TITLE: A Home For The Holidays
AUTHOR: M. Edison
FEEDBACK: Oh yes please! Be gentle though. ;-)
CATEGORY: AU.
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: None
SUMMARY: Christmas 2000
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters or concepts of The Sentinel belong to me but Annie
& Jo do
A Home For The Holidays
by M. Edison
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 22, 2000
Major Crime, Cascade Police Department
The pen scratched across the paper as the Sentinel signed his last report.
Finishing his signature, Jim flipped the file shut and looked up. "You done,
Annie?"
The female sentinel looked up. "Yeah, logging off now." Pushing away from her
desk, Annie stood and walked over to Megan.
"Hey, Meg, you're coming to the party at the Brewery, right?" The blonde smiled
warmly at her friend. "We transplants gotta stick together."
Megan, who had been battling a severe case of homesickness, smiled faintly.
"Sure, wouldn't miss it."
"Good." Jim walked up to stand behind Annie. "Wouldn't be right if you weren't there."
Megan looked up at the couple and her smile widened. "Thank you."
Anie leaned over to grasp the other woman's hand. "Hey, we're family. We stick together."
***
December 23, 2000
Emergency Room, Cascade General
"Doctor Barnes! Doctor Barnes!"
Jo looked up from her patients reports, a frown on her pretty face. "What is it?"
The young nurse skidded to a stop. "The lab..." She looked hesitant.
"The lab what?" the brunette prompted, a hint of a smile reaching her face.
"Well...they were... uh...They were supposed to receive a shipment of mice and..."
The nurse trailed off and Jo felt a wave of uneasiness.
"What about the mice?"
"Well, a crate got misplaced. They think they got mixed up with the ER's supplies."
Jo automatically looked in the direction of the supply room. "Uh oh..." Her tone turned rueful,
as she returned her gaze to the nurse. "I just sent an intern in there to sort the new
supplies."
As if on cue, there was a distinctly girlish scream and Jo made a face. "Oops."
Abandoning her work, the doctor raced to the supply room door and peered in the window.
A giggle escaped her at the sight of the young man perched atop a chair, white mice
(50 according to the large print on the box) scurrying around the room. "Someone better call
housekeeping and tell 'em to bring cheese."
***
December 23, 2000
The Brewery
"Fifty white mice?" Blair snickered as Jo passed him another ornament to put on the tree.
"Yep," She grinned. "You should have seen him up on that chair looking
absolutely petrified. Who knew he had a phobia about mice?" She turned to pick
up another ornament box as the door opened to admit Riley, the resident canine
and Annie, the resident Sentinel.
"Fifty white mice?" The lovely blonde bent over to take off Riley's leash. "No
wonder he freaked. I'd be a touch nervous with all those little guys swarming around."
Her words provided Jo a mental picture and the younger woman immediately began
to giggle. Though he hadn't witnessed the original incident, Blair laughed as well.
Watching the two laughing Guides, Annie let Riley race into the living room then
turned to hang up her coat.
"Something funny?" Arms laden with grocery bags, Jim stepped through the open door.
"Me, I think, that's what you get for listening to that car instead of these
guys." Annie took a couple of the bags and walked into the kitchen. "Stick on a
CD guys! If we're getting ready for Christmas, it should at least *sound* like
Christmas in here."
Abandoning the Christmas tree and Blair for a moment, Jo headed for the stereo
to turn on the power and choose a CD. Moments later, the sound of Amy Grant's
rendition of 'Sleigh Ride' wafted through the Brewery, bringing smiles to the
inhabitants' faces.
"Thanks!"
Having hung his jacket by the door, Jim picked up the remaining grocery bags and
headed for the kitchen, keeping a cautious eye on Riley. The excited Irish
Setter was racing from person to person and, if you weren't careful, you were
likely to go head over heels with a little help from Riley.
Jo and Blair shared a grin when Annie reappeared in the doorway, a coconut in
hand. "Blair, why on Earth did you put *this* on the shopping list?"
"A couple of your cookie recipes call for coconut." Blair grinned. "I wanted
them to be authentic."
The blonde Sentinel quirked an eyebrow. "Blair, sometimes you are a very strange man."
"Sometimes?" Jim stepped up to stand behind his lover. "Try *all* the time."
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he turned to go back inside the kitchen. "Where'd
you put the bag of mistletoe?"
Blair and Jo mimicked Annie's expression of moments earlier.
"You *bought* mistletoe?" Sandburg leered at the blonde. "Annie..."
