"The Meaning of Christmas"
by Kirsten Tapp

Disclaimer:

Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. The characters of Julia, Jondy's children, Rebecka and Devon however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary:

Each of the X5's celebrate Christmas in their own way.

Timeframe:

Follow up story to Here We Go Again, occurs after Freak Nation

Rating:

PG

Category:

Romance


PART ONE: ZANE

Los Angeles: Christmas Eve

Zane sat on his usual perch on top of the Hollywood sign. It was one of the few monuments left standing after the pulse. It seemed so peaceful at this time of night, but Zane knew it was anything but peaceful.

The years that he had been at Manticore as a child and even the years since the twelve of them had escaped, Christmas had never had any meaning to Zane. As far as he knew, it had no meaning to his brothers and sisters either. This year however, things had changed. Thanks to his sister Max's fiancé, Logan, he was starting to appreciate the meaning behind a lot of the seasonal holidays.

At Thanksgiving, the few siblings Zane was in contact with had come together in Seattle at Terminal City. It had been one of the few times in Zane's life that he had actually felt normal. This was strange considering the unusual people that had surrounded him were part human, part animal.

This year Christmas meant he knew where some of his family was and that they were safe and happy. Because of the frequent trips to save one or two of his siblings, Christmas couldn't be spent together in one place and still have all of their jobs waiting for them when they got back. But promises had been made by each of the X5 siblings that next year they would all be together somewhere for Christmas. If there was one thing they could count on, it was a X5's promise. This year they would settle for a conference call.

Casting the night sky one last glance, Zane headed back to his home. He had set himself and his dog up in an old warehouse. He had left his girlfriend sleeping and guarded by his dog while he went to the High Place. Beverly Shankar was another reason to celebrate Christmas this year. The beautiful Doctor had traveled from Seattle to spend the festive season with him.

It still amazed Zane that Beverly only saw the man he was and not the freak that was created in a test tube to be an invincible soldier. He had, had girlfriends before, but they had never known the truth behind his so called birth.

As he watched Beverly sleep, Zane was sure that the blue lady was watching over him. A woman this beautiful, intelligent and loving being interested in him couldn't just be fate. At that moment Beverly opened her eyes and looked up at him. Glancing at the time, he saw it was now 1am Christmas morning. "Merry Christmas Beautiful."

"Merry Christmas." Beverly was still mostly asleep. "Come back to bed Baby." She cuddled up to him when he stripped off his clothes and climbed back into bed. "You're cold. Have you been at the High Place." She wasn't exactly sure where the high place was, but there seemed to be one in every state. She vaguely remembered Logan saying Max went to the High Place when she needed to think.

"Yeah." Zane pulled her warm body closer. "What do you usually do at Christmas time?" He wanted to be able to understand what people got excited about. He couldn't believe it was all over a fat man in a red suit.

Beverly stifled a yawn. "It depends. Some years I have worked. When my Dad was alive we used to go out together and get a Christmas tree, like the one you and I got last night. Then we used to decorate it and put the presents under it. On Christmas day, we would go to church in the morning and then come home and open our presents. We would have a roast turkey dinner and my Father would tell me stories of the Christmas' he and my mother spent together."

Zane kissed the top of her head. "So why do you go to church? Is it to talk to your mother?" He knew Beverly's mother had died when Beverly was eight.

Beverly hadn't understood until that moment just how neglected the X5's had been. They had missed out on all of the small pleasures in life. "I don't need to go to church to talk to my mother. She's always with me, in my heart. We go to church on Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Christ."

"Christ?" Zane was confused. "Is he the fat guy in the red suit with the beard?" Zane had thought he was called Santa Claus.

"No that's Santa Claus or Saint Nick." Beverly marveled at Zane's childlike innocence over Christmas. "You remember how you told me that Ben spoke about the blue lady? Well Christ or Jesus is her son."

"Oh." Zane sort of understood. "But if it's Christ's birthday, why do we give each other presents instead of giving them to him?"

Beverly smiled up at Zane. He reminded her of the children at the hospital when he asked questions like that. "Well that's our way of joining in the celebration of something that happened thousands of years ago. It's also a way of bringing families together."

"Even if it's on a conference call?" Things were beginning to appear a bit clearer to Zane.

Beverly ran her hand up Zane's tattooed arm. "Yeah. When is the conference call?"

"Not till tonight." Zane nuzzled Beverly's neck. "Why don't we get a few hours sleep and then I'll go to church with you and find out what the big deal is with this Jesus guy."

"Sounds good to me." Beverly closed her eyes and fell asleep feeling safe and secure in Zane's strong arms.

