It was three days before Christmas and all through McRory's bar, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, that's a lie. It was bustling at the bar, as the Christmas party that was planned for the night was going on. People were exchanging gifts and drinking, toasting to the holidays. Kaira, wearing her festive long-sleeved shirt and jeans, was helping tend the bar, which she and Parker decorated for the holiday season. The feeling of Christmas was in the air at the bar, and the young Leverage girls loved it. The only thing missing was snow. Which is weird, considering this is Boston they were talking about.
Parker was standing next to Hardison, flipping through the weather channels, hoping for some indication that snow was coming. Christmas decorations were on the table behind them. Parker was also wearing a Christmas sweater. Hardison finally had enough of Parker flipping the channels, all saying the same thing. That it was gonna be a warm Christmas.
"Parker." Hardison said, holding his hand for Parker to give him the remote.
Parker sighed, upset of the no snow information.
"Just give - Thank you." Hardison grabbed the remote.
"Look, the weather forecasts are the same on every single channel - I'm sorry." Hardison said, flipping through the weather channels.
Nate was walking down from his bedroom.
"But it's not Christmas without snow." Parker argued.
Nate sighed.
"Parker, you're not gonna get a white Christmas this year." Nate said, walking behind the table, heading towards the door.
"All we need is for this low-pressure system from Canada to come down and bring us a blast of cold air and precipitation." Parker said.
Nate grabbed his jacket.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that. Where are you going?" Hardison said, seeing Nate put on his jacket.
"Caroling." Nate said, about to go out the door.
"Oh." Parker perked up.
"Caroling? You do realize there's a Christmas party in the bar." Hardison said to Nate just as he was about to leave.
"Oh, son of a..." Nate said, not happy.
He shut the door behind him as he left.
"Well?" Parker looked at Hardison.
"I want flurries. Make it happen." Parker said.
She grabbed her red antler headband and left. Hardison just sighed.
Down in the bar, it was packed. People were decked out in Christmas gear and being merry. Except for Nate. He was like the Grinch, all grouchy. Kaira caught a bartender filling his glass up with eggnog. Nate told him when to stop filling it up, then grabbed the rum bottle and filled up his glass. Kaira just glared at him as he picked up his glass.
"Bah, humbug." Nate said.
He took a drink, seeing Kaira looking at him. Just then, Parker came over.
"Nate! There's a client here to see you." Parker quietly told Nate.
"We're closed. It's the holidays." Nate told Parker.
"No, I really think we should talk to this one." Parker said.
"It's Santa." Parker whispered to Nate.
Kaira walked over.
Parker gestured for them to turn around and saw there was a man over at one of the nearby booths, a coffee cup in hand that Kaira remembered giving him. He was dressed like a mall Santa. He smiled at the trio as Nate and Parker turned around. Parker smiled.
"Ah, don't you think?" Parker said, sharply turning her head, whacking Nate in the head with the antlers.
Nate cleared his throat.
"Really?" Nate looked at Parker.
"Nate, don't be a Scrooge on Christmas." Kaira warned Nate, saying she was gonna do this job regardless.
They ended up sitting at the booth, Parker sitting next to Frank, a mall Santa, and their client. They grabbed a laptop and Frank showed them footage from two days ago of the mall owner, Eben Dooley Jr., getting Frank thrown out of the mall, faking him being drunk with a bottle of booze, embarrassing him in front of children and parents. Parker shut the laptop.
"He lied. I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in years. You can ask my wife." Frank explained.
"This guy Dooley, the - the mall owner - why would he want to frame you?" Nate asked Frank.
"Over the past month, he's fired all the old Santas, guys who've worked the mall for years. And the replacements? They don't look like Santas, Mr. Ford. They look like criminals. I walked in on them meeting with Dooley, and they all clammed up. They're up to something." Frank explained.
Nate just shrugged and took a sip of his eggnog.
"Hey, I told Dooley, I'm the Senior Santa. I run the Toys for Tykes drive every Christmas Eve. If he fired me without cause, I'd sue. So he framed me to get me out of the way." Frank continued explaining.
Parker sighed, feeling bad for the guy. And Kaira was too.
"Poor Santa." Parker said, patting Franks back.
"Well, this is not just some part-time job I've lost. I make appearances as Santa all year 'round. It's who I am. But who'd let their kids near me now, huh? I just want my reputation back. I want to be Santa again." Frank said, his request simple.
Nate put his hand up.
"Uh... okay. Uh, thank you, Frank. Uh, we're gonna... talk it over." Nate said.
"Okay, thanks." Frank said, grateful.
Kaira smiled.
"Don't worry, we'll help you." Kaira assured Frank.
He grabbed a red and white candy cane and handed it to Nate.
"Uh, no, no, no. Thank you." Nate declined.
Frank sat the candy cane on the table.
"The Christmas spirit has a way of sneaking up on you, you know." Frank said.
He looked at Parker and Kaira grabbed the candy cane, smiling as she watched Frank leave. Parker sat down at the booth. She smiled as she sat down.
"What? Parker, now, this - this is too thin. Besides, we were all gonna take a break from each other and not spend the holidays together - come on." Nate said.
"Okay. Bad enough it's Christmas and there's no snow on the ground, but this is Santa we're talking about, okay? We can't turn away Santa!" Parker argued.
"Nate, come on. What's it gonna hurt if we do one more job before Christmas?" Kaira whined.
Nate looked at both women, then at Parker. "You know that's not really Santa, right?" Nate questioned Parker.
"Obviously. Santa lives at the North Pole." Parker said.
She put back on her headband and left, leaving Kaira and Nate at the booth. Kaira chuckled slightly at Parker. Nate agreed to the job.
The next morning, the team was at the Regency Square Mall. Hardison got himself and Kaira as photographers, getting pictures of the eyes of the Santas for identification. Hardison took a picture of the eyes, and Kaira had a second camera, acting as a second photographer, playing her role off as just a precaution. Hardison acted as the main photographer though. He was about to take a picture when he looked at both his and Kaira's camera. He looked at the family he was getting pictures with.
"Okay, uh, pop... a little more smile." Hardison said.
The dad in the back smiled some and Hardison looked through the camera.
"No. Kill it. Too much smile." Hardison said.
"All right. Mom? You're great. One second." Hardison scotched over the kids on Santa's lap, leaving his face open for the picture.
"Kris Kringle, open the eyes, man. Come on, it's Christmas. You're scaring the kids." Hardison said, going back to the camera.
"On three. 28... 19... 3!" Hardison held up three fingers as him and Kaira took pictures.