A cheeky grin was his answer. "Well, you're not the only one with a jones for authenticity."
Ducking back into the kitchen, she avoided the pillow a laughing Jo hurled at her.
***
7:20 PM
Since they had plans to spend Christmas at Annie and Jo's, Jim and Blair had
plenty to carry over to the brewery so it took several trips to and from the
truck before they were settled in.
As they were putting the gifts under the tree, Jim and Blair noticed that their
significant others seemed to be, well, hiding something. And, given the glint
in their eyes, it was something good.
"All right," Ellison said, straightening up. "Out with it."
"Out with what?" Annie responded, her pale blonde hair and blue eyes making her
the picture of angelic innocence.
"Whatever it is that has you two looking like cats after a canary dinner." Blair
provided, pulling Jo down onto his lap.
The doctor laughed. "Oh, *that*! Where's Riley?"
As if he'd heard his name the Irish Setter ran into the room, looked up at
Annie, and barked expectantly.
"AGAIN?!" The female Sentinel stared down at him in disbelief. "You've *got* to
be kidding?! Where the hell is she putting it?!"
"Who's 'she'?" Jim questioned.
"Well, Santa decided to bring Riley's present early," Jo informed them. Hopping
off Blair's lap, she turned to pull him to his feet. "C'mon, we'll show you."
The two couples moved toward the kitchen and the surprise.
"You've *got* to be kidding me!" Jim stared at the picture before him with
disbelief in his eyes.
"Gentlemen, meet the brewery's latest inhabitant," Jo proclaimed with a grin.
"Riley's kitten -- CC."
Blair and Jim both started to grin at the picture before them. The fully grown
Irish Setter stood before the fridge, tail wagging, a tiny ginger kitten sitting
between his front paws. The newcomer mewed pitifully and stared up at Annie.
The blonde heaved a sigh and opened the fridge to get one of the small tins of
kitten food they'd bought.
"CC?" Jim turned to Jo with a curious look on his face. "What's that stand for?"
"Christmas Cat." both women chorused.
"We couldn't come up with anything else and we needed a name so..." Annie
shrugged, warming the food in the microwave before setting it down in front of
the waiting CC.
"CC it was." Blair finished for her, crouching down to lightly touch the
kitten's fur.
Riley watched him warily till Annie patted him lightly on the head. "Oh give it
up, Riley, that's Blair! He's not going to take CC away from you, for heaven's sake."
"He's been like that all day. Ever since he brought her in here." Jo grinned at
the two men. "We very quickly learned that CC isn't *our* cat, she's Riley's."
Watching the kitten and dog interact, Jim shook his head. "Now I've seen
everything. A dog with a pet...do you two do *anything* normally?"
A gleeful grin from Annie was his answer. "Of course not. And you should be
thankful. After all, if we'd gone with a fairly normal Newfoundland Christmas we
could have gone mummering instead."
"Mummering?" Jim looked confused.
"Newfoundland custom." Blair explained, standing. "A group of people dress up in
old clothes, the more ridiculous the better, and cover their faces. They then go
from house to house for a party where people try to guess who they are."
"Most towns don't do it anymore," Jo said with a sad look. "But Halley's Cove still does."
At the mention of their hometown, both women shared a fond look. "It was a
blast!" Annie noted. "I always knew who was who of course, but I'd never let on.
More fun to let everyone else guess."
"You guys'd love it." Jo reported.
Jim and Annie looked toward the door and then back at their Guides.
"All right, guys, shake a leg, the gang's starting to arrive." Annie grabbed a
couple bowls of chips (and dip) and hurried out into the living room to make
sure everything was ready.
***
10:30 PM
Like any party thrown by any member of the Major Crime bunch, this one was a hit.
One of the unofficial games of the night was 'Spot the Couple'. As in, try and
catch two people standing under the mistletoe together. Said game, aided by the
watchful eyes of two Sentinels, produced some hilarious moments. Such as the
moment when Jim caught Annie and Blair standing under the mistletoe together.
He'd immediately called the room to quiet and grinned at the two of them.
For a moment, neither one knew what was going on, then Blair looked upward. "Uh...Annie?"
The female Sentinel looked up and said simply, "Damn."
"C'mon you two!" Simon, having had a drop too much of the spiked eggnog, winked
at them. "You know the rules, no exceptions."
"Oh come on, man!" Blair laughed. "ANNIE?"
Even as the female Sentinel said: "Simon! I can't kiss *Blair!*"
"It'd be like kissing my sister!" Sandburg added. "If I had one that is."
The duo tried several more unsuccessful arguments, but the crowd held firm.