Zane had sat through the church service, completely fascinated by everything that was being said. As he was driving Beverly back to his home, Zane pondered on what he had heard in the church. "People tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas and just think about how many presents they get, don't they?"

Beverly nodded. "It's become very commercial over the years. What did you used to do at Christmas time?" She knew Zane had stayed in contact with his sister Jondy after they had escaped from Manticore.

Zane thought through all of the past Christmas' in his life. "Well, we didn't even know what Christmas was at Manticore. We had faced so many horrors there, that it was hard to believe in God. Especially when you saw what happened to Jondy. When we escaped I ended up in a number of foster homes. There didn't seem to be a reason to celebrate in any of them. Out of all of us, Jondy was the only one who got into a decent foster home. When I got older I spent a couple of Christmas' with Jondy and Devon if they were in San Francisco. There were times when it was too dangerous to visit anyway."

Beverly had never experienced a Christmas like the ones Zane spoke of. Even after she had lost both parents, she at least had memories of the special Christmas' she spent with friends and family. "Well, then we'll just have to make up for all of your bad Christmas memories by creating some good ones."

Zane took Beverly's hand in his and brought it to his lips. "This Christmas is already a vast improvement on the past ones." He kissed her hand. "Thanks for spending Christmas with me."

Beverly squeezed Zane's hand. "There's no where else I'd rather be."

PART TWO: JONDY AND ALEC

Alec cuddled closer to the woman laying by his side. She had returned from work at some unearthly hour of the morning and woken him to find out how Christmas Eve had gone for him.

Alec had arrived in Florida the previous afternoon and quickly found the address Jondy had moved her family to. As much as Alec had wanted Jondy to move to Seattle, he knew it wasn't safe enough and neither he nor Jondy were ready to live together. On arriving at the building that was now Jondy's home, Alec had found the place in the usual happy chaos that fourteen children caused. There were decorations scattered everywhere, giggling and playful screams as the children tried to decorate each other with tinsel. Jondy's infant daughter Tinga, wobbled over to him and held her arms up to be picked up.

Julia, the children's grandmother shook her head in amusement as the children raced around the living room. "You're supposed to decorate the house, not destroy it." She spotted Alec with her youngest granddaughter in his arms. "Merry Christmas Alec. Jessica's in her room getting ready for work." She still used Jondy's alias as it helped to keep Jondy and the children safe.

"Thanks. I'll just go and drop off my bag and then I'll give you a hand with whatever you're trying to do in here." He handed the child in his arms over to Julia.

"Take your time." Julia pointed in the direction of Jondy's room before joining in the madness erupting in the living room.

Alec quickly found Jondy's room and dropped his bag by the door, watching the beautiful redhead pulling her hair into a ponytail. "So, I see your living room is suffering from an overdose of the Christmas spirit."

Jondy chuckled. "Yeah. I learnt from last year that it's safer to leave the decorating until Christmas Eve. The children kept making more and more Christmas decorations last year. It got to the point where you couldn't find the walls for decorations." She kissed Alec hello. "I'm sorry to leave you in the middle of the Christmas chaos, but I got called into work."

"It's alright." Alec was used to being surrounded by the children as Jondy was seldom without them. "The children will show me how to decorate the tree and everything. We'll be fine."

Jondy pulled her jacket on. "I'll try not to be too late, but unfortunately it is the silly season. I told the hospital that I was not working Christmas day under any circumstances. Since I work all of the nights, they don't seem to mind much."

Alec followed her as she walked into the living room. "I'm not really sure how to do any of this Christmas stuff, so I probably need Julia and Kera's help." He let out a piercing whistle so that Jondy had the children's attention. "Hey, your Mom's heading off to work."

Jondy looked at the mess her living room was in. "I'll be back in time for everyone to open presents in the morning. Take it easy on Alec, he's never done the Christmas thing before." She kissed all of the children good bye. "Do you think that you can actually get some of the decorations on the tree before I get home?" She stopped in front of Alec and kissed him good bye. "By the way, Kera's not here. She decided to stay in San Francisco with her boyfriend."

Alec waited until Jondy had left before he turned to the children. "Ok, so I guess the deal is the decorations that you all appear to be wearing are supposed to be on the tree. Is that right?" He paused so that the children could nod. "So is there some sort of order they go on the tree in or do we just throw everything at the tree?"

Belinda, Jondy's French daughter giggled, her green eyes sparkling. "The Angel or the Star go on last. Which one is going on the tree? The Angel or the Star?"

"Why can't both of them go on the tree?" Alec was already totally confused. There seemed to be an art to decorating a Christmas tree.