Kaira smiled at the family.
"All right, looking amazing! Who's next?" Kaira said.
Nate and Sophie were looking through a vendor of expensive jewelry.
"Oh. It's quite fun being able to shop on the job. Ooh, that's quite nice." Sophie said, looking at a silver chained necklace with a silver wide silver plate with loops on the end that had the name "Ellen" engraved on it.
"Is that what you want? If I'm gonna get that engraved for you, I'll need to know your real name." Nate said.
Sophie looked at Nate.
"You know what's also quite nice? A gift certificate." Sophie said, not revealing her real name.
"Oh. Sure. Yeah." Nate said.
"That's nice too." Sophie said over Nate.
Nate saw Dooley walking towards them.
"Okay, looks like I'm up." Nate said.
"Lots of energy, love. Every jobs important." Sophie said.
Nate got himself ready and left, leaving Sophie to continue shopping. Nate walked up to Dooley.
"Mr. Dooley. Hi. Anton Underhill. Retail consul -" Nate said, handing Dooley a card.
"I really don't have time for this." Dooley dismissed Nate.
"Well, time is money..." Nate said, putting his card away.
"Hmm." Dooley hummed.
"And that's what I'm offering you." Nate told Dooley.
"Parker, Eliot, be quick." Sophie qued up Eliot and Parker.
Eliot walked by the secretary, pushing a cart load of wrapped gifts, acting as a mailman. Parker was hidden underneath. He stopping in front of the reception desk and the lovely receptionist was on the phone and hung up.
"Feliz Navidad." Eliot said, chuckling.
Eliot grabbed the clipboard.
"All these for Mr. Dooley?" The receptionist asked Eliot.
Eliot looked at the forms.
"They are if his name is... Ashley." Eliot said.
"That's my name!" The receptionist exclaimed.
"No kidding?" Eliot said.
Ashley chuckled.
"Yeah. I swear." Ashley said.
Eliot proceeded to flirt with the receptionist, giving her packages. Parker sneaked out of the cart and made her way into Dooley's office. In the office, there was a dead yellow plant on the desk as well as a computer.
"Sad." Parker said.
She put some tinsel on the plant.
"Happy." Parker said.
She sat down in the chair and plugged in the drive. Parker typed on the keyboard and code popped up. She grabbed the magic 8 ball that was also on the desk and shook it. When she leaned back, she heard bottle clanking. Parker didn't like the answer she got on the magic 8 ball and put it back as she felt for the bottle. Parker grabbed a bottle of scotch and recognized it from the video.
"Dooley framed Santa with his own scotch." Parker said.
Nate was still talking to Dooley, walking by the food court and the carousel.
"It's a wonder there's any shoppers at all. You got obstructed sightlines, the signage is at the wrong height, and you've got, uh, you know, you've got the bad element, you know, chasing out the good." Nate said, seeing rowdy kids.
"What can I do? Twin Pines took all my customers." Dooley said.
Nate stopped him. "Okay, well, what if I were to tell you that my methods would get more shoppers to open up their wallets, huh? Hmm? Not too late to make a killing on Christmas Eve." Nate tried to sell the pitch.
"You know what? I'm really not interested, okay?" Dooley said, grabbing pills.
"But why don't you check out the sales at Talarico? Denim jackets are half off." Dooley said, taking a pill and walking away.
"Think about it." Nate said.
They went back to the office later that day and Hardison got his briefing ready as Parker and Kaira decorated the office, putting silver garling on the clear boards, and putting up the tree and decorating it with loot Parker had. Finally, Sophie, Eliot, and Kaira had sat at the table, Nate was eating at the dining table and reading the newspaper, and Parker wasn't seen, and Hardison got his briefing ready.
"Eben Dooley Jr. inherited the Regency Square Mall three years ago after his father passed and had since nearly run it to the ground. According to his computer files, he -" Hardison said as Jingle Bells played from the speaker Parker was holding as she skipped in, wearing a white halo and red sweater.
"Turn that off!" Nate yelled at Parker.
She didn't listen and skipped to the other side of the table.
"Parker!" Nate warned again.
Kaira just chuckled at Parker. She turned the music off. The team looked at her with varying expressions.
"What?" Parker questioned.
"As I was saying, according to his computer files, he's been inflating income. And the reality is the mall is on the verge of bankruptcy." Hardison said.
Parker grabbed a silver necklace that was expensive looking.
"Well, that would explain the anti-anxiety meds." Eliot said.
"Oh, I'd pop pills, too, if I had his gambling debts." Hardison explained.
Parker put the necklace upon the tree.
"Parker, is that the Lion of Gilgamesh?" Sophie asked Parker.
Kaira didn't realize how much loot was on the tree.
"Mm-mhh." Parker hummed, confirming what Sophie said.
"Stole it in Dubai in '05. Think it looks nice next to the Star Sapphire I took from the Prado." Parker said.
Hardison walked to the end of the table by Eliot and Kaira.
"Okay, careful! You've got like millions of dollars worth of loot on that tree." Sophie said.
Parker looked back and smiled.
"Parker, I said we would buy ornaments. Like bulbs." Kaira said.
Kaira then looked at the tree again.
"Actually, I like it." Kaira smiled.
Parker smiled at the tree.
"Happy birthday, Jesus." Parker said.
Eliot closed his eyes, annoyed at Parker. Hardison brought them back in line.
"Hey, guys, check this out. Eben's on a flight on Christmas Eve to San Lorenzo. And those Santas? Ex-cons." Hardison pulled up their faces on the screen.
Parker walked back over to the table and sat next to Eliot and Sophie.
"See, the facial recognition - it focuses on the eyes." Hardison said as Parker pulled out a gingerbread house and sat it on the table.
"Thought they could fool me with those fake beards. Sad." Hardison said as Parker slid the gingerbread house in front of Eliot, causing Kaira to smile and Eliot to stare at it.
"Are you kidding me?" Eliot asked Parker, who was pleased with herself.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's an insurance scam. He's desperate for money, so he fires the old Santas, he hires these goons to rob the mall, and by fleeing to San Lorenzo, he's got an alibi." Nate explained as Eliot pushed the gingerbread house towards Parker.
The team looked at Nate.
"If we can take Dooley down, we can prove he framed Santa." Parker said.
"Yeah, Sophie, don't let Dooley get on that plane. And we're gonna need somebody inside the mall." Nate said.
Hardison typed on his laptop.
"I'm already on it. Hacking into the mall's employee database as we speak." Hardison said.