So, finally, they turned to each other. Both looked like they'd rather be shot.
After a couple failed attempts, Annie shrugged. "To hell with it." She grabbed
Blair and dipped him, planting a thorough kiss on the Guide's lips.
The partygoers all roared with approval as she released him.
The curly-haired man looked dazed for a moment then grinned at Jim. "Ellison, you're a
lucky man."
Jim smirked and cuffed him lightly on the back of the head. "Go dance with your
girlfriend, Sandburg."
The younger man laughingly did as ordered while Jim went to collect his smirking
significant other.
***
11:00 PM
Since some partygoers had kids, they'd all agreed beforehand that the party
would end before midnight, so Annie and Jo had consulted with Blair to find the
perfect way to end the evening. The result had produced something that would
also be the Major Crime gang's Christmas present to Megan.
"Ok guys, since we agreed you'd all be out of here before midnight, we're going
to end this with a present for Megan," Blair informed the group as Jim, Annie
and Jo distributed candles in plastic holders to everyone.
The Australian inspector looked at them in confusion for a moment then, as she
saw the candles being handed out and lit, her eyes grew suspiciously damp.
"Blair...is..."
The anthropologist beamed at her before continuing. "There's a tradition in some
parts of Australia called 'Carols by Candlelight'. Most of the cities and towns
that practise it, usually hold it outdoors but since its Winter here we thought
we'd have it here."
Megan accepted a candle from Annie then hugged her friend. "Thank you."
The female Sentinel smiled at her. "Hey, I love Christmas carols too."
After lighting the candle, she disappeared into the crowd which was just
starting to sing Home for the Holidays.
Soon all the guests were singing and holding candles. Many of them including
Simon, Rafe, Brown and Taggert, all gave Megan a hug and some of them added a
kiss. And by the time they'd sung several carols, the Australian woman found her
homesickness had all but vanished. Sure, she missed her family but she'd also
discovered that the family she'd found in Cascade wasn't about to let her forget
about them or how much they cared. Megan was family and if there was one thing
the Major Crimes gang did when it came to family, it was be there for each
other. Especially when they were needed most, whether they realized it or not.
They might not always be the most sensitive of groups, but when all was said and
done, they cared. And that, in the end, is all that matters anyway.
Finis
AUTHOR: M. Edison
FEEDBACK: Oh yes please! Be gentle though. ;-)
CATEGORY: AU.
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: None
SUMMARY: Christmas 2000
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters or concepts of The Sentinel belong to me but Annie
& Jo do
A Home For The Holidays
by M. Edison
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 22, 2000
Major Crime, Cascade Police Department
The pen scratched across the paper as the Sentinel signed his last report.
Finishing his signature, Jim flipped the file shut and looked up. "You done,
Annie?"
The female sentinel looked up. "Yeah, logging off now." Pushing away from her
desk, Annie stood and walked over to Megan.
"Hey, Meg, you're coming to the party at the Brewery, right?" The blonde smiled
warmly at her friend. "We transplants gotta stick together."
Megan, who had been battling a severe case of homesickness, smiled faintly.
"Sure, wouldn't miss it."
"Good." Jim walked up to stand behind Annie. "Wouldn't be right if you weren't there."
Megan looked up at the couple and her smile widened. "Thank you."
Anie leaned over to grasp the other woman's hand. "Hey, we're family. We stick together."
***
December 23, 2000
Emergency Room, Cascade General
"Doctor Barnes! Doctor Barnes!"
Jo looked up from her patients reports, a frown on her pretty face. "What is it?"
The young nurse skidded to a stop. "The lab..." She looked hesitant.
"The lab what?" the brunette prompted, a hint of a smile reaching her face.
"Well...they were... uh...They were supposed to receive a shipment of mice and..."
The nurse trailed off and Jo felt a wave of uneasiness.
"What about the mice?"
"Well, a crate got misplaced. They think they got mixed up with the ER's supplies."
Jo automatically looked in the direction of the supply room. "Uh oh..." Her tone turned rueful,
as she returned her gaze to the nurse. "I just sent an intern in there to sort the new
supplies."
As if on cue, there was a distinctly girlish scream and Jo made a face. "Oops."
Abandoning her work, the doctor raced to the supply room door and peered in the window.
A giggle escaped her at the sight of the young man perched atop a chair, white mice
(50 according to the large print on the box) scurrying around the room. "Someone better call
housekeeping and tell 'em to bring cheese."