Leeza, the Swiss daughter shrugged her shoulders causing some of the tinsel to fall out of her blond hair. "That's not the way it's done. I guess we can put both on."

"How come you don't know any of this stuff?" Emma, the British daughter asked. "Didn't you get Christmas at Manticore?" All of the children knew about Manticore.

Alec sat down on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. "No, we didn't get Christmas at Manticore. Your Mum knows a bit more about all of this stuff than I do because she got out when she was a little girl and I only got out a couple of years ago."

Ashley, the Swedish daughter frowned. "Uncle Zane doesn't know much about Christmas either and he got out of Manticore the same time as Mom did."

Julia gently interrupted. "You remember what your Mother told you about Uncle Zane? He had some pretty bad foster homes, so he didn't really have a reason to celebrate."

Alec hadn't really thought that the X5's that had escaped as children might have had a tough run of it. "I guess Jondy was lucky that Devon found her and brought her home to you."

Julia smiled sadly. "Devon knew straight away that Jessica needed somebody to love her and not treat her like a science experience. When my son first brought her home she was scared of her own shadow."

Mya, the Mexican daughter handed Alec a bag of ornaments. "Mom says Christmas is about families and even though she couldn't spend all her Christmas' with her brothers and sisters, she was happy that Daddy shared his family with her so that she wasn't alone."

"Nobody should be alone at Christmas." Celeste, the Spanish daughter pointed at the tree where she thought Alec should hang the decorations. "That's what Mom says anyway."

"Your Mom's right." Alec started to hang the decorations where he was shown. "So why is Jondy working at a Hospital? I thought when you guys moved, that she would just go to work in another bar."

"Mom says that Lydecker would know to look for her working at a bar." Heidi the German daughter started to follow Alec around the tree with the tinsel.

Alec had to admit that was a smart move on Jondy's part. "So am I doing this right?" Alec looked at his handiwork. "Should all the decorations be on one side of the tree?"

Alicia, the only transgenic adopted daughter burst out giggling. "No. The decorations are supposed to be evenly placed around the tree."

Shannon, the American daughter moved a few of the decorations before the tree tipped over. "So are you going to be here in the morning when we open presents?"

Alec nodded. "That's the plan." He watched the girls decorating the tree for a moment. "I get it now, it's a balance thing with the decorations."

The house and the tree were decorated and the children in bed when Jondy walked through the door. It had been a hellish night at work with car accidents, bar room brawls and the usual minor injuries that seem to occur around any public holiday.

When she walked into her bedroom Alec was fast asleep in her bed. He looked exhausted. The children had obviously worn him out. She couldn't resist waking him up. "Hey Babe. Still full of Christmas spirit?" She giggled as Alec pulled her into his arms.

"Those children of yours have far too much energy." Alec mumbled into her neck. "I guess Christmas means a whole different thing for Doctors." He glanced at the clock beside Jondy's bed and saw the time. "Busy night at work?"

"Yeah." Jondy kicked off her shoes and shrugged off her jacket. "They don't call Christmas the silly season for nothing. People just don't seem to think around this time of year."

Alec waited for Jondy to finish undressing before cuddling up to her. "This parenting stuff you do is really hard. How do you get through each day without always being totally exhausted?"

Jondy shrugged her shoulders. "You get used to it. I get a lot of help from Julia. Christmas time the children get really excited about what presents they're going to get. You know, they're not normally this boisterous."

"Yeah I know." Alec kissed the top of her head. "How long do we have until the children wake up to open their presents?" He hoped he could at least get a couple of hours sleep.

"They'll be up early." Jondy closed her eyes and laid her head on Alec's chest. "But the rules are they can't open any presents before 9am. That way Julia gets to sleep in."

Alec couldn't even remember closing his eyes to go to sleep. When he opened his eyes he found the children in the room staring at him. "What's wrong?"

Maggie, the Irish daughter spoke. "It's quarter to nine. Mom says we can open our presents at nine."

Jondy didn't move or open her eyes. "Go and put the kettle on. We'll be there by the time the kettle boils."

The children, satisfied with Jondy's answer turned and left the room. Alec lifted the lock of red hair covering her face and found her looking at him. "Merry Christmas."

Jondy grinned. "Merry Christmas. Are you ready for round two of the Christmas chaos?"

Alec grabbed some clothes. "Lead the way. The family conference call isn't until tonight is it?" He vaguely remembered Max mentioning it back in Seattle.

"No." Jondy pulled a bathrobe on and went to fetch the twins. "I can't help but wonder how Zack's spending Christmas this year."

"I wouldn't have thought Zack would really go for celebrating Christmas much." Alec took one of the twins off of Jondy.