Parker pushed the gingerbread house back towards Eliot. Eliot then pushed it back.
"Stop it." Parker whispered, sliding it back towards Eliot.
"Stop playing hot potato with the gingerbread house." Kaira said, having enough.
Hardison spent the rest of the day getting aliases created and Kaira and Parker finished decorating. Kaira even decorated her and Eliot's apartment, much to Eliot's displeasure, but he thought it was cute how excited Kaira got about Christmas.
The next day, they arrived at the mall. Eliot was the ex-con Santa, also to his displeasure, Hardison and Nate were in the parking garage, looking at Dooley's car from Lucille, Parker was an elf, Kaira a photographer, Sophie was the driver. Kaira took a picture of Eliot who had a crying little girl on his lap.
"Hey, Eliot. You in the spirit yet?" Nate came over comms.
Kaira felt bad but was also enjoying herself a bit.
"Ho ho ho." Eliot said, not pleased at all.
Most of the morning passed, with Eliot trying his best not to throw children. And Kaira did feel bad that Eliot had to go through this. Eliot was talking with a little boy about what he wanted for Christmas. The boy said that Eliot wasn't the real Santa, and touched the beard, which Eliot told him off for. He also said that Eliot smelled like his stepdad after he played basketball. He also pointed out the location of the "North Pole", saying it usually is by the pretzel stand. Eliot told the kid off about frosting and got him off his lap. The kid asked Eliot for a Rubber Robby doll. Eliot tried to get him off his lap when Parker walked over and held the boy, holding a candy cane.
"Don't worry! Santa just hasn't had his morning nog yet!" Parker said, putting on a kid's voice and handed the kid a candy cane.
The kid got off and left as Kaira reset the camera.
"You're Santa! Respect the suit!" Parker whispered to Eliot, telling him off for being grouchy.
"Parker, this beard is itchy! All right? And somebody peed on my lap earlier! And everybody wants a... Rub Me Robby." Eliot said quietly.
Kaira tried not to break.
"Babe, it's a Rubbery Robby. It's the latest toy craze." Kaira whispered.
Another kid came up.
"This is the worst job ever." Eliot said.
"This is the best job ever." Parker and Kaira said at the same time with Eliot.
"Oh, this is easily one of my favorite missions." Hardison said, taking a drink of his orange soda.
"Nate, I don't understand why you couldn't play Santa." Eliot said quietly as the kid on his lap had a candy cane.
"Well, you know, Dooley's seen me, first of all, and secondly, you just fit in better with the other Santas." Nate said.
"Really? You're the ex-con." Eliot pointed out.
Kaira tried once again to not break.
"Yeah, but you're just so... jolly." Nate said.
"Jolly." Hardison laughed a bit.
"Hardison, I'm gonna..." Eliot said when Kaira cut him off.
"Eliot, kids. Remember?" Kaira quietly warned him.
"I got a lump of coal with your name on it!" Eliot quietly exclaimed, upset.
"Okay, Sophie, have you made contact with Dooley yet?" Nate asked Sophie.
"On our way to the car now." Sophie said, walking with Dooley.
Dooley popped another pill.
"Wow. This guy's right on the edge. I could really do a number on him." Sophie said.
Eliot got the kid off his lap.
"All right, just make sure he doesn't get on that plane. And, listen, if you can spook him into calling an audibe, go to town." Nate said.
Hardison and Nate saw on the surveillance cameras the actual car arriving and pulling up next to the van and "Deck the Halls" was playing.
"Hardison, here- here's the real driver." Nate said.
Hardison grabbed his EMP cannon and got it set up. "See the blazing yule before us fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la"
Hardison sang as he opened the door.
"Zap the car with E-M-P fa-la-la-la - boom." Hardison zapped the car with the EMP cannon and the music stopped and stopped everything in the car, locking the driver in. Hardison laughed as he shut the van door.
Hardison put the cannon on the computer table. Sophie nodded to the driver as she escorted Dooley in the car and left. As they were driving to the airport, Sophie started some conversation about making sure that everything for the holidays was ready, getting Dooley to call the person he had made the plan with.
"Are you tracking this?" Sophie said quietly in the comm.
"No, the signal's encrypted. For a bunch of Santas, they have some damn good tech." Hardison said.
Soon, Eliot and Kaira went back to the break room where all the Santas were talking. None of them on a phone.
"Hey, these guys aren't talking on their phones." Eliot said.
Kaira was behind him, covered by the door.
"He's gotta be talking to a third party." Kaira said quietly.
Back in the car, Dooley was still freaking out on the phone. He asked Sophie to hurry. She tightened her seatbelt and told him he was the boss and unbuckled Dooley. She crashed the car, knocking Dooley out and deploying the airbag. Sophie got her hair out of her face and cracked her neck.
"Flight's delayed." Sophie said.
Eliot walked into the break room as Kaira waited outside. The bad Santas all looked at Eliot as he grabbed some coffee. He managed to get a tiny bit of info from the goons, planting him with a bell at the front of the mall. So, Kaira was near where Eliot was as he was ringing a bell next to a kettle that had a card reader. Hardison and Nate could see him on the surveillance cameras. Eliot wasn't exactly selling the part.
"Boy, Eliot, come on. You're not gonna get any donations like that. Put some heart into it." Nate said.
"I don't understand why I can't just take these guys out. All right? I took out a Uruguayan death squad with nothing but piano wire and a-" Eliot realized the nosy boy from earlier was listening.
"What?" Eliot asked the kid.
Kaira walked up to the kid, as she was dressed like an elf.
"Sorry, sweetie. Santas just cranky because he's under a lot of stress." Kaira said.
The boy looked at Eliot.
"You got any money? Get the hell on!" Eliot said, motioning with the bell.
The boy left and Kaira showed her displeasure.
"If you weren't dressed as Santa, and we weren't in public, Eliot, I would smack you." Kaira told Eliot off.
"Be nicer." Kaira scolded Eliot.
"Listen, there will be plenty of clobbering time once the job begins. We just have a couple of hours before the mall closes, so relax - I'll bring you a pretzel." Nate said.
Meanwhile, Sophie was at the hospital, fanning herself off, sitting next to Dooley, who was out from the accident. He came to.
"I... I have to catch my flight." Dooley said, still woozy.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere, I'm afraid, not in your condition." Sophie said.
"No, you don't understand. I have to get out of town." Dooley tried to get up, but Sophie stopped him and told him to calm down.
"Do you know how lucky you are? The universe must have a plan for you." Sophie said, buttering Dooley up.
