Chapter 7

Jacob awoke in his bed to the heat blowing through. "Hera, why is the heat on?" He asked his AI. Hera appeared on the table and smiled lightly.

"Look out the window." She said. The Spartan sighed and managed to get off the bed and opened the curtains to see at least 2 inches of an unknown white power covering the grounds of the base.

"What is it?" Jacob asked. "Well, it's almost Christmas. It's December 24th today." Hera said with a smile. Jacob looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Christmas, a human holiday where gifts are given and received. Also, the celebration of a 'Jesus Christ' in Christianity." Hera informed him. Jacob looked back out to see the sun rising on the horizon.

"Huh." Jacob said before a knock was heard. Jacob turned and opened the door to see Winston standing there.

"Hi there, thought I should let you know, we have no missions today. But me and Athena will monitor any incoming threats." Winston said before leaving. Jacob showered and dried himself as he placed on his suit. Jacob grabbed his helmet and inserted Hera's chip in and placed his helmet on. He walked out to see agents heading off to the mess hall, some still in their pajamas.

"Mornin' Jacob love!" Lena said blinking next to him with a grin on her face. "Good morning Lena." Jacob returned the greeting. As the two made their way, Satya walked passed the two and nodded in greetings. Jacob slowed his speed when she walked by.

"Jacob, you alright there?" Lena asked. "Huh, oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He lied. He was glad to have his helmet, it hid his blushing face really good.

"Okay, well if you're not busy, I'd like to see if you'd want to come to King's Row with me for the holidays. What do you say?" She asked.

"I think it best if I stayed here, the public would still be in danger, even if it is the holidays." Jacob said. Lena shrugged her shoulders and made her way to her friends as Jacob sat alone. Satya walked up to him and sat across from him, making the Spartan stiff.

"Good morning Mr. Mchowell." Satya said flashing a small smile. "G-good M-morning Ms. Vaswani. Lovely weather we have today." Jacob said chuckling lightly. He removed his helmet and placed it next to him as Satya's gaze stared into his eyes.

"I actually wanted to get to know you more." Satya said. "What would you like to know?" He asked.

"What is a SPARTAN? I've heard the other agents talk about you, I tried to ask but I never get an answer." She replied.

"I am a SPARTAN-IV, the current incarnation from the SPARTAN-II program. We are practically human versions of tanks. Replenishing shields and all." He said.

"So, you're an 'OP Character' as Hana puts it." Satya said glancing over to she Hana with two thumbs up and grinning. Jacob rolled his eyes, of course Hana would say it like that.

"Yes, I am a 'OP Character'. But I'm still human. Training in all know forms of combat and can process information faster than a regular human. But the Master Chief, he's the greatest of us. No one is greater than him." Jacob said as he finished his meal.

"Exquisite." She said placing her prosthetic hand under her chin. Jacob didn't know why, but he felt intimidated by her. Usually, he would have that sense of authority. But Symmetra was something different.

"Yup, I'm a 'Titan' from a game called 'Titanfall' as Hana likes to put it." Jacob said before he was called to the mission room.

"It was nice talking to you Ms. Vaswani." Jacob said as he bowed. Symmetra nodded as Jacob grabbed his helmet and left for the room. He opened to see Soldier 76 nodding in his direction.

"Good morning Spartan. We have a mission that'd be best suited for your expertise." He said handing him a file.

"What's this?" Jacob asked. "A file on a new weapon Talon is creating. We've gotten hints they are close to start mass producing it. I want you to stop and destroy any evidence they have." 76 ordered. Jacob nodded as Hera scanned the file.

"You'll be taking a dropship at a high altitude and dropping in. They'll be suspecting a ground assault, but not an air assault." 76 said. Jacob nodded and placed his helmet on and headed for the armory. He grabbed his assault rifle, two pulse pistols, and his twin Energy swords. He made his way to the hangar and boarded. As the ship flew to the coordinates, Jacob watched out the window as the snow fell to the surface.

"It's quite beautiful, if it weren't so cold." Hera said laughing lightly. Jacob smiled and watched as they entered the area, lights blared on the surface, civilians getting into the festivities. Jacob wondered if he ever spent this 'Christmas' with his family.