"He didn't." Jondy walked into the living room. "That's why I wonder if Christmas is actually fun for him this year since he can't remember the past."

Alec hadn't considered that. "All the better for Max and Logan." He muttered as they joined the children to take part in another Christmas first for him.

PART THREE: ZACK

Christmas morning Adam Thompson was up bright and early as usual. The livestock on the ranch didn't know it was Christmas and still expected life to go on as normal. At first, when Buddy had brought him home from Metro Medical in Seattle, he had been concerned that he was unable to remember his past. As time moved on and his memory didn't return, he just figured his past wasn't worth remembering.

"Adam! Come and get your breakfast." Mary, Buddy's wife called from the house. She doted on him as though he was her own son.

"Coming!" Adam called back, giving the gray mare beside him a pat on the nose. "See ya later girl." As he headed back to the house, he paused to watch the two fillies trotting around their pen. One was copper colored, the other jet black.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Buddy joined Adam at the fence. "Interesting names you've given them. Why Max and Jondy?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The names just sprung into my head when I saw them. It's sort of strange how they work well together, but when you separate them, Max is stubborn and does her own thing and Jondy is shy and quiet, almost as if she's storing information and doesn't want you to know it."

Buddy nodded. "Very rare those two fillies are." He mentally made a note to phone Logan Cale. He knew Cale's girlfriend was called Max and was concerned that Adam was subconsciously remembering his life as Zack. "Come on, Mary will be wondering where we are."

Breakfast was eaten and presents were exchanged. Adam felt an overpowering sense of belonging, which confused him as he also felt a big part of him was missing. It wasn't the first time he had felt this way. The first Christmas he could remember spending with Buddy and Mary, held no memories for him. It was as if he had never celebrated Christmas ever in his life.

"Are you alright Adam? You're very quiet." Mary cast him a worried look. She had grown very fond of the young man since he had come to live with them.

Adam smiled at Mary. "I'm fine, I just wish I could remember some of the other Christmas' that I've spent here. I wish I could remember my parents, not that I don't appreciate everything you've done for me."

"I know." Mary understood where the young man was coming from, but she also knew from what her husband had told her that it was dangerous for Adam to remember his real life.

Adam pushed his self pitying thoughts aside and stood up. "Thanks for the presents. I've got a lot of work to do."

Mary waited until she heard the screen door shut before she spoke to her husband. "Do you think he'll ever remember his life before coming here?"

Buddy picked up the phone and dialed a cell phone number. "I hope not, but after I heard the names Adam gave the fillies, I'm beginning to wonder." He heard the phone on the other end of the line being answered. "Merry Christmas Logan. It's Buddy. Look, sorry to call you so early, but I was wondering, do you know anyone called Jondy?" He listened to the answer. "Oh I see. Congratulations on your engagement. I take it Max is the lucky lady." He listened for a moment to the questions coming down the phone. It was obvious that he had woken Logan from a deep sleep and it was only this minute that he was realizing the deep meaning behind Buddy's questions. "No Adam is fine. I mean he's a little down that he still hasn't recovered his memory. The thing is, I think he's remembering a couple of things but doesn't know it."

Mary listened patiently. Obviously the questions that her husband was asking Logan had upset the other man. She waited for her husband to finish his phone call. "What did Logan say?"

"Well it wasn't the best news to get first thing on Christmas morning." Buddy ran his hand over his face. "It turns out that Jondy and Max and both Zack's sisters. Max and Logan have recently become engaged. Logan is hoping that if we don't act as though there is anything unusual about the names Adam gave the fillies, he either won't remember anything else or won't connect the names to real people. Having said that, we are to call Logan if anything else happens."

"That's going to be hard." Mary pointed out. "I mean look at the time he named the fox that was stealing the chickens, Logan. It was hard enough to hide our shock then."

Buddy nodded in agreement. "We have to try though. That boy deserves a chance at a normal life as much as his sisters do. From what Logan just told me, Jondy had to move to a different state to avoid being captured."

"Poor girl." Mary sympathized. "Well, we told Logan that we'd help him after all he's done for us. Not that it's that much of a hardship. Adam's such a hard worker and a pleasure to have around. I just hope any memories he gets back, don't change his life for the worse."

Adam started mucking out the stables. Every now and again an image would flash through his head. At first they were of the dark haired woman he had seen when he was leaving the hospital. He had figured his mind was just playing tricks on him, after all she was beautiful. But then another woman started appearing in flashes, along with a sense of brotherly protectiveness. With hair the color of spun copper and eyes as blue as the sky on a clear day, she made a lasting impression.