"No, not me. I am beyond saving." Dooley said, still high from the morphine.
"No one's beyond saving, Mr. Dooley. Not at Christmas time." Sophie said.
Dooley picked up his morphine remote and clicked it a few times, groaning and sighing.
"More morphine. Back at the mall, Eliot was playing with the bell as Nate and Hardison walked up to him. Kaira was standing next to Eliot.
"Santa?" Nate walked up to Eliot.
"Why don't you help out the needy, man? I got a quota to fill here." Eliot said.
"Yeah. Ho ho ho." Nate said.
A young woman swiped her card on the kettle and typed in her pin and walked in between Eliot and Nate. Eliot and Kaira smiled at her and wished her Merry Christmas.
"They got credit cards for those things?" Nate asked Eliot.
"I don't know, man. I guess it's more convenient these days." Eliot said.
Hardison pulled out his phone and laughed.
"I got to get a picture of this." Hardison said, getting his phone up.
"Damn the jokes, man. I will knock oyu out with this bell, man." Eliot warned, holding the bell.
"Hey, man, come on." Hardison said.
"I'm serious." Eliot said.
Kaira saw the look Hardison had and got out her phone. It read that there was an RFID signal coming from nearby. Hardison and Kaira looked around.
"Hey. Hey, man, this thing's got an RFID antenna." Hardison told Eliot and Nate quietly.
"Radio frequency I.D? Maybe to prevent shoplifting." Nate said.
He grabbed a purse from the stand behind Eliot and walked up to the archway with a wreath on it and nothing happened.
"Or not." Nate said.
He tossed the purse to Eliot, who had Kaira put it away.
"Guys, those are at every exit. Do you think they're connected to the robbery?" Parker questioned.
The group all saw that indeed, the kettles were everywhere and people were swiping cards left and right.
"Not a physical robbery. It's virtual." Nate said.
"So you're saying this thing's bigger than we thought." Eliot said.
Parker walked over.
"Guys, this whole mall is an identity sponge. Between the kettle and the RFID readers, Dooley's collecting thousands of credit and debit numbers through the holiday season." Nate explained.
"And because everybody's buying last-minute gifts for Christmas, none of the credit companies can keep up with all the backlog." Kaira realized, knowing they really kicked the hornet's nest.
"Sure." Nate confirmed.
"So fraudulent charges aren't gonna flag." Parker poitned out.
"Yeah, but credit card holders are only liable for, what, 50 bucks a fraud?" Eliot questioned.
"Well, per incident." Nate corrected.
"Yeah, if there's hundreds of incidents and hundreds of transactions on every card." Parker said.
"When the store closes tonight, Dooley and his team are gonna rip off millions of dollars, and no one will even notice. He's stealing Christmas." Nate said.
He motioned for Eliot to leave and he did. Meanwhile, Sophie heard the revelation from the hospital.
"Credit card fraud?" Sophie questioned.
"Sophie, find out how Dooley's pulling the trigger. He's got to be working with a hacker." Nate said as the team at the mall spread out some to look for anyone suspicious.
"He's right on the edge. I think I can turn him. Get him to call the whole thing off." Sophie said.
"Well, hurry up. We might be too lre already." Nate said as Hardison was scanning the archway.
Sophie made a phone call and then had control of the morphine remote as Frank arrived at the hospital in full Santa outfit and a red sack of toys.
"Santa?" Dooley questioned, still high from the morphine.
"If it isn't Ebenezer Dooley." Frank said.
He laughed like Santa.
"Taken a little tumble, have we?" Frank asked Dooley.
"What are you doing here?" Dooley asked Frank.
"Children in hospitals need toys, too." Sophie said.
Frank started digging in his toy sack.
"You look like you could use a..." Frank pulled out a toy.
"Rubbery Robby doll." Frank said, setting the toy on the bed.
"I fired you. Why would you be kind to me?" Dooley asked Frank.
"Oh, Santa doesn't hold grudges. But there is something I want to talk to you about. Credit card fraud, Eben? On Christmas eve?" Frank said.
Sophie clicked her tongue.
"What? What are y- How do you know?" Dooley asked Frank.
"Santa knows everything. He's got a list." Frank said.
"Okay, what are you? What - are you the real Santa?" Dooley asked.
Frank chuckled and Sophie gave Dooley more morphine.
"You know? You know what I did?" Dooley asked Frank.
"Ho ho ho." Frank said, confirming what Dooley thought.
"I want... I want to be nice, Santa. I don't want to be naughty." Dooley said, still high.
"Well, then you know what you have to do!" Frank told Dooley.
Sophie stood up.
"Call off your hacker, and Santa will pretend this never happened." Sophie said.
She grabbed the phone and handed it to Dooley. Dooley grabbed the phone and it rung.
"That's him now." Dooley said, still groggy.
He answered the phone.
"Yeah. Hey. Hi. Yeah, I want you to stop. Turn it off. I don't want to go through... mm? I don't..." Dooley sighed and removed the phone from his ear.
"He wants to talk to Sophie Devereaux." Dooley said.
The team perked up as Sophie grabbed the phone. She put it up to her ear and sighed.
"Who is this?" Sophie asked.
"Hello, Sophie. It's the Grinch who stole Christmas." A male voice came on the line. "Chaos?" Sophie realized.
"Long time, no try to kill you." Chaos said.
Kaira flashed back to the last time they saw Chaos, which was when he sent a bomb Kaira's ex-boyfriend made in a vase of flowers and nearly killed Sophie, having to fake her death to save her. That was a year ago. God has things changed since then.
"I take it that, via your comms, I'm talking to the entire Justice League?" Chaos said.
"Well, Eliot won't be the only one doing some clobbering today." Kaira growled.
"Hello, Chaos. I thought we left you rotting in a federal prison." Nate said.
"Oh, come on. Those things are made to be broken out of. You of all people know that. Especially one that runs its security off an unencrypted operating system. Am I right, Hardison? Oh, and uh, Parker? You look yummy in that elf costume." Chaos said.
Kaira groaned more, realizing they were being watched and looking at the camera.
"Kaira, you not so much. I mean, you look good, but you're not my type." Chaos added.
"You sick son of a bitch. What, did me revealing your master plan turn you off? I mean, it's your fault you used my ex to make the bombs and tried to kill my friend." Kaira growled, catching that the kettle were now off the chains.
"Hey. The Santas." Hardison said.
"Come on." Nate said, leaving.
Kaira and Hardison followed him. Eliot made it to the break room, seeing the room cleaned up.
"They're gone." Eliot reported.
