort.
Twelve stopped a few feet from the scene. "Nine… what-who…" At a loss for words, Twelve simply stared.
"Do you think this is funny?" Nine demanded, his grip becoming slightly more painful "Breaking into somebody's apartment at 2 a.m., dressed up like that? How long have you been in here?"
The person under Nine's grip moaned, trying to form words, the sound came muffled from somewhere under the mass of white curls hiding their face.
Twelve tilted his head. "Wait, Nine…"
Nine pressed his knee against the intruder's back, making them yelp loudly this time.
Pale yellow burst before Twelve's eyes.
"Li…sa?" Twelve's eyes widened "Nine, stop!" he hurried to pull Nine away from the squirming Santa "It's Lisa!"
"What?" Nine loosened his hold enough for Twelve to get him off her.
"It's Lisa," Twelve repeated, and turned her on her back, brushing aside the white locks to look at her face.
With tearful eyes, Lisa looked back at him, rubbing her sore nose.
"Hey, Santa," Twelve smiled, helping her into a sitting position. "You picked the wrong house to break into."
Nine squinted at them.
Twelve tugged the beard down and pulled off her hat and wig so Nine could see her clearly.
Still stunned, Nine moved over to her "Lisa?"
She nodded.
"Wha–" Nine gaped at her, trying to make sense of it all. "Are you crazy?! I could've really hurt you!"
"You did," Lisa mumbled, a little bit irritated, her face was throbbing, and her small surprise had been ruined.
Twelve rubbed her reddened wrists gently "Nine can be really dangerous without his glasses."
"I thought someone had broken in."
"You didn't give me time to explain," Lisa protested.
"You don't give intruders time to explain!" Nine snapped back at her, "Honestly, Lisa."
"Now, Nine, calm down," Twelve looked very amused, even as he checked on Lisa for any other sore spots "You should apologize, you had your knee on her spine not a minute ago."
"I thought she–" Nine shook his head, giving up. "Are you alright?"
"Is my nose… is it bleeding?" Lisa tried touching it, but Twelve pulled her hand down.
"It doesn't look like it, it's just very red. You're looking more Rudolph than Santa Claus to be honest."
"Twelve!" Nine and Lisa said unison, making the brunet laugh.
Once the presents had been gathered and placed under the tree–and Lisa's bumps had been properly tended to–, they sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, too wound up to go back to sleep.
"I hope nothing was broken," Lisa mumbled looking at some of her partly crushed gifts.
Nine sighed loudly. "It's not really my fault," he said stubbornly.
"Of course it is," Lisa said under her breath, earning her a quick glare from Nine and a chuckle from Twelve.
"Such an early Christmas morning." Twelve yawned and plopped down to rest his head on Lisa's padded belly. "You know, you looked really cute with the beard and the wig."
Lisa looked down at him, puffing out her cheeks and making him laugh.
"I would ask you to put them on again but Nine here might not recognize you and clock you in the face."
"Twelve," Nine warned.
"You're lucky he didn't take out his gun," Twelve continued.
"Shut up," Nine growled.
Lisa paled, realizing Twelve was right "Would you have shot me?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Of course not…" but Nine trailed off, "Maybe. But not fatally."
Lisa shivered and Twelve took her hand, squeezing it gently. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Okay, okay, how about we sing some Christmas carols to pass the time before we open our ruined presents?"
Nine growled "No."
Lisa clapped her hands together, "That sounds nice."
Twelve grinned at their responses, and completely ignored Nine's refusal.
"Okay, let's see.. On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me:"
Twelve sent a meaningful look Nine's way, a mischievous tinkle in his eye "…one bloody nose and a bruised rib."
Lisa laughed out loud, reaching to touch her nose, as Twelve burrowed his face in her costume to avoid Nine's quick attack with a throw pillow. Lisa felt Twelve's arms hug her closer as he curled up against her, saw the reluctant smile on Nine's face as he smacked the back of Twelve's head and then stood up declaring that he needed his morning coffee now if he was going to have to listen to them tease him for acting as any thinking person would in a break-in situation.
Maybe her initial plan hadn't exactly gone the way she had intended, but this was nothing short of memorable, she thought, scrunching up her nose and trying not to touch it again.
She was spending Christmas with a couple of terrorists after all, and this was as normal as it got.
It fit them. It fit them just right.