Why were these women floating around in his head and who were they. Obviously the Christmas Season was getting to him. Whoever these women were, they weren't part of his life now. Considering how Buddy and Mary always treated him as though he were their own son, Adam felt slightly guilty wondering what he was missing from the past.

"No point in dwelling on the past." Adam muttered to the horses that were watching him. "Especially, considering I can't remember it." He couldn't help but laugh at himself. "Of course, I could just be going mad seeing as I'm talking to horses."

"Well, they're mighty good listeners, son." Buddy slapped Adam on the back. "Seriously though, if you need to talk, you know where I am." He wasn't just offering a shoulder to lean on as a friend, but also because he needed to be able to warn Logan if Adam fully regained his memory as Zack.

"I know. I'm fine really." Adam smiled at his friend. "Best finish up here or Mary will with hold her Christmas cake from both of us."

"Can't have that." Buddy grabbed a pitch fork to help Adam muck out the stables. "Nobody makes a better Christmas Cake in the world." He grinned. "But then I'm bias."

Adam laughed at Buddy's honesty. "Yeah, but you're right. Merry Christmas Buddy."

"Merry Christmas Adam." Buddy concentrated on the task at hand. Maybe he was worrying about nothing.

PART FOUR: KRIT & SYL

"I hate the Christmas flights." Krit walked into Syl's Las Vegas apartment and collapsed on the sofa. He managed to get a job as a co-pilot at the airport. "People seem to get real mean spirited at this time of the year."

Syl had just returned from work herself. "Tell me about it. Some idiot gambled away all of the money he was supposed to be buying his kid's Christmas presents with. Then he tries to get the money back by telling me he had gambled it by mistake. It's not as if, if I gave the money back he wouldn't just gamble it away again at a different table."

Krit shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe the sort of things normals do to each other, especially around Christmas. I guess Max got one of the few good ones." He held his arms out for Syl.

Syl sat down on Krit's lap and snuggled into his arms. "Jondy had a real winner in Devon too even if he was gay." She looked at Krit. "I wonder how Alec's coping spending Christmas with fourteen children."

Krit chuckled to himself. "As long as Jondy's there, Alec will find a way to cope. Besides it'll be a new experience for Alec, celebrating Christmas outside of Manticore."

Syl pulled a parcel out of a bag beside the sofa. "Merry Christmas Krit." She handed the parcel to Krit.

Krit handed Syl a small beautifully wrapped box. "Merry Christmas Syl." He kissed his girlfriend. "So next year we're all going to try and get together and have a proper Christmas with all of the family."

Syl nodded as she opened her gift. "That's the plan, but who knows what the New Year will bring. At least we have Max's wedding to be sure of. I don't think Logan will ever give up on her."

Krit watched as Syl's face lit up when she saw what he had brought her. "I guess she has a chance at a normal life."

"That's all any of us ever wanted." Syl kissed Krit again to thank him for the gift. "Hey, at least we get Christmas day together."

Krit opened his gift amazed at how Syl always knew the perfect gift to get him. "This is great. How did you know I wanted this?"

Syl giggled. "You talk in your sleep. Did I get the right one?"

"It's perfect." Krit started to kiss his way up Syl's neck. "You're perfect. The blue lady must be watching over me for me to get lucky enough to be with you."

Syl arched her head back to give Krit better access to her neck. "I think the blue lady is watching over all of us. How else do you explain Tinga being alive, Jondy's twins and the cure for Max and Logan's virus?"

"Right now I'm not going to." Krit stood up with Syl in his arms. "I just want to make the most of the two days I get to spend with you." He walked into Syl's bedroom carrying her.

"You're not going to get any arguments from me." Syl tried not to laugh when Krit stumbled through her bedroom doorway. "Just remember we have that conference call tonight."

PART FIVE: TINGA

"Mommy! Is it time to open presents yet?" Case ran up the hallway to his parents bedroom as fast as his legs could carry him. "It's Christmas day and I waited until nine o'clock."

Tinga pulled her pillow over her head. "It's times like this I wish I was like Max or Jondy and only needed a couple of hours sleep." She and Charlie had been up half the night wrapping presents to put under the tree.

Charlie kissed his wife's shoulder. "I think Case is just making up for last year's Christmas when we thought we had lost you." He climbed out of bed and pulled on some clothes. "I'll get him some breakfast, then we can open presents."

"Thanks Hon." Tinga pushed her hair off of her face. "I'll be out in a minute." She remembered where she had been this time last year. Trapped by Manticore in a psychiatric hospital. Thank God Max and Zane had broken her out. Shaking her head to clear away the bad memories, Tinga pulled on some clothes and went to join her husband and son.