He saw a coffee cup on the table and grabbed it, feeling it was still warm.
"Hey, guys. Their cocoa's still warm. They can't be far... Y'all. Damn it, Hardison." Chaos imitated Eliot.
Eliot left, realizing he was also being watched.
"Don't bother trying to chase us. All the piees are in place for my credit-card catastrophe. And there is nothing that you or that waste of painkillers, Eben Dooley, can do about it. Oh, and, Hardison? This is a nice gun. Maybe if I'm a good boy, Santa will bring me one." Chaos said.
Kaira, Nate, and Hardison knew he was by Lucille.
"Son of a bitch! I am going to kick your ass, Chaos, if you touch the van." Kaira growled as the trio ran.
They made it out to the parking garage and saw Chaos fired the EMP cannon at the van.
"Oh, Lucille Two!" Hardison exclaimed, seeing Lucille in flames and Chaos in the getaway van.
"Ho ho ho!" Chaos yelled as he left.
"I'm gonna whup your ass, Chaos!" Kaira yelled, ready to chase after the van, but Nate stopped her, giving Chaos the finger before he went out of view.
"Come on, man!" Hardison yelled.
"What, he set the EMP on toast?" Nate asked Hardison.
"He killed her, Nate. I hate him. I hate him." Hardison said.
"I'll kick his ass for you, big brother, don't worry." Kaira said.
"She was a good van. We'll get you another." Nate said.
They left. Eliot went by the kettle and was breaking the archway, pulling the red berries off. They all met in the main part of the mall.
"How's he gonna pull this off?" Nate asked, joining up with the others.
"Okay, look, his network is piggybacking off the city's trunk line. It's the internet backbone. Eliot, you can rip all you want, man, but you're not shutting down Chaos from here." Hardison said.
He looked at his phone and saw that the credit card numbers were being translated.
"What?" Parker asked him.
"He just pulled the trigger." Hardison reported, revealing the plan was in motion.
"Then every second that we delay, innocent people are getting scammed. So the only way to turn Chaos off... is to turn off the trunk line." Hardison said.
"Where is it?" Kaira asked, knowing they couldn't delay.
"Which is housed at... The Yakamoto building." Hardison explained.
"Hardison, that's a major operation on a military-grade facility. I can call my sources, man. I need a week of planning, new equipment..." Eliot pointed out.
"All right, Sophie, meet us at the Yakamoto building downtown. We're gonna pull an Edward Albee." Nate said.
They left the mall. It was way into the night by this point. Sophie changed out of her driver outfit. Nate crashed and walked into the building, slurring his speech with Sophie at his side, keeping the door unlocked as they arguing with each other about Nate supposedly cheating on her with her sister. Hardison and Parker were holding on to each other as they repelled down the elevator shaft.
"Fifth floor!" Parker said in a weird voice and started chuckling as her and Hardison started undoing the harness.
"You know what? That was not on my bucket list, okay?" Hardison told Parker.
"Oh, come on! Do you know how many chimneys Santa has to go down tonight? You only had to go down one." Parker said, getting the harnesses off.
Sophie got herself pushed against the wall to calm down and lifted the card off the guard as he still argued with Sophie about her sister. Eliot and Kaira sneaked by and Eliot grabbed the card from Nate. They ran up the steps to get to the right floor. Hardison and Parker stepped out of the elevator. Hardison was breathing heavy as he got his phone out.
"You know what? When this is over, we gonna have us a long talk." Hardison warned Parker.
He got the location of the server room on his phone.
"Okay, server room is that way." Hardison said, going left. Eliot and Kaira walked into an office and Eliot started choking the guy.
"Merry Christmas, bud. Merry Christmas. Mery Christmas!" Eliot said, finally choking the guy out.
Nate and Sophie exited, saying I love yous and sapping up each other. Hardison and Parker made it to the server room. Kaira held open the guards eye and Eliot scanned it, opening the security station. Kaira laid the guards head on the table with a thud, causing her to wince.
"Sorry, dude." Kaira said.
"Get some overtime." Eliot said, throwing a candy cane on the table.
He got on the computer and opened up the truck line control room for Hardison and Parker.
"The server room alarm is off." Kaira reported.
Hardison and Parker saw that the lock disengaged and Hardison opened the door and they walked in. Hardison looked at his phone, trying to find the trunk line for they needed. Parker went to touch a server.
"Don't touch anything." Hardison warned Parker.
Eliot and Kaira left the office. Hardison and Parker found the server.
"Nate, man, this is like trying to plug a fire hose with a pebble." Hardison said.
"Hardison, are you saying you can't do it?" Nate asked.
Sophie was leaning on Nate.
"When have I ever said that... ever?" Hardison asked.
He got out his laptop and opened it. He uploaded the worm.
"He's in." Parker reported.
Hardison was silent as he did his thing.
"You're in, right?" Parker asked Hardison.
"Yeah. Just have to find the sector with the mall so we don't shut down the whole city." Hardison said.
He found it.
"All right, Chaos, this is for Lucille two." Hardison said.
He turned the data offline.
"Oh, you can keep knocking, but you ain't coming in." Hardison said, proud on himself.
"Yeah, okay. We should probably - shall we?" Parker said, indicating they needed to leave.
"Yeah. Ciao." Haridson said, loading up his laptop.
They left nad met back upa t the office. Hardiosn showed that a bunch of law enforcement were heading to the building on the screen.
"Well, people, not bad, huh? For like - what was it? - 8 minutes of planning?" Sophie said as Eliot handed everyone beers, minus Nate, who was looking at the screen.
"I feel bad I had to take out the guard, though." Eliot said.
"You didn't kill him. And you left him a candy cane." Kaira smiled, glass the job was done as Hardison walked over to Nate with two beers.
"That's all right. I-I feel like caroling. Is it too late for caroling?" Parker said.
Kaira smiled.
"Of course not." Sophie said.
"It's still Christmas Eve, Parker." Kaira said.
Hardison offered Nate a beer.
"Hey, man. What's the matter? Come on, we did just take down one of the most secure facilities in town. Boom - don't leave me hangin'." Hardison said, putting the beer down holding out his fist for a fistbump.
"Every law-enforcement agency is descending on Yakamoto right now." Nate said.
"Come on." Haridson said, still holding his fist.
"Why would the treasury be sending a car? I mean, why would they be interested in some neighborhood losing their internet access?" Nate asked, causing the group at the table to look at him.
"I-I don't know. Uh, trunk lines can't be hacked. The government could use them for a security application, theoretically." Hardison said.