***
December 23, 2000
The Brewery
"Fifty white mice?" Blair snickered as Jo passed him another ornament to put on the tree.
"Yep," She grinned. "You should have seen him up on that chair looking
absolutely petrified. Who knew he had a phobia about mice?" She turned to pick
up another ornament box as the door opened to admit Riley, the resident canine
and Annie, the resident Sentinel.
"Fifty white mice?" The lovely blonde bent over to take off Riley's leash. "No
wonder he freaked. I'd be a touch nervous with all those little guys swarming around."
Her words provided Jo a mental picture and the younger woman immediately began
to giggle. Though he hadn't witnessed the original incident, Blair laughed as well.
Watching the two laughing Guides, Annie let Riley race into the living room then
turned to hang up her coat.
"Something funny?" Arms laden with grocery bags, Jim stepped through the open door.
"Me, I think, that's what you get for listening to that car instead of these
guys." Annie took a couple of the bags and walked into the kitchen. "Stick on a
CD guys! If we're getting ready for Christmas, it should at least *sound* like
Christmas in here."
Abandoning the Christmas tree and Blair for a moment, Jo headed for the stereo
to turn on the power and choose a CD. Moments later, the sound of Amy Grant's
rendition of 'Sleigh Ride' wafted through the Brewery, bringing smiles to the
inhabitants' faces.
"Thanks!"
Having hung his jacket by the door, Jim picked up the remaining grocery bags and
headed for the kitchen, keeping a cautious eye on Riley. The excited Irish
Setter was racing from person to person and, if you weren't careful, you were
likely to go head over heels with a little help from Riley.
Jo and Blair shared a grin when Annie reappeared in the doorway, a coconut in
hand. "Blair, why on Earth did you put *this* on the shopping list?"
"A couple of your cookie recipes call for coconut." Blair grinned. "I wanted
them to be authentic."
The blonde Sentinel quirked an eyebrow. "Blair, sometimes you are a very strange man."
"Sometimes?" Jim stepped up to stand behind his lover. "Try *all* the time."
Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he turned to go back inside the kitchen. "Where'd
you put the bag of mistletoe?"
Blair and Jo mimicked Annie's expression of moments earlier.
"You *bought* mistletoe?" Sandburg leered at the blonde. "Annie..."
A cheeky grin was his answer. "Well, you're not the only one with a jones for authenticity."
Ducking back into the kitchen, she avoided the pillow a laughing Jo hurled at her.
***
7:20 PM
Since they had plans to spend Christmas at Annie and Jo's, Jim and Blair had
plenty to carry over to the brewery so it took several trips to and from the
truck before they were settled in.
As they were putting the gifts under the tree, Jim and Blair noticed that their
significant others seemed to be, well, hiding something. And, given the glint
in their eyes, it was something good.
"All right," Ellison said, straightening up. "Out with it."
"Out with what?" Annie responded, her pale blonde hair and blue eyes making her
the picture of angelic innocence.
"Whatever it is that has you two looking like cats after a canary dinner." Blair
provided, pulling Jo down onto his lap.
The doctor laughed. "Oh, *that*! Where's Riley?"
As if he'd heard his name the Irish Setter ran into the room, looked up at
Annie, and barked expectantly.
"AGAIN?!" The female Sentinel stared down at him in disbelief. "You've *got* to
be kidding?! Where the hell is she putting it?!"
"Who's 'she'?" Jim questioned.
"Well, Santa decided to bring Riley's present early," Jo informed them. Hopping
off Blair's lap, she turned to pull him to his feet. "C'mon, we'll show you."
The two couples moved toward the kitchen and the surprise.
"You've *got* to be kidding me!" Jim stared at the picture before him with
disbelief in his eyes.
"Gentlemen, meet the brewery's latest inhabitant," Jo proclaimed with a grin.
"Riley's kitten -- CC."
Blair and Jim both started to grin at the picture before them. The fully grown
Irish Setter stood before the fridge, tail wagging, a tiny ginger kitten sitting
between his front paws. The newcomer mewed pitifully and stared up at Annie.
The blonde heaved a sigh and opened the fridge to get one of the small tins of
kitten food they'd bought.
"CC?" Jim turned to Jo with a curious look on his face. "What's that stand for?"
"Christmas Cat." both women chorused.
"We couldn't come up with anything else and we needed a name so..." Annie
shrugged, warming the food in the microwave before setting it down in front of
the waiting CC.
"CC it was." Blair finished for her, crouching down to lightly touch the
kitten's fur.