"Mommy, are we going to talk to Aunty Jondy and Aunty Max and all of my cousins today?" Case was always asking about his cousins. In a way it made him feel less like an only child when he was with his cousins.

"Yes Sweetie." Tinga kissed the top of her son's head. "But not until tonight though. Uncle Logan's going to fix it so that we can speak to Uncle Zane, Uncle Krit and Aunty Syl as well. We might even be able to speak to Aunty Jace too."

Charlie watched his wife and son talking as though she had never been gone. He had been devastated when Tinga had gone missing, but he had held it together for Case's sake. Then Tinga's sisters had shown up to break the news to him that they believed Tinga was dead. Although the two women had obviously been distressed by losing their sister, they had stayed a couple of days so that Charlie and Case had some support. Case hadn't wanted to let go of Jondy when it was time for the women to leave.

"Hey, you still with us?" Tinga waved her hand in front of her husband's face. "What were you thinking about?" Whatever he was thinking about they weren't happy thoughts, she could tell by the expression on his face.

"Just remembering how supportive your family's been over the past year or so." Charlie smiled at his wife. "How about we open some presents?"

Case raced over to the Christmas tree. "Can I open this one first?" He held up a parcel that was almost as big as he was.

"Who's it from?" Charlie had been hiding various parcels that had arrived from around the country for them. There were so many that he had begun to find it difficult to find new hiding places.

Case turned the parcel over until he found a card. "It's from Aunty Jondy and my cousins." He quickly ripped the wrapping paper off to find out what he had been sent. "It's a train set. It even has it's own station and station master."

"Wow." Tinga sat down beside her son. "Your Dad will help you set it up after you've opened all of your presents." By the looks of the train set, all of the buildings were hand crafted.

Charlie sat down with his family. "Where did your sister get that train set from? I've never seen anything like it." He knew his sister-in-law had fourteen children to support and she had just had to move her family out of San Francisco to Florida recently.

"Jondy knows people." Tinga reassured her husband. "She has a way with people. They tend to want to do anything they can for her."

"Have you heard from Jondy or Max since Thanksgiving?" Charlie hadn't been surprised that Logan had proposed to Max at Thanksgiving. He had noticed the first time he had met Max and Logan, just how deeply they felt for each other.

"Yeah. Max called the other week." Tinga chuckled as her son focused on unwrapping his presents as quickly as possible. "Lydecker has turned to the dark side again. It seems as soon as White was out of the way, he headed straight to the South Africans. They set a trap up for Jondy, using Logan as bait to get Max, so that they could use her to get Jondy. The plan backfired, but Logan was pretty badly beaten up. They managed to walk off with most of Lydecker's weapons."

"But they're alright now?" Charlie figured he was actually pretty lucky compared to Logan, who seemed to get beaten up every other month.

"Yeah. They're all fine, but that's why Jondy moved to another state. She figured it wasn't enough to just move house." Tinga didn't envy her twin sisters one bit. Life had not been kind to either of them. Every little bit of happiness they had, they had fought tooth and nail for.

"Can we phone everyone now." Case wanted to speak to all of his cousins. "I've opened all my presents."

"We have to wait until tonight, so that we can speak to everyone." Tinga gently explained to her son. "Why don't you help Daddy set up your train set."

With her family happily focusing on the task at hand, Tinga let herself relax and enjoy the festive season.

PART SIX: JACE

Christmas morning in Mexico, two years ago Jace would never have thought it was even a possibility. Yet here she was, far away from Manticore with her year old daughter and her husband Victor. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.

Unlike her brothers and sisters, Jace had celebrated all of the public holidays while still at Manticore. Victor had made sure that he found out all of the history connected to each holiday, so that he could help Jace understand why they were celebrated. They had their own private little world inside Manticore. Now that they were out of that God forsaken place, they also had their freedom.

Victor walked into their bedroom carrying their daughter Maxie. "Merry Christmas Sweetheart." He bent down and kissed his wife before handing their daughter to her. "I think Maxie is ready to open her presents. I caught her eyeing up that big red and green one from her Aunty Max."

"Well, I guess we'd better go and open your presents then." Jace carried her daughter into the living room and sat down on the floor with Maxie clapping her hands in delight on her lap. "So I guess we start with this one." She pulled the box over so it was in front of her. Once Maxie saw how her mother was unwrapping the present, she started pulling and tearing the brightly colored paper herself.

Victor chuckled at the sight. "You realize Maxie will probably have more fun with the paper than any of her presents." He watched his daughter throw the paper in the air and watch it float back down to the ground.

"I don't know about that." Jace opened the box that had been underneath the wrapping paper to find an enormous teddy bear with a bright red bow around it's neck.