"Yeah. Call up the mall." Nate said.
Hardison pulled up the mall on the map, and it was right next to the Federal Bank Depository. Everyone was now gathered at the screen.
"Now, when you shut off the lines to the mall, you also shut off the depository. Yeah. That's it right there. Okay, guys... we just got played." Nate said.
An alarm on the screen started blaring. This was not good.
"Son of a bitch." Kaira muttered.
They all sat at the dining table to get something together.
"How do you not think to ask your sources what else was on that trunk line?" Hardison asked Eliot, upset they got played.
"How come you didn't figure out Chaos was after the bank, man? I thought all you dorks thought alike!" Eliot exclaimed, also upset.
"I did my job, man!" Hardison argued.
"You want to see me do mine?" Eliot asked Hardison.
"Knock it off, both of you." Kaira scolded them both.
"Your job is to deliver magic and joy to little boys and girls." Parker said to Eliot.
Kaira glared at Parker.
"Not the time, Parker." Kaira growled.
"Wow, I thought Christmas at Aunt Emily's was humiliating." Sophie said, scratching her head.
"All I'm - you got to check every - every avenue!" Eliot argued with Hardison.
"I did check every avenue!" Hardison argued.
"Enough!" Nate yelled, getting the boys to shut up.
"We all did our jobs! Everyone except me." Nate said.
The team looked at him.
"Now, Chaos, he manipulated us because we're the best. Now, my job is to see two steps ahead. I-I should have realized that this credit-card scam was a setup - I didn't." Nate sighed.
"I-I-I didn't take this job seriously. I-I don't know. I just, um, I led us right into Chaos' trap." Nate said, upset at himself.
The team gathered around the briefing table as Nate threw some things from a case on the table, upset.
"We were all thrown." Sophie said.
Nate sighed.
"Yes, but it's my job not to be. I'm sorry." Nate said.
"You're what?" Sophie questioned.
Nate walked behind Parker.
"Christmas eve is a magical night." Parker said.
"Well, you just ruined it." Eliot said.
Nate walked back to the end of the table.
"Look, Nathan, we can stand around here and play the blame game all night, but I'm tired and pissed, so I say we make a plan and kick a little Chaos ass." Kaira said, rallying the team, showing Nate her forgiveness.
Nate looked at Kaira and thought of something.
"The plan is... to figure out the plan in the car." Nate said.
The team left behind him. They got in the car and made a plan.
They arrived at the mall and Parker looked through binoculars at the depository.
"Any visual on Chaos?" Nate asked Parker.
"No sign of visible entry. No roof access. They must have gone in underneath." Parker said, lowering the binoculars.
"No. Tunneling's too risky. It would have taken months." Hardison pointed out.
"Unless the tunnel was already there." Nate said.
He looked at the team.
"Back in the '60s, Pedestrian tunnels were sort of the wave of the future. The mob made a fortune on the contracts until the state shut them down." Nate said.
"Yeah, my grandpa used to tell me stories of the tunnels underneath Boston." Kaira said, realizing the way in.
"And you got this from your days in insurance." Sophie said to Nate.
"Oh, no, my dad's pals, they used to joke about going to live in the tunnels when their wives kicked them out." Nate explained.
"So how do we get in?" Parker asked.
Kaira could tell Eliot was thinking, and caught on, remembering the little boy asking about why the North Pole was moved when it usually was near the pretzel stand.
"The North Pole." Eliot said.
"What?" Sophie asked Eliot.
"The entrance in under the North Pole. Let's go." Eliot said, walking away.
The team followed. The team met up with a still high but happy Dooley and Frank, leading a hoard of kids in the mall.
"Dooley?" Sophie said.
"Hey, driver lady! And... pushy consultant guy! You're just in time." Dooley said.
Frank noticed Eliot's beard wasn't on.
"Wait. Pull up the beard, son. Respect the suit." Frank told Eliot.
Parker hit Eliot's back.
"Told ya." Parker said.
Eliot pulled up the beard.
"What's going on, Frank?" Nate asked.
"The Toys for Tykes drive is back on - thanks to Mr. Dooley." Frank explained.
"Yeah, it's still Christmas eve, and I said to Santa, it's not too late to make those kids' dreams come true." Dooley then started laughing, confusing the team as moved to the side.
"Drove a bus to the family shelter and loaded everyone up. At first, I thought it was the pills, but now I think he's really changed." Frank said, laughing as he went to join Dooley.
"Eliot, Kaira, go meet Chaos in the tunnels. The rest of you got some last-minute shopping to do." Nate said.
The team split to do their tasks. Eliot and Kaira made their way in the tunnels. Chaos was walking with the other Santas, and a bag fool of cash. Air was hissing as they walked towards each other. Eliot pulled down his beard.
"Well, if it isn't Kristina Kringle and Kris Kringle." Chaos said, obviously indicating Eliot as Kristina Kringle and Kaira as Kris Kringle.
"Chaos." Eliot said, making jazz hands.
"Hello, you son of a bitch." Kaira said, showing she was ready for blood.
"You killed my friend's van." Eliot said.
"Oh, yeah, I wrecked that van. Take them out, guys. Meet me at the garage." Chaos said.
The goons dropped their bags.
"We doing this beards or without beards, boys?" Eliot asked the goons approached him.
Kaira ran past and went after Chaos, getting him to run. Eliot quickly took out the Santas with punches and ramming his leg into the guts.
"Santa's coming to town." Eliot said as he took another goon down.
Nate was still in the mall. He got out his cell phone.
"Yes, I'm calling about the attack on the trunk lines." Nate said.
Eliot got whammed, and thrown into the pipe, which burst. Nate ended his phone call.
"Eliot, Kaira, what's happening?" Nate said.
"I'm chasing Chaos right now!" Kaira exclaimed as she ran through the tunnels.
Eliot yelled from the hot steam and the Santas grabbed the sacks and ran.
"Eliot." Nate repeated.
"Nate , they're headed back to the mall." Eliot said.
"Okay, I'll take it from here." Nate said, leaving.
Eliot also left. Parker, Nate, and Sophie were at the North Pole behind the crowd of kids, blocking the bad Santas from leaving. Sirens were heard. The police came in.
"Come on, spread the holiday cheer." Parker yelled at the bad Santas, who were confused.
"Now, you heard the elf." Frank said.
The kids got excited at the idea of toys, and the bad Santas opened the bags to reveal toys, not money in them.