Riley watched him warily till Annie patted him lightly on the head. "Oh give it
up, Riley, that's Blair! He's not going to take CC away from you, for heaven's sake."
"He's been like that all day. Ever since he brought her in here." Jo grinned at
the two men. "We very quickly learned that CC isn't *our* cat, she's Riley's."
Watching the kitten and dog interact, Jim shook his head. "Now I've seen
everything. A dog with a pet...do you two do *anything* normally?"
A gleeful grin from Annie was his answer. "Of course not. And you should be
thankful. After all, if we'd gone with a fairly normal Newfoundland Christmas we
could have gone mummering instead."
"Mummering?" Jim looked confused.
"Newfoundland custom." Blair explained, standing. "A group of people dress up in
old clothes, the more ridiculous the better, and cover their faces. They then go
from house to house for a party where people try to guess who they are."
"Most towns don't do it anymore," Jo said with a sad look. "But Halley's Cove still does."
At the mention of their hometown, both women shared a fond look. "It was a
blast!" Annie noted. "I always knew who was who of course, but I'd never let on.
More fun to let everyone else guess."
"You guys'd love it." Jo reported.
Jim and Annie looked toward the door and then back at their Guides.
"All right, guys, shake a leg, the gang's starting to arrive." Annie grabbed a
couple bowls of chips (and dip) and hurried out into the living room to make
sure everything was ready.
***
10:30 PM
Like any party thrown by any member of the Major Crime bunch, this one was a hit.
One of the unofficial games of the night was 'Spot the Couple'. As in, try and
catch two people standing under the mistletoe together. Said game, aided by the
watchful eyes of two Sentinels, produced some hilarious moments. Such as the
moment when Jim caught Annie and Blair standing under the mistletoe together.
He'd immediately called the room to quiet and grinned at the two of them.
For a moment, neither one knew what was going on, then Blair looked upward. "Uh...Annie?"
The female Sentinel looked up and said simply, "Damn."
"C'mon you two!" Simon, having had a drop too much of the spiked eggnog, winked
at them. "You know the rules, no exceptions."
"Oh come on, man!" Blair laughed. "ANNIE?"
Even as the female Sentinel said: "Simon! I can't kiss *Blair!*"
"It'd be like kissing my sister!" Sandburg added. "If I had one that is."
The duo tried several more unsuccessful arguments, but the crowd held firm.
So, finally, they turned to each other. Both looked like they'd rather be shot.
After a couple failed attempts, Annie shrugged. "To hell with it." She grabbed
Blair and dipped him, planting a thorough kiss on the Guide's lips.
The partygoers all roared with approval as she released him.
The curly-haired man looked dazed for a moment then grinned at Jim. "Ellison, you're a
lucky man."
Jim smirked and cuffed him lightly on the back of the head. "Go dance with your
girlfriend, Sandburg."
The younger man laughingly did as ordered while Jim went to collect his smirking
significant other.
***
11:00 PM
Since some partygoers had kids, they'd all agreed beforehand that the party
would end before midnight, so Annie and Jo had consulted with Blair to find the
perfect way to end the evening. The result had produced something that would
also be the Major Crime gang's Christmas present to Megan.
"Ok guys, since we agreed you'd all be out of here before midnight, we're going
to end this with a present for Megan," Blair informed the group as Jim, Annie
and Jo distributed candles in plastic holders to everyone.
The Australian inspector looked at them in confusion for a moment then, as she
saw the candles being handed out and lit, her eyes grew suspiciously damp.
"Blair...is..."
The anthropologist beamed at her before continuing. "There's a tradition in some
parts of Australia called 'Carols by Candlelight'. Most of the cities and towns
that practise it, usually hold it outdoors but since its Winter here we thought
we'd have it here."
Megan accepted a candle from Annie then hugged her friend. "Thank you."
The female Sentinel smiled at her. "Hey, I love Christmas carols too."
After lighting the candle, she disappeared into the crowd which was just
starting to sing Home for the Holidays.
Soon all the guests were singing and holding candles. Many of them including
Simon, Rafe, Brown and Taggert, all gave Megan a hug and some of them added a
kiss. And by the time they'd sung several carols, the Australian woman found her
homesickness had all but vanished. Sure, she missed her family but she'd also
discovered that the family she'd found in Cascade wasn't about to let her forget
about them or how much they cared. Megan was family and if there was one thing
the Major Crimes gang did when it came to family, it was be there for each
other. Especially when they were needed most, whether they realized it or not.
They might not always be the most sensitive of groups, but when all was said and
done, they cared. And that, in the end, is all that matters anyway.
Finis