Maxie caught sight of the stuffed toy and squealed with joy. She wound her chubby little arms around the bear's neck and hugged with all her might. She wouldn't let go of the bear to open her other presents, preferring to watch her parents open them instead. Although she expressed enjoyment at her other gifts, the bear was obviously her favorite.

When Jace and Victor sat down to breakfast, they had to sit the bear on a chair beside Maxie's high chair so that the infant would eat her breakfast. "You can tell your sister tonight what a hit her present is." Victor joked.

"I'm just wondering how I'm going to give Maxie her bath if she won't let go of that bear for too long." Jace noticed her daughter was already reaching for the bear again and ignoring her breakfast.

Victor glanced over his shoulder at the presents still scattered across the floor. "Why don't you use the doll's bath that Tinga sent for Maxie to use with the dolls Krit sent her. You can put the bear in the doll's bath next to the bath tub while you're bathing Maxie."

"It's worth a try." Jace looked adoringly at her husband as she tried to feed her daughter. "How'd I get so lucky to get such a smart sexy husband."

"I think I got pretty lucky myself." Victor kissed his wife over his daughter's head. "So have you heard from Max when her wedding is?" He figured they'd have to head Seattle for the wedding. Although considering what Max's side of the family looked like, he wasn't sure where exactly his sister-in-law would be holding the service. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be in a church.

"I think Max is just enjoying being engaged at the moment." Jace remembered how that had felt. The anticipation of being with that one person you couldn't live without, for the rest of your life.

"It's certainly going to be a memorable wedding, no matter where it is." Victor chuckled. "It'll probably be the first wedding most of the Terminal City crew have been to."

Jace giggled. "I'm just wondering what Joshua's like at the moment. I can just picture him acting like a big kid opening presents."

"You think they'll actually have presents at Terminal City?" Victor had suddenly remembered that the transgenics didn't have the freedom or the funds to spend Christmas the way he, Jace and Maxie had.

"If Logan has anything to say about it, they'll all be having a fantastic Christmas." Jace had come to realize that her future brother-in-law would stop at nothing to make Max happy.

PART SEVEN: MAX & LOGAN

An early morning phone call from Buddy had woken Logan on Christmas morning. At first it had annoyed Logan, as he had been cuddled up to Max in her room at Terminal City. Ever since Max had died in his arms and their second chance together had been postponed by a virus, Logan made the most of every second he got to spend with her.

When Buddy had mentioned Zack remembering Jondy's name, Logan had felt nothing but sheer panic. It wasn't because it could mean his life was in danger. It was a fear of Zack taking Max away from him. The fear was still there despite the fact that he knew Max only loved Zack as a brother.

Max could hear the entire conversation, both sides of it. When Logan hung up the phone she could tell he was worried. "Not exactly the Christmas we were hoping for. Zack always did have impeccable timing didn't he." She tried to lighten the mood. "Do you think he'll fully recover his memory?"

"I'm not sure." Logan pulled Max closer. "I hope not for his sake. It sounds as though he's happy with Buddy and Mary. Wouldn't want to change that, since I don't remember ever seeing him happy."

"A chance at a real life was what he wanted." Max agreed. "It would be a shame if Manticore managed to ruin that for him." She couldn't bare for Logan to be in danger either. They were so close to being a normal couple despite the strangeness around them.

"Let's not think about that today." Logan kissed the top of Max's forehead. "Merry Christmas Max." He wanted to enjoy spending Christmas with his beautiful fiancé.

"Merry Christmas." Max stopped worrying about Zack, the moment Logan's lips met hers.

Before they could get too carried away, there was a knock on the door. "Max and Logan stop getting busy. Time to open presents." Joshua knew better than to barge into Max's room, especially when Logan was in there as well.

"We'll be right out Joshua." Max called out. "I guess we'd better get dressed." She shot Logan a sexy smile. "It's a damn shame to cover that gorgeous body of yours up."

"Well I guess I could go and open presents without my clothes on." Logan joked, knowing full well that he wasn't that brave and Max wouldn't let him anyway.

"No way. I'm not the sharing type." Max threw Logan his shirt. "Especially when it comes to my fiancé." She practically lit up like a Christmas Tree every time she said fiancé. "We'd better hurry before Joshua decides to open his presents without us."

Joshua was waiting patiently for Logan and Max by the Christmas tree he had helped Logan sneak in. Mole had said it was a pointless thing to smuggle in when they were so short on supplies. His argument had been a waste of breath when Logan unloaded the van of supplies he had also brought with him.

The Terminal City children had also gathered around the Christmas Tree, unsure what they were supposed to do. The whole Christmas thing was completely new to them. Logan walked up to the group holding Max's hand. "So do you guys know why we celebrate Christmas."