See, Parker, Hardison, and Sophie filled the bags with gifts from under a tree, then as Eliot was fighting the Santas, Hardison and Parker switched out the bags. In the confusion and Eliot getting hit, he grabbed the valve, causing more confusion and forcing the bad Santas to go to the mall. Parker walked up to the lead FBI agent.
"Special Agent Hagen. You must have gotten my handler's call. Deep cover. You're gonna find the stolen cash under the tunnel." Parker explained.
Parker then stopped the group.
"Wait. Wait for the kids to leave. We don't want to ruin Christmas." Parker told the FBI agent.
Eliot snuck out from under the tree in another exit, wearing he was greeted by the same boy that had been questioning him most of the day.
"So, are you mean or not?" The boy asked Eliot.
Eliot grabbed a Rubber Robby doll and gave it to the boy.
"Shh. Don't tell anybody." Eliot said.
He got out from under the tree. Kaira saw Chaos climbing up to a grate and opening it. He got up, revealing Hardison was there along with two FBI agents.
"What's up, Mason?" Hardison said.
Kaira came up as Kaira walked up beside Hardison, wearing an FBI jacket.
"Oh. come on." Chaos said, upset he'd been played.
Chaos tried to run, but Kaira tacked him, knocking the sack over, revealing the money. See, Hardison put a tracker in the bag as Kaira was chasing Chaos. Kaira put Chao's hands behind his back and put on the handcuffs.
"Seriously?" Chaos said, upset.
Kaira stood Chaos up.
"This is for trying to kill Sophie." Kaira whispered in Chaos' ear and kicked his leg, causing Chaos to grunt as he buckled some, but Kaira kept him up, with Haridson revealing the tracker and keeping the FBI agents off of Kaira.
"This is for bringing my ex back into my life." Kaira whispered again in Chaos's ear and kicked his other knee in.
Kaira once again got close to Chaos' ear.
"And this is for destroying Hardison's van." Kaira whispered, kicking Chaos in the Achilles heel, once again buckling.
Kaira passed Chaos off to the other FBI agents. Another fed by Hardison took the bag and walked away.
"Hey, be careful with him, all right? I mean, he looks harmless, pathetic even - weak chin, pale complexion - but I assure you, he's dangerous." Hardison said.
"You have to admit it, it as a good plan." Chaos said.
"Yeah. But there's one thing you didn't count on." Hardison said.
"Oh, no." Chaos said, getting dragged away.
"You forgot about the true meaning..." Hardison started.
"No. No. Don't you say it!" Chaos said, angry as he was being dragged away.
"Of Christmas." Hardison finished his joke.
"Aah! That barely applies here!" Chaos yelled as he went out of view.
"Oh, and how much of a bitch I can be." Kaira called out to Chaos, feeling excited.
"Ho ho ho." Hardison finished.
Once the clean-up was done, they once again met back at the bar. The team was all gathered at the corner of the bar. Nate behind the bar, Sophie sitting on the bar, then Hardison, Eliot beside him, then Kaira, then Parker. This celebration called for champagne, so Nate poured everyone glasses.
"Hey, pardon my language on Christmas, but, uh, we kicked Chaos's ass." Hardison said, glad the job was over.
"Yes, we did. Here's to that." Nate said.
The team raised their glasses and they all toasted. They took a sip.
"Hey, so when are you gonna take that off?" Parker asked Eliot.
"The whole... the whole Santa beard... didn't do it for me." Sophie said.
"I'm sorry babe, but the red bandana works. But the suit has to go." Kaira said, chuckling at herself.
"Wow." Eliot said, not liking the negative feedback.
"Sorry." Sophie muttered.
"Hey, listen. This being Christmas Eve and all, um, Sophie and I, we thought - well, me mostly - Sophie definitely helped." Nate said, causing Sophie to scoff.
"We thought - and by the way, there's no need to reciprocate, mind you - it's - but we thought -" Nate tried to say.
"We got you presents." Sophie said.
Parker gasped. Kaira smiled, surprised.
"Yeah." Nate said.
Hardison was shocked, and Eliot was confused.
"You bought us gifts?" Eliot asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say bought, exactly. We, um, obtained." Sophie said.
"Yeah. So, Eliot..." Nate put his glass down.
"You're first." Nate said.
He reached underneath the bar and pulled out a sword and handed it to Eliot with both hands. Eliot took the sword and took off the cover for the handle, then pulled it out of the sheath partially (I am so sorry if I accidentally use the wrong terms here, I am not a sword person). Eliot was surprised but hid it well. Kaira smiled.
"This is a Hanzo sword." Eliot realized, his voice soft.
"Yeah." Nate confirmed.
"How'd..." Eliot smiled and stammered for a tad.
"Who did you talk..." Eliot started showing his excitement.
"Well, I-I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a Samurai." Nate explained. Kaira rubbed her hand on Eliot's back, comforting him as she was excited for him. Sophie reached from under the bar and pulled out a small, flat box.
"Hardison." Sophie said, handing the box to Hardison.
Eliot sheathed the sword and walked away. Hardison took the top off the box and pulled out a device.
"No, this can't be." Hardison said.
He played with the casing a bit.
"It is. Prototype 7. They haven't even released version 5 yet." Hardison said, shocked.
"Well, I won't tell if you won't." Sophie said, rubbing her fingers on Nate's jacket.
"You better believe it." Hardison grabbed his glass and left to play with the device.
Nate laughed as Parker just stood there.
"Don't torture her." Sophie lightly hit Nate.
"Okay. All right, Parker, you're next. Put your hands out." Nate said, smiling as he handed Parker a yellow envelope with green, red, and silver curly ribbon on it.
Parker was smiling. She opened it up and gasped.
"How did you know?" Parker asked, excited as she pulled out the cash.
"Nonsequential serial numbers? My favorite!" Parker said, holding the cash to her chest and then smelled it.
She left, leaving Kaira there. Kaira turned and looked at the team, excited to see them happy.
"Of course, we didn't forget you, Kaira." Nate smiled at Kaira.
Kaira turned back and saw Nate grabbed another box. Kaira smiled at Nate and Sophie as she hesitantly grabbed the box.
"You didn't have to." Kaira said, surprised.
"No, I didn't. But I did." Nate said.
Kaira opened the box, revealing a box that a necklace would be in. Kaira sat the box on the bar, then held the necklace box. She opened it, revealing a necklace with a silver chain that was closely chained together, and an antique-style pendant. Kaira opened the pendant, revealing a locket that had Nate's picture on one side that had "dad" in old print engraved at the bottom plate, and on the other side Sophie's picture that had "mom" in the same spot. Kaira put her hand up to her mouth, shocked. Kaira all but leaped across the bar to Nate, hugging him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kaira said, getting hyper as she was happy.
Nate chuckled and smiled as he hugged Kaira.
"Merry Christmas, kiddo." Nate said.
He placed a kiss on the top of Kaira's head. Then Kaira got up and sat on the bar to hug Sophie.
"Thank you, Sophie." Kaira whispered.
"You're welcome, sweetie." Sophie said, smiling at Kaira.
Kaira left to go sit at a booth to put her necklace on. Eliot then unsheathed the sword and cut the corner of the chair off by slicing it.
"Oh!" Sophie said, slightly regretting getting Eliot the sword.
Nate was smiling at his team at how happy they were. Parker was sniffing her money and Hardison was playing with the gizmo. Kaira was putting the necklace on and looking at the locket. Sophie sighed, content with the moment she was in.
"You know, I got something for you, too." Nate told Sophie. "Oh, you shouldn't have." Sophie said.
"Yeah, you're right." Nate said when Sophie spun around.
"Give it to me quick." Sophie said, getting off the bar as Nate grabbed the wooden box.
"Here you are." Nate said. Sophie grabbed the box and opened it, revealing the necklace that she said she liked, with "your name here" engraved.
"Your name here." Sophie said.
"You know, you don't have to get me anything. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't. I'm very hard to shop for, so..." Nate said when Sophie shushed him.
"I, uh..." Nate said.
Sophie grabbed a napkin and a pen.
"I'm gonna give you something." Sophie said.
She wrote something down and gave it to Nate.
"There's something... for you." Sophie said.
Nate took the napkin.
"Merry Christmas." Sophie said.
"Merry Christmas." Nate smiled.
Nate and Sophie looked at each other.
Parker then looked outside, causing the others to stop what they were doing as Kaira joined Parker at the door. The snow was falling steadily. Kaira smiled and held out her tongue along with Parker as the girls giggled. Eliot smiled at how cute Kaira was. Kaira and Parker felt like little kids seeing snow for the first time. After finishing their drinks, everyone went to bed. Christmas morning, Kaira was up just as the sun was up, too excited to sleep in. She was in the kitchen in Nate's apartment making breakfast and texted the team to join her.
When morning arrived, Kaira had everything set up on the table. They all came in and saw the food on the table, and the various sized boxes on the briefing table.
"Merry Christmas." Kaira smiled, placing the plate of bacon on the table.
"Merry Christmas." Parker smiled, hugging Kaira.
"What is all this?" Nate asked Kaira.
Kaira walked around the table.
"Well, I figured since it's Christmas, I'd make you all breakfast. And I got you all some presents on the table there." Kaira pointed to the table, causing the team to turn and look.
"Kaira, you didn't have to do this." Hardison said, surprised.
"It's Christmas." Kaira said, smiling at the team.
"Let's eat. Come on." Kaira said, signaling for everyone to sit.
"Can't we do presents first?" Parker asked, excited. Kaira chuckled.
"No, Parker, we're eating first." Kaira said.
The team all sat down and ate and talked all morning. Then, once the table was cleaned, they all stood a the briefing table. In a row were several boxes, one for each team member. The team was surprised but excited.
"All right. Eliot, here's your gift." Kaira grabbed a box and handed it to Eliot, and hid his smile as he opened his box.
He opened it, revealing a new knife set for cooking. Eliot looked at Kaira, a smile on his face.
"Thank you." Eliot said, hugging Kaira.
"You're welcome." Kaira said.
Eliot placed a quick kiss on Kaira's lips. Eliot then reached back in the bag and pulled out a card. On the card was a curled arm. He read it and smiled at Kaira. He left to put the knife Kaira grabbed another box.
"All right, Parker, you're next." Kaira handed to box to Parker, who excitedly took the box.
She opened it, revealing a stuffed teddy and another card with a crowbar. Parker read it and hugged Kaira. She left and played with the teddy. Kaira grabbed the next box.
"All right, Sophie. This is yours." Kaira handed the box to Sophie, who was smiling.
She opened it, revealing a wooden picture frame with a picture of Kaira that had "daughter" burned into the wood at the bottom. Sophie smiled and hugged Kaira.
"Oh, I love it." Sophie said, excited.
Kaira smiled as Sophie looked at the card. It had the tragedy and comedy masks for theater on it. Sophie opened it and smiled and hugged Kaira again. She put the photo down. Kaira grabbed the next box.
"Hardison?" Kaira said, handing the box to Hardison.
He smiled and opened the box, seeing a nice RC car. He pulled it out of the box, all smiles. He hugged Kaira and grabbed the card, which had a laptop on it, and read it. He hugged Kaira again and left to play with the car.
"Nathan, this is yours." Kaira handed the box to Nate.
"No, Kaira, you don't have to." Nate tried to argue but Kaira handed the box to Nate.
"Nate, I insist." Kaira said.
Nate took the box and opened it. He smiled as he opened the box. He pulled out a picture frame that was identical to the one Sophie had. She smiled and pulled Kaira into a hug.
"Thank you, Kiddo." Nate said, moved by the gesture.
Kaira hugged him.
"Merry Christmas, Nate." Kaira whispered.
She let go and Nate went to put the photo in his bedroom. The team was all around the offices, happy as can be on Christmas.
Later the night, Eliot and Kaira went back into their apartment. Kaira and Eliot took off their jackets. Eliot and Kaira held each other and kissed. Kaira and Eliot chuckled at each other. Eliot let go.
"I got you something, Princess." Eliot said.
"Okay." Kaira smiled.
She took off her shoes as Eliot went into the bedroom and Kaira was behind him. Eliot went into the drawer and pulled out a necklace box. When he turned, Kaira was in her lingerie. Eliot smiled and handed the box to Kaira. Kaira took it.
"Eliot, you didn't have to." Kaira said.
"What, am I not supposed to give my Princess something for Christmas?" Eliot questioned.
Kaira smiled and opened the box. In it was a gold necklace with a fancy "E" pendant. Kaira smiled.
"I love it!" Kaira hugged Eliot.
Eliot chuckled at how excited Kaira was. Kaira took the necklace out of the box and sat the box on the drawer. She handed the necklace to Eliot. He undid the clasp and put the necklace around her neck. Kaira looked at it and looked at Eliot. He kissed her again on the lips. Kaira chuckled and grabbed the bottom of Eliot's shirt and lifted it up. Eliot then grabbed his shirt and lifted it off. He held Kaira and kissed her as he moved her to the bed. Needless to say, they enjoyed the night.