"Time to target?" "5 minutes Spartan, good luck." Athena said. "Get me as close as you can." Jacob said checking his rifle.

"Ammo's good, Mjolnir Mark-IV is showing green across the board. If I also may suggest we use a Spartan Slam to start off with." Hera said. Jacob chuckled lightly. "Always with the dramatics Hera." "What? It worked last time." Hera retorted.

"Whatever you say." Jacob said as the ship hovered above the destination. "Kind of a crowded area for a Talon op, don't you think?" Jacob asked as the ramp lowered.

"True, I'll do a scan once we land." Hera said. Jacob nodded and placed his rifle on his back and took a few steps back. He charged off the ship and free fell to the ground, the winter air and snow blowing past him.

As he neared the ground, Jacob twirled and activated his boosters as he landed in the middle of a town square with his rifle in his hands. Bystanders stood and stared at the behemoth war machine.

"Uh, Hera. About that scan." "Working on it." Hera retorted as the people continued to stare. He placed his rifle on his back as a small girl ran up to him.

"Hi Mister, Merry Christmas." She said with a smile. Jacob knelt next to her and giggled lightly.

"Merry Christmas little one." He said as the girl hugged him before leaving as her parents were calling her.

"I think I found the problem, the file was a Chirstmas list." Hera reported. Jacob sighed as a hologram opened to show the list.

"I'm going to hurt that Soldier." Jacob muttered. Hera suppressed a laugh as the Spartan walked to a store.

~Back at Base~

"Okay, he's busy buying presents, let's get this place decorated and show him what Christmas is about." 76 said. The agents nodded and began to decorate the base with ornaments and colorful lights. Winston smiled as the agents rushed back and forth to get the base decorated. Tracer finished before anyone else and happened to glance at the clock before gasping lightly.

"I got to go big guy, I'll get your present I promise!" She said before blinking away. Symmetra glanced at Lucio as he skated about, wearing a costume that reminded her of the Andes mountains.

"Merry Christmas Satya." He said before skating away. Symmetra gasped lightly before smiling at him.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Lucio." She said. She got the idea and walked to the computer.

"Athena, do you know what kind of components make up Jacob's armor?" She asked typing away.

"I do, Hera has been generous to share that kind of information. She hopes it will help at more barriers to the base, in case we are ever attacked." Athena said as a diagram showed the Spartan's armor.

"Hmmm." She said as a plan formed in her head. 'Over the past few months I've gotten to know Jacob. No matter how many times he can be dense when I talk to him.' She thought as Winston lumbered over.

"You alright Satya?" He asked as he placed a few nutcrackers on the computer. "I am now Winston. I am now." She said.

~With Jacob~

"Okay, looks like he just wanted me to get presents he somehow managed to put on layaway." Jacob said as he made his way through the Walmart. Patrons moved out of the way as the Spartan walked towards the layaway part of the store. No one stopped his because of his intimidating stature. That and he had his weapons strapped to him.

"Hello?" The Spartan asked poking his head in. "Yes sir?" The clerk asked. "Uh yes, I am here for a layaway. Under the name of a Mr. Winters." He said. The clerk glanced up to see Jacob in his armor with his weapons strapped to him.

"Right on that sir." He said before taking off to the back. Jacob walked over to a bench and sat down as he waited for the arrival of his order.

'How did you let him get you Mchowell?' Jacob thought. A family walked in and stared at the Spartan.

"Merry Christmas." Jacob said with a nod. The father and mother nodded as their child walked over to him.

"I've seen you on the news before." He said making Jacob smile under his mask. "Did you now?" He asked. The boy nodded.

"Yeah, you fought with Tracer and Winston against those jerks at Numbani." The boy said. The clerk came out with a trash bag full of presents. Jacob ruffled the boys hair and walked over as he payed the man.

"You have a Merry Christmas this holiday." Jacob said as he left. The boy giggled as the parents and clerk watched him leave.

"Whoa, did you have an Overwatch agent here?" The father asked. The clerk nodded as Jacob disappeared.

"Athena, bring the ship back. We're going home." He said. The dropship hovered close above them as Jacob jumped and activated his thrusters to bring him to the ramp. He boarded and returned to base.

As the ship arrived, Jacob hefted the bag over his shoulder and walked down the ramp and entered the base. Winston was the first to welcome him back.

"Hey Jacob, Merry Christmas." He said giving him a small box. Jacob nodded and walked to the rec room as the agents gathered to meet him.

"Where's Lena?" He asked as the traveling Brit was nowhere to be found. "She had something back in King's Row. She'll be back." Winston said. Hana and Lucio jogged up to him and smiled.

"Hi, can we open the presents?" They asked. Ana and Reinhardt laughed as 76 nodded. Jacob dropped the bag as Lucio and Hana opened it and looked at the wrapped presents. Jacob removed his helmet and nodded to them as he took his seat next to Angela.

"Merry Christmas Jacob, I think Satya has something for you." She said with a faint smile. Jacob nodded and stood up as he made his way to the living quarters. He stopped in his room to deposit his armor and weapons. He pulled out hera's chip and slid it in his pocket. The AI appeared on his shoulder with a smile.

The two exited and made their way to Symmetra's room as whirring could be heard. Jacob knocked twice until he heard Satya made her way to the door.

"Good evening Spartan, what may I help you with?" She asked as the door was closed lightly to not show Jacob what she was working on.

"Angela said you might have something or need help with it. I thought I'd come and help you." He said as his cheeks dusted with pink.

"Well, it was a surprise. But why not now." She said opening the door to show a nearly complete Mark-V Mjolnir armor. The helmet was outfitted with new LED lights and nightvision. The armor had double shields and holsters for his twin swords.

"Satya, you didn't have to." He said walking forward and touching it lightly. "I know, I just wanted to do something for the man I've been trying to get the attention of for the past few months." She said making Jacob's face go red. Hera glanced at him and laughed.

"Hera please." Jacob begged as he hid his embarrassed face. "Is the Spartan blushing? That's cute." Satya said with a giggle.

"Not you too." Jacob moaned. Satya laughed along with Hera before walking forward and planting a kiss on his lips. Jacob froze as his thought process halted completely.

Satya broke the kiss and smiled at him. "I'll take that as a yes." She said before returning to her work. Jacob unfroze and grabbed her wrist as he twirled her to face him.

"Oh my, is this my Prince Charming?" She asked as her face flushed red. "Perhaps, the Spartan must protect his Goddess." He said before leaning in and kissed her.

~Timeskip~

Everyone opened their presents as Jacob and Satya sat on a couch next to each other. Symmetra was nuzzled close into his chest as he placed his head on hers.

"Merry Christmas Satya." He said. "Merry Christmas my sweet Angel." She replied as he kissed her. Lena made it back with someone else in tow.

"Hey guys, this is Emily my lover, Emily, this is my family." She said as a ginger haired girl appeared from behind her.

"Hey there Emily." Everyone said. Emily smiled and waved hi to everyone. Hana and Lucio hounded her with questions as Jacob and Satya got up and walked to his room. Jacob put on a sweater as she did the same. The two walked outside and stared up at the sky as the snow fell.

"This has been a wonderful Christmas Satya, thank you." He said holding her hand. "You've made my life happy with your little quirks and laugh over the past months. I'm just glad I got the courage to ask you out." She said placing her head on his shoulder. Jacob chuckled lightly and held her close. He looked down and kissed her until the shutter of a camera could be heard.

"HAHA! You owe me 20 bucks Hana!" Lucio shouted as he skated off with a pissed Spartan hot on his tail. Satya laughed as Hana walked from behind a bush and joined with her.

~Talon HQ~

"Merry Christmas Talon friends!" Sombra said holding two presents. Reaper stared at her before growling lightly.

"Who said we were friends?" He asked as Widowmaker nodded in agreement. Sombra sniffled lightly as she gave them the 'eyes'.

"Fine." He said as she cheered with joy. She gave him his and Widowmaker hers as the two began to open them. Reaper had gotten a new, polished mask while Widowmaker had a spider plushie.

"I hate you Sombra." Widowmaker said as Sombra giggled with glee. Reaper sniffled lightly before grabbing her in a hug.

"Thank you, Sombra." He said lifting his mask to show the scarred face of Gabriel Reyes.

"You're welcome Gabe." She said with a smile.

A/N: This chapter is done and over with! Merry Christmas everyone! Stay safe :) Tata for now!

~CommanderKnight145