"So that the stores can encourage you to spend a lot of money on gifts for people you don't like, that those people really don't want." One of the children suggested.

"No, that's just the way it ends up sometimes." Logan chuckled. "It actually started a long time ago. Christmas is actually the birthday of someone that was born on December 25th. He grew up and became a carpenter and then a leader to the people and then he was crucified." Logan decided it would be to hard to explain God to a bunch of youngster that were man made. "He died to take the sins of the world with him. You see, that's why we celebrate Christmas day, because only an incredible person would give his life for a world full of strangers."

"Yeah, but there's still mean people out there that do bad things." Another child pointed out. "So he died for nothing."

Logan shook his head. "I don't think he died for nothing. There's a lot of good people out there as well and that's why we try not to do bad things and help those less fortunate than us."

"So that he didn't die for nothing." A third child spoke up. "Does that include people like us that were made in test tubes as well as normals?"

Logan smiled at the children. "That includes everybody. So shall we open presents or what?" He laughed as the children and Joshua cheered. "Ok then, let's see, this present has Joshua's name on it."

Max watched Logan hand the presents out. She could see what a great father he would make one day. Each child played excitedly with the toy they had been gifted with. Max wrapped her arms around Logan's waist. "You know, I've been a good girl all year so do I get a present?"

Logan flashed her a toothy grin. "Actually you do, but I have your present in my jacket pocket. I was going to give it to you later." He fished a square box out of his pocket and handed it to Max. "I know it's not really appropriate for wearing around this place, but when I saw it, I just had to get it for you." He watched Max's face as she opened the box.

Max had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. In the box was a gold charm bracelet with one charm on it: an angel. "Logan, it's gorgeous." She threw her arms around him. "Where am I going to hide this so it doesn't get stolen?"

"Well, I was thinking of finding an apartment nearby and selling my old one, so you could leave it with me when you aren't wearing it." Logan suggested. He felt that he had more than out stayed his welcome at Sandeman's house. Although Joshua was no longer living there, Sandeman himself may at some point want his house back.

Max considered it for a moment. "Sounds good. I guess that's something else we need to figure out before we get married."

"We'll figure it out after Christmas." Logan wanted Max to have a good Christmas free of problems. "You want to go for a walk before I get stuck in the kitchen?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. Let's walk over to Sandeman's. That's where I left your present anyway." It had taken a few trips to several bad guy's houses to get the funds to buy Logan's present. Then she had needed a place to hide it and knew that Logan had trouble finding what was right under his nose, so what better place than the house he was living in.

"You didn't have to get me anything." Considering the events of the past few months, Logan hadn't thought that Max would have the time, let alone the funds for Christmas shopping. Besides, he was just happy to be able to spend Christmas with Max.

"I know, but I did anyway." Max took hold of Logan's hand and headed for the exit. "I'm just glad that you're a heavy sleeper so I could sneak your present in, as well as the ones my family sent for you."

Moments later, Logan stood completely stunned at the sight of the present Max had given him. "How did you find this? How did you afford this?"

Max had somehow tracked down the painting that his Grandmother had given him and he had sold to pay for a cure for the love buy virus. He had lost the painting and they hadn't got a cure. Thank God Jondy had shown up to help them.

Max chuckled at Logan's response to her gift. "Aren't you supposed to say thank you, not where did this come from and how much did it cost?"

Logan pulled Max into a hug. "I'm sorry. I just never expected to see this painting again. Thank you. I love it." He kissed her thank you. 'I love you." He kissed her more deeply. "We'd better head back or dinner is never going to be ready in time. Besides, your mother will wonder where we are."

"Guess so." Max held onto Logan's hand as they headed back to Terminal City. There had been so many Christmas days in the past that now seemed as though they were nothing but bad dreams. Max had never really looked forward to Christmas until she met Logan. Through him she could really understand the true meaning of Christmas.

EPILOGUE

As the darkness decended on Terminal City, the small crowd that still gathered outside the fences, looked on in awe as the lights on the Christmas Tree were switched on. Memories of a pre-pulse Christmas formed in many minds, as the freaks celebrated their first Christmas together.

Donald Lydecker watched from the outskirts of the crowd. "Merry Christmas Kids." He turned and walked back to his car, chuckling at the ironic turn of events happening before his eyes. Funny how the human celebration of Christmas was actually being celebrated inside the Terminal City fences, not outside.

He would let them have their Christmas, but tomorrow he was going to find a way to make a bigger and better Manticore. He already had men combing San Francisco for Jondy. Somehow he would find a way